Hello, everyone!

Here is something I've always wanted to do at some point but never really got to: a Digimon Tamers story. As my interest in Digimon has resurfaced hard as of recent I figured now would be as great of a time as ever to try it out. (Even though I definitely am nervous about it.)

I do want to reiterate that this is merely a pilot chapter. The reason for this is because I don't know if people would be interested in reading this and with me having stuff to do in life (Education, work, all that stuff.) there'd be little point to put a lot of time and effort into something no one really wants to see. If there seems to be considerable interest, you'll be sure to get a follow up on this.

Now a small disclaimer I want to make. As I assume you know, the ending of Tamers is something that a lot of people still debate about. The Parasimon movie had the Digimon back into the Real World (Which admittedly, the writer/director of Tamers liked and approved of) while other future media seemed to go with the fact they were in the Digital World after the D-Reaper incident. For this story, I'll run with the fact that the partner Digimon are back in the real world (So please, don't think too much about it. The staff apparently didn't either back at that time).

With that said, I hope you'll enjoy.

Chapter 1: Digital or Unknown Monster!? Dorumon appears!

"Aaaaaand... another Option Card..."

The blond sighed, putting the newly purchased booster pack in the pocket of his jacket. As of recent, he had slowly gotten into the Digimon Card Game. While at first he only collected them for the artworks on the Digimon Cards, he had slowly gotten around to actually playing it. While not exactly a newbie, he wasn't very good either.

"Guess it doesn't matter..." he mumbled. "I don't have anyone to play with anyways."

And let that be exactly why he couldn't really improve. He understood the rules, but he just... was never able to apply them in practice due to having no one to play against.

He bid the shop clerk farewell, putting his headphones on, exposing his ears to the music. As he stepped outside of the shop, he looked around, hoping to find something he could do to pass the time.

'What am I supposed to do here...' he wondered. 'I don't know anyone here... Let alone knowing what there is to do in this city... I was only a kid when we lived here before.'

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he started his walk, hoping his legs would intuitively take him somewhere where he could relieve his boredom.

'If only I had a Digimon myself... That would help to get the clock move faster...'

It had been 4 years since the infamous D-Reaper accident in Shinjuku. The incident that made the existence of Digimon known to the country and that was resolved through big efforts of children of his age and their Digimon partners.

Which, for as far as it wasn't already more possible, made the blond's life even more discontent by just thinking about it. Sure, if it weren't for the courageous acts of those children he probably wouldn't even be walking where he would be walking now.

But the fact that children his age managed to achieve something like that. The fact that children his age actually had a real life Digimon.

It made him miserable just thinking about it.

While he had always watched the show, he never really believed Digimon actually were real. It was nothing more than a show thought up by someone. He knew that, but even so, there was nothing wrong with dreaming about having your own Digimon partner, was there?

So of course, when they turned out to actually be real, it was a huge bummer to the boy that they were in Shinjuku at that time, instead of his then current place of residence. Even though admittedly, that certainly wasn't a bad thing, seeing the entire D-Reaper incident.

After the defeat of the D-Reaper, the fate of the Digimon were left unknown with no major incidents having happened in the meantime, making having an own partner Digimon nothing more than a fleeting illusion.

The boy's train of thoughts came to a halt as he bumped into a sturdy object, causing him to flinch. He should definitely pay some more attention. This was going to leave a nasty mark. Much to his surprise though, the object turned around, revealing a muscled, rough-looking man glaring at him.

All he did was hoping someone would report the authorities when this man would strangle him to his death as he gulped, anticipating his final minutes on Earth.

"Get lost, furball!"

The purple being got punched in the stomach by a gloved fist, throwing the being back. It got back on its feet relatively quick, confronting the quintet of mushrooms before it.

"What was that good for, Mushmon?" it coughed, pinching one eye closed. "I didn't even do anything to you!"

"Are you deaf?" the second Mushmon asked, ignoring the purple beast's question. "Hakai no Kinoko Bakudan!"

Mushmon threw a mushroom at the beast's feet, the impact of it touching the ground causing it to explode.

All of the Mushmon burst into laughter, grinning gleefully at the tormenting of the purple Digimon.

"Khh...!" the purple beast took a stand once more, its ears drooping in defeat.

Then, one of the Mushmon charged forward, grasping it by the neck and working it to the ground in a quick hand movement. Once it threw the creature on the ground, the Mushmon smashed its foot into its face, holding it pinned underneath its weight.

