Definitely not forgetting about this fic. More notes at the end.

Chapter 12 : Catching up

It's a normal, peaceful night in Shinjuku, at least for most people. For Digimon tamers and Hypnos, it's another night full of work. Once again, Digimons are crossing into this world and could cause some problems. This night in particular, the numbers of Bio-emerges and Digital Field are much higher than usual. In one neighbourhood, a single Digimon had to deal with a group of Digimons who managed to cross through a portal.

Splat! Splat! Splat!

"Ahh! Cut it out you disgusting freaks!" With his little steps, Impmon is trying his best to dodge those sludges thrown by Numemons. He runs on the fence to buy some time while racking his mind to find a way to deal with them. Walls, fences, or anything he passed are full of Numemon's sludge. They don't give Impmon any chance to fight back, they keep throwing at him while chasing.

Escaping those Numemons isn't that hard, he just needs to climb or jump on one of those roofs and choose whatever direction he wants to go. The problem is he can't run away, because the moment he runs away, those Numemons won't have anything as a target, and they will eventually leave the Digital Field.

Impmon stopped for a moment and turned back, aiming his hands towards those Numemons and throwing his fire. Blam! It hits some of them, yet the damage seems to be low to nothing. "Tch, these slimy waste are tougher even with those disgusting looks" He grumbles as he starts to run again, only to slip a few steps later. "Waahh!" Impmon slips right at the edge of a fence and hits a pole with his head first, then falls down to the street.

There is no time to rest, he quickly gets up and jumps over a fence then takes a breather behind the wall. "Ughh.. come on foxy, till when you want to play with your meal.." As much as he wants to end it right here right now, Impmon still wants to clean them off with her, and not using his best form. That might not be possible as one Numemon climbs the wall.

"Give me a break already!" By shooting his fire at that Numemon, Impmon able to make him fall in his direction. Then, he shoves his right hand into the Digimon's mouth with a disgusted face, blasting his fire few times directly. Numemon's body swells quite a bit before he explodes into data, which is absorbed by Impmon.

Impmon stares at his trembling right hand after absorbing that Numemon's data, this still reminds him of bad memories.

Just when he gets a little break, those Numemons start swarming towards him again, forcing Impmon to move once more. He starts to get fed up with this, it's been an hour since they left and he's forced to deal with these Digimons alone. "Just hold them off big guy, we'll be quick!" It will be quick they said, just hold them off they said, but both of them didn't bother to check the situation first. Who would've known that this Digital Field brings so many Digimons at once?

Run and gun isn't the only way he can think right now, it's the easiest one to pull off. First he creates some distance, then turn back to throw some fire at them. Still, this isn't the best way to deal with them, his fireball won't delete them in one attack. It takes several hits to delete one Numemon, that's if he manages to hit that one specific target continuously. The other method he can use needs some conditions, and if not fulfilled, then this one might backfire on him very badly.

After circling a block one more time, he finally spots a good place. Impmon run towards an alley, followed by Numemons behind him. It's a dead end alley, and those Numemons couldn't help but laugh at Impmon, thinking that the purple rookie just made a big mistake. They don't even bother to keep throwing at him, just creeping slowly towards him. Impmon stands on that spot silently, surrounded by darkness with Numemons ready to pounce from his back. Then, his right arm glows fiery red.

"Hey, are you... still here with me?" His voice stops those Numemons, they're confused by what they just heard. "She said it's fine, but... I don't feel like you would say the same" Impmon sighs and jumps on the wall just to propel himself higher. While it's way worse than her moves, it opens up more possibilities or chances in a fight. This time, the moves serve more like a surprise effect for those Digimons than just to get a higher position. They just didn't expect Impmon to move like that, especially with his sloopy way of running before. "I borrow this again"

The fire from his fist set the whole alley ablaze, followed by screams. Then, it's quiet. There is a lot of data that evaporates after that, flying towards Impmon's body. Now those annoying Numemons are gone, but he just gets even more angry now. Not to those Digimons, but rather to himself.

Impmon shakes his head and gives his cheeks little slaps. This night isn't over just yet. "Seriously, what are they fi-"

Splat!

