A/N: Here it is, a little over a year after first publishing, the final chapter for 'Off the Beaten Path.' And just in time for Father's Day, coincidentally enough, or 'Chichi No Hi' in Japan, which, incidentally, falls on the same day as in the United States, June 16 (there appears to be a little bit of variation on the date from year to year, but it's on the 16th of June of this year, 2024). From what I can tell in my research, most gifts given tend to revolve around food and alcohol items associated with relaxation (as Japanese fathers are often at work for long stretches and rarely get downtime). Alcohol especially. Sake, Shochu liqueur (a distilled beverage, typically from rice, barley, sweet potatoes, buckwheat, or brown sugar, but sometimes chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes, or carrots. Tends to contain 25% alcohol by volume), and whiskey are favored. Personalized drinking tumblers and glasses are considered good gifts, as well as cigarettes. Meat items as well, like steak and sausages are sometimes given. Other gifts not revolving around food or drink are usually tailored to the father's personal tastes.
What *not* to give involves stationary, shoes, and some sharp implement like a knife or scissors. The last of which suggests a desire to cut ties with the father in question. And any items involving the number four (as it sounds like the word for death) or the number nine (reminds of suffering).
The story hadn't originally been meant to go this long. My original projection had been to finish by December, but as things tend to go, the story grew. And grew. Some things needed to be fleshed out and Rika and Renamon's development as partners needed more focus. Tsuruhimon's appearance needed prep time to justify her appearance, which led to further developing Kayoko's character. And research. Always with the research. I think this was the most research-heavy fanfic I've written. Whether it helped things, I'll leave up to you readers, but for myself I think I leveled up considerably.
Special thanks go out for everyone who read and followed the story, both on ffnet and Ao3.
Generic Reviewer, Raxius, Caballero de Huitzilopochtli, Chepelos, the Zogg, Axel Fones, Black Loki, Something dictionary related, KaiserErebus, Dinoguy2000, TheLastSkald, V01dSw0rd, Wyote, DyslexicDeity, 3idiotsrule, Victor John Foxfire, savezero, guest, Digi-Gojira, Guest, Devilskins, Evilord, KylarPierce, Alza992, Sesshoru, Guest, GrammarKnighty, Unknown_luser, loma_wwxlwj, BurgerBEe, Nitrozz, Victor_John_Lazarus_056, Riha, LaiWerda, and King_Draconias.
A very special thanks goes to smartalec121 for their awesome work and allowing me to play in their sandbox for a spell. This has been a very interesting and fun story to explore and I thank you for the opportunity. I wish you the best of luck in the future. :D
With that said, on with the fic! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, nor do I own When the World's Not Ending, by Smartalec121 or any of their associated works.
Off the Beaten Path
Chapter: 51/ Always Hello
Alice adjusted the collar to her new uniform. She now wore a heavy white vest over a grey, long-sleeved shirt and her identity card hung on it, just above her right breast. She frowned, flicking at it irritably.
Damn it, Daigo, she thought irritably.
Taking in a deep breath to steady herself, Alice turned and exited the locker room, not wanting to be late for her first day in the chair. A bit unorthodox, to be sure – after all, she remained an intern – but she understood the necessity of her new position and why Himiko placed her in it. Hypnos contained a tremendous pool of talent, but few were capable of making sense of the huge amounts of data being broadcast from the digital world and organizing it into something understandable. She didn't have to like how it took her away from her preferred work, but her new assignment didn't have to be a permanent one.
Sometimes you just have to do a job, even if you don't like it, until you get into the one you really want, she thought, remembering her father's advice to her. She could understand that, and in a place like Hypnos, the job of safeguarding the world required a person to put up with a number of discomforts and inconveniences. The alternative wasn't pleasant to think about, if she refused.
She made her way to the control room, and upon entering, headed over to her new station. Riley Ootori's old station. She climbed inside it and picked up the visor that would feed her data. Above her, Tally swiveled about, analyzing a new signal. Alice tracked the signal's path on the screen before logging on.
"Got a Wild One?" she asked, slipping on her visor.
"A big one," Tally confirmed. "We might be getting a level of bio-emergence that we've never seen before."
Alice winced. I'm sure the others will be thrilled to hear about that, she thought. Her chair rose up into the air and she proceeded to join Tally in analysis of the new signal. It moved pretty quick, staying just out of range of their tracers' visual programs. Even their sensors caught it on just the very edge of detectability. Consequently, what information they gleaned told them very little, save that it was of a very high level.
Yet, something looked to be off about it. There were many weak points in the barriers that it could have entered, yet the signal appeared to be circling around them.
"Is it lost?" Alice wondered aloud. "It's like it's not even trying to breach."
"That's what I'm confused about too," Tally replied. "Riley said not to send out any alerts to the Tamers until we know for sure what it's going to do."
Alice frowned beneath her visor, but nodded in understanding. No point stressing them out over nothing if it's nothing. She tapped on her control panel, going over the tracers, wondering if they could use them in some manner to guide the digimon in the direction of the digital world or even communicate somehow. The tracers, she found, were fairly rudimentary in their programming, putting hard limits on their capabilities. She made a grumbling noise, wondering if she should write a new tracer program that would allow them more versatility.
Put it on the backburner for now, she thought, returning to the signal. It continued to circle around weak points indecisively. Alice put in a command and put some of the tracers on pause.
"What are you doing?" Tally asked.
"One second." Alice typed in a few more commands, setting the visual programs to maximum. The tracers hung there instead of chasing, and as Alice watched, the digimon drew into the edge of their range.
Alice cocked her head to one side.
"Is it riding a motorcycle?"
###
Rika gazed at herself in the mirror of the changing room. One month since the titanic battle with IceBeelzemon, the injuries she bore faded to nothing. Physically, she felt normal. The only real difference were her bangs, combed neatly to the side instead of her usual habit of leaving it to hang above her eyebrows – an important precaution, she felt, in case a version of her dropped in unexpectedly. Mentally, she felt different. She really had no other way to describe it.
I've changed a lot in the last couple of months, she thought, noting the subtle differences developing in her body. Running. Bouldering. Sword training. Martial arts. A bit of solid muscle now stood prominently in places where previously she had been soft. She didn't look quite as fit like her alternate counterpart, but she was on the path to her.
"Stop being stupid," her reflection said to her. "You're acting like it's a bad thing."
I know it's not, she thought back irritably. I just…
"Rika?" came the voice from the other side of the changing room's door. "Are you alright in there?"
"I'm fine, Mama," Rika sighed. Taking up a pair of jeans, she held it in front of her and pursed her lips, not sure how to feel about it. Pants were more practical for her line of work, but she wore so few of them in her life they ended up feeling weird. Jeans especially felt tight around her knees whenever she ran or bent her legs during her exercises. Not to mention the airflow was terrible. Overall, they felt like they were fighting her even as she fought wild digimon.
Not to mention they itch!
"Maybe I should just get something looser," she grumbled, setting the jeans aside and picking back up her jean skirt. They were looking a little frayed around the edges now, but still did their duty diligently. However, even they hampered her mobility somewhat and they felt heavy when she ran. Rika cocked her head to one side thoughtfully. "Maybe a running skirt?"
"I think I saw some earlier," came Rumiko's voice again from the other side. "I'll be back in a minute."
Rika sighed and again looked at herself. The image of her alternate counterpart invaded her mind and she frowned.
"It's not a bad thing," she said to her reflection, and she believed it. She felt the changes and she found she enjoyed her growing physical strength – as did her friends. Kayoko noticed she was starting to match her more and more evenly whenever they did sword dances, which made the fun of their matches all the better.
Takato likes it too, she thought. A faint blush colored her features and she turned on her heel to continue her inspection. Takato didn't say anything, but she saw the way he looked at her recently, even though he tried to hide it. She giggled even as her face grew darker from all the heat rushing into her face.
Takato… The month since IceBeelzemon's defeat had been a relatively quiet one, and for the Tamers, the need for that quiet could not be understated. Mainly where injuries were concerned, but more than that, their mental health had been stressed to its limit. She thought about Suzie, and found herself feeling guilty.
Is she going to be alright?
