I Want to be a Hero, Just One Last Time
Chapter 4
Written by: Jugglaomalice
Rika felt stupid.
She didn't know how else to describe her current state of mind and as she climbed the stairs of the apartment complex she couldn't help but review the events of last night, which just caused her to feel even stupider.
After thoroughly kicking her butt, Tai lead them to a nearby park bench before giving her and Renamon a bowl of miso ramam. He didn't say much after that, at least not to her. For the better, since at that time she wasn't really capable of cognitive speech. So she and Renamon just ate in silence.
"Tai, give me a bit of your ramen," Agumon said after he finished slurping up the broth from his bowl.
"No way, this is mine," Tai flatly replied.
"Come on, I'm still hungry. Just a bite?" Agumon whined as he tried to force his chopsticks into Tai's bowl.
"Back off lizard breath. If it wasn't for me watching your diet you would have digi-volved into Porky-mon long ago," Tai shot back.
"The nerve!" With that the two got into a 'chopstick' fight over ramen.
Rika simply watched them with a bewildered expression. It was the same expression she had on her face now as she stood outside the apartment. An expression that asked, "How did I lose to this idiot again?"
Shaking the thoughts from her head, the young girl reach out her hand out... and politely pounded the hell out of Tai's front door.
Inside the small darkened flat Tai began to stir lightly form his spot on the sofa.
"I'm not home," He mumbled as if the person outside could hear him. The pounding continued.
"I'm not home," He said with more coherence and he buried his head with a sofa cushion. The pounding continued to echo into his room despite his best efforts to get it to stop.
"Alright, I hear you!" Tai shouted as he threw a nearby plastic cup at the door to signify he was awake. Tai grudgingly got up and tiptoed his way through the mess that was his living room. He stopped briefly to regard his partner, who was passed out with a ramen bowl over his head. Tai had reluctantly agreed to allow him to eat the leftovers from Rika's and Renamon's bowls.
"Lazy digimon could probably sleep through the apocalypse," Tai said with smirk as if he envied the orange dinosaur. As he contemplated this thought the pounding on his door renewed itself.
"I'm coming!" Tai shouted at the door before storming over to it and swinging it wide open. "WHAT?"
Standing outside was a redheaded elementary school girl. Probably around 10 years old.
Rika regarded the young man in front of her. Clearly he was barely waking up. He wore a white muscle shirt and the same pants he was wearing from last night. Also he only had one shoe on.
"It's 11:45 in the morning on a Sunday. You should be up by now." The young girl said in a lecturing tone.
Tai blinked back in surprise, "You again. How did you find my house?"
"Duh, I followed you last night remember?"
"Oh right, stalker girl. I remember now."
Rika scoffed at this remark before she welcomed herself into Tai's home without his permission.
"Oh, come inside. Thank you, I'd love too," Tai mumbled to himself as he closed the door behind her.
"What are you mumbling about back there?"
"Nothing, I was just imagining a world where people had manners," Tai replied with his traditional sarcasm.
"How can you see anything in here?" Rika ask as she struggled to a nearby window before pulling the blinds open and flooding the room with the afternoon glow.
"Aw natural light, it burns!" Agumon cried out as he rolled away to the nearest dark corner he could find.
Rika observed the traditional living room/kitchen combo room that was common for apartments like this. The kitchen looked fairly unused and the living room looked overused. The floor was littered with various junk, books, and garbage.
"Where do you sleep? There's no room for a futon." She commented.
"It's too much trouble to get the futon out. I have a sofa." Tai replied as he dropped down onto the sofa, "Now can you tell me why you're here so I can hurry up and kick you out. I feel like I'm breaking the law just by letting you inside."
"I'm here to pick you up. So hurry up and get dressed so we can leave."
Tai smiled, "Hey Kid, I don't think we've fully been introduced. I'm Tai and this is 'My Boot'," He gestured towards his right boot which he hadn't taken off, "Do you want to know what his last name is?"
"What?" Rika asked, clearly confused by this introduction.
"Up Your ass as in 'My boot' is going to go up your ass if you tell me what to do in my own house again, understand Kid?" Tai violently declared.
"My name isn't Kid. It's Rika. I already told you that."
"Well Rika, you can either tell me what you want or you can get out and let me go back to sleep."
Rika crossed her arms in annoyance, "Isn't it obvious why I'm here?"
"Humor me."
"So you can train me become a stronger Digimon Tamer."
