Digimon Adventure 04 Chapter 13: A Different Hero
By Bluestar076
What's up everybody? Bluestar here with a new Chapter! This one should have been posted before the beginning of the new year, but I didn't manage to finish it for that date (When it comes to day I'm terrible, I know it) Anyways, there also good news! With this one we finally finished the introductive chapters! That is right, all of this was only the introduction of the main characters even if, of course, we got to show the premises of this first saga (Yes, this story will be pretty long). So after this, the story wil finally begin! (For real this time)
I hope you enjoy!
Note: I do not own Digimon or the song After All. All rights and characters belong to Bandai, Toei Animation and Christine Ebersole. Also, This is a fantasy story. All references to real people, groups, places, laws and names are completely casual.
Chapter 13: A Different Hero
Somnus, 23:00 P.M. Despite being a populated city, no one dared to get closer on the government skycraper since it got surrounded by that barrier. Mostly because the people of the place thought that if they went on that building, something terrible would have happened to them, like a meeting with the responsible of this strange phenomenon. And since the efforts to destroy the barrier so far resulted to be futile, they had a taste of what tremendous power was behind all of this. But someone still tried to take a stand.
Tsuna and his partner Coredramon were standing in front of the barrier. They didn't know much of that protection, but the young detective wasn't scared. He knew that the skycraper became the enemy's lair and if he and his friends took over it, the situation would have been completely overturned. The rain was falling heavily on his clothes and on his hair, but he didn't care. He was determined to take down the obstacle, no matter what.
"Are…are you sure you want to do this, Tsuna?" Coredramon asked. His tone was serious, but he had some doubt in his mind.
"Of course i am! Come on! Let's crack this little shield!" Tsuna exclaimed with grit. The blue dragon turned on the barrier and his eyes slit. "Ok! I trust you! Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon shoot blue flames from his mouth against the barrier. The fire was so high that it created some smoke. At first, Tsuna made a smirk of satisfaction because he thought he had hit the mark, but soon he was incredulous to see that the barrier was still intact. "What!?" He exclaimed.
"It didn't work!" Coredramon said. But Tsuna was still firm on his thoughts. "Come on, again!" He said. Coredramon nodded and tried a second time. "Blue Flare Breath!" The Digimon shoot other flames at the barrier, but alas, the result was the same. "Dammit!" The boy said.
"What should we do?" Coredramon asked. "There's got to be a way. This damm thing can't be indestructible! Try another attack!" Tsuna replied.
"Got it! Strike Bomber!" Coredramon then tried to break that protection with the flick of his tail. He heard an impact when he smashed the tail, but the attack didn't work. Coredramon started to get annoyed and he tried to use his tail three more times.
But nothing.
Tsuna got even more frustrated. He looked at the barrier angry as he clenched his fist. "No! I won't let that bastard of Saiba have the last laugh!" He said.
"Do we have more options?" Coredramon asked.
"There is still your G Shurunen-II attack, but i should touch your Gekerin to make you do that! I don't want to see my friend go berserk!" Tsuna answered. Then he had no other choice: They had to use the old manners. "That's it! Let's try to destroy it with a flurry of punches!"
"Fine…" Coredramon said. He got closer to the barrier and started to punch it, hoping to have a result. "BABABABAABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABABAAAAANG!" The Digimon and his partner released their fight cry, but it was another useless move.
"This thing won't go down…" Coredramon noticed. But Tsuna refused to believe that. "No way! There surely is a way to make this stupid force field disappear! And i'll find it!" He then started to punch the barrier himself. Harder, faster, stronger, but not even a small crack appeared. "COME ON, STUPID SHIT! COLLAPSE!" He shouted.
Coredramon was getting worried. "Tsuna! It's no use! We can't do anything at the moment! We should ignore it for now!" He tried to make him reason but Tsuna didn't want to hear another word. "FUCK I SAID NO! WE PASSED THROUGH MORE DANGEROUS STUFF THAN THIS! I DON'T CARE IF THIS IS THE WORK OF A DIGIMON THAT HAS THE POWER OF DARKNESS! I'LL BEAT THE HELL OUT OF THIS BARRIER! COME ON! JUST GO DOWN!" He continued to give punch.
Coredramon felt more brave and helped him. "Ok! I'm in the team again!" Coredramon reached the barrier as well and punched it again. The duo used all of their energy and will, but even so…nothing changed. The barrier was still there, protecting the skycraper. They tried of half an hour, but at a certain point, their energy had to finish.
Tsuna started to become tired and after one last punch he sat on the ground, breathing slowly. "Ugh…Fuck! You got to be kidding me!"
"I'm sorry, Tsuna…" Coredramon excused.
"It's not your fault. There is something i'm missing…but what?" Tsuna said. Until…
"I would like to give you the answer, but i can't. Although one thing is for sure: If you insist on that way you won't get nothing." A voice said.
Both Tsuna and Coredramon turned around quickly and what they saw alarmed them, since that person wasn't a simple one.
Jake Ambra was there, looking at them with a smile on his face. Due to his popularity, Tsuna recognized him. "You! What are you doing here!?" He then asked.
"Oh! Nothing really! I was just passing by. And by the way…i should ask you that question. After all this is our territory. But i'm certain that i already know your answer. What i want to say is that you can keep on trying if you want, but just to inform you, this barrier is immune to all kind of attacks, both physical and energetic." Jake answered, walking like nothing important was happenng.
Coredramon couldn't stand that behaviour. "So what!? Are you going to kill us!?" He then asked.
Hearing that made Jake laugh a bittle. "What? No, i don't think so. As i said,i was only taking a walk! And this is not the scenario i would pick up for a fight. We only met! Nothing more…and if i were you, i wouldn't do something reckless like that. Your friend Kumo, last time, tried to give me a punch in the face and it didn't end well for him!"
"Yeah! Maybe because he was only with a friend while there were five of you! Am i right, cheater!?" Tsuna exclaimed. Despite the insult, Jake continued to smile. For him, it was all a show.
"What can i say? Things like this happen, especially when you want to fulfill your dreams. Everyone wants to make their dreams come true. Like me…like you…like your family…or like your friends. And for me, every way is valid. I mean, look at me now! Through actions that you call 'miserable' or 'mercilessly' i finally made my dream to be known everywhere come true! You should try that way too…you…"
"…Me?" Tsuna asked. "I know you are from the Chesire Cat Agency but i don't know your name." Jake answered.
"What!? Are you trying to make fun of me, Tsunayoshi Motomiya!?" Tsuna asked confused and annoyed.
"There you are! Tsunayoshi! That's a beautiful name! And my…you have quite the temper…I'm sure that you have the eyes of a killer right now…they say that there is difference between the categories we are in…but we are the same. We both fight and we both kill. But that is how life works. Don't you-" Jake was going to continue to talk but he interrupted himself when he saw that both Tsuna and Coredramon were going against him. "QUIT BLATTERING!" They both exclaimed.
Then Jake smiled, quickly took his digivice and got surrounded by a magenta aura, from which his partner, Orochimon, came out. Due to the appearance of the huge snake Digimon, the detective and Coredramon stopped.
"Are you serious!?" Coredramon asked. But he didn't even have the time to think that Orochimon already hit both of them with his tail, making them crash against the wall.
Tsuna groaned of pain while holding his belly, while Coredramon looked at the Digimon with worried eyes.
"Didn't mom and dad told you that interrupting people while they're talking is rude? Since you are a detective, i thought you knew it. I tried to go down on both of you. But you asked me to do it…" Jake said. He and his Digimon came closer to Tsuna and Coredramon. "Do it." Jake told to his partner.
"As you wish." Orochimon answered pleased, as he made the tip of his tail as sharp as a sword, poitning at Tsuna's heart. But luckily, the fate didn't want them to die yet, because…
"Strike Claw!"
When the mercenary and Orochimon turned around they saw a mass of fire charging against them. "What!?" They were taken by surprise,so they got hit. The damage was big, but not mortal. When they recovered they saw that the flames went out, revealing a dragon Digimon. It was Strikedramon.
"A Strikedramon so you must be…" Orochimon said. His thought was right, next to Strikedramon, since Aisu appeared.
"Well well well…" Jake said. "So…do you still want to try to take my cousin's life?" Aisu asked with a calm tone.
Jake then turned around and saw that both Tsuna and Coredramon stood up, despite the hit from before. "Anf…anf…i'm ok…i can still fight!" Coredramon said.
Jake looked at the left and saw Aisu and Strikedramon. Then he looked at the right and saw Tsuna and Coredramon. But he still had a happy tone. "Really? Two against one?"
"I wouldn't say that, hypocrite!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Are you actually scared?"
"Oh don't get me wrong! I would accept the challenge! But i don't have time for this now…so i'll leave it to you Orochimon." Jake answered.
"What do you mean?" Aisu asked.
"Sake Breath!" Orochimon released an alcohol-laden breath that covered the area where the two detectives were standing.
"Oh dear lord!" Aisu exclaimed, covering her nose. Strikedramon had his node covered by his helmet,so the toxic breath didn't affect him. When the breath disappeared, Aisu got disappointed by the fact that Jake and Orochimon went away. She sighed. "Clichè." Strikedramon commented.
"I had to expect it…But wait! What about Tsuna and Coredramon?" Aisu then asked. She saw that they were fine, luckily, but they were lying on the ground with stupid expressions on their faces. That meant that they had breathed the toxin. The girl facepalmed. "Oh great…"
"I don't think they're gonna wake up soon. What should we do?" Strikedramon asked.
Aisu thought about it but she had no choice. "Ok…i got it…please, take Coredramon…"
"Got it." Strikedramon replied as he grabbed Coredramon on his shoulder. Aisu grabbed Tsuna. The way she grabbed him and the way he layed his head made her look like she was carrying a dead body. Fortunately, there was no one around, so the girl could avoid misunderstandings. And they left.
Meanwhile, Jake and Orochimon were on the top of a building, watching the two detectives. "The bells hadn't played your requiem. Not yet." Jake said with a grin. "Till the next episode, buddies." He then left. His Digimon followed him.
Tsunayoshi Motomiya, also known as Tsuna, was born on the 11th of December 2018. His father, Daisuke Motomiya was the founder of a well-known chain of ramen restaurants, and he was also the leader of the Chosen Children in 2002. His mother, Hikari Yagami, was one of the original Chosen Children back in 1999, 2002 and 2005. She was known not only to be the 8th Chosen Child, but also she became, in particular conditions, the body of the being who wanted order and balance in the Digital World known as Homeostasis.
Since he had took many aspects from Daisuke, many of the Chosen Children expected a lot from Tsuna. They thought he had the gift of the leadership. Even Daisuke gave his glasses (which originally belonged to Taichi) to him. At first, he was ok with it. He thought that he could do it and that it could have been a wonderful experience. The idea of guide the others was something that excited him.
So, back in 2027, Tsuna and the others started their first journey on the Digital World. "Are you guys ready?" He asked.
The others nodded. And so they departed. He was the one leading the others. Back then, he looked back for one last time, and saw that both of his parents were giving him a smile of support. Those smiles made him even more determined and ready.
But…
"Aisu! What's wrong?" Kasai asked to her sister. The little girl had a wound on her knee. "I…i fell."
"Guys! We shouldn't lose time on something like that! Can you stand up?" Tsuna asked.
"I don't know…" Aisu answered unsecure. "Tsuna! We can't ingore her wound! We should do something!" Rikka protested. In a moment, Tsuna felt a sense of guilty and indecision. He knew that he had to help her, but he also wanted to proceed on the journey.
"O-Ok! Ok! Let me see!" Tsuna decided to help her. After seeing her knee he took a leaf and tried to bandage her with that.
"Tsuna, do you know what you are doing?" His partner, who was a Chibimon at the moment, asked.
"W-what are you saying!? Of course i do!" Tsuna exclaimed. But Kumo already knew where this was going on. "…You don't know…" He said.
"Kumo! Please! I'm focusing now!" Tsuna insisted. "There we go! How do you feel?" He asked, after he put the bandage on Aisu.
"I…i feel the sore knee…" Aisu answered.
"Nah! It must be the pain! Come on guys! Let's get going!" Tsuna said, starting to walk.
"Tsuna you used the wrong plant…it will make Aisu's knee all red." Chikara said. Those words made Tsuna stop. "W-what?" He asked.
"Tsuna! Are you idiot!? You made it worse!" Rina shouted to him. "HOW COULD I KNOW!?" Tsuna retorted.
"Aisu…" Koromon (Strikedramon's Baby II form) said worried.
In that moment, Kyoko came close to her friend and tried to fix things. "Don't worry. Aisu will be all right. Let me do this. Could you help me,Chikara?"
"Yes!" Chikara replied. Everyone was looking over the inured friend, while he was standing there…watching them. "…Tsuna? Are you alright?" Chibimon asked,looking his friend. The little kid didn't answer.
Soon…Tsuna had to learn that being a leader was a very important role. He initially didn't care of what was happening to the group, but inside of him, in his heart, he was slowly getting the truth: He wasn't suitable for being a leader.
He couldn't handle all the problems within the group, and more uncomfortable situations both for him and both for the others, happened.
"What is happening?" Tsuna asked, hearing someone screaming.
"Kouta and Toriko are arguing on who should lit the fire for the night." His brother, Sasuke answered.
"Ok, ok let me handle this." Tsuna said. He then came closer to the two boys. "Ok guys! Let's be honest here! Who was supposed to lit the fire?" He asked.
"Of course it was me!" Toriko answered. But Kouta had to complain. "That's not fair! You already had this role two days ago!"
"Sorry Kouta, but if this was his turn, then he'll lit the fire!" Tsuna said.
"Wait, Kouta is right, he should lit the fire for on-" Yatsura was going to say something,but Tsuna pushed her back. "STAY OUT OF IT!" He exclaimed. But he didn't know what he had just done.
Yatsura fell on the water. "HELP ME! PLEASE! I CAN'T SWIM!" She exclaimed.
"OH NO, YATSURA!" Kyoko exclaimed. Immediately, Kasai dived into the water and saved her.
Some moments later, Yatsura was sitting on a rock, wearing a blanket and trembling with cold.
"What is your problem!? You could have killed her!" Punimon (Kumo's partner) exclaimed. The boy trembled as well, but with fear. "I…i didn't mean it…I'm sorry! I'M SO SORRY!" Tsuno started to run away with the hands on the head.
"…Kouta…you'll lit the fire tonight…" Toriko said. After that, he went away. Everyone looked at the direction where Tsuna head.
The boy had hidden between two trees, looking at his feet, with tears coming down from his eyes. This was just too much for him.
Sasuke found him and tried to have a discution with him. "Tsuna?"
"Leave me Sasuke…i don't want to talk with no one…" Tsuna said, sobbing.
"But Tsuna…" Sasuke tried once again but…
"PLEASE SASUKE! I just…want to stay alone…" Tsuna said.
Sasuke silenced. He looked at him one last time and went away.
Tsuna took off his googles and looked them. Those were aviators googles. And usually they were a mark of courage and reliability. But Tsuna knew that this was not his case. He had courage,but he wasn't reliable. Perhaps it was better for everyone that he should have been alone. Those were the googles of two great heroes who saved the Digital World. But…could he be considered as a hero? He thought not. His father, Daisuke, was a stubborn person, but he still had a sense of determination that made him help the others. Tsuna…on the other hand…was an hot-head. But what made him feel more like scum, someone who didn't deserve to have all that he got, was about what the others would have expected from him. He deluded everyone. He was not meant to be a guide.
Fortunately, other events happened during that journey. Moments that made him happy and made him feel more connected to the others and to his partner, who became a Dracomon. But…he decided…that he had to leave the path that he tried to follow. So when the young children came back from their journey…
"So, how was it son? Did you had fun?" Daisuke asked. But Tsuna silenced and looked at Taichi. "Uncle Taichi…" He said.
"What is it?" Taichi asked. Then Tsuna made something that for them was unexpected. He took off his googles and gave them to Taichi.
