Yurie knew it was a bad idea. Not only had she not gotten permission beforehand, but she also barely found her way around the dark corridors. The school seemed different than during the day. She had also been quite unlucky. Simply forgetting the gift for her brother in the school building. She could have waited until tomorrow and given it to him late. But how would that have looked? No, she could never have done that. So, in essence, she had no choice but to go back to school at night and get the gift. But as she now wandered the corridors, she felt uneasy. It was so eerily quiet, completely different from the day when the students were still frolicking around.

Finally, she had reached her classroom. Luckily, it wasn't locked, and she strode to her desk. When she had the bag with the gift, she quickened her pace and left the room again. As she stepped back into the hallway, she heard a strange noise. Was someone there? No, that wasn't possible. There was certainly a janitor, but he wouldn't be working now either. She walked on, but the noise seemed to be getting closer. She turned a corner now but realized she had taken a wrong turn. She ended up in the locker room, where she actually had no business. She turned back and used her smartphone, which provided some light. She held it in front of her face as she stepped back into the hallway. The noise was now very close. Yurie believed she heard it behind a stair landing. She didn't know why, but she approached it. She was afraid, and it didn't make any sense. She should have long since disappeared from the building. Still, she had always been quite curious. She was now very close to the dark corner. She shone her light forward... and froze. A panicked scream followed, and she ran for her life.

Takeshi looked at his friend skeptically.
"What? You want to leave school?" he couldn't believe it.
Shun sighed.
"Don't jump to conclusions. I just said my grades have improved. My parents MIGHT consider sending me to a private school. But that's just speculation."
Takeshi calmed down only slowly. He didn't want his friend to change schools. He had hardly anyone else to talk to here. That might be because he was still part of the Kitakubu and preferred to spend his free time with Prismamon. He looked ahead, where Tsubasa was chatting with her friends Erika and Sachi. He was happy for her that she had found a place, but now he only came over to them when there were things to discuss that concerned their partners. If Shun really left the school, she would focus more on him. Of course, Takeshi didn't want to do that to her.

During the break, they met behind the school building.
"Huh? Ghosts?" Shun asked.
The blonde girl confirmed it.
"You know Yurie from the parallel class? She was in the school again the other night and saw a ghost, or rather, a monster," she reported.
Shun sighed.
"Rather, she imagined it."
Tsubasa shook her head.
"Erika and Sachi were very excited when they told me. Yurie seemed very frightened, I don't think she just imagined it."
Takeshi pursed his lips.
"Ghosts don't exist. It was probably just a crow or a sheet flying in the wind."
"Oh, what do you know! The supernatural exists, you'll see!"
She just left the two of them, who only shrugged their shoulders.

Tsubasa was about to leave the grounds when she noticed three girls. Two of them were her friends Erika and Sachi. The third must have been Yurie. She joined them and joined the conversation.
"Yurie, can you tell us again what happened yesterday?" Sachi suggested.
The girl followed, and Tsubasa got goosebumps as she recounted the encounter with the monster.
When she had gone, Sachi began to smile.
"Good, it's decided! We will catch this ghost!"
Tsubasa almost dropped her jaw.
"How are we supposed to do that? Are you a medium, or something?"
Her friend shook her head.
"Erika's family owns a temple. She can get Ofuda, which ward off ghosts, demons, and the like. With that, nothing can happen to us!"
Tsubasa had to admit, though, that she believed less in these things.
"Then it's decided! We'll meet tonight in front of the school and get to the bottom of the haunting!" Erika said enthusiastically.
Tsubasa objected, though.
"Um... I don't know if I can make it," she said quickly.
The two girls looked at her.
"Tsubasa, please! We need you, you're the bravest of us!"
Was she? She suspected the two were just trying to talk her into it. Eventually, she let herself be persuaded. She would probably regret it, but she just couldn't say no to them.

