Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Digital Manifest

Keepers

Chapter 12: Life Moves On

Not much happened for the next three days. Ryan continued to go through Janyu's tests, this time with the knowledge of what they were for. When he had been given the news he took it silently, accepting it for what it was; the look on his face when Janyu broke it to him was distant and introspective, making it difficult to ascertain what he was feeling, though if Chris knew anything about him (and he did), Ryan wasn't liking the knowledge one bit. He only asked one question about it, and that was whether or not there was anything that could be done for his condition. When Janyu had replied that the data trapped inside his body was fragmenting and didn't pose a danger to him, Ryan's face brightened visibly. However, Janyu told Ryan afterwards that as he had no experience with what data of this type could do to a human body when exposed to a digital atmosphere, so his wisest course of action would be to avoid any trips to the digital world and possibly digital fields just to be on the safe side. Ryan couldn't promise anything about digital fields (as they tended to pop up in random locations and had proven to be able to follow people regardless of where they went) but as far as the digital world was concerned he was fine. He didn't have any plans to go there any time soon. Both Chris and Ryan had been alternating among the Tamer's residences when they needed a place to go for sleep, either individually or together. Mostly they had been staying at Henry and Takato's homes, as they were closest, with Kenta and Kazu having offered theirs as well (well, Kazu said something more along the lines of 'smuggling' them in, to which Ryan and Chris both said that they'd think about it). Rika had implied that her home was available for the two of them to stay, but so far the opportunity (or the desire for that matter) had yet to come up. As things stood, Ryan and Chris were content shuttling back and forth between Takato and Henry's homes, but they knew that they couldn't keep doing that for long. Sure, their families were agreeable enough, but both boys were aware that their presence was causing a certain tension, particularly in the Wong household, which resulted in their trying to find ways to lighten their being around. It wasn't easy, and they had yet to fully develop a system (having barely a week's time in Shinjuku and plenty of other distractions on their minds), but they were getting somewhere. Chris was mostly informing Janyu and Henry on some of the things that they had seen in the digital world, and they were curious as to the nature of the temple that had brought them and Leomon into the real world, while Ryan focused on the fine culinary required to bake bread so as to, as he put it, earn their keep. Which was fine as far as Takato and his parents saw it, though they were at first hesitant to allow him to be in the kitchen or to bother with making food, but when he told them that he needed something to do or else he'd go crazy, they smiled and gave him an apron. Things have been on a role ever since.

They didn't see too much of Leomon during this time. Presumably Jeri was helping him settle back in and adjust to being alive after having died, but after nearly three days Chris was starting to get a little worried while Ryan was starting to get a little frustrated. Though he wasn't very obvious about it, Chris had noted that Ryan seemed especially interested to see the lion digimon who had been their guide and guardian during the last leg of their journey through the digital world. Although Ryan wouldn't give any details as to why this was, as Chris had yet to actually ask them, and it had taken him a couple days to pick up on it, it must not have been very important. Ryan didn't express any over eagerness to see Leomon. Perhaps it was just because they had been together for too long in the digital world and saw themselves as being closer to him than to the Tamers, despite his own history with the group. Somehow Chris didn't think that was the case. In all the time that Chris had known Ryan, whether in school or the digital world, he had never been possessive of anyone or anything except when they were real little kids. There were personal reasons for Ryan to develop this particular trait of his, but none of them kept him from getting along with others (the only notable exception being a girl that they knew in school by the name of Ashley, but then she was usually a jerk to just about everybody), and this was evident in how he approached each of the Tamers, particularly Takato, Henry, Kenta, Jeri, and Ryo. Rika he was courteous to, but her dry, sarcastic manner bothered him a bit, and Kazu seemed to be a little wrapped in his own world to really feel comfortable with. That and Kazu tended to be loud a lot, usually when he was boasting or around Ryo.

Chris had similar relations with the other Tamers, though he sympathized more with Kenta, and took Kazu's attitude rather well, though he did grate on the blonde haired boys nerves sometimes.