Tai couldn't help but burst out laughing at this point, "For one, I don't even know what a Digimon Tamer is so I can't help you become a better one. Second, even if I did know, why would I waste my time trying to make you stronger?"
Rika was stunned at this as she stammered, "But last night. The promise. You promised."
"Really holding me to that, huh? Well the promise is a simple two step plan. First, you stay home where it's safe and away from me. Second, you let me fight all the wild Digimon. Promise kept."
"You can't be everywhere at once. If you helped me get stronger you won't have to protect me anymore."
"I don't know. Sounds like a lot of trouble to me."
"What kind of lazy half-ass Tamer are you?"
Tai stood up and stretched his arms out, "I'm not a Tamer. I'm an EX-DigiDestined, but right now the only thing I'm destined to do is go to the bathroom. I expect you to be gone by the time I'm out."
Rika began to mentally panic. He seemed adamant on denying every one of her requests. He clearly wanted nothing to do with her, which just made things even more difficult.
"Isn't there anything I can do to make you change your mind?" She pleaded, at least as much as her pride would allow her.
Tai stood up and scratched his head in an attempt to try to find some way to milk the situation in his favor. It's not like his moral code would allow him to extort milk money from an elementary kid though. "Tell you what. Make me some breakfast and if I don't die from eating it I'll hear you out."
"What do I look like, your maid or something?"
"There's the door then. Don't let it hit you on the way out." Tai casually replied as he left to perform his morning rites.
"Damn jerk." The young girl grumbled as she resigned herself to her fate. The kitchen was much cleaner than she expected, but was clearly suffering from a lack of use. A thin lair of dust had formed over almost everything except the fridge and microwave. She did a quick check of the cupboards only to find a single loaf of bread.
"OK, maybe the fridge will have better results." She thought out loud as she opened it up. The fridge offered very little as well and the first thing that caught her attention was... was that a trophy? In the refrigerator? She pulled out the slightly over one foot tall trophy that had a small gold soccer ball at the top.
"MVP, Kamiya Taichi," She read. Now that she thought about it she couldn't help but feel like that name sounded way too familiar. It was a shame she couldn't put more thought into it as she quickly remembered that she had to cobble together some kind of meal for this jerk. The only other things in the fridge were a bottle of mustard, a sliver of butter, and a cartoon of eggs that, thankfully, still had a few eggs inside it.
"I'm sure I can do this," She said, more to herself than anyone else. Heaven knew she wasn't talking to the still sleeping orange lump on the floor that was suppose too be the most powerful digimon she had ever faced.
She quickly threw some bread into the toaster and then proceeded to clean off a pan before placing the butter and few eggs into it. No problem, she'd be done in no time. The eggs didn't seem to be cooking very fast though so she raised the temperature on the stove and that's when she noticed the smoke coming from the toaster.
"Shit, is nuclear the only setting this thing has?" She cursed as she quickly unplugged the out of control appliance. She carefully took out the two black discs that were suppose too be toast.
"It's not that bad," She assured herself as she examined them, "Oh who am I kidding. I can't even make toast right." Rika had been so absorbed in the burning toast that she had failed to notice the burning eggs till that moment.
"Shit."
It was shortly after this that Tai finally made his way out of the bathroom with a towel draped around his neck and a fresh set of cloths.
"Man, a shower in the morning is sometimes all you need to make the start of a bad day seem good again," He said to himself before spotting Rika who was sitting at the living room table. "Oh, you're still here. I take it you made breakfast then."
"Yeah, you can say that. You didn't have much to work with," She replied as she nervously scratched her cheek.
"Yeah, it's been awhile since I've gone shopping. Let's see how well you did," The Ex-DigiDestined said as he took a seat across from the young girl. He eyeballed the plate with its blackened foodstuffs before poking it with his chopsticks. Finally he picked up a piece of toast and began to scrutinize it closely. "What is this?"
"Huh, toast," Rika answered.
"Toast?" Tai repeated, as if doubting the answer.
"Toast!" Agumon cried out as he jumped out from behind Tai and snapped his jaws shut around whole piece. Agumon happily began to chew before a look of disgust slowly came over his face. "This taste like charcoal," The Digimon whined.
"Serves you right you crazy dinosaur! You almost ate my hand!" Tai shouted as he slowly breathed out in an attempt to relax himself again. He looked up at the young girl across from him. At the moment she was avoiding his gaze, apparently finding her hands more interesting. "You can't cook, can you?"
"Not really," She honestly admitted.
"You want to become some all-powerful tamer and you can't even toast bread."
"You don't have to rub it in."
