Well howdy, y'all. Been a long time, hasn't it? Life just finds a way to get in your way every time you try to sit down and write. Well, here I am now with the beginning of training. Unlike in the first story, this is going to go a little differently, but it will still be fun.
Hope you guys enjoy.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Wake up, ya lazy humans!" Master Gennai yelled. He then laughed. "Time to start the day!"
Yuki groaned as he shifted to his stomach and pulled his pillow over his head. He pressed the sides against his ears when the noise didn't dull. What was their new master banging against, and why so loud?
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Come on! Rise and shine!"
Yuki pushed the comforter off him. He rubbed his eyes open and saw that it was still dark outside.
"What time is it?" he groaned with a yawn mixed in.
The rest of the boys whined with their protests. They were all wearing black tank tops, which they slept in along with their fundoshis.
Wait a second. Was that a metal trashcan Master Gennai was holding? That jerk was banging the metal lid against it!
BANG! BANG!
"Let's go!" Master Gennai laughed as he turned his back on them to leave. "By the time we're done with breakfast it'll be time to meditate with the sunrise."
"You're not going to do the same to the girls, are you?" Yuki shot up ready to stop him. "Get back here!"
Yuki saw Masato jump to his knees upset. "He wouldn't dare!" the teenager protested.
Master Gennai turned to the boys and smirked. "Am I not your god? Remember who you're talking to, my trash pupil," He tossed the trashcan and lid aside while sauntering over to the girl's room. Yuki could swear he saw a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "Girls need to be romanced and soothed."
"No they don't!" the Kamiya boy shouted. "Get back here, you creep!"
His parents never went through this. Why did they have to? This version of Gennai was twisted and enjoyed torturing them. If the day was starting out like this, Yuki dreaded what else he had planned.
But right now the boy decided he had to stop Master Gennai from waking the girls in a similar fashion - or in a way that was inappropriate. Master Gennai wouldn't dare do so, would he?
He might, especially after talking about his suggested plan with Ranamon yesterday. The group never saw their master for the rest of the night, so he may have followed through with it.
As Yuki stood to chase after their master, he felt someone pull on the back of his tank top. It was Masato.
"Leave him. Help me with the boys."
"Weren't you ready to fight him seconds ago? The boys are fine. I have to stop him before he does anything to Nomi -"
"Yeah, I know, but the girls will be fine," Masato insisted. He pointed to something in the corner. "Don't you see Ryuji? He doesn't do well with loud noises."
Oh, that's right. Yuki looked over and saw that Ichigo and Kenya were soothing the raven-haired boy. Ryuji's head was between his knees crying as he covered his ears. What was the point in him staying then? They were doing a good job by themselves.
"He's fine. The others have him."
"We're a team, Yuki," said Masato. "Don't you get what Master Gennai's true intention was? He was seeing whose skin he can easily get under."
"While not caring about Ryuji," remarked Yuki.
"You weren't concerned about Ryuji either," Shun muttered.
Yuki growled. "What the hell? Why is everyone attacking me? It doesn't take all of us to calm Ryuji. I have to make sure Nomi is going to be okay!"
His blood turned cold. The glare Kazu shot his way could have turned an enemy into stone like Medusa.
"Naomi would be the first one to knock that guy senseless," stated Kazuma with a cold stare.
"Yeah!" Ichigo joined in, but with a grin. It didn't look like he noticed Kazu's agitation as he patted Ryuji on the back to help reassure him. "Keiko would too. Ryuji, Miya would too, wouldn't she?"
Ryuji shook his head.
Yuki had to agree. Miya wasn't one that would stand up for herself in a confrontation when cornered.
Ichigo let out a nervous chuckle. "I guess not then."
Even so, his girlfriend needed him.
"See? They need me."
"They don't. Nomi would kick his butt," Shiro declared to Yuki as he stretched with a yawn. "Anyway, don't you think if I thought she was in danger I would've stopped him? Master Gennai tested you and you fell for it hard."
Shun chimed in. "Master Gennai is another form of the Gennai that our parents knew. This version is odd, but there's no reason not to trust him."
"If you want to suck face with your girlfriend that bad, we should help each other get ready for breakfast," Masato said with a wink.