"Momentai, Model Girl," she could hear the girl saying irritably.
"Right," Rika said softly to herself. "Momentai." Her eyes flickered back up to her reflection. "That's what you'd say, isn't it? Or would you just call me stupid for worrying?"
Her reflection simply stared back at her. Rika looked away, feeling silly.
Rumiko knocked on the door to the changing room. Upon opening it, Rika found a pair of jean skirts being thrust into her hands.
"Here. 'Denim Athletic.' They have compression shorts underneath and pockets. Flat seams and reverse hems too, so you won't have to deal with chafing."
Rika arched an eyebrow. "You picked out denim? By yourself?"
From the gap in the door, Rumiko smirked. "Dress for the job you want," she reminded. "I've got a couple others here as well. There weren't many in your size, so they might be a little big on you. I need to find a belt."
What's gotten into Mama lately? Rika wondered in awe at the woman's abrupt departure after giving her the rest of the skirts. Granted, shopping stood among the top ten of her mother's favorite activities and she rarely missed an opportunity to indulge in it. Sometimes, she would go off for 'post-shopping shopping' just to have an excuse to do more. This enthusiasm however felt a bit much even for her.
It's not like she hasn't dragged me on one of these before either, she thought. Taking the first skirt, she proceeded to try it on. Still, I guess this is the first time she's helped me pick an outfit to wear as a Tamer, so I guess she's excited about helping me look good.
She adjusted the hem of the skirt and turned around, giving herself a once over in the mirror. It felt good against her skin. Smoother and softer than she expected for denim. She wondered if that meant it would hold up less well, but at least it moved better. In a job where mobility was key to survival, that seemed rather important.
Do I like it though? She turned again, so that she faced her front. It didn't look bad. She doubted her counterpart would approve, but if it worked, she had no cause to complain.
And there's a whole reality's difference between us, so why should I care what she thinks? Rika allowed a small smirk to grace her lips. Yes, she liked the skirt. But something felt missing.
As if on cue, Rumiko knocked on the door.
"Rika? I'm back. Sorry it took me so long. They have some of the cutest looking belts."
"Mamaaa…" Rika rolled her eyes. "I'm not interested in cute."
"I know. I didn't get you one of those. But I thought you might like this one since I saw you looking at it earlier."
Raising a curious eyebrow, Rika cracked open the door and Rumiko, smiling, passed the belt over to her. It was brown and studded, giving it an almost punk-like edge. Rika grimaced, remembering her alternate counterpart wore something similar, but she couldn't deny giving the belt a longing look earlier. Something about its rough aesthetic tugged at her.
How will it make me look? It struck her as strange that she would be so worried about appearances. She got so used to her mother choosing her clothes that, aside from the jean skirt, she almost never thought about it anymore. At least, not until recently, when functionality became a necessity for being a Tamer. Yet, the belt, just at a glance, looked so different from her usual getup, she found herself thinking about all the things she picked up from modeling. Would it clash with the rest of her appearance? Would it send the wrong message to others?
And what about herself? What did she herself want?
She looked at herself in the mirror. Her bangs. Her skirt. Both differentiated herself from her alternate-self and very deliberately so. Both Toshiko and Kayoko would remind her how she fell into competition with the Other-Rika. Were her wants and concerns more of the same? Just continuing a rivalry with a version of herself she barely knew for not even a day?
She turned the belt over and found that the buckle was shaped like a heart. Oddly, this comforted her.
Best of both worlds, she thought.
Taking the belt, she slid it through the loops and buckled it on. She scrutinized it carefully in the mirror, adjusting her stance and angle to see how it sat with her. A part of her felt annoyed that her stints at modeling imbued her with such instincts, but another part appreciated them for perhaps the first time in her life. The studs and buckle glinted from the ceiling lights, drawing attention to them, and the brown contrasted the blue of the skirt rather nicely. The studs especially gave a rough and tumble aesthetic, suggesting at a glance she would be no pushover, and the heart buckle also communicated that she'd be nice as long as she received niceness in return.
"I like it," she said finally. On the other side of the door, Rumiko giggled.
"I thought you might, considering how long you were looking at it. Why didn't you say anything?"
Rika felt her cheeks warm with shame. "You won't like hearing it," she replied, starting to take off the belt.
"Hit me," Rumiko said from the other side. "I'd like to be a better mother in the future."
Something about her words tickled the back of Rika's mind while she replaced skirts, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She filed it away for future consideration.
"Because you always decided for me, and I always felt like I had to go along with it to make you happy. Sorry, but you always fussed about the way the way I looked and I was afraid about how it would affect you and Dad if I argued with you about it."
Her thoughts lingered on those early days and the growing tension in the Nonaka household as her mother pushed more and more for Rika to follow in her footsteps when she got older, something that occasionally caused her parents to butt heads until Rika herself took matters into her own hands.
Her fingers pinched the edges of her jean skirt, remembering the day she entered the dining area where her parents were having an uneasy talk about her future, wearing the designer dress from her camera test.
"H-How do I look?" she had asked hesitantly, breaking up the tense atmosphere. Her mother had been thrilled.
"I'm sorry," Rumiko said from the other side. "I just wanted to get you a head start on being successful and…" She trailed off before continuing. "Well, I understand things a little better now. I know I can't make up for the past, but I'd still like to do better in the future."
Rika chuckled and opened up the door. "Grandma's right. You really are a realist."
Rumiko gave her a small smile. "A mom should know her daughter better. If I were being graded on being a mother to you, I'd get below fifty."
"Sixty-five," Rika teased. "Really though, I didn't see you as that bad." She looked away, shame warming her cheeks again. "But…I did get annoyed. And I did feel smothered."
"I'll do better from here on out," Rumiko promised, pumping a fist. "Now why don't we finish getting you your new clothes?"
Rika smiled, nodding in appreciation. Before she could say anything more though, she caught sight of the belt Rumiko wore around her waist. It resembled hers, with studs and a heart-shaped buckle, only pink in color instead of brown. Seeing that her daughter noticed, Rumiko grinned.
"I thought it'd be nice if we matched," she said. Rika laughed.
"Oh, Mama."
"You know," Rumiko began while they made their way to the checkout line. "Back when I got married, everyone tried to tell me I was too young. But I didn't listen." She gave a light laugh. "Turns out my daughter is as stubborn as I was." Reaching out, she took hold of her daughter's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "But you should be allowed to make your own decisions like I did."
###
"I've been thinking about how things have changed since Rika went to that alternate world."
Riley looked up from her tray and at Shibumi. He sat across from her, picking away at his meal. He sat down across from her after asking if she would mind hearing him out on a thought he had. A bit odd, to be sure, as they didn't really interact much beyond what was necessary for work, but none of his usual colleagues were available at present. Sensing he needed to stress-test an idea, she acceded to his request.
"What about it?" she asked.
"It just seems like an unusual coincidence. The partner her alternate-self had in the other reality showing up after she returned from there, and then becoming her partner over here."
"Didn't you say before that digimon are created for a specific human being and vice versa?" Riley asked, continuing her own meal.
"Well, that's just an idea I have. But about this, I'm thinking more about the speed in which it happened. All these years, the two were separated and at any point Renamon could have been deleted, but she lived. And during that time, there were incursions. And now, Rika goes to that one alternate reality, comes back, and then they become partners."
Riley frowned. "I'm not sure I follow. Are you trying to say that another reality influenced Rika becoming a Tamer? She made the choice to become one, didn't she?"
"Yes, but just because a person chooses something or wishes for something doesn't mean it will happen. For some things, they have to line up right and Rika and Renamon lined up almost immediately after she went there. So, my thinking is, did that reality create a ripple effect on ours? Did it jumpstart their partnership? And if so, what does it mean for our world? Or the one she fell into?"
"Hm…" Riley felt conflicted about whether or not they ought to be concerned for another reality, especially if dimensional travel could potentially catch the wrong kind of attention, as the Jeri-Reaper warned them about.
"It might be better to just focus on our world. We're having a hard enough time protecting it anyway. How would you even begin looking into it?"
"We still have the data Alice scanned and the data from the incursions. There's also the remains of the dress Rika's family loaned us. There might be something we can dig up."