"L-let me go..." It tried to lift its head, but Mushmon immediately shifted his weight, smashing its head back to the ground again. "I didn't do... anything to you..."

Mushmon, solely for the purpose of taunting the poor Digimon, dug his foot deeper onto its face, even stamping down on it.

"You are in our territory, furry!" he declared, pointing at itself with its thumb. "We told you to get lost but you refused to listen! Now you have to pay the price!"

One Mushmon scraped its knuckles, grinning wickedly. "It's been a long time since we've had a fight."

At the word 'fight' the creature flinched somewhat.

"I never wanted a fight..." it objected, squirming to get away. "I just happened to wander here and, and..."

It squeezed its eyes shut, tears starting to form. 'I just wanted to make friends...!'

"Be quiet!"

The Mushmon stamped its face once more in an attempt to shut it up, prompting the others to join in as well. As the 3 others attempted to get the first swing in, they all got swept away at highspeed by something that rushed out of the nearby bushes.

The only remaining Mushmon lifted his foot of the purple creature, turning around with a frightened expression on its face. That expression only intensified when it noticed what stood behind it.

"F-fangmon...!" it cowered, its entire being shaking in fear.

Fangmon said nothing, merely stepping on two of the three Mushmon with its front paws. It then glanced sideways to make sure the only Mushmon that was still standing took notice. When it noticed that it did, it proceeded to dug its claws deeper into the two Mushmons underneath it, causing the two to scream out in pain. The screams didn't last for long as they met deletion by Fangmon's claws, the latter absorbing their data.

"N-no way..." Mushmon muttered, taking a step back.

The purple beast, having just witnessed what took place in front of his eyes and the fact that he wasn't being pinned down by the Mushmon anymore, took the opportunity to take a stand and make a run for it, escaping through the nearby river.

Licking its lips, Fangmon leaped off to the third Mushamon that remained frozen in fear on the ground, proceeding to the same to it as it did to the other two.

As it deleted that one too, its gaze fell upon the last remaining Mushamon, taking slow steps forward towards it. "Now, for the last one..."

The Mushmon quickly took even more steps backwards, holding its hands up. "F-fangmon...! L-let's strike a deal here! If you don't delete me then I- AHHH!"

Mushmon never got to propose said deal as Fangmon swiftly slashed through it, deleting it and absorbing its data.

Fangmon growled in content, its tail swinging around wildly. "Now that I finally got my stomach filled, I can finally start the hunt..."

He gazed upon the spot where the purple beast had been before it proceeded to run off. It merely caused Fangmon to grin.

"I won't let you get away... Dorumon!"

With that, Fangmon took off, speeding through the river, following Dorumon's trail.

"Supervisor Yamaki!" called out one of the women, furiously hitting away at the keyboard in front of her. "Two Digimon have realized simultaneously and entered the real world! It seems to be a pursuit!"

Yamaki nervously fiddled around with the lid of his lighter, the sound of it opening and closing continuously being heard as he thought for a course of action.

"Don't lose them out of sight," he ordered, eyes narrowing underneath his sunglasses. "I'll contact and send out the Tamers."

"Understood!"

"Ah, sumimasen."

The blond boy quickly apologized to the man he bumped into to before resuming his way into the crowd, getting himself lost in the music blasting through his headphones. Just in case the man would change his mind and come after him. He'd prefer to get home with his neck in one piece if he could help it.

Opposed to the other children of his age that were walking out on the streets, he stuck out like a sore thumb. As if his blond hair wasn't enough to stand out in a big mass, his outfit compared to the outfit of other children on the streets made sure he did. While others also wore casual clothing, at least they had school bags on, giving off at least the impression that they were actually going to where they were supposed to be going. He just simply didn't give of that impression and the fact that he was just randomly wandering around gave off some really suspicious vibes to other people.

Said suspicious vibe, that the boy himself was completely unaware of, caught the attention of a certain duo. Nodding at each other, the duo stepped towards him, calling out to him to stop.

"Oi, boy!"

Due to the high volume of the music blasting through his headphones, the boy failed to hear the duo calling out to him, causing him to unintentionally ignore them as he kept on walking. The duo quickened the pace, hoping to not lose him within the mass. Luckily, his blond hair made him easily noticeable, making it practically impossible to lose him.

With them being in a short enough range, they took their chance, one person of the duo placing a hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to come to a halt.

He turned around, one eyebrow raised with an otherwise unimpressed expression plastered across his face.