Shun rolled his eyes as Kazu groaned, resting his forehead in his right palm.
Yuki couldn't help but feel embarrassed
"Whatever. Let's all get moving now," Yuki griped as he stood to his feet and stretched his entire body. His muscles creaked and joints cracked as he let out all the tension. He was so used to sleeping in his bed that sleeping on a futon took some getting used to.
What was up with everyone? Well, he could understand Kazu's anger toward him. It was a touchy subject that Yuki was trying his best to dance around. At the same time this version of Gennai was a pervert. So what that he wanted to protect his girlfriend? It would gain him brownie points toward helping her forget about Kazu and fall in love with him instead.
Come to think about it, he should look after the rest of the girls anyway - especially Miya. Her head was always in a book learning new things, but when she tried to apply them in real life, well, the street smarts weren't always there. That always has gotten her into trouble the times he wasn't there to help her.
Was this what it was like when his dad talked about being a leader and worrying about everyone? Sure he joked about it yesterday to everyone, but there was no way he meant it. There were only four people in this digital world that he was going to focus on protecting and that was himself, his brother, his cousin, and Nomi…and maybe Miya.
Yuki sighed. Definitely Miya.
If he didn't know any better, she would probably soon be chewing on her nails after being woken up riddled with nerves. A month was the longest that she had gone without biting her nails and this morning would most likely be the end of that record. Miya did her best to stay brave in front of her brother, but Yuki had a knack of seeing right through her. Perhaps Ryuji seeing someone else protecting his sister would help him be more at ease around everyone. Perhaps it was the sudden change in environment and circumstances that was causing Ryuji to act out of sorts.
Yuki did a double take and paused from rolling his futon. Why was Ryuji staring him down? Wasn't it only Keiko that could see the future? He couldn't read his thoughts, could he?
"What?" he asked.
"She doesn't need your help," Ryuji muttered and quickly avoided eye contact while he kneeled to roll his futon as well. "She loves me. Not you."
All the boys paused after hearing Ryuji speak and looked at Yuki uneasily. He could tell they all were thinking the same as him: Why was he so defensive of his sister out of the blue, and did his power grow?
Yuki shook his head and continued rolling his futon. "Whatever you say."
It was decided. Five people. There was no way he was not looking after Miya too. He had to, but not as a leader. Just as himself.
Yawns came one after the other as the group sat in the middle of a dojo attached to the house while the sun rose above the horizon. The only breakfast they all had was a small bowl of rice, which Yuki guessed would be the only thing served during their stay. Not that he minded of course – he was used to just having a bowl of rice for breakfast sometimes – but the rest of the group looked like they wanted a bit more.
"Hope you all had a good night's sleep because we are finally going to begin our training," said Master Gennai, sounding more chipper and spirited than the rest of the group. Yuki was surprised that he sounded this good if he indeed had his fun with that Ranamon last night. "Since I have to build you all from the ground up, we're going to start with the basics: Meditating."
Yuki yawned and rubbed his eyes in response. Was Master Gennai trying to put them back to sleep or something? Getting up only to fall back asleep again? It didn't make any sense to him. What about constructing a lightsaber or learning to fight? Those were things he'd be willing to get up early for.
"Why meditation?" he asked.
Master Gennai snapped his head in Yuki's direction. "Meditation is the most basic thing, my troublesome pupil. Master that first and then you can master anything."
"I am not troublesome!"
"Oh, on the contrary. I sense more trouble from you than I do in any of the others. Hence your nickname from this point shall be 'Troublesome'."
Yuki turned around at the sound of giggles. He was shocked to see that Naomi, Kenya and Keiko were the source of them. The three closest people in the world to him and they refused to stand up for him.
"Guys!" he cried.
"I'm sorry, Troubles–I mean, Yun-chan," Keiko giggled, trying in vain to stifle her laughter.
"Yeah, Troublesome," Miya joined in with a snicker as her left hand covered her mouth.
Miya's nails – they were all bitten away as he suspected. Her left thumbnail was bleeding. He knew he should've gone to help instead of staying.
The Kamiya boy growled in frustration and guilt, grabbing handfuls of his hair. He felt so powerless. "Just get on with it already!"
