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Stand Up

As the final school bell of the day rang, Kenta didn't bother trying to stop Kazu from dodging him at the door to their classroom. This had become a regular occurrence of their day, and the unspoken agreement between the rest of them seemed to be to give Kazu his space for now. Takato showed some concern as well, though Kenta knew that Takato juggled few different hats both as a Tamer and personally, so there was only so far that Kenta could expect him to split his attention. Jeri, on the other hand and almost uncharacteristically, stayed quiet and barely acknowledged the change, which worried Kenta that there was more going on than he had been informed on.

Kenta hung around for a moment as his other two friends shuffled out of the classroom, less unsure of what his next destination was and more uncertain if following his day as normal was for the best. The fact was that he was worried about Kazu, and he wanted to do something about it. Opening his phone, though, the problem was apparent in the form of weeks worth of unanswered text messages of varying length he had sent Kazu. As much concern as Kenta might have had, his friend didn't seem to want any of it.

A tapping sound on a nearby window paused Kenta's uncertainty. Turning his head and finding MarineAngemon floating just outside, Kenta walked over and unlatched the window so his partner could enter.

"Hey, buddy," Kenta greeted, hoping for something else to think about for at a least a moment.

A disgruntled chirp from MarineAngemon confirmed otherwise, the Digimon in question frowning and motioning to the phone in Kenta's hand.

"Oh, this?" Kenta closed the phone and shook his head. "Kazu's still ignoring us."

"Puh," MarineAngemon replied succinctly, or at least that's what would have been heard by anyone who was only listening to his words. The team's smallest Mega communicated better through intent and emotion, and one had to be paying attention to catch his exact meaning.

In this instance, his response translated to: "You have to assert yourself more, Kenta. Kazu is used to being the one in charge in your friendship, so you have to stand up for yourself if you want him to acknowledge you. Just speak up, because you have a lot more to say than you give yourself credit for."

Kenta sighed, as that was what he had thought he had been doing in recent years. He had tried standing up to Kazu and speaking his mind more often, but this was where they had ended up regardless. Whatever the underlying reasons, Kenta couldn't help but feel that he was leagues behind MarineAngemon when it came to communicating with others.

"Alright, I'll think on that." Kenta motioned for his partner to follow him out of the classroom. "We have somewhere to be in the meantime."

MarineAngemon's advice made sense, but acting on it was something he would still have to figure out. Unfortunately, a walk up a single flight of stairs and down the hall wasn't enough time to solve the problem, and he soon found himself at the entrance to the school library and needing to shift his mindset elsewhere.

Upon entering, Kenta spotted Miki seated at a small table off to the side, dark hair the same short length it had been since they were young and wearing the same dark blue school uniform as the rest of their female peers. On top of her pile of books was her cellphone, which she casually poked at with one hand while resting her chin in the palm of her other.

Taking a deep breath and trying to focus, Kenta strode forward. For better or worse, MarineAngemon floated slightly ahead of him, stopping himself at the center of the table before Kenta had a chance to sit down. Miki's eyes lit up the instant she took notice.

"Hello there, Cutie!" Miki gently pinched the Digimon's cheek between two of her knuckles.

"Hiya!" MarineAngemon replied after Miki let him go, in one of his rare though not unheard of dips into plainer language. While he kept up his friendly disposition, he did float backwards a bit, having never particularly liked being handled in that way.

"Shh!" the librarian hissed in their direction.

"Sorry," Kenta whispered back as he quickly took his seat next to Miki. As he clumsily fished through his bag for a history textbook, he turned to face his study partner. "Where should we start?"

A sly grin took over Miki's face. "Probably wherever you stopped paying attention."

"So the beginning of class then?" Kenta finally found his book and placed it on the table.

"Seriously?" Miki's grin was replaced with a raised eyebrow. "You weren't hiding one of your manga between the textbook pages again, were you?"

"No!" Kenta flinched upon being shushed by the librarian again, and lowered his voice appropriately. "I've just got, uh… taming stuff on my mind."

