Disclaimer in profile. Digimon and comical human abuse appear in this chapter.


Four hours later, the citizens of Tokyo watched with puzzled looks on their faces as a teenage boy dragged himself along the concrete sidewalk. Entire luggage sets hung underneath his eyes, as his back hunched to the point where his knuckles nearly dragged along the ground. His breathing labored with every step, punctuating the exhaustion he felt with every pained step.

"Just...a few...more feet..." he panted to himself. He tried to will himself to the apartment of the nearest friend. He wasn't sure he could make it to his friend's home, and he was positive there was no way he could make it to his own.

Before he knew it, he stood near his destination; the bottom of the apartment complex he was stalking to.

Just an elevator ride up 6 floors, he thought. Then, about 30 feet to salvation...

As he thought, the remainder of the trip was relatively easy compared to getting to the damned complex to begin with. Where did people learn to walk, anyway? You'd think they know to avoid the guy dragging himself along the street, looking as if he were doing a character study for the next rendition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Someone even asked him how much he had to drink!

What the hell was that about, anyway? He asked himself while riding the elevator up. I don't even look like an alcoholic. It's like a guy can't be tired when he's walking down the street.

A bell in the elevator dinged, indicating that it had reached its destination. The doors flew open, and he once again slowly stalked his way toward his own final destination. He also hoped that Death wasn't interested in him just yet.

Let's see...601...602...603...604...605!

Once he found the apartment in question, he slowly turned to face it. He raised an exhausted arm and weakly knocked on the door. He hoped that the powers that be would be kind to him and that somebody was home and had sharp hearing.

Unfortunately for him, I'm not in the most merciful mood.

Nobody answered. There wasn't even a sign that someone was home. He groaned in frustration, cursing the powers that be and raising his arm again. He knocked again, this time a little harder, hoping to create a bit more noise. Again, no response. Feeling too tired to try knocking again, he settled for what he considered the next best option. He drove his forehead into the door over and over. After what seemed like an eternity of pounding, he was mercifully met with one of the people he was hoping to meet.

"Hey, T.K." Tai said after opening the front door.

"Hey, Tai..." T.K. answered tiredly.

Tai took in the appearance of his younger friend. "What happened to you...?"

"Long day. Mind if I crash here for a while?"

"Uh...sure." Tai answered uneasily.

"Thanks..." T.K. groaned before falling forward.

"Holy crap!" Tai cried out as he awkwardly caught T.K. Kari, having heard her brother's outburst, emerged from her room.

"What's going on T-oh my God!" She cried upon seeing her collapsed boyfriend and her brother struggling to keep him up. "What happened?"

"How should I know?" Tai struggled. "Just get over here and help me!"

Kari ran over to help heft T.K. Together, they managed to drag the teen onto their couch. While Tai was in a corner complaining about a strained back, Gatomon left Kari's room and joined her human partner in poking T.K.'s passed out cheeks.

"He looks like he got some bad cuts of sushi," Gatomon mused as a claw gently grazed T.K.'s skin.

"I think he's just tired." Kari answered. "He did have a rough day today. At least, that's what I was promised over the phone."

"Forget about him!" Tai screeched. "My back's been ruined for life!"

A tick grew on Kari's forehead. "Gatomon..."

The cat-like Digimon nodded. "On it." She said as she went to work. Kari continued to poke away at T.K.'s cheek while a cry of "Lightning Paw!" and a yelp of pain could be heard in the background. T.K. eventually groaned, rolling over in a mixture of pain and annoyance.

"You know..." he strained. "It's hard to get some sleep if someone's constantly jabbing you with their appendages."

Kari smiled. "Morning, sleepyhead."

"Shut up."

She carefully found a spot on the couch and sat down. "So how was it?"

T.K. groaned again. "Horrible. My trainer was an absolute Drill Sargent. 500 push-ups...500 sit-ups...weight training...hours of pain..." Kari giggled as T.K. related his agony. T.K. raised a sore eyebrow. "Something funny...?"

"You, silly." She said, jabbing her finger into his cheek again. "You act like you've never had a workout before."

"Yeah, but those were for basketball. Why would I need to lift weights for an hour?"

"He made you do that?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It sucked big time. Thankfully, I don't have to go back for a while. Maybe I can work out some of this soreness..."

Gatomon rejoined the teens at the couch, purring in delight as Tai lay crumpled in a corner.

"I'm done." She said.

Kari looked over at her brother, his charred body twitching. "You didn't kill him, did you?" She asked her digital companion. Gatomon's tail swayed slightly.

"Might have." She mused. "He stopped crying a long time ago."