Master Gennai sneered. "Very well, my troublesome pupil."
"Stop it!"
"Hey," said Naomi. She wrapped an arm around his and winked. "In the mood to banter with our Master, or learn meditation? So far, great job with the bantering."
Yuki raised an eyebrow. "No one's bantering. He started this morning -"
Master Gennai wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and some to Naomi. "A smart human girl shouldn't be with Troublesome. If I may offer my services to you in any way, little lady - "
"Back off!" roared Yuki swinging an arm in front of his girlfriend to put a block between the two.
Next thing he knew Naomi sighed, frustrated while the rest of the kids moaned in agitation - Yuki noticed Ryuji shaking his head instead. What was everyone's problem? He turned to Naomi with exasperation.
"You're fine letting him flirt with you? I've been defending you since this morning! Don't tell me you want to be with that thing. It's not even real - "
Master Gennai spoke with a deadpan expression as all Naomi could do was stare at her boyfriend in confusion. "Ya know, if it wasn't for that Ranamon last night reminding me what it's like to feel alive again, I'd actually be offended." Their master placed a hand in a pocket and pulled out a small snack size plastic baggie of what looked like it contained herbs and offered it. "This is the first time that I'm offering this to a human, but Troublesome, it'll help you to calm the fu-"
"With all due respect, put that away and stop egging Yuki on," Masato demanded in a smooth, yet stern tone. "As one of your padawans, I get a part of you is corrupted, which is affecting your mind. Based on how our parents spoke of your past counterparts, they wouldn't egg them on to the point of how Yuki's feeling."
A staredown ensued between Masato and Master Gennai. A low growl escaped Yuki. Even though their master silently returned the bag to his pocket, the only thing Masato was doing was embarrassing him. Yuki knew how to hold his own and he was going to prove it.
The carrot-haired boy took hold of his girlfriend's arms and held them tight as he spoke with urgency to her. "I'm the only one that loves you. Not him -" he pointed to Master Gennai, "and definitely not him," he pointed to Kazuma.
"Don't speak for me," Kazuma leaned forward and growled in response. That same scary glare from this morning returned, one that Yuki did his best to ignore.
"Don't care, didn't ask," Master Gennai shot. "Let's not waste any more time than we already have. Let's get this thing started."
"Say you love me," Yuki urged his girlfriend. "That way those two will back off."
Naomi yanked her arms away. "You're the one that needs to back off and calm it down! You're embarrassing me. Can't you read the situation?"
Yuki's heart stilled. "But can't you see that I -"
Shiro interjected. "Hey. My sister said to stop."
"Meditation would do all of us good," Masato added with a grin.
Yuki scanned everyone and saw that it appeared they all felt the same. Thinking back, perhaps he did take it a bit far. He winced, cracking his knuckles.
"Uh…sorry, guys. Sorry, Nomi."
"You get hangry a lot like Shiro," Kenya responded. "It always happens at breakfast. Ask Master Gennai for another bowl of rice."
Shiro huffed after hearing himself be mentioned. Before Yuki could answer his brother, Master Gennai spoke.
"No extras. It's better that he's hangry for meditation. Speaking of which -"
"Being hangry helps with meditation? How?" Miya questioned, not convinced.
"It just does."
"But -"
Keiko spoke to Miya impatiently. "It may be a technique. Let him finish so we can get this over with."
"You're not hangry," Kazuma said, choosing to ignore his cousin's advice while glaring at Yuki. "You're scared that Nomi's going to leave you. That's why you're extra clingy today and tip-toeing around me. Don't use me as an excuse."
Shun laid a hand on Kazu's back. "Now's not the time, Kazu."
Fire burned in Yuki's eyes as he saw his girlfriend and Kazu stare at each other with a sad longing.
He shot back. "Shun's right. Now's not the time."
"Finally," said Master Gennai. "The first sane thing you've said since this morning. All right," he clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention. "Crisscross your legs and close your eyes. With every deliberate long, slow breath that's taken and released, imagine every thought, every frustration, every distraction is being pushed away from your mind. Think of nothing. Feel the Force flowing through you."
