Tri: Integrity Lens
Ketsui: Deterioration, Pt 1
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, nondescriptive mention of injuries, and vehicular accident.
The afternoon was bright, mild, and golden, a serene backdrop for a tense situation. Koushiro's pulse pounded in his head as he ran, audible over his heavy breathing. Taichi sometimes teased him about falling out of shape because of his sedentary, computer-heavy lifestyle. Koushiro brushed it off with a smile, but now, he was pissed to discover that Taichi was correct.
By the time Koushiro and Eimi arrived at Shiokaze Park, law enforcement had established a perimeter to keep civilians away from the digimon battle. A small forest surrounded the police line, and Tokyo Bay glinted in the background, with open grass in between. Sora, Hikari, and Takeru hovered a few yards away from the caution tape, looking uneasy. Koushiro glanced nervously about as he approached, avoiding eye contact with officers.
"Koushiro-san!" Takeru cried, beckoning with unnecessary waving. "Thank goodness you and Eimi-san are here."
"Has anything happened?" Koushiro strained to hear signs of a digimon battle, but there was too much ambient chatter, along with a distant whooshing that he couldn't place.
Hikari gave them a helpless look. "We don't know. Onii-chan should be here any second with Yamato-san."
"Has… anyone… heard from… Jyou-senpai?" Eimi wheezed, bent over. "He's the only one who… didn't respond."
Sora twirled a finger through the ends of her hair, which even Koushiro recognized as a nervous tick. "No..."
A puttering sound drew the group's attention, nearly lost beneath the whooshing, which Koushiro finally parsed as a helicopter. He turned to see Yamato pulling up on a motor scooter with Taichi seated behind him. When the bike slowed, Taichi leaped off, and Yamato hurried to stow it. The arrival of their strongest warriors was reassuring, but Koushiro wasn't sure that force could solve today's predicament.
Taichi's mouth moved, but a news chopper passing directly overhead drowned out his words. Squinting against the sunlight, Koushiro saw a man standing in the open cabin door, with a video camera propped on his shoulder. The lens pointed further into the park, somewhere beyond the trees. A woman sitting in the cabin leaned forward, holding a microphone.
Koushiro grimaced as his brain churned with possible outcomes, all of them bleak. Who knew what the camera was broadcasting, and what it might mean for the Chosen?
The helicopter veered over Tokyo Bay, far enough away for Taichi to be heard at shouting volume. "Any word from Mimi-chan?"
"She hasn't responded since-"
The rest of Sora's comment was lost beneath what sounded like bullets on metal. Koushiro jerked towards the noise and saw long, thin projectiles hurtling at the helicopter. Before he understood the churning in his gut, the visceral instinct that disaster was imminent, an explosion blasted from the engine. Fire roared from the rear of the helicopter, and the cameraman fell further into the cabin. The vehicle stalled and hung mid-air, as if the inevitable might not occur.
But gravity remained as relentless as ever. The helicopter plummeted, and the bay swallowed it with a massive splash.
The responding chaos- the screaming, the shouts of law enforcement, stampeding civilians- seemed far off, even as people bumped into him. Koushiro's senses could only absorb the churning ripples on the water, and the deadly situation roiling beneath them.
"Those were Togemon's needles." Yamato's voice was toneless, almost dull. Koushiro recognized the same numb shock that restricted his emotional response.
Taichi nudged Koushiro aside, clearing a path to run to the shore. The nearest police officer stepped into Taichi's personal space and roared, "It's dangerous! All civilians will evacuate, now!"
"Onii-chan!" Hikari cried. Taichi flinched, then turned back to the group.
"We can't leave the reporters and the pilot." The hunted, haunted look in Taichi's eyes tore at Koushiro's heart. And, as much as he hated to admit it, it punctured and deflated his confidence. What could they hope to accomplish if Taichi was so shaken?
Sora took Taichi's arm and turned him to the shore, where police rushed to the water. "We're not. See? Emergency personnel are in a better position to help. We need to evacuate before the police make us."
