Author's Note: OK, guys, as promised an episode about Kimiko. We learn a bit more about her personal life in this chapter, especially the deal with her and her parents - and of course I had to throw the others in too :) Would like to wish a good friend of mine: SoulVirus a Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday, Dude, hope you have a great day. :) x
Dedications: Big thank you too: super-anime-fan-23 and Artemis's Daughter 01 for adding this story and/or me to their alerts. Appreciate it.
I don't own Digimon. But I do own any original characters that are of my own design.
Title: Expect the Unexpected
Summary: Kimiko is the estranged daughter of Mitsuo Yamaki. For her fifteenth birthday she acquires the Digimon: Labramon and becomes the fourth Digimon Tamer.
Chapter Five: Love and Compassion
Labramon raised her head from her paws as she watched Henry, Terriermon, Guilmon and Takato play their little game or rock, paper, scissors. She wasn't familiar with the rules or the game in general, having never seen Kimiko play it before.
"Ready, set, Go!" the four of them said, throwing their hands out into the middle of the circle. Takato, Henry and Terriermon each drew a scissors, while Guilmon drew a paper. "And scissors cuts paper!"
Labramon rolled her eyes and nestled head once again in her paws. From what she could tell the whole purpose of Rock, Paper and Scissors was that it was a game of chance; fifty-fifty chance they you'd draw either of three options to beat out your partner. Unfortunately for Guilmon the only option he could draw was paper.
"Not your game, huh, buddy?" Takato asked as Guilmon keeled over in confusion.
"Technically that can be classed as cheating," Labramon said. "Guilmon can only draw paper from the three options, therefore the game is unfair."
"Don't be such a downer, Labramon," Terriermon said. "Next time I'm playing him for his peanut butter."
Labramon sighed, stood up and padded towards the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Henry asked. "I promised Kimiko that I'd keep an eye on you until she got home."
"Where is Kimiko, anyway?" Takato asked. He had wondered where the blonde was when Henry had turned up with two Digimon, instead of just one.
"She's out with her father," Henry said. "He doesn't really like Labramon, so she asked me to keep an eye on her. She shouldn't be long, but you can guarantee that she'll be unhappy when she comes back, you know how she gets when she's forced to spend the day with her father."
Takato nodded. "Yeah, they're not exactly a happy family, are they?" he asked.
"That's her father's fault," Labramon said. "Everything Kimiko does is done in order to please him, but yet he continues to overlook her. Do you know the real reason why Kimiko is so good at school?" she asked.
"Because she's a loner and spends all her time studying?" Takato said. Although it was more of a statement than it was a question.
"No," Labramon said. "That's just what she likes to tell people. The real reason is her father. Kimiko thinks if she can do well in school, and graduate early then her father will finally notice her. She strives for his love and approval, but always keeps coming up short."
"That's... kinda sad," Takato said.
Labramon nodded. "Yes, it is," she said. "But that's all Kimiko knows, or at least, it was. When she met you guys, a lot of things changed. Kimiko is still driven, that's not something that'll change, but she's not as driven as she used to be. She's starting to do things for herself now, and not just for her father."
"So I guess meeting us was a good thing," Henry said.
"Mhm," Labramon nodded as silence fell.
Unfortunately it didn't last long.
Baring her teeth, and biting back a growl, Labramon shot off out of the shelter, down the steps and onto the path below.
"Hey! Labramon, wait!" Henry shouted, following after the Retriever. Terriermon latched onto his partner, and swept himself up onto Henry's shoulders as they chased after the dog. Kimiko hadn't been kidding when she said Labramon was fast.
"Where is she going?" Takato asked, catching up with Henry.
"Another Digimon's appeared," Terriermon answered. "I can feel it now."
"Guilmon?" Takato asked, but the big red dinosaur didn't answer. Instead he growled, his eyes narrowing aggressively, and he too took off down the path after Labramon. "Hey! Seriously, would it kill them to slow down?"
~*Expect the Unexpected*~
Kimiko sighed as she rummaged through her wardrobe at the house she shared with her mother; outside in the kitchen she could hear her father talking on the phone, and tried her hardest to tune him out. He was, as per usual, on a conference call with someone back at the office. She didn't understand why he had brought her here; she could've easily come alone.