"Tsuna?" Veemon asked, shocked.
"I want you to take them back. These were yours, right?" Tsuna said.
"Yeah but…why?" Taichi asked.
"…Because they're not for me…" Tsuna answered. He then started to cry. "Sorry mom…dad…uncle…i failed you. I wasn't a worthy leader…"
Daisuke, Hikari and Taichi looked at each other with worried eyes. Hikari then hugged him. "Don't worry…it's alright." Sasuke limited himself to just watch the scene. He felt terribly sorry for his brother.
In the end Tsuna decided to start a new road. This time for himself. Even if he knew that he wasn't the ideal person to be a leader, he still wanted to think that he could be a good person and maybe he could become the hero he always wanted to be.
Some year later,during his middle school, he had another moment that scarred him to life. In his school, most of the boys had already decided their future career. In particular 4 boys one day, were talking about their dream job.
"I will be a jet pilot!" One of them said. "Really? Well, i'm going to be a sailor!" Another one said. "I'll be a basketball player instead!" the third one exclaimed.
"Oh! I'll be an artist!" The fourth one said.
Then the first boy turned on Tsuna, who was watching the window in that moment. "And you Tsuna? What do you want to be when you'll grow up?" He asked.
"Me? Oh well…i want to help others around me…you see…i want to be a hero!" Tsuna said with a smile. The four boys silenced for a moment and gave confused stare.
"What did you just said?" The second boy asked. "A hero? Are you serious?" The third boy added. "And what kind of hero you want to become? Like Superman?" The fourth boy asked.
"No! I don't know. But i still want to be someone that helps people! Someone that others can count on!" Tsuna answered.
But the four boys weren't convinced. They thought they were talking to an idiot. "Come on! Grow up a little! No one like that exist!" The second boy said.
"Hey! That's not true!" Tsuna retorted, but the first boy came closer to him and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Listen. You have to face the truth and find a real ambition. Nothing like that exists." They then left.
Tsuna looked at them with a confused stare, but he didn't care of what they said. Everyone was free to dream. At least this was his thought.
But not theirs.
Some day later, Tsuna was walking through the school, but then one of the boys took him from behind and carried him away. He decided to get free, but the boy was stronger than he expected. He put him in another corridor where no one was there. He then pushed him against a locker.
Tsuna got immediately covered by those same boys. "You…what do you want from me?" He asked.
"Listen, Motomiya. Your dream as a hero is impossible. Everyone here thinks the same. You should adapt yourself to the sistem and find a true ambition. Stop acting like a child! This is the real life! Not some kind of cartoon!" The first boy said. But Tsuna retorted yet again.
"WHY ARE YOU SAYING THIS!? I didn't say anything about your dreams, so why are you so opposed to mine!? I…i just want to become someone reliable…i don't want to fail again…why are you acting like this?" He asked. Then the first boy came closer.
"Simple. We think that who thinks different or who want to be different, is crap. You're act differently from the others. The world would be a better place if anyone would think the same. But if you disagree, then be ready to face the consequences! Let's get him!" The boys then started to attack him everywhere, very hard.
"AGH! LET ME GO!" He shouted. But nobody could hear him, and he couldn't use his partner, since he was a kind person. He was alone, getting the pain.
"Shut up and suffer!" The third boy said, laughing. "People like you make me want to puke!" The fourth boy added. "Surely he'll go to cry after we finished!" The second one said.
But at a certain point, Tsuna couldn't take it. This was too much for him. He wasn't ready for another suffering like that. So…he answered. "I….HAD…ENOUGH!" Using all of his strength, he got free from those boys, who looked at them shocked.
"WOAH! What the hell!?" The first one said. They didn't knew that, despite there were four of them, he was stronger.
"People like me, you said!? PEOPLE LIKE YOU MAKE ME PUKE! YOU CRAPPY BULLIES!" Tsuna then started to answer, punching all of them more harder. The frustration and the pain he felt poured out on those punches, making the four boys terribly regret what they just have done. In the end, they were the ones who cried. "NO NO! WE'RE SORRY!" They cried. "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR NOTHING! NOW SUFFER!" Tsuna answered more angry.
Everything ended up with them on the ground with bruises everywhere. "L-LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" The first one exclaimed. They then ran away.
Tsuna remained still, breathing heavily and thinking of what just happened. In the end, he still suffered, because he thought of another error, apart for not being a leader: He couldn't stay with the others. Because they were telling the truth after all. He was different, and since that, he couldn't stay with the others, because he could hurt or make them angry only with his presence.
The school's director heard about what happened that day. But Tsuna ended up being safe, since the director said that he had done a defensive action. The four boys who bullied him were badly punished for what they did and they even got rejected. After all, they decided to stay away from Tsuna after that day because they were too scared of him. So Tsuna could finish the middle school in peace, but he started to be more solitary. Only sometimes he was with someone. This thing happened even in high school and after he finished his exams.
These two events changed his way of life. He started to be more aggressive, more hasty, he often said and did what he thought, making him pass to humiliating scenes.
But he still wanted to become a hero, even if he was starting to wonder if that dream could still come true, given his circumstances.
But one day, things started to change for the best.
Tsuna was walking through the streets of San Francisco, until he noticed a group of people around a supermarket. Curious, he came closer to see what happened.
They were looking at a man who was holding a woman and pointed to everyone with a gun. "Do not come closer or i'll shoot!" He exclaimed.
"What should we do?" Another man asked. "We should call the police…" A woman said. But Tsuna, out of instinct started to approach him. Everyone looked at him gasping. Some of them thought he was going to commit suicide.
"Hey! What are you doing punk? Stay away!" The criminal exclaimed. But Tsuna didn't answer and came closer. "Hey! Didn't you hear!? Do you want to die!? Listen! I won't go anywhere until i got some money from her! It's a warning!" The man insisted, pointing at him with the gun. But Tsuna still remained silent. "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" The man was going to shoot, but Tsuna knew what to do. "Let's go." He said, holding his Digivice. He immediately summoned Coredramon who pushed the man and grabbed the hostage, bringing her away. "WHAT!?" The man exclaimed. He would have never expect that Tsuna had a Digimon.
Then the boy with a punch on his big belly made him knockout. The people who was watching applauded, but he decided to stay silent and went away.
"Uhm…thank you…" The woman said. "Don't mind." Tsuna simply answered. "Forgive him, he's always like this." Coredramon explained to the girl.
After that, Tsuna and his Digimon went on an alley to relax. Since he was a lonely person, he used to stay on uncrowded places. "Not bad out there! We finished it with one hit!" Coredramon said happy.
Tsuna motioned a smile. "Yeah…we were pretty cool. But nothing more." He said. It was an heroic action, but he didn't care at this point. But someone else cared.
"There you are! I thought i lost you!" A voice said from behind. Tsuna recognized that voice, but he got even more suprised when he turned around and saw who was it. A very familiar and close figure to him.
"Kyoko? Is that you?" Tsuna asked.
"That's me! I didn't know that you like to spend time in places like this! That is why i never see you that frequently!" She said jokingly. Tsuna, on the other hand snorted and looked away. "Yeah...you should know that i'm not that social. I've been doing this for a long time. And that is fine for me! At least i don't damage the others…"
Kyoko frowned and crossed her arms. "My, my…many things have changed during these years right? You totally weren't like that when you were a kid…you were more optimistic…" She said. Tsuna immediately turned around and complained about what she just said. "Optimistic? Oh yeah! You mean when i almost killed Yatsura or i didn't care when someone was in trouble or had a problem!? Please, Kyoko, let's be honest! I was a in idiot and a narcissist! I was thinking about things that i couldn't do because the others expected me to do so! But...I'm different ok!? I'm not like the others! I just…wish the others could accept that…"
Kyoko remained stunned by those words. "You…were only a kid…so it's- No you're right." Kyoko was trying to say something but she stopped herself. He was right this time. "It must be terrible to be forced to follow a model that when you aren't suitable for it, but that's in the past, right? Now it is up to you to choose your future."
Tsuna looked at the wall and sighed. "Are you sure? Too bad that the future i want to pursuit is isn't wished by the mass. I tried to open myself to the others once, but they tried to kill me. Do you still think that i am free to choose?" He then asked.
"You're talking about what happened in your middle school?" Kyoko asked. Tsuna was surprised. "How did you know it!?" He asked.
"Well, Sasuke told me what happened that day." Kyoko replied with a smirk.
"Great, now i have a spy as a brother…" Tsuna mumbled.
"Anyways, Tsuna you don't have to take it personally about that. The problem was not you, the problem was them for being assholes. Trust me! There is nothing wrong with your dream. You…want to be a hero, right?" Kyoko asked.
Tsuna silenced before giving the answer. He thought that probably Kyoko would have mocked him if he answered, but he couldn't hide the fact that she was his friend. So he took some courage and a deep breath and replied. "Yes. I want to be a hero. But not the hero that you may think! I don't want to be an example, a symbol of piece, someone who can make everyone feel better by always smiling or even a leader! I…just want to defend the others and being myself at the same time…at least i want to be someone reliable…that's all. Come on, insult me!"
But Kyoko silenced. And simply smiled. "I was right. There is nothing wrong with it. Everyone need to be themselves right? And you should do the same. Will you hear what i'm going to say?"
Tsuna thought again, but still,he nodded.
"The world is beautiful. It's true that there are many people that are simply trash, but there are other types of people out there, that you will meet. Someone who will finally trust you. And who knows? Maybe you'll get back the trust of those who got angry at you. But to do this, there is a lot of road in front of you. And you have to walk through it." Kyoko said. "An example is me. Say…what if i told you…that i can help you become what you want to be?"
"Uh?" Tsuna and Coredramon asked.
"I'm very glad to hear that. You know…some time ago i opened a detective agency. We're at seven members now. But there are still some empty places. Think of it! You go around, beating up criminals, and become friends with others! So…what is your answer?" Kyoko answered with a smile.
Tsuna was speechless. No one had ever made such an offer at him before. Maybe this time, life was finally smiling at him. If it was a coincidence or fat it didn't matter to him. What was important to him was that maybe this time…he was finally going to do a good thing, by remaining himself.
"What do you say?" Coredramon asked, liking the idea. Tsuna clenched his fist. And looked down. "What a bitch…" Kyoko was confused but he was not over. "You…You really know how to make the others better, right?"
Kyoko made a smirk. "So i suppose that your answer is…"
"Hell yeah! I accept!" Tsuna said, excited. "I swear, some day…i'll finally be one with no problems at all! I'll finally become a hero!" He shouted.
So Tsuna decided to catch the ball and accepted to become a detective. He still had some issues with being a social people, but he didn't care. As long as he was in the agency, he was sure to go always beyond his limits. So he became a detective of the Chesire Cat Agency.
Tsuna woke up and looked around. He noticed that he was in a familiar place. "This is…my bedroom?" He wondered. "I was sleeping on my bed?"
"Tsuna! You're awake!" Coredramon said, coming closer. "Oh, hey Coredramon! You're also here! Did you woke up here as well?" His partner asked.
"Yes! But i don't understand how did we end up being here…" Coredramon answered. Tsuna shaked his head. "Dammit, me neither… i just remember that we ended up being attacked by Jake at Somnus. Then Aisu appeared and helped us…Oh right! Aisu! What happened to her!?" He then asked, alarmed.
Coredramon shaked his head quickly and waved his hands. "I-i don't know! I just woke up here!" He answered. Tsuna immediately got up. "We should tell the others about what happe-" He interrupted himself.
"Tsuna?" Coredramon asked.
"A…A…ACHOO!" Tsuna made a big sneeze and then scratched his nose. "Gosh…" "Did you catch a cold?" Cordreamon asked. "No,i'm fine- ACHOO! Let's go." Tsuna insisted, though he sneezed again. But when he opened the door he was shocked at what he saw.
Aisu was sitting on the table, wearing Tsuna's pajamas with porcupines on it, eating some cookies. On the opposite side of the table was Strikedramon, who was eating a fruit. Once she heard the door, Aisu looked at him with a smirk. "Oh it's you. Good morning." She said like nothing happened.
"AISU!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY TABLE!? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY WHY ARE YOU WEARING MY PAJAMAS!?" Tsuna asked quite angry.
But Aisu continued to smile. "Well, since last night you fainted, i brought you back at home. And i thought that it wasn't a good idea leaving you alone in that status, so i decided to stay here for the night. I slept on that couch." She answered, pointing the couch.
"So it wasn't a dream…WAIT, YOU STILL DIDN'T ANSWER AT MY OTHER QUESTION! WHY ARE YOU WEARING MY PAJAMAS!?" He exclaimed.
"This? I've found it on your closet. It fits me well,right?" She asked.
"You're right…BUT IT'S MINE PAJAMAS!" Tsuna shouted again. "I couldn't sleep with the clothes i had! What? You wanted me to sleep only with the bra and the panties?! Aisu countered. Tsuna's cheeks became red. "OF COURSE NOT! YOU'RE MY COUSIN! I WOULD NEVER THINK OF IT! IT WOULD BE HALF-INCESTUOUS! …Fine,but you have to give it back then!" In the end Tsuna admitted that she had the right to wear that pajamas, since she brought him back at home.
"You know i'll do it,silly!" Aisui said, closing an eye. She then looked at the bowl of fruit and saw something that she liked very much. "Oh! A cherry!" She then took it and started to do a strange thing with the tongue. "Lerolerolerolerolerolerolerolerolerolerolero…"
Coredramon was confused. "What is that?" "Get used to it." Strikedramon sighed.
"You are really weird, Aisu…ACHOO!" Tsuna sneezed a third time. "I see that you catch a cold. You went there without an umbrella, after all." Aisu said, eating the cherry. "God, i said no! ACHOO! …DAMMIT I GOT A COLD!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"You know that it often rains at Somnus." Strikedramon said, crunching the apple he was eating. "They are telling the truth…" Coredramon added. "Yeah yeah i know…" Tsuna said,sitting on the table as well. He soon noticed that there were cookies, cereals and a bowl of milk. "They're for me?" Tsuna asked. Aisu nodded, eating another cookie. "…Thanks, you're very kind." Tsuna started to put the cereals in the milk. Coredramon, seeing that, screamed internally. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHO THE HELL PUT THE MILK BEFORE THE CEREALS!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Tell me…what were you doing at Somnus?" Aisu asked. Tsuna looked up at her and asked it at her. "What were YOU doing at Somnus?"
"Well, Kyoko asked me to do an inspection of the city, since the presence of Saiba Rei and his mercenaries." Aisu answered with a calm tone.
"And?" Coredramon asked.
"Apart from Jake, i saw no one else. People prefer to stay away from the skycraper. We've asked directly to the citizens and they said that they are scared. They have the right to do so…they aren't involved in this." Aisu explained.
Tsuna looked down at his bowl of cereals and thought of the situation. Everyone was under pressure after that barrier appeared. But someone had to take a stand and try to end this. That is what he was trying to do. He thought of it, as a chance to prove his abilities.
"Now it's your turn. What were you doing at Somnus?" Aisu asked again.
"Ok…i was trying to destroy the barrier at Somnus." Tsuna finally answered. In that moment Both Aisu and Strikedramon looked him straight in the eyes. "What?" Tsuna asked.
"Tsuna, i love you so much, but, why have you done something that stupid?" Aisu asked.
"Hey! What do you mean!?" Tsuna demanded. "Tsuna, we don't know how the barrier works and we don't know if there is a way to make it disappear or to enter at the skycraper. What you did was an hasty action, with all the respect." Strikedramon answered.
"Listen! I didn't like where the situation was going, so i decided that maybe we should have done something important to hit the enemy! And since that barrier was worrying everyone i had the idea of trying to destroy it! I thought that i could do it! But no…then Jake came in and told me that the barrier is immune to any type of attack…" Tsuna said his reason why he attacked the barrier.
"Immune to all attacks…so what we need is something different that is not violent…" Strikedramon observed.