Taichi grimaced, but nodded. Koushiro suspected they were thinking the same thing: how would the police free the helicopter passengers in time? But then, being arrested wouldn't help anyone, and would only divert attention away from the victims.
"Let's retreat to the gazebo near Akemi Bridge," Sora suggested. Koushiro brainlessly trailed after the group, moving like a herd animal, until Hikari abruptly stopped just outside of the park's entrance.
"Where's Eimi-nee?" she asked. Koushiro's head pivoted as he counted. Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Takeru, Hikari. Mimi and Meiko were presumably further into the park, and Jyou hadn't responded. Everyone was accounted for, at least loosely.
Except for Eimi.
The others stared expectantly at Koushiro. Panicked, he babbled, "I, I don't know. She was just- Where could she have-" His phone chimed, a soothing acoustic guitar chord assigned to Eimi. "That's her!"
Koushiro slipped his phone out of his pocket and checked his messages. "She's… Asking me to let Galemon out of the Safe House."
"What?" Takeru echoed. "Why? Where is she?"
Koushiro typed the questions and read Eimi's response aloud. "She's… in the forest?"
Sora blinked. "The little forest by the bay? She got past the police line? But why-"
"Water," Yamato grunted. His expression was tight and drawn, as if facing an enemy, but his explosive need to act had no outlet. This left him rigid, barely containing that restless energy.
"Of course," Koushiro breathed. With Gomamon and Jyou elsewhere, Galemon and Eimi were the Chosen best equipped to handle aquatic emergencies.
"Fast thinking." Taichi shrugged, not in a dismissive way, but as if dislodging a burden from his shoulders. Just like that, he shifted from afflicted to purposeful. "C'mon, let's give her Galemon and get out of here." Koushiro slung off his backpack and booted up his laptop.
"But should we leave Eimi-chan behind? Will she be alright?" Koushiro didn't look up from inputting passwords, but Sora's concern was evident in her voice. "It's not like her to take risks."
Yamato tsked, more frustrated than irritated, it seemed. "It's not like her to let people drown, either. She'll be careful."
"She will." While Koushiro acknowledged that there was risk to exposing Galemon near law enforcement, he had total confidence in Eimi. He opened the Safe House, and the digimon crowded his screen, chattering questions. "Please, be quiet. Galemon, I can't explain, but I'm sending you to Eimi. She needs your help with a water rescue."
Galemon approximated a nod, and Koushiro input the transfer command. "That's all I can do," Koushiro said, closing his laptop. Whatever Eimi was planning, the rest was up to her.
Taichi nodded. "Yamato, can you wait here for Eimi and drive her to the gazebo? The rest of us will go."
Koushiro frowned. He wanted to wait for Eimi, to know she was safe as soon as possible, but Taichi was correct. Yamato was licensed to drive the motor scooter; he could provide Eimi with a fast getaway if needed. It was actively unhelpful to allow his emotions to override logistics, and yet…
Well, Koushiro was shaken. It was a strange feeling, being overwhelmed to the point where rationality departed. How much of him even remained when that happened?
Yamato looked at him, but Koushiro couldn't hold his gaze. After a brief pause, Yamato patted his back. "She'll be fine. I'll be here to back her up."
"Thank you." That was all Koushiro had time to say- Taichi was already leading the Chosen away. He stowed his laptop and hastened to catch up.
He hoped he could come back to himself soon, the way Taichi had.
XXX
Eimi scrambled through the copse of trees, moving towards the shore nearest the downed helicopter. She desperately tried to be quiet, but her breathing seemed thunderous, as did the crunch of sticks and leaves underfoot. It was cooler beneath the cover of the trees, and the terrible sounds from beyond were a touch muted.
But muted screams were just as disturbing as clear ones.
Eimi had slipped past the caution tape and into the forest while the police yelled at Taichi. That part was easy, thanks to the general confusion. As for what came next… She needed Galemon, and more luck than she cared to admit.
