Gatomon

Watching Kari with Malik was one of the most disgusting sights I had ever seen. On the way home, he had his arm wrapped around her waist, and she leaned into him. Kari was usually warm and friendly toward everyone, but this was even unusual for her. But, many things she had done today were unusual for her.

I had hoped he would leave once she got home, but I was wrong. I came in through her window as they walked inside. He held both of her hands in his. I recognized the look on his face from those sappy romance movies Kari watched, and I could tell that he was going to try to kiss her.

Don't do it, Kari. I knew she couldn't hear my thoughts, but for once I wished she could. This wasn't right, and on some level, she should've known that.

Before he could, she pulled her hands away and walked over to the fridge. "Do you want anything?"

He shook his head. "No thanks."

I usually did a good job of keeping myself hidden, but Malik's gaze found me. In the doorway of Kari's room. I froze.

"So, you have a digimon," he said, looking back at Kari.

Kari finished pouring a glass of juice and turned back to him, only slightly alarmed. "How did you know she was one?"

He smiled. "I have a digimon but not a digivice. I assumed it just got lost in the mail."

Kari turned to me. "This is Gatomon. Gatomon, you can stop hiding now."

Great. I didn't want to come out of hiding. I wanted nothing to do with him.

"Come on, Gatomon. I know you're not shy," she said.

I groaned and stepped forward, giving Malik a hard look. He smiled at me, but there was something off and weird about it. Not necessarily any falseness, but it was like there was no emotion behind it whatsoever.

I looked at Kari. Regardless of the changes, she actually seemed kind of happy. I could choose to keep my mouth shut and be pleasant toward him, but then I remembered what Patamon had said. Malik had been here, in this apartment, and then we noticed something felt off when we came home yesterday, and Kari had been acting differently ever since. There was no way this wasn't connected. It wasn't my job to keep Kari happy. It was my job to protect her, and if I just hung back and kept my mouth shut, I wouldn't be doing my job.

I took a few more steps forward, until there were only a few feet between Malik and me. Then, I spoke, "I don't like you. I don't like how you've changed Kari. And, I really don't like that you broke into this apartment yesterday. Whatever you're trying to do to her had better stop."

"Gatomon! What are you doing?" Kari yelled. "What has gotten into you?"

"I'm protecting you," I said. "And this guy is nothing but trouble. Everyone can see that except you."

She looked at me long and hard. "Everyone said the exact same thing about you, but I didn't listen. Out of everyone, I thought you would be the last to jump to those conclusions."

Malik took a step back. "Listen, Kari, I better go. It was nice meeting you, Gatomon."

"Wait, Malik-" Kari's pleas were too late. He practically flew out the door. She glared at me. "Now look. You drove him away."

"He's not good for you, Kari," I said. "I only want what's best for you."

"That's for me to decide. I'm not a kid anymore, Gatomon, so let me make my own decisions."

I gave her a steady look. "Fine, but I'm going to do the same whether you like it or not."

Before Kari could reply, the door opened again, but this time it was her mom. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Kari, how was school?"

Kari's earlier anger melted from her features as she turned to her. "Fine, Mom. Just fine."

Kari didn't talk to me the rest of the evening, but I didn't give her much of a chance. When she wasn't paying attention, I slipped into Tai's room and waited for him to stop watching sports in the living room and come here. If TK and I couldn't get through to her, I hoped Tai could.

I didn't have too long to wait. At some point, he got up and went to the bathroom. When he came out, I poked my head out of the doorway and told him to come here.

He seemed a bit confused, but he came inside and shut the door. "What's up, Gatomon?"

"Have you noticed anything off about Kari?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. She's been pretty quiet lately. Why?"

"She has a new friend, and I think he's changing her," I explained. "She's been withdrawing from everyone but him. When I tried to tell her he was trouble, she got defensive and mad at me. She's not herself, and I want her back."

He frowned. "There might not be anything we can do about it. I mean, she's growing up. She's not a little kid anymore, Gatomon. You have to let her make her own decisions, and sometimes she'll have to fall on her face."

"But, Tai, it's getting bad," I said. "Everytime he comes here, I sense something dark and it lingers for a while. And, today he said he has a digimon but no digivice."

His eyes widened. "Okay, maybe this is a real problem."

"He might not be digidestined at all. He could be working for some crazy digimon," I said.

He thought for a moment and then looked back at me. "Talk to TK and Davis about it. They all go to the same school, so the easiest way to find out anything is to have those two be our spies, and of course you, Patamon, and Veemon."

I nodded. "Right. Except Kari isn't speaking to TK."

He arched his brow. "Wow, this is really bad."

"But I'll talk to them," I said. "Even if I have to go all over town looking for them."

Tai picked up his D-terminal. "You don't have to. I'll message them and let them know you'll be dropping by to talk to them. Maybe I can get them to meet you somewhere."

"Tell them to meet me at the park," I said. It was close enough without being too close.

He nodded as he typed. When he finished, he slipped it into his pocket. "I'll go with you in case something crazy happens."

Patamon

TK paced in his bedroom all evening, barely speaking. He didn't touch his dinner, either. He barely sat down long enough to do his homework, but his hand trembled when he tried to write something. It had been a long time since I had seen him so nervous.

