Act 1: Beating Heart
Segment 4: Breakup
Chapter 4-6: Metrotown
Asuka kicked the ball off her knees a few times. Pre-season training had picked up again, and she found herself back in Chiba, with her two roommates. She was one of a few people who had relatively fluent English, mostly because she had always felt a bit pressured to keep up with Satsuki. Because of that, she had been grouped with the internationals – the midfielder Maria Cruz, from the Philippines, and winger Lee Ji-min, from Korea. Both were much older than her, but she was the best fit despite her age. She flicked the ball over to Maria, who headed it once over to Ji-min, who kicked it straight into the open bag that one of the trainers was holding.
"August went by fast," Maria remarked. "I feel like I barely had enough time to visit my family in Manila." August had indeed just ended, though the weather still seemed quite warm. The nights were starting to cool, though. It was a sure sign that the seasons were starting to turn.
Ji-min nodded. "I'm already starting to miss them. My mother almost didn't want to let me go."
"I'm starting to miss them too," Asuka replied. "I know my family literally lives an hour away from here, but I have some friends going abroad."
Maria had a grin. "For study?"
"Yeah, all three of them. I probably won't see them for a while, possibly not even until the season is over." She sighed. How would Hawkmon take it? At least Yuuka and Falcomon were still relatively close by. She could visit for a night or on days between games and training.
"Lucky them. Both of my older brothers didn't even get the chance to go to college."
"Really?" asked Asuka.
"Yes, my family needed the money right away. They're planning on sending my younger brother instead."
Ji-min raised her eyebrows. "You grew up with three brothers? No wonder you're so good at tackling."
"They taught me how to play rough nicely," Maria laughed.
Asuka followed the other players back into the showers. She felt a bit guilty that she wouldn't be able to see off Kazuhiko, Satsuki, or Ryuta – all of whom were flying out soon. In fact, Ryuta was the first one to go. He would be flying before the season started, but it so happened his flight coincided with training. A message would have to do.
• • • • • • •
Sumida Tamers
Nagatomo Asuka
ryuta have a great flight!
gonna miss you
11:40
Koyama Ryuta
Thanks Asuka
I'll keep up with your season as best as I can
11:49
Ishida Yuuka
Ryuta, what time are you leaving?
12:19
Koyama Ryuta
12:50
12:22
• • • • • • •
Ryuta hefted the box of quartz. It was starting to run low. He would have to find more in Vancouver. He snapped it shut and stuffed it into the luggage bag, then looked around. Most of his clothes had been packed away already, including some of the jackets and heavier clothes. After all, he didn't expect to return until December, and his family didn't expect to fly at all soon – and Vancouver temperatures could be surprisingly similar to Tokyo, both in summer and in winter.
Rhodramon looked up from Ryuta's chair. "Time to go?"
He nodded. "I think so." He gave his shelves and cabinets one last look over. He had two luggage bags plus his own messenger bag, which had his laptop and some cables, plus a backpack with some emergency clothes and toiletries. Everything else was in the larger bags.
He wheeled out the bags from his room. Haru was sitting sullenly on the sofa, arms crossed. He sighed. As expected, she had been bawling her eyes out the night before, and she was still angry about it today. She didn't even bother looking up as he walked past and rolled the bags to the foyer.
"All set?" Hideaki asked. Move-in day at UBC was, annoyingly, September 4, but JAL wasn't flying tomorrow. They had decided it would be easier to have Ryuta fly a day early and stay in a hotel for a night. It wasn't far nor expensive anyway; the holiday season in British Columbia was coming to an end, and Hideaki had made sure to use his air rewards for the hotel stay anyway.
"Should be," Ryuta replied. He checked his wallet. He had remembered to pack Canadian dollars and yen. Rhodramon padded behind him. "This feels a little strange, I have to admit. It seems more final than it is."
Hideaki folded his laptop closed. He had asked to work a half-day from home just for this occasion. Kanae racked the washed bowls and said, "Haru, let's go." There was no reply. "Haru."