"Is 'fortune' a kind of data that can be detected?"
"I wouldn't think of it as fortune. Try 'echoes.' And I don't know if something like that could be detected with our current equipment, but we won't know unless we try."
"Better submit a proposal and get Hata's approval." She looked at the clock on the cafeteria wall. She sighed and then stood up. "Speaking of whom, I have a meeting with her soon."
"Be careful of the maelstrom," Shibumi said with a smile. Riley cocked an eyebrow at that, but bid him a polite goodbye. Taking care of the remains of her meal, she exited the cafeteria. Thoughts of Shibumi's idea flitted through her mind, but she found herself reluctant to indulge them. They felt far too beyond Hypnos' mission parameters. She didn't even know if they should care at all what happened to other worlds. They weren't their digital world or their real world.
And if Rika's story is to be believed, they have their own Hypnos with their own versions of us. I don't think I want to deal with another version of Yamaki, still alive and with his own version of-of me.
She swallowed, feeling the lump of pain in her throat. Yamaki's death still weighed on her, and she would at times find herself gazing off at nothing. It was even worse in their apartment, where she was surrounded by his belongings. She still couldn't muster up the courage to go through them and see what she could give away. Hypnos already took the things belonging to them.
All that's left really are his clothes and some books. A few odds and ends. His coffee cup. His toaster. The digimon deck he bought for himself. He didn't really have much. Besides me, his job was pretty much his main focus.
Her vision blurred. Riley wiped at her eyes, brushing away the tears that suddenly threatened to spill forth.
"Get a grip on yourself," she berated herself. "Focus on the job. You can cry at home."
Her grief retreated for the time being and she composed herself. Arriving at Yamaki's former office, she knocked on the door and felt surprised that, when Himiko answered, she expected her former lover to be the one to tell her to enter.
She did her best to ignore that.
"You wanted to see me," Riley said, opening the door. Seeing Himiko packing up her suitcase, she raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Himiko replied. "Thank you for coming." The suitcase clicked shut and she drew it off the desk. "The email is already making the rounds, but you're the only person I feel needs to be told this in person. I'll keep it brief. You are the new head of Hypnos. Congratulations."
Riley felt as if she had just been punched in the stomach. "I'm sorry… What?"
"I thought I made it clear to you before that I don't like having to repeat myself," Himiko said. "The keys to the kingdom are yours. That is all."
Himiko started toward the door without waiting for Riley's response.
"W-Wait! Why?" Riley asked, managing to regroup. "Hold it!" Her hand thrust out against the doorframe before Himiko, barring her exist. "Just what is going on here? Why am I being put in charge?"
Himiko looked at Riley like an annoying insect buzzing in front of her. "There are many reasons," she replied. She ducked under Riley's arm and, squeezing past her, resumed her walk. "Chief of which is that you know Hypnos' technology better than anyone still alive."
"I don't buy that!" Riley growled before storming after her. "You spent years tearing Yamaki and Hypnos apart! We could barely do our jobs because of you! You were the one who wanted to be in charge! You were trying to drive us out!"
"Correction. I wanted Yamaki out of Hypnos. Or reigned in. Either one was preferable, except for his death that is. But replacing everyone else would be aggravating and a gross waste of talent." Himiko calmly stopped in front of the elevator door and hit the call button. The door opened and she entered. Riley hurried after her.
"Then why?" Riley demanded as the doors closed.
"The truth? My actions have proven to be as damaging to me as they were to Yamaki. Someone has to pay the political price and that will be me. Me and the Chief Cabinet Secretary anyway. We're not as useful after all and we have caused problems. You'll be happy to know that an old supporter of yours will be returning to that position. At least, I would like you to be. I burned a lot of political capital getting him back. I don't want to hear any complaints."
Riley shook her head. The elevator jerked and for a moment, a feeling of weightlessness seized her guts. "But… You don't approve of our operations…"
"I still don't. But it appears my preferred alternatives to your Tamer program need time – and resources – to mature. Until they do, those kids are what we have." She hmphed. "And those kids will mature as well. In a couple years, the whole 'child soldier' issue will be less of a concern to the public compared to now. And a few years after that, it won't really be an issue at all."
"But why me?" Riley insisted while the elevator began to settle. Her legs bent a little, feeling the floor push up against her.
"You know the systems. You know the people. You have the skills. And I wanted the previous Chief Cabinet Secretary to know he had an ally in your corner. Otherwise, he wouldn't have done it and everyone would instead be dealing with someone trying to make a name for themselves."
The door dinged open and Himiko stepped out of it.
"But-But you wanted this job!" Riley pressed, following her. "You weren't bad at it! I mean, sure, you were a hard ass and I was always mad at you, but you got things done!"
Himiko paused and then turned toward her. Her eyes were angry. Unexpectedly, Riley felt herself take an unconscious step back.
"I don't want to be the one ordering those kids into any more dangerous situations," Himiko said flatly. "I don't want to have to use any of our technology to potentially kill them either. That is why I did not like the Tamers program to begin with! Children should not be fighting wars and I…" A tremor passed through her. "I do not have that kind of intestinal fortitude. Especially if it involves Rumiko's daughter. She's family, and I could never be objective about her when she's going to be getting involved with every digimon that's spoiling for a fight. In this business, being unable to separate yourself from your family, your friends, your lovers or your colleagues – to be unable to order them to their deaths – is dangerous for everyone involved."
She adjusted her collar and composed herself before continuing.
"You on the other hand, can."
Himiko bowed politely to a stunned Riley.
"Goodbye, Ootori."
With that, Himiko turned and left, leaving Riley only able to watch her retreating back. She felt as though a great weight had settled on her shoulders. A terrible weight. After a moment though, the feeling subsided. She collected herself and then turned back toward the elevator.
It was time to get back to work.
###
Time heals all wounds. Who said that?
Suzie looked up from the Ophanimon card she'd been pondering and over at Takato and Kenta, who sat across from her at the concrete table, playing the card game. MarineAngemon lay atop Kenta's head while Guilmon perused the bushes, sniffing out squirrels and, somehow, making very little noise despite being so large. Lopmon sat next to her, munching on a small snack.
Since the loss of Guilmon's old home, Fujimidai Hill became their new meeting place. The table and seats were quite convenient, and the roof above them made for a halfway decent shelter against all but the most serious of storms. It lacked the charm of the old concrete shed, but they couldn't do anything about that unless the city chose to build a new one. Whether or not they would remained to be seen. Himiko had been vague about how they were going to handle the portal beyond 'there will be some improvements.'
Guess we'll find out eventually, she thought, her eyes drifting over to Takato. His brow furrowed in deep thought while he considered his own options on how to deal with Kenta's latest move. Rika's lessons improved their game a lot and Kenta presently enjoyed playing more confidently by being the aggressor for a change instead of turtling like his usual style. Takato fended him off well enough, but the match between them was close.
Her eyes fell on his scarred, right arm. He just sits there and isn't bothered that I'm here. It's like our whole fight last month wasn't a big deal. Knowing him, he'd probably say it wasn't. I was possessed after all.
On the surface, Suzie thought it good that Takato was having fun, goofing off in the card game instead of worrying endlessly and having bad dreams. It had been a long time since she saw him relaxed like this. Inwardly, it made her stomach squirm, remembering all she put him through prior.
How can he just be okay with me being near him?! I almost killed him twice!
"Okay," Takato began, drawing a card out from his hand. "Let's see how you deal with this."
Takato played a Hyper Wing card over his MetalGreymon card, and quickly followed it up with High-Speed Plugin A. Kenta noticeably blanched. Takato's card combination gave his digimon a massive boost in power.
"Get ready! I'm coming in for an aerial attack, which makes you history!" He barked a light laugh. "You're grounded, pal!"
Kenta looked at his friend in awe. "What a game! I've never seen a combo like that before! How'd you think of it?"
"What can I say?" Leaning back, Takato folded his hands behind his head. "You're dealing with a super genius!" His smile softened a little. "Well, more like Rika's the super-genius. She's been teaching me a lot about card combos. This one's a bit old though."