"TK, pacing won't help you with Kari, and you're making me dizzy."

He stopped. "Sorry, Patamon. I just . . . you should've seen the way she clung to him. And she looked at me like I was some villain who was out to get her. I've seen her look warmer at some of the Digimon we've fought."

TK's D-terminal lit up with a message. He grabbed it from his desk, and his expression hardened. "It's from Tai. He wants us and Davis to meet him and Gatomon at the park. I have a bad feeling about this."

He shoved it in his pocket along with his digivice and unzipped his bag. I flew into it and he picked it up. He didn't put it on his back but instead held it tight in his hands. I wasn't sure if I could get out if I wanted to. He was definitely worried.

We left the apartment building and headed to the a few minutes of walking, I spoke up, "TK, how do you really feel about Kari?" The question slipped out before I could stop it, but it had been bothering me ever since I learned how Kari felt for him. She and Gatomon talked about that kind of thing, and they seemed closer because of it. I knew enough to know that human boys and girls were different in a lot of ways, but I couldn't help but wonder if talking to TK about this might help him as well.

He looked down at me and frowned. "I care about her."

"I know that, but you can care about someone in a lot of ways. What way do you care about her?"

He looked away from me. "Where is this coming from?"

"I'm trying to help you get through to her, but if you don't say exactly the right thing, this whole thing could blow up," I said. "Is she just your friend or something more?"

His grip on the bag loosened as he hung his head. "I love her."

I wanted to say something else, but the defeated look on his face stopped me. I might not have been helping him at all. I might've only been making things worse.

"I'm not going to do anything about it," he continued. "I can't be in a relationship with her."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"My parents used to love each other, too, but when the love dies, it breaks up families, and now my parents won't speak to each other. I want to know that I can always talk to Kari."

I gave him a confused look. "TK, you and Kari aren't even speaking now."

He gave a bitter laugh. "Guess you have a point there."

"And also, you're not your parents. You're TK, and she's Kari. Whatever happened to them has nothing to do with the two of you. But, you can look at your parents' mistakes and know what not to do so you don't end up in that situation."

"I guess you're right," he said. "But, I don't think I have any chance with her at this point. I don't even know if I can fix our friendship."

I poked my head out of the bag as we arrived at the park. Gatomon and Tai ran toward us, and I popped out to greet them.

"Tai, what's going on?" TK asked.

"We have a problem. You and Davis are the only ones who can really help us, but we'll wait til he gets here to explain."

"I'm here!" Davis emerged beside TK, panting as he tried to regain his breath.

"I . . . Left Veemon . . . At home," he said and finally stood up straight. "What's . . . Going on?"

TK

Given that Tai and Gatomon were here without Kari, I knew this meeting had to be about her.

We sat in a circle at a picnic table. Patamon sat in my lap while Davis sat beside me. Tai sat facing us, and Gatomon was in the middle of the table.

"We have a problem," she said. "And it's up to us to solve it."

"Why do we only have meetings when there's a problem?" Davis asked. "Can't it ever be just to say 'hi'?"

"This isn't the time, Davis," Tai said, expression hard as he looked at him. "The reason it has to be you two is because you're the only ones in the same school as Kari."

"Why isn't she here?" Davis asked. "If this involves her, she should be here."

"She can't know about this," Gatomon said. "This involves her and that Malik kid. We may have a problem."

My expression hardened at the mention of Malik, but I didn't interrupt her.

"Malik walked Kari home and saw me. He knew I was a digimon and said he had one too but not a digivice," she said. "And yesterday, Kari and I went to the digital world and ran into Ken and Yolei. Ken said he saw someone the other day with a Tskaimon, but he didn't get a good look at the person."

Patamon tensed in my arms. I looked down, just in time to see him shake his head at Gatomon.

"What's Tsukaimon?" Davis asked.

"All you need to know right now is that he's not a pleasant Digimon," she said, looking back at Patamon. "Patamon, Veemon, and I can be on the look out for Tsukaimon or any other digimon possibly connected to Malik. We don't know yet if the two are connected, but if they are, this could mean trouble."

"What makes you think he's such a bad guy? He seems alright to me," Davis said. "Other than him trying to steal Kari."

"He broke into our apartment when no one was home," Tai said, looking at me.

She nodded. "The only reason we know that is because TK came by when he was there."

Davis turned to me. "What do you think about all this?"

I looked down at Patamon, and a hollow feeling entered my stomach. "I don't trust him."

"When Kari and I came home yesterday, after he had been there, we both felt something weird, like a dark presence," she said. "Kari hasn't been the same ever since."

I glared down at the table. "She shouldn't be left alone with him."

"But stopping her from being alone with him will be nearly impossible," Tai said.

"I know it's hard, but whatever she says or does, don't leave her alone with him," Gatomon said and turned to me. "Don't let him walk her home. Don't let him get her alone, no matter how mad at you she gets."

I met her gaze. "Whatever it takes, I'll do it."

Davis still looked a little hesitant, but then he nodded. "I'm in."

"Great," Tai said. "I knew we could count on you. And I'll keep an eye on her while she's at home. Which reminds me . . ." He looked at Gatomon. "We better get back."

Thanks for reading :)