Act 1: Beating Heart

Segment 2: New Year, New Life

Chapter 2-2: Dramon December

Monodramon looked around carefully. It couldn't stand it anymore. Surrounded by piles and piles of canvases, sketches, paint, pastels… Kazuhiko had tried his best to help it appreciate his practice, but Monodramon just didn't get it.

And the door was cracked open just a bit. What if…? Kazuhiko was too busy mumbling about disliking the perspective angle he'd picked for an exterior render and was clicking and keying around in a modelling software. He had no idea Monodramon was tiptoeing out of his bedroom. The bedroom door silently opened.

Kazuhiko jumped. An ear-piercing scream went through the apartment. He turned around. Monodramon was gone! "Monodramon!" he yelled. "Goddamn it-"

"Kazuhiko! What on earth is this?!" Hideji yelled. He had cornered himself in the living area. "What did you bring in here?"

Monodramon had slipped out of Kazuhiko's room when he wasn't looking. He couldn't fault it. Being stuck in a room full of art material when it had no interest in that was going to be tough. Still… this was awkward.

"Uhhh, Dad, I can explain! Ah, uh, yikes, where do I even start?" Monodramon, for its part, was sitting peacefully at the dining table, sipping on apple juice as it usually did when the two of them were on their own. "Geez, Dad, do you remember the cards I was showing you some time ago?"

"No! What does that have to do with this?"

"Oh, uh, t-these!" Kazuhiko produced a deck of his Digimon cards. This wasn't a very helpful explanation.

His father was incredulous. "You – how?! I thought these were supposed to be fiction!"

"Ka-kazuhiko, son, why are its claws so big?" Fujie was more concerned about the massive size of Monodramon's claws and wings. At least, to her, it seemed massive. Fortunately nobody had seen any larger Digimon yet.

"Because it just is that way, mom!" This also was not very helpful. His parents eyed Monodramon from across the apartment.

Monodramon turned to Kazuhiko. "We're not in trouble, are we?"

"Ah… you're not, but I probably am," Kazuhiko admitted. "Heheh. Don't worry about it, we'll be fine! I think. Eep."

Hideji managed to regain some semblance of composure and readjusted his thin half-frame glasses. "Goodness, Kazuhiko, how long has it been here?"

"Hahah, uh, about two… three? Four? Months?" Kazuhiko's brain had a tendency to shut down when he was anxious. "September is… twelve minus nine… three months, yeah."

Fujie was still panicked. "Kazuhiko, what exactly is this?!"

"I said it was a Monodramon!"

"Kazuhiko," remarked Hideji, "I think you have to explain a bit better to your mom what Digimon are." He shook his head in disbelief. "I still can't trust my eyes." He cleaned his glasses, as though that was the problem. Nope, when the glasses went back on, Monodramon was still innocently sitting there.

"Monodramon is a, uh, … Monodramon, help me."

"I'm a Dragon Digimon!" This just seemed to terrify both of his parents more. "What? Kazuhiko told me people around here loved dragons."

"Monodramon… I meant the long, skinny ones."

"Oh, yeah, you told me that," it remembered, finishing off its bottle of apple juice. "Hey, that sounds like Qinglongmon!"

Hideji was incredulous. "There are other Dragon Digimon out there?!"

"Well, of course, dad! There's, maybe, I dunno, like a hundred? Monodramon, exactly how many types of Dramon are there?"

"I dunno, a lot."

Fujie seemed to have finally caught her breath, but her hair was a mess. "Kazuhiko?"

"Uh oh." Kazuhiko swallowed nervously. He was much more concerned about his mom being unhappy with this arrangement.

"No, don't worry about it. It's fine. You said it's already been a few months?"

"Yep."

She sighed. "What about Takaharu? Does he know?"

Kazuhiko laughed and tugged at his collar. "Uh, not only does he know, he, uh…"

"How many Digimon are there out here?! Wait, have they been on this planet this whole time? Please tell me no."

"I guess since September, I don't know about before that. If there are any somewhere else in the world, I haven't heard about it."

His parents finally seemed to calm down. "Well," Fujie huffed, straightening her sweater, "at least Monodramon seems relatively peaceful."

"Heh, you should see me when I get into a tussle!" it said proudly, punching the air. "I could take on a –"

"Monodramon, please, you're going to scare my parents again!"

"Oh, oops."

"So, uh, Mom, Dad… what do you think?" He grinned nervously.