"Do I have to?"
"So you don't want to see your brother off at Narita?"
Haru glared at her mother, then at Ryuta, then at Rhodramon. She wanted Rhodramon to stay, if Ryuta was leaving, but she didn't get a choice. Rhodramon figured it would have to convince her. It knelt in front of her. "We'll be back in December. It's not that far away," it murmured. Haru hugged it around the neck, which Rhodramon returned. "We'll talk, too, over the phone. Be strong for us, okay? Otherwise, you'll make Ryuta sad."
Ryuta was already a bit emotional about it, but Rhodramon was speaking the truth. Three, almost four, whole months without seeing his sister. He was worried for her. Sure, when she had days with her school friends, she would be fine, but he remembered how she had wept into his shirt the day he explained he was going abroad for university.
"Okay." Haru stared back into Rhodramon's violet eyes, and then pressed her nose into its snout. It growled softly.
"I'll miss you too. Now, let's go." It got up and sighed. "Ryuta… one day, we're going to have to figure out a better way than this."
"I know, it's just… you know."
"Hardware limitations, you told me." Rhodramon devolved and disappeared into Ryuta's phone.
Hideaki waited for the other three to slip on their shoes, then reached out a hand to the luggage bags. "Here, Ryuta, let me grab one for you."
"Oh, sure." Without warning, Kanae took the other one. Ryuta gave her a look. She shrugged and smiled. Hideaki propped the door open as the four of them filed out. Temperatures were starting to fall, and the weather was a bit cooler than normal today. Despite that, it was still quite warm. By the time they reached the bottom, Yuuka, Takaharu, Kazuhiko, and Satsuki were waiting. "All of you guys are coming too, eh?"
"Yeah! We're all still on break, after all. Why not?" Takaharu replied. The eight of them filed into Oshiage Skytree Station. Ryuta was grateful that, for once – for freaking once – it was simple. It was just one line, one service pattern, no weird transfers or semi-expresses or trains randomly changing lines. They boarded a Narita Skyaccess train. He would have quite a few hours before boarding time, but that was alright with him.
As the train rumbled past Kamagaya, Yuuka asked, "When are you coming back?"
"Just in time for Christmas. I can't stay long though."
She was mildly surprised. "Because you want to?"
"I have to. The dorms close right after exams." Yuuka squinted at him. That was weird. He just shrugged. "I know, it's… weird."
"All of that is weird. Your term schedule is weird. I looked it up. You get no spring break?"
"That's just the way Canadian universities are, I assume." He glanced up at the train's signage. Another twenty minutes or so, as they pulled into Chiba New Town. "I checked with Toronto and Waterloo, they were the same thing."
"Wait, Ryuta – like nothing at all?" wondered Kazuhiko. "So if you didn't get Christmas off…"
"It would be almost eight straight months of study, and then four months off."
"Ouch." Kazuhiko shook his head. "That's painful."
"I'll manage." The train fell silent again as they watched and waited. It was setting in, now, that one of the six of them would be almost on the other side of the planet for so long. The time difference was vast, too: Pacific time – the one Vancouver observed - was either sixteen or seventeen hours behind Japan, because of daylight savings. Whenever it was a good waking hour in Vancouver, it would be near bedtimes in Japan. The promise to talk on a regular basis was going to be hard, and not just for him. Satsuki would be in the same situation. It was Kazuhiko who had it a bit easier. He would only be eight or nine hours behind.
The train rolled to a halt and announced the station for Terminals 2 and 3. They rose in unison. Satsuki asked, "You excited?"
"Obviously. When are you flying again?"
"The 16th, same as Kazuhiko. He's flying out late though. Said he wanted to sleep on the plane."
Ryuta nodded. He was planning on doing the same. By the time he arrived in Vancouver, he would have cycled all the way back to just before noon on the same day.
"Hey, which flight number is yours?" asked Takaharu.