Yuki Kamiya huffed to himself as he did as he was told. He tried to sneak an arm around Naomi's waist for a side hug, but was only met with her lightly smacking his arm away.
Another soft, frustrated growl was released. Kazuma's words were replaying with his mind and he hated that once again the blonde called him out. They all may be stuck in this Digital World at the moment, but that wasn't going to stop him in making sure he didn't lose this rare chance he had of winning Nomi over. Besides, if it took being the best Destined Jedi of them all to impress her, that's what he'd strive for.
Yuki took another long breath and released it. He closed his eyes and tried to sneak his arm over to his girlfriend's waist again.
She smacked his arm again and whispered, "Stop it."
A short whine escaped his lips. He couldn't help trying at least one more time.
Whatever. Just like he persisted with asking her out, Yuki knew she was going to fall for him. It was inevitable. They were meant to be and no one was going to take that away from him. Yuki took another deep breath in and released it.
No one.
Meditating hungry was hard. Food was all Yuki could think about. His stomach was crying out to be filled right away, but the orange-haired boy knew he could not heed that request. The cries from his stomach were slowly taking over his thoughts, preventing him from focusing.
He peeked with one eye to see everyone else, including his master at peace meditating. How was everyone else able to do it and not him?
"Close your eyes, Yuki," Master Gennai said while still meditating.
How did that guy know he was peeking?
"Because your thoughts have been screaming," Master Gennai answered sharply. "Focus."
Yuki frowned, but did as he was told.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe -
This wasn't working! How did his dad and mom do this?
"Are you sure, Gennai?"
Who said that?
Yuki whipped around to find himself standing in what appeared to be a pure white, spacious, empty room. It had no doors or windows, yet somehow felt the warm sunshine beat down on him. Standing behind him was the original Gennai, Young Gennai and a little, orange dinosaur with large green eyes.
His crimson eyes widened in awe. He recognized that orange dinosaur. It was Agumon!
"Yes, Agumon," Old Man Gennai answered the Digimon with a chuckle. The Force Ghost of Young Gennai nodded in response. "The Force has spoken and so we must obey."
Yuki took a step forward, amazed by his surroundings and the Digimon. His eyes met the dinosaur's green ones. "Are you the same Agumon that helped my dad?"
Agumon laughed. "That's me! I knew he'd end up okay. It's nice to meet you."
Yuki gushed as he ran over to hug the dinosaur Digimon. "Sweet! My mom made me a dinosaur doll when I was little that looks just like you and Dad told me stories of how you helped him. I can't believe this! I need a picture."
"Just a minute -" Young Gennai protested, but it fell on deaf ears.
Old Man Gennai photo bombed the picture as Yuki and Agumon laughed while the picture was taken.
Yuki looked at the picture showing it to everyone. "This is so awesome! My dad is going to be jealous when he sees this!"
Young Gennai found himself chuckling as he took Yuki's phone. "One more, but it's the last one because we don't have much time."
Was that baggie Young Gennai removed from his pocket filled with brownie bites?
Old Man Gennai shook his head. "Honestly."
Young Gennai smirked and positioned the camera to also include the brownie bites. His thumb hovered over the button. "Live a little. Besides, all of their parents will know what this is."
"Can I have some?" Agumon licked his chops.
"Nope. Maybe if you turn into Greymon, I'll consider."
"Young Gennai," Old Man Gennai reprimanded.
Young Gennai sighed. "Fine. MetalGreymon."
"Aw, shucks," Agumon whined.
Before Yuki could ask what he suspected them to be, Young Gennai snapped the picture and returned his phone. "There ya go, kid. I better get a report back of their reaction."
An awkward chuckle escaped Yuki. "Sure…I guess? So, uh, I guess this is meditation?"
"Meditation, a trance, whatever you want to call it," Old Man Gennai said. "We decided to intervene since time is of the essence and your thoughts weren't cooperating."
Yuki's eyebrow raised curiously. What did the old man mean by that?
"The reason why we're in this white room is because we–" He gestured to his two companions, "–have something we need to discuss with you privately."
"Me? Why me?"
"In order to fully awaken your powers, we need you to fully accept your shortcomings. Every human has them."