There were a million ways for this to go wrong. Bringing Galemon out, especially around law enforcement, was frankly… well, stupid. But letting the people in the helicopter drown…
How difficult was it to escape a submerged helicopter? How long did it take to asphyxiate? Even if the explosion hadn't hurt the crew, every second without oxygen was dangerous. She texted Koushiro as she raced along, fingers jumbling the message with panic. Then, she tore her laptop out of her backpack and held it open, facing away from herself, and kept moving towards the shore.
As Eimi neared the edge of the copse, Galemon burst from her laptop's screen. "Shh!" she began. "We have an emergency- Here-"
She sent Galemon a memory of the helicopter falling, then an improvised visual of people stuck in the cabin beneath the water. There are police, Eimi continued, switching to her mental connection with Galemon. Get in the water without being seen, and I'll tell you the rest.
Galemon nodded, then blinked out of sight. Eimi crouched against a tree near the shore and saw bubbles rise to the water's surface, evidence that Galemon had phased into the bay. She released a tiny breath. Galemon's ability to teleport short distances meant they might avoid detection.
Eimi inched back into the cover of the forest and sat on the cold ground, focusing on directing her partner over their link.
XXX
The shock of cold water rocked Galemon as she materialized in the bay. Then came a rush of warmth and strength as her evolution began, illuminating the water with white light. It felt wonderful, this surging of a self within that was stronger than her child form. This sense of connection to Eimi, the reminder of the integrity that fueled her progression to perfect form, grounded and supported her. Of course Eimi would mobilize to attempt a rescue. She would never be at peace if the people in the helicopter died- which meant that there was no time to lose.
Galemon's form reduced to light, which stretched into a larger body, humanoid from the waist up, fish-like from the waist down. When the light faded, Ningyomon remained. She was a curvy mermaid digimon with swirling clouds where hair should be, gently rising and dissipating from her head. Her fish half was blue, scales shimmering gold in direct light. Pink tropical flowers covered her breasts.
The circumstances were dire, but Ningyomon- or, more accurately, Gale, the name Eimi gave her- reveled in the water. Tokyo Bay's water quality was less than optimal, but to feel the cool caress of it, to propel this form she rarely experienced through it… That was bliss.
And then she tasted it: an abhorrent metallic sting in her mouth and gills. Raw, animal panic was beating, beating, beating at her mind from deeper in the bay, like fists on the blocked exit of a burning building. The emotions were horrific, even with her mental buffers in place. Even with intense focus, Gale normally struggled to link with anyone except Eimi. But when ambient emotions were high, they breached her mind, competing with her own thoughts and feelings, until everything blurred together. It was exhausting.
Do you see the helicopter?
Eimi's sweet voice rang in Gale's head, as clearly as if she stood beside her- more so, really. With it came another rush of feelings, all harrowing: fear, panic, guilt. Using their connection, Gale could see and hear everything in Eimi's mind. She tried to grant her as much privacy as possible, focusing on thoughts, feelings, and images that Eimi directed to her. But some things were loud, and right now, Eimi's brain was essentially screaming- and with several voices, at that.
Gale hesitated, struggling to gather herself. She needed to stay in contact with Eimi, which meant she could not close her mind off to limit the input. The overload of stimuli from Eimi and the trapped passengers made her feel nauseous and buffeted, like seaweed tossed in waves.
The waters were murky, but Gale knew where the helicopter was. Feel it, she responded, swimming towards the emotional clamor. A large, shadowy form appeared in the water. Gale sent the feedback from her eyes to Eimi, who said, That's it!
The helicopter still sank, trailing bubbles towards the bay's surface. Gale nearly hesitated, deeply repulsed. The damaged engine leaked oil into the bay, and if it coated her gills and lungs…
Well, her time frame for rescuing the humans was doubly limited. How long would they survive underwater? How long could she keep drawing tainted water into her body? If Gale failed...
That wasn't an option. From flashes of Eimi's thoughts, Gale knew that Togemon's needles felled the helicopter. Gale wouldn't allow her friend and teammate to accidentally kill an innocent- and she wouldn't allow the Chosen to bear the guilt of it.
