The walk home was tiresome. It had already been a long day, it was getting dark and he was hungry.
All the way, the tamer was fixated on something Gulus had said.
"...something dark inside. What could that mean? Some sort of dark energy that helped him digivolve? Is that why he became Youkomon instead of Kyubimon?"
—
He wasn't sure what to expect when he got home. Part of him imagined Youkomon would just kick his door down to get inside. Another part wondered if the giant fox would even come back after the way he behaved.
As he approached his unit, he didn't see any immediate signs of the troublesome digimon.
"Maybe he really didn't come back."
He couldn't decide if he was disappointed or relieved. He let himself in and looked around.
He wandered through, checking each room. No Youkomon.
"No signs of destruction here... no giant blue fox."
He made it down the end of the hall to his own bedroom.
He opened the door and entered.
"Oh, come on! Are you serious?!"
He was greeted by the sight of a giant blue fox sprawled across his bed.
The digimon's ears twitched at the tamer's little outburst, massive head slowly lifting to see what had disturbed his sleep.
"Oh... you finally came back. I was wondering what happened to you."
Anger boiled up inside the tamer at the digimon's callousness.
"Oh, you were, were you? Hmm, let me think. Where was I? Oh, that's right, I was stuck in a cop car, and then an interrogation room thanks to you. But it was only for THREE HOURS!"
The digimon let out a derisive snort.
"Silly Tamer, you let yourself get caught?"
"What the hell am I supposed to do when the police turn up? Run? I'm not some criminal on the run from the cops. Somebody had to answer for what you did."
"What do you mean? All I did was finish the battle."
"That's not what everyone else thought. They thought it was a full-on fight. The cops filed a report, you know? You're on the watchlist now."
A cocky grin spread across the digimon's face.
"Oh, so I'm notorious now?"
"That's not a good thing, idiot. They said they wouldn't show leniency for any future incidents."
"Oh, what are they gonna do, send a letter asking me to behave? You worry too much, Tamer."
"Of course I worry. I don't want you going around beating up other digimon. And I certainly don't want to end up in jail for it."
"Relax. I wouldn't let them take you."
"Yeah, like I believe that."
"Why wouldn't you? You're my tamer. It's my job to protect you."
The tamer was gobsmacked by the digimon's hypocrisy.
"How can you even say that when you tried to bite my face off?!"
"Pfft, hardly. That wasn't even close."
"Well, it felt bloody close to me. You were all snarly, bearing your fangs at me. You lunged at me!"
"Ok... I'll admit I was upset that you pulled my tail. But you were never in danger."
The tamer didn't respond immediately.
When he did speak again, his tone was much quieter.
"I wish I could believe that."
The digimon picked up on the sad tone in the tamer's voice, his cocky expression replaced with a much more serious one.
"You think I'd hurt you?"
"I..."
The tamer thought about what Gulus had said and what the cops had told him.
"Can I trust you like I did Ren? Or do I believe what the cops said? Am I in danger?"
He clutched the folded-up form in his pocket, before pulling it out.
"...the cops gave me this."
He unfolded the form so Youkomon could read the title.
"What's... 'Unsafe Digimon'... why do you have that?"
"They... they got reports from witnesses after the fight. Someone must've told them about how you lunged at me. The cops said they were concerned about my safety."
"And what does that form do?"
"A tamer who fills in this form is agreeing to be separated from their digimon. It's-"
The digimon's eyes snapped wide open.
"YOU WOULDN'T-"
Youkomon stopped mid-sentence, sitting up and scanning over his tamer.
"...where is your digivice, Tamer?"
"Huh? Well..."
"Where. Is it?"
The tamer looked away nervously before responding.
"The... cops have it."
The digimon gave the tamer a seething gaze.
"What have you done?"
"NOTHING, I SWEAR! The cops just took it to record your ID."
Youkomon still looked suspicious despite the tamer pleading his innocence, as he moved to step off the bed.
The tamer took an involuntary step back, bumping into the door frame behind him whilst keeping his eyes locked on the digimon.
Youkomon stopped mid-step as he saw his tamer's reaction.
"You do fear me."
"I..."
The tamer looked away, feeling something akin to shame. He didn't want to be afraid of his digimon. He knew a tamer was meant to trust their digimon. But at the same time, he was still struggling with the idea that Youkomon even was his digimon.
He thought back to what had happened at the park. The image of fangs snapping at him flashed through his mind. In that split second, thinking he was going to die, remembering the feeling...
...it was fear.
"...yes."
Youkomon was clearly bothered by the tamer's answer. Whilst he didn't break eye contact with his tamer, his ears pinned back. His tails, which had been lazily waving behind him, now laid completely still.
For a moment, neither spoke or moved.
The tamer found it strange, seeing the digimon like this. So far, Youkomon had only shown arrogance. But now, standing there in stillness, he had a sombre mood about him.
Eventually, the digimon broke the silence.
"I have betrayed you."
The admission caught the tamer off guard.
"Huh? Well... I wouldn't... say that, exactly."
"I would. Do you remember when Ren said that he didn't want you to be afraid of him?"
"I... yeah, I do."
"I can't help but share many of Ren's feelings... including that sentiment. A tamer should never fear their digimon."
Despite what had happened earlier, the tamer couldn't help but feel bad for the digimon. Somehow it troubled him, seeing how much his fear seemed to affect Youkomon, as he sat there staring glumly. The tamer surprised himself with his next words.
"It's... ok, Youkomon. I dunno how... but we'll work on it."
"No, it's not. I must fix this. Will you... give me a chance?"
"Like... right now?"
The digimon nodded.
"...what would it involve?"
"This will be hard for you, but I need you to do as I say."