Miki paused, nervously glancing at MarineAngemon before looking down at her pile of books. "Then maybe you should be laying off the taming stuff."

Kenta paused himself, realizing where he had accidentally steered their conversation. "That's not really the issue."

"Then what is?" Miki asked, slightly more confidence in her voice.

"It's complicated…" Kenta hesitated, worried he would miss the mark in translating his thoughts. "Basically, Kazu's been avoiding the rest of us and won't explain why."

"Sounds like the pressure is getting to him."

Kenta inhaled to respond, but bit his tongue. "Maybe…"

The last thing Kenta wanted to to do was start an argument, especially considering that Miki's intentions seemed to be coming from a well-meaning place. Being a Tamer was a dangerous occupation, and she seemed genuinely worried for him. In all honesty, he couldn't outright tell himself that she was wrong. After all, part of his reason for starting these study sessions with her was to form connections with people outside of his team, and he was suddenly struggling to come up with an excuse for that line of thought other than wanting to one day move away from defending the city from wild Digimon.

Maybe even sensing his exact line of thought, MarineAngemon tilted his head and floated forward. Kenta knew that his partner wasn't much for fighting either, and would likely stick by him should he ever decide to put his D-Power away. Still, MarineAngemon seemed both concerned and nervous, likely still stuck on the matters he had voiced earlier.

Any response Kenta might have made never materialized, interrupted by the library door loudly sliding open. Ignoring the glare she received from the librarian, a girl with light hair and pigtails scanned the room, eventually settling on Miki and charging forward.

"There you are. What are you even-?" She paused, an unamused expression coming over her as her gaze fell on Kenta. "Oh… you."

"Hey, Ayaka," Kenta replied, trying to keep his voice neutral at the very least.

To Kenta, Miki and Ayaka together represented a time long past. Back when Takato was only just beginning his sketches of Guilmon, they had been Jeri's closest friends in Ms. Asaji's class. Now, however, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen Jeri spending time with either of them.

"Yuh-huh." Ayaka's expression didn't change as she turned back to Miki. "Can't you tutor the hopeless later?"

"Not if I want to pass the next test," Miki shot back defensively. "I'm not exactly an expert in this stuff either."

"Fine…" Ayaka resigned, slouching down into an empty seat and angling herself so she was looking away from Kenta.

"Pih," MarineAngemon piped up immediately afterwards.

Ayaka glanced in the Digimon's direction. "Nobody asked you."

"You understand him?" Miki asked curiously.

"Don't need to." Ayaka closed her eyes and stuck her nose in the air. "I'm sure it's trouble, one way or another."

"He's not that bad," Miki replied, though her words seemed a little strained, lacking the enthusiasm from when Kenta had first entered the room.

"That's just what he wants you to think." Ayaka waved a finger in her friend's face. "Remember Takato's big, dumb dinosaur-"

"Guilmon," MarineAngemon interjected quickly.

Ayaka paused to glare at the Digimon. "I heard he bit one of the customers at the Matsuki bakery the other day."

"Really?" Miki looked to Kenta with uncertainty.

Kenta adamantly shook his head. This was his first time hearing this rumor, and couldn't imagine how it had started. The only version of this story that he could let himself believe was that Guilmon took a bite out of something a customer was buying, but even then he knew Guilmon to have more self control than that.

Ayaka shrugged. "I mean, what can you expect from a kid like Takato. Always quiet and always lost in his own world. It's only a matter of time before people like that snap."

"Pih…" MarineAngemon floated closer to Kenta, sad eyes making his intents clear. "Kenta, that's a gross mischaracterization of Takato and Guilmon. I know you don't like listening to people talk about them like that. You should say something."

While his partner's words rang true to him, Kenta couldn't find the strength to speak up. He told himself that Takato would have just let the words wash over him, not even bothering to stop to feel hurt or insulted. Still, the notion felt more hollow the longer he sat with it.

"Same goes for that Henry Wong across the hall," Ayaka continued, like she had forgotten or just didn't care about her present company. "I never see him talking to anyone, and I don't trust that kind of energy."

"That rabbit of his is a little annoying," Miki added without skipping a beat.