"Won't need that," Kimiko said, throwing clothes over her shoulder and onto the bedroom floor. She'd received a call from her earlier that morning explaining that she was going to be away from longer than a week, which meant that Kimiko was stuck with her father longer than planned. Annoyed, and a little upset, Kimiko had decided she wanted to come home for a few hours. She had led her father to believe that she was doing it simply to get her clothes, but she really wanted to be somewhere that she felt like she truly belonged.
"Kimiko, we have to go!" Yamaki shouted from outside the door. "I have to be back at the office."
"Then go," Kimiko answered. "I can walk back by myself."
"I'm not leaving you here alone."
"Why not?" Kimiko asked. "It's not like you care what happens to me. If you did, then you wouldn't leave me alone back at your place."
"I have people who can monitor you back home," Yamaki said. "Here, you are alone."
"Here I am home!" Kimiko argued. "No one's going to harm me here. Everyone knows me!"
"Kimiko, do not make this harder."
"You're the one making it harder. Just go, obviously work is more important to you than me, so just leave me, OK! I can find my own way back!"
Kimiko heard her father sigh from outside the door, and there was a thud which indicated that he had thumped something. But she found that she didn't care, her father could throw punches at inanimate objects all he wanted, but she still wasn't leaving the house with him. Stubborn or not, this was her home and she wasn't leaving until she was ready.
"Fine," Yamaki sighed. "You have your keys, and you know your way. Be sure to be home at a reasonable time, no more late nights."
"Whatever," Kimiko muttered, reaching for her headphones. She put them on, plugged in the jack to her music, and hit play. The thunderous booms of a base guitar drowned out her father's voice, and allowed Kimiko to recede further into her own world. She had gotten what she wanted, so why didn't she feel happy about it?
Maybe it was because she'd hoped her father would've put up more of a fight. A little part of her was kinda hoping that he cared enough to forget work and wait until she was ready to leave, maybe that today could be just about her. But obviously that had been just a dream, a figment of her imagination that would never become true.
It was in that moment that Kimiko realized how much of a dream she had been living. Her father was never going to approve of her, no matter what she did, or how hard she tried, he was never going to love her for who she was. She could be as smart as him and he still wouldn't recognize her.
A sigh escaped Kimiko's lips as she slumped on her knees. She'd been trying too long to impress her father, that she had forgotten the most important thing of all.
To just be herself.
As she sat over thinking her problems, Kimiko heard the distinctive high pitched squeal of her D-Power. She pulled off her headphones, and fished the Digivice from her jacket pocket. The screen was a bright red, but the moment Kimiko held it up in front of her an image of a blue dinosaur appeared.
"Allomon," Kimiko read. "An armored-Dinosaur type. Special skill, Dino Burst - great, the one day I don't have Labramon with me."
~*Expect the Unexpected*~
"Walk all over him," the red-head ordered her Digimon.
"My pleasure," Renamon said, jumping up and smashing her foot down onto Allomon's snout. The dinosaur responded by slashing his tail at the fox, and knocking her from the sky.
"Scaly bone, time to fight!" the red-head said, reaching in to her card holder for a modify card. She pulled one out and swiped it through her D-Power. "Digi modify! Agumon's frozen wind, activate!"
"You look a little overheated," Renamon said, jumping into the air above Allomon. "How about a nice cool breeze - Frozen wind!"
"Dino burst!" Allomon growled, firing the frozen shield with a huge fireball from his mouth.
"What are you doing?" the red-head demanded. "This isn't some stupid little game."
"Too strong," Renamon said, weakly. There was a burst of energy and she was thrown backwards into telephone line. Allomon growled and stomped towards her.
"Come on, get up!" the red-head shouted. "If you Digivolve you can beat him."
"Wow, you still don't get it, do you?"
The red-head jumped and turned to the sound of a familiar voice. She knew it at to be the blonde that hung around with goggle head and soccer tease, she hadn't quite figured out the connection between the three of them yet, other than the fact that they were all Tamers, and that they each acted like their Digimon was more than data. "What do you want?" she sighed, annoyingly.
