DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story and later stories (except where stated).


CHAPTER 23

Their Insomnia


REAL WORLD

Matsuki Residence

01:01 JST

5th July 2010

Takato groaned, tossing his pillow over once again in the near-blackness of his room. A dim light shone through the closed blinds from the ever-awake city, dimly lighting the room as well as the futon he lay on. Guilmon snored quietly, a rarity, at the end of the bed, and a digital clock's red matrix digits stared at the boy across the room, reading 01:02. The device was largely redundant thanks to the alarm on his D-Vice, but he removed that at night to leave on his table, and in his mother's own words "The more alarm clocks you have, the more chance you'll actually get up on time someday."

An alarm clock was the last thing Takato needed at the moment, as he turned over to stare at the ceiling in a desperate attempt to get to sleep. The attempt failed, as the familiar sense of something being wrong and uncomfortable returned. He scrunched his eyes up, relaxing his whole body, but found that even that failed to get him to sleep. Every time that feeling of insomnia returned, along with a sweeping fear of the events that followed, namely falling asleep in class and getting extra homework for the rest of term.

'What's wrong with me?' he thought, as he stared up at the ceiling, eyes temporarily left open upon realising that it would be a while before he fell into his world of dreams. His hazel pupils glowed slightly in the night, as he glanced around at the shadows in his room.

Dreams were normally no problem for him, neither was getting to sleep. The problem normally was avoiding dreams and falling asleep, the former normally leading to consequences with Rika (at least on one occasion), and the later leading to consequences with Mrs Asagi.

He still wasn't sure whether he'd managed to complete the homework correctly. Distraction by the events of the day, and Chaos' refusal to help in order to annoy him (but at the same time, trying to avoid having an incarnation knowing nothing of Japanese history without his intervention), had lead to doubts in his mind about the content. Ah, who cared anyway, Mrs Asagi rarely made them redo homework unless it was truly terrible. Takato hoped this wasn't one of those cases. Regardless, Chaos was asleep right now; raising questions in Takato's mind about how part of him could sleep while the rest continued to be awake as normal.

He looked to his normally red partner, now a greyish colour due to the lack of light in the room. He had seen little of the dinosaur during his Sunday, and apart from the occasional visit from Renamon with updates, he had also been completely unaware of what was really going on. It wasn't the first time the dinosaur had been left out and left alone, but normally Calumon and/or Impmon or one of Takato's fellow Tamers would turn up to keep him company. But they were all at the hospital, well, most of them, and the others had other important commitments, or were too far out of the city to make the trip to the hospital and back before the day ended possible.

It had definitely been an eventful two days, be it the actions and revelations of the first day, or the pain and sorrow of the second. He was hoping for some normality, always a rarity in their lives. Be it a new enemy, a bog-standard bioemergence or Terriermon making a jest about Rika and being paralysed for several days, there was always something going on in their city. However, that was 'normal' to them, and what was happening now simply wasn't.

'How did he die and then return?' Takato pondered, thinking back to the day's events. Not only had a heart rate monitor, a deactivated D-Vice (something which Takato's eyes had been drawn to), Harmony and even his own Chaos, confirmed his death, he had stopped breathing for at least a minute. He personally didn't know anything about medicine (although Chaos seemed to from when he was Doctor Jekyll. Takato had laughed, before Chaos told him that he had decided to use one of his incarnations to reinact the book, before changing the subject after a long pause), but it was just simple sense to him, a fact pressed into him by life: Once people died, they were dead. That was the rules, probably the most integral rule of the universe.

So how had Ryder managed to throw the rulebook out the window, like most players of Monopoly do? The difference was, this cheat changed far more things than simply allowing one player to buy everything on the board. This cheat defied life, the universe, everything, and something felt very wrong about that. Sure, he didn't want Ryder to die, but…Ryder had died.

What effect would he have on the universe? Then again, he didn't have a destiny in the first place to affect it with. Maybe that was why he survived; those without destinies cannot have fates. But that would've surely made him free to die at any time?

Takato clutched his head as he sat up, groaning in annoyance at himself, and his avoidance of the true issue at hand. All these thoughts about Ryder were simply a way of stalling his true concern lately, which naturally, was dominating most of his mind.

'How am I going to be a father?' the brunette thought, as he fell back onto his pillow, considering the child Rika was to bear to him. He was sixteen, he was half God, he tamed a large red dinosaur, and his life seemed to become more risky by the day, how would he balance being a father on top of that?

He hadn't even told his parents yet, something he was afraid of. How would his mother react to the news that her son had not only had sex, but that his girlfriend, albeit one of three years, was now expecting? And he wasn't sure how his father would react either. Everyone saw him as too much of a child, primarily because of his clumsy ways; this was definitely going to change perceptions, even seeming out of character.

Once Rey was born, how would their lives change? What sort of arrangement would they have to make? So many questions ran through his mind that he closed his eyes in an attempt to silence them, breathing out, but it was not as affective as he hoped. To boot, it also created another problem, Rika's pregnancy wouldn't go unnoticed for much longer, be it to friends, relatives, and their fellow schoolchildren, not to mention the press and Digital Watch. They'd have a field day.