Aisu was still watching him. "Tsuna, the idea of you trying to unlock this case makes me really happy, and probably even Kyoko and the others feel the same. But you shouldn't have done that. It's true that we often go against something or someone that are unknown for us, but this time is different. We are talking about something on which we could take some informations, and we can't attack it while we still don't know a thing. And you know what they say, if you try to solve a problem so hard, you'll end up making it worse. As i told you, what you did was a good effort, but simply…this is not the right time. We should focus on what we can do now, like getting more informations about the mercenaries."
Tsuna looked at her as well. Even if he hated to admit it, he knew that she was right. But after all, it was enough for him to have heard a compliment. So he snorted. "Fine, i'll wait. But if something important happens, tell me,ok?"
"Don't worry! I'll do it." Aisu answered with a smile. "Fine…ACHOO!" Tsuna sneezed again.
"That cold is terrible,isn'it?" Coredramon asked. "Maybe you should stay at home today." Aisu suggested.
"WHAT!? ACHOO! No, i'm fine! ACHOO!" Tsuna protested, standing up, but everyone noticed that he was still sneezing.
"You are clearly sick. If you are like this, i don't think you will be concentrated at the agency. For today, try to focus on feeling better. Maybe you could get a cup of tea or something!" Strikedramon said. "Don't worry, we'll inform Kyoko about your conditions. Relax and…do what you want, suppose." Aisu added.
Tsuna groaned a little. But he accepted. "Fine…" Coredramon made a little laugh.
After that, Aisu changed her clothes and got prepared to go back at the agency. "Take care,ok?" She asked. "Don't worry! I'm not that idiot as you think! ACHOO!" Tsuna answered.
Aisu laughed a bit. "I'll go now. See you tomorrow!" She then saluted. "Bye!" Strikedramon saluted as well. After they went away, Tsuna closed the door of his house. He then sat on the couch and looked at the ceiling. "Guess i won't do that much today…what time is it, Coredramon?" He then asked to his partner.
Coredramon looked at the clock and told the time. "It's 9:30 A.M." He said. "So we are still in first morning…guess i'll do one of my hobbies…" Tsuna said. He then took a pencil and a paper.
Some minutes later he sat on the table doing some math excersises. One of his hobbies was practicing with school subjects. Even if he had finished school for two years at the time, he still did some study in his free time. This because he often said that he often sounded like an idiot (sometimes he can't remember some mathematic calculation or some important author) so in order to not stay some steps behind his colleagues and to know more things during the cases, he decided to still put his brain into excersise. But most of the times, a thing that he already passed sounded like a nightmare.
Tsuna started with a multiplication. "16 X 55…" The boy with spiky hair looked at the opearation for some seconds. Sometimes he had to remember simple facts. "Ok…i got this." He then started to do the first calculations, but he stopped because he saw another obstacle.
Coredramon looked at him puzzled. "Tsuna, why did you find it so hard? I mean…it's the stuff a thrid year kid can do…" He said.
"It's easy for you to say! You are not doing this after so many years. The problem is that it has been a very long time since i had done a multiplication in column! Dammit…" Tsuna tried to dig down on his brain's subconsious and remember the right procedure. Until he opened a light bulb. "Aha!" He finally remembered and wrote down the answer. "The answer is 880!"
Coredramon could take a breath of relief. "Thank God…" He murmured. "I've heard you. ACHOO!" Tsuna said.
Then he practiced with the literature, although he hated reading. The excercise consisted in thinking about an author in particular and thinking of his most famous literary work. "Alessandro Manzoni…right! 'The Bethroded' …Oscar Wilde…yes! 'The portrait of Dorian Gray' …Victor Hugo…'Notre Dame De Paris'!" Luckily, Tsuna seemd to have his memory fresh. Coredramon, on the other hand, looked at him with embarassment, since he looked silly.
After that, the detective practiced with history, trying to remember the most important events and the years. "The American indipendence…1776…The congress in Vienna..1814-1815…World War I…from 1914 to 1918." Coredramon simply watched him, starting to get really bored. "Ok. I think it's enough for today." Tsuna said. His practice was finished.
"Man! Finally! It looked like eternal!" Coredramon exclaimed. "Hey! It's not my fault! ACHOO! I'm just improving myself,ok? You are my partner! You should be ok with it!" Tsuna retorted. "I know! But this is just too much…" Coredramon looked at the clock and saw that it was already 11:00 A.M. "And you used one hour and a half to do this…" He sighed.
"Aaah! Who cares! ACHOO! …I should do something with this cold…" Tsuna said. He then looked at the fridge and found out that there was almost nothing, not even in the other containers. "Meh, i also ran out of food. Fine, then i suppose that i'll have to go at the shopping centre.
"That's not a bad idea. There is also a pharmacy there." Coredramon remembered.
"Then let's go." Tsuna ended.
Near Tsuna's house, there was a small shopping centre that had the right stores, a dress one, a pharmacy, a pizzeria, a newsstand, a perfumery and of course a supermarket. It was an ideal place for anyone who needed little things, but right. It was also known for its peace at the inside.
When they entered, Tsuna and Coredramon didn't waste other time and they directly headed to the pharmacy, which had a pure white floor and blue shelves, where the products were exposed.
"Ok. Now that we are here, what are we supposed to take?" Tsuna asked. "You really don't know?" Coredramon asked, looking at him like he would look at someone strange. "I rarely take a cold! So i'm not an expert with things like this!" Tsuna answered. Coredramon then sighed, he still was a lost cause. "Ok…you got a point. I suppose we should take a nasal spray." He said. "Thank you." Tsuna ended.
The two went to see the shelves and find what they needed.
Near them, there was a girl. She had black hair and black eyes. She wore a black tezeenis shirt and white long pants. She also wore regular shoes and she had gloves that covered all of her fingers, except the index ones. This girl was also watching for someone in the shelves.
The two of them stayed there, looking at the products for like 5 minutes. Even Coredramon was bewildered by that. He would have never thought that his partner could be that stupid. "No way…there is got to be a reason for that! Or is he just mocking me? Ok, i'll start looking too." He thought, but soon he found out why Tsuna was taking that long. There was too stuff. Too ordinated things. Coredramon ended up having the same face as his partner. "Oh damm…" He thought.
Other 5 minutes passed and nobody still found what they needed. "Dammit…where is it?" The girl wondered. And… "Dammit…where is it?" Tsuna said the same thing. The two looked at each other in silence.
"Uhm…sorry. Didn't mean to." Tsuna excused. "No, i don't mind…" The girl said. They then started to look again at the shelves. Time passed…again…to anybody else, they sounded like two idiots, but it was very complicated to see the right thing in an ordered pharmacy like that.
This time, the girl moved to the the left and accidentally touched Tsuna with her shoulder. The girl immediately blushed and got back. "Oh! I'm sorry…i didn't mean to…" The boy simply looked at her and shrugged. "Nah, i don't mind." He said.
They then turned back to look at the shelves. It was really starting to get annoying. The girl then decided to do something. "Uhm…excuse me…do you see any skin cream here?" She asked to Tsuna. The Chosen Child, of course looked where the girl was looking and actually found them. "Oh, there they are."
The girl turned on where Tsuna was watching and noticed them as well. "Oh finally!" She could finally grab one of them, and now it was Tsuna's turn. "And say…do you know if there is any nasal spray here?" He asked. The girl did the same thing: She looked and found them. "They are there." She said. Tsuna looked at the direction and found them. "Man, finally. Thank you." And he grabbed one of them. Coredramon turned around for a second to exult. The wait was over.
They both went to the checkout to pay and finally leave. "Man, i had spent at least half an hour. What the hell were they thinking while they were making this pharmacy?"
"Medicines need to be divided in a precise way, since every one of them has something different. It's complicated to you, but this is how pharmacies work." The girl answered.
They then payed, saluted each other and went away from that pharmacy. "Thank God there was that girl. I was nearly going to wreck that shelf…" Coredramon commented. "You can say that again…" Tsuna added.
After that, they went inside the supermarket to do grocery shopping. It was a supermarket like the others, nothing more, nothing less. Tsuna took everything he needed, but he took a lot of meat, since he really liked it. "So, Toriko defeated another mercenary last day, right?" Coredramon asked. "Yeah." Tsuna said while looking at two different products. "He also found another key that is like the one we already had. They said that there are probably more of them and that they are surely related to something."
"So our next tap will be getting more of those keys?" Coredramon asked. Tsuna made a delighted smile. "If that so, i can't wait for that! I'll make sure that i'll be the one that will find the next one!" He answered. "Glad to see you that happy! But let's try to make a good work next time." Coredramon said. "What do you mean? Are you implying that i don't do a nice job?" Tsuna asked. "No,no! I didn't say that!" Coredramon answered.
In that moment, someone approached them. Surprisely, it was the girl from before. "Oh? Is that you again?" She asked. Hearing the voice made Tsuna and Coredramon turn around and recognized her. "Uh? Hey,is you!" Coredramon noticed.
"What are you doing here?" Tsuna asked. "Same as you. Grocery shopping. I have nothing at home…" The girl answered. "What a coincidence,uh?" Tsuna jokingly asked. "Yes, i suppose so." She replied giggling. "Well,since we are here we should introduce ourselves. My name is Yuuko Chitose." The girl said.
"Tsunayoshi Motomiya, but you can simply call me Tsuna." Tsuna answered back.
"Motomiya? Are you related to the famous Daisuke Motmoiya?" Yuuko then asked. Tsuna nodded. "Yes, he's my father. Many people say that i look a lot like him. Maybe is true, since i absolutely love meat." Tsuna said while looking at his shopping cart.
"And just like him, you have a Digimon, i see!" Yuuko looked at Coredramon too. "That's right, this big lizard here is Coredramon. We are together since he was a DigiTama." Tsuna answered. "Nice to meet you!" Coredramon added. "Do you have a Digimon as well?" Tsuna then asked.
"Yes, i have one. But since he's pretty tall, he can't stay here or he could destroy the ceiling…" Yuuko answered.
"Really?" Tsuna asked, surprised. Yuuko simply nodded. "What type of Digimon could he be? A Brachiomon?" Coredramon thought.
"Anyways, i should go now. Bye!" Yuuko grabbed her shopping cart and went away. "See you around!" Tsuna said with a grin.
"She looks nice!" Coredramon said. "You're right. Finally i get the chance to talk with a normal girl." Tsuna added. He said this since he got used to talk with the girls of the agency. And he knew how bizarre they were. Yuuko, on the other hand had a doubt while walking through the supermarket. "Tsunayoshi Motomiya…this combination seems familiar to me…"
After taking everything, Tsuna and his partner went at the ckeckouts, where they found something that no one would want to see there. Tsuna gritted his teeth while Coredramon… "NO! THE ROW!" He shot fire from his mouth. "HEY HEY! CALM DOWN!" Tsuna tried to stop him to prevent his fire from activating the fire system. Luckily, they exited safe and sound.
"Dammit, Coredramon! Control yourself!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Sorry…" Coredramon said with a bump on his head. "Anyways, with this we are done, now we can head back to-" Tsuna was ready to go back home, but something interrupted him. A strange noise. "What was that?" He asked, looking around. "That was me…i'm hungry…" Coredramon replied, embarassed. Tsuna frowned. "Really? Ugh, fine."
Luckily for them, there was a small pizzeria and so they had the chance to eat something. Tsuna ordered a slice of pizza with spicy ham on it, while Coredramon took one with double cheese and chips.
When they started eating, Coredramon ate his meal like any other Digimon: In a way like he didn't eat for ages. People were watching him, but they didn't mind. Humans got used to Digimon's habit for quit a long. But Tsuna wasn't actually different from him. "Heck yeah! This is one hell of a pizza! ACHOO!" Tsuna said, satisfacted by what he had just eaten and he sneezed. "You're absolutely right…" Coredramon said, holding his tummy, but then he made something quite rude.
He made a quite noisy burp. Tsuna had his eyes wide open and noticed that everyone were watching him with disgusted faces, even a 6 years old girl. Tsuna made an innocent smile and put Coredramon inside the digivice. "Hey! What are you-" Coredramon didn't expect it, but before he could say something he was already inside the device. After that, Tsuna went away whistling and hoping to not get any more attention.
Outside of the centre…
"COREDRAMON! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT BURPS ARE CONSIDERED A RUDE ACTION!? FUCK!" Tsuna shouted at his partner who had two bumps now. "I-i'm sorry! It was natural for me!" Coredramon cried out. Tsuna sighed. He resigned himself to the fact that his partner would have been always that naive. But this made him smile as well. He was happy to see that they were both extremely rehearsed. They had many things in common.
When they went back home, Tsuna immediately used the nasal spray. He started to feel better. He could finally breath properly. "Aaaah, such satisfaction…" He said pleased.
"That is just great! Maybe you should also follow Aisu's suggestion to make a cup of tea. It could help you with the sneezes!" Coredramon suggested.
"Everything is fine to me, as long as it can help me to finally stop this- ACHOO! Well, you saw it." Tsuna answered after another sneeze. "I'm sure that i'll be able to go to work tomorrow." He added.
"Well, you went through this because of an idea of yours…" Coredramon commented. "COME ON!" Tsuna shouted.
That night, he took a cup of tea and felt his throat more free than before. After doing some other free stuff, like watching the TV or reading a comic, he went to bed, and of course, something interfered with his sleep.
The next day…
Tsuna yawned as he was walking through the streets of San Fransisco to reach the agency. "You didn't sleep well?" Coredramon asked. "No…i had that dream again…you know…the heart dive or whatever…" Tsuna answered, blinking.
"That dream comes everynight by now." Coredramon said. "Yeah. Even the others have it, and the most frustrating part is that i don't know nothing about it! It just makes me angry! It's like asking 'what comes first? The chicken or the egg?' Hell! I don't know! It's an endless dilemma!" Tsuna said quite frustrated. "I wonder when i'll sleep well again…"
"You said that in this dream you talk with a voice about your problems and your life, right?" Coredramon asked.
"Yes." Tsuna simply answered while looking where he was going. "I think that could actually help you! You are free to take it out with someone, even if you don't know who or what is it!"Coredramon pointed out a positive thing about that dream.
"You know…you got a point…but it still angers me. Dammit! I want to sleep at night!" Tsuna answered. "I really wonder how the others can handle it!" In that moment, the boy noticed something else. "Hey! I didn't sneeze! If it was yesterday, i would surely do that!"
Coredramon looked at him astonished. "How the hell you got better in only one day!?" He thought. He then looked forward. "Speaking of which, we arrived!" He said. Tsuna turned around and he could finally see the agency. "Oh, finally. Welp, time for another day of work, i guess."
When he entered, he immediately saw Chikara that was passing by. "Hey Chikara!" He saluted him. The older boy adjusted his glasses and looked around to see him. "Oh, it's you Tsuna. Welcome back."
Tsuna made a smirk. "Hey! You actually greeted me without yelling? What happened to you?" He jokingly said. But this (of course) didn't make Chikara really happy. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? I don't scream that often! I wouldn't have the voice by now if i did so!" He complained.
"Ok ok, i get it. Stay calm." Tsuna excused himself and went away. "If you say so…" He murmured. Chikara turned on him. He thought he said something else, but he immediately turned back on what he was doing.
Tsuna knocked on Kyoko's office door. "Come in." She said. So Tsuna did so. "Good morning boss!" He said with a smile.
"Oh, Tsuna! Glad to see that you are ok! Strange…considering that you got a cold only yesterday…" Kyoko noticed. "I thought the same…" Coredramon added.
"Could we please not talk about that? I'm fine! Really! I didn't sneezed yet!" Tsuna said. But Kyoko smiled. "Ok, i believe you. Well, you could help Kumo, Kouta and Toriko on printing the mails. What do you say?" She then asked.
