Act 1: Beating Heart
Segment 1: Come From Away
Chapter 1-9: Just Like The Movies
Takaharu's phone was going off on its own. He was trying to study, but it would not stop. What was going on? Ah, of course it was Asuka. She had a habit of hitting the send button after every half-formed thought. Whatever. He could reply when he had time after dinner.
• • • • • • •
soccer girl
dude
Satsuki and I are Tamers now wwwww
you jealous
you better be www
18:41
there's gotta be more
yo
we should totally go Digimon searching
be so much fun
18:42
maybe Gabumon or Hawkmon know them too
hey is the card game club thing happening still
invite us both
18:43
oh
forgot
how was izumi's game
baseball right
18:44
Yeah, it was good
Lost in the last inning though
19:48
Check this out!
[photo]
19:50
OH
FUCK
19:52
wwwww
19:52
YOOOOOO
never seen that Digimon before tho
what is it
19:53
Lomamon, it said
19:54
wut
tf is a Lomamon
19:54
Never heard of it either
19:55
sounds like Roma
pizza
wwww
19:57
pizza w
It drank a quarter bottle of maple syrup
💸💸💸💸 yikes
19:59
go do delivery
or something
i believe in you
20:01
• • • • • • •
Takaharu rubbed his temples. Lomamon had a serious problem with maple syrup, though it more so had a problem with eating all the food they had. How could a single Digimon eat this much and not seem to be affected by it? He hoped it was just because Lomamon hadn't eaten well in days. "Dad," Takaharu asked, "would it be okay if Lomamon stayed?"
Shunpei turned from the TV. "That depends. How long are you asking?"
"I dunno, maybe a few months? Longer? I guess until we can be sure it's safe to send Lomamon back to the Digital World."
Shunpei grimaced. It was like needing to feed a third child with the amount of food Lomamon ate. "I guess, but…"
"But?"
"Can you work weekends? After high school is over, I mean. I need to make sure both of you can attend university, after all."
Takaharu nodded. His intended program allowed him to temp somewhere, so he figured he could always just use that money instead. It would delay him saving enough funds for travel, but he could make that sacrifice for Lomamon. Besides, how could he just send Lomamon away? It was obviously a lot happier here, and he wasn't heartless.
"Takaharu," Izumi added, "I can help out with that."
"No!"
"Why not?" Izumi was indignant. "Just because I'm in junior high-"
"That's exactly why you shouldn't!"
Shunpei added, "Your brother's right. You should focus on school for now."
Izumi crossed her arms against her chest. "Fine," she muttered.
Lomamon was oblivious to all of this, as it was too busy munching its way through a bag of wasabi-flavoured chips. "Hey Takaharu!" it said, tugging on his pant leg with crumb-encrusted paws.
"Can you wash your hands?!"
"I washed my hands before I started eating. Why do you ask?"
Takaharu facepalmed. "No, I meant washing your hands before touching something else. You're going to get crumbs and oil everywhere!"
"Oh! Sorry!" It continued eating, but there were only little fragments left in the bag. It stared into it, and then tipped the bag, sliding the last few crumbs into its open mouth. "Hey, I smelled something real nice when we came back. What were those?"
Takaharu looked at Izumi. "That could be a lot of things…" he muttered.
Lomamon seemed excited. "They had these big metal things that they kept turning!"
Izumi blinked. "Well, either that was the takoyaki stand or the waffles."
"Hey, why not get both!" Lomamon pipped.
Takaharu rubbed his forehead with the heels of his hands. "Lomamon… do you ever not think about food?"
"Why wouldn't I?!" Lomamon trashed the empty bag. "Food is the only thing in my life that matters!"
"Not even your friends?" asked Takaharu.
Lomamon froze, then its shoulders drooped. "I… I promised them, huh…" it whispered to itself.
"Oh… sorry about that," Takaharu apologized. Lomamon hadn't told them anything yet about what had happened to it for the last month.
"No, it… it's fine." Lomamon stared at its greasy paws. "It'll be fine. They're…" It whimpered. "Herissmon…"
Takaharu got out of his chair, kneeled down, and hugged Lomamon. "Hey bud, whatever's happened to them… we'll find out some day."
"Takaharu, you don't have to help me with this." Lomamon looked up with watery eyes. "That place is dangerous!"
"Lomamon," Takaharu replied, brushing back Lomamon's fur, "friends look out for friends, right? Besides, even if it is dangerous, I kind of want to see the Digital World myself." He looked over his shoulder at Izumi, who was still sitting at the dining table. "Hey, what if the Digital World is just like in the movies?"
"Which one?"
"Ah… right. I mean, any one of them."
