Disclaimer – I do not own Digimon.

Chapter 2

That afternoon, Akie sat silently as she rode the packed subway home. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that the rumbling of the train on its tracks was silent to her. She was trying to decide what she would say to her parents about her "plans" with Yuri the next day.

Ken and Rie Hasegawa, Akie's parents, owned a small restaurant that catered specifically to foreigners. The restaurant had been in the family for generations, but Akie knew for a fact that her father hated it and her mother had grown tired of constantly having to deal with foreign tourists. The only reason why they kept it open was to honor Akie's grandfather, who had died years ago before Akie had even been born. That's why her parents had started saving for university early. So that Akie could go away and figure out what she wanted to be on her own instead of being forced into doing something she didn't want to do.

They would be so disappointed in her if they thought she valued some silly game more than her education.

Akie sighed and leaned back in her seat. She had no idea what to do.

Akie turned silently down the side alley that led to the back door of her parents' restaurant. She made her way carefully down the alley, past the empty food crates that had been piled high against the wall of the restaurant and the internet café that stood next door. She slid open the back door of the restaurant and stepped inside silently.

Akie stood inside the doorway and slipped out of her street shoes and into her slippers.

"Akie, is that you?" Akie's mother, Rie, appeared at the top of the back staircase that led to their apartment above the restaurant.

"Oh, hey, mom," Akie said, smiling as she looked up at her mother. She turned and slid the door shut again.

"Where have you been, Akie?" Rie said, stepping aside as her daughter started climbing up the stairs. "You're late for dinner."

"Oh," Akie said, pausing on her way up the stairs. "It was my turn to clean up the classroom, so I had to catch a late train home." She stepped around her mother and turned the corner into the living room.

"I wish you would have told me," Rie said, following after her. "I would have waited to prepare dinner if I had known you were going to be late."

"I'm sorry, mom," Akie said, smiling apologetically at her mother. "I guess I just forgot because of all the studying I do."

"It's alright," Rie said. "Just go put your bag in your room and hurry to the kitchen. You know how your father gets when he's hungry." She smiled playfully at her daughter.

"Yeah, alright," Akie said, nodding. She watched as her mother turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

Akie sighed and stared around the living room silently. The apartment she and her parents lived in was full of books, most of which had been bought before she had been born. Her parents had, however, purchased several dozen more books after she had been born to help her decide what she might want to study at university.

Akie could still remember the day her father had installed all the shelves in their apartment – in the hallways, the kitchen, and the living room. That had also been the day her father had removed the television from the living room and taken away all of her toys and other various play things.

"These things are for lazy people who have no intention of making anything of themselves later on in life," her father had told her as he carried her favorite stuffed animal out of the apartment. "But you're a smart girl, Akie, and I know you're better than that, and I know you're going to become something wonderful when you get older. You won't let me down…"

Akie had been five years old.

"Hi, dad," Akie said several minutes later as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Hello, Akie," her father, Ken, said, looking up at her. "You're home late tonight."

"She had to stay after school today," Rie said as she set a plate of food down in front of her daughter. "Isn't that right, Akie?"

"Yeah, that's right," Akie said as her mother sat down next to her.

"Not because you were in trouble, I hope," Ken said, frowning at her.

"No, of course not," Akie said, shaking her head. "It was my turn to clean up, that's all."

"Yes, that's right," Rie said, nodding. "You know Akie would never do anything that would get her into trouble."

"Just making sure," Ken said, taking a bite of his food.

"Anyway," Akie said, looking down at her fingernails, "my friend, Yuri, invited me to go with her to the Shimizu Toy Store after school tomorrow."

"A toy store?" Rie said, looking at her. "I don't understand, Akie. You've never showed any interest in anything like that before."

"Yes," Ken said, nodding his head in agreement. "Why would you want to do something like that?"

"I don't know," Akie said, picking at her food. "Just to be polite, I guess. Yuri said they were giving away free Digivices tomorrow, and she wanted me to go with her to pick one up."

"Well, what's a Digivice?" Rie asked her.

"I'm not really sure, actually," Akie said, looking at her. "Some sort of video game, I guess, that lets you raise and battle some sort of digital pets called Digimon." She laughed quietly. "Pretty silly, huh?"

"Indeed it is," Ken said, taking a bite of his food and looking as though the subject was not one that should be laughed about. "Isn't Yuri a bit old for that sort of thing?"

"She's the same age as me, thirteen," Akie said, looking at him. Her smile faded when she saw the look on his face. "So, yeah, I guess so, but, you know, some people are just a bit more childish than others." She took a bite of her food and looked away from him.

"It's really up to her parents to decide," Rie said in a voice full of forced cheerfulness. "Don't you think so, dear?"

"Well, I suppose so," Ken said, nodding, "but Yuri's parents are going to be sorry when it's time to take the finals that they let her spend all of her free time playing video games instead of studying."

"Yeah, I bet," Akie said, nodding as she saw the look her mother shot at her. "Then she and I won't be in the same school anymore."

"That's right," Ken said, smiling at her. "You'll be in the good high school."

"Let's hope so," Akie said, smiling. "I mean, it's not like I don't study enough."

Rie shot her a warning look, and Akie's smile faded.

"That is so true," Ken said, causing the other two to look at him, shocked.

"What?" Akie said, feeling slightly stunned. It was incredibly rare for her father to agree with anything she said.

"You know what, dear?" Ken said, looking at her. "Why don't you go with Yuri to the toy store tomorrow, only don't bother picking up one of those Digivice things. You need to focus on your studies."

"No, of course not," Akie said, smiling. "Video games aren't really my thing, anyway."