"Got it! Whatever you say." Tsuna replied with one of his smirks. But Kyoko stopped him. "Wait! Before you go, i thought of another recipe for my coffeè! And since you are here, you could try it!" Kyoko said. But Tsuna and Coredramon were in a completely different mood. They saw the doors of hell opening by hearing that. "R-really, Kyoko? Because i just thought that if i help them now, they'll finish sooner…eheh…" Tsuna tried to make an excuse to run as fast as he could, but her leader insisted. "Come on, Tsuna! It'll be delicious! It's made with Vanilla and a drop of oil! You should try it too, Coredramon!"
"Oh! Y-You say so? Maybe…another time? You still have to prepare it so…" Coredramon was trying to stop her, but Kyoko already had the answer. "Oh! Don't worry about that! I already prepared too cups of it!" She said happily. Tsuna and Coredramon were defeated. Even if it was disgusting, Kyoko made that coffeè with all of her generosity, so they couldn't declined. The human and the Digimon looked at each other for one last time and then they drank it.
"Gulp…"
A terrible mix between sweet and salty fell through their tongue. The disgust overwhelmed them, but to not insult Kyoko, they limited themselves to say…"It's good."
"Happy to hear that you liked it! You can go now!" Kyoko said.
Before reaching Kumo and the others, Tsuna and Coredramon immediately went to the bathroom and brushed their teeth. "Dammit! One day she'll kill me!" Tsuna exclaimed. A particular of the agency was that everyone always took a brush and a toothpaste, since they knew that Kyoko would always try to make them taste one of her experiments.
After that really uncomfortable episode, Tsuna and Coredramon changed room and found the other three detectives, working on the computers.
Kouta looked up and saw him. "Oh, it's Tsuna!" He said. The others looked at him as well and saluted him. "Yo!" Tsuna said. "Is there a free place for me?" He asked.
"Sure, right here!" Shoutmon answered, pointing a chair. Tsuna just went there and started to work as well.
"Are you feeling better now?" BaoHackmon asked. "Yes, thank you! That cold was fucking terrible…" Tsuna answered and commented.
"It happens." Starmon simply happened. "Especially in a season like this! Thank God it's almost spring!" Toriko added. "And by the way…how strong was Jake Ambra's Digimon?" He then asked.
"What!? How did you know that-" Tsuna was going to ask how they knew it, but he already knew the answer. "No wait…don't tell me…she did?"
"Yes. It was her." Shoutmon answered. "Goddamit, Aisu…" Tsuna mumbled. "Don't worry, i suppose that she told you what was the problem with your decision." Kouta said.
"Aaand what you got for doing that was a terrible meeting and a cold." Toriko said giggling.
"Thank you, Toriko, i didn't need to remember!" Tsuna ironically said. "Of all the enemies i could encounter…i met him…" He added, looking at the computer.
"I understand your feel. I met him personally back in Somnus. He was really strange…his ways of talking…were sinister…" Kumo said. "Yeah, He told me about it...i REALLY wanted to punch him in the face…his talk was so annoying!" Tsuna added.
"You'll have another occasion in the future! I know it!" BaoHackmon said with an optimistic smile. "One thing is for sure. He's gonna be one of the most strong mercenaries…"Kouta said his opinion.
"Surely, among Cassidy and Koichi." Kumo added.
"Aaah, let's not think about it! We should relax for now and wait for more informations, right?" Tsuna asked to the others. And that comment made everyone speechless. "Wow! Someone like you saying a thing like this?" Coredramon asked surprised with a smile. "STOP IT!" Tsuna retorted.
"By the way, Toriko, how things are going with those keys?" Kouta then asked.
"Rikka is still leading resarches to them. She confirmed that the keys have the identical features and that there was a dark energy in the second key." Toriko answered while working at the computer.
"There probably are more of them. So Saiba gave at each of his henchmen a key?" Corderamon asked. "Maybe, maybe not. It could be that he had give the key only to the ones that he trusts more. Anyways, even the Lion Fang Agency had started their investigations. Cheri also volunteered to help Rikka with the research." Kumo answered.
"That's already something to me…I hope we'll get something important soon." Tsuna said. Kouta frowned at him. "If i were you, i wouldn't say that, especially what happened yesterday."
"Ok! I made a mistake! Can we please talk about something else?" Tsuna asked. "Gee, you look like Chikara sometimes! Even if i prefer you…"
"By the way guys, have i already told you that some day ago i was about to evolve?" BaoHackmon pointed out. The Digimon in the room remained astonished. "You WHAT!?" Shoutmon exclaimed.
"Yes, we were doing some sparring. And during the climax of the fight, we got covered by a white light. We felt stronger somehow, but that was all that happpened." Starmon replied with a calm tone.
"Ah, man! I wish i could have seen that!" Coredramon complained. "That means that our partners maybe are finally to evolve…" Kumo said. "Finally! It was about time!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"If only we knew what we are missing…" Kouta ended. "Either way! I surely would be the first one to evolve!" Coredramon said with a little bit of pride. "Hey! No way! I got surrounded by that light! I should evolve before you!" BaoHackmon protested. "Well i am stronger and i had that phenomenon as well, so it could be that-" Starmon was going to add something but Kouta made them stop. "Please let's not argue."
"Well well! While we were talking i finished printing all of the mails!" Toriko said with a smile. "What? No way, are you sure?" Kouta asked, puzzled.
"I finished as well." Kumo said with an innocent smile. Kouta immediately turned around him. "Are you kidding me!?" Kouta exclaimed.
Tsuna bursted out on laughing. "I finished as well! You are the only one left that has to finish his mails!" Hearing them made Kouta look his computer to see how many he had left to finish. Unfortunately for him there was still some mail to print. He sighed. "You got to be kidding me…i now that i wanted to eat something…"
"A slice of cake like yesterday?" Tsuna said with his usual joking tone. "When will you stop taking notes of what am i eating!?" Kouta demanded more annoyed.
"Ahah! Anyways, let's see these cases that i had just printed…" Tsuna started to see one by one the pile of papers.
"What about it?" Kumo asked. "This news about evolution gave me some energy and suddendly i want to get the two of us stronger! So i'm now seeing if there is something interesting…"
"Are you really sure of that? You know you can't force Coredramon to evolve. You could lead him to a wrong evolution, like it happened to many years ago…" Kouta advised.
"Hell no! I'm not trying to force him! I just want to text our skills! Since we always fight training should be a good thing…right?" Tsuna replied.
"And if Tsuna would ever dare to force me to evolve, i would stop him immediately with my claws!" Coredramon added. He sounded pretty sure of what he said, but then…
"Coredramon, what are those bumps on your head?" Shoutmon asked, looking at them. "MIND YOUR BUSINESS!" Coredramon shouted, blushing.
"Your claws, uh?" BaoHackmon ironically mumbled.
"Let's see…let's see…" Tsuna was still scrolling through the papers, until he had found something that he thought was interesting. "Aha! How about this?" He said, taking the paper.
"What is written on it?" Kouta asked curious.
"A village placed on the Server Continent was attacked last night by a mysterious Digimon. They ask to investigate and to stop that criminal. I say that this is perfect!" Tsuna answered. "What do you say, Coredramon?"
"I have no problems with that! Let's do this!" Coredramon said with a grin. "And you?" Tsuna asked to the others.
"Well, it's your decision after all." Kouta simply answered. "It's fine for me. This is the kind of mission you would rush in." Toriko added.
"Just don't do something reckless out there, got it?" Kumo jokingly asked. "Hey! I'm not that stupid, you know!" Tsuna protested.
"If you say so…" Kouta mumbled, turning around. Tsuna heard him and grimaced. "Anyways, i'm going to advise Kyoko about this. See you later." Tsuna concluded. He then left with his Digimon.
Kouta sighed. "He never changes, right?" "Nope." Toriko answered with a smile.
Kyoko looked at the case with her partner DORUgamon to check out if it was ok. "Very well, you can go! Remember to be careful and not to make missteps! That is our policy!" She said with a smile.
"I know it very well! Trust me! I can't wait to beat that Digimon's sorry ass!" Tsuna said, making his knuckles creak. "Are you ready, Coredramon?" He then asked. "You can count on me!" Coredramon answered.
"Then let's do it!" Tsuna exclaimed. He then went to his room and used his Digivice to the computer to dive into the Digital World.
The Server Continent wasn't a new name for the Chosen Children. In the past, they had been there several times, especially during the fight with Etemon and Vamdemon. This was one of the few continents that already had a name, so the humans didn't name it. This server was divided in two parts: One completely made by a forest, where Digimon preferred to live (Some examples were the Gekomon Castle, a restaurant directed by a Digitamamon and some small villages), and the other one was made by a desert where there were strange structures like a colosseum, identical to the one placed at Rome and some pyramids.
Tsuna and his Digimon went to the forest part, where there was a small village inhabitated by small plant Child-Level Digimon called Floramon, the same Digimon species of the partner of Chatherine (Aria's mother). They were usually peaceful Digimon that didn't want to get into trouble. They had a simple life, working on plants and make food by themselves. But just last night they got attacked by someone, and now it was Tsuna's turn to see who he was. A simple case someone would say. But who would have known what would have happened?
After a while, Tsuna and Coredramon finally arrived at their destination. They arrived by flying. Coredramon was a dragon after all, and he had wings, so he could fly, although there are some dragon Digimon that can levitate.
After landing near the village, Tsuna and Coredramon looked around to see if there were damages nearby. They thought that maybe the Digimon passed through that way, but there was nothing.
"Everything is pretty calm here…" Tsuna observed. "No ashes, no destroyed trees. Nothing. Then we can head to the village, right?" Coredramon asked. Tsuna nodded and they went to the village.
The small place was already worse: There was a small house without the roof, the fields where the food was planted was all messed up with the fences destroyed, and there was nothing, and the ground was all raised up. Fortunately, the inhabitants didn't took much damages, but their food was still missing.
"Man, looks like a city in a kaiju movie, after the monster is gone…" Tsuna said, scrathing his head after looking at the village's conditions. "Who do you think it was?" He then asked.
"I don't know…it could have been every type of Digimon, like another Coredramon!" Coredramon answered.
"You mean like that Kevin's friend partner? That copycat…i really hope to not see him ever again…" Tsuna said annoyed by bad memories. "Let's just go."
At the village, all of the Floramon and some Yuramon were outside their houses to see what they could do with the damages. One of them was cleaning the ground, while another two were fixing the fallen roof.
To start, Tsuna and Coredramon went to talk with one of them who was looking the others with a worried stare. He then turned around and saw them. "Oh! Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Tsunayoshi Motmomiya and this is Coredramon. We come from the Chesire Cat Agency. We read your mail." Tsuna introduced himself.
"Really? That's a relief…i never expected for you to come that soon…" Floramon said with his soft voice.
"Happy to help, lady!" Tsuna answered with a smile. In that moment, Floramon blinked. "Excuse me, what?"
"…What did i say?" Tsuna asked confused. Coredramon looked at him to answer. "Tsuna…it's a He." He simply said. Tsuna turned on Floramon slowly and without saying nothing. The Digimon's stare wasn't a good one. The boy immediately turned on Coredramon. "You're kidding me, right? Are you serious?" He asked to be more sure. "Yes!" Coredramon said. Tsuna turned again on Floramon and made an innocent smile. Both Floramon and Coredramon facepalmed. "Idiot…"
"Aaaanyways, sir…" Tsuna said with an ankward tone. "What is the problem?" He then asked. Floramon turned and pointed at the village. "What you are looking at is exactly what happened. We Floramon are usually peaceful Digimon. We help each other to survive, and we also aren't that close to other villages. We thought we were alright! Until last night…it was around midnight when a big Digimon came from the other entrance of the village and attacked it. Luckily none of us got killed, but the situation is still terrible! The Digimon took all of our food! We grew that field for months by now, and is all gone…" He explained looking down.
"Wow! What an asshole!" Tsuna commented. "Do you have any idea of why he attacked your village?" Coredramon asked. "No! Like i said, we aren't close to other Digimon and we never did something bad to others! I really don't know how it could have happened…" Floramon asked, putting his hands on the head for the agitation. Coredramon stooped and reassured him. "Don't panic. Unfortunately it's normal that someone decides to take from others what they cannot take from themselves. But that's why we are here! We'll deal with him. Don't worry." Floramon smiled. "Thank you…good luck."
"Ok, we'll start by asking the other Floramon about what happened and if we can get more information about it." Tsuna said. "Let's go." Coredramon simply followed him.
They first asked to a Digimon that was checking on the destroyed field. "How many inputs and outputs are here in this village?" Tsuna asked.
"Only two. The first one is where you arrived from that leads to the forest. The second one is here." Floramon answered pointing not too far from where they were.
"Where does it lead to?" Coredramon asked. "To two differents roads: One leads to a waterfall where behind of it there is a cavern. While the other leads to the plains next to the desert part." Floramon replied.
"I see…" Tsuna said, with two fingers on the chin.
"Did you manage to see what kind of Digimon he was during the attack?" Coredramon asked to another Floramon. "Well…yes and no. I mean that i saw it, but i couldn't recognize him. I managed to take a photo!" He answered, showing them the photo.
Tsuna grabbed it and saw exactly what the other Floramon told him: the shilouette of a pretty big Digimon turned away. Since the photo had been taken in full night, the figure wasn't recognizable. But Tsuna could notice some scales on the Digimon's back. "Scales…so could it be that he's a reptile Digimon?" Tsuna said, making an hypothesis.
"It can be an answer" Coredramon said. "Thank you for the photo!" He then thanked the Floramon for the photo. "No problem! You can take it if you want!" The plant Digimon said.
After that, they talked to the Floramon who was fixing the roof of the house, and this time…it was a female one. "What were you doing before and during the attack?" Tsuna asked.
"We were all sleeping at the night. When the Digimon attacked we couldn't do much. Some of us tried to confuse him with our pollen air, but it was useless. And well…you can see what happened next." Floramon answered. Meanwhile Coredramon looked at the back of the house and saw what could it be a clue: three long signs. "Hey Tsuna! Look here!" He called his partner. Tsuna came and saw it. "Oh gosh! What is this?" He said with his eyes wide open. "Ah! I didn't even notice!" Floramon added.
Tsuna then looked better and saw that those signs and noticed that they started from the bottom and ended on the top. "Oh, that explains how the roof flied away. The biggie one scratched it."
"So are those signs of claws?" Floramon asked. "Probably." Coredramon answered. "Ok, let's move on. Good luck with the roof!" Tsuna saluted the Floramon.
In the end, the two of them were at the centre of the village, talking about what they just found out and listened. "So this Digimon is big and a reptile…any ideas?" Tsuna asked. "Unfortunately no. There are so many of them! I mean, i'm a reptile too but i am not that big…" Coredramon answered. "Agh! Dammit…" Tsuna complained. He then looked around. "We saw everything here…that means that there is only one place left."
"What is it?" Coredramon asked. "We have to see the direction from where he arrived last night." Tsuna said, looking at the other entrance of the village.
They headed there and saw something very important…"Hey! Are you seeing what i'm seeing?" Coredramon asked. "Hell yeah! A footprint! And a big one!" Tsuna answered, happy to see something that could help them. The footprint had a very large size and ended with three tips. It was almost clear for them about who could possibly be the culprit. Then they looked at the direction where the print was exposed, which was towards the village. "He came from there" Coredramon said. But he also noticed that there was a footprint that looked the same but on the opposite direction. "It looks like he came and then he turned back!" Tsuna noticed. "Ok, let's see where does this lead to…"
The detective and his Digimon meved through the forest to follow the footprints. The forest itself wasn't that dense, so they could move very easily. Following the footprints, they saw that there were two pairs of them, one going through the village and one coming back. They then went to a crossroads, like the Floramon from before told them. "The right side leads to the plains…while the left side leads to another route…"
Tsuna then looked down and saw that the pair of footprints that headed from the village came from the plains, while the pair that headed back took the other way. "He went there" He said, pointing to the left.
"Floramon said that there is a cavern there, right? So it could be that this Digimon came from the plains, looted the village and went to that cavern to rest. So today he would have returned to the plains." Coredramon said.