"I'm not cleaning him up."

"Anyway," T.K. interrupted. "Do you think I could stay here tonight? I don't think I'm going to make it home, and mom probably won't be in the mood to haul my ass back."

Tai instantly jumped up at the question. He darted to the back of the couch with a dark look on his face.

"Hell no," he said. "There is no way you and my sister are staying in the same house at night." He crossed his arms in an 'X' in front of him. "No way!"

Kari rolled her eyes. "I'll ask mom when she gets home." She heard the front door open. "Oh, speak of the devil."

"I'm a devil?" Yuuko asked as she stepped through the door.

"Mom, can T.K. stay here for the night?" Kari asked in excitement. "He's too tired to go himself, and his mom's too busy to get him."

"He can't!" Tai screeched. "There's no room for him to stay anywhere!"

"He can stay in my room." Kari countered. "I'll just leave the door open so that you don't think we're up to anything."

"I don't see a problem with it." Yuuko said, much to Tai's dismay. "I'll just call his mother and make sure it's okay."

"Yay!"

Tai could be heard slamming his head against the nearest wall after hearing his mother betray him.

"Although, I'm not sure T.K. staying in Kari's room would be the best idea. He should probably stay in Tai's room for the night."

"It's okay..." T.K. called out from the couch. "I'm fine here. I just need a blanket and some heat packs."

"You're lucky you get to stay here at all," Tai growled as he tossed a spare blanket onto the blonde teen. "Just don't get any ideas."

T.K. rolled his eyes, thankful that they were the only parts of his body that weren't in pain. "Let me know when you get over yourself. I'm too sore to bother moving from this spot."

Kari, Gatomon and Yuuko both stood around the phone. Kari and Gatomon listened as Yuuko explained the situation to T.K.'s mother, Natsuko.

"...and that's what happened." Yuuko finished. She nodded several times in response to Natsuko's unheard questions. "Uh-huh...uh-huh...of course. Alright, then. Goodbye." She set the phone back in its place.

"So, what'd she say?" Kari asked.

"It's fine with her." Yuuko said simply as she walked into the restroom. A moment later, she emerged with a towel in hand.

"Uh...mom? What's with the towel?"

"It's for me." T.K. called out. "I have a problem with overnight bladder control."

Tai snickered. Kari and Gatomon both sweated profusely over T.K.'s apparent confession. Yuuko stifled a laugh of her own as she entered the apartment's kitchen and started filling the sink with warm water.

"That's not exactly it." Yuuko explained under a chuckle. "This is for the soreness. Hopefully, it'll relax his muscles a little." She dipped the towel in the water, letting it soak up the heat and moisture.

"I can't believe you people bought that." T.K. mused. "Maybe I should be a used car salesman."

"You can't," Kari giggled. "You're the Digidestined of Hope. You can't do anything as remotely evil as being a used care salesman."

"She has a point, T.K." Yuuko joined in, walking over to the couch with the towel. "I find it hard to even imagine you robbing a bank, let alone running a sleazy business like that. Now then, lay on your stomach and take your shirt off."

"WHAT THE HELL?" Tai screamed. "It's not bad enough that you've got my little sister falling for you, now you've managed to seduce my mother?"

Everyone other than Gatomon ignored him. Another "Lightning Paw!" could be heard while T.K. slowly did as he was told. Yuuko folded up the towel and gently set it on his back. T.K. sighed as the heat soothed his aching back.

"Now then," Yuuko said, looking at a nearby clock. "I've got a long day tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Try not to make too much noise." With that, she retreated into her bedroom for the night.

"Sounds like a good idea," Tai painfully said. "I'm off too. Try not to jump on each other."

Gatomon menacingly lifted a gloved paw. Panicking at the sight, Tai retreated to his room, where Agumon peacefully slept through the whole ordeal.

Kari knelt down by the couch by T.K. "Are you going to be okay here?" She asked.

"I'll be fine." He said, smiling. "You should get to bed. It's probably late."

"Okay then." Kari leaned in and placed a small kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, T.K." She said before ushering herself and Gatomon back to her room.

What a day. T.K. thought to himself. A hellish workout to start and a stay with a crazy family as a finish. At least I got a nice, warm towel to make me a bit more comfortable. Hopefully, Tai will be a little more himself tomorrow. It'll make Kari's job of teasing him a little easier.

With a small smirk on his face, T.K. let the warmth from the towel ease him into a peaceful slumber.


Holy mother of chocolate was this chapter hard. Many ideas were scrapped, and an entire week of inspiration was lost in forming something that I'm happy with. Hopefully, I'll get the next chapter out sooner than next century.