"Hmmm…" Kenta collected his cards and began to recombine them. "She sure likes to teach you a lot," he said, smiling playfully at Takato. A light blush colored Takato's cheeks and Suzie, for the briefest of moments, felt like they were regular kids again instead of battle-hardened warriors. Feeling suddenly mischievous, Suzie leaned forward.
"Oh, I bet Model Girl likes to teach you all kinds of combos," she chimed in, smirking. Lopmon, Takato, Kenta, and MarineAngemon all looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Um, yeah?" Takato replied, uncertain as to what the girl implied. Suzie frowned, sensing that her joke fell flat.
Where did it even come from in the first place? she wondered. The answer came to her almost as quickly as she answered it. Oh. Terriermon.
The memories from her brother and his partner remained in her, and on occasion she found, influenced things about her. Her grades shot up as she encountered school assignments Henry studied for previously. And she toyed with programming a bit now. Not that any of this came easily to her. They floated up into her mind seemingly at random and usually when she wasn't trying to remember anything from him, akin to a kind of muscle memory, but muscle memory she herself lacked.
Recently, Terriermon's quirks surfaced in a similar manner, and in true Terriermon fashion, tended toward lack of tact, rudeness, jokes, and sarcasm.
Not that anyone really notices the difference.
"Momentai," Suzie sighed, and brushed back a strand of hair. "You're such a gogglehead."
All eyes looked at her, and then at each other in confusion. Feeling annoyed, Suzie bristled.
"What?"
"N-Nothing," Kenta said. Guilmon popped his head up from the bushes he snuffled around.
"You used the word Terriermon used to…"
The sound of Kenta's phone buzzing cut the dinosaur off.
"Ah! T-Toshiko!" Kenta jumped up and immediately snatched up his phone. After quickly reading the message, he turned to find the mousey girl standing at the top of the stairs, peeking out over the top of her phone. Smiling, he packed up his things. "Are you ready to go?"
"Mmhm," Toshiko mumbled, the tips of her ears starting to burn bright red. Suzie found herself grinning in spite of herself.
"Make sure you have her home before curfew, Kenta," Suzie teased.
Both teens arched eyebrows at her. Toshiko hastily typed out a message and seconds later, Kenta's phone buzzed. Kenta read off her text and a luminous blush materialized on his cheeks.
"O-Of course I'm going to have you home before curfew!" he replied, sounding flustered. "Why wouldn't…?" Another buzz. His face grew even darker. "W-Why are you fine with being late? I don't…" Still, one more buzz, this time on all the Tamers' phones. Exasperation showed on Kenta's face as he opened the text. "Oh no…" Kenta groaned, growing pale.
"A digimon? Seriously?" Suzie planted her face on the stone table in frustration. "Kenta's about to go play kissy-face with Text-Girl and they have to interrupt it? Don't they know we have lives here?"
Takato wore a pensive expression before texting back a reply, acknowledging that the message was received.
"Sorry about this," Takato said, looking at Toshiko apologetically. Toshiko looked at Kenta regretfully before typing away another message. His phone buzzed. Reading it, he arched an eyebrow at Toshiko.
"Um, are you sure?" he asked. Toshiko nodded.
"What'd she say?" Suzie asked.
"Suzie…" said Lopmon in a warning voice. "It's not polite to be nosy."
"Oh, c'mon, Lop! Kenta got into a relationship before Gogglehead! I have every right to be nosy!"
"I-It's nothing major," Kenta began, only for Toshiko to speak up in a shaky, deeply embarrassed voice.
"N-No c-c-curfew t-tonight," she said before burying her face against Kenta's arm. Her ears burned red. Suzie felt a smug smirk draw across her face. She couldn't tell if it came from her or from Terriermon. Strangely, she found she didn't care. At least in this instance.
"Oh, I really like this one," she said.
"Suzie, don't be rude," Lopmon scolded.
"Momentai, Lop! Momentai!" She grinned at Toshiko. "Don't worry. We'll have him back before you know it. After that, he's all yours."
She felt Lopmon's penetrating scowl, but she ignored it. Collecting her partner, she placed her atop her head.
"C'mon, Gogglehead. Let's not make Rika wait for you next."
Takato's expression remained pensive as he nodded wordlessly, lost in thought. Suzie scowled and gave him a light kick.
"Hey! What was that for?"
"For being a gogglehead, you Gogglehead!"
###
Rika and her mother entered through the front gate. Kayoko and Renamon were down by the koi pond, practice swords in hand and crouched in a dance. Renamon moved with an ethereal grace that was both mystifying and beautiful to watch.
It's like a bit of moonlight was left behind from the night, Rika thought, watching the vulpine digimon rise and fall, bright sword flashing through the air like the crescent moon. Rika's 'mirror.' Still battered from the loss of its handle, but this did not appear to inconvenience the kitsune in any way.
Upon spying her, Kayoko dropped her stance and bowed politely to Renamon.
"That's enough for now," she said. Turning, the girl grinned at Rika. "Hey there, Nonaka. Looking forward to kicking your butt today."
Rika smirked back challengingly.
"More like I'll be kicking your butt today." She gestured to her partner. "How's your 'student?'"
Chuckling, Kayoko wiped an arm over her sweaty brow.
"Starting to think that I'm the student actually. Bushy Tail's got some moves. Makes me wonder if she sings just as good too. We might have a new karaoke champion."
"We can test that," Renamon said, a small, barely visible smile forming on her muzzle. She turned her blue eyes over at Rumiko and bowed to her politely. "Welcome home, Mother."
"Oh please," Rumiko laughed. "I told you before, 'Mom' will do just fine. You'll make me feel old."
"As you wish."
"I've got some things to put away," Rika said, gesturing with her bags. "I'll join you in a second."
"Don't take forever," Kayoko teased. Rika rolled her eyes as she and her mother made their way toward the house.
"We're back!" Rumiko called upon her and Rika's entrance through the front door of their home. Her ears pricked, hearing the sound of approaching footsteps. Heavy, but creeping softly in an attempt to be quiet. Her husband rounded the corner.
"Welcome back," he greeted. "Did you two have fun?"
"It wasn't bad," Rika replied, taking off her shoes. She gave her mother an amused look. One that Rumiko returned.
"How's Mom been since we've been gone?" Rumiko asked, becoming concerned.
"She's been good so far. She spent most of her time watching the girls do their training. No dizzy spells so far. I think the new medication is working. She's in the kitchen right now."
Rumiko and Rika exchanged looks, mixed with relief and worry.
"I'll go check on her," Rika said. Giving her father a quick hug, she then hurried down to the kitchen. Rumiko and her husband exchanged looks.
"So…" he began with a small smile. "Did you tell her?"
Rumiko blushed faintly. "No. I tried, but… I don't know. We started having fun and I guess I got worried about how she would react to learning she's going to be a sister."
Her husband raised an eyebrow. "You think she would react badly?"
"No! I…" Rumiko trailed off. "I guess I just wanted today's outing to be about the two of us instead of all about me and being pregnant. And I didn't want her getting worried. I know I'll have to tell her eventually. It's not like I'll be able to hide it for much longer with my figure."
Her husband drew up to her. Encircling her with his arms, he embraced her. Rumiko melted against his shoulder, wondering just how she could have allowed their marriage to get so rocky. He was so warm and his heart steady and strong. For a second, she felt like they were young again, newly married and with Rika growing in her belly.
"Tonight. Let's break the news to her tonight." She gave his waist a squeeze.
He nodded against her in agreement. "Right," he said. "Together."
Rumiko squeezed him tighter at that. Together. Not apart, as had been the norm for some years now.
Are you sure you want to stay? She found herself wanting to ask. She wondered if he resented her for their past or felt trapped by her, especially now that they had another little one on the way. Wouldn't it be better to let him be free rather than have a repeat of what they went through before?
"You-You don't have to stay," she said quietly. "If you don't want to…"
She felt his grip around her tighten.
"Rumiko, please don't say that. Don't even think it."
Rumiko found herself holding her breath. Her heart beat anxiously in her chest. He was tense against her, even as he ran his hands through her hair. He then sighed.
"Rumiko… There have been times where I wondered if I made a mistake by staying. I know I caused you a lot of trouble and Rika knew we weren't happy together."