"JL18." His parents rolled over a baggage cart loaded with the two large bags. He placed his backpack in the cart as well.
"It's… is it on the departures board?" Takaharu asked as he squinted at it.
"Right in the corner there. It's going to be a while, but you know. Security time is a bit unpredictable." They stood around in the departures area. "Well, guys?" He looked around. All of them were trying to look happy, but it was solemn. "Really, it's not like I'm leaving for good."
Yuuka sniffed and hugged him. "I'm going to miss you. And Amedramon."
"I'll miss you too," he whispered. "Take care of Haru for me."
"I will." She let go, but she didn't want to. She had to give the others a turn.
Takaharu was next. "Someday I'm going back to Toronto, mark my words."
"You're not going to go any time soon?" asked Ryuta.
"I want to go on my own, without mom and dad. I want to see the city for myself."
Ryuta snorted and nodded. The two of them were of the same mind after all.
Kazuhiko clapped hands with Ryuta, then pulled him in. "Hey, take care of yourself."
"You too."
Satsuki was the last one. She gave him a light embrace. "You know you need to bring something back in December, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Don't worry. I'll come up with something."
After that, it was his family's turn. When he had planned all of this out, he wasn't expecting them to be here. He figured they would have just let him walk out the door, if at all. But here they were. "Study well," murmured Kanae. She squeezed tighter than he was anticipating. "Keep in touch, okay? Even if just for a few minutes."
"I know. I will."
Hideaki patted him on the shoulder. "You know, I'm kind of jealous to see you go. I keep thinking about it."
"You could just come some time later, you know."
"Ah, I could, but… work. And funds." He sighed. "It's not so easy."
Ryuta glanced at Satsuki, who seemed bemused. She would know the most how hard it could be to fund international schooling. "I guess it isn't," he agreed.
Haru was last. She clung tightly around his waist, just like the day after he had told her about it. Ryuta remembered suddenly it was the first day that he had met Amedramon, and now, it was basically a full year. It seemed so short. So much had happened in between then and now: all of them had met their Partners, he had been dragged out of his shell and met Yuuka and the rest, they had encountered some truly bizarre alien beings, been haunted by them in their nightmares, rescued a detective. Asuka had gone to become a professional footballer.
Now they were all breaking up again, almost like how, before senior high, none of them had even known each other.
"Haru, I need to catch my flight."
"I know!"
"You have to let me go then."
"I know!" She didn't seem like she was going to any time soon, though.
"Yuuka will still be here, with Falcomon."
Haru let go, but she was still grumpy. Amedramon was her favourite Digimon, after all. Ryuta sighed. Her obsession with dragons was getting a bit out of hand. They were all over her journal.
What was he thinking? Why was this a bad thing? After all, he had done the same when he was her age. Maybe that obsession would bring a Dramon into her life someday.
"I'll be off, everyone." He waved and pushed the cart and headed towards the ticketing booths to fetch his pre-booked flight card. The others said their farewells. By the time Ryuta had printed out his flight card and handed his checked bags to the clerk at the desk, they were heading back to the station below.
He realized then how much being alone sucked the air out of him. And to think that once upon a time he wanted that. He looked up at the departures boards again. His flight still did not have a gate assigned to it, and he probably had another good hour or two to kill. He went to walk around. Surely there was something interesting around, right?
There were a number of shops, but it wasn't anything special. Or, at least, it seemed to him. Maybe to foreign tourists it would be. He stopped by a tea shop anyway. It wasn't guaranteed, after all, that he would be able to find this in Vancouver, at least not at prices like these. Even prices at the airport were probably lower than over in Canada. He picked up a few packets of various tea. Kanae had given him a travel mug that doubled as a tea maker. It would have to do.
He checked the departures boards again. Finally, a gate – number 65. It meant the plane was in cleaning, so he should start thinking about going to security. He wondered – would the rays affect Amedramon in any way? He would be forced to put his electronics in the scanner, after all. The line was long but moved quickly, and he laid down his backpack, then pulled his electronics as asked, as well as his shoes and pocket contents. He passed through the scanning gate. Nothing went off.