"What is it," he somewhat snarked, taking of his headphones, letting them hang around his neck. He attempted to scare them away with a glare, but the duo had definitely seen more intimidating stuff than an angry middle school student. Quickly after he shot his glare towards the duo, the blond realized that the two were actually officers, causing his glare to disappear, making way for a slight panic. 'O-officers...! But I've done nothing wrong... D-don't tell me I accidentally took a booster pack without paying?! Dad will kill me if I get into trouble again... Especially after we've only just moved back here...!'

"Shouldn't you be at school right now, young man?"

The boy's panicking died down because of the chubby officer's question making way for internal laughter. Of course. That made sense.

"Also, aren't you supposed to be dressed a little less casual for school?" the taller, lankier office that accompanied his colleague added.

Inspecting himself, the boy took notice of the outfit he had thrown on this morning. There was such thing as too casual? Was it perhaps the dog tag around his neck? No, that couldn't be it. He shrugged it off and decided to ignore the second question, assuming it was one of those so-called generation gaps.

The boy chuckled, shrugging while his hands remained in his pockets. "I'd like to, but I'm in the middle of a transfer. Bit late with the paperwork and all that."

"That's no excuse," the taller, lankier officer refuted, placing his hands on his hips. "You can still go to your old school until the transfer is completed."

"I'd like to, but my old school is in a different part of the country," the blond explained. "I couldn't even get there if I tried."

The two officers stared at each other before bursting into a small burst of laughter.

"Oh boy," one began, "We've heard a lot of excuses but this one definitely tops all!"

"Yeah, enough fooling around. We're contacting your parents," the other continued. "What's your name?"

"Ryuuji," he calmly answered. "Hoshizora Ryuuji."

"H-hoshizora...!?" the chubbier officer exclaimed, taking a step back. "That Hoshizora!?"

The blond merely nodded, sporting a look that indicated that he had gone through this process countless of times. "That Hoshizora."

"Now that I think about it, I did read that he moved back recently," the other officer remembered, he then smiled slightly, turning his attention to Ryuuji. "Well then. We'll let you off. Just go to school as soon as your transfer is completed! And don't cause any troubles out here!"

"Wouldn't dare."

With that, the officers took their leave, leaving an irritated blond behind.

He kicked the first object he could find in anger, causing an empty soda can to become the victim of his wrath. "ARE YOU ACTUALLY BEING SERIOUS!?"

His outburst raised a decent amount of heads without the boy noticing straightaway due to his anger. As his anger slowly faded, his outburst registered inside of his head, prompting him to look around to see how many people had heard it.

Since he was shot quite a large amount of glances, he guessed a lot. He merely turned away, putting on his headphones once more.

"Just my luck," he mumbled, fingers twitching in frustration. "I'm not even doing anything...! Well, I guess I just made myself guilty of spreading thrash by kicking that can..."

As he gazed upon the foot that had executed judgement on the can of soda, he noticed his loose laces on his sneaker. As tripping over his loose laces would sour his mood even more, he decided to tie it.

Having swiftly tied them up, the boy got up, however, as he lifted his head, a purple flash darted past him. At that very moment, it was as if time came to a stop. The boy's eyes darted to the left, to where whatever the purple thing was flashed past. The purple flash looked to the side as well, yellow eyes locking with Ryuuji's.

As the creature darted past fast, the lock was broken. As the blond got up to his full length, he could only look back in a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Was that..." he started, "a Digimon...?"

He cupped his chin, his mind starting to run wild on the prospect of Digimon being back in the human world.

"No, no. That's crazy..." he mumbled. "Certainly it's my mind trying to play tricks on me...? But... what if it was? This could be my chance at a Digimon partner..."

Shaking his head, he quickly abandoned that thought. "No, that's stupid. Who knows what actions the Digimon might make..."

But even so, his curiosity was certainly at its highest since a long while, making it so he couldn't fully abandon the idea of going after it.

And with that curiosity taking over any thoughts or feelings, he quickly turned on his heels, following after the creature.

With that, he disappeared within the large crowd, hoping to be able to keep, what he guessed was a Digimon, in his sight.

"I'm going to look so stupid when it turns out to just be a dog..."

The purple creature flinched, gritting his fangs as he went over his situation again. This wasn't good. Of everywhere where he could run to, he ran into the one place that pretty much stopped him from advancing by heading straight into an alley that offered a dead end.