"Not rubbing it in. I'm actually impressed. This whole affair is so important to you that you were actually willing to try and do something you knew you were no good at," Tai mused as he folded the second piece of burnt toast and took a bite out of it
You're actually going to eat that?" She asked in disbelief.
"Well sure, you made it so it would be rude to not eat it. You know, when you get past the burnt flavor it's not that bad."
This idiot was spending way too much time trying to shallow a piece of toast that was barely edible, and with a smile on his face no less, because he didn't want to come off as rude. This guy was so ridiculous and with that over exaggerated chewing motion, it was clear he was putting on more of a show than actually eating.
"He does look kind of funny," She grudgingly admitted to herself before accidentally letting out a small giggle. Tai was quick to pick up on her mistake though.
"Did Little Miss. Sourpuss just let out a laugh?"
"You're just hearing things," Rika said in an attempt to cover for herself.
"Nope, I'm sure you just laughed."
"It's true. I heard you laugh too," Agumon concurred as he once more joined the conversation.
"I don't laugh," She nearly shouted as she turned away to hide her face which had begun to burn red.
"Oh, now she's blushing," Agumon teased.
That was the last straw for Rika. She would have to regain some of her dignity through sheer violence now as she quickly spun around and began to yell, "I'm not blush-" but she ended her sentence midway at the sight before her. Before her both Tai and Agumon had their cheeks puff up with air and pulling at their own ears in order to make two of the silliest monkey faces she had ever seen in her life. The action was so far out of left field that she completely forgot why she was mad and burst out laughing on the spot.
"Double monkey face from behind. Gets them every time," Agumon said as he performed a fist-bump with Tai. Tai nodded in agreement as he watched Rika's laughter begin to die down.
"You know, you're actually really cute when you smile, Little Miss. Sourpuss," Tai teased as he ruffled the young girl's hair. "So where are you taking me?"
Sadly due to her intense embarrassment at having lost her composure twice followed by being called cute had caused Rika to burn so red that it ended up toasting her brain to the point that she could no longer remember why she came here in the first place. This resulted in her giving Tai a somewhat blank stare as the college student stood up and put his jacket on.
"Don't give me that blank look. The agreement was you make me something to eat and if I lived through it I would give you more time to hear your request. Well I'm alive and, lucky you, I have nothing else to do for the rest of the today. So let us be off. I have to get Agumon something to eat or otherwise he'll cry like a little girl," Tai jested as he gestured towards the Digimon who was getting his hoodie on.
"I won't cry."
"Sure you will, you sad excuse for a dinosaur."
"The only thing sad here is your love life."
"Oh Agumon, low blow. We promised not to talk about that subject," Tai said as he placed his arm over his eyes in a dramatized fashion. Both shared in a laugh at that moment before the subtle growl of Agumon's stomach brought them back to attention.
"But I guess I am kind of hungry," Agumon admitted sheepishly.
"I'm thinking tacos."
"Where are you going to find tacos in Japan?" Rika asked as the two boys prepared to leave the house.
"I know a guy. Why? Did you want some too? Now that I think about it, is Renamon outside somewhere? Does she want tacos as well?" Tai asked as he left the apartment, followed by Agumon and finally a confused Rika.
"I've never had tacos," Rika admitted.
"Then you are missing out. Come on," Tai insisted as he and Agumon lead the girl downstairs and to the corner of the first floor. There he stopped in front of the corner apartment and knocked on the door. Shortly afterward the door opened to revel a stocky, tan-skinned man with black hair and a goatee. He wore a pair of long jean shorts and an extra-large black shirt.
"Hey Tai, what can I do you for this morning?" The man joyfully asked in an accent that Rika couldn't quite place.
"Jesus, my man!" Tai exclaimed as the two exchanged friendly fist bump, "I was wondering if you have any breakfast tacos left."
"Sure man, I saved some for you because I know how much you hate to cook. I just finished the first lunch batch too. You want some from there?" Jesus asked as he gestured inside before he looked behind Tia and noticed Rika. When he did see the young girl and leaned in towards Tai and in a loud whisper, "Tai I know you've been kind of lonely man, but isn't she a bit too young."
"Very funny, Jesus and yeah some lunch tacos sound great. Give use couple of the usual then and throw in a few extras while you're at it."
"Sure thing, just give me a moment," Jesus said as he went back inside to get Tai's order.
"Jesus works at a car dealership nearby," Tai explained to a confused Rika.
"Is he a mechanic?" Rika asked for clarification.