He stood on the other side nervously. What if it did have an impact? He hurriedly fetched his carry-on bags and pulled up his phone screen. Amedramon looked up and waved. He breathed a sigh of relief. As he walked away, he pulled out his earbuds and spoke into the microphone. "Are you feeling good?"
"I'm fine, Ryuta. Why?"
"I was curious if the x-ray machine would affect you at all."
"I felt nothing."
"Good." That was a more of a relief than Amedramon knew. He strolled towards his gate to see if there were seats. The airport was busy still, as it was a Friday. He looked about. The gate was still relatively free for seating. He could afford to stop somewhere else first. "You know, when we're flying, I can't talk to you without raising suspicion."
"Why not?"
"Phone signal doesn't work in the air."
"But… you would literally be closer to the satellites."
"Still need a receiver on the ground. Plus, there's not much privacy on the plane. Everyone will hear me."
There was a pause. "Right, you mentioned that." Ryuta looked at a map. He could just stop for coffee somewhere, and then pick up a bottle of water to bring onto the plane.
The train back to Tokyo was quiet and relatively empty. The rush of tourists hadn't landed quite yet. Takaharu looked around. Everyone seemed some kind of mix of glum and concerned. "You know," he started, "we still have messaging and social media."
Kazuhiko switched from staring out the window to staring at him. "If we run into trouble at all, we're boned. Messaging won't fix that."
"Still thinking about the Junctions? Summer's about done and we haven't had a single one." Takaharu shifted himself around. "None of the Digimon have reported anything, not even Amedramon."
Satsuki added, "Professor Mackenzie isn't thinking about Prometheus at all right now as well. I think we should be fine."
Kazuhiko shrugged. He wasn't so convinced it was over. "Just saying."
Yuuka put an arm around Haru, who was staring down at the floor. Haru leaned and collapsed onto Yuuka's lap. "I can't believe he's actually going," the fourth-grader muttered.
"It's strange for all of us," Yuuka agreed. The Digimon had said their goodbyes to Amedramon last time they met, about a week ago, before Asuka had to leave for Chiba. In less than two weeks, it would be Kazuhiko and Satsuki on the same day, and then the day after that, Takaharu would be back at university as well. Falcomon and Hawkmon were taking it well, at least. Lomamon, Gabumon, and Monodramon were getting anxious about it. And who knew what Amedramon was up to. It would probably be fine so long as Ryuta was there.
She was not fine, but she was doing her best to keep it inside for now.
Ryuta cracked open his passport. His one of two passports, anyway. He had to admit it felt strange holding two passports, as much as he preferred it that way. So in a few years, one of these would have to disappear? How frustrating. Last year it would have been an easy choice: give up the Japanese passport and walk away. Now? Now he had people to go back to. But the prospect of working Japanese business hours didn't excite him.
Attention all passengers on Flight JL18. The doors at Gate 65 are now open. Passengers in Business Class may begin boarding at any time.
His head flicked up, then back down. He was in economy class.
"Ryuta, you're not moving?"
"I'm in economy class. They're only boarding business class right now. We don't quite have the money to spend freely on that. But, when we are boarding, I'll show you the business class seats. They're very luxurious." He drummed two fingers against his coffee cup and looked around. Most of the passengers were Japanese, probably because his dad had picked Japan Airlines for him – that was where the credits were, anyway.
He leaned back in the chair. His parents had already helped him set up a Canadian bank account under his name. He'd been encouraged to get a Canadian credit card as well, but he wasn't so keen on the idea, not when he had no income. He needed to keep his spending relatively in line.