Aki was not pleased. "Takaharu, if a Digimon is telling you the Digital World is dangerous, maybe you should trust it and not try to find out?"
"Friends, huh…" Lomamon muttered. "I've only been here for a few hours."
"Heh, well, that's me. I make friends easily." Takaharu added, "I should introduce you to some other humans, too! There's a few other Digimon that seem to be here now. Maybe you'll know some of them?"
Lomamon looked up at Takaharu's smiling eyes. This was better than just living out on the streets, and the whole family didn't seem to mind. Takaharu seemed like an honest person, too. "Sure," it replied. The chances were slim, but maybe it did. Even if they were strangers, there were always new Digimon to meet. Maybe they could work together to find a way home?
"Asuka, did you just walk here with Hawkmon? Like out in the open?!" Makoto was incredulous. "Didn't anyone freak out?"
Asuka grinned. "Yeah, it was fine! Nobody noticed!"
Hawkmon sighed. "I think that's because I was flying well above them."
"Details aren't important. What matters is, uh, hey Gabumon!" A horn popped up from the couch.
"Hm? A Hawkmon?"
"Do you two know each other?"
Hawkmon and Gabumon stared at each other. Gabumon hopped off the soft seat and padded over to Hawkmon. "I don't think so."
"Ah, that's unfortunate," Satsuki remarked. "Gabumon, weren't you looking for some other Digimon?"
"Yeah, a Kudamon." Gabumon sighed. "Oh well. Hawkmon, did you see any of your friends?"
"Hmm, I don't recall." Hawkmon lit up with some memory. "Actually, I should tell you all, I think I saw something here in the Human World that I remember seeing in the Digital World."
Satsuki raised her eyebrows. "Oh? What exactly?"
"How to describe it?" Hawkmon wondered. "It was red, and seemed to be made of wood, and had two pillars with a curved beam on top."
Satsuki looked at Asuka. "This sounds like a temple gate. Why would there be a temple gate in the Digital World?"
Asuka pondered it for a while. "Is it possible it's just coincidence?"
Hawkmon shook its head. "They've been appearing occasionally throughout the Digital World, along with some other things we couldn't explain. Nobody knew how they got there, only that they didn't look like something Digimon would build." It raised a claw. "Besides, over time, they'd fall apart and disappear all on their own too."
The two women blinked at each other. What could these be? Then Makoto interrupted the silence. "They just popped in and out of existence?"
Gabumon spoke up. "That's what I noticed too. There used to be barely any of these kinds of things, but then they got more common recently. We thought it was someone trying to play a long joke, but nobody ever stepped forward."
"Hang on. Was this at the same time as the Dark Digimon invading?"
"Well…" Gabumon trailed off. "Uh, maybe by coincidence."
"Oh?"
Hawkmon added, "Dark Digimon have invaded like this before, just… not quite at that scale."
Makoto sighed. "There goes that theory."
"What do you mean, brother?" Satsuki asked.
"Ah, nothing. It… it doesn't seem related. But I was thinking maybe the Dark Digimon invading caused the Digital World's borders to weaken. But if this has happened before, then it doesn't make any sense."
Hawkmon agreed. "There are lots of stories of Dark Digimon invading, going back hundreds of years. This isn't a new phenomenon at all."
Asuka wasn't satisfied. "But if there are human-built things in the Digital World, surely there has to be a reason for that."
"Of course," assured Makoto, "but it looks like we have a lot more research to do. Agh! I have too much to look at!" He was despondent. "Man, this is so much more interesting than my university assignments, but… gah, if only it was worth marks to look into this."
"Hey, do you think I should tell Rei about this?" asked Asuka. "Like, all of this."
Satsuki was unsure. "I don't think we should be going telling the whole world about this. They're not supposed to exist. This could cause an uproar."
"How bad could it possibly be?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe it could involve the government. They'd get all up in our business, follow us around. Maybe they'd take the Digimon away for research and do experiments on them. I'm sure the military would love to see this for themselves."
"Satsuki, that's awful!" Asuka was disturbed by the mention of experimentation.
"And it's true, no?"
Hawkmon folded its wings across its chest. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's a bad idea for us to be out in the open here."
Asuka sighed. "But how else are we supposed to have you travel around with us?" There was no reply from anyone. "So if nobody has any ideas, I guess we just have to risk it."
Satsuki's phone buzzed. "Give me a moment. Oh? Kazuhiko?"
• • • • • • •
Shimizu Kazuhiko
Hey! Do you have time after school tomorrow?
18:23
Are you asking me on a date?
18:24
Uhhh, not really
I wanted to show you something after the club wraps up
18:25
Oh, right. I forgot the Digimon club is happening tomorrow too
Speaking of which… say, hypothetically
18:26
Something the matter?