"Well this is a digital field, and that is a Digimon," Kimiko answered. "Where else would I be?"
"Where's your pathetic petmon?" the red-head asked.
"You know, you don't have to be so mean," Kimiko answered, "and I don't mean just to me and the others, I mean to your Digimon too. If you actually showed Renamon a bit of compassion then maybe she'd Digivolve."
"Compassion makes you weak," the red-head replied. "Besides, why would I show compassion to a bunch of meaningless data?"
Kimiko rolled her head. "Save the tough talk, Red," she said. "I know underneath that cold demeanor is a soft heart. You think showing love and compassion is a weakness, but it's the only thing that's going to make Renamon Digivolve."
"If that were true then why hasn't your Digimon digivolved yet?"
Kimiko shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "From what I've seen, Digivolution only happens when things seem grim. Terriermon was able to do it because Henry showed how much he cared for his partner. Maybe when the situation arises, I'll show my love and compassion for Labramon and she'll Digivolve. But it won't happen until the right time, maybe that's what Renamon is waiting for... the right time."
"You talk too much," the red-head said. "Renamon knows that if she doesn't Digivolve soon then this partnership is over."
"I don't think you get to decide that."
"I don't care what you think," the red-head snapped. "She's my Digimon, and this is my battle, so beat it!"
"Fine," said Kimiko. "Geeze, you try to be nice and where does it get you?"
"I didn't ask for you to be nice," the red-head said.
"Whatever."
"Renamon, what are you waiting for?" the red-head yelled.
Renamon tried to stand, but was still severely weakened from her last altercation with Allomon.
"Pyro sphere!"
"Terrier tornado!"
"RetrieverG!"
Kimiko looked around, happy to see that her friends had arrived. "Hey guys', what took you so long?" she asked.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Henry asked. "I thought you were with your dad?"
"I was," Kimiko said, "but then he bailed. I figured you'd be here dealing with this, so I thought I'd come get Labramon."
"But how did you get here so fast?" Takato asked.
Kimiko pointed down the alley behind them. "My mother and I live just down there," she said. "I saw the Digital field from my bedroom."
"Hey, goggle heads," the red-head called. "This Digimon's mine, why don't you wannabe's find somewhere else to play?"
"Wannabe's?" Takato repeated.
"You don't have to be so nasty," Henry said. "Why are you always making your Digimon fight anyway?"
"Don't even bother, Henry, I already tried," Kimiko said. "She doesn't want to hear it, so she's not going to listen."
"You're damn right I'm not," the red-head said, swiping another card through her D-Power. "Digi-modify. Hyper chip activate!"
"You shouldn't be here," Renamon said walking past Labramon, Guilmon and Terriermon. "Stay out of my way."
"But why?" Guilmon asked.
"You can't beat him by yourself," Labramon said.
Renamon ignored her and walked back towards Allomon. She jumped into the air and fired the same frozen ice blast as before at him; Allomon responded by firing a dino blast fireball at the frozen shield, but it wasn't as powerful as before and soon he was nothing but a frozen statue.
"Diamond Storm!" Renamon said, summoning her primary attack. She covered the now frozen dinosaur in an array of shiny diamonds causing him to implode; without hesitation she absorbed his data.
With Allomon destroyed and the digital field gone, the red-head turned to leave. "Renamon, it's time to go," she said.
"Hey, wait a minute," Takato called out, stopping her as Renamon disappeared. "Can't we just talk?"
"Sure. I've got something to say," the red-head said. "Don't ever try that again, little boy. Renamon and I work alone."
"Does that qualify as a conversation?" Henry asked.
"Oh, and Princess," the red-head added to Kimiko, "Next time I want your advice, I'll ask for it."
"Yeah, whatever," Kimiko replied turning away. "Come on, Labramon. I got to grab a few things before I head back to Dad's. He's going to be really mad if he finds out I didn't come home."
Takato frowned and looked away from the red-head's retreating form, and onto his friends. "Where would you stay if you didn't go home?" he asked.
"I have two homes, Takato," Kimiko said. "One with my mum and one with my dad, although living with my dad isn't exactly home, you know?" she asked.
"Is your mum home then?" Henry asked.