The two of them were still backed up in a corner, looking carefully at Monodramon's winglets. "If… if you can manage it, I guess," stammered Fujie.

"What do you mean, 'manage'? I'm not a pet!"

"Ah! S-sorry," she apologized. This was going to be a weird December.

Satsuki sipped a mug of tea. It was the last Sunday before Christmas. Unlike most families in Japan, they did care about it, although they didn't really decorate the house or give gifts; they just spent some time off. It was a nice break from the constant cycle of work – especially since for her, her applications were due in just a few days.

She was nervous. She scored well, and passed her English exam, but UCLA wasn't exactly easy to get into for anyone. She had a few other options, obviously, but not many. Even applying cost stupid amounts of money. She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "Why did I have to pick such an expensive place? Stupid me," she muttered. Her parents told her not to worry about the cost of tuition, but she knew it was probably blowing through most of their savings just to do that. Was Kazuhiko feeling the same? He must be absolutely shaking with deadlines approaching. She suppressed a laugh.

Gabumon looked out the window. "Satsuki?" it asked. "Is it supposed to be snowing here?"

"Eh, you know what snow is?"

"Obviously, it snows in some places in the Digital World, too."

"Silly me, of course it does." Satsuki looked out the window too. "Though I have to admit, snow all the way in Tokyo is not that common. Not that it can't happen, though."

"That's what I thought. See, I came from a snowy place in the Digital World, so I thought it wouldn't in such a warm place."

Satsuki blinked in surprise. Her head cocked to one side. "Hang on. I can't believe you've been here for, like, three months and we still haven't discussed this. What is the Digital World like?"

Gabumon was equally as surprised. Was this so weird? The Human World was full of big and tall buildings, made from "concrete" as Kazuhiko had once said, but other than that it seemed quite familiar. There were still some smaller buildings made from brick and wood, and the glass wasn't that odd, though it was neat how some buildings just had mainly glass walls. Digital World buildings were nowhere near this tall or imposing. And Satsuki and the other humans had been right; there really were a lot of humans here. It couldn't believe itself there were billions on this planet. "I think the climate patterns are similar."

"Really?" Satsuki nodded. "I guess I was expecting something more abrupt. That's what I've been led to believe, anyway."

"Abrupt, as in the climate would just… switch?"

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, that really doesn't make sense. I guess I thought since you're all digital beings from a different kind of world that anything goes."

"Sure, but I don't think they're that different."

Satsuki sat back in her chair. "So, Gabumon? Is it true, then, that the Digital World is managed?" Takaharu and Kazuhiko had been talking about this for a while, so she looked it up herself. Supposedly there was some highly intelligent thing that was the central computer for the Digital World, or something to that effect.

It nodded. "At least that's what I remember from school."

"School?" Satsuki seemed dumbfounded, then she facepalmed. "Ah… I really shouldn't be surprised. I need to stop thinking about Digimon as being devoid of society."

"We're not dumb animals. Though we have those too."

"Yeah, I know. I should know." She rubbed her face. She still wasn't really used to the idea that Digimon weren't animal-like, but were fully sentient beings. Gabumon wasn't a pet, after all; in fact, it had expressed its frustration a few times that it felt like one. But she didn't really know what to do about it. It was hard letting it wander in public without getting undue attention. What if people realized it was a Gabumon? Amongst Digimon, it was pretty popular, probably just behind Agumon and Omegamon.

"But yes, it is managed, by Yggdrasil. Well, I say managed," it added, "though I'm not entirely sure what it does."

"Because you're here?"

"Yeah, if I'm not in the Digital World anymore, then I don't know what that means for me. I wonder if it even knows I'm here. If it does…"

The point lingered in the air, getting more insidious as it did. If Gabumon was still being tracked all this way, then surely Yggdrasil would know by now that the Human World existed, if it didn't already. Would it want something to do with it? Control it too? As far as Satsuki knew, anyway, there was no such equivalent being for their own world, although religion sure had a lot of different answers for that one.

Satsuki had some other things on the mind too. "Hey, Gabumon, you know how Makoto and I said we should probably keep you hidden from our parents?"

"What about?"

"I've changed my mind."

"Huh? Why?" Gabumon was alarmed. This was a sudden and abrupt change.

Satsuki smiled. "You know, the truth is going to get out some day. I'd rather do it on my own terms."

"You're not afraid of their reaction?"