"And it's these shortcomings that help you decide what kind of person you want to become," Young Gennai added.
Agumon gave a thumbs up. "You'll decide if you'll use them to grow or stay as you are."
Yuki thought about their statements. "As in choosing to follow the Light or Dark side."
"Precisely," Old Man Gennai said.
Agumon interjected. "Before we start, can you pick a different background? The white is a little boring. This is your mind. Pick a place that always makes you happy."
A place that made him happy? A soccer field always did. Where else? Yuki was no fool. This place could be what he would use to help him meditate in the future, so he should be smart about what he picked. Watching his dad play a game on TV? Being with Kenya? Or, actually…
Yuto, his older brother.
Yuto was always his safe space. He missed him now that he was away at college. His brother always knew what to say and do to make him feel better about any situation. He always had advice that worked, even if Yuki didn't feel it would work initially.
The background changed to his brother's warm and inviting room. This was perfect.
"Where is this?" Agumon asked.
Yuki scanned the room as various memories of himself and Yuto throughout the years played in the background. Some were of Yuto giving him advice. Others were of hugs given on a bad day, or playing video games.
"It's my brother's room," he replied with a warm smile.
"And why here?" Old Man Gennai asked.
"Because my brother is my safe zone." Sadness crept into his heart while watching the memories play out. He missed his brother so much. "When he left for college, I felt lost at first, but at least we still text."
"But he's still alive," Old Man Gennai said. "You're acting like he's dead. These are wonderful memories to hold on to until the time comes to meet again."
A half smile formed as he tore his eyes from the memories and to the three digital beings. "I guess so. So what now? Oh," an embarrassed chuckle escaped. "That's right. My shortcomings. Do I have to?"
"Yes," Young Gennai insisted. "The faster, the better. These special brownies are calling my name."
"Honestly," Old Man Gennai groaned.
"Don't even, old man. I'm a version of you. Deep down inside, you know you want to try it."
All Old Man Gennai did was stare at where the baggie was located.
A smug grin formed on Young Gennai's face.
Agumon tugged on the taller, younger one's robe. "Are you sure I have to wait until I digivolve into MetalGreymon to have some?"
"Hey, guys? Can we focus on me?" Yuki winced again, cracking his knuckles. "I thought time was of the essence?"
"We're waiting on you, Yuki," Agumon responded. "What is your answer?"
Yuki paused. He didn't want to answer that. That pressure to answer emanated from the three pairs of eyes that were looking straight at him. Once he said them it would make his flaws true.
"Are you going to tell Master Gennai?" A shameful wince replaced the embarrassed one.
"We are one. What we know, he will too, but it will be kept confidential," Young Gennai reassured.
Before Yuki could protest, Agumon interrupted. "Your current Master Gennai may have certain parts of him corrupted, but he is testing to see how easy it will be for the enemy to get under your skin. So far, you're a danger to the team, Troublesome. Open your eyes and your mind, young padawan."
A danger to the team? What a lie! At this point it didn't matter that this Agumon helped his dad growing up. He was going to tear this Digimon a new one. Right as Yuki opened his mouth to speak ill of his master and defend this morning's actions, he paused. All three digital beings glared at him with knowing looks.
Okay. So maybe looking back, despite Master Gennai's suggestive dialogue, he could see the reason why his master was picking on him specifically. It could be compared to times when his dad would work one of his team members harder on certain days. They would usually complain about it, but then his dad would be proven a genius on match day when whatever it was he worked on with that player came to be a vital factor in the match.
Maybe that was happening here. Perhaps Master Gennai saw his potential to lead this team and was getting on him so that he became what his master believed he could be.
"In order to be a good leader for my friends, I need to learn to not let things get under my skin so much," he finally said. "Right?"
Old Man Gennai gave a hint of a smile. "Go on," he said. "You are on the right path."
Yuki took a breath before continuing where he figured this was heading. "It's not about me being the boss. It's about having everyone else's lives in my hands and being able to make the right decisions so that not only do we win, but we all survive."
All three nodded.
What were they waiting for? There was more? Great. Yuki grimaced. They wanted more. They couldn't mean talking about his deepest insecurities, could they?