Takato tightened his fist in anger at himself. How could he simply consider those factors, and not the emotions of the girl he'd fallen in love with? She'd go through so much in the coming months, and Takato knew that she was expecting him for guidance. He'd said so many times that he'd be there for her, even when he had doubts about himself. But Takato knew that even his words couldn't help, Rika had a habit of bottling her true emotions up, pretending to the world (convincingly or unconvincingly) that she could find. Rika may have found some solace in Takato's words, but Chaos saw through it. Heck, even he could see through it, knowing Rika better than anyone, possibly with the exception of Renamon, Harmony and of course, Rika herself. She'd need more than simple words.

Takato shook his head, the idea was insane, and better left for a lot later in their lives. At the moment, they had far too many problems to deal with.

'Just sleep…please sleep…' he thought, closing his eyes.


Somewhere

"Okay, so where the hell am I then?" the boy called again, his voice echoing somehow despite the area lacking walls. The words reverberated off unseen objects, suddenly coming back to him far louder than they left, forcing him to cover his ears.

The boy's eyes moved gradually out of bewilderment as he looked for anything in the inky blackness (excepting the star-like pinpricks of light) that could've caused the effect, before he slowly moved his hands away from his ears.

"Okay, that was weird…" he whispered, trying to avoid the effect again. The sound came back at near-normal levels, as the boy decided to be more careful, slowly whispering each word, and shaking whenever the sound became too loud. "I…think…I…need…to…come…up…with…a…plan…"

He frowned at the reverberations, glancing at his hands and crossing them in front of his chest.

"RETCON!" he called out loud, the sound echoing back loudly through wherever he was, but nothing happening. He groaned in annoyance, looking around as the groan returned, and cupping his hands around his mouth, shouting loudly and then promptly covering his ears. "MARI! MARI! IT'S RYDER! I'M STUCK IN HERE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE I AM!"

He waited for the sound creeping past even his hands covering his ears to stop, and looked around, frowning once again. He pinched himself, frowning at the lack of pain.

'So…this is my own dreams then…god, I hope I can wake myself up sometime soon…'

The lights suddenly began to group once again into an image, Ryder covering his eyes to shield himself from the blinding light.


Nonaka Residence

02:29 JST

The pillow collided with the table, the D-Vice placed on it dropping to the floor with a clunk, as Rika breathed deeply. "Why the hell can't I sleep?" she said quietly, growling with each word to make up for the fact she couldn't scream at the top of her voice.

She glanced around, curious to the fact that Renamon hadn't yet turned up. Then again, she did expect her fox-like partner to consider that it could've been a product of her mood swings, and leave her to her own time to think through her problems, which were emphasised by her new condition.

She slammed her head down on the second pillow, uncovered by the displacement of the one that once covered it. Nothing seemed straight-forward any more, she couldn't even trust her emotions any more. Anger faded, replaced by sadness as she stared up at the ceiling beams, frowning.

'How am I going to manage this?' she thought, once again unconsciously placing her hand on her still-flat belly, something she knew would soon be over. She'd have to tell her parents and her friends before it became more obvious. Hell, it wouldn't be long before the whole world could tell. She wasn't exactly an unknown; being the daughter of a famous model, a Tamer who had saved the world, and a multi-tournament winner at the card game gave her of all people a press image. She could only begin to imagine what the press would say about her teenage pregnancy, not to mention Digital Watch. Digital Watch knew plenty about their lives already, even her bra size (still a mystery), so they would inevitably be the first to figure it out. And then…they could react in any way…she only hoped she would be able to summon up the courage to tell her friends and parents before it reached that point.

She turned her head to the side, feeling her eyes well with tears, clenching them shut to hold it back.

'Takato said he'd always be by my side…' she repeated in her mind, her eyes snapping open and a few tears pouring down her saddened face.

She clenched her teeth, gripping her sheets tightly as she tried to reassure herself with her own words. Takato said he'd be there for her; Takato was always going to be there for her, whatever happened.

Her mind threw its weight against this, looking for some way to make the situation worse. "So where is he now?" she asked, feeling further tears pour freely.

She bit her lip hard, clenching her eyes shut as she tried to block out the thought, causing it to pervade her consciousness further.

"I hate myself…" she muttered, grabbing the sheets tighter, and burrowing her head into the single pillow. She groaned, stretching herself out as she struggled to sleep. She pushed herself up, walking groggily over to the table, picking up the creased pillow and casting her glance down to her D-Vice. She frowned at the time, 03:40 in the morning. Why couldn't she sleep? What cruel god of fate thought it fun to tease her like this?

She growled silently at her daughter Rey, her mind making a link where there wasn't any. Takato would pay for causing her insomnia, she would…

Rika stopped herself mid-thought, frowning and feeling guilt and regret cross her. 'No…it's my fault…I know it is…'

"It really isn't your fault alone…"

Why was she blaming herself again and again? Why was she treating Takato like he could do no wrong? Maybe she'd always felt that way, Takato was the one of them who was rarely depressed or saddened. Anger in fact seemed to be his strongest emotion, well beyond that of most people. She rarely saw him sad though, but Takato seemed to have a habit of keeping things bottled up. She could see it from time to time in his eyes, she'd wanted to bring it up, but she'd held herself back. But why? Was she afraid of her perception of him changing?