"There are no other prints apart from that. It means…that he's still there. Let's follow this road." Tsuna said.
After some minutes of walking, they saw that at the end of the road there was a waterfall, just like they have been told. Tsuna whistled. "Neat!"
"Nature is always beautiful…" Coredramon commented. He then turned on the right and saw that there was a rocky passage that led to the back of the waterfall. "Over here!" Coredramon said. Tsuna simply followed him.
When they were behind the waterfall they could see the road mixed with the water. A calm and beautiful sight. But that wasn't their interest. When they turned around they saw a dark entrance. "This is the cave, uh?" Tsuna asked.
"It should be." Coredramon simply answered. "Are you ready?" He asked. "Of course i am! You are the one who is afraid of the dark!" Tsuna answered with a smile before going inside the cave. Coredramon blushed and followed him. "Hey! That's not true!"
The inside of the cavern looked like a place with more ways, pillars here and there coloured in a black greenish and where the sound of the drops of water falling to the ground could be heard. Tsuna and the dragon Digimon entered and looked around. "Well, it looks like every other average cavern. It's not even that dark…" Coredramon noticed.
"This really turned out to be a simple case after-" Tsuna was going to say how easy the case was, until he saw something. Something that he really hated. "No…Please tell me that this is not true…" He said, blinking.
"What is it?" Coredramon asked. "There are more than just one road!" Tsuna answered agitated. "You know what this means?" Coredramon looked at him. "No…i don't-"
"THIS PLACE IS A FUCKING LABY-" Tsuna was going to shout, but Coredramon put a hand in his mouth. "Sssh! If you yell like that, the Digimon could hear us and find a way to escape!" He said with a low voice.
"Right, sorry…well i think you understood! We'll have to damm our souls for hours before finding the Digimon!" He said, emulating a shout but talking very low. It could be called a 'Whispered Scream'. "If you think only about that, we will never find him! Come on…let's start to search." Coredramon ended, walking towards one of the paths. Tsuna snorted "Fine…" and followed him.
Meanwhile, walking on another side of the cavern, there was none other than Yuuko Chitose, the girl that Tsuna had met the day before. She was flanked by a big Digimon. "We have been walking for almost half an hour, Yuuko. Are we lost?" He asked. "What? No, i don't think so. It's just that this cavern has more than just one path! I'm sure that we'll find him soon!" Yuuko answered. But then she stopped and silenced for some seconds. "…Yes. We've lost…" She admitted it in the end. "Oh great…" Her Digimon said. He then looked at the end of the road and noticed that two figures were approaching him. "Yuuko! I see someone!" He advised. Yuuko looked up and saw the same. She and her partner were about to get ready, but…Yuuko then came back to normal. "What is it?" Her Digimon asked. "I…i know who is coming…" She answered.
Tsuna and Coredramon were walking, until they saw a familiar figure. "Hey, is that…?" Tsuna wondered. When he looked better he recognized the figure and came closer.
"Tsuna! Is you!" Yuuko greeted her with a smile. "You're that girl from yesterday! Yuuko Chitose, right?" Tsuna asked. "Yes! Glad to see that you remember me!" Yuuko said with an innocent smile. Coredramon looked behind her and got surprised by the Digimon that was following her. The Digimon really looked a lot like a Greymon, but he appeared taller, more muscular and more aggressive. Also, unlike the Greymon he knew, this one had bracelets on his claws. "You're not Greymon…are you?" Coredramon asked.
"Well, sorta. I came from the same family but i'm not a regular Greymon. My name is GeoGreymon." The Digimon answered, introducing himself. But Tsuna had a doubt after he saw this Digimon. The look of him sounded way too familiar. Until he thought he understood. "No way! I can't believe we already found him!"
"What do you mean?" Coredramon asked. Tsuna explained better. "Big Digimon, a reptile one, with claws on both hands and feet! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO ATTACKED THE FLORAMON VILLAGE, AREN'T YOU!?"
"What!? I don't know what are you talking about! I didn't do anything!" GeoGreymon protested, but Tsuna stayed on his opinion. "Don't lie! You look exactly like the description the Floramon gave us! Why did you attacked that village!?"
"Tsuna! How dare you say something like that!? We came here about 20 minutes ago! We didn't even know there was a village here!" Yuuko exclaimed. Fortunately Coredramon ended all. "Tsuna…they are right…this Digimon isn't involved in this."
"How can you say that!?" Tsuna asked. "This Digimon doesn't have scales on his back." Coredramon simply answered. An embarassing silence followed. This was another one of Tsuna's bad impressions. The Chosen Child simply turned on the two of them and made an embarassed laugh. "Right…i didn't notice it…eheh….eeeeeeh, sorry…"
Yuuko sighed. "Never mind…anyways, what are you doing here?" She then asked. "Me? I am on a case for my job. I come from the Chesire Cat Agency." Tsuna answered. For some seconds, Yuuko had her eyes wide open. That name was too familiar for her. "Chesire Cat? So he's one of…." She was thinking this, but Coredramon called her back to reality. "Uhm, Are you alright?"
"Uh?" She quickly shaked her head and answered. "Yes, yes! Don't worry. I was just overthinking...and what is this case?" She then asked.
"As i said, there was a Digimon last night that attacked a Floramon village that is situated near here. The tracks he left leaded to this cave. And what are you doing here?" Tsuna then asked curious.
Yuuko silenced for some seconds. She didn't want to tell him the truth. It was something quite important. So she had to come out with an excuse, a plausible one of course. "We were just walking through the plains, until we got here! But then we got lost..."
"Yes! It's true!" GeoGreymon supported her, nodding. "Really? Well, you are lucky if that so. The exit to the cave is right there!" Coredramon pointed behind him, but Yuuko quickly shaked her head. "No! No! We weren't looking for the exit!"
"What? Then why are you two here?" Tsuna fairly asked. The thing was becoming to get even more suspicious. "How can we say it…we like exploration! So when we found this cave, we wanted to see every place of it! But we have not found the bottom yet…" GeoGreymon explained.
"Do you think that maybe the Digimon we are searching for is in here?" Coredramon asked. "Maybe…" Tsuna simply answered. He was still looking at them with a suspicious eye. "What should we do about them?" Coredramon asked.
Tsuna remained silent and looked at them. He wasn't sure of them, but he also knew that she was a good person. But what if she was wearing a mask? Or what if she was actually telling the truth? "Dammit…" He thought. He was the detective and he was the one to take a decision. So he decided to do the only thing he could do. "Hey, GeoGreymon. You can fight, right?" He asked.
"Of course!" GeoGreymon replied.
"Good. You can continue your exploration. But we shall go together. Understood?" Tsuna said. In that moment Yuuko started to sweat a little. His idea wasn't that good for her and her parnter. She could feel that she would have been in a terrible state of anxiety. Staying with him was one of the last things she could have done. But then she reminded that if she wanted to accomplish her job she had to be ready at everything. So she accepted. "Understood!"
"Fine. Then let's go to the direction where you came." Tsuna said, starting to walk. "Uhm…Tsuna? That isn't exactly a good choice…" Yuuko tried to say, but she saw that Tsuna was already moving on. Coredramon sighed. "Please, forgive him…what's at the end of the road?" He then asked.
"Well…" Yuuko answered. "What!? Oh gosh, that idiot!" Coredramon exclaimed, after he knew the answer.
Tsuna on the other hand already arrived at the end of the road. He smiled as he was hoping that it was the right path. But this hope immediately got broken when he saw what was waiting him.
He was at the entrance again. "WHAT!? AH, COME ON!" He shouted.
Coredramon, Yuuko and her partner immediately followed him. "I was going to tell you that the entrance where i came and the one where you came were connected. The destination was the same." She explained. Tsuna first looked at her and then looked at his left and he saw that she was right. "Ugh, perfect…are there any ways you didn't try?"
"We didn't try that, that other one, and that one too." GeoGreymon answered, pointing at the openings they still didn't look at.
"Good. Let's go." Tsuna answered in his usual way of doing.
The first path they went on was much darker than the others. They could barely see where they were going. "Gee…sure is dark here…" Coredramon said, trying to look around.
"Just focus on going on." Tsuna suggested. "Do you always do like that?" Yuuko asked. "Like what?" Tsuna answered. "Choose one direction and stay firm on that?" Yuuko asked.
"Yes. I always was like this. I'm not a smart guy, but i can't help it. I only do what i think is right and move on. I try to free my mind from any kind of doubt." Tsuna answered, looking forwards.
"I guess it's a way to decrease the stress, isn' it?" Yuuko said with a smile. "If you say so. Of course i don't do this all the times. When i'm with someone else i usually do what the others say." Tsuna told.
"Listen the others? You never tried to do the opposite?" Yuuko asked. In that moment, Tsuna stopped. That question made him remember of his first trip on the Digital World. Someone would say it's the same thing as the famous 'Vietnam Flashback'
"Did i asked something wrong?" Yuuko asked.
"…I once tried. I thought that i could be a leader. But i was wrong." Tsuna simply answered. "Me and my friends went on our first journey at the Digital World when we were kids, and i was supposed to be the one to lead them. But i didn't have what it needed…one of my friends almost died because of me…" He added. But he closed his eyes with a face of stress. "Can we please move on?" He asked.
"Sure…i certainly don't want to make you feel uncomfortable…" Yuuko answered. She started to feel that Tsuna was actually a normal person and not like someone they had described at her.
"Since we are talking about ourselves…now that i think of it…the name 'Chitose' isn't new to me…" Tsuna pointed out.
"You're right. My father- Guys…?" Yuuko was answering the question, but she also looked up and saw something quite disturbing. The others looked up and saw the same.
Many red eyes were looking at them from above. "Are they…Digimon?" Coredramon asked. To be sure, Tsuna took his digivice and tried to scan them, but he didn't like what he saw. "Oh no…"
"What is it?" Coredramon asked. "Pipismon, an Adult-Level Digimon…He's an expert on using the ultrasounds…" Tsuna answered, reading the description.
GeoGreymon looked up again worried. "So these are all…" Unfortunately yes. In less than a second, tons of Digimon that looked like bats and had legs similar to hooks flew down started to move towards them, making high and noisy sounds.
"Dammit! There are too much of them!" Yuuko exclaimed. "And i don't want to lose my eardrums!" Tsuna added. "…Again!" This was referred to all those times that Chikara yelled at him.
"There is no other choice! Run!" Coredramon exclaimed. He then started to move faster. The others simply followed him. The Pipismon were just keep on moving on towards the exit. They sounded like they were not going to stop.
"SO MANY OF THEM!" GeoGreymon exclaimed.
Finally, light. A moment of break was there, as the two teenagers and their Digimon took a breath. "Too many Pipismon…please…mercy…" Coredramon said with very low voice.
"Well at least we are at the-" Tsuna was happy but when he looked up he saw another horror.
They were at the entrance…again…the Pipismon they saw before headed all towards the exit. Tsuna at first looked bad...and then…he let go. "…FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" His scream could be heard not only inside the cave,but also outside. Some bird Digimon even flew away from the trees because of that.
"Tsuna! What have i told you!? The target probably heard us!" Coredramon exclaimed.
"How can you stay calm in a situation like this!? We only have two roads left and we still get back to the entrance! I came here with the idea that this would have been a simple task! But no! Of course there had to be something that would have made things hard! I know that i should have expected it, but…i don't want to make other mistakes…" Tsuna said.
"Hey…nobody is saying that you are doing bad things! We have just started! It's normal to miss at the first trial. Come on, i'm sure we'll find the right path one way or another." Coredramon comforted him. Tsuna looked him straight into the eyes. "…Are you sure?" He asked. The dragon nodded. "Yes, one hundred percent!" He said.
Tsuna could calm down. "Ok…i'm fine now. We can proceed!" He then walked towards another one of the openings and his Digimon followed him.
Yuuko and GeoGreymon stayed there to look at Tsuna, especially Yuuko, who got impressed by the boy (Not in a romantic way). "Is he really like this every day?" She wondered.
"Yuuko? Is there any problem?" GeoGreymon asked. "What? Oh no. I was just thinking about him." Yuuko answered.
"Why?" GeoGerymon asked. "Because after all…he is completely different from what i was expecting. I thought that those of the Chesire Cat Agency were people that only thought about their duty…but he makes me thing that there could be some shades of grey…" Yuuko explained. This made her think of what she was going to do. "…Am i really doing the right thing…? Maybe i need more time…" She thought. "Come on, let's go." She ended.
The second opening had more light and looked like any other way they had took before: Just a linear and straight road. At this point, Tsuna knew where this was going, but he also could not lose time, because he thought that while they were still there, the Digimon could still escape. "I need to come out with something…" He thought, and by looking around he saw the answer: The same thing he saw since they entered inside the cave, a rock. So he grabbed it and broke it by pressing it. "There we go…" He then started to leave small pieces of it on the ground.
"What are you doing?" Yuuko asked.
"Did you ever heard of the myth of Theseus and Ariadne? The man had to go on the Crete island to slay the minotaurus, who was sealed inside a labyrinth just like him. In order to not get lost inside the labyrinth, Ariadne gave to Theseus a long ball of wool that he made it fall to the ground in order to sign the road behind him. So that he could follow roads that he had still not been through and find the minotaurus in a shoter time. I'm doing the same thing. I'm using these pieces of rock to sign the road. So that we can follow the right path." Tsuna explained.
"Wow! I would have never expected something like this from you!" Coredramon said surprised, but this answer made Tsuna angry of course. "HEY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!?"
"T-Tsuna! Remember what i told you!" Coredramon replied, alarmed. Yuuko laughed a bit at that scene. "Hey. You two look like a couple of brothers."
"I have a brother, and trust me, he's even more weird than him." Tsuna said, pointing at Coredramon, who didn't take it well. "HEY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!?"
"NOW YOU ARE THE ONE SCREAMING!" Tsuna exclaimed. "GUYS!" GeoGreymon was able to silence the two of them with only a roar. "We should go." He then said with a chlling calm.
"Y-yes…" Both Tsuna and Coredramon said.
They proceeded like Tsuna said, by leaving small pieces of rock on the road they walked in. Luckily, they were plenty of them, so when the pieces of rock were finished, he could take another rock, break it and leave other small pieces. They crossed roads where they already have been many times. When that happened, they simply turned back and took another way. It was boring, but necessary.
"Before we got attacked by those Pipismon before, i asked about your surname. Everything seems calm now…so we can talk about it?" Tsuna pointed out.
"Oh! Uhm, of course." Yuuko said, taken by surprise. "You probably heard of Gendo Chitose." Yuuko started.
"Ah yes! I've heard of that name! He's the director of the famous Chitose Enterprises, right?" Coredramon asked.
"Yes. He's my father." Yuuko answered. "Your father? Really?" Tsuna asked. "Wow! Then i suppose that you don't have any type of problems when it comes to money, right?"
"Well…yes and no. Even if i have a father like him, i have a normal job and earn like many people. I have a simple life." Yuuko answered. "Many people get surprised by the fact that i'm the daughter of the founder of a rich real estate company like his, this also because i don't have brothers or sisters, so i get all the attention, but i really don't care at all." Yuuko answered.
"It seems that you are a pretty calm girl…you're lucky. I wish i could have the same patience as you." Tsuna spoke.
"Well, you on the other hand are quite determined, isn'it?" Yuuko said.
"I suppose so. And your father? How does he treats you?" Tsuna then asked. But that question made Yuuko sigh and look down. "Hard to say. He doesn't treat me bad, of course. But…i rarely have an occasion to talk with him. His works keeps him busy. I know that it's an important job and that he is trying his best to give the best but…i wish he could talk to me more often…at least ask me how am i…i talk a lot with my mother, but you know, i wish i could have both of the parents looking for me."
"That is…sad…" Coredramon commented. "I got used to it…besides i have also GeoGreymon that talks with me!" She said, cuddling the big dinosaur.