"I am, a bit, but… if it's going to happen some day, I'd rather find out now than later. I can always explain after. Besides, if it's not me that's going to say it, I'm pretty sure Makoto is going to accidentally let it slip at some point himself, and I don't really trust him on that one."

"Oh. And what if they get scared?"

"I'll make sure they learn not to be." She resolved to tell her parents on a rare day off. The restaurants ran almost every day, after all, but this upcoming Christmas was a chance to take three days off for them. She hoped they would take to the news kindly.

Her phone buzzed. The text from Kazuhiko was… reassuring, in a way?

• • • • • • •

Kazuhiko

Uhhh so I maaay have accidentally let Monodramon wander earlier
19:19

Hahaha oh no
What happened?
19:20

It was only in the apartment so not too bad
But the parents found out
They were kind of scared, not gonna lie
19:21

Uh oh
But is Monodramon still with you?
19:21

Oh yeah, nothing bad happened
They're still uncomfortable right now
Like suuuuper uncomfortable
19:22

To be honest
If I were in their place and saw a child-sized walking dragon
19:23

I'd be pretty scared myself
Especially if it had as giant claws as Monodramon does
19:24

(≖_≖ ) Thanks
Anyway, I better go make sure Monodramon isn't being a bother
19:24

( ˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵ ) Any time
19:25

• • • • • • •

Oops. Kazuhiko was going to have a fun time explaining that one. "Makoto, Satsuki, we're home!" came the call from the hallway. Her parents were finally home.

It had been Asuka's idea to let the secret out to their families. Takaharu's family, they had learned, already knew on the first day, which made him an exception, but he had told them after noticing that the other Digimon seemed on edge that maybe it was best that their families found out so that their Digimon friends could live more comfortably. She hadn't really thought about it that way, but after hearing Gabumon express its own frustrations multiple times, she had to agree.

The new year was going to be an interesting time.

"Rei!" Asuka gave her older sister a hard squeeze of a hug.

"I haven't been gone that long!" Rei laughed. She lived on her own in Shinjuku, but she still visited every month or so. The two sisters looked incredibly different but had the same high-energy spirit, though Asuka put it all out on the soccer pitch while Rei put it into her leadership. She was in her third year of electrical and computer engineering, making her a rare female figure in the study. She had a rounder face and gentler eyes, but just like her younger sister, she hardly cared about what expectations were set for her.

"I know, but I'm glad to see you every time!"

"Yeah, me too. Hey mom, dad!"

Their parents, Bunzo and Sora, were in the dining room. "Hey!" cheered Bunzo. "How is the term going?"

"Pretty well, I think. The women's engineering society is keeping me busy, too. We have a few speakers lined up in the new year."

"Glad to hear," replied Sora.

"But I personally heard there were even more interesting news," Rei said, looking at Asuka. "I hear you have something to admit."

"Heh! Two things, really."

"Oh?" Rei and Asuka stared at each other for several seconds. A flash of recognition broke across Rei's face. "Ah, you're finally going to admit it to the parents."

"Asuka," Sora said, "you don't have to tell us. I think we already know."

"Mom, it's not that!"

"Okay, then what is it?"

Asuka inhaled deeply. "Well, one," she started, "I should be signed to a club starting next September."

Bunzo shook his head. He had no idea signings could be done this early. "Really?"

"Heh. It's a sort of preliminary agreement. Right of first refusal, but it means they really want to sign me when the window actually opens in July."

Rei pointed out, "Plus you've been called up to U-20s again, right?"

"Yeah, the next few friendlies."

Rei was anguished. "Ah… if only the international windows weren't so awkwardly timed."

"I know!" Asuka knew they were timed so poorly that Rei would be too busy, as usual, to attend. Such was life.

Bunzo asked, "So, what's the second thing?"

Rei snickered. "You have a girlfriend?"

"H-hey, I said it wasn't that! And I haven't been looking! I've been too busy with practice and school! Not like you have a boyfriend either."

"Yeah, I don't, but that's by choice."

"Anyway," Asuka said. "Rei, you know. I told you this two months ago."

Rei nodded. "Who else knows?" she asked, curious as to who Asuka had blabbed to. She had a habit of doing that.

"Let's see, Takaharu, Kaoru, Michi, Satsuki, Kazuhiko, Isami, Masato, Yuuka, Tsubasa, Ryuta … maybe three other people I forget…"

"Isami and Tsubasa, even? You barely know them. Wow, you really told a lot of people."

"I-It was only fifteen people max! And not all of them believed me!"