So she continued on, pulling oil and blood into her gills, fighting the urge to retch. A man swam towards the surface, emitting panic. Since he was able to help himself, Gale decided to check the helicopter for any stuck victims. The cabin door was open, leaking red like a gaping wound. A single droplet of blood would disperse and tint a much larger volume of water. This much… It stained the bay crimson, floating from the cabin like grisly clouds.
Ignoring a rush of dread, Galemon seized the rim of the door and looked inside. A woman was buckled into a seat, limply floating against her restraints. A man tore at her seatbelt, struggling to free her. His eyes bulged when Gale approached, and bubbles cascaded from his mouth with what might have been a scream.
There was no time to explain, and no way to do so. Gale smiled and waved, the human way of indicating friendliness. Then she grabbed the stuck seatbelt and ripped it from the seat. The man made a strangled sound and launched himself out of the cabin, away from Gale.
There's so much blood… Even in her mind, Eimi sounded sick. Please, get them to the surface. If you see the video camera, take it, but don't waste time looking.
Gale seized the unconscious woman around the middle and glanced about the cabin. A boxy item matching the memory Eimi sent her was on the floor by the woman's feet. Gale held it with her telekinesis and burst out of the cabin, grabbing the other human as she easily outpaced him. Now that she had what she sought, it took mere moments for the mermaid to reach the surface. The man gasped for air, hacking and coughing, but the woman remained nonresponsive.
The police were focused on the man who had swum ashore on his own, likely the pilot. The cameraman pinned beneath her arm sputtered and hacked, and Gale hoped he would go unheard over the sirens and chatter. He beat at her side, but Gale blocked his fists with a shield. He couldn't help being frightened, so she kissed the crown of his head to reassure. When she reached the sandy shore, she gently laid the woman down while the man gasped for air, dragging himself away from Gale with his elbows.
A voice further down the shore cried, "Over there!" The rescued man pointed into the bay, still rasping too hard to speak, but Gale was already gone.
XXX
The Chosen approached the gazebo near the park, all panting, save for Taichi. There was a circular platform in the gazebo's center, and Koushiro collapsed onto it. Taichi, Sora, Takeru, and Hikari hovered around him as he booted up his laptop and opened the Safe House. The digimon crowded the screen, barraging him with questions. Their chatter was usually beloved, but right now, it scraped his nerves. He couldn't bring himself to answer.
Sora's phone rang, and she lifted it to her ear. "Mimi-chan! What happened?! Are you okay?!" She listened, brow furrowed, then lowered the device. "She said another distortion appeared, and Leomon- our Leomon, she thinks- came through it."
"What!" Takeru cried. "Was he infected?"
Sora repeated the question into the phone. "She thinks not. He dragged Ogremon through the distortion, and now the distortions are closed."
"They are closed," Koushiro confirmed, checking his tracking program. "Please tell Mimi-san where we are."
He tried to switch his display from the distortion program back to the Safe House, but his trembling hands couldn't work the track mouse. A few deep breaths later, the digimon stared back at him, a crowd of concerned eyes smushed into a small space.
"Are Palmon and Meicoomon okay?" Agumon asked.
"We'll know soon," Hikari replied.
A long, tense pause followed. Koushiro tried to work, to be helpful in some way, but his eyes just shifted from his laptop to his phone to the direction from which Yamato, Eimi, Mimi, and Meiko would arrive. A terrible eternity passed before he received a text from Eimi.
Relief at last, a tiny respite from the clamor of feelings. Koushiro exhaled, then reported, "Galemon helped the victims ashore and used her phasing power to avoid the police perimeter. Eimi is safe, so I'm uploading Galemon. I'll tell her where Yamato-san is waiting." He prepared the transfer and texted Eimi when he was ready. Soon, Galemon populated on-screen with the other digimon.
"Galemon!" Tentomon cried. "What happened?"
Sora placed a hand on Koushiro's shoulder and leaned towards the digimon. "Is Eimi-chan okay? How about the people in the helicopter?"
Except for Eimi, Tentomon was the being that Galemon most easily communicated with, due to their closeness and the amount of time they spent together. After a few exchanges between Galemon and Tentomon that sounded one-sided to the Chosen, Tentomon summarized, "Eimi-han is shaken, but safe. It seems like two of the humans in the helicopter were alright, but we're… Not sure about the third. Galemon says she had a pulse, but she was injured and unconscious."