Janyu continued to analyze the duo's digivices, trying to translate the algorithm that lay buried within them, but the only ones that he was able to successfully translate were the base sets connecting the digivices to their partners and, of course, digivolving. Commenting on the differences Janyu claimed that it was almost as if there were two different programs that had been written together. Of this, Ryan and Chris weren't to sure on what to say that could possibly satisfy Janyu's answers. Rika had, at one point, brought up something that Renamon had witnessed in her brief fight with Richoemon when he was GrayRichoemon. According to the red haired girl, and later confirmed by the vulpine as she phased out of the shadows (somewhat disturbing Ryan, Chris, and their two partners at the same time), Richoemon had underwent a transformation that had modified his form in a way similar to digivolving but at the same time wasn't. It was, as Renamon said, almost as if it were an incomplete digivolution. Richoemon, when pressed, could remember nothing of what had happened during his viral conversion (he had apologized profusely to Renamon for his actions nonetheless) so none of them could gleen his thoughts for any details as to how that had happened. Janyu was ecstatic however, and began to experiment with lines of code for something that he called data manipulation. Chris and Ryan had taken it into their own hands to experiment as well and find a way to pull it off, appealing to the four primary Tamers (Ryo, Rika, Takato, and Henry) and their own experiences with digimon and the digital world. Ryo was a little hesitant to divulge anything about his time in the digital world, but offered what advice he could (though he had admitted that due to the differences in their digivices he was basically taking a stab in the dark). Takato, Henry, and Rika were much more forthcoming and easier to talk to about this sort of thing. They related to how in various battles against some digimon called Devas they were able to use their desire to help their partners and protect the city to give their partners the strength that they needed to digivolve and defeat their enemies. A nice thought Ryan admitted, but he wasn't sure how wishes were going to help them.

Still, wishes were better than nothing. They certainly had quite an empty schedule for trying out various tests to get a better idea as to how their digivices operated, and they could expect regular input from the Tamers as well, it being summer in Japan and then there was the fact that Yamaki had yet to contact their families. The head of Hypnos had given them a talk about how they had to contact the American government (Chris and Ryan had supplied phone numbers and E-mail addresses) as well as downplay the amount of media attention that this would get once contact had been made and their identities confirmed. All of which would take time… possibly quite a bit of it if bureaucracy had anything to say about it. When asked if there was anything that he could do to speed things up, Yamaki had promptly told them that things didn't always work the way they do on TV.

Chris couldn't help but feel some small measure of irony at this statement.

I wonder what'll happen today, thought Chris as he took a bite out of some Guilmon bread and lay back on the grass. It was from a batch that Ryan had made for dinner last night. Not quite as good as what Takato and his parents made on a regular basis, but for a beginner he didn't do half bad. Ryan's take on baking was, it was boring but at least he was occupied. Besides, he claimed that kneading the dough calmed his nerves and gave him time to think. Whenever Richoemon and Guilmon weren't trying to get into things that is. Looking up at the clear blue sky, Chris reflected that it was rather pointless to be wondering about what could happen today, since anything conceivably could, especially when your daily business involved things like the digital world. Turning his head to one side, facing the shed where Guilmon lived, he saw some of the Tamers with Ryan and smiled. Ryan was currently deadlocked in a Digimon card battle with Rika, and judging from the look on his face he was losing. Badly.