"I can understand it…even i have some difficulties with my father. The fact is that even if he's completely different from when he was a kid, like my aunt said, he is still stubborn and makes stupid things. Things that make me embarass. He still thinks that i look like him a lot, but i'm not like him! I tried to follow his steps once and i already told you how it ended. He still expects great things for me…i don't understand why…" Tsuna said, remembering experiences from the past.
"I think he's got a point." Yuuko answered. "You're his son after all, so even if you failed at something doesn't mean that you have to fail to something else. He still trusts you and maybe you should-" She was going to continue but Tsuna stopped her.
"I know where are you going. Gosh i hate these speechs about trust and other stuff…but you are right. Even the others tell me that i'm good at other things. And a friend of mine helped me to find my way." Tsuna said, referring to Kyoko. "Thanks for the support anyway."
"You're welcome!" Yuuko said with a smile. "He's an idiot…but he seems a really good person…" She then thought.
"Guys look!" GeoGreymon pointed fowards and when the others turned on that direction they saw an opening much bigger than the others.
"Do you think that…?" Coredramon asked. "Tsuna…your plan worked!" GeoGreymon exclaimed.
"It did? FUCK YEAH!" Tsuna exclaimed, happy to hear that something that came from his mind was right. He was so excited that he even made a small dance. When he finished he looked at the others, who were staring at him confused. "Ahem…let's go…" He ended.
When they entered they saw a big and empty area. "It's a dead end…" GeoGreymon observed.
"That means that our buddy has to be here." Tsuna said with a grin.
They moved fowards and finally…they saw it.
At the end of the road, there was a big reptile Digimon looking at something behind him. He was coloured in black with some red stripes on the face and on the shoulders. He wore bracelets on his claws and had green scales on his back.
"Finally, something that is like the description." Tsuna said with a satisfied tone. "So he's the target." Coredramon added. Yuuko and GeoGreymon simply silenced.
"HEY!" Tsuna shouted in order to get his attention. "Now that i think of it…this Digimon never heard all of Tsuna's shouts? Never mind…" Coredramon thought.
This time, the Digimon heard him and turned around and saw them. "Humans? Leave me alone! Can't you see that i am busy?" He asked.
"Busy?" Tsuna wondered. He then looked behind him and saw something that alarmed him. Behind the Digimon were tons of food, vegetables for the most part. "That food! We have the confirm! You are the one who attacked the Floramon village, aren't you!?"
The Digimon stood up and looked him straight in the eye. "Yes! So what!? I'm DarkTyranomon! I'm a bandit! This is what i do! I've been doing this for many years by now! You won't force me to change me!" The Digimon exclaimed.
"Change you? No…" Coredramon said. He then came closer and looked at him aggresively. "We want to punish you!" He exclaimed.
"Punish me? You really don't know who you're dealing with, do you? I beated pitiful Digimon like you and those stupid Floramon out there! I needed food and that is what they gave to me! A small dragon won't be enough to stop me!" DarkTyranomon protested, showing his claws.
"You're right. That is why we are two!" GeoGreymon said, coming closer to Coredramon.
"You sure he can do it?" Tsuna asked to Yuuko. "Of course! Why do you think he has all those muscles?" She answered. Tsuna liked that answer and laughed. "You know what you are doing, Yuuko and i take note of that. Come on, let's wreck this lizard's ass!" He said.
"You ready?" GeoGreymon asked. "Born ready. Let's do it." Coredramon replied.
"Fine…my number of heads cut will grow on 40!" DarkTyranomon exclaimed. "Fire Blast!" He then breathed powerful flames towards them.
"Coredramon! You know what to do!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Got it! Blue Flare Death!" Coredramon answered to the attack by breathing his own blue flames from his mouth. Even GeoGreymon decided to release his own flames. "Mega Flare!" The three flames attacks clashed and fused into a massive explosion that made the three reptile Digimon go backwards.
"Hey! Look out!" Tsuna grabbed Yuuko and jumped behind a rock to cover the two of them from the explosion. "You saved me...thanks!" Yuuko said.
"It's my job after all! Also you decided to comfort me as well." Tsuna answered. "Comfort…Ok. Let's see what they are doing." Yuuko then stood up and saw the two Digimon who were still standing.
After the impact, DarkTyranomon immediately came out from the smoke and immediately aimed at GeoGreymon. "Dark Nail!"
"Wha- AGH!" GeoGreymon was quickly pushed against the wall by the enemy's sharp claws. Coredramon saw the scene and had the instinct to do something. So he opened his wings and flew towards DarkTyranomon. "Hey! Leave him-" But the dinosaur Digimon already knew what to do. "Iron Tail!" In less than five seconds he slammed the blue dragon against the wall with his tail. Coredramon felt his back getting hit by the solid wall of rock and released an agonizing yell of pain. Then, DarkTyranomon still used his tail to grab Coredramon with it and starting to suffocate him. "B-Bastard!" Coredramon exclaimed with a choked voice. DarkTyranomon, on the other side was quite pleased by that. "Where did all that courage go now?"
Yuuko started to get afraid and turned on Tsuna. "What should we do?" But Tsuna wasn't afraid at all." Nah, don't worry! I know Coredramon! He always finds a way, even if it is a stupid one!" He said.
Coredramon was trying to get free from that grip, but DarkTyranomon's tail was too strong. "Ok…then i'll be forced to use the element of…SURPRISE!" He exclaimed. With that, he relied on the only thing he could use: His teeth. So he naturally bit his tail.
DarkTyranomon gritted his teeth and released a painful and confused scream,and due to the pain, he even left GeoGreymon, who was able to move again. "I did not expect this!" He commented. After that, he took advantage of the enemy's pain and decided to attack. "Horn Impulse!" GeoGreymon charged against DarkTyranomon with his front horn. DarkTyranomon saw it coming and moved to the left, but he got still stabbed in the shoulder. The dark Digimon released a roar of pain and made a few steps backwards holding his shoulder, which was bleeding.
"Well? You can still give up if you want!" Tsuna exclaimed. But DarkTyranomon wasn't going to do that. He looked angrily at the other two reptile Digimon and released another burst of powerful flames. "Fire Blast!"
"This again!?" GeoGreymon said before getting hit by the flames and falling to the ground with a big thud. "GeoGreymon! Are you alright?" Yuuko asked. GeoGreymon trembled for the pain but opened his eyes.
Coredramon watched the scene sweating. Not only that attack was powerful, but also quite fast. "Such speed…" But when he turned around he witnessed with horror that DarkTyranomon already jumped towards him with the intent to crush him. Coredramon tried to punch him, but the enemy was too heavy, so he got planted on the ground.
"Coredramon!" Tsuna exclaimed. "Dark Nail!" After made him becoming one thing with the rocks, he started to hit him with the claws, making him go deeper. "So! Do you think i'm punished enough? I wanted to cut your head at first, but i thing that digging your grave will be much better! And you thought that a weakling like you could beat DarkTyranomon, predator of the sand? Goodbye!" DarkTyranomon said, laughing. But at the last punch he got blocked. "What!?" He exclaimed.
The claws were getting pushed back. "What is happening!?" DarkTyranomon asked. "I tell you!" Tsuna answered. "You provocated the wrong Digimon!"
From the rocks, Coredramon emerged, pushing DarkTyranomon's punch away. His bell was covered in bleeding scars but he didn't care. "Do you think i'm weak? Well guess again! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" Using all of his strength he definetely pushed away DarkTyranomon, who lost balance and started to stagger. "W-Woah!"
Coredramon opened his wings and fastly started to attack DarkTyranomon with a burst of punches. Both Tsuna and his Digimon released their battle cry. "BABABABABABABABABABABABABABAAANG!" The last punch pushed DarkTyranomon against the wall, but he recovered and tried to attack Coredramon with his tail. But the smaller dragon quickly dodged it by flying and started to fly around him. "What are you doing!?"
"Let's see if i'm weak now!" Coredramon answered. DarkTyranomon got frustrated by those words that decided to burn him down. "Fire Blast!" He released powerful flames from his mouth that started to follow Coredramon. The flames were very close to him, but the Adult-Level Digimon did his best to stay away from them, by going faster and faster. He started to pant, but he found the right speed to definitivetly miss the flames and go above him. "Take this! Strike Bomber!" Coredramon descended, pointing at DarkTyranomon with the flick of his tail and attacked him at the front. The enemy yelled out of pain and scratched his front.
"It worked!" Yuuko said happily. Even Tsuna made a smirk. "I told you! You provocated the the wrong Digimon!" He then turned to Yuuko. "Now is your chance!"
Yuuko nodded. "GeoGreymon!" Her Digimon recovered just in time. "Got it! Mega Flame!"
Coredramon got out of there, while DarkTyranomon opened his eyes and saw the burst of flames coming towards him. "NO! WAIT-" But it was too late. He got attacked and his body got surrounded by the fire. DarkTyranomon released a roar of pain and fell to the ground, fainted.
"VICTORY!" Tsuna exclaimed. "We got him! Mission complete!" Coredramon added. "Ahah! We told him that we were about to punish him, and we did it!" Tsuna was hyped for the victory he had just gained, but he gave his thanks to the one who helped. "You helped too, Yuuko! Thank you…"
But the girl didn't answer. She was standing there, with the hair covering her eyes. "…Yuuko? Are you alright?" Tsuna asked. But the girl still silenced.
Right now…her head was covered in thoughts and doubt. This was supposed to be the time she was going to act, but she still thought of what she had just passed with Tsuna and when he saved her. Was it really worth it? Unfortunately…yes.
"Yuuko, are we doing this?" GeoGreymon asked. The girl simply nodded. And started to walk. "Yuuko? Doing what?" Coredramon asked.
The girl came closer to DarkTyranomon with her partner and then…turned on Tsuna. "…We are forced to fight." She simply said.
"What!?" Tsuna exclaimed. "W-what are you talking about? Why do you suddendly want to fight!? Are you trying to spar with me!?" He asked confused.
"No." Yuuko simply answered. "Then why? Yuuko, can you please tell me what is going on!?" Tsuna asked loud.
Yuuko bit her lips. She was feeling terrible for doing this, after she saw what person Tsuna was. But she had to. "I have…to kill you." She answered.
"K-kill us?" Coredramon asked confused.
But…both he and Tsuna understood all.
Tsuna had his eyes wide open. He was bewildered by what he understood. He suspected her, of course, but he couldn't believe where things were going now. He had the heart broken once again. "No…please tell me this is not true…are you…!?"
But Yuuko told the truth and made his thoughts become reality. "Yes…Saiba Rei hired me to kill you." She said with impassive tone to hide her actual pain.
"No…NO! I would have never thought of this! FUCK! I EVEN TRUSTED YOU! THEN YOU WERE HERE BECAUSE YOU LOCATED ME!?" He exclaimed.
"No. We were looking after DarkTyranomon for Saiba Rei. We are here for him. Since you are not going to let us take him, we shall fight. I will fight on Yuuko's side. That is all." GeoGreymon answered.
"T-Tsuna?" Coredramon asked. The boy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He had gone through ebery type of pain in life. But this was too much. Being a terrible leader, not getting accepted by the others…all of these things were nothing compared to the pain he was feeling now…the pain of knowing that the one you thought could be a friend…revealed to be an enemy.
But this time…all that he could feel was rage. He was ready to answer and to make her pay. "Coredramon, get ready." He said.
"F-fine!" Coredramon answered, getting ready to face GeoGreymon. "Very well, Yuuko. If that is what you want…i won't hold back. I thought that for once, i could talk with someone outside my family or my colleagues. But Rikka was right…i had to be careful to the one next to me…now i know why." Tsuna said. He then looked up at her and the eyes of the killer were glowing on him. "I swear i'll make you regret of this. AS MEMBER OF THE CHESIRE CAT AGENCY, I, TSUNAYOSHI MOTOMIYA WILL STOP YOU!" He shouted.
A tear fell from Yuuko's eye. She didn't knew that this would have hurt him so much. She made her realize how human he was. But she could not go back. Not anymore…"THEN BRING IT ON!"
The two Digimon started then to charge against each other and ended up one holding the other. Since he was bigger, GeoGreymon was the one that put more strength in his arms. This made Coredramon slowly go backwards. The smaller dragon gritted his teeth, but he wasn't worried at all, because he already knew what to do next. "Strike Bomber!" He quickly slammed his tail against GeoGreymon's nose. The Digimon had to leave him for the pain, but he recovered and shot a huge fire ball from his mouth. "Mega Volcano!"
"What!?" Coredramon got hit by the huge ball that caused a big explosion. He was able to stand up, but he felt more pain than before. At this point, Coredramon needed to be extra careful because he noticed that he had got some damages from DarkTyranomon just some moments before. He looked at the scars he had on his body and then at the enemy. "I can't let him use his Gekerin, but not only he is bigger, but he seems also stronger…" Tsuna thought, gritting his teeth. "Tsuna!" Coredramon called out. Tsuna looked his partner who gave him a thumb up, like he said "I got this." Tsuna nodded and made a grin. "Come on! We're just getting started!"
"He still has some grit…" Yuuko thougth. "…No! I have to win! GeoGreymon!" She exclaimed. Her Digimon was already going to shoot another attack, judging by his mouth that was getting covered in flames.
"He's going to shoot his fire attack, how about we gave him our version?" Tsuna asked to his partner. "Got it!" Coredramon answered, charging his mouth as well. Soon, two massive bursts of flames were going to explode.
"Blue Flare Breath!"
"Mega Flame!"
The two attacks clashed, making the whole area hotter. Both Tsuna and Yuuko started to sweat, but they didn't care, because they only had a thought in mind: Prevail over the other. The boy had to do his duty and wanted a personal revenge, while the girl had to execute the orders for a specific reason.
Despite the fact that GeoGreymon's Mega Flare was bigger, it was Coredramon's attack that was winning. The blue flames started to consume the red ones and soon they approached GeoGreymon. The dinosaur Digimon got hit in the head, while the flames not only hit him, but even the ceiling of the cave. His head was smoking, but GeoGreymon's eyes were glowing red, as a sign of not giving up. "Horn Impulse!" The Digimon started to charge against Coredramon, using his front horn.
Coredramon jumped in time and avoided. Then he tried to attack him with another fire attack. "Blue Flare Breath!" But the enemy avoided. Coredramon did not give up and attacked several times with the same attack. "Blue Flare Breath!" GeoGreymon continued to avoid them by running fast, and the flames were only hitting the rocks.
"Blue Flare Brea-" Coredramon was going to spit out other flames, but this time GeoGreymon attacked first. "MEGA ROAR!" GeoGreymon released a roar so big that generated a blast and hit Coredramon, making him slam against the rocks and fall down. "Coredramon!" Tsuna exclaimed. "What kind of attack was that!?"
"Mega Roar. He attacks with a blast coming from his roar." Yuuko simply explained. "Really!? Is he that strong…? Shit, i can't even imagine him at his Perfect or Ultimate-Level…" Tsuna spoke looking worried.
Coredramon got up from the ground, only to find GeoGreymon in front of him. "Dammit!" Coredramon immediately got up and started to attack with his punches. GeoGreymon answered by doing the same. The clash between punches was so hard that it could be heard in all the cave and both Coredramon and GeoGreymon's steps made everything tremble, like an earthquake.
"So all that you said to me before…your father…your feelings…you staying alone…everything of that was a lie!?" Tsuna took advantage of the situation to get answers from Yuuko. He was still shocked from the truth he heard and he wanted confirmations for that. He expected that Yuuko invented all of that stuff just to stab him on the back, but what Yuuko said was actually surprising.
"They were not a lie! I was telling the truth!" Yuuko answered. Tsuna looked at her, but he was still angry. "Then why are you doing this!? Do you really think that helping Saiba will change everything!? Don't you understand that he's using her!?" He exclaimed.
"SO WHAT!?" Yuuko shouted. "Saiba promised to pay everyone if we got rid of you…i have something important to do, and for that i need to pay! I don't care if what i'm doing will change the world! As long as i get what i need i'm fine with it!"