"Oh, good."

"Anyway – Hawkmon!"

Bunzo and Sora jumped back as the bird Digimon apparated in mid-air. "Hello! Oh, dear, I think I scared them," Hawkmon remarked. The two were speechless. "Should I have appeared on the ground?"

"I don't think it would have made a difference," remarked Rei.

"Asuka!" exclaimed Sora. "My eyes aren't lying to me, right?"

"Nope!" she cheerily beamed. "It's a real, live Hawkmon!" The two continued to stare at Hawkmon.

It landed and sidestepped behind Asuka. "This is getting a bit awkward," it said, very aware that the two pairs of eyes were still tracking it. "Are you sure this was a good idea?"

Asuka was indignant. "Yeah, it was a good idea! C'mon, mom, dad, I get it, it's weird seeing a talking bird, but you gotta believe me! Besides, I'm not the only one living with a Digimon!"

Bunzo and Sora looked at each other. "Are you sure we can't share dreams?" Bunzo asked his wife.

"I'm not confident anymore," she admitted.

"It's not a dream!" Asuka complained.

"What if you're dreaming with us?" Bunzo suggested.

"Daaaad!"

"I can assure you all," Hawkmon said, "this is not a dream."

Bunzo picked up his mug of coffee. "I guess it can't be, but… there were others living with Digimon, you said?"

"Yeah! That's why I've been hanging out with them more often lately, to be honest."

"Oh, so, Takaharu, Satsuki… who else?"

"Yuuka and Kazuhiko."

Sora seemed to remember something. "Wow, so you five are Tamers or something," she remarked, "kind of like those shows from years ago."

Asuka nodded. "We've been trying to come up with a better name than that, but… eh, it's hard."

"I didn't mind it, Asuka," said Hawkmon, trying to be positive.

"You didn't, but Gabumon and Monodramon did."

"Ah, I suppose they did."

Rei looked down at Hawkmon. "So, no adventures yet?"

"Mmm, only in trying to stay hidden while navigating Tokyo. Nothing terribly exciting yet." It sat itself down on the armrest of an armchair. "Frankly, I kind of prefer it that way."

Asuka sighed. After September, life had gone on just about as if nothing had ever happened. "I'll be honest, I'm personally a bit disappointed. I was hoping for something to happen, but ever since a bunch of Digimon showed up here, it's been quiet."

"You want a disaster to happen here?!" Hawkmon was horrified. Even after a few months of living with Asuka, there were still parts of her personality that made it cringe. She really did enjoy living on the edge, and Hawkmon rather wanted to live more peacefully. Even Falcomon was in the same mind.

"I wanted to go find out what the Digital World looked like," Asuka stated matter-of-factly.

Hawkmon wingpalmed. "You and Takaharu really are similar," it groaned. "Lomamon said the same thing once. Agh… We are going to have to go some day, aren't we?"

"What's the matter with that?"

Hawkmon shook its head. "I don't think it's entirely appropriate for a human to be there."

"And it's not entirely appropriate for you to be here, but here you are!"

"It's a different level of danger!"

Asuka crossed her arms. "I can handle myself, you know."

Rei giggled. "You two get along like an old couple already."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Asuka challenged. Bunzo and Sora looked at each other and snickered. They did do this from time to time.

Ryuta looked at his phone. What now? A text from Takaharu. He put it back down. It was unimportant. Between chemistry and physics, he checked up on university application dates. Early October?

"Oh, that wasn't what I remembered." Early October had already passed by. In fact, it was the start of December. He should be applying by now. He started clicking though the UBC website. He had until the end of the year to apply. He could take some time before the winter break came up.

Amedramon uncurled itself from the floor and looked up at his laptop. "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just needed to make sure I wasn't misremembering the deadline for university applications."

Amedramon cocked its head. "University?"

"I hadn't mentioned it before?" Amedramon shook its head. "It's the next level of schooling."

"Is that how humans evolve?"

Ryuta's lip turned upward. "I suppose it is."

"Ah, I wanna too…"

Ryuta scratched the base of Amedramon's horns. It nuzzled his palm. Amedramon wasn't a pet, since it clearly had enough intelligence to understand how the human world worked, but… sometimes he wondered. "I know, but it would be bad if a fight broke out here."

"Nnnh… I wish you would let me walk beside you out there. It's not the same being in your phone, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Maybe some day."

"Some day is far away!" Amedramon climbed up on Ryuta's leg to meet him eye to eye.