"No," Kimiko said, shaking her head. "That's why I want to pick up a few things before I go back to my dad's. Mum called this morning; she's staying with my grandparents a lot longer than planned."
"So we're stuck with your father?" Labramon asked.
"Unfortunately," Kimiko said. Labramon groaned, and Kimiko petted her behind the ears. "Hey, at least we have each other this time. If I didn't have you, I'd be stuck hanging around Hypnos day in, day out - Hey," she added, stopping short and looking over at Takato and Henry who hadn't budged an inch, "are you two going to standing on the street all night, or you coming with me?"
Takato and Henry exchanged looks, but their answers were given when Guilmon and Terriermon followed after Kimiko and Labramon.
"Well," said Takato, "I guess that answers that question."
"Yeah, I guess it does," Henry agreed. "Hey, Kimiko, you're like a Digimon magnet."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Kimiko asked.
Henry shrugged. "I guess it depends on the types of Digimon you attract, huh?" he asked.
Kimiko giggled, and nodded in agreement.
~*Expect the Unexpected*~
Labramon padded her way out of the double doors of Kimiko's bedroom. It was late, but unlike any other decent citizen of Japan - unless of course you counted her father and his team at Hypnos - Kimiko was doing anything other than sleeping. Pushing herself up onto her hind legs, Labramon stared up at the moon.
After seeing Renamon destroy Allomon today, she couldn't but wonder if Renamon and her partner had the right idea, downloading the data of another Digimon was the only way to become stronger, and that's what Renamon was hoping would help make her Digivolve.
But Kimiko had never shown an interest in wanting her to Digivolve; then again Kimiko had never shown an interest in Digimon - other than her.
They were partners, yes, but Kimiko wasn't a fighter.
"Aw, how does it feel to go from a Digital Monster to a Domestic house pet?"
Labramon growled at the figure standing on the telephone line opposite her. From its scent she could tell it was a Digimon, but without Kimiko there to pull up any data on him, she was blind to his kind. "Look, I'm not a pet," she said. "Kimiko happens to be my partner."
"Well your partner's not that impressive," the new Digimon said. "She's not even willing for you to fight; it's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. All you Digi-slaves are the same. Deep down you want to be just like me. I mean, who wouldn't want to be like me? Handsome and free like a bird in a tree, ba-boom!"
Labramon rolled her eyes, and dropped back down onto all fours. She turned her back on the new Digimon, flickered her tail in the air and padded back into the dark bedroom. It was empty, Kimiko's books were open on her bed, but the human was gone. Labramon cocked her head to the side and raised one ear; she let out a breath of relief as she heard her partner out in the kitchen.
"All you Digi-slaves are the same," the new Digimon said as he followed her inside. "Protective over snotty-nosed kids who don't give a damn about you."
"You'll find Kimiko is different," Labramon said. "I've never met another person who can care about more than one thing at a single moment. She'd probably care about you, if you gave her the chance."
"Me? I don't want some snotty-nosed kid caring about me!"
"Suit yourself," Labramon said, jumping up onto Kimiko's bed. She made herself comfortable around the pillows, and rested her head in her paws. Suddenly Kimiko's D-Power showered the room with light, and an image of the new Digimon appeared above the screen. Labramon raised her head to the see the picture, and chuckled. "Impmon," she said. "I should've known."
"Hey, Labramon, who you talking too?" Kimiko called from outside.
"No one of any importance," Labramon replied. "Just a rodent."
"Who you calling a rodent?" Impmon screeched, firing up a mini fireball on his finger. "How about some tough love?" he asked, flinging the flame ball at her. Labramon reacted by blasting him with a clear spiral of her primary attack. Impmon shouted out as he was blasted through the window.
The bedroom door crashed open, and Kimiko rushed inside. She looked from her Digimon, who was standing up on the bed, her eyes narrowed aggressively, and her fur all ruffled as she bared her teeth to the open glass doors, to the night sky outside. But instead of seeing the usual stars and a full moon, Kimiko was met with a digital field.
"A new Digimon is bio-emerging," Kimiko said. "Labramon?"
"Right behind you."
