Sayo doesn't think she's all grown up yet.
She thinks that she's still immature, still growing, still learning. There's so much more out there that she doesn't know about, so much more out there for her to find out. The world is just too big to know fully.
That's why she doesn't quite understand when Chief Julia calls her up to her office and entrusts her with such a huge task — she doesn't understand why it's her, not someone better. There are so many Tamers who would be better choices, so why her?
"Don't overthink it," is all Julia says, and she goes along with it, but she can't help but feel that this isn't her destiny.
Koh is a little boy growing up in a big city, but he doesn't think much of it. Instead he spends each and every day living life to the fullest (or so they call it). Komachi-nee comes over sometimes with her friends, and they look after him while Tailmon is out and laugh and sing and have fun.
Sometimes, Cheetah-nii will take him out to see volleyball games and he'll watch Tonpei-nii fight tooth and nail with Cheetah to get the opportunity to take Koh out to soccer games instead.
"Shut up, both of you," Pulsa-nii will come over and scold, looking quite displeased.
And meanwhile, Kenpa-nee and Komachi-nee will laugh in the background.
Sayo feel the weight of the world resting on her shoulders, her mind often wondering about what will happen if she doesn't win. Sometimes at night, under the moonless sky, she dreams of a monster standing tall in a sea of black flames that can only spell trouble.
It must be destroyed, she tells herself when she wakes up in cold sweat. The images of blood splattered on the floor in some twisted kind of abstract art are still fresh in her mind, and she can't seem to shake off the sense of foreboding.
The disturbing thoughts go away at around three in the morning as she scouts the area for food.
However, when the sun rises and she smells smoke, the feeling returns and she looks over her shoulder at the hills in the faraway distance.
Do you know who's the girl Chief asked to investigate?
A girl? Are you sure?
"Cheetah-nii," Koh asks one day after watching one of Cheetah's volleyball practices. "Is volleyball fun?"
Cheetah grins widely at him and gives him a thumbs-up. "Sure it is! You wanna have a go at it?" Koh shakes his head — surely, not timidly — and Cheetah frowns. "Well, that's a shame. Ha, I bet Tonpei'd be happy to hear this. He'll probably try roping you into soccer next."
He waits in silence as Cheetah drinks up, chats a bit with his teammates — Koh talks a little too, but he doesn't really feel right with them — and then once Cheetah's ready they go off.
"Do you like fighting then?" Cheetah questions curiously. "Y'know, like Gaoh-san and Lyla-san."
Koh stops walking and thinks a while. Cheetah looks at him.
"Yeah. I guess I do."
Expectedly, Sayo emerges victorious against the beast that threatens the safety of the Digital World.
She's strong, she knows. If she tried hard enough, maybe she could rise up in the rankings fast. But she didn't, because fame and power wasn't like her.
(Or rather, she wouldn't let it be like her.)
Keep telling yourself that, she thinks to herself, because she knows—
The change is subtle, but it's there. Slowly, but surely, it is becoming a part of her, and she doesn't know how to stop it.
The future never really is what you think it is. You can imagine everything under the sun, but when it comes down to reality, it's never the same.
People dream of vivid things, their hopes for the future, and they follow silly traditions like wishing upon a star, but nothing turns out as expected.
And maybe—maybe—when that future doesn't come true, people die a little, just inside.
Pulsa-nii tells Koh stories of a great, courageous young hero who saves CITY from impending doom that no one else could stop. She is an amazing girl — only a few years older than him — yet with a prowess that rivals even Gold Tamers, even though she herself has only recently attained the Bronze rank.
"So she must be really strong!" Koh looks up at the older boy in awe. "Do you know her, Pulsa-nii?"
Pulsa laughs and ruffles the shorter boy's hair. "Koh, please. She's from Night Claw. I don't know who she is. But I think…" Koh looks at him expectantly. "…if I'm not wrong, she's called Sayo.
"Kurosawa Sayo, I do believe."