The tamer stared into the digimon's eyes. He saw a similar fierceness to Ren's, but in this case there was also a pleading quality. He was still wary, but it seemed Youkomon genuinely wanted to make amends.
"Hmm... alright, I'll try."
The digimon stepped off the bed and sat on his haunches, much like a dog would.
"Come here."
The tamer hesitated.
"...please, Tamer."
Slowly, the tamer stepped towards the fox.
"Now... put your hands around my throat."
"What?!"
"Just trus-"
Youkomon hesitated, realising what he was about to say.
"...please just do as I ask."
The digimon raised his head towards the ceiling, baring his throat.
The tamer stood motionless, having no idea what the digimon was planning.
"...sometime this week, Tamer."
The tamer scoffed. Once again, a little bit of rudeness seemed to help his nerves. He slowly reached out, laying his hands on the digimon's throat as instructed.
"Good... now squeeze."
The tamer yanked his hands away from the digimon.
"What? No! I'm not gonna choke you. How is this supposed to help me trust you?"
The digimon let out a frustrated sigh.
"You are making this much more difficult than it needs to be. Would you please just do as I tell you?"
"But I don't get how-"
"Oh my god, just do it already!"
"Alright, alright... jeez!"
He put his hands back around Youkomon's throat and gave a meager squeeze.
"Now keep your hands there and look me in the eyes."
The tamer found it a bit uncomfortable staring into the eyes of someone he was effectively strangling, but he did as told.
"...now, you hold my life in your hands and have full power over me. As your digimon partner, I will submit to you as my tamer. I will let no harm come to you and will protect you with my life. This I swear to you, Tamer. Will you accept my oath to you?"
The tamer was left speechless. He would never have imagined the brash Youkomon could say something so sincere. He couldn't help but falter as he struggled to come up with a response.
"I... I..."
The digimon stared him straight in the eye, never losing his gaze. For all Youkomon's arrogance, the tamer swore there was something genuine hidden in that gaze. Maybe there really was some part of Ren buried deep in there.
"...alright. I accept your oath."
"Thank you, Tamer."
The tamer slowly removed his hands from the digimon's throat.
"Um... wow. That was pretty intense."
"It was. I am still your partner and I needed to remind you. But... I also needed to remind myself."
The digimon took a breath.
"...any digimon that makes their tamer fear them is a disgrace. During that fight, I was... I got carried away. I may be strong, but for all my... egotism, I still need your guidance. Will you accept my apology for behaving like that?"
"Well, after all this, I guess I'd be hard-pressed to say no. And anyone who can admit their flaws and want to change for the better is ok in my book."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes, Youkomon. I accept your apology."
"Thank you, Tamer."
"So, are we good now? No more face-snarling bitey-bitey stuff?"
"Yes... I promise I won't bite your face off."
The digimon gave a sly grin.
"...unless you try pulling my tails again."
"Uhhh..."
"I'm joking, Tamer."
The tamer let out a nervous chuckle before Youkomon continued.
"...now... you owe me."
"Huh? What for?"
"You pulled my tail."
The tamer gave the digimon an incredulous look.
"Seriously?"
"Yes, that was very hurtful."
"What was I supposed to do? You were about to bite Gulus' arm in half."
"No I wasn't. You shouldn't have pulled my tail."
The digimon turned his nose up in superiority.
The tamer put on his best sarcastic voice in response.
"Well I'm so terribly sorry for offending his nibs by pulling his majestic tail. Whatever can I do to make up for it?"
"Well, I suppose the apology is a start. Now... what else is appropriate punishment?"
"Oh my god, you are not blackmailing me over this stupid nonsense."
"It's not blackmail, it's simply... compensation. For being mean to me."
The tamer covered his face with one hand and shook his head, muttering under his breath.
"How did Ren turn into such a knob?"
"Tamer! Don't be so rude to your digimon partner."
"Argh... do you actually want something or are you just being difficult, Youkomon?"
"I'm not being difficult, I'm-"
"You totally are and you know it."
The digimon relented, letting out an annoyed huff
"Fine. There is something, and I think it would also help you."
"Great, what?"
The digimon's ears perked in anticipation as he told the tamer what he wanted.
"A name for me."
Without hesitation the tamer replied.
"Bluebell."
"What?"
"Your name. Bluebell."
The digimon's ears flattened and a look of disdain replaced his anticipation upon hearing the tamer's suggested name.
"No."
"Alright... how about Chomper?"
The digimon scowled and whined at him.
"You're not taking this seriously, Tamer. Come on, you gave Ren his nickname. Why can't you give me a proper one?"
He had thought Youkomon was just playing a stupid game, but it turned out the digimon actually did want a name.
"Fine, fine."
The tamer turned to think to himself.
"I guess Bitey McBiteface is not gonna do it. Youkomon. How would I turn that into a nickname? Hey, Youko? No. Yukesy? Yuki? Hmm, that's not bad. Hey Yuki... maybe a bit cutesy, but not bad."
He turned back to the digimon.
"What about... Yuki?"
"Yuki?"
"Yeah, like 'Hey Yuki, how's it going?' I think it sounds ok."
"Hmm... I suppose it's acceptable."
"It's either that or Bitey McBiteface."
The digimon's gaze narrowed at the tamer.
"You're not going to let me forget that, are you?"
"Eh, eventually. I mean... in the few hours I've known you so far, that is the most significant little anecdote I have."
The digimon gave him a grumpy look.
"I said I was sorry."
"And I said I was sorry for pulling your tail, so we're even... Yuki."
The digimon gave the tamer another scowl.
"Fine. Well, if that's settled... I was in the middle of a nice nap before someone rudely woke me up."
The tamer rolled his eyes.
"Should've called you Princess Snowflake."