She sat back on the floor, clutching her legs in a way similar to the foetal position (an irony she would've noticed at any other time), but not shaking in the way that pose implies. She stared into her pale-skinned legs, the darkness of the room (excepting the dim city light through the translucent door) making them hard to see until her eyes fully adapted to the limited light. They had begun to pale and glow slightly, as her mind continued to wander through her thoughts.

Her heart yearned for him, but her mind (and sense) acted far more realistically. It was the middle of the night for god's sakes; Takato was going to be fast asleep by now. Not only that, but her parents (and probably his too) would be uneasy with him staying over, in case they did anything they would regret.

'Ah the irony…' she thought sadly, glancing up slightly and grasping her D-Vice, the device activating as it felt her pulse and her energy fed into it. The screen lit up, but oddly failed to be harsh on the eyes, almost as if it was linked to her perception and consciousness rather than being an ordinary screen. She pondered where that particular thought had come from, before considering that it would probably be one of Harmony's latent thoughts leaking forth into her mind.

She grasped the object tight in her hands, as if it were her only hope in the world. She looked at the screen, her mind noting that Renamon was currently sleeping according to it. She considered calling her partner in order to have someone to talk to, but she didn't want to trouble Renamon with her mood swings.

She glared at the device's screen, attaching it to her wrist and running through the screens, as if looking for an answer. She frowned; she didn't know what she was expecting to find in its memory.

'I need you Takato…no…I don't…I mean…not all the time but…great, I'm beginning to sound like him...even in my thoughts…'

Rika groaned, crawling back to her bed with pillow in hand, thumping it down on top of the other one as the air spread out of it. She herself fell back on the bed, beyond bothering about removing her D-Vice as she stared at the ceiling, pulling her covers up and rolling onto her side, pulling her arms close to herself.

"Just…sleep…" she muttered. "Please…sleep…"


Stevens and Flynn Residence

03:02 JST

Realmon frowned, pressing her head into her front paws where she lay on the floor of the apartment. Her nine tails lightly stroked her head where she lay, the gentle touch substituting for that of her Tamer, who currently slept soundly on the sofa above. Sure, Rey could've used Ryder's unused bed, but she had decided against it, instead preferring to use the sofa out of a mix of respect and fear. The girl had definitely inherited her father's habit for being able to sleep easily, something the fox would've appreciated at the moment. Imagining everyone in the city but her being asleep saddened her, the fox feeling alone.

She'd felt alone for a while.

Sure, she was almost always with Rey, today being one of the rare times when the pair were separated, but lately she'd felt…distant. They spoke, and telepathed, but it was always shallow talk. Rey had once told her partner all her problems, but now she seemed to keep them all hidden from even her. What was worrying her so much that she couldn't even tell her closest friend? Sure, there must've been some things she'd only told him, but they never seemed to get to her normally.

Seeing Rey, the wonderful, quirky, lively girl, hiding her feelings from her closest friend and partner saddened the miniature version of Renamon's champion form. She had to get through to her, but how? Rey had unfortunately inherited habits of keeping her feelings hidden from all but her partner, and the combination of Rika's and Takato's habits in this had seemingly pushed it to the point where even that wasn't possible.

Realmon hoped for some battling action soon, something she never thought she'd be hoping for. Getting to stretch her legs in her higher forms sounded like a great way to relieve her stress and concern, albeit a barbaric way. Her champion form was simply powerful, her ultimate form more tactical, and this choice of strategies had proved greatly useful to Rey during the war.

Realmon frowned, curling up more tightly, and clutching herself with her tails.

'Just sleep…please…sleep…'


04:15 JST

Mari turned over, opening her eyes once again as she struggled to put herself to sleep. She glanced to her D-Vice on the bedstand (thankfully working as normal, even with its trip into the toilet), frowning at the time.

"Quarter past four in the morning…" she moaned softly, turning over and closing her eyes, yawning as her auburn hair was ruffled and spread about on the pillow. "Just sleep…please sleep…" she muttered.

A sound moved in the blackness of the room, and Mari sat up, eyes widening as she looked to the figure now sat at the end of the bed, her pale pink silk pyjamas moving with her.

"Ryder?" she asked, looking to the boy at the end of the bed, looking completely real.

"You look like you've seen a ghost..." he replied, smiling a brief smile.

TO BE CONTINUED…


And so things become yet more interesting. The next chapter is particularly good, and emotional too, so you don't want to miss it. Anyhow, keep up with the reviews, and I'll keep up with the writing.

Next time…

Will they ever get to sleep? What is Rey hiding? What's Ryder doing in Mari's bedroom all of a sudden?

Find out in 'His Feather', Chapter Twenty-Four of Dimensions Book Five: Demons.