"You're like Haru, you know?" Ryuta commented. "I feel like I have two siblings sometimes."

"I'm not eight years old!" it complained.

"Oh? Then how old are you?"

"Seventeen!"

Ryuta was caught by surprise. That meant Amedramon was only slightly younger than he was. Really? It sounded like one but it didn't act like a seventeen-year-old. "Shh, Haru and mom are still here, you know."

Amedramon slunk off Ryuta's thigh and crossed its paws on the floor. "You don't believe me, do you."

He returned to chemistry homework, wishing it were more than just stoichiometry over and over. What about the organic molecules? Polymer synthesis? Radioactive substances? What made biological molecules work the way they did? Redox and weak acid-base interactions was useful, sure, but he felt like it was all the same material over and over. "I'm trying to."

The door unlocked. His father had been out doing something. He didn't bother to know what. "Ryuta!" Kanae called out. "Who's here with your father?"

Never mind. Why…? Ryuta checked his phone again. Surely he must have missed something.

• • • • • • •

Segawa Takaharu

Hey! Yuuka noticed you've been leaving school pretty early for a while
You ok?
13:55

• • • • • • •

Ryuta grunted. This was completely unnecessary. "Hey! Can I meet this person?" Amedramon asked.

"Let's not do that."

"Why nooot? It's been three months, Ryutaaaa!"

"You haven't even seen my family yet," Ryuta complained. "How can I show you to someone who's just some dude in my class? No."

Amedramon grumped. Its lips turned inward and its eyes narrowed. It flashed its fangs at him and its tongue curled. "Grrrr."

Ryuta couldn't hold it in any longer. Most people would have been terrified by this, but he wasn't. He squished Amedramon's cheeks. "Okay, geez, if you're going to look that freaking cute-"

"I'm not cute!" Ryuta winced. That was uncomfortably loud.

"Ryuta? Who are you talking to?"

He sighed. Hiding time was over. How would they take this?

"Don't worry about it. Who is it?" he yelled from his desk chair.

"Yuuka!" Ryuta blinked in surprise. Didn't Takaharu message him just now? Why was it Yuuka? Weird. He sighed. He couldn't just ignore someone if they showed up in person, now could he?

"I'll be right out." He cracked open his bedroom door and Amedramon went sprinting right out of it. "Ame-"

"Ryuta, what the hell?! What is that? How long has it been there?" Hideaki was still standing in the foyer, and he was not pleased. Kanae, though, was staring in dumb shock from the kitchen.

"Amedramon, chill, please." Amedramon was sniffing out his dad like a big dog. To be honest, Amedramon basically was a big scaly dog with wings. Weren't Digimon supposed to be more … mature? Maybe Amedramon was just like that. After all, Guilmon seemed to be this way too.

Hideaki was still mad. "Ryuta, explain yourse-"

"It's just a dragon."

"Just a dragon? You expect me to believe that?"

"You can see its wings, can't you?"

His father tried to retort, but he was right. Amedramon looked up with its brilliant violet eyes. "Ryuta," it whined, "where's your sister?"

"Piano lessons."

"Aw…"

"Is Yuuka outside?" Hideaki wordlessly pointed out the front door. She was. "Right… I hope this doesn't spook her too bad." He opened the apartment door. "Yuuka?"

"I heard shouting. What happe – ahh!" Amedramon snuck underneath Ryuta's legs and crawled out in front of him.

"Amedramon, seriously!"

It sniffed Yuuka's phone. "Ryuta?"

"What?!"

"I'm not alone."

Yuuka was confused. "How… how can it tell? None of the others can do this!"

Ryuta figured they should go somewhere else to discuss this. "We're going upstairs. Give us a while." He didn't bother waiting for his parents to say anything. "C'mon, Amedramon."

"Mm!" It padded alongside him, tail tip waving back and forth in the air.

Yuuka was still staring in awe. Like Lomamon, this was an unfamiliar Digimon. "Ryuta, you said this was… Amedramon?"

"Yeah, I hadn't seen one before I met it."

"When was this?"

"September." He opened the door to the rooftop garden and looked around. Nobody was there, fortunately.

"Huh. Same as the rest of us, then. Falcomon, it's empty up here." Falcomon appeared in the air, warily watching Amedramon. It seemed unfamiliar.

Ryuta sat on a nearby bench, along with Amedramon and Yuuka. He put an arm around Amedramon and absentmindedly rubbed its shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Amedramon could sense them while we were walking around."