A sludge hit the back of his head, sending his face first to the road. When he gets up, a lot of Numemons come from every direction, and they quite spread out as well. Roads, fences, and even rooftops. Impmon immediately knows that using his own fire or his fire won't work anymore, not that he can use his moves very often. His body just won't be able to bear that much power, at least not in this form.

Bang!

Just in a span of few seconds, those Numemons run in fear, leaving their initial target. Their enemies got bigger, and definitely stronger. Some were trying to fight back, but got deleted in mere seconds. Those two emerald eyes from a little rookie Digimon are nowhere to be seen, replaced by a three eyed demon that left standing on his spot.

Anyone inside this Digital Field could hear gunshots ringing continuously, and then... silence. The Digital Field then disappeared, leaving one Digimon behind.

The night sky sure is beautiful to look at, or maybe he just spends too much time with her at night lately. Either way, it helps him to clear clouds inside his mind, the fight with those Numemons almost makes him snap. This problem gets worse every time it resurface, and he has a hard time dealing with it. It's been a while since she taught him to meditate, but he just can't understand the point of it. How could someone get a peaceful mind by sitting still and doing nothing? It was just weird for him. The only reason he tried that was solely because she suggested it, nothing more.

Impmon sigh, he doesn't want to go back just yet. He's not scared to be scolded by Ruki, she will understand why he was forced to fight. It's not like she trying to keep him away from any fight, she said to him that he's still too unstable to use his power, and Impmon himself agreed. That's why she asked him to wait, so Renamon could jump in the moment he needed some help.

Cold breeze brushes his body that still laying on the rooftop, Impmon rather enjoys that quite a bit. He raises his right hand, and flips it a few times. No need to rush, their fight is already over anyway, he thought. When the Digital Field he's in disappears, he watches the other Digital Field they're in starts to disappear as well. Ruki must be dealing with those people who're in charge of detecting Bio-Emerges right now, and he doesn't want to be seen by them. Being a Digimon with no partner could be a problem, they might send him back to Digital World for that alone. For now he chooses to wait until Ruki and Renamon come, or he could just go back home after one to two hours, or at least until he clears his mind.

A few minutes later, Impmon hears some steps coming towards him. "Heh, took you long enough" He said to them without turning his head, thinking they were Ruki and Renamon. Impmon's mood changes a bit better, he lets out chuckles and trying to brush off his remaining bad thoughts for now. "Geez, at least check the place first ya know, you know how many-" When he turns his body, only some men in dark suits can be seen.

"You're.." One of those men quickly recognizes him. He has blonde hair and seems to lead the group. "I-Wait! Hey-" Impmon ignores his words and starts to move.

Impmon quickly jumps back and makes his run. Why are there so many people from that group? He knows about what they do, maintaining peace between Digimons and humans in this part of the world, protecting humans from hostile Digimons to be exact. But even when he's on their side, Impmon is still afraid to approach them after years of hiding.

Should he head home? To Ruki's house? Impmon shakes his head. That's too risky, they might've got some people to stand by there. But where? The only place he could call home is her house. A place crossed his mind, Juri. But... is it okay for him to hide there? Impmon isn't sure about that.

The next thing he knows, he's in the park. A cold, silent park. He's been in this place so many times that his mind has subconsciously led him here. "Calm down, calm down dumbass, get yourself together" Impmon takes a deep breath, then starts moving again. Suddenly, he hears the screeching sounds of tires. A car stops not far from his position, then several men come out of that car.

"Tch, humans and their damn toys" With so little time to hide, Impmon chooses a tree to hide, he climbs it, hoping the darkness of night covers his hiding spot. They shouldn't be able to see him from below.

Two men stand below the tree Impmon hides on. One of them brings binoculars and trying to scout for his presence, while the other one's holding an unknown device. Meanwhile, Impmon who's on top of them covers his mouth firmly with both of his hands. The one who holds binoculars shakes his head, then the other turns back to greet a man. It's that blond haired guy again.

"Sir, we can't find him" His superior just smiles and pats his shoulder.

