Oh dear.

"You've been here this entire time?" She hissed.

"Yes." I said.

I have to admit, I was kind of surprised that I didn't burst into flames. Rika's glare was certainly heated enough.

"You were watching as..." She trailed off, her voice strangled. "As Renamon got hurt."

I felt the anger.

"Yes." I said. "I was watching over the battle to ensure that neither you nor Kyubimon got hurt too badly."

"And you were so good at that." She spat.

"I will admit, I had not expected Dokugumon's Venom Blast to be as combustible or explosive as it was." I shook my head. "If I had, I never would have let it get anywhere near your partner."

"Why?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"This battle. You, whatever you are, are strong. I saw you slap around Allomon, you were toying with it." She spoke. "Why did you let Renamon and I fight Dokugumon. And don't answer with that 'boredom' crap!"

"Simple. I believed you could handle it. And, as you are currently standing here in front of me, you could."

"Renamon- Kyubimon almost died!" She shouted.

"Indeed. She was hurt badly and in a fashion I didn't expect. I will not lie, there is a very real possibility that she could have died tonight." Battle often has this annoying habit of ruining the best laid plans. "But make no mistake, Rika. I would have done everything in my power to save her life. Thankfully, you broke the barrier that was holding the both of you back, and it didn't come to that."

"What." She said. "What barrier?"

"What was stopping your partner from undergoing Digivolution, of course." I spoke, letting my arm drop to my side again. "Your partner knows why she digivolved, but I have to ask, do you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" She growled.

I rolled my eyes.

"The reason," Kyubimon spoke, getting Rika to look at her. "That I could not digivolve before this night. That is what you are referring to, yes?"

"Yes. Do you wish to explain this, or shall I?"

"I will." Kyubimon said, before leaning down to look Rika in the eyes. "I was not exaggerating in what I said before, when you asked me how. It was you, Rika. I could not Digivolve unless you truly cared about me."

"I... what?" RIka asked. "But I cared about you before now!"

"Did you?" I asked. "Did you truly care about your partner, or did you think of her as 'just data'?"

"I-" Rika froze. "No..."

"The bond..." I began delicately. "Between a Human and Digimon is a strange one. Very few know of all the particulars of such a thing, a number of which I am not included." I looked at Rika. "But I can tell you some things."

I twirled my finger in the air, creating a translucent orb, filled with slowly swirling 1's and 0's. "You see Rika, in the Digital World, Digimon fight each other to gain strength, loading each other's data. Eventually, they will obtain enough to Digivolve. This, you are aware of." I swept my hand through the sphere, shifting it in a translucent model of Earth. "Digimon with a Human partner, however, are not entirely bound in this process. You see, instead of needing to load the data of other Digimon to Digivolve, they can instead draw energy from their partner, enabling a temporary, if lengthy, change."

I swept my hand through the orb again, forming a mostly translucent copy of Renamon, and a copy of Rika beside it. "When Renamon Digivolves into Kyubimon, she draws from you to enable it. Her energy will then slowly run down until she reverts back into her original form." I twirled my finger, making Rika's copy glow, and then transferring some of that glow into Renamon's copy, which then changed into a copy of Kyubimon.

For a final time, I swept my hand through the orb, this time dispelling it entirely.

"In order for this to happen, however, the bond between the both of you has to be strong. You have known each other for a long time, which gives your bond no small degree of strength, but in order to truly push it over the edge and enable Renamon to digivolve, you had to truly care for her. Not as 'just data', but as a truly living being." I gestured towards Kyubimon. "You were on that road already. On some level, you did care for her. But seeing Renamon get hurt brought that to the surface, brought your feelings out into the open, and your concern strengthened them."

I let my hand drop again. "So long as your bond is strong, so long as you care for her and she cares for you, Renamon will be able to Digivolve. Take my advice, however, and take it easy when she does."

"What? Why?"

"Oh, you'll see." I spoke. "All you need to do is stand up, stop leaning on Kyubimon, and take a step forwards."

She frowned, before straightening up, standing on her own without relying on Kyubimon.

She took a step forwards- and just about immediately gasped as she almost collapsed, only Kyubimon's quick movement saving her from hitting the ground.

"Tired..." Rika groaned, wrapping her arm around Kyubimon's neck.

"That's the adrenaline wearing off, combined with the fact that you aren't used to Renamon taking your energy to Digivolve. Go home and go to bed, you'll feel much better in the morning."

I walked over, moving her so she was laying on Kyubimon's back, her arms wrapped around her partner's neck.

"I'm still angry at you for letting Renamon get hurt." She whispered, barely audible with her head pressed into Kyubimon's back.

"Were I in your position, I would be the same."

Inwardly, I smiled.

Distraction; successful.