In that moment Tsuna noticed something different. Yuuko was now talking with a more desperate tone. Like she was struggling to tell this. "Listen Tsuna…you are a good person…i can totally understand your behaviour and what brings you to do this…i even thought that we could be friends…but life put us on two different parts, and if they tell me that i have to kill you, then so be it!" She said.
"…Are…are you serious!? Do you really think of anything like that!? YOU ARE A TOTAL IDIOT!" This time Tsuna lost his patience, for real this time. "You say this because you think that there is no way that things can change! You see things from only a perspective like i did! But then someone taught me that everyone needs a second chance! What is your problem? Why are you following Saiba!?" Tsuna wanted answers.
Yuuko bit her lips. She wanted to tell him what was going on, but something on her heart was still holding her back. "It's not of your business!" She exclaimed.
"Fine…then we'll just force you to say that!" Tsuna ended.
Coredramon and GeoGreymon were still fighting. They were both starting to get tired, but they couldn't make a mistake, or the other would have taken advantage of it. "Strike Bomber!" Coredramon then attacked GeoGreymon in the face with the tip of his tail. This made GeoGreymon stagger for some seconds. Coredramon saw it as the moment that could have ended the battle so he was going to give one last punch to GeoGreymon.
But the Digimon was only waiting for this.
When GeoGreymon saw that Coredramon was going to give him a punch in that exact point of the cave, he moved his head on purpose so that Coredramon could hit the rocks. "You still have the strength to avoid an attack?" The blue dragon asked, but when he was going to take off his arm from the rocks he saw a terrible surprise.
The wall where he directed a punch had a big crack. When he gave the punch the crack went on all the wall and rocks started to crumble. "Dammit!" Coredramon exclaimed. He used his wings to escape before the pile of rocks hit him, but a boulder sent him to the ground. Luckily, the boulder wasn't big enough to kill him, but it was surely enough to hurt him and make him yell out of pain.
"That is absurd! How did he do it?" Tsuna asked, shocked. "That is simple! While they were clashing before, GeoGreymon thought about avoiding some of Coredramon's punches before, so that he could damage the wall enough to make it crumble." Yuuko answered.
Tsuna gritted his teeth. Not only his enemy was unexpected but she revealed to be quite strong and clever. But he didn't want to give up. "Don't think that this will be enough!" Tsuna exclaimed.
"Right!" Coredramon recovered and with his tail he destroyed the boulder that was above him. He then flew against GeoGreymon more faster to give him a stronger punch, But GeoGreymon used the same trick of before: Avoiding it. Coredramon's punch hit again the wall who started to crumble. "This again!?" He flew faster and faster to avoid the rocks, and he even used his Blue Flare Breath attack to destroy some of them. But he didn't know that while doing his movements he went near GeoGreymon, who grabbed him in the face and slammed him on the wall. Coredramon's breath was becoming heavier and Tsuna started to get seriously worried. But the blue dragon had still some energy in his body. Just like Veemon before him, he would never go down until he defeated his enemy.
"Do you give up?" GeoGreymon asked. The smaller dragon opened his eyes and shouted. "NO!" Then, in less than a second he gave GeoGreymon a powerful uppercut and flew above him.
"What!?" Yuuko exclaimed. "Yes! Now go Coredramon!" Tsuna encouraged his partner.
Maybe it could have ended with this one final strike, so Coredramon immediately went down to deliver the final blow. But he didn't knew that GeoGreymon wasn't completely stunned by his uppercut. "Strike Bo-" Coredramon was about to hit GeoGreymon's head with the tip of his tail
But…
"BLARGH!" Coredramon ended up with his eyes wide open with discomfort and pain, splitting blood. "No way…" Tsuna said.
When Coredramon was about to use his Strike Bomber, GeoGreymon raised his head fast to impale him with his front horn. It didn't completely perforated the body, but it gave Coredramon a dangerous hole in his abdomen.
Coredramon's blood fell on GeoGreymon's head. The dinosaur looked at him impassive and moved his head in order to throw him away. With one simple movement, the blue dragon was sent against another wall and fell to the ground, completely stunned and with a terrified stare in his face.
The hole in his body made Tsuna extremely anxious. "Coredramon? COREDRAMON! NO! YOU CAN'T END LIKE THIS! YOU CAN STILL FIGHT!" He tried to call him out, But Coredramon didn't answer.
"It's already over." GeoGreymon simply answered. Tsuna looked above Coredramon and saw that the wall which Coredramon got slam against had another crap. The result…was that a pile of rocks crumbled and fell massively to Coredramon.
"WATCH OUT!" Tsuna tried one last time to advise his partner, but nothing. Only silence followed his call. "…Coredramon?" He asked. "No…"
Yuuko and GeoGreymon looked at the scene in silence. The girl had an impassive look, but she was actually feeling terribly guilty for what she just did. Losing the partner is the most terrible thing for a Chosen Child. But she only had two choices: Her or him. That was how life worked. So…she continued. "…Now it's your turn."
Tsuna was about to cry, but he wanted to stay strong so all that he did was to act like he always had. "YOU IDIOT! YOU CAN'T JUST LET A PILE OF MISERABLE ROCKS GET OVER YOU! COME ON! I KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! YOU LAZY SLOTH!" He was going to lose everything. His faith to the others, his fight, and his feelings, but if there was thing that he didn't want to lose, that was his hope to see his partner, his friend get up once again.
"He keeps fighting…why?" Yuuko thougth. "THAT'S IT! IF YOU WON'T GET OUT OF THERE, I'LL DO IT!" Tsuna exclaimed, running towards the pile of rocks that smashed Coredramon and started to get them off. They were heavy, but he didn't care. He was ready to lose some of his bones, but he didn't care.
Yuuko was surprised by that act, but she still thougth that his attempts were useless.
"Come on, stupid dragon! Get out! Dammit…is she really stronger? Is her purpose really that big? What are you after, Yuuko Chitose?" Tsuna thought as he kept taking off the rocks.
Suddendly…a voice…an illumination.
"...You'll only hurt yourself…"
"What!?" Tsuna, Yuuko and GeoGreymon exclaimed.
After that…silence…followed by the noise of rocks going down. Until…a hand came out of them. That sight made Tsuna smile and get relieved, while Yuuko and GeoGreymon were flabbergasted by that unreal moment.
Coredramon in the end was able to get out from the rocks. He was bleeding everywhere and his breath was labored, but he still stood up. "Gah…i swear i was going to face Anubimon for a moment…"
Tsuna looked at him, and…he laughed. "YOU IDIOT! WHY DIDN'T YOU GOT UP BEFORE IF YOU WERE JUST FINE!?"
Coredramon couldn't help but to answer with another laugh. "I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU GETTING IMPALED AND GET TONS OF ROCKS ALL OVER YOUR BODY!" He exclaimed.
At this point Yuuko didn't understan nothing. This time she needed answers. "How…how did you manage to get up despite all those attacks!? Are you really that strong!?" She asked.
"No, we're not! It's not about strength, feelings or bonds! We only want one thing…and that thing is to finally take you down for what you have done to us! I may don't think like my father, but if we share one thing that is pure determination! The determination to break down your faceand to make you finally tell the truth! What we show now is nothing but this! It's our duty as detectives! It's my duty if i want what i want to be…A HERO!" Tsuna exclaimed with grit and a firing will.
Yuuko was speechless. Those words hit her deeper than before. This time her mind really began to doubt. "This guy is incredible…am i really the one that is wrong?" She wondered. But then she shaked her head and remembered her duty. "No! It's not gonna happen!" She exclaimed.
"Do you really think that those words will regain the power that you lost?" GeoGreymon asked.
In that moment Coredramon made a grin. "Not really…but just to let you know…you aren't the only one who came up with a strategy."
"What?" Yuuko asked, but she didn't want to hear another word. "Let's just finish this, GeoGreymon!" She exclaimed. Her Digimon nodded and charghed against the enemy. "We are supposed to say that! Right, Coredramon?" Tsuna answered back. "Right!" Coredramon replied, flying against GeoGreymon.
The two Digimon were about to have a direct approach, but then GeoGreymon was stopped by something unexpected. Suddendly, he felt a terrible heat on his feet, yelling of pain and making some steps backwards, but unexpectedly, he still felt the heat. "W-What is this!?" GeoGreymon exclaimed.
"I…i don't understand…" Yuuko answered. But when she looked down…she saw the truth: The floor was all red and hot. "What!? What is the meaning of this!?"
Tsuna and Coredramon smirked. "Our plan worked." The dragon said. "Back when Coredramon was shooting fire from his mouth repeatedly he did it on purpose, in order to make the floor hotter and slowing down your movements!" Tsuna explained.
"No way! Are you telling me that you have calculated everything from the beginning!?" GeoGreymon exclaimed. "We can say that we used your same strategy: Using an element of this cave! And now you'll feel all the pain back!" Coredramon answered. He then quickly starte to attack with his punches. But this time, GeoGreymon got hit by almost all of them, since he couldn't move free like before and Coredramon seemed faster despite all the damage he got.
"N-no! This is not over!" GeoGreymon exclaimed. "I agree! We are only at the beginning!" Coredramon charged against GeoGreymon and started to attack him with a burst of punches, shouting once again his battle cry with his partner. "BABABABABABABABABABAABABABABABABABABABABABABABABAAAANG!"
The power of those punches made GeoGreymon fall on the ground, and due to the heat of before, the dinosaur Digimon got his back burned. The Digimon released a roar of pain.
"No way…so i am the wrong one…? But…i just want…" Yuuko was admitting the defeat at this point, but GeoGreymon found the strength to get up. "Yuuko…i have to win this!" He thougth, once he saw the mood of her partner. "Mega Flame!" He breathed out flames from his mouth with the attempt to finish them with one last blow. But Tsuna and Coredramon were not going to get on the ground, not this time.
"Show him what you got once and for all!" Tsuna exclaimed. And Coredramon gave his answer to the opponent. "Blue Flare Breath!"
The two flames attacks clashed. The two Digimon were tired, but only one would emerge victorious. And this one…was Coredramon.
The Blue Flare Breath went faster. GeoGreymon had his eyes open, but he hold still his attack, only to get completely hit by the blue flames. The reptile Digimon released a roar of pain and fell to the ground defeated.
"GeoGreymon!" Yuuko shouted. Finally…the battle was ended, and Tsuna had a smirk on his face.
When the smoke came out, GeoGreymon was revealed laying on the ground. He wasn't able to get up. "Yuuko…forgive me…"
"GeoGreymon…" Yuuko simply said. But when she looked up, she saw Tsuna that was in front of her. The boy didn't think twice and gave her a punch in the face, making her fall to the ground. He then grabbed her by the shirt, he really wanted to choke her, but he had to mantain the calm. She had to give him answer.
"WHY, WHY, WHY!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!? NOW YOU'LL HAVE TO ANSWER ME!" Tsuna shouted out, more furious than ever. But what happened next made him shocked.
Tears…were starting to fall from her eyes. And the truth was finally revealed. "It's…for my mother…" She said.
Tsuna changed his furious expression into a confused one and eased his grip. "…What?"
The tears from Yuuko's face got more frequent as she started to talk. "I…didn't tell you something before…my mother is going through a terrible phase now…over a year ago, due to a car accident, her legs were fully hit and got completely paralyzed…"
Tsuna didn't say anything and left her. He just wanted to let her talk. "The doctors said that her bones were terribly damaged. With an operation they could save her…" She contniued.
"…Why didn't your father do anything?" Tsuna asked. Yuuko knew he was going to ask her that question, so she had to release all of her frustration. "BECAUSE HE THINKS HE HASN'T ENOUGH TIME! He…he prefers to mantain his position rather than help his wife…his family…this made me terrribly angry…i…started to hate him…i couldn't forgive such a behaviour…" She then breathed and silenced for some seconds.
Tsuna and Coredramon didn't do anything. He…actually started to feel terribly sorry for what happened. He understood that situation. He, as well, got deluded by the behaviour of someone because they preferred some things to other ones.
"…That is why i accepted Saiba's quest…i wanted the money to pay her operation…i wanted to save her…to see her smile again…" Yuuko continued. "…At first i thougth that it would have been a simple task. I thougth i had the will to defeat the enemy…i thougth that you were simple detectives that wante to bring only order…but then i met you…you are a unique person…i've noticed from yesterday…your friends probably are unique people like you…just like you said…i should see some shades of grey…just like me…you have problems…difficulties…you felt abbandoned…my mother said that no matter what happened to her…all she wanted was to see me happy…" Yuuko continued.
"And…does this bring you happiness?" Tsuna asked.
Yuuko's face was fully covered in tears. "No…this is not the life i want to do…" She then turned on him an said something really unexpected. "I…i'm sorry…"
Tsuna remained silent. Coredramon looked at him and saw that the boy started to realize that the girl…simply wanted to have a normal life just like him.
Silence followed….for some minutes.
Tsuna then tried to come closer to her. But then…something from above came down between the two of them. "What!?" He said, making some steps backwards. "What is that?"
When the smoke came out, Yuuko recognized the figure. "You?"
She was Nui Kishibe. Along with her there was a Digimon that looked like a chinese dragon, holding two spheres. The girl looked at Tsuna with a little smile. "I'm sorry…what were you doing to my friend?" She aske.
"What!? Who the fuck are you!?" Tsuna exclaimed. "My my! Such language! I thougth that you detectives were more polite…" Nui answered with her usual behaviour.
"Are you trying to make fun of us!?" Coredramon asked annoyed. He tried to get closer, but Nui's Digimon came in front of him, making the blue dragon stop. "No no no! I don't recommend that!" He said.
"What?" Coredramon asked confused.
"Nui! What are you doing here?" Yuuko asked. The other girl turned on her and gave her a caress on her soft skin. "Oh my dear Yuuko, you know that when you are in trouble, i always come to help you. It always has been like this. We're friends!" She said.
"Friends!? Are you another one of Saiba's mercenaries!?" Tsuna asked.
Nui made a gentle laugh. "Correct! You are such a nice boy! But let's be clear…since you have done this to my friend, we won't go easy on you! No one should harm her or GeoGreymon like that, do you understand?" She asked, as she walked slowly towards him and looked at him straight in the eyes. Tsuna started to get scared of her. That attitude didn't make him calm. "Alright! Enough of this! If this is what you want, we'll defeat you as well!" He exclaimed.
"I'm here Tsuna!" Coredramon said as he came closer.
"Oh, you really have are a brave person if you really wish to fight us in that state! But don't worry…that was our intention too.." Nui said with a sweet yet creepy tone. "They're all yours…Hisyaryumon." She said.
"Hisyaryumon? That is his name?" Coredramon said. The dragon Digimon came closer, ready to fight. "I just wanted to stretch my bones…" He said.
"Ok! I've got tired of you!" Coredramon said, starting to attack him with a barrage of punches. But Hisyaryumon dodged them all, moving his long body in every way.
"WHAT!?" Tsuna exclaimed. "HE'S FAST!" Coredramon nodded.
"Surprised?" Hisyaryumon asked. But Coredramon didn't want to hear other words. "Strike Bomber!" He started to attack him with the tip of his tail, but Hisyaryumon kept dodging all the attacks with infallible speed.
"No way! How are you doing this!?" Tsuna asked, shocked.
"Just because i'm cute, doesn't mean that i'm weak! And i think the major problem is your partner's status now!" Nui said, looking at all of Coredramon's wounds.
"That is not true! Blue Flare Breath!" Coredramon breathed out blue flames, but all that Hisyaryumon had to do was use his arms to guard himself and he was like new. "No way…"
"Oh don't worry, you had your moment, but i think that now is our turn to attack." Nui said with her calm tone.
"Finally…" Hisyaryumon said, pleased. "This is a one-hundred percent knockout! Seiryūjin!" The dragon Digimon then transformed his body into a sword and aimed directly on both Coredramon and Tsuna.
The two of them were taken by surprise, and in a moment, with only one slice, they had a deep cut on their belly.