Not that he was at all surprised by this; in the past few days since arriving in Shinjuku, the Tamers had taken to asking the Tamers many questions, mostly geared towards finding a way to fully use their digivices. During their talks they had spoken of the Deva attacks and the D-Reaper invasion (this last still confusing Chris after a fashion since he and Ryan had not seen a sign of the murderous program that the Tamers had described), and of course this itself led to the Digimon television show and card game. Chris had ceased to be surprised by the fact that the show and card game bore a great similarity to the creatures that they had seen in the real live version of the digital world, but the fact that it bore a such a close resemblance anyway was a curiosity to him, and he had asked Henry and Takato about it. Henry had claimed that his father, Janyu, had been more or less responsible for creating the first digimon back in his college years with some friends of his, and that after the project that was responsible for developing them had been canceled, the leftover data had been used to create the digimon games, both the card and computer installments, which was some rather interesting bit of information (Caramon jokingly said that next time he saw Janyu he may have to bow to him). Inevitably this led to further questions about the card game and before they knew it, Kazu had volunteered to be their teacher in the ways of Digimon, with some support teaching from Takato and Henry. After a quick lesson (with interruptions by Takato and Henry to point out some rule that Kazu had conveniently overlooked), and a few hands (the two boys losing so badly that they were beginning to wonder what else Kazu had held back on them) Rika Nonaka arrived on the scene and, after rolling her eyes at the sight before her, immediately took matters into her own hands. Chris supposed that it was something of an honor since, during the lessons they had found out that Rika was a high-ranking Digimon card game player (Second only to Ryo they heard shortly thereafter, which brought out an angry retort from the girl). Since Rika started teaching them the game's mechanics, Ryan and Chris had found new meaning in the saying, getting schooled. Rika wasn't just good. She was phenomenal! She had a natural flare for the game that came to her about as easily as breathing. Granted, they were just beginners, but the way that Rika played…

Chris had to wonder just how much better Ryo had to be in order to beat the girl.

Ryo… Chris frowned slightly. Now there was a mystery. Based on what little he had already seen, Ryo always seemed to be aloof when it came to the other Tamers. Even when Ryan and Chris had talked to him about his experiences in the digital world he had been a little hesitant about discussing them. Not like Rika was mind you. Far from it in fact. Ryo had the type of personality that you could respect (though why Rika reacted so negatively to him was beyond Chris. The way that they got on, Chris had nearly been convinced that they were flirting. Well, at least it looked that way on Ryo's part) and be drawn to. He had an easygoing, confident exterior but it sometimes seemed to Chris that it was more of a façade to mask what he was really feeling on the inside. Maybe it was because he had been stuck there for almost a year, with his only constant company a ferocious creature that wasn't always in control of himself. Either way, Ryo struck Chris as the type of person who would play his cards close.

Digimon Tamer and game champion notwithstanding.

Chris suddenly sat up in surprise as he felt a soft pressure land on his forehead, causing him to give a startled shout that made the others look up in surprise. Tossing his assailant off his face, Chris backed away bewilderedly, blinking as he took in the creature in front of him. He had expected Guilmon or Terriermon to do this (maybe even Ryo's partner when he was in his Rookie form), or at least a small Wild One that looked remotely threatening. What he saw came as a complete surprise.

A short, very, very, short, white digimon with big eyes, a happy face, and a cluster of four triangles on his forehead. The small, white creature that Chris could only identify as a cream puff at first glance tilted its head to one side and suddenly its ears expanded as it spoke in a cheerful, playful tone.

"Hi!"

Chris blinked again.

"Wha…?"

Chris never got the chance to finish. Without warning the midget digimon leapt up into Chris's hands and started laughing childishly as Chris jerked back reflexively, clearly not expecting a digimon that was more interested in playing than wrecking havoc with either his person or that of the city. His motion woke up his partner, who was lying next to him and had been dosing in the sun. The little lizard raised his head and blinked profusely before lying back down on the grass and using his claws to cover his ears.

"Some of us are trying to sleep here…" Caramon whined.

Oh, you're a lot of help, thought Chris sarcastically.

"Oh, it's just Calumon," said Takato as he lounged about on Rika's side of the playing field. Ryan blinked. There was a tiny creampuff digimon that just snuck up on his friend and the others weren't at all concerned about it. Well… it was just a little guy but still, the question begged…

"So, he's not dangerous?"

"Only to food," muttered Rika as she drew from her deck.

"Huh?"

"What she means is that if you have anything to eat with you while Calumon's around, it's toast."

"How astute, Kazu," said Rika.

"But I'm right."

"There's a first time for everything…"

"… I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult."

"When you figure it out Archimedes, let me know. In the meantime…" And with that, the Digimon Queen laid a Sakuyamon card over her Taomon. Ryan's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Oh man…"

"And there's another victory for me."

"Man, you collect victories the way some people collect stamps."