"This is bad," the creature noted, frantically looking around if there was a way to somehow escape higher up. However, somehow, he was also fine with this. He had been on the run for way too long now, both in the Digital World and wherever he had ended up now. His legs fell like giving in and his stamina definitely wasn't that good that he could just run around forever. "I can't... keep this on forever... Maybe I should rest here for a short while..."

That intention, however, got brutally interrupted as a blond boy turned around the corner into the alleyway the creature had just locked itself into, coming to a halt. He bend forward slightly, placing his hands on his knees, heavily panting from the distance he had just covered.

"Looks like I finally found you..." he panted, swallowing the saliva that had formed inside of his mouth. He kept his guard up and attempted to not show his nervousness. After all, this was still a Digimon (Or so he truly believed). For the second time that day their eyes locked, the Digimon keeping its guard up as well.

"You... you're a Digimon, aren't you," the boy stated, every bit of nervousness of confronting the creature leaving his body as soon as those words left his mouth.

There fell a short silence that was only filled by the sound of a soft breeze. The both of them merely stood there, eyes locked, almost seeming as if they were attempting to analyze each other's intentions.

'H-he knows... This could be bad...!" The purple creature admitted to himself, putting his guard up even higher. 'If this person has bad intentions, I don't just have Fangmon to worry about... And I won't even be able to fight of that one... He doesn't seem that bad though..."

However, since the person in front of him already knew, he saw no point in denying it. He could charge in and attempt to scare him off with a harmless bite, but he was sure that would get him into trouble if word got out. Besides that, he meant no harm. How would he ever convince anyone of that if he just went and bit everyone that confronted him? As a result, the purple creature then nodded in confirmation, deciding to break the silence. "My name's Dorumon, but-"

"Dorumon, eh!" Ryuuji cut off, grinning. "That's a good name! I'm Ryuuji. Hoshizora Ryuuji."

Dorumon blinked. The boy certainly handled that as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about it all too.

"You should leave, Ryuuji," Dorumon warned, his tone and facial expression indicating nothing else but seriousness, mixed with a small hint of worry. "I... I'm being followed and-"

Almost as if on cue, a bloodthirsty growl filled the ears of both Ryuuji and Dorumon, causing the duo to turn their attention to the origin of the growl. The latter gritted his fangs once more, whilst the former's eyes widened in shock. Behind them stood a red wolf with an exaggerated muzzle and wide eyes. Around its legs where leather bandages, adorned with a number of straps. On each paw it had three, long purple claws that were sure to cause lethal damage should they get the chance to hit something.

"Another Digimon!?" Ryuuji exclaimed, stepping back a bit. Unlike Dorumon, who seemed pretty docile, this thing looked as if it was ready to murder an entire farm.

"Yeah, that's what I tried to tell you," Dorumon answered. "It's been pursuing me for a while. Even when I passed a portal to escape, it continued its pursuit for me."

"But why is it after you?" Ryuuji asked, turning his attention to Dorumon. "Then again, it doesn't really look like the kind of Digimon that needs a reason to... Also, where does this mist suddenly come from?""

"I don't know." Dorumon briefly shook his head, ignoring the mist that had formed to pay attention to the real problem at hand. "But it certainly doesn't plan on letting me walk out of here like that."

"Looks like you have nowhere left to run," the red wolf howled, "Dorumon!"

"Fangmon," Dorumon noted. "What do you want from me?"

The wolf, known as Fangmon, merely showed off a killer grin, licking his lips. "Nothing particular. Nothing that you should know about anyways..."

Then, without any warning, Fangmon charged forward, brandishing its claws.

Dorumon, noticing that Ryuuji was the first one in Fangmon's path, leapt forward as well. However, unlike Fangmon, Dorumon had a different intent when charging.

"Out of the way!" he shouted, slamming his body into Ryuuji, successfully pushing him to ground, out of the way of Fangmon, causing all of the cards he bought earlier and his card scanner to scatter across the floor. As a result, however, Dorumon placed itself right in Fangmon's path, making him an easy target for Fangmon's attack. As such, Fangmon smashed Dorumon into the ground with his claw.

"Guagh!"

"Dorumon!"

Ryuuji called out to the purple Digimon in a worried tone. "Damn it! I got to help him..." As he frantically searched around, he noticed a small pile of broken bricks. "Surely...!"