"Oh, yes, please," Young Gennai said with interest dripping from his answer. "The exact two that fluttered through your mind just now. Tell us those."
"Stop reading my mind!" Yuki lashed out.
All three digital entities chuckled. Agumon spoke.
"Not that we want to, but we are communicating through your mind. So we're not exactly able to honor that request."
Oh. Right. Shoot. That meant those pictures they took wouldn't -
"I think you'll find them next time you check," Force Ghost Young Gennai said with a wink. "I did mean it when I said I wanted to hear what everyone's reactions were."
A smile spread across his face, but only for a split second. Deep down inside he wanted to become a Destined Jedi like his parents, and since he had to believe his master would keep it confidential Yuki decided to take a leap of faith.
He lowered his gaze to the floor only after watching a memory on replay. "As much as I want to be like my brother, I'm never going to measure up to him. He never has to try for girls to fawn all over him. He's his normal 'what you see is what you get' self. Everybody loves that. That's one of the things I like about him because he's so real and caring.
"But that doesn't work for me. It somehow fell on my lap that I can convince my girlfriend to go out with me even though I know she doesn't love me that way. I told her that I would win her over, but I have this sinking feeling she's going to leave me because I can't act like him." He muttered to himself, "I can't even act like Kazu. It's like I almost have her, but she still resists me."
"Excellent. And your last flaw?" Old Man Gennai urged.
Yuki took a deep breath in. He then released it. "I try using humor like Yuto does to get things I want, but I can't do it like him no matter how hard I try. I'm called the class clown in school. I'm the goofy one in my circle of friends, but no one takes me seriously."
"So that means what?" Agumon said, trying to help Yuki piece it together.
Yuki shook his head and shrugged trying to figure out how to sum it all up. His head hung in shame.
"That I need to stop trying to be my brother and figure out who I really am."
Old Man Gennai walked over to Yuki and patted his back with a warm smile. "Because no one can ever copy someone truly. You are one of a kind, Yuki Kamiya. So is your brother. That took a lot of courage to admit your flaws."
Yuki looked up at him with a grateful smile. Agumon ran over and hugged his legs with a laugh.
"Good job, Yuki! You did it! I knew you could!"
Yuki kneeled and returned the hug to the orange digital dinosaur. "Thanks, Agumon."
"It looks like our work is done," Old Man Gennai said to his younger counterpart. Young Gennai nodded in return as the two slowly disappeared from sight. Agumon joined them a second later.
A flash of orange light came out of the corner of Yuki's eyes. He instantly looked at his wrist, but didn't see anything appear there. Strange. That was the same spot where his parents' marks appeared in the manga. The light continued shining. Where was it coming from?
The carrot-haired boy looked down at his feet and saw the light flashing through the hem of his pant leg. As he pulled it up, the light disappeared. Nothing about his leg seemed any different. The definition of his calf muscle hadn't changed. The inner part of his leg and ankle were still unblemished as well. Best check the other side too.
"No way!"
Yuki's breath left his body as he looked at the outer part of his leg. There, on a spot just above his ankle, was the marking of a sun. It had more definition to it than he would expect to see from the sun with three circles inside of the four triangles pointing in either direction. Then he realized that the mark looked familiar.
It was the same one his father had back in the day!
"Oh man!" he exclaimed excitedly. "This is too cool."
Before he could get too excited, a vision of his brother appeared in front of him. It was so clear that Yuki almost believed Yuto was standing there in front of him. Like how it was supposed to be. His lips moved like the two of them were just having a conversation. No words came out, but that didn't matter as Yuki settled back in a meditative position.
Maybe this Destined Jedi stuff was going to be better than he expected.
It seems Yuki is beginning to head in the right direction. How will the rest of the group progress as they begin their Jedi Journey? Find out next time on Destined Jedi: Next Generations.
Hope you guys enjoyed that. Again, sorry for disappearing for two months but life just kept getting in the way. Hope that made up for it. I want to thank my awesome co-writer Music Chick for her support and nudging to finally get this done. Have a good outline made for the next chapter, so I'm sure you all will enjoy that when it does come out.
Have a nice weekend and I'll see you all soon.
Tootles!