Rika raised an eyebrow at this while the others chuckled lightly at Ryan's comment. Next to the boy, Richoemon looked at his partner.

"Ryan? What's a stamp?"

Ryan sighed.

"Let's… file that under things to answer later."

Terriermon laughed from his spot on Henry's shoulder.

"Bet you have a lot of those, don't ya?"

"He still owes me an explanation for that incident that he had with Sukamon and Chuumon," said Richoemon almost proudly, only to cry in pain a second later as Ryan ground his knuckles into the dino's scalp.

"And just for that, let me remind you that the later file is translated as indefinitely!"

"Ohhh… Sorry…"

Henry finished chuckling. In the past two days that Ryan and Chris had been around, he and the others had learned that this was a subject that was taboo when it came to their adventures in the digital world. He didn't really know any of the details but based on what he had already heard he was strangely reminded of events from the TV show involving a pink loving, fashion girl and that pair of digimon. For Ryan's sake though he never brought the subject up, and when someone did tried to change the subject.

"So… uh… how're you settling in so far, Ryan? Last night you stayed at Takato's house."

Richoemon shifted uncomfortably at Henry's question. And with good reason to. He had been the primary reason why Ryan had stayed the night at Takato's home rather than Henry's, as had been expected since he still had to participate in Janyu's experiments, and being in the same area made travel quicker and easier for that to happen. However, there was the issue of Henry's little sister, Suzie Wong and some weird game that Terriermon had called the Princess Pretty Pants Treatment.

Needless to say, Richoemon came within a hairs breath of being forever traumatized.

"It's going okay. Especially after you're dad and Terriermon helped Richoemon get housebroken so that there wouldn't be any morning incidents."

Takato flushed lightly at the comment. Everyone knew that Caramon's first stay at the Matsuki home had yielded rather interesting results. And that was putting it lightly.

"How are your tests with Henry's dad going?" Asked Kenta.

Ryan looked down at the card deck that he had been playing with (his biggest disadvantage had been his inability to read the language printed on the cards, but with the help of the other Tamers he was slowly getting an idea of what the cards could do), picked it up and began shuffling.

"Fine," continued Ryan flatly. "Yamaki wants me to continue doing them though."

"You don't sound to happy about that," said Kenta.

"Yeah," exclaimed Kazu. "What gives? And what's so important about these tests that you have to keep doing them? You never really talk about it!"

Ryan lowered his eyes. Actually, he had talked about it with Henry and Takato yesterday. Surprisingly it had been Takato who had wondered whether or not it should be brought up at all since, as Henry had pointed out, the data in his body was fragmenting and posed no threat to him. Henry had a different opinion since, as long as it was there, there was a possibility that it still might remain a threat to him, and hence to others as well. In the end it was decided to leave that decision up to Ryan unless something came up where it did become a problem. On the topic itself, Ryan was still a little confused. He thought that he should say something, but he had only known these kids for a short time. True, they had offered Ryan and Chris their support, unconditionally mind you, but just how much could he trust them?

It was rather ironic that it was Rika who came to his rescue on the subject.

"Lay off Kazu. If the kid doesn't want to get into it, then he doesn't have to get into it. Besides, if it was important I'm sure Henry's dad would have said something."

She had been eyeing Henry and Takato as she said that. To Henry's credit, he met the fiery girl's eyes without flinching, as though this was nothing more than a regular conversation and the fate of the world didn't hang in the balance. Takato on the other hand…

Rika watched as the goggle-wearing boy cast his eyes to the ground.

Oh yes, she thought. He knows something…

But t wasn't something that she was going to bring up right now. Not with the dimwit duo around. She could understand not wanting to share information, even though she felt a little insulted at being kept out of the loop. Well, Rika was sure that they had their reasons, but she thought that, as friends, there was an understanding that nothing should be kept hidden like this. Even Ryo understood this mode of thinking, even if he didn't always follow through on it.