"You-You weren't…trouble."
"I was with your family. And we argued a lot. I was pretty opinionated and critical about your decisions."
Rumiko pressed her lips together.
"It takes at least two to fight," she said throatily. "Stop trying to take it all on yourself. You know I wasn't easy to live with."
He sighed again.
"Yeah, it wasn't easy."
"And I probably still won't be." She thought back to all those weeks ago, after Rika returned home from the battle with IceBeelzemon. After their daughter went to bed, he came to her for the first time in what felt like forever to offer her comfort. A listening ear. A shoulder to cry on. Whatever she wanted. With the power still out and her emotions still frazzled from her mother's injury and their daughter's wellbeing, she drew him close to her and for the first time in years, they made love. He didn't protest or pull away. Instead, he did his best and she returned it in kind. The whole thing had been awkward and clumsy; like a dance they had forgotten the steps to. It was difficult to say if they even enjoyed it the way they had when they were younger, but she did feel comforted by his gesture. She worried though that he only did it out of obligation; would stay out of a sense of duty no matter how miserable he felt.
"I don't want you to stay if you feel you have to. You've done enough."
He shifted his head against hers, looking up at the ceiling. "This is going to sound so selfish of me, but I love our daughter's smile. I love her songs. I love the way her face lights up when she's presented with a challenge. That look she gets when she's being stubborn."
He rocked Rumiko against him gently, massaging her back.
"When she was little, I thought seriously about leaving once. Almost finished packing even. And then, when I looked at her, I saw if I left, it was like I would be taking all her smiles away. And now, after she told me about that other world she went to where I wasn't there… Maybe things in that other world are better because of that, but I can't help but think about all the things I was with her for here that made her happy."
He kissed the top of Rumiko's head.
"I don't want to take any of that away from her. And I don't want to take that away from you either. Or our newest little one. I'd like to try starting over and make this marriage work." He gave a wry chuckle. "What's that your mom's always saying? Real love takes hard work? She's never been wrong before."
In spite of herself, Rumiko barked a harsh laugh. "I think I was in such a hurry to be in married to you and have our family I forgot that part of it." She frowned slightly. "I think I've always been in too much of a hurry. I really ought to slow down sometimes. I…"
The sound of thudding feet interrupted her.
Rumiko looked over her husband's shoulder and found Rika – decked out in her newest clothes – returning to them at a run. An annoyed scowl stood out on her face.
"Digimon time," she grumbled, dropping down at the step. She kicked on her shoes and quickly stood back up. "I'll be back later. Hopefully by dinnertime. Grandma's prepping it. She says she wants to make eggplant and liver casserole."
"I'd better go keep an eye on her," Rumiko said, drawing back a bit. She didn't leave just yet though, watching her daughter as she checked her deck box, making sure it was properly secured to her new belt. Once satisfied, Rika turned back to them. She gave them a placating smile.
"I'll have a song for you guys when I get back," she said.
"Be careful," her father nodded.
"I will," Rika replied. Her eyes lingered on them for a moment longer and then she took off.
"Renamon! Let's go! Party time!"
The kitsune bowed politely to Kayoko.
"Thank you for your time," she said before teleporting over to Rika. Her arms folded around the girl and together they vanished from sight.
###
Tally's hands flew over her control panel in steadily growing alarm. The wild digimon's power exceeded her original scans. Not even IceBeelzemon held a candle to him.
"He's going to breach! I can't stop him!"
Alice bit her lip, watching helplessly as the Wild One's signal terminated at the barrier between dimensions. "Location, West Shinjuku, Chuo Park." She saw movement at the room's entrance. Riley was entering the room. "The Tamers are already reporting in there."
Stay safe, she thought anxiously.
###
"Nice entrance," Guilmon said, watching as a field of thick mist burst from within the hill of trees that led to his old home. He looked over at Takato, who stood beside him pensively. "Are you nervous, Takato?"
When Takato didn't reply right away, he gave his partner's sleeves a tug. The boy jerked back to attention with a startled cry.
"Ah! Sorry!"
"What's up with you?" Kenta asked, concerned.
"It might be nothing. Just thinking. Guilmon, can you smell who it is?"
"Ha?" Guilmon tilted his head to one side. "No. Not yet. Why? Are you expecting someone?"
Takato pulled his hands into tight fists. Guilmon looked at him carefully. He had been behaving this way whenever a digimon came through ever since the battle with IceBeelzemon, which had only been thrice since then, and all low level. It did appear he expected someone, but he never answered when asked about it.
"Why are we just standing here?" Suzie asked. "Shouldn't we be going in there to kick some booty?"
"Suzie…" Lopmon warned. Frowning, the girl shook her head. Terriermon's mouth was in hers now, it seemed.
"Sorry," she said. "Why are we just sitting here? We don't need to wait for Model Girl, do we? We've got three Megas to this guy's one according to Hypnos' text message."
"It's better if we wait for Rika," Kenta said. "I mean, a Mega's no joke you know."
"But if it's unstable…" The sound of a flute whistle caught their attention, and all turned to find Rika and Renamon materialize out of thin air.
"Sorry I'm late," Rika apologized. Her violet eyes fell on Takato and she smiled softly at him. "Hey there."
"Hey," Takato greeted, relaxing a little. His eyes didn't stay on her for very long and he shifted self-consciously.
"Looking stylish, Model Girl," Suzie quipped. She gestured to Rika's bangs. "Are you late because you had to do your hair?"
"I did that this morning," Rika replied, scowling at the smaller girl. She brushed past her and planted herself next to Takato. "So, what's the plan?"
"I think we wait," Takato said, his voice lined with tension. "Let him come to us."
Rika cocked an eyebrow at that and then looked at the others. "Isn't this the best time to deal with him though?" she asked. "He's unstable, right?"
"I don't think we have to worry too much." Takato swallowed. "This is going to sound weird, but Jeri told me we're expecting someone we know to show up. I-I think This might be him." He gestured uselessly with his hands like a floundering fish. "It's the level."
A stunned silence fell over the group at this revelation.
"Uh…" began Kenta. "W-Who are we expecting?"
Suzie stared at Takato and then back at the others. "Yeah. Who? The Sovereign?"
"You guys believe me?"
Suzie scowled. "She…She spoke to me during the fight with IceBeelzemon. Back when I was possessed."
"I saw her as well," said Rika.
"As did I," Renamon added. "She was among the spirits of the digimon IceBeelzemon had loaded."
"S-So I wasn't just imagining that?" Takato started to tremble and his breath came out in sharp gasps. Reaching out, Rika took his hand into her own and gave him a soft squeeze. None of them had wanted to talk about that final battle. Rika hadn't felt at all sure if she should even broach the subject, given the implied nature of Jeri's involvement with IceBeelzemon.
"No," she said, her thumb tracing gently along his hand. "You weren't. She's free now."
"Thank goodness." Takato took a shaky breath and wiped his arm over his eyes. He looked at the others apologetically. "S-Sorry for the water works."
"Don't worry about it." Rika smiled softly at him. "Let's get back to work."
"MarineAngemon floated toward the front of the group and pointed ahead of them with a wing.
"Pih," he said.
"He's coming," Guilmon nodded, sniffing the air. His eyes dilated and he began to growl. "He'll be here soon. He's coming right for us."
"Not wasting time, is he?" Suzie said. "So, who is it that Jeri said we're expecting?"
"Beelzemon," Takato answered and placed his hand on Guilmon's head. MarineAngemon frowned and looked at Kenta.
"Pihpih?"
"I don't know. What do you think, Takato?"
"Jeri said he feels sorry about what happened. Let's see what happens."
Rika looked at the others. The tension in the group had gone up dramatically at the mention of Beelzemon. Takato gripped her hand tightly and she could faintly feel the nervous rhythm of his pulse. But not one of them prepared themselves for a fight.
It's Jeri, she thought. They have a lot of trust in her.
The vague outline of a figure appeared in the fine, digital mist as it began to thin out. He was tall. At least ten feet at minimum, if not taller. And lanky. The digimon had a thin, wiry build to him and he wore a black leather jacket with a fur collar. Steel claws and spiked boots glinted in the light of the day and a shotgun sat in its holster ominously at his side. Rika felt her skin crawl at the resemblance he bore to IceBeelzemon.