~*Expect the Unexpected*~
Red shivered as she looked around at the spider's webs that covered most of the trees. She couldn't see the Digimon that had bio-emerged nor could see Renamon anywhere near.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Oh no," Red groaned as she turned to see Kimiko arrive with Labramon. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" Kimiko asked. "What are you doing here?"
"What does it look like, Princess?" Red asked. "There's a Digimon to fight. Why don't you just go back home where's safe."
"Why don't you back down and let someone else have a chance, huh?"
Red laughed. "What can you and that dog do?" she asked. "You don't even play the game."
"This isn't a game!"
"You're starting to sound like boyfriends," Red said. "How many times do I have to tell you that this is a game, and Digimon are nothing but data?"
Kimiko felt her hands ball into fists, and she glared at the red-head. "With an attitude like that your Digimon will never Digivolve," she snapped. "I actually feel sorry for Renamon, for being stuck with a cold-hearted ice queen like you!"
"Whatever," Red said, although she was taken aback by the outburst. From the moment she had first met Kimiko, she hadn't been able to take her seriously. From her blonde braids and small, innocent and young appearance, Red had never been able to take her seriously. It was sometimes hard to believe that Kimiko was in fact fifteen-years-old when she looked about twelve. "Renamon..."
"Labramon," Kimiko called to her partner. She wasn't about to let Red walk over her, she'd allowed too many people to do that in the past. There was more than one reason why she had once been a loner at school; most kids only saw her as the daughter of a doctor, while others saw her as a washed up dancer and in a way she was everything they claimed her to be. She did used to dance, but quit soon after her cousin disappeared, and her mother was a doctor and her job often took her away from home, which was why Kimiko's family life was a little rocky.
The kids had school had been quick to talk about her past, to spread rumors about her and her personal life. To criticize her for the decisions she had made when she quit dancing, and then laugh about her because she became so good at school. They didn't understand the real reasons about why she was making life-changing choices, when in reality she was just doing what she had thought was right. She had thrown herself into her school work in order to gain approval from her father, and she had thought if she quit dancing then she would get to see her mother more often than she had hoped, but her mother still travelled a lot, and her father continued to think work was more important than his own daughter.
But she was through letting people use her as a door mat. She was done letting people dictate her life to her. Done with people pushing her around, or talking about her personal life like it was written in some book for the whole world to see. She was a human girl, not an inanimate object. She was alive, she had feelings, and while she didn't demand respect off of anyone, it didn't mean that she didn't deserve any.
"Digi modify!" Kimiko said, swiping a card through her D-power. "Penguinmon's Ice Prism!"
Labramon shot several shards of ice at the Spider-like Digimon, knocking her away from a captive Renamon.
"Knock it off!" Red yelled, shoving Kimiko.
"You knock it off!" Kimiko said, shoving Red back. "You're not the only one who's a Tamer, you know."
"You're not a Tamer," Red snapped. "You're just a little kid who is in way over her head."
"Says the one who's acting like a spoilt brat because she hates being beaten at her own game!" Kimiko retorted. "I may not be much of a tamer, but I'm trying to learn."
"Well go learn someplace else!"
"Rika!" Renamon shouted.
"Kimiko, look out!" Labramon yelled. She had been captured by the spider-like Digimon, and was too caught up in the sticky web to do anything to protect her human.
Looking up, Kimiko screamed and dove aside, knocking the girl, now known as Red down as a silky, yet sticky web shot over their heads and attached themselves to a tree trunk.
"Kimiko, get out of here!" Labramon shouted.
"You too, Rika!" Renamon said.
Shoving Kimiko off of her, Red stood and dusted herself off. "I'm not going anywhere," she said, swiping a modify card through her D-Power. "Snimon: Twin Sickles, activate!"
Using her newly acquired sickle-arms, Renamon managed to escape the spider's web, free Labramon, and attack Dokugumon. Unfortunately, the spider brushed of the twin sickle attack, and set her sights on the two humans that were fighting one another on the ground beneath her web.
"Venom blast!" Dokugumon shouted, firing a purple cloud at the two humans.
"NO!" Labramon shouted, darting in front of both Red and Kimiko. She staggered as the purple cloud engulfed her, and when it cleared she collapsed into a heap on the floor.