Yuuka blinked. The Digimon could sense and differentiate each other, sure, but only at a few paces, and never when they were hidden in their phones like this. What made Amedramon stand out? "Does Amedramon know why it's able to sense Digimon from so far away?"

"Amedramon?" asked Ryuta.

"Some Digimon are just born with heightened senses. Like me! Though honestly it's not that impressive."

"Really?"

"Jazamon are even more impressive. Most of them can sense Digimon from, I dunno, a kilometre away?"

Falcomon piped up. "So, you knew…? Both of you?"

"Yeah, we did. There was you, Hawkmon, Monodramon, Lomamon, and Gabumon, right?" Amedramon asked. Falcomon nodded in confirmation. "Ryuta was adamant he couldn't join you guys though." Amedramon bumped Ryuta's face with its snout. "Do you still think that?"

"I…"

"Hm?"

"Look, this isn't my place to decide."

"It isn't? And it's your parents' decision to make? Ryuta, It's your life to live." Ryuta flinched. "What-"

"Sorry… that just got me thinking about something."

Yuuka took notice. "Ryuta?" He didn't seem to notice. "Ryuta, say something!" He abruptly stood up instead and paced over to the edge of the rooftop. If it weren't for the fencing around it, Yuuka would have been very concerned.

Instead, Amedramon hopped off the bench and padded over to him. "Ryuta, you can't keep ignoring these people." He didn't respond. "Ngah!" Amedramon had enough. It tackled him to the ground with its massive size and pinned him down.

"Amedra-"

Amedramon put its face up in his as Yuuka watched with concern. Amedramon wasn't going to hurt him, was it? "Of all the things to be a coward about, Ryuta, you pick this? I can understand being afraid of weapons, big creatures, evil people, but you choose to be afraid of your classmates and your friends?!" Ryuta averted its gaze. "What are you going to do when things get worse? What if the Dark Digimon come for this world too?"

"Amedramon, let him go!" cried Falcomon.

Its jaws snapped in front of Ryuta's face. "Heck, Ryuta, what are you going to do if you find out one day that you're the one that needs help?"

"Tell me when that will happen."

"How about right now?!"

Ryuta inhaled. "You wouldn't dare."

Amedramon bumped its nose against his cheek. Ryuta suddenly broke out in laughter. "What? What's so funny, rockhead?"

"Hah… you just reminded me of a past friend, that's all."

Amedramon paused. "What…?"

"He said exactly this, once. Told me I was too closed, too introverted. He even pinned me to the wall then and said exactly the things you did."

"Where is this guy? I'd like to meet him. He seems more my type."

"I'm afraid you can't. Not that I wouldn't want you to."

"What do you mean?"

Ryuta's jaw rolled. He bit his lip. "He's not here anymore." The only sound for an uncomfortable pause of time was the distant wailing of multiple sirens. "It's been over a year."

Amedramon retreated and sat back on its haunches. "Ryuta, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. Whatever. I deserved it, then, and I sure as hell deserve it now." He sat back up against a wall. "You're right. I am a coward." Yuuka noticed he was fighting back tears. "I thought I could be self-sufficient. I thought I had to be to survive." He shook his head. "I should know better than that, though."

Amedramon softened. "You know, Ryuta? That's why I stayed."

"What do you mean?"

"I had a feeling, that first day, that you were looking for someone. I don't know who this person was, and I can't be that person, but…"

"You don't need to be him. Just be here, by my side. That's all I ask." Amedramon nuzzled his cheek, and Ryuta hugged it in response. "Feel free to slap some sense into me from time to time, okay?"

"I will," it laughed, "don't you worry about that."

"Ryuta?" Yuuka and Falcomon were still standing there.

"Ah! Yuuka, I'm sorry you had to see that."

"N-no, it's fine. Actually, this… this is exactly what I wanted to see."

"Yuuka, please don't think lowly of me from now on."

"I'm not going to do that, I promise." She smiled. "We're jealous, you know."

"Of what?"

"You and Amedramon seem a lot closer than any of us," said Falcomon.

The two of them stared back. "I… I guess," admitted Ryuta. Amedramon curled around Ryuta and grunted, laying its head in his lap. "Yuuka? I think you heard earlier… My parents saw Amedramon for the first time. I'm going to try to at least make the weekly club meets. I know the others really like those days… I should go."

"I'm glad to hear that."