Beelzemon are a species, she reminded herself, gazing at his three red eyes. She couldn't stop herself from shivering at the sight.
"I thought I might run into you," the Mega said, and Rika found herself surprised by his tone. It sounded heavy, almost like a stereotype of a mobster enforcer used to breaking legs. "I'm not here to fight. I'm just looking for a friend of mine. I sent her here for safekeeping. All the bigwigs in the digital world are making a mess of things over there."
He held his claws up, splaying them apart in a peaceful gesture. Guilmon growled, but Takato patted his head.
"Easy boy," he said. Letting go of Rika's hand, he stepped past MarineAngemon.
"So, uh… How are you doing?" he asked, seeming at a loss for words. Beelzemon blinked his three eyes.
"What?"
"Sorry." Takato scratched the back of his head uncertainly. "It's been a long time and we didn't part on good terms."
"Of course not!" Beelzemon said. He narrowed his eyes. "Why should we? Why aren't you beating on me like I deserve?"
Takato's lips parted. His mouth felt so dry. His heart beat painfully in his chest. He saw Jeri's face in his mind, as she had been in the digital world. Sad. Broken by Leomon's death. He saw her again, as she looked in her dream. Warm and full of heart again.
"Because Jeri forgives you, and she knows how you feel about what you did. And I think she would like it if you came back home."
The Mega looked at him in utter astonishment. A shock that rippled through Kenta, Guilmon, MarineAngemon, Suzie, and Lopmon.
"Why?" he asked, echoing their unspoken question. "After what I did to her partner?" His voice trembled and his eyes raked across the gathered group. "Where is she?"
The sudden worry in his voice was evident to everyone gathered there. Takato hung his head.
"She's…She's gone now," he said. Beelzemon's mouth opened. He sought for words, but when none came, he instead dropped down to one knee. A soft glow surrounded his body and he shrank down. A new version of himself, smaller, with a dark complexion and a pale face, came into being. A mean-looking smiley face materialized on his belly, over which hung a red scarf tied about his neck. When he looked up at Takato, it was with the face of a child lost to grief. Rika recognized the digimon as Impmon from her card collection.
"Delete me and load my data," he said. Takato shook his head.
"No."
"Why? You know I deserve it!"
Takato looked down at the ground between them.
"You know, I've been thinking about that for the last month now. There were times where I didn't think I could do it. But now, seeing you here, I know why Jeri wanted to forgive you. Deep down, beneath all that pain and anger, you're a good digimon. You just got lost."
"I still knew better," Impmon said bitterly. "It doesn't change what I did."
"No. No, it doesn't. But we can do better going forward, right?"
Takato approached Impmon. He knelt before him.
"C'mon. There's been enough hurting already. You said you sent a friend here for safety, right? I think we met her already. Coronamon right?"
Impmon, still looking up at Takato, nodded.
"She-She saved Masahiko. He's Jeri's little brother. They're partners now. She'll be glad to see you again."
"Saved her brother? Partners?" Impmon's eyes were wide, searching Takato for any sign that he was lying. When he saw no deception, he looked away. "Well, I should probably at least make sure that she's doing right by him." With that said, he climbed to his feet. He looked from Takato, to Guilmon, and then the rest. His eyes fell on Rika and Renamon. "New friends?"
"You could say that," Takato chuckled. "It's a bit complicated."
"How can it be complicated? They're either new or they're not."
"It's a long story. We can tell you about it on the way to Masahiko's place."
"Okay," Impmon nodded. "Should we walk or drive?"
Remembering Beelzemon's bike, Behemoth, Takato blanched. He felt sure that having the Demon Lord cruising down the streets wouldn't go over well with Hypnos.
"Let's take the more leisurely walk," he said. "We've got a lot to talk about after all."
Takato glanced at Kenta. "I think we're okay here," he said. "Why don't you go meet up with Toshiko?"
"Ah!" Kenta jerked. "I-I couldn't!"
"It's okay." Rika placed a hand on Kenta's shoulder. "I think she'll be relieved to see you so soon. She's been really worried about you lately."
Kenta looked about uncertainly. It felt too much like abandoning his friends.
MarineAngemon floated on over to him, smiling warmly.
"Pihpuh," he said. Kenta's eyebrows rose in surprise at him.
"A-Are you sure?" he asked. MarineAngemon giggled and nodded.
"Sounds like good advice to me," Suzie said. Kenta frowned at her.
"You don't even know what he said."
"Yeah, but it's obvious he's getting through to you." Taking out her cellphone, she began to busily type up a message on it. "Just go back on your date with Message-Girl. We'll keep you up to date."
Kenta wavered. Rika gave him a gentle push.
"I'll let her know to meet you back on Fujimidai Hill. Do not keep her waiting."
Kenta looked over at MarineAngemon. The two nodded to one another.
"A-At least I'll be able to keep an eye on things through my digivice," he said. He gave Impmon a hard look, but slowly, with great reluctance, began to peel himself away from the group.
"Sheesh. You guys didn't have to be so hard on him," Impmon said, planting his hands on his hips. "He's obviously worried I'm going to get rough with you. You know he's right to be worried."
MarineAngemon dropped down in front of him before anyone else could say anything. The pink fairy's hard look spoke volumes, and Impmon found himself taking an unconscious step back.
"Puh!" MarineAngemon said and blew a blue heart at Impmon. It floated on over and popped in his face. Impmon twitched, and a luminescent blush erupted on his face.
"Sheesh. Didn't know you took it so seriously."
###
"So… This is the place." Impmon looked up at the door, looking obviously nervous. "Where she lived."
"No, her mom moved," Takato corrected, ringing the doorbell. Impmon glanced up at him.
"Not the dad?"
Takato shifted uncomfortably.
"Lots of bad things happened because of the D-Reaper," Guilmon said in his place.
"That the red puke goo that was messing up the digital world a few years back, right?"
"Uh-huh."
"Hm. Yeah, I guess that's all that needs saying, isn't it?" Impmon's eyes became downcast. "Jeri sure went through a lot, didn't she?"
"More than you know," Takato said, clenching a fist tightly.
The door swung open and Calumon flitted into view.
"Hellooo!" the creampuff digimon chirped happily, his ears holding him aloft as he held the door. "Oh! Hi Takato! Are you here to play?"
"Um, not exactly." Takato gestured downward. Calumon's eyes followed him and spotted Impmon. The diminutive digimon waved awkwardly.
"Ah, hi dough boy. How's it going?"
"Impmon!" Calumon dropped down in front of the Rookie. "Wow! I haven't seen you in a really long time!" He giggled. "You must have gotten really good at playing Hide and Seek!"
"S-Something like that," Impmon said, scratching the back of his head. "Look, is Coronamon here? I wanted to check in with her. She and I are close pals."
"Sure! She's upstairs with Masahiko, Ai, and Mako! They're playing a game on the TV."
"Ai?" Impmon cocked his head to one side. "Mako?!"
"Those friends of yours from before you met us," piped up Suzie from behind Takato. "We met them recently. They helped us rescue Masahiko." Seeing the surprised looks she was getting, she shrugged. "They told me about how they knew him as kids."
Takato and Guilmon turned to one another and shrugged.
"How about that?" Guilmon said, giving a laugh. Takato couldn't help but join his partner. It struck him as a most amusing, and welcome, coincidence. Almost like a wrong had been righted.
"It's a reunion!" Calumon giggled. Twirling in the air, he started flying back into the house, leaving the door open behind him. "Coronamon!" he called. "Ai! Mako! Masahiko! I found a friend!"
"As noisy as ever," Impmon said. He looked back up at Takato, Guilmon, and Suzie. "I… I'll catch you Pineapple heads later. There's still some stuff I need to talk to you about. Stuff from the digital world."
Takato felt the tension rise in him. "How bad is it?"
"Nuts," Impmon said. "It's getting nuts over there."
"Okay," Takato said. "I'll catch you later."