They arranged to meet at 9 p.m. sharp and then parted ways. Tsubasa's mother was on a business trip, so she probably wouldn't be cooked for today. But for that, she had invited a good friend, and Tsubasa hadn't said no.
Half an hour later, she arrived at the café and looked for the right table. The young woman at the last table on the left waved to her. Tsubasa hurried over and bowed slightly.
"Kari-san, thank you for the invitation."
Kari waved it off.
"No, I still haven't been able to thank you for your help the other day. So that's a given. Davis also treated Takeshi to a meal. But I thought you might be getting a bit tired of ramen by now."
Tsubasa agreed and sat down.
She and the others had been able to get a lot of free ramen lately. Well, they had earned it, but the only one who could slurp ramen non-stop was Takeshi. There were carnivores who fed on meat, then herbivores who fed on plants, and then there was Takeshi, who could probably live his whole life on ramen.
They ordered drinks, which allowed them to study the menu thoroughly. Finally, Tsubasa decided on udon; she didn't want to strain Kari's wallet too much.
The food was served soon, and they enjoyed it.
"Is everything okay? Something seems to be bothering you?" Kari then said.
Tsubasa looked at her with a full mouth. In fact, she had just been thinking about the meeting with her friends. She swallowed and began to tell about the alleged ghost sighting.
"Anyway, now I have to show up at the school at night and catch a ghost."
Kari could only laugh.
"We used to do something similar. Don't worry, real ghosts don't exist, thankfully. Bakemon aside. If you still don't feel comfortable, just tell them to cancel."
Tsubasa immediately shook her head.
"No, I couldn't do that. Erika and Sachi welcomed me so warmly into the class. In my old class, no one wanted anything to do with me."
Kari understood.
"And that's why you want to express your gratitude now. But that doesn't mean you have to please everyone."
Tsubasa shrugged.
"They think I'm brave for some reason. Well, maybe in a parallel universe. There, the ideal Tsubasa probably exists."
Kari sighed.
"The ideal Tsubasa is sitting right in front of me. I wouldn't want any other. And neither would your friends."
She had to think that there could indeed be another Tsubasa. There were indeed doppelgangers in other worlds. She had to think about how Davis had encountered a younger version of her brother. And from Taruki and his partner Flashmon, they knew that at least doppelgangers of her and T.K existed in his world. She had to think that there might even be a world where she was still traveling through the Digital World and having adventures.
At least she seemed to have cheered Tsubasa up a bit. She thanked her and even let herself be talked into dessert. Then the bill was paid, and they left the café.
"The ghost hunt will be fine. You've fought against the worst Digimon, what could a ghost do to you?" Kari argued.
Tsubasa nodded.
"Yes, but you can't even touch ghosts. I'd rather have you with me too."
But her friend had to disappoint her.
"Unfortunately, I can't help with that. I have a date today."
Tsubasa pricked up her ears.
"Oh..."
However, the woman did not indulge her by elaborating further. Especially since she had to get going slowly. Kari didn't miss the opportunity to hug the girl once more before they said goodbye.