Rika frowned slightly as she picked up her own deck and began shuffling. Just where was the errant Legendary Tamer? He hadn't shown up today, but then it's not like he had to. There were times where she almost wished that the kid was around, if only to provide some measure of amusement, though his personality was such that she could only take his presence for a small amount of time. Of course, with Kazu and Kenta around, Ryo must have thought the same thing with them and felt the need for a break.

I guess he can be sensible, thought Rika with a small smile.

Around noon the kids decided to break up and head home to get some much needed food. Henry and Ryan went off in one direction while Chris, Kenta, and Kazu went off in another (Chris and Kenta had become rather fast friends with Kazu being part of the pakge). Takato had just finished packing up his cards and was about to head off with Guilmon when Rika stopped him.

"Hold on, Gogglehead," Rika said with a tone of authority in her voice. At another time, Takato would have frozen at the sound, but he was long used to Rika's personality and as such no longer bothered as much with that reaction. Unless that is, she got angry…

"Uh… yeah Rika?"

"Spill it. What's going on with that Ryan kid?"

Takato blinked.

"What do you mea…?"

Rika's eyes narrowed suddenly, and Takato immediately shut up. He honestly wasn't sure what Rika wanted, but he had a suspicion. Fortunately Rika decided to take the time to clarify her question.

"The tests Gogglehead," Rika said almost icily. "As much as I hate to admit it, Kazu's got a point. Why does Henry's dad keep performing those dumb tests of his? I thought Ryan got a clean bill of health?"

"He did," said Takato a little nervously. "It's just…" Takato swallowed nervously. How was it that Rika always made him feel small? "… It's… just that, according to Mr. Wong, Ryan's got some data still in him from when he merged with his partner. He just wants to make sure that it's not doing anything to him."

Rika put her hands on her hips and glared at Takato. "And when were you going to clue me in on this little scheme that you and Henry cooked up? Don't give me that look! I know that he's in on it!"

"Ah…" Takato sweated and felt his face heat up. Man he hated being interrogated by Rika. "…Well, we sorta figured that we'd leave that job up to Ryan unless it did become a problem. It doesn't seem to be doing anything so we sorta figured that would be the best way to go about it…"

Rika just shook her head sadly.

"After all that talk about friendship back when we first met. Can't believe that I'm having to spout the same rhetoric to you. I should probably give Henry a piece of my mind as well."

"Sorry," said Takato as he hung his head in shame. "I… we shouldn't have kept it from you. Any of you."

"Hmmph. you'd better be sorry," said Rika as she folded her arms across her chest. "I should probably pound you for keeping this from me…"

Tkato tensed but stood his ground. Technically he did have it coming.

"…But I won't."

Takato resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. Rika wasn't done talking.

"But just so you know, you owe me big for this Gogglehead."

Takato felt a little confused, much in the same way as he did when he had sent a letter to Rika's family to keep them from worrying when the group had been separated. Takato tilted his head to one side, wondering why she wasn't going to throttle him.

"Um… thanks?"

"Whatever. Where're you going now?"

"Well… uh… I was thinking of going down to Jeri's place after lunch with Guilmon." Rika nodded. Jeri had phoned Rika earlier to tell her that she wasn't going to be able to show up because she had to help her parents with their restaurant.

"Okay," said Rika as she prepared to leave. "Tell Jeri I said hi."

"Actually…" began Takato. "I was wondering if you wanted to come along. I'm sure Jeri would like to see you today. Aside from the park you don't… um… usually see her."

Rika thought about this for a second. It was true that she didn't normally see any of the others outside of the park. There were of course, a few brief incursions with Jeri to the mall, but that wasn't really her sort of thing. And besides, it would be nice to see Jeri again, and somewhere other than at Rika's home or the park. It presented a chance to see what she did in her spare time. Rika smirked.

"Sure. Why not? I'd hate to miss the opportunity to watch you trip all over yourself around her."

Takato blushed insanely deep and hung his head.

"Ah geez… is it that obvious?"

Not bothering to answer, or give an indication that she had heard, Rika grabbed the boy by the arm and proceeded to drag him down the sidewalk.

"Come on, Gogglehead."

In the girl's mind, Rika swore that she heard Renamon chuckling.

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