Takato watched, his eyes pensive once again as Impmon entered the house. Rika drew up next to him, watching him from out of the corner of her eye.
"That's that," Takato said.
"Not exactly how I thought this would go," Suzie said from behind the pair. "I mean, usually these things end up like back there." She gestured to the street behind them where the fight with IceBeelzemon had taken place. With the reconstruction finished only a week ago, only the fresh pavement gave any indication that a fight between digimon took place at all. Takato nodded in agreement.
"Jeri said he felt sorry for what happened."
"How did she talk to you? In your dreams?"
"Well…" Takato scratched the back of my head, trailing off. Suzie smirked at him.
"Tell me, do you dream about Rika too, then?"
"Suzie!" Lopmon scolded as Rika blushed alongside Takato and gave Suzie an annoyed look.
"Oh, momentai, Lop. I'm just teasing." Folding her arms behind her head, Suzie turned away and hopped down the sidewalk. "I'm out of here. Catch you guys later."
"Later," Rika turned back to Takato and gave him a slight nudge with her elbow. "So, do you dream about me at all?"
Takato's flush deepened and he refused to meet her eyes. Rika giggled at how cute he looked turning red like this.
"Chill, Gogglehead. I'm just kidding." She gestured to the house as Impmon made his way to the end of the hall where the living room lay. There came a loud clamor just out of sight.
"How're you feeling about this?" she asked. Takato didn't answer right away, giving her question the weighty consideration it deserved.
"Not great," he admitted, watching two children – Ai and Mako – around Suzie's age rush up to Impmon excitedly. Tears began to fill Impmon's eyes and he hurriedly embraced them. "But better than I thought I would be."
Behind the babbling of the two children, Rika, sensing he had more to say, waited.
"He killed Leomon. He was going to kill all of us He was so cold about it. It was like nothing that happened before even mattered, like that time we played together in the water. He wasn't even sorry for what he did and I-I wanted him to pay. I wanted to delete him so bad. I was ready to, but Jeri stopped me. There were times where I thought about what might happen if I didn't stop and just…just killed him." He watched as Coronamon gave a cry of excitement and proceeded to bowl him over, knocking him and his two friends to the floor in a tangle of limbs. "Now I know."
Rika smiled softly at him.
I think I see what I like most about him, she thought. And probably what Other-Me liked most about her Takato.
Once again, she took hold of his hand. Their fingers threaded around one another tightly, not even thinking about it anymore.
"You think he'll behave?" she asked, watching Impmon as Coronamon yanked him to his feet as Masahiko now arrived. She caught sight of Impmon's furtive glances over at the boy. She saw the faint glimmer of shame he tried to hide. Takato nodded.
"He will. Jeri is right about him. I'm sure of it." He scratched the back of his head. "You know, I wasn't even sure at first that it was her. I thought I had dreamt her that night, but… I don't know. It just felt so real that I just couldn't shake it off."
"She seemed real to me on that day," Rika said. "She really cared about you, huh?"
"I…" Takato looked down. "I didn't know how she felt until then."
Silence hung between them. Rika felt a bit awkward, but there really was no getting around it.
"She was there for you in the end, just like she was there for me when I needed help," she said, squeezing his hand gently. "Don't forget that."
A small smile touched Takato's lips and he looked at Rika with gratitude. "I don't think I could."
Once more, their hands squeezed about one another. Rika felt her face flush, but she smiled and didn't break eye contact with the boy. They remained that way for some time, only relinquishing each other when it came time for them to head back home.
"See you this Saturday?" he asked as they prepared to part ways. Rika nodded, her smile growing even as her face heated up.
"Yep! Oh! By the way, when Mom found out, she cleared her schedule for that day. She says she wants to get to know you and your family better. I think she's embarrassed about how she got off on the wrong foot with you guys."
"Oh." Takato smiled. It was a genuine smile, and warm. "Okay. I'll make something for her too." He glanced down at Guilmon, who had been listening quietly. "And probably a little extra."
"Takato, that's mean!" the dinosaur protested. Takato laughed and rubbed his partner's head affectionately.
"But it's true! You're a glutton, Guilmon."
"Maybe if you drew me with a smaller tummy, I wouldn't eat so much."
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works with digimon. I'm still confused as to where Calumon puts it all." He turned back toward Rika. "Uh, does she have anything particular she likes, or…?"
Rika chuckled. "Tell you what. I'll make time in my schedule to help you with that."
Takato arched an eyebrow at her. "Have you baked before or anything?"
Rika smirked. "I can learn. Besides, I get the feeling she'd like it if we were a united front with her. And I don't want to leave you to do all the work. When would be a good time?"
"Ah, anytime after school, I guess. We're in a slow period right now, so it should be fine."
"Good to know," Rika nodded, still grinning. "I'll see you then."
With that, the pair departed. Rika felt Renamon's presence even before she materialized next to her.
"So," she began, "that is Impmon."
Rika glanced at Renamon, sensing she meant more than just their first meeting. "You know him."
"I've heard of him. My predecessors and the Sovereigns empowered him previously. I didn't know the specifics. It seems he has retained the power given to him."
"If he's staying around, then it'll help. Do you think your former boss will give us any trouble?"
"That remains to be seen. I would like to speak to him later about the situation in the digital world. The struggle between the Sovereigns appears to be an ongoing one. I suspect that will mean more trouble down the line, no matter what happens between them."
Rika couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"We'll win," she said. She looked at her partner, her expression firm. "We have to."
"I doubt it will be that easy, but we will fight. Together. And always."
Rika smiled at her partner's words. They continued on in silence, and after a time, the vulpine digimon faded out of sight. Rika continued on, entering her neighborhood. The sky began to take on the familiar, golden light that signaled the end of the day. She walked a little faster, eager to get home and see her family. She knew she could ask Renamon to take her the rest of the way, but she felt it important to get her exercise in. One didn't know when her growing stamina and strength would come in handy. The next time a digimon came in, looking for trouble, she wanted to be ready.
Before too long, she passed through the front gate of her home. Kayoko was long gone. Not that she expected her to stick around of course, even when she was welcome to. Her eyes wandered over to the spot where she first returned from the other world. She briefly wondered how things were going over there before dismissing the idea. Their had their world. She had hers. She felt certain they were managing things just fine, even with her counterpart being a brat.
She drew back the front door and stepped inside. Renamon materialized at the step, waiting for her. The lights were on and the smell of dinner caused her stomach to gurgle.
I wonder if I should have Mom or Grandma show me how to bake, she wondered, taking off her shoes. Might make things a little easier if I showed up at Takato's knowing something about it.
Something to consider, she supposed. Now bereft of her shoes, she and Renamon went to find her family. The sound of their voices drew her toward the kitchen and dining area. Sure enough, upon entry, she found her mother and father seated at the table, closer to each other than she remembered them ever being, and her grandmother humming merrily in front of the stove. All noise ceased briefly upon her and Renamon's appearance.
"I'm home," Rika said, smiling at her family who, in turn, smiled back.
The end.
###
A/N2: "Biology informs. Experience edits."
I don't remember who said that, but it goes back quite a way in my memory. It's an oversimplification of the relationship between genetics and environment. Nature versus nurture. To summarize, biology lays out the framework for who you are at birth, and as you grow and experience the world and people and things around you, genes express themselves in various ways or turn themselves off. Or maybe you approach a situation or person a certain way and, depending on how prominent and regular it is in your life, it becomes a habit. Or not. Minor things for the most part. Barring tremendously huge, life altering experiences like trauma, there should be a continuity of who you are throughout the course of your life, even as certain things change about you.
Multiverse stories have interested me at times (one of my favorite Star Trek episodes is 'Yesterday's Enterprise.' The old scifi show, 'Sliders' is another). The 'what if' is a tantalizing question. In this case, 'what if' Rika's father stuck around instead of leaving? Series creator, Konaka has stated that the absence of Rika's father is not responsible for her 'twisted personality.' There's likely truth to that. There's lots of reasons why Rika became the way she did in the series proper. We know that she's never had friends over to her house before (suggesting she had socialization issues early, possibly before her father left, and that they continued on afterward), and from what little we see of her school life, it's likely she's never even had friends either. There's no overt signs of bullying (physical or otherwise), but it's possible that at the very least she's not well liked and her classmates in return don't socialize with her unless they have to. She's in conflict with her mother, who is always leaving her for work, and when she is around, she's not actually behaving like a mother. Rather, more someone who wants her daughter to be her friend, pressuring her behavior and to look certain ways and to follow in her footsteps as a model while simultaneously ignoring that Rika has her own needs and interests. Chief of which is that she wants her mother to be a proper parent. But Rika, for all her precociousness, is either too young or too insecure in herself to voice this need. This further contributes to her isolation.