Tsubasa went straight home, where Hebimon was already waiting for her.
"I smell food!" it immediately raised its head.
The girl sighed.
"Sorry, I totally forgot to bring you something."
Hebimon hissed offended and crawled under the bed. Tsubasa got on her knees and looked for her partner.
"I'm really sorry! I'll make you something right away, we still have something in the fridge. But hey, I have another idea! What do you think about participating in a ghost hunt?"
That seemed to have caught the little snake's attention. It crawled out again and looked at her expectantly.
"Ghosts... what is that?"
Tsubasa smiled inwardly. Alone, she would have felt uneasy. If it really was a real ghost, she could never have done anything alone. With Hebimon in tow, the whole thing looked different.
"Don't you know? That's totally popular in this world! I was invited today to hunt such a ghost!"
With that, she had Hebimon hooked.
"I want to come with you! Please Tsubasa!"
She crossed her arms and pretended to have to think for a moment.
"Alright, but you stay well hidden, okay? If Erika and Sachi see you, they'll probably be more frightened than by the ghost."
Hebimon promised and so they set off towards evening. Shortly before 9 p.m., they arrived in front of the school building. Erika and Sachi were already there. Sachi had brought a flashlight, while Erika had brought Ofudas from her temple.
Tsubasa asked again if they should really do this, but she was outvoted. They entered the school, which had a completely different vibe at night. Everything was quiet, and the echo of their steps reverberated in the hallways. Sachi remembered where Yurie had encountered the ghost. With enough light, they strolled towards the locker room. There, they illuminated every corner, but without results. Then came the stair landing where Yurie had encountered the gruesome face. Also, no luck.
"See? I told you so. Ghosts don't exist. Yurie just imagined it," Tsubasa downplayed the matter.
As soon as she finished her sentence, a loud howl echoed through the hallways. Erika and Sachi clung to each other, while Hebimon stuck its head out through Tsubasa's sleeve. Then it happened. Something crashed to the ground, and Sachi shone her light on the spot. It seemed to be the mounting of a ventilation shaft. At the same moment, two arms reached out for Erika and pulled her up. She screamed like a stuck pig. Sachi shone her light upwards, but they could only see two rotten arms pulling her into the shaft.
"It... it has Erika!" Sachi screamed in panic.
Tsubasa looked at the shaft, but it was too high.
"Where does this shaft lead? You've been at the school longer, you must have an idea!"
But Sachi was too shocked to react. Tsubasa had to shake her by the shoulders to bring her back to her senses.
"Um... if I had to guess, then to the natural sciences room."
Tsubasa understood and hurried off. Sachi was right behind her, she was also afraid for her friend. Soon they arrived in front of the room, but the door was locked. Tsubasa saw no other option.
"Hebimon, make us a hole with your acid!"
Immediately, the little snake came out and used the necessary attack. Immediately, the handle of the door was gone and with it the lock. Sachi, who was now shining her light directly on Hebimon, screamed.
"It's okay! That's just Hebimon, it's completely harmless!"
Her partner now hopped to the ground and crawled into the classroom first. Tsubasa followed the Digimon and turned on the light. It was now much easier to orient themselves. The two girls ran to the middle of the room, and their eyes caught on a corner.
Erika was there, huddled tightly against the wall. She must have been terrified. In front of her stood someone. From the build, it had to be a human. Only when this one turned around did Tsubasa and Sachi turn pale.
The flesh on the creature's face was half rotten. The same went for a left arm and leg. Its right arm and leg consisted only of bones. There was a hole in its skull, from which a stone with strange symbols protruded.
"It... it really is a ghost! Or a demon!" Sachi stuttered.
Hebimon positioned itself in front of the monstrosity.
"No, certainly not. That's Zombiemon! Normally, it stays at cemeteries and sleeps most of the time underground. It only wakes up when Bakemon bother it."
Tsubasa swallowed. Even if her partner hadn't named the term, she would have come up with the term zombie on her own.
"Hu... Hunger!" Zombiemon now brought forth.
Sachi shivered.
"Will... will that thing eat Erika?"
Tsubasa placed a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. She would never allow that, of course.
"Don't worry! Leave it to me and Hebimon. We're a team, after all!"
She stepped forward and held up her DigiVice.
"Hebimon, are you ready? We have to protect Erika at all costs!"
Her partner nodded to her and was, of course, by her side.
"Hebimon digivolves to... Julungumon!"
Tsubasa wasn't sure how her friends might react to the large snake in the room. Would they find it even more frightening than the zombie Digimon? However, there was no time to think about it.
Zombiemon staggered towards their partner, with its mouth open. Julungumon reacted and began to wrap around Zombiemon. This seemed out of action at first but then sank its teeth into its opponent.
Julungumon lost its grip and fell to the ground. Then Zombiemon staggered towards Tsubasa. She swallowed and stood protectively in front of Sachi.
"Julungumon! Don't give up!" she cheered on her partner.
This one now pulled itself together and rose again. It attacked with the sickle on its tail and cut Zombiemon in two. Shortly afterwards, it began to dissolve into data.
The danger seemed to be averted for now. But Tsubasa did not miss that both Sachi and Erika were staring at the large snake uncertainly. Even that it digitized back to Hebimon didn't help much at first. This one now crawled up Tsubasa again and wrapped itself around her neck.
Only after a while did the girls dare to come closer.
"I... I think I have to confess a few things to you," Tsubasa finally said.
Her friends agreed with her. She really had to.

An hour later, they were sitting at Tsubasa's house drinking tea. Hebimon was also resting on the table and devouring some cookies that Tsubasa had set out for it. Sachi had been the first to dare to scratch the Digimon's head. Erika hesitated but moved closer after a while.
"So you're one of those Digimon trainers?" she wanted to know.
Tsubasa shook her head.
"The technical term is DigiDestine. Don't ask me why."
Sachi now fed Hebimon a cookie.
"How cool! That we know someone who has to do with Digimon."
Tsubasa waved it off.
"Sorry, I should have told you about this earlier."
Erika shook her head.
"It's okay. I can understand that you don't just blurt something like that out. But you can trust us, we won't blab about it."
Sachi agreed with her.
"Especially Hebimon is so cute, we don't want to risk it being put in a lab and dissected."
The Digimon swallowed the cookie.
"What is dissecting?" it wanted to know.
Tsubasa didn't want to break that down for it now, but rather changed the subject.
"Behave yourself around Sachi and Erika from now on, okay? Then they'll keep feeding you."
Her partner promised.
Then it was already time to say goodbye. It had really gotten late, and her friends really had to go home now. They agreed to talk more about it tomorrow and Tsubasa closed the door behind them.
She tidied up a bit and then threw herself on the bed in her room. Hebimon crawled to her, and she grabbed it and held it up.
"You know what, Hebimon? Now that they know... we'll have even more fun together!"
Her partner smiled and agreed with her.
Then they fell asleep cuddled together.