Fangmon, in the meantime, had made its way over to Dorumon, who struggled to get up. While he could have handled the impact of Fangmon's attack alone, the impact of hitting the ground at such force made it hard for Dorumon to stand up to Fangmon, especially when taking into consideration that it had pretty much drained itself by running away from it for so long.

"Blast Coffin!" Fangmon unleashed a blast of dark energy from its mouth at Dorumon, knocking it back again. Fangmon only held up the attack for a short while, smashing into Dorumon with its claw again, however, this time, he kept Dorumon pressed underneath his weight and strength, preventing him from escaping. "You should have just surrendered from the start, Dorumon. Now, you're no-"

At that moment, a broken piece of a brick hit Fangmon on the head, prompting it to look back in an annoyed manner, finding Ryuuji standing there, throwing up another piece of brick. "Eh...?"

"Get away from Dorumon at once," Ryuuji ordered, before throwing the second piece. Fangmon, however, now actually paying attention to Ryuuji, managed to easily dodge that one with a simple head movement.

"You insolent brat..." he groaned, eyes narrowing. "I guess I should get rid of you first."

Ryuuji merely gulped. He had gotten himself in some good trouble this time around. And he had definitely gotten himself in a load of trouble before countless of times.

"I'll be enjoying this...!" Fangmon leapt off towards Ryuuji with its tongue out like some sort of rabid dog, fully releasing the grip on Dorumon in the process.

Ryuuji grasped to his right, taking a hold of the steel bar on the ground. With a quick movement of the hand, he swung the bar into Fangmon's claw, causing the bar to be smashed out of his hands.

Fangmon landed in front of Ryuuji, taking the opportunity to toy with him before dealing the finishing blow. With each step he took forward, Ryuuji took a step back. After 5 steps or so, Ryuuji backed into the wall behind him, having no way out to Fangmon anymore. He glanced to his left. The iron bar was still there. Fangmon, however, was way faster than he was. He could easily prevent him from getting a hand on it.

'But I need to try...!' With a swift body feint to the right, Ryuuji managed to fake Fangmon going the opposite side of where he wanted to go, lunging for the iron bar. Fangmon, however, quickly realised what Ryuuji was going for, and easily managed to turn himself into the right direction.

"It's futile!" he declared, staring him straight in the eyes as they moved to the same side, noticing the fear in Ryuuji's eyes.

"Metal Cannon!"

Fangmon was hit by an iron sphere, smashing it into the wall behind Ryuuji, giving Ryuuji enough time to grab a hold of the iron bar.

"Now, Ryuuji!" Dorumon called out. "Leave now you can! Fangmon is too dangerous!"

"Are you crazy?!" Ryuuji retorded. "I can't leave you here on your own!"

"If you don't get out of here now, you'll be in danger!" Dorumon protested.

Amidst the protests, the red wolf got up, slightly staggering from the impact of Dorumon's attack. "That was a good attack, but it will end for you here!"

Fangmon leaped off at the duo, slashing Ryuuji's iron bar in two. Then, he planted his hind paws into his chest, using his chest as a launching pad to leap off at Dorumon.

For that moment, time seems to slow down considerably. Ryuuji's focus settled on Dorumon, who charged up his own attack in an attempt to hit back at Fangmon. However, even with everything in slow motion, Ryuuji just knew that Fangmon would strike before Dorumon could.

"This can't be happening...!" Ryuuji convinced himself, clenching his fist in pure frustration. Just like he'd anticipated, to his own horror, Dorumon was unable to counter Fangmon in time, causing the former to fall victim to the grip of the latter's jaw. "Not now! I... I... I can't fail! Not again! Not at such an important moment as now!"

At that moment, Ryuuji remembered the cards that got scattered over the floor from Dorumon's tackle. Sliding off to his scattered cards, he grabbed a hold of the first Option Card among them, desperately slashing it through his card scanner.

"Come on, you stupid thing!" Furiously scanning the card through the reader time and time again, prompting it to hurry up. "Why won't you work!?"

Groaning in annoyance, he threw it away, picking up another one: a fully blue one, hidden underneath the other cards. Not being able to remember ever having such a card, he quickly shrugged it off, knowing there was no time to think about such things.

He swiftly slashed the card through the scanner, but just like the previous card, it had no effect. How come it didn't work? How? It worked like that in the card game! Granted, this was totally different from a battle in the card game, but still. Wait. Why did he think this would work? It was an actual real life Digimon. Not a simple card with a pretty picture of one pasted onto it.

"Damn it!"