There are many reasons for why Rika would be the way she is. Her father would be just one of many, and given how long he's been out of her life, less important perhaps than her mother, who only repeated the abandonment she felt on more than one occasion. Even if she always returned in the end, she's still 'always leaving.' She couldn't be counted on to stay, so Rika finds herself feeling that she's not important to anyone, least of all her mother. Her grandmother, of course, gives her unconditional love and behaves more like how a parent should, but she's not her actual mother, and Seiko appears to limit her handling of Rika because the job is Rumiko's responsibility and it would be inappropriate to involve herself in the business of others. We only really see her try to intervene directly when Rika's partnership with Renamon reaches its absolute lowest point, where it causes her to start lashing out at people around her.
There are signs though that her father leaving is influential to some degree, even if it's not as strong as the situation with her mother.
In the sub, there's an interesting little line where, when she's mulling over things while preparing to biomerge with Renamon in the real world where she says, "I've never really wished I'd been born a boy. But my father…" and then angrily interrupts herself by saying, "It has nothing to do with that! At least I thought so." Nothing more is elaborated on about why she was thinking about her father then and what it had to do with her being a boy or girl. We can guess of course, but the most certain thing we do see is that she has a deep-rooted insecurity about herself. She admits that the changes she went through after meeting Takato and the others were 'a bit scary' to her, and she feared she was getting weaker. The scene closes off with her thinking, "The reason I didn't want to lose was…" And that's it. The scene ends there with her biomerging with Renamon.
Rika brings up her father one more time in the series proper, mentioning that she could see him if she wanted to, implying that she had no such interest. It's a little vague, but there's no indication that he's been a part of her life since she was younger and she never made the effort. The Drama CD, 'Message in a Packet' she talks about how she would like to talk to Renamon about her late father, suggesting he died at some point between then and the series, though it remains ambiguous. Runaway Locomon, despite its issues with canon, gives us the most we've ever seen about him and his relationship with Rika. As it's 'canon' to smartalec121's work, it plays a role here as well so it will be included. Again, it's vague, but there's an implication that she does miss him. Perhaps at this late date, learning about the fate of Jeri's mother gave her more reason to think about him. We don't know if the image of him Parasimon forces on her is the actual person (though she immediately recognizes him and calls him as such) or just the image of him she remembers, tainted by Parasimon and her own rose-tinted glasses about the man. Whatever the role his leaving played in her personality and whether his impact on her was weak or strong, or even what role it had on how she views herself as a young girl, there was an affect somewhere. Her abandonment issues and insecurity have certainly been the leading issues, and Renamon and Takato have been the ones that earned her trust. That's not my shipping preference talking. A lot of Rukato fans tend to put Takato down as the one to defrost Rika, but let's be real here. Renamon did the heavy lifting, and she had good reason to do so, being her partner. Takato, in the early days, certainly wanted to be her friend, but Renamon was more frequently present in Rika's day to day life and did the most to try to understand her. Rika and Takato butted heads too much early on and had their own separate lives they went to at the end of the day. Friendship between them was a much, much longer road, and I'd say only really solidified after Rika found him waiting for her at the ark, risking being left behind in the digital world (without Guilmon no less!) because he feared her being left behind. When she called to Takato when preparing to lift him up to the Ark, she sounded happy, and *certainly* looked happy when they grabbed hold of one another. After that, Rika's demeanor toward him changes. It's subtle, but she's no longer antagonistic toward him. She's more playful and more regularly stands closer to him than before and closer than to the other Tamers in the same scenes. She tended to be the first to support him during fights with the D-Reaper and other opponents. And, in the 2009 OS Drama CD (set immediately after Message in a Packet), more willing to be talked out of her irritation by him. The development of her friendship with Renamon and Takato suggests that having someone she can count on unconditionally – a friend she feels secure around – for all her thorns, is deeply important to her.
So, what about a version of her where her father didn't leave? His not leaving, even when unhappy with his marriage, can suggest a lot of things, but might be that he adopts this role of unconditional love for her, and that is why he stayed despite everything else going on that would make him leave. This creates an anchor point of security that she didn't have in the mainline continuity. With that layer of security, she might not wish as hard for things, and the Digignomes overlook her.
Smartalec121 briefly introduced this version of Rika whose father never left her, dropping right into the middle of things. She wasn't a Tamer. She wore more traditionally feminine clothes, and yet what struck me as interesting was how similar the two Rika's were despite their differences. The alternate Rika had Rika's temperament to be sure, and showed no issue (and no real concern) with threatening to punch her counterpart. She was more obviously frightened of danger (having little experience with it after all), but jumped into it to save a child without even realizing she was doing it. The instincts of a Tamer are there, even though she isn't one. In the past, I've seen other writers, when writing a more traditionally feminine Rika, they tend to go the whole nine yards, almost completely changing her personality. Not here, and the notion interested me enough to want to explore just how alike and how different this Rika was from her counterpart. And *actually* explore. A lot of media surrounding multiverse stories have a tendency to drop in alternate versions of a character with really no differences between them beyond aesthetics. Or, in other cases, have a complete 180 of who they are. Not that these things can't happen, but it's a pretty shallow depiction and at times feels like a way to get around a character's death, as seems to be the case with franchises like the MCU.
Here, the assumption is that this alternate Rika is still fairly close in personality and temperament to regular Rika. The first obvious differences were that she was calmer. More aware of herself emotionally and of the emotions of others which helps her win friends with Toshiko and Kayoko. Not many friends. She's still Rika after all, but they're friends all the same. Further, She has insecurities, but the roots were a bit different. They remained related to her parents and their unhappiness, and much of her greater emotional awareness appeared to stem from that atmosphere, and only exasperated when she encountered her alternate, who became a Tamer while she herself didn't. "Why wasn't I chosen?" and "What can I do to be stronger?" In this reality, she perceives herself as weak. So weak that her parents stuck together to keep her from falling apart (or so she believes). For her more traditionally feminine appearance, this is her way of keeping the peace. After all, it's what her mom wants and, on the surface, it looks like an easy compromise. Where's the harm in wearing clothes? "Don't make a fuss. Apologize when you've annoyed someone." But even she knows it's an issue that doesn't really resolve anything and why she views herself as being weak. She did show a sign of pushing back a little bit with the jean skirt back in chapter 5, but even that's just another compromise. And then there's her counterpart, who, as far as clothes go, is the opposite of her. The punk edge. More traditionally masculine. And because this Rika's more emotionally aware, she recognizes it as a form of rebellion in her counterpart. Even if it's more 'her style,' it's a deliberate attempt to be the opposite of her mother. How can she be herself? Is it all just dress up or is there something more? What does it mean to be 'Rika Nonaka?'
And that's the story I found interesting when smartalec121 initially wrote the character. Where are the lines between Rika's core, her interests and values, and whatever she compromised with or allowed to be imposed on her? Which version of Rika is their authentic self? What does it mean to be authentic to yourself? And if you could hold a mirror up to yourself, is it really reflecting the truth about who you are? Does a single deviation or two make you a completely different person, or are you still the same, just with a different direction of continuity? This version of Rika couldn't answer the question fully by the time of this story's ending, but by now she's on a path to figure how to be her own person again. The best version of herself, whatever that may be going forward.
Going forward, I'm not sure what I'll be doing next. I'm definitely taking a much-needed break. I won't be retiring since the time I tried that it didn't work out, but I do want to hit up some projects I've been neglecting, both original and fanfic. I won't make any promises as to what will pop up next, but sooner or later my fingers will itch to type again, just like they always do.
Until then. Take care.
-Crazyeight
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