"Dog," Kenta squeaked out just as quickly, before his brain could stop his mouth from operating.

"Excuse me?" Miki replied absentmindedly, finally looking back in his direction.

"Terriermon isn't a rabbit. He's a dog. It's in the name. Terrier-mon." Kenta hesitated when he realized that the whole table was suddenly looking at him, but his mouth kept running anyway. "It's actually kinda funny, because Lopmon, who looks like a brown version of Terriermon, is considered a rabbit."

"Oh, save it for your weird cult meetings," Ayaka responded, this time speaking directly to him.

"C-Come again?" Kenta suddenly felt a lot more rigid, and couldn't place his finger on why. Ayaka's remarks had been mean-spirited up to this point, but her demeanor and the air around them had shifted, and her words seemed more targeted.

"You heard me." Ayaka spun around in her seat to more easily face him. "That's what you people do. You suck kids in and turn their lives inside-out."

"Ayaka…" Miki said softly and cautiously.

"Hey, you're the one who's always saying you feel bad for what they did to Jeri." Ayaka paused as though she were waiting for a response from her friend, then shrugged when she didn't get one. "Though Jeri always was kind of a basket case."

Kenta's hands instinctively tightened around his books on the table. "Don't call her that."

"It was that raggedy puppet that drew your friends in, wasn't it?" Ayaka leaned closer, continuing like she couldn't hear his words. "Then your little 'adventures' messed her up so bad that her family had to drop her in a psych ward to keep her from having a complete meltdown."

"Please stop."

"Do you think she can be trusted around sharp objects?"

"Take that back!" Kenta stood up, and for a moment, the rest of the library seemed to disappear around him. "You have no right to talk about Jeri that way. You don't know have of what she went through, which you would if you were ever actually her friends."

Miki reached out towards him. "Kenta-"

Kenta waved her hand away. "No, the fact that she's still pushing forward says that she's stronger than any of the three of us, so show a little respect." He paused, then pulled up the last bit of resolve he had. "To all of my friends."

"Puh!" MarineAngemon floated back to the center of the table, tiny arms both situated on his waist.

Kenta's eyes went wide. "Come on, MarineAngemon, that language is a little uncalled for."

Turning back to the table, Kenta looked to his classmates, expecting an earful from at least Ayaka, but both were quiet. Miki wouldn't look back up at him, the shame on her face making Kenta feel a little guilty about snapping at her. He would make a decision on whether or not to apologize later, as he was currently unsure if he was even in the wrong.

To his surprise, Ayaka was trying and failing to look him in the eye. There was definitely more of a mix of emotions on her face, but Kenta felt he could pretty confidently find traces of guilt among them. Not feeling the need to pile anything else on, Kenta gathered up his belongings and moved to walk away.

"I'll see you guys later." Kenta moved straight for the door, pausing only one more time to to turn sheepishly to the librarian. "Sorry about the noise."

Before he knew it, they had made past the school gate and stopped at the nearest street corner. Taking one last breath to bring himself back to the present, Kenta turned to MarineAngemon, who fluttered around him excitedly.

"Pih!" MarineAngemon chirped. "I'm so proud of you, Kenta! I know it wasn't easy, but the others would be really grateful if they had heard what you said. Great work!"

"Thanks, buddy," Kenta replied as pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, knowing exactly what he was going to do next.

He wasn't going waste time with any more vague text messages. He was going to call Kazu directly and finally sort out what was wrong with his best friend.

Or at least that was his intent, right until his scrolling through his contacts was interrupted a notification appearing on his screen. The message was from Riley and Hypnos by extension, and seemed to be addressed to all the Tamers. Already having a pretty good idea what the subject of the message was, Kenta hesitantly opened and read its contents.

"Mega level Digimon expected to bio-emerge in Shinjuku Park within the next ten minutes. Recommend you all meet up and deal with it as a group."

Kenta turned to his partner hovering over his shoulder, who seemed to be reading the message as well, and the two exchanged a nod. It seemed like he would be having his conversation with Kazu face-to-face.