"No, what you think just because I'm Mexican the only thing I can do is work on cars or something?!" Jesus angrily answered her question as he came back to the door.
"No sir, I wasn't implying anything like that. I wasn't aware it was a sensitive subject," Rika hastily answered back with a respectful bow. The last thing she wanted was to appear racist to a foreigner. Her politeness was answered back with the loud laughter of all three of the men there.
"Jesus actually works with export & imports of said dealership," Tai clarified between laughs.
"But to be honest, I started out as a mechanic overseas," Jesus explained when his own fit of laughter died down. "It just so happens that the company I was working for had just gotten lucky and scored a new trade deal with Japan and as a result several overseas positions were opened up. I was learning Japanese at a local community college and decided to apply for the fuck of it. I never expected to get hired, but when I did I jumped at the chance. I love this country! Great pay, benefits and I can walk down the streets and not worry about the police busting a cap up my ass for not being white."
"But why did you sound so angry just now?" Rika stammered, unsure how to explain the quick shift in the foreigner.
"You see, in America there's this somewhat racist joke about all Mexicans knowing how to fix cars. Jesus here likes to use this to make other people feel uncomfortable," Tai added into the explanation.
"And the tacos?"
"That's just something I do when I have some extra time in the day. You know keep in touch with my heritage and all that. After a while people wanted to try them and pretty soon and had neighbors and co-workers wanting to buy some. A few extra bucks in my pocket, so why not?" Jesus answered as he handed Tai a bag filled with tacos. Tai handed Jesus a few bills and thanked him as the group walked off.
"So Rika," Tai said the name somewhat hesitantly, as if he were testing bath water for comfort, "You never told us where we were going."
"Just follow me and don't worry about it. Everything will be clear in a bit."
"Well I do hope it won't take long. I'm really getting hungry and would like to sit down to eat soon," Agumon mentioned as he followed the girl in stride with Tai.
Tai and Agumon exchanged nods as they followed the girl down a subway tunnel and boarded one of the shuttle. Tai didn't really bother paying any attention to the destination and placed more focus on keeping sight of the small red head. The shuttle ride was quick, taking only about 20 minutes before they departed. Tai recognized the area as a recent Digimon hotspot in the past month and had removed several wild Digimon from the surrounding locations himself. He had also lost track of several portals as well.
"Maybe the kid's not so clueless after all," He thought as the pair continued to follow the girl into a nearby park. It was a large park, much larger than the small picnic area that was located near his home. Too large perhaps, as he began to take in the area and noticed lots of places to hid out of the public eye here. She lead them to a reclusive location in the back ends that housed little within sight except what looked like a large play-dome that were popular with children of all ages.
Nearby were two young boys who were busy talking excitedly about what ever youth spoke about these days. They both froze at the sight of the Tai as if he had entered some forbidden paradise. What really caught Tai's attention those was the nearby Terriermon who was playing with a red dinosaur digimon that Tai had never seen before. These two froze as well at the sight of the new comer.
Tai immediately planted his face in the palm of his hand, "There are three of you? I thought it was bad enough with just you, but now there are three of you."
Rika immediate spun around at this comment, as if insulted. "I'm nothing like these amateurs!"
"Pot, meet kettle," Tai deadpanned.
"Do you have to give me that attitude now?" She angrily hissed at him.
"Boop," Tai said playfully as he poked the girl on her nose, distracting her from her anger.
Rika protectively covered her nose afterward as if afraid he would perform the embarrassing act again. "What was that for?"
"You shouldn't get mad so easily or you'll get wrinkles and ruin your pretty face, also, you should have told me there were others."
"You said it was dangerous if I was by myself."
"So you went out and recruited a team?"
"I didn't. It just sort of happened like this. I thought you would approve the idea of there being more of us."
"I'm glad to see you two get along so well, but do you think you can introduce us to your friend there, Rika?" The boy with blue hair and an orange jacket finally asked.
"You can call me Tai," Tai answered, in her stead. With a shrug of his shoulders, as if resigning himself to his fate, motioned towards Agumon, "And this is Agumon." At his introduction, the small orange dinosaur, who had remained quite till now, stepped forward and pulled off his hood to revel himself.
"Your name is Tai and you have an Agumon? Just like the Tai from the anime." The other boy happily said. He had messy brown hair, a blue hoodie, and wore a pair of goggles on his head. Tai felt a bit bothered by how similar his dress style was to this 10 year old.
"I would imagine it would be similar to the anime. Especially once you consider that that character was based off me."
End 4