Takato's Hatchling

By milesprower06

Chapter 7 – Mid-Day Snack

MATSUKI BAKERY / RESIDENCE

TUESDAY - 6:30 AM

Takato was once again awoken by his infant partner nuzzling and liking his face.

"Takato…Takato!" Guilmon said gleefully, as he roused his Tamer.

"Alright, I'm up boy." Takato said.

The boy proceeded to get up and get himself dressed. His school supplies had already been gathered up, so he took the extra time he had to feed Guilmon a bottle of warm milk, saving his parents the trouble. He was still overly grateful for their decision to help look after him, and they had a business to run as well. He wanted to lessen their responsibility however he could.

Afterwards, Takato set Guilmon in his box, and carried him downstairs. The crimson dino was beginning to learn that unless someone picked him up out of it, he was to stay in the box. This was undoubtedly a good thing, as it would make things easier on his mo and dad. He wondered how his mom would fare with him in the kitchen. Yesterday, his dad was in back, while his mom handled the register up front. They had a habit of switching everyday to keep things interesting.

"He's already had his breakfast." Takato told his mom, as he set his partner, in his box, down on , the back left counter, out of customer view, but where Mei had a good vantage point of him. He hugged his mom goodbye and grabbed a fresh bread roll for breakfast.

"Bye, hon."

"Bye, mom."

"Byeee, Takato!"

Takato smiled.

"Bye Guilmon. I'll see you after school, and we'll go to the park, okay boy?"

With that, Takato left the bakery, and began his trek to school. He was confident he would fare better today, not as distracted, since he saw how well yesterday went.

SHINJUKU MIDDLE SCHOOL

7:35 AM

"So what had you so distracted yesterday, Chumley?" Kazu asked Takato upon entering class before the morning bell.

"What's it to ya? You didn't believe anything I said last time."

"Yeah, well you always have your head in the clouds, but yesterday was a bit much, even for you. Ms. Asaji's never had to tell you three times."

"I'm not gonna waste my breath - you wouldn't believe me."

"What - another 'real' Digimon? You should get real dude. You're not fooling us."

"I don't have to; you're doing it just fine by yourselves."

The morning bell rang, and Ms. Asaji had everyone take their seats, ending Takato's and Kazu's argument before it could escalate any further.

MATSUKI BAKERY / RESIDENCE

10:30 AM

Mei had just finished mixing up a fresh portion of dough. Guilmon got a whiff of the particles of flour hanging in the air, and let out a sneeze, which slightly startled Mei. Once she made sure no customers took notice of the extra noise in the kitchen, she went over and checked on him. He was shaking his head, trying to get the tingle out of his nostrils.

"You'd best get used to it if you're gonna be in here often." Mei told him.

Mei took a few moments to just look at Guilmon. She recalled how she had told Takato on numerous occasions how they weren't allowed to have pets here, and that even so, he wasn't old enough to take care of one. Although the first reason was still deemed true, due to the building's foodservice purpose, she was beginning to see her error in her second reason. Takato was indeed proving himself capable. When he wasn't in school, he was spending every moment with Guilmon, making sure he had enough food and attention.

'If he had enough food, we'd be out of food.' Mei commented silently to herself. But still, there was something about this little guy. Why else would she have allowed Takato to break the 'no pets' rule, and even agreed to watch him while he was at school? She had to admit, it was adorable how he had said Takato's name last night. But she also couldn't help but wonder how big he was going to get.

Especially with how much he ate.

"Would you like a snack, Guilmon?" Mei asked.

The dino tilted his head quizzically. Mei turned away and headed for the adjacent counter. She returned a minute later with two halves of a bread roll, with peanut butter spread over them. Guilmon's eyes widened, as did his smile.

Thus, he learned the meaning of the word 'snack.'

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A/N: Not too long, I know. Like I said before, I'm not too sure where I'm going with this, if anywhere, and I wanted to let you guys know I hadn't dropped off the radar. Also, I have two stories on the back burner that I'd really like to bring forward. One is my sequel to my Loss and Gain / Life and Death story arc, entitled Love and Hate. The second is a videogame crossover entitled Campaign Mode. Long-time visitors to my profile may recall that the first few chapters to this fic were posted and, shortly after, removed. I didn't know where it was going, and I'm getting the motivation up to revise it, with some heavy encouragement from a friend / beta-reader. Until next time, this is MP, saying "I'm still here!"