He flicked through the bills again. Plastic, eh? It was a bit weird, but the sharp and distinct colours made them stand out visually. He considered it. It was actually a good idea. The sharp, bold, and total colours might help make them stand out more to colour-blind people, and the plastic meant that the notes stayed rigid for longer. He went back to the cotton-printed yen. They were definitely much floppier and seemed far more prone to wear. Unfortunately, though, the decimal point being where it was meant that paying for anything in Canadian – plus the silly way prices were listed without tax – meant things were difficult to pay for without using a calculator.
Attention all passengers on Flight JL18 boarding at Gate 65. Passengers in economy class may now begin boarding.
There it was. And as usual, there was a mad rush to get in line. He sighed and got up. As he walked to the end of the still-growing line, he noticed there were quite a few non-Japanese faces. Some of them might have been some other East Asian, but there were more than a few other ethnicities in the mix, many of them holding Canadian passports.
He joined the line some distance away from the doors. This was going to be a while.
• • • • • • •
Sumida Tamers
Koyama Ryuta
[photo]
05:32
Segawa Takaharu
Welcome back to solid ground
08:50
Koyama Ryuta
It's bizarre knowing it's the morning over there
08:53
Shimizu Kazuhiko
Wait, what time is it in Vancouver right now?
08:54
Koyama Ryuta
5 pm the previous day
The waking time alignment is alright, to be honest
08:55
Ishida Yuuka
How are you feeling?
08:56
Koyama Ryuta
Rested, at least, but my neck is stiff
08:57
[photo: Bay of Vancouver, from Canada Place]
09:45
Ishida Yuuka
✧˖° Wow~
09:47
Koyama Ryuta
[photo: ibid]
The Rockies never get old
09:48
Shimizu Kazuhiko
(・о・)
Right next to the city?
09:48
Koyama Ryuta
Just across the harbour
09:48
Tokuda Satsuki
You're making me impatient Ryuta wwww
09:48
• • • • • • •
"So, Amedramon, how is the view?" Ryuta asked. A SeaBus passed by slowly. He was standing out on Canada Place at Waterfront Station looking over the water to North Vancouver.
"It's familiar, to be honest. I don't just mean the buildings and ships, of course. I mean the mountains and the ocean."
"Right, you told me. Obsidia is a similar place, mountainous and temperate." Weird coincidence. From its description, it seemed quite a lot like if the BC interior suddenly transplanted a tiny piece of itself into the ocean and formed an island. Even weirder was that Amedramon was already understanding what people around them were saying. Sure, sometimes he and Takaharu would joke with each other in both Japanese and English, but this was a different level – as though Amedramon had been here its whole life. It might even be more capable of English than he was.
It was more unsettling than ever. Ryuta turned around and walked back down the steps to Waterfront Station. His hotel wasn't too far, only several minutes on foot. "I have to admit, Amedramon, as much as I didn't care for how complicated Tokyo transit was, Vancouver feels hard to get around."
"Do you want me to fly you around then?" it jokingly asked.
Ryuta snorted. "I wish. I wish you could." He looked around. The city seemed vastly different than when he'd left over seven years ago. New buildings had sprouted up everywhere, Waterfront Station had been renovated, stores, storefronts, all of it. There was even an extension to the SkyTrain he hadn't been aware about, although he figured he was never going to use it – it was too far away.
He felt like a stranger, all of a sudden, walking amongst the Friday work crowd returning home. This wasn't the Vancouver he remembered. The little quaint shops in Chinatown had capitulated to condominiums, and although the city had certainly beautified a lot – the dedicated bicycle lanes and boardwalks attested to that – he wasn't sure if he liked it.
He walked back into Waterfront Station. The signage was becoming unfamiliar as well. It was clean and streamlined. He appreciated it, though – the SkyTrain's Expo line was in sore need of a renovation when he left, and it seemed it was receiving the care it deserved, if in fits and bursts. A train arrived. It was square, boxy, and a bit beat up. At least the old trains were still running. He filed into it after the other passengers standing in the doorway on the opposite side, as the seats were all taken.