At that moment, the alley was lit up by a bright flash, causing Fangmon to loosen his hold on Dorumon, who, in turn, weakly looked at the source of the bright light.

The light enveloped Ryuuji's card reader, and slowly but surely got it to change its form into a more handheld device. As the light slowly cleared away, the card reader was replaced by a white device attached to a black strap, a screen in the middle enveloped by a black circle and two small black buttons underneath it. "This is..." Ryuuji's face quickly lit up, his frustrated expression taken over by a relieved one upon the realization of what the device was. "No way...!"

As the light disappeared around the device, it made its way over to Dorumon, engulfing him whole, fully healing him from all his wounds.

"What... what is this...?" he muttered, as he felt his strength return to him.

Fangmon, too, quickly noticed the device, causing him to slightly panic. Unfortunately, it had already healed Dorumon, forcing Fangmon to make a decision: go for Ryuuji or take out Dorumon.

For what Fangmon would deem truly the last time this time, he leaped off at Ryuuji, brandishing both fangs and claws.

For the first time in the whole battle, Ryuuji actually felt confident. The device in his hand had healed Dorumon and while Fangmon was obviously a power level above it, it could definitely help turn the tides!

The blond then picked another card scattered across the floor, quickly slashing it through the device.

Dorumon, to his own surprise, felt even more power surge through him. 'Is this because of that card...?"

The purple Digimon quickly shrugged it off, charging off to Fangmon at high speed, filling up with nothing else but sheer determination and confidence. "Hyper Dash Metal!"

With his full weight, Dorumon charged into Fangmon, throwing him out of his path, once more, into the wall.

"Now, Dorumon!" Ryuuji ordered, intending for a finish.

Dorumon merely nodded, glad to oblige. He then took a solid stance, charging in preparation to launch his attack.

Fangmon dug his paws into the ground, attempting to take a stand. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn't get that far anymore.

"Metal Cannon!"

Dorumon blasted an iron sphere in Fangmon's direction, successfully nailing him in the side causing it to, once more, crash into the wall. This time, however, it showed no since of getting up.

Fangmon's entire being began to shine a light blue and Dorumon recognized it as a sign of an upcoming deletion. As such, he decided to get closer to Fangmon, but still maintained a safe distance between them to prevent any surprise attacks from happening.

"Dorumon..." he grumbled, clearly annoyed at his defeat at the hands of the duo. "Tchk. Enjoy it while you can... You will never... be safe..."

And with that, Fangmon exploded into bits, never allowing Dorumon to question his words. Instead, the blue particles got absorbed into Dorumon, leaving no remainder of Fangmon left.

"Phew...!"

Behind Dorumon, Ryuuji had sat down on the ground with a sigh, leaning backwards, the mist that had enveloped them clearing away.

"Gomen nasai, Dorumon," the blond immediately went, a somewhat uneasy look filling his eyes. "I should have listened, but-"

"Don't apologize, Ryuuji," Dorumon countered, making his way towards the boy. "Because of you obtaining this device, we managed to win!"

Dorumon took it out of his hand for emphasis, taking his moment to inspect it. So this small thing caused him to power up just now?

"It certainly came in just at the right moment, that's for sure," Ryuuji admitted, dusting off his denim jeans as he took a stand. "But... you know what this means, right...?"

Dorumon shook his head. He had never seen this device before. This was definitely not what he expected after getting bullied by the Mushmon and followed all the way by Fangmon.

Ryuuji breathed in for a brief moment. After all, he wasn't sure how Dorumon would react. He knew virtually nothing about its demeanor when not in battle. There was no telling how he would react at this.

But he had to, regardless. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And he wouldn't let it pass.

"..."

He breathed in. 'Here goes!'

Eyes brimming with confidence met yellow eyes of curiosity, locking onto each other once more.

And then, the words were spoken.

"It means that I'm your partner. Dorumon."

Author Notes:

Hoshizora means "Starry Skies". Ryuuji's given name is written as "Dragon" and "Presiding over", forming "Presiding over the Dragon". Full spelling in Japanese therefore is: '星空竜司'.

'Sumimasen' means 'Sorry' or 'Excuse me'. 'Gomen nasai' is pretty much "I'm sorry."

The way the title of the chapter is done is mostly the way the subbed version of Tamers also builds their titles so I tried to keep it true to that. Hopefully I succeeded in that.

Do feel free to provide comments/feedback if there's something that irks you. Constructive criticism is always welcome to help me improve.

With that said, perhaps until next time!