The tamer awoke to discover an uncomfortable lump pressing into his back. Feeling around blindly behind him, he found a bony, fur-covered appendage pointing into his spine.
He turned to look behind him and see what had disrupted his sleep, only to be met by a pair of blue eyes staring back at him.
"Tamer?"
"Ren?!"
For a moment, Ren just stared at him, before glancing around and realising where he was.
"Why am I in your bed?"
"Uh... that's... complicated. Before we get into that, can you dislodge your knee from my spine, please?"
"Oh! Sorry."
Ren quickly shuffled back towards the end of the bed, rising to sit cross-legged.
"Phew. Much better."
The tamer sat himself up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and stretching.
"...aw, man I'm sore. Dunno how long you must've had your knee in my back."
"Sorry, Tamer. I do not remember how we ended up like that."
"It's fine."
He scooted around to face Ren.
"...so... uh... what do you remember?"
Ren's brow furrowed as he thought back to the events of the previous day.
"I... remember fighting Gulusgammamon. After the last hit... my memory is hazy."
"Well... short story is you digivolved."
"But I should be able to remem-"
Ren's eyes widened in realisation.
"...no... no-no-no. I did it again. I... unleashed it."
"By 'it', you mean Youkomon?"
Ren slumped in disappointment, giving a dejected nod as his tamer confirmed what he feared.
"Yes... how many did I hurt?"
"Uh, well... you... heh... you basically made Gulus eat dirt. But he was fine afterwards. Said he wasn't using his full power."
"You talked to each other?"
"Yeah. His tamer smashed his digivice afterwards, and then the cops turned up. I... might've ended up in the back of a cop car with him."
"Why would the police do that to you?"
"Well, they had some questions about the fight. It… might have broken a few rules."
"You were arrested... because of me."
"Nah, it wasn't really you. Yuki got a bit carried away with the fight."
Ren's head tilted in confusion.
"Who is Yuki?"
"Ah... Youkomon. He wanted a name."
"You talked with Youkomon?"
"Yeah, but that was a bit later after the battle."
"What happened?"
"Well, the battle sort of ended when I pulled Yuki's tail. He... didn't like that and got a bit grumpy. We had a bit of a... uh... chat. And then he walked off. That's when the cops showed up."
He explained the ordeal with the police, with Ren patiently listening to the story.
"...after all that, I came home and found him sleeping on my bed. We had another chat about what had happened. He... uh... figured out I was a bit upset about the whole ordeal, so he did this oath thing. And then we... um... snuggled."
Ren's mouth fell open, unable to believe the last twist in the tamer's story.
"You snuggled? With a harbinger of destruction?"
"Um... yeah, basically."
The digimon looked away, clearly befuddled and trying to comprehend what he had been told. Eventually, a thought took hold and he looked back to the tamer curiously.
"How did you convince him not to attack you?"
"Uh, well... he basically decided that for himself. Said he wouldn't attack his tamer."
Ren sat pondering the tamer's story, still struggling to believe it.
"...can I be honest, Ren?"
"Of course."
"I don't think he's such a bad guy."
Ren's eyes widened at what his tamer was suggesting.
"...maybe he was last time, but I think having a tamer might've changed him. He said he shares a lot of your beliefs. So, since you're so... uh... devoted to the whole 'protect the tamer' thing, it seems like it rubbed off on him."
"I cannot believe he would just submit to you, Tamer."
"Well, sure, he was a bit feisty at first. But we talked it out and... came to an understanding. Since the last time you let him loose, it sounds like he's just been trapped. Like, inside you. I think... I think he's just a bit lonely."
Ren turned away from his tamer.
"He would know about bringing loneliness..."
The tamer picked up on the bitterness in Ren's words.
"Ren... you know Yuki shares your memories, right?"
"Yes. Although I do not like it, it cannot be helped."
"Well... he told me a few things..."
Ren's head snapped back to the tamer, with a panicked look on his face.
"What did he say?!"
"He talked about the last time you... let him loose. He told me you got into a fight, and it ended... uh... not very well."
Ren's eyes turned downcast, looking at the bed rather than his tamer.
"I... I lost."
"You lost... and?"
"That was the first time I ever lost a fight."
"Oh... how many fights had you been in before that?"
"Many. Too many to count. I was very... different then. Like it said in that wiki, my kind has an advantage over other rookie digimon, and so I thought I was unbeatable. It made me... arrogant."
The tamer gave a look of disbelief.
"Really? I can't imagine you being arrogant, Ren."
"Well... I..."
Ren looked away in shame
"...I was the one who started the fights."
"You started them?"
"Yes. And eventually I picked a fight with a digimon I could not beat. When another digimon finally bested me... I was not able to accept it."
The tamer thought back to the fight with Gulus.
"He did get fired up when I said he couldn't win."
"So... you got desperate when you thought you couldn't win."
"Yes. I lost control. I do not remember what happened after that. The next thing I remember was waking up alone. I returned to the village, but no-one would talk to me. They all shunned me."
"Jeez, that's a bit rough."
"Well, from what I found out, I understand why they did. One of the masters took me aside and explained what the others went through. About Youkomon nearly... deleting them."
Ren let out a sigh before continuing.
"...after what had happened, they decided it would be best if I left. That place was all I had ever known, and yet I was suddenly unwelcome. I ended up wandering aimlessly by myself."
"I'm sorry, Ren. That... it must've been really hard."
"It was difficult to accept, but I had no choice. After that, I promised myself I would never let Youkomon free again. I taught myself to be more disciplined, and I avoided battling. I would just... run away and hide."
Ren gave another long sigh.
"...until I broke that promise yesterday. I just... I wanted to be strong for you... so those two would stop bothering you."
"Well... on the bright side, I think you made sure that kid won't be bothering anyone again. Look... I know you're a bit uncomfortable about what happened, but I want you to know I really appreciate what you did yesterday."
"You do?"
"Yeah. I didn't realise how much of a big deal it was for you to agree to that battle. After what you went through last time, you were still willing to put yourself in harm's way for me. I... I've never had anyone who would do that before."
"I was just doing my job, Tamer. It is my duty to protect you."
"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean it wasn't hard for you."
The tamer scooted round next to Ren and put an arm around the digimon's shoulder.
"...thank you."
Ren gave a soft smile, before leaning his head on the tamer's shoulder.
The pair were enjoying the moment of closeness. Unfortunately, a familiar sound spoiled the moment.
*BEEEEP... BEEEEP... BEEEEP...*
"...oh, come on! Right now?"
The tamer flopped back onto the bed in frustration at the alarm's poor timing.
"...sorry Ren, I gotta get ready for work."
He rolled over towards his bedside table to silence the alarm, missing the disappointed look on Ren's face as he did.
"Tamer, do you have to go? Could you... take a day off?"
"Well... not really, unless it's an emergency. I haven't given them any notice, so they won't be happy about it."
"Oh... I understand."
The tamer picked up on the disheartened tone in Ren's voice, and glanced over to the digimon curiously.
He realised Ren looked quite glum about the notion of going to work, although he couldn't quite work out why.
"You... wanna stay home, Ren?"
"I just... would prefer to have a quiet day to think about what happened. But I do not want you to go by yourself in case anything happens."
"Ren... I told you, nothing's gonna happen. And if it does, I'll just use the digivice to-"
The tamer stopped mid-sentence as he remembered an important detail from yesterday.
"...aw, crap."