"Well, she already found him. Go back you two, I'll take it from here"

They both leave the park, leaving only this supposed boss or superior alone. Impmon stay silent, hoping this guy would just go away. "Would you please come down already, Impmon" Said the blond guy, he knows! He already knew from the start. But Impmon just watching him, not moving an inch, there is a possibility he is just acting and trying to lure him down.

"I've told you already, you adults is just as stubborn as kids, Yamaki" It's Ruki's voice, she walks to this blond guy.

Yamaki turns around and sigh. "You know this is serious matters right? We're not playing around here, people might be in dan-"

"And he helped us to protect them"

Their chat heated up so quickly, yet both seemed to understand each other's views. When he's too focused on them, something touches his shoulder, causing Impmon to lose balance and fall from the tree. He lands on soft ground. Wait, soft? He opens his eyes and Renamon's smile greets him. For a moment, Impmon was relieved. Then, he turns towards Yamaki and immediately trying to run away.

Renamon quickly grabs his tail firmly. "Le-Let go! Please! He's gonna-" She forces Impmon to look at her and holds both of his hands. There are no words between them, she just nuzzles his face gently once, and that's enough to calm him down. As he leans closer, Renamon grabs his body and carries him in her arms. "H-Hey! Put me-mmph!" She put one finger on his mouth. Impmon knows she's not going to let him go, so he just nods and let her carry him.

"It's gonna be fine, I promise you" Said Renamon.

Both Yamaki and Ruki were just watching them in silence, not even trying to interrupt Renamon, they knew Impmon trusted her the most. He then starts walking toward his car. "Let's go, I'll drive you guys home. It's almost midnight and all of you need some rest, good work for tonight"

On the way home, Impmon not saying a thing, same goes for Renamon. Both Digimons just stay silent on the back seat while Yamaki and Ruki talk about the attacks tonight. Today all tamers had their turn to handle Bio-Emerges, with Ryo handling the most cases in the morning. Impmon hears some other things, like what kinds of Digimons appeared, but he quickly loses track of their talks.

A poke from Renamon to his cheek snaps Impmon back to reality, they arrive at home. All three leave the car while Yamaki stays inside. He doesn't have the luxury to even greet Miss Makino, there are just so many things to do as Hypnos's leader. Before he could leave, Ruki knocked on the window on his seat. The man just opens it and does not bother to stare at the girl. "Didn't I said yes already? I'll make an exception on this one" Said Yamaki.

"It's not just that" Yamaki sighs and nods. He then leaves when Ruki not asking anything else.

Impmon keeps staring at Ruki's left wrist all the way into her bedroom, there is a bruise on that spot. Turning his eyes to Renamon, Impmon notices the same thing. He double checks it first since it's a rare thing to be seen for them. Did something happen? Could it be that their enemy is that strong? Staying quiet about it would just give him a headache, he wants to know, he needs to know.

"Is it hurt Ruki?" Both of them turn to the purple imp with surprised looks, his tone and expression show something different from what he usually shows.

Instead of answering right away, Ruki leans down a bit and pinches his cheek with a smile plastered on her face. Impmon who normally overreacts to small things doesn't show much this time, he rather looks confused. He also get a chance to see the bruise closely, nothing serious. But it's still Ruki and Renamon, just who is this enemy that they fight? They must be strong. "Get some sleep Impmon, you deserve that" She pats his head and heads over to her bed.

More questions just pop up from that, he thought she was going to scold him before. "Wait, I.. Ruki, the fight-" Renamon pats his shoulder and pulls him onto the bed. "Hey, what's the deal? This is important, you hurt and, and.. my fight, I.."

The yellow fox sighs and pulls a blanket for both of them. "That can wait, the fight is over. Beside that, your face shows that you got hurt the most tonight" Renamon opens her arms a bit, like asking him to move closer for a cuddle. For some reason, he just moves closer instead of asking more questions. How many times has he been in this situation? It's not like he hates this, but he has a little frustation from it. "You always prepare something to win over me huh, sly fox" Renamon doesn't bother to answer him, for her, it's just another way of him saying thanks.