Koushiro swallowed hard, and Sora's hand tightened on his shoulder. "At least Eimi-chan got out," she murmured. He nodded. Even in a sea of problems, that was something to be grateful for.
Shiokaze Park was not far from the gazebo, and before long, Yamato's scooter appeared. Yamato was not the type to hover and dote, unless your name was Takeru or Gabumon. So when he offered Eimi a hand up from the scooter and supported her arm, the relief that had soothed Koushiro evaporated. He placed his laptop on the seat and rushed to them.
"Eimi," he breathed. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, her face pale. When Koushiro offered his hand, she grabbed it with both of hers. They were clammy and trembling.
"Gale, did she- She got back safe?"
"Of course. Come sit, please."
Yamato followed them into the gazebo, where Eimi collapsed onto the seat. Koushiro sat beside her and handed her his laptop. She managed a rickety smile for the digimon. "Great work, Gale."
"That was some fast thinking," Taichi said, clapping Eimi's shoulder. "Amazing work, both of you. Thanks, Galemon."
Instead of responding, Eimi stared in the direction from which she and Yamato came. Koushiro followed her gaze and saw Mimi approaching at a run, carrying Palmon. While he was no digimon doctor, Koushiro could tell that Palmon had sustained damage. She tucked one arm under the other and stared anxiously about, the terrified look of a partner digimon who wasn't physically capable of defending their human.
Koushiro's teeth gnashed, sending a foreign shock up his jaw. His rational mind pointed out that their team's fighting power was decreased with Palmon injured. Usually, he focused on such logical concerns, but today, his emotions spoke far louder. He was afraid for Palmon and hurt by Mimi's recklessness for her safety. He was afraid for their partners, endangered by another mark against digimon in the public's estimation. He was afraid for the people in the helicopter, and for Eimi and Galemon, who seemed shaken by the rescue mission.
Mimi halted in the gazebo, panting. Gingerly, she placed Palmon beside Koushiro on the seat. Despite his rising, choking anger, Koushiro forced a smile for a digimon who had defended. "Palmon, would you like to go to the Safe House to rest?"
Palmon clung to Mimi's hand. Tears bubbled in Mimi's eyes, glistening baubles. "I'm sorry, Palmon," she said gently. "I really want you with me, but... If any police follow us and find you..."
Palmon cradled her wounded arm with the sound one. "Mimi..."
A tear slid free, and Mimi wiped it away. "I'm really sorry. I'll take you out as soon as I get home."
"C'mon, Palmon!" Agumon cried. "We wanna hear about how you saved Mimi!"
Mimi's plastic smile twisted into a wince, then corrected itself. Palmon nodded and reached a hand into Koushiro's screen, which absorbed her with a flash of light.
With Palmon secured, Koushiro moved the laptop from his lap to the center of the seat, where the digimon could view the Chosen. "What happened?" Hikari asked.
Mimi's body language tightened and closed off, a rarity for an open, confident girl. She crossed her arms and stared at the gazebo's concrete floor.
"Don't blame Meimei," she said. "It was my idea to fight Ogremon alone."
"I told you to wait." A tiny portion of Koushiro's mind was shocked at his directness. Most of it churned, almost writhed, with anger. "What were you thinking?!"
Mimi's hands snapped into fists. "I'm sick of digimon being bad mouthed! I wanted everyone to see Togemon push Ogremon through the distortion without violence. I wanted everyone to know that digimon are usually peaceful and kind! But Ogremon was too strong to push, and then Togemon's needles..."
Mimi broke off. Her eyes flit towards the bay, and another tear leaked free. She didn't appear to notice this one, to feel its hot touch on her flushed skin.
Koushiro stood, unable to remain calmly seated. "Your good intentions don't help. We're the only ones who know about them. Everyone else saw a digimon attack a human on national television. They saw another human egging on the battle. They saw you! So many people have been working to protect your identity as a Chosen for years, and you threw their effort away in a selfish attempt to force your world view on others!"