18:26
If you had a Digimon, how would you take it outside?
18:26
hm… Hide it in my phone, I guess. Why?
18:26
Oh, no reason. Just curious
18:27
• • • • • • •
Satsuki put her phone away. "I hope I didn't tell him too much. I asked what to do if I ever had to take a Digimon outside… maybe he's figured it out."
"Satsuki," Asuka laughed, "he would be all over you!"
"Me, or Gabumon?"
"Why not both? Hey, is that such a bad thing?"
Satsuki shifted her weight around. "I… don't really know about him, to be honest."
Asuka smirked. "Not your type?"
"He's got his head in the clouds, a bit. I prefer guys who are more grounded."
"Oooh, so Ryuta!"
Satsuki flinched. "No! He's too cold." She seemed serious about it, too. "Besides, he seems to want to make himself unknowable. Whatever. He can go do that." Satsuki cracked open a bottle of cold tea. "Hey, if you're going to ask me about it, then I should ask you." She took a sip. "Someone in class that caught your eye?"
Asuka turned red. How was she supposed to admit this? "I, uh…"
"It's Takaharu, isn't it."
Asuka shook her head. "Mm, no."
"Really? You two seem pretty similar, to be honest."
"Sure, we make good friends, but I don't think he's that attractive, to be honest."
Satsuki snorted, almost choking on her tea. "You know, if he finds out you said that…"
"H-hey! Don't you dare say anything!"
"I won't, I promise," Satsuki laughed. Asuka didn't look convinced. Satsuki motioned to zip her lips.
Asuka's phone went off. "Ahh! I'm getting called by mom!" She picked up the call. "Hey mom! Where am I? Satsuki's place. Yeah, I was just dropping by. I'll be home soon." Asuka suddenly snorted and held back a laugh. "What?" Satsuki, Hawkmon, Makoto, and Gabumon all stared at Asuka. Asuka, though, was giving quick looks at Makoto. "Ha! Heheheh, that's funny. Ah… Yeah, he's right here. Should I tell him?" Asuka paused. "Okay, I will. No, I was about to leave. I'll be back in no more than ten minutes. Okay, bye!" Asuka popped her phone back in her pocket. "Makoto, you forgot something in tutorials."
"I did?" Makoto looked around, then riffled through his bag. "What did I – ahh! Oops!"
"How do you forget your tablet?!"
Makoto facepalmed. "Help me, sis. I'm becoming a senior."
"Oh god, if you're a senior, am I supposed to be having a mid-life crisis?" Satsuki joked. "Actually… I think I am already having a mid-life crisis."
"Ugh… I'm going to need a cane soon," Makoto groaned, burying his face in his laptop. "Rei has it, I'm assuming?"
"Yep, said she was going to bring it when she visits in a few days. I gotta go! Promised mom I was going to be back soon. Hey, did Kazuhiko have any ideas on how to hide Hawkmon?"
Satsuki blinked. "Oh, right, he suggested using the phone."
Hawkmon and Gabumon looked at each other. "We're supposed to fit in that?"
"That's what he said. I mean, we all thought the same thing at some point," replied Satsuki, "so maybe it works?"
"Ah, well, I'll give it a try," announced Hawkmon. Asuka produced her phone. "Here I go!" Hawkmon jumped up into the air – and then seemed to turn to a flash of light that beamed into Asuka's phone.
"Whoa! Hawkmon?" asked Asuka.
The reply came from Asuka's phone. "It works! How about that?! Sorry for doubting you earlier."
"Are you okay in there? I'm not sure how I can see you in there."
"I'm fine! It's quite spacious, actually. Not too much to see in here though."
"Huh. That's too bad." She slipped her phone back in her pocket.
"Ah! These panels went dark!"
"Oh! Wait a sec, I think I know what happened!" Asuka produced her phone again. "Yeah, that makes sense, it's the phone cameras! That's what Hawkmon is seeing in there!"
"Well, I can see all around me something that looks like the room I was just in, but also that is true. I think."
"Hm… so then how do I know if you're in there or not? There has to be some way to check." She thumbed through her phone's settings and information. "Whoa – Hawkmon!"
"Is something the matter?"
Asuka seemed incredulous. "How do you take up fifty gigabytes on my phone?! That's, like, twenty percent of the storage on this thing!"
Gabumon looked at Satsuki. "Do you have enough space on your phone for that?"
"Uh, let me check." Satsuki tapped her way to the storage settings on her phone. "I can make room, if I move some videos and photos."
"Oh… it's okay, you don't have to."
"No, it's for the best. I'm not sure how we could move around otherwise. You can't fly like Hawkmon, after all."