Kimiko gasped and rushed to her Digimon's side. "No, Labramon," she said, stroking the dogs fur. "Why did you do that?"
"Because you're my friend," Labramon replied. "Kimiko, listen to me, please. It's not safe here. You have to go home."
"Not without you," Kimiko said.
Red frowned as she listened to Kimiko and Labramon. She may have come across as an Ice Queen, but the fear and hurt in Kimiko's voice was causing her frozen heart to melt, the idea that Kimiko was at risk of losing her most loyal friend, a friend that had just saved her own life, wasn't something that she could handle.
Maybe Kimiko had been right. Digivolution was about the love and compassion a Tamer had for their Digimon, and not about collecting data from opponents. Labramon hadn't been in a one-on-one battle yet with a Digimon, and therefore hadn't collected any data from Bio-emerged Digimon, but she also hadn't Digivolved either.
Kimiko had said Terriermon had only digivolved because his partner had shown fear and compassion for him; fear that he would lose him to Renamon's attack, and then when he had called his name and tried to intervene the weeny little rabbit had Digivolved. While she didn't want to believe that it was love and compassion that caused a Digimon to Digivolve, Red also couldn't turn a blinds eye against the truth.
Was that why Renamon hadn't digivolved yet? Because she was a cold as ice, like everyone claimed her to be.
"No, Labramon," Kimiko cried as she felt her partner become lifeless in her arms.
"I'm sorry, Prince -" Red started, but she cut off as a heartbroken scream burst forth from Kimiko's lips. Red cringed away and covered her ears in hopes of blocking out the sound.
A bright light exploded from Kimiko's D-Power, a light that enveloped Labramon.
Digivolution.
"Labramon Digivolve too..."
As the light faded both Red and Kimiko gasped as an animal resembling a cross between a lion and a dog stood before them.
"Seasarmon!"
"She did it," Red gasped. "But how?"
"It was Kimiko," Renamon said, appearing behind her partner. "It was Kimiko who made her Digivolve. Love and compassion is the key."
"So it would seem," Red agreed.
Calumon, who had appeared seemingly form know where, grinned and hurried over to Kimiko's side. "Game time," he said, looking up at Seasarmon.
"Let's play," Dokugumon said turning her back on the new champion level Digimon. "Poison thread."
"Payback time!" Seasarmon said. "Tee Dia!" he closed his eyes, and fired countless arrows of burning sunlight at the cobwebs that shot towards him. They disintegrated and disappeared before they could even reach a target, while the rest of the arrows attacked the cobwebs surrounding the park.
"Not so fast, hot shot!" Dokugumon said, jumping out of her web and heading directly for Seasarmon.
Seasarmon anticipated her attack, and charged forward. "You want more?" he demanded. "Tee Dia!" Several more countless arrows of sunlight appeared and attacked Dokugumon; she glowed a bright golden colour and then exploded into tiny atoms of data; data which Seasarmon absorbed without hesitation.
"You're not going to stop him?" the red-head asked Kimiko.
The blonde shook her head.
"Why not?"
"Because maybe you have a point too," Kimiko answered. "Digimon need the data of their opponents to maintain strength. Without it they wouldn't have the strength they need to fight, even at Rookie level. By the way..." she added, holding out her hand. "My name's Kimiko."
The red-head hesitated then smiled, and shook Kimiko's hand. "I'm Rika."
Copyrighted ©
A/N: Haha! This chapter was immensely fun to write - especially for a filler. So, Labramon finally digivolved, don't worry, I have the perfect episode for Renamon. Plus Rika and Kimiko finally got nicknames for each other. If you couldn't figure it out Kimiko will call Rika "Red" and Rika will call Kimiko "Princess".
In other news - I hate begging for reviews. But desperate time's call for desperate measures - did you all know that reviewing is a two-way door? I write, you review, if you review then I write... see the pattern?
Now, here comes the fun part: If you don't review, I don't write. If I don't write, you don't review. If no one reviewers then all author's cry because they think no one on Fanfiction likes their stories. So, please, please, PLEASE review?
Thanks all.
Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated Friday 9th May, 2014 at 01:53pm