"Koushiro-kun!" Sora cried. Mimi's upper lip curled back, and she stepped towards him, encroaching on his personal space. The fury in her eyes alerted primal instincts that a problem was arising, but still, Koushiro held firm. It was all he could do, with his thoughts and feelings shifting towards hysterical.
Koushiro assumed that holding his ground would make Mimi angrier, but something in her seemed to shift. Maybe the fact that he wasn't relenting played a role. This wasn't normal for him, he knew. He hated it, hated feeling this way, hated speaking harshly.
But there was too much at stake to let this go, to pretend they weren't suddenly in a far, far worse situation than they were just a few minutes ago.
Mimi wiped away lingering tears, turned on her heel, and walked off. "Meimei went straight home. I'm going home, too."
The gazebo seemed to contain its own storm system, sparking beneath the curved roof, pouring down the pillars. Each of Mimi's steps was a clap of thunder. Koushiro stood frozen, breathing hard, just beginning to feel the strained mood of the group. With a distracted farewell, he closed the Safe House program.
Whatever they were going to say was likely best kept from the digimon.
When Mimi was out of earshot, Sora said, "That was uncalled for." Koushiro blinked, then looked to Eimi. He was willing to entertain everyone's perspectives, but right now, he only actively wanted hers.
With a hollow voice, Eimi said, "I'm sorry, Sora. I can't agree. From what Gale showed me, the cameraman and the helicopter pilot are probably okay. But the woman reporting…" When she hesitated, Koushiro took her hand, and she squeezed it- hard. She looked up at last, and his heart twisted.
Even before their adventures in the Digital World, Koushiro was forced to helplessly watch while Eimi struggled with her family situation. And the things they saw and suffered there, those many times they resigned themselves to death…
He had hoped, so dearly, to never see such anguish in her eyes again.
Eimi's voice shook as she whispered, "There was so much blood… The taste of it…"
She shuddered, and Takeru stepped back, alarmed. "Taste?"
"In the bay," Eimi clarified. Then, likely realizing that this didn't help, she added, "That's what Gale tasted in the bay: blood and oil. There was- Was overlap, so I, I tasted it, too." She drew a wet breath. "Mimi, she didn't… Didn't say anything about, about the people…"
Koushiro glanced around the gazebo and found various expressions of discomfort. When the helicopter fell, Koushiro's thoughts centered on their situation. Were the Chosen and the digimon at risk? What would this mean for them? Eimi's thoughts were for the victims in the helicopter. And, apparently, Mimi's thoughts were for her frustrated agenda. However understandable and admirable her desire to improve human/digimon relations were, well…
Hopefully, the Chosen could agree that promoting their goals simply wasn't the damned point right now. There was far too much at risk with far too many unknowns. And on earth, every action they took was in the public eye.
Taichi's grimace softened to something lost and sad. "She knows," he said gently. "That's why…"
"Why she ran away?" Yamato didn't snort, but the disdain in his voice was unmistakable.
Taichi winced. "Why she couldn't talk about it. But…"
Yes. But. Had a single word ever been so heavy, so ripe with foreboding? Koushiro still stood where he had scolded Mimi, frozen. He feared that, if he moved, he would never stop. So much risked and lost for the Chosen, and for unrelated individuals, because a single teammate acted without consulting the rest!
Eimi cradled her head in both hands. "We don't know how injured Palmon is. We don't know what will happen to Mimi now that her involvement with digimon is public. We don't know if people will connect us to digimon through Mimi. We don't know if people will start hunting digimon in retaliation. We don't know if those reporters… our, our victims… will be okay."
Eimi drooped, as if an invisible weight pressed her down. Koushiro sat beside her, but was too wary of eyes and tension to touch her. "We don't know," she murmured to her knees.
"What?" Yamato grunted. Everyone turned to him, and he snorted, likely to cover his embarrassment. "What else is on your mind? Don't let it eat you up."
