Chapter 16
Was it a week, a month, a year, or so on? It didn't matter how much time went between each and every couple because conflict is inevitable. Renamon and Jenrya were no different. A simple disagreement here and there between them was pushed aside or squashed. Its when a series of several happening at once that caused true friction between them. It was a Monday. The two of them had enough for one day. When she was gone, he felt a mix of anger and fear in his heart. She was no different. As the days passed each thought over what was said to the other. At first, there was tension, then, sadness. Jenrya was notable more mopey around his family, but wouldn't speak on it. He wouldn't even look at Terriermon at first. A mere week ago the young man looked happier than ever and no he had a face of someone who had his soul stabbed. He shrugged off any questions his family gave him. He replied to messages given to him hours after they were sent if he even replied at all and came home at strange hours if he left the house at all. He was either too out of it to leave home or was never home. This had gone on for nearly a week. Terriermon was by far the most concerned. He had to know what was wrong with Jenrya. The little rabbit digimon pushed the door to Jenrya's room open. Terriermon saw him just sitting with a drink in hand staring into the sky without moving an inch. "Lee!" He called out. "Oh, hey..." Jenrya replied without even looking back. "Need something?" Yeah, we need to talk, now." The little digimon's voice was firm and it caused the man to look back at him with confused expression. "W-we do?" "Yes, now tell me what's wrong, please!"
Jenrya wasn't alone. Renamon was even worse. She went dead silent. She would show up for family meals and bow as a thank you, but she grew eerily silent. She was quieter than she'd ever been and when pressured more to speak, she gave statements are short as she could. Originally she said nothing, then blamed poor sleep and subsequent headaches. Ruki didn't know if this was true or not. Rumiko and Seiko knew better. The latter especially had a good idea of why she was this way. Though neither woman said anything just yet. Each would offer her some typical but notable kind words and the fox thanked them every time. She still wouldn't budge when they asked her about her feelings, but didn't rudely brush them off either. She was never a rude person. She simply didn't want to talk. Truthfully, she didn't even know how talk about it. One afternoon she left for her room before Rumiko stopped her. She put a hand on the vixen's shoulder and whispered into her ear. "Hey, don't let him get you down so much. Men aren't worth that much pain." She chuckled while patting Renamon on the back and walked off. Ruki didn't care for whatever secrecy between them was going on. Then the rare yet familiar confused and concerned look on Renamon's face made Ruki slap her face in embarrassment. "Wait, I'll bet THAT is what's wrong with her. Fucking duh!" She needed to confront her about this. It pained her heart to see her this way. Whoever her mysterious lover(or former lover) was, they crossed a line Ruki wasn't happy about. They'd have to leave in about an hour to see Hypnos, but Ruki didn't care. She was saying something NOW. While Renamon attempted to sleep, she went over the memories of her own romantic problems. Eventually, she did as she'd once done learning about Renamon's situation and decided to seek out Takato's help. Ruki passed on what she knew and the two would speculate. "Yeah, definitely a lover's spat." He said over the phone. "I think it's more than that, Takato. If you saw how she looked, you'd know.""Hmm, maybe. Oh! But maybe she's also never been through this before I don't know, but I'm worried, too." Ruki let out an annoyed sigh while suffeling through her wardrobe to find something to change into. "Maybe so, I dunno. We never got like this in any of our fights. Ugh..." Takoto heard something being thrown, then another. Ruki just casually ripped out whatever closhes entered her hand first to arrange a wardrobe. Eventually, she sat down and gave a reply beyond frustrated groaning. "Takato." "Yeah, Ruki?" "Thank you." "Oh, of course." "I think I'm gonna wake her up and have a talk with her before we go see Yamaki. I can't stand seeing her like this any longer." "I hope you can get through to her, Ruki." "Thanks, and Takato?" "Yeah Ruki?" "I love you."
The red-haired woman quickly dressed herself and walked to the door of Renamon's room. Her odd recent arrangements made the room somewhat darker, barely any outside light and her lamp was off. Still Ruki knew she was there. "Hey." She called out. Ruki heard the shifting of sheets and a lazy voice. "Oh, uh, yes Ruki?" "Where's the damn lamp switch?" Renamon sighed and reached for for the lamp not far from her. Light, finally. Ruki could see and saw that the vixen's eyes were no less empty than they were before her nap. "Renamon," she said placing her hands on the digimon's shoulders, "we need to talk." Renamon rubbed her face and looked back. "Oh, um, about what? Yamaki?" "You know damn well this ain't about anyone at Hypnos, we can worry about that later. What I'm worried about is YOU." Renamon blinked but her expression remained no different than before. "About me?" "Yeah, you've been moping around or sleeping constantly for like a week, or just disappearing without warning." "Look, I don't know what's gotten into you, but I talked and I feel like someone broke your heart or something. Renamon gulped and looked away. "Why do you keep hiding it? You can tell me. Whatever digimon it is, he's hurt you and that hurts me." Renamon let out a faint chuckle. It was the first laugh Ruki had heard from her in a while. "Uh, Digimon, yes..." Eventually, she gave him and looked her in the eye. "Fine, Ruki, you're right. You guessed correctly the last time you asked me something like this. I have...found been in a relationship for some time." "With who?" "..." Dead silence, at least until Ruki broke it with a groan and a swear. "Ugh, fuck! Fine, but is he really worth all of this?" Renamon sighed. "Ruki, I..." Ruki saw her friend's shaking paw. She was very uneasy, but she eventually managed to speak up. "Thank you, Ruki. I should...speak to him again soon." "Wait, what? You serious?" "Dead serious, Ruki." Renamon lifted herself up to stretch a moment before pulling her partner into a hug. "Yes, I will settle these misunderstanding, after the Hypnos visit." Ruki retuned her hug. "As long as you know what you're doing, Renamon. Couples fight all the time, yeah, but I hate seeing you like this." "Wait", Renamon said puzzled, "they do?" "Yeah, of course. I figured you'd of known with how many times Takato and I bitched at each other. We still love each other. "Oh hmm..." Renamon began to ponder. "We've have a few disagreements in the past, one day they just got worse than usual and, well, you know the rest. It doesn't matter, I have to see him again." Ruki began to notice a hint of optimism from her friend. After all this time maybe she was back to normal, or at least she hoped so. "One last thing before we leave, Ruki." "Yeah, Renamon?" "You are my greatest friend. However, the...complicated nature of my relationship means I'm not ready to talk more on it, yet. When I do, I promise you will be one of the first to know." With an exchange of smiles, the two left.