The announcement came on the train: This is an Expo Line train for Production Way-University. That was the extension. He had no intent of going that far. He just wanted to see what his old haunts looked like. The doors closed and the familiar sound of the motors kicked in.
Burrard and Granville station, somehow, were just as dark and dingy as they had ever been, and so was Stadium, which had been renamed Stadium-Chinatown. The name change was a nice touch, but there was hardly a Chinatown left now. Yet more people piled in. The train was a lively place – a perfect opportunity to take his phone out and point it out the window. With the chatter in the train, nobody could tell that he wasn't actually taking a phone call.
"Amedramon."
He could see it poke its head up. The train ducked underneath the Dunsmuir Viaduct, squeezed itself between the bridge and the road beneath, then rose again. "What is that?" Amedramon asked.
"A science museum." Arriving at Main Street-Science World.
"Are we going there some day? I want to see it!" Amedramon had that wide-eyed look of curiosity. This is an Expo Line train for Production Way-University. The next station is Commercial-Broadway. Ryuta held in a laugh. It was so serious as Rhodramon, but devolved down to Amedramon, it was such a kid.
"Some day, yeah. Maybe on a weekend." The train resumed its travel. The impressive downtown faded into the rear, giving way to the much less dense East Vancouver. From there, the stations were as Ryuta remembered – a bit old and outdated, with design aesthetics reflecting the times in which they were built.
Arriving at Patterson.
"So, Ryuta, where are we headed?"
The next station is Metrotown. "There." He remembered it fondly, but at the rate things were going, he wasn't sure he was going to recognize it anymore either. He didn't recognize Metrotown Station, for sure. The bridge from the station directly to the mall had been closed and dismantled as part of the renovations. Instead, he had to cross at the street. He disliked it, but the touch-ups to the platform and station were worth the closure. Already Metrotown was looking a bit different. Some of the anchor stores had closed a long time ago, and some of the restaurants and shops he remembered had shuttered.
It truly was different beyond recognition. Sure, the atmosphere had improved, but the stores he used to love wandering as a nine-year-old were all gone, and everything that had replaced them were no longer interesting to him. At least the two supermarkets hadn't changed, yet. He sighed and found an empty chair in the busy food court. Even that had changed a lot. He pondered getting food here, but… Amedramon hadn't eaten since what would have now been yesterday, in Japan. That wouldn't be fair. Plus, he had eaten on the plane. He could wait a bit longer.
"Something bothering you?" Amedramon asked. Ryuta forgot he was holding his phone in front of his face.
"Everything is bothering me," he replied cryptically. Amedramon blinked suspiciously. "I'm going to go find the old house." It was a decently long walk. In fact, the walk seemed longer than he remembered. The Kingsway seemed familiar enough at least, with the wide street and heavy truck traffic. It seemed Burnaby hadn't been quite as affected by the changes in culture as downtown Vancouver. Even so, he noticed many of the restaurants were becoming more upscale, and more familiar. The place was more pan-Asian than he remembered now. If he wasn't aware he was in Burnaby, he could have even started to mistake parts of it for one of the smaller cities in Japan.
Ryuta turned south at Nelson Avenue. The house was somewhere near the elementary school he had attended. He checked his watch. It was starting to get late, now. The SkyTrain had taken half an hour on its own, and he had spent maybe another half hour or more browsing the Metropolis. The sun, though, was still clearly in the sky. He sighed and continued walking through the residential streets. He was starting to miss his bicycle. It would have made this so much easier.
There should have been an elementary school nearby, the one he attended. After a few minutes, he came across it. He stopped at an intersection. "It should be around here," he wondered to himself. Surely his memory wasn't that bad. He whirled around. The place seemed familiar enough, but the houses… of course. His shoulders fell. The old house wasn't this tall and skinny, and the gates were too new.
A raven croaked overhead. The evening breeze was kicking in. "Ryuta," Amedramon suddenly asked, "is this it?"
"No. No, it's not."
"Then…"
A cicada wailed loudly on some tree in the distance. "It's gone."