"I'm s-sorry." Her shoulders shook, and Koushiro couldn't help responding. He wound an arm around her waist, steadying her. "I, I just... I was thinking about what we don't know, and I thought about Iori and the others..."
Koushiro didn't think it was possible for the group mood to deteriorate further, but the reminder iced over his insides. "It's okay," he lied, a knee-jerk response to the world crumbling around him.
Sora sat on Eimi's other side and placed a hand on her knee. "That's why we shouldn't fight each other. We need to stay strong together."
"Tell that to Jyou," Yamato growled. Koushiro gaped at him, stunned by the second sudden turn in the conversation, the roulette of whiplash.
This time, when the group focused on him, Yamato's reaction was pure ire. He began to pace, then abruptly stopped and crossed his arms. "Jyou is cautious. Always has been. But he used to know what matters."
This time, when Koushiro looked to Eimi, he found no perspective- just a dull, blank stare. Koushiro glanced around and identified a sort of despairing dread on most faces.
"Lay off," Taichi replied. "You know this is weighing on Jyou. He knows he should be here, but something must be stopping him."
"He's a third year! No one forces him to do anything!" Yamato snapped.
Koushiro expected Taichi to rise to Yamato's volume and passion, but he remained calm. "You know what I mean."
After a long pause, Yamato exhaled. "He needs to get his shit together." He turned and stomped off, and Koushiro barely heard his, "We all do."
Takeru stepped after him, then abruptly turned back to the group, his hands palm out. "Uh- I'll talk to him. Aniki, hold on!" Koushiro forced a grin, and Takeru ran after his brother. Soon, the scooter puttered away, carrying Yamato and Takeru off.
Sora sighed. "I'll give Mimi-chan some time before I call her."
Koushiro was tempted to thank her, but he simply nodded. He didn't say what he said to hurt Mimi. It was impossible to guess what she was really thinking, but she didn't seem to appreciate the implications of today's fight. Koushiro worried that her frustration with how things had turned out would eclipse more practical issues.
In short, her feelings weren't his concern at the moment.
"Are you alright, Eimi-chan?" Sora asked.
Eimi straightened. Tense muscles around her eyes and forehead lined her skin, aging her. "No? But... There's work to do." She took off her backpack and removed a large, wet video camera, branded with a news channel logo. "Gale recovered the news camera, but if it was a live feed..."
"We'll… Have to handle it, somehow," Koushiro replied. "Please, put that away."
"Damn, you even got the camera," Taichi muttered. "Let's hope the broadcast wasn't live, but…" He didn't finish the thought; there was no need. Breaking news feeds were live whenever possible.
Eimi stowed the camera, and Hikari placed her hands on both of Eimi's shoulders. "Take care. I know you're worried, but… Are you really okay? I don't think you should work right now."
"She's right," Sora agreed. "You should rest."
"Um." Eimi gazed at the girls, then sighed. She stood, and Koushiro rose with her. "I'll try. We really should get out of here."
Koushiro packed up as everyone said goodbye. Soon, he and Eimi were walking to the office in heavy silence. He was tempted to discuss the mountain of work that was suddenly necessary, but he didn't have the heart to. As always, something pushed him to take action, to soothe his worry by solving problems. But right now, what he wanted most was to curl up with Eimi, Tentomon, and Galemon for a nap.
He wasn't accustomed to wondering if their work would be enough.
Author's Notes:
Two things I want to point out! First, I tend to tweak the design of my original digimon each time I draw them, but I keep the text description the same. That's why the text description of Ningyomon doesn't match the drawing I did of her (AO3 only, sorry FFN readers). The second is that Meiko was present for the gazebo scene in Ketsui, but she didn't say much. It was simpler for me to remove a character pair.
I feel like I've mentioned this before, but the first major divergence from canon Ketsui is close now! I'm really excited! And the next chapter opens with a wonderful scene between Yamato and Takeru as they motorbike home from today's incident.
This story hasn't been updated since October 2021, which is wild! I wish I could say that regular updates are coming, but I'm just not sure how that's going to look. If you're looking forward to more from this fic, please do let me know! I could really use the encouragement.
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you're doing well, my dears!