Impmon jumps from one roof to the next, making his way towards Hypnos's headquarters. The sun about to set once again, and street lamps start to light up, illuminating the busy street. Out of nowhere, he feels something coming very fast. He stops for a moment, only to continue moving once again. If it's her, running wouldn't even make much of a difference, she'll catch up sooner or later.

In a moment, Renamon moves along with him, matching his slower speed. "Oh, where is your manner gone? Leaving when guests come to check on her? Geez, bad foxy" She just huffs at his remarks, then stops him for a bit. "What now?" Ask him with an annoyed face.

"She just worried, are you going to meet him? Instead of them first?" It's frustrating for Impmon when he's so easy to read like this and stays silent about that. Even if Ruki is just more perceptive towards Renamon, and now to him as well, thanks to Renamon. He's still a bit angry that she able to predict him this easily. Thinking that his silence answers her question, Impmon turns from her and about to move again.

"Scared?"

A fireball flies right next to Renamon's face, almost grazing her cheek. "I'm not.." Impmon stops and glares at her. "I'm not scared to that bunny, got it?" He took her words as an insult. His right hand still aimed at the fox, ready to shoot his fire at any moment.

Renamon not fazed by his little threats, she knew he wouldn't really attack her like that. "I'm sorry" Said Renamon. She hopes that's enough to diffuse the situation, and she's right about it. Impmon put down his arm that was aimed at her. "I'll go with you, Ruki's order"

It's coming from Ruki herself, but why? He's safe on his own. Impmon wants to argue about her safety to push Renamon away, but there are two Digimons who're able to digivolve up to their mega level with her. If there is a Bio-Emerge, she's in the safest place she could be. With no other means to go without Renamon supervision, Impmon continues to make his way to Hypnos base. They arrive not long after that.

The place itself looks normal from the outside, just like your regular business building in Shinjuku. When they go inside the lobby, everyone acts like it's just another day in the office. Some stare at Impmon, yet no one really pays much attention to Renamon. Renamon then sits on one of the benches, followed by Impmon. After a few minutes, Yamaki comes to greet them himself, taking the two into his office.

Yamaki's office is nothing like a regular boss office, his desk has some stacks of papers, and there are even some computers that seem to be turned on all the time. At least he got a sofa for guests like them. "I appreciate your effort to convince him Renamon" Said Yamaki. To his surprise, the fox shakes her head.

"I came on my own, she just has nothing to do and follows me like a creep. Also, it's better for me to come here rather than you and your glasses boys bothering her again"

Yamaki turns his eyes to Renamon, and she just slightly tilts her head in Impmon's direction. "Okay, let's cut to chase then, I need to know-" His words cut off by Impmon, the imp looks really annoyed.

"I'm not your pet yellow head, not doing this for free just so ya know" Said Impmon. "I want-"

"To stay hidden? Clear. Stay in this world? I'll take that responsibility as well. Anything else?"

How does everyone read him so well? He just can't get his head around that. Is this Yamaki guy able to read his mind? He could understand Ruki and Renamon, even Juri knows more about him personally, which isn't that surprising, but Yamaki is a different case in his eyes.

"Okay, let's talk about last night" Yamaki says, shaking his head. "What? Isn't that what you want to know?"

Yamaki sighs. Dealing with some Digimons is just like talking to kids, they won't listen to him first. Then again, even he relied on those tamers to keep this world safe.

"I want to know about you, how did you hide for very long time? From us" Impmon turns to Renamon, now he's unsure about this. At first, he just wanted to avoid Takato and Jian while resolving yesterday's problems, but this might be too much. "Just between us, nothing personal will leak. I don't really have any motives to makes enemies out of you two"

"It's gonna be a long one then" Impmon says, leaning back to the couch.

The man nods and gets up. "I'll get you some snacks and drinks then, anything you like, Impmon?"

I started this just for slice of life, no, more like just to write what's on my mind. Now I realize that it's better to plan it out first, even for a short fic. This doesn't means that I want to end it here. Just some thoughts to write a second fic with the same ideas although the settings a bit different from this. And maybe less gloomy, or may be more dark.