I think she's the champion of the last tournament.
Well, that makes sense then.
Sayo used to believe.
But she doesn't anymore, now that she's all grown up (or at least, she thinks). Adulthood is scary when things become a thousand times more complicated than before and you're stuck alone drowning with no one holding on to you, supporting you.
Fighting used to be a hobby, a pastime, a measure of her strength; fighting is now nothing more than something stuck to her name (Fighter Sayo, Fighter Kurosawa or just Fighter — sometimes, she wonders if they really know her name) for all the glory she deserves. Or at least, they think she deserves.
Chief Julia has been plaguing her with missions nowadays. She's risen in the ranks, with skills said to be unparalleled by almost anyone else in CITY. She's unstoppable, they say.
But when your passion becomes a job, it suddenly doesn't seem that fun anymore, and any love you once held for it slowly disappears.
Koh's a little older now.
He doesn't really hang out with Pulsa and Kenpa anymore. He doesn't know anybody his age in Light Fang other than Mary Ann, who's just a couple of months older. They talk sometimes, but they don't always, and sometimes he feels like they're more of acquaintances than friends. Sometimes, when they see each other in the district, he smiles at her but she doesn't smile back and walks past him like he's simply air.
Well, there are probably other children his age in SunShine, but his obsession with the one called Hero of CITY contradicts with the majority of Light Fang's opinion — "It could've been us that had saved the CITY too. Night Claw always tries to glorify themselves."
He doesn't really mind though, and goes on his way every single day, his mind ever full with notions about the girl on the other side of CITY.
It's been a long day and she heads towards the SunShine terminal to return to DarkMoon when she hears someone running up to her — the footsteps are light and quick, so quick that when she turns around there's a little boy right behind her already.
"A-Are you really Sayo-nee?" His cheeks are flushed, eyes wide open in awe and amazement with stars in his eyes. "I—I've heard so much about you!" Giving her a toothy grin, he thrusts an arm out at the Sunmon next to him. "Will you teach me? I—I'm from Light Fang, and I know that they don't really like you, but…I'm not lying when I say that I want be like you when I grow up."
Sayo blinks in surprise at the request, unmoving. This little boy, his eyes filled with so much hope — his future seems so bright; it'd be a waste to ruin it by introducing him to the world of battles, wouldn't it?
But she isn't working right at that moment, and she's saying yes before she even realises what's happening.
"Okay. What's your name?"
"I'm Koh! Himura Koh!" his eyes burned so bright. "Are you really going to teach me, Sayo-nee? You don't mind that we're always talking bad about you?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Now, show me what you've got."
i suppose i owe an explanation: yes i do. this is greatly inspired by the afterfalls by momiiji (it's a haikyuu! fanfic) — you can find it under my favourites if you happen to be in the haikyuu! fandom or you don't mind reading fandom blind. so this basically combines three universes—
i. au where koh is older than sayo
ii. both canon universes
iii. au where sayo is older than koh
—or basically, sunburst, sunburst + moonlight, and then moonlight.
sunburst: it follows the sunburst storyline, except that sayo appears. i'm assuming that kenpa, komachi and all of the player's friends in the game were originally the same age as him, so in this au, koh is the only one who grows younger — i think it's quite obvious, yeah?
sunburst + moonlight: okay, fine. it actually isn't really canon universe, but it combines the canon events of sunburst and moonlight into one. hence, instead of just koh/sayo saving the world, it's both of them. and to be clear, the last two paragraphs were flashbacks of the tournament at the start of the game(s).
moonlight: follows the moonlight storyline, except that koh appears. just like the first chapter, i'm assuming that newton, dorothy and the others were originally the same age as sayo, hence sayo is older than them, but they don't make an appearance because she's not supposed to know them. yeah. and here, the light fang gang are older than koh.
error: i know the tournaments aren't called Grand Tournaments, but i just like the sound of it. so let's just pretend, okay? (smiles innocently)