"AGH! Just…what the hell are you!?" Tsuna said, before passing out due to the wound. Coredramon immediately followed him.
Hisyaryumon and Nui looked at them with a pleased smile. "They surely are cute when they sleep! Anyways…we should kill you right now. But alas, we have other things we have to take care of now." Nui said, turning on Yuuko. She then helped her to get up. "Gee Yuuko! I didn't expect you to come down in that way! What happened?"
Yuuko silenced for some seconds, looking back at Tsuna. "…It's just that the detective…surprised me." She simply answered.
"I get it, you will answer me in another place. After all we have finished here." Nui ended. Hisyaryumon, meanwhile, was getting both GeoGreymon an DarkTyranomon, who was still fainted all of this time.
When they got out of there, Yuuko looked at the cave one last time and thougth of the young Chosen Child. "Tsuna…i understood that the path that i'm walking is wrong…but now i can't do anything. But i swear…someday…i'll find a way to set this right." She said. And then they went away.
About twenty minutes later…
Tsuna slowly opened his eyes and looked around. "We are still here…" He said. Even Coredramon woke up. "Ugh…really?"
"Yeah…Wait a second! Where did that girl and Yuuko go!?" Tsuna exclaimed.
Coredramon looked but nobody was there. "…They went away…" He said. "Even DarkTyranomon disappeared…they probably took him."
"Oh, dammit…" Tsuna said. That day was a big mix of emotions. He didn't want to proceed more. He thougth about Yuuko. He now understood that she was a good girl, but she still was with the enemies. Their road had still to be different.
"…I think it would be reckless following them now…we should leave." Coredramon suggested.
"…Yeah…you're right…" Tsuna said. He looked straigth and saw that luckily all of Floramon's food was safe. "I wonder how it survived…" Tsuna said. "Come on let's take it. After all…mission complete."
"I think so..." Coredramon ended. And so they did the only thing they could do: Grab the food. This fight was going to become even more complicated. What would have been the result? Tsuna was certain of one thing: This was not the time to make that question…
After they got the food, Tsuna and Coredramon got back to the Floramon's village, got all the thanks and simply went back to the real world…
When they got back, everyone noticed Tsuna's deep cut and immediately and provided to put a band on the wound. Kyoko was the most alarmed one. How could a simple mission like that damage both him and Coredramon (Who was resting inside the Digivice) so much? But Tsuna didn't hesitate to tell what happened. Another ambush, and another broken heart for him.
"So you got attacked by another mercenary…" Yatsura said. "Not one, but two. And the second one seemed pretty dangerous…" Kasai added.
"Unfortunately yes…dammit…if we only had more strength…we could have taken two other enemies…" Tsuna said with regret.
"You don't have to say this, Tsuna. You didn't expect that. Of course something like would have happened." Aisu said, while checking the band on his cut.
"Now we know how much clever Saiba Rei's mercenaries are…" Shoutmon said, looking up. "And strong…like if we didn't know before." Veedramon added. He then clenched his fist. "The only thougth about it gets me angry…"
"We should have expected from them. Saiba Rei looks pretty resolute with his plan. So of course he will use any way to eliminate us. That means using the help of people that fight in every way possible." Rikka said her opinion. "I really hate to say it, but now...Saiba can crush us at any moment."
"But there is something that caugth my attention…" Aria said. Everyone turned on her. "What do you mean?" Rina asked.
"You said that she was working with her because she wanted to help her mother, right?" The blond girl asked. Tsuna simply nodded. "But…are you sure she was sincere? I mean, maybe she was right, but since we are talking about the enemy…" Aria continued.
Tsuna looked up and thougth about that moment. Yuuko's tears, her tone, her desperation, her regrets. "I'm sure she was telling the truth. Her reaction and the way she fought with her partner were too realistic to be a simple masquerade. Even if we walked together throught that cave, she didn't show her will to kill me directly. She even wanted to talk with me, and she told me the problems with her family."
"Wow…" Aria spoke. Kyoko sighed and sat on the table. "It's normal: We are all humans. We all have motivation to go on, even if we are doing bad things. Sure, there are people who are rotten to the core, like Cassidy or Jake, but there are also people who maybe don't know what is wrong and what is right. That girl Yuuko could be an example. You know…now i would really want to talk with her…she just triggered my curiosity." She said with two fingers on her chin.
"…Me too. Me too…" Tsuna said.
"What matters is that you are here now, and that you are fine." Kumo said with a smile. "Yeah! Thank God! Judigng by your cut and by Coredramon's body it seemed like you were on the verge of death!" Toriko added chuckling.
"Hey! You know who i am! This is my food!" Tsuna answered.
"You have also solved the case, even if there were some unexpected implications." Kouta said, looking at the window.
"Yeah…don't make me think of it. These three days were full of implications. First, i try to destroy the barrier and i find out that i can't. Then i get sick and have to stay at home, and i even see my cousin with one of my pajamas!" Tsuna said.
Chikara immediately turned on Aisu with a stunned look. "What did you do?" Hearing that made Aisu grin. "It's a long story. But we just talked! What, do you think that i love Tsuna?" She then asked.
"Of course not! You're her cousin!" Chikara exclaimed.
"Good. I don't know, maybe someone would think ugly things." Aisu commented. "Please don't make me think about it! That would be absolutely not beautiful!" Sasuke added.
Among them there was even Cheri of the Lion Fang Agency, who was there to help Rikka with the research of th two USB keys. "Does this type of conversations always happen here?" She asked.
"No, but when it happens, it's always a good show." Kabuterimon answered.
"…And now i go on a case and find out that a girl that i met yesterday is my enemy. First i think she is terrible and i want to kill her, then i hear her story and i don't want to kill her anymore, and in the end her friend comes along and beats me with only one hit! Gosh, that is too much stuff for me!" Tsuna said, sounding pretty stressed.
"Well, it's your food, you said it." ExVeemon said. "Gee, thanks for the support." Tsuna said.
"You said that you tried to destroy the barrier. What happened?" Rikka asked.
"For that you should ask Coredramon." Tsuna simply replied. "Don't worry! I'm still here, i can answer." Coredramon said from the Digivice. "I tried several times to attack the barrier, but nothing happened. It was like…fighting a greater energy…a dark one…" He answered.
'A dark one.' With that…something snapped. Rikka opened her eyes because she thougth of something. Dark energy, darkness. That word wasn't new to her when it came to Saiba Rei. "A dark energy…what do you mean by that?" She then asked.
"Well…i don't know if i'm sure of it…but i saw a dark smoke for a second coming out from the barrier." Coredramon answered.
Rikka's eyes shined. She made a large smile. "Excuse me." She grabbed Cheri and went to her room with her. "Rikka?" Cheri asked confused.
The others looked at the scene in silence. "…She always been like that, so i presume that everything is fine…" Yatsura commented. She then looked at the others to be sure of what she said. "…Right?"
The others simply nodded. "Ok…well i'm off for now." Yatsura then went to her room.
"Yeah, me too." Kyoko said, going to her office. One by one the members went to other rooms of the agency.
"Don't do strange movements, got it?" Kasai asked to Tsuna.
"Yeah yeah i know." Tsuna replied.
"Good." Kasai simply ended. She then went away as well with her partner.
Tsuna simply stayed there, laying on the couch, resting. He couldn't do something else, but this was fine for him. He simply didn't want to think about do other things now. He was just…tired. He then looked around and saw that everyone went away.
Except for two.
Sasuke leaned against the wall, with Gladimon at his right. He didn't do anything, he just looked at Tsuna, and Tsuna looked back.
Stares, stares, and stares…soon for Tsuna the situation started to be ankward. "What? Why are you looking at me in that way?" He asked.
"I was just looking at my brother! Is there anything wrong with that?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.
"You know that when it comes to you nothing is like what it seems…" Tsuna answered with a disgusted face.
"Alright alright." Sasuke said, taking a glass of water. "I was only keeping an eye on you."
"Do you really think that i would escape somewhere? Am i that stubborn?" Tsuna asked. "Yes. But if that happens it would only delight me…" Sasuke replied with a grin and holding a rose in his hand. The rose made Tsuna want to look somewhere else. "…You're weird."
"Many told me…" Sasuke said like he was proud of it.
"…Why didn't you say anything about what happened to me?" Tsuna then asked.
"Hm? Why are you asking me that?" Sasuke demanded.
"You're my brother, you should be the first one to get worried, duh." Tsuna said. "I just didn't have nothing to say. I know the type of person that you are, and so i know that this is the type of fight you do. So i just silenced." Sasuke answered. Tsuna simply silenced. He knew that his brother was right, after all, but he didn't knew if he should have taken it as a compliment or an insult. "But…yes, of course i was worried about you. That cut was pretty long. We are detectives, but some images can still impress us." Sasuke continued.
"…Maybe we still have to get used to. After all, this agency is in activity for just a year…" Tsuna said.
"I agree." Sasuke simply answered. Another silence of some seconds followed. "Say, Tsuna…" Sasuke started.
"What is it?" Tsuna asked.
"Do you feel better now?" Sasuke then asked. Tsuna wasn't so sure of what was going on. "What do you mean?"
"I was thinking about when you first came to the agency. You were so hyped to the fact that you found a way to achieve your dream, but you also had problems when it came to deal with the others, especially Chikara, of course. Your arrival at the agency was a pretty challenge, i say. So…some time has passed now, so how do you feel?" Sasuke explained.
Tsuna grimaced and thougth about it. "It's not like nothing has changed. It's just that after what happened during my life, i came with the idea that maybe it's a better choice to not stay with the others too much."
"Why that?" Sasuke asked.
"Being a terrible example…getting persecutated by the others just for my dream…do you think that i'm still a person that could stay fine with one on his side?" Tsuna asked.
"Well, yeah! You are here with us, aren't you? If you were the kind of person you describe yourself, you wouldn't be here, right? This shows how much the other members care about you!" Gladimon said with an happy tone.
"I know…and i was thinking like that…but then i saw what happened today…" Tsuna answered.
Sasuke looked at the brother, only to smile after. "You know why do you think of this?" He said.
Tsuna looked at him curious.
"It's because you tend to blame yourself for everything. About what happened when we were kids, it's true, maybe you weren't a perfect leader, and that sometimes you did some errors, but time passes, and people change. We are talking about 10 years ago! It happened, alas. But you should go on! About those bullies that hit you in middle school, that was Not your fault, but theirs, for being assholes. You only did what was right and defended your dream. And if we speak about what happened today…well…you couldn't know what would have happened, just like the others said before. And judging from what you told us, i believe that she too, feels guilty now." Sasuke answered. "You know…this attitude of yours reminds me of Kumo…even if his story is more serious, you two tend on blame yourselves, even for something that happened years ago. Maybe this is why you two are such good friends?"
Tsuna chuckled. "Maybe…well, i think he is a good person, even if he killed someone. He also knows what is better for the others…and even if i point a knife on him he remains calm. I like his personality. He said. "…Sasuke?"
Sasuke looked at him.
"Do you think i can become a hero?" Tsuna asked. Sasuke sighed and looked at the window. "I can't say that. Only time and what will you do in the future will say that." He then turned around and smiled. "But for me, you can do it. You have the guts, despite being a jerk."
Tsuna couldn't help but make a big smile. "Thanks Sasuke…maybe this chat was everything i needed about. Even if you are weird, you're a good brother."
"Same as you." Sasuke answered. Gladimon and Coredramon simply looked at the two of them with a smile.
In that moment, Rikka's voice called their attention. "Everyone! Come here! We have EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NEWS!" She exclaimed.
"What's with this tone? She's unusual for her." Sasuke commented, looking at the direction.
"Hell if i know! I guess we should go and see what happened." Tsuna added.
Some minutes later, everyone reached Rikka's room. Her strange attitude made everyone curious. But there was a reason for that.
Maybe now, the detectives had a road to follow.
"So, what is it, Rikka? You sounded weird before…" DORUgamon said.
"Can you tell us what happened?" Leomon added.
"Absolutely. The thing is that maybe we can finally attack by our own now." Rikka answered with pride.
"What?" Everyone asked.
"Let me explain: What Coredramon said about the dark energy of the barrier made me think of when i saw darkness coming out from the USB key. So…" Rikka started.
"Rikka and i quickly went on Somnus and tried to attack the barrier to confirm what Coredramon said. And to our surprise, it was true!" Cheri continued.
"So the barrier is made of darkness?" Growmon asked.
"Precisely! Thanks to Sistermon Blanc's powers, we managed to take a small fragment of that dark energy and took it with us, in order to scan it." Rikka said.
"Really, it was nothing…" Sistermon Blanc said, blushing.
"And what did you find out?" Aisu asked.
"Just what i thougth." Rikka said with a smirk. "The dark energy of the barrier is the same one of the key." She answered.
"And what does it mean?" Strikedramon asked. But Kasai found out. "Wait! You are telling us…"
"Happy to hear that you understood, Kasai! That's right, the keys and the barrier can interact with each other using the same darkness. In other words…these keys can open the barrier."
"WOAH!" Everyone shouted. "A-Are you serious?" Rina asked, liking the idea.
"More than serious! But unfortunately we discovered that one key can open the barrier for only one person, so we can't enter the skycraper now. And going alone would be a terrible idea." Rikka answered.
Chikara adjusted his glasses, which shined. "We don't have to worry. Because now we know what to do, right?" He asked with grit.
"I absolutely agree, Chikara. Now we'll do our best to search other Saiba's mercenaries and take the keys from them! I'm sure that these aren't the only two! There are others!" Kyoko answered with a resolute tone.
"It seems that in the end, Tsuna made a right thing. The idea of attacking the barrier was yours." Aisu noticed. Everyone looked at the boy. "R-really?"
"I can't believe i'm saying it, but you helped for the battle!" BaoHackmon said, happily.
"Did you hear, Tsuna?" Coredramon asked. Tsuna was so happy that jumped. "FUCK YEAH! I DID SOMETHING RIGHT FOR ONCE!"
"Now guys, we have a chance of doing something! Let's take note of this precious information and let's do our best to solve this case!" Kyoko exclaimed.
"YES!" Everyone shouted.
Even Kasai smiled and looked at the window. "Finally we have something. And this means only one thing: The real battle begins now." She thougth. She then adjusted her hat. "Therefore…be careful Saiba Rei…because i'm going to get you."
Finally, the young Chosen Children were able to follow a road. A road that maybe it could have led them to the victory. But in order to do so, they had to use every fragment of their strength and their resolution to win.
Kasai was right: The real cases started only now.
That night…
Inside a big house with a garden…lonely on her room…there was a girl…she had blond hair covered in twin tails and clear blue eyes. Many said that she was beautiful, but she also had a quite unique personality. A person out of the normal, in other words.
This girl was sitting on a piano, playing it. The music always had been one of her passions. So one of her hobbies was to relax, sit on the piano, looking at the bright light of the moon, play the music, and accompany it with the sound of her voice.
"What would a mother not do for her child? What lengths would a mother not go? There's a bond that exists between mother and child, with no end to how strong it can grow. It's a promise for life between mother and child, it begins from the moment of birth. And you're shaken to your soul…with an ache you've never known…and you look into their eyes…and find you're looking in your own…and there's a pain you can't imagine, a special kind of torture you can feel. A cut that bleeds from somewhere deep inside you, a past regret you can not heal. And no one guesses all the while you're praying, the little screaming stranger in your arms! Might just grow up and save you after all! Might just grow up and sav you after all…"
In that moment, the door of her room got opened. The girl looked back to see a man coming in. He had very long clear green hair and two red points on his front. "I see that you are playing as always." He said.
"Yes, dad." The girl said. "Is there something wrong about it?" She asked. "No, not at all. Just like always, you have a beautiful voice. Listen…tomorrow you'll have to stay with a group of people." He then advised. "Do you want to?"
"What kind of people are they?" The girl asked.
"Well, they are…quite…bizarre." Her father answered.
The girl smiled and looked at the window. "Well…that only tickled my curiosity…"
