A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Generic Reviewer for being the 200th reviewer for this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Seeing Red
Chapter: 28
Shinjuku flew beneath Renamon's feet with such rapidity it became a blur. She aimed not at Hypnos, but in the direction of Henry's cram school. She felt her digital heart flutter with surprising anxiety at the prospect of visiting him there. Even though it couldn't be called a social visit by any stretch of the imagination, her previous conversation with Henry left her feeling ill at ease.
Thinking about it, it's as if I broke up with him, she mused upon hopping off a rooftop. She wanted to feel silly about the idea, but remembering her parting words with Henry – and most especially their kiss – divorced her from such sentiments.
How does he feel about it? She grunted, her feet rebounding off a rooftop with more force than necessary. She frowned, sensing her agitation. Have I done the wrong thing with him?
Since the incident involving the digi-egg began, Renamon watched Takato and Rika work through the complexities behind its conception. She felt the weight of their promise to one another at the fashion shoot and knew how much they desired to retain their relationship and find balance within it.
Should I have attempted to do so with Henry? she wondered. Her frown deepened. We didn't have a relationship. I hold no desire for one beyond what we had before. I merely desired to experiment. To learn about humans and how they handled relationships. Perhaps that is why I feel so unsettled. But did I perhaps take the easy way out? Could I have found a way to balance things better if we spoke as Takato and Rika do?
The gates of Henry's cram school entered into view. Her concerns remained unresolved. Setting them aside for the moment, she leapt over the gate and entered into the school's grounds. Her ear twitched, sensing the presence of Terriermon and one other.
Impmon…
Without a second thought, she swiftly teleported into their tree.
"Booored…"
"Momentai, would ya?"
"Are you going around stealing my catchphrase now?"
From her vantage point above them, Impmon waved a dismissive hand at the long-eared dog-rabbit digimon. His eyes were glued on the window Henry and Yua worked in. She leapt down to their branch, startling the two.
"Whoa! Renamon!" Terriermon exclaimed. His face blanched suddenly. "Ah, how long were you there?"
"Not long," Renamon assured him, feeling a faint curiosity about the unease in his expression. She glanced over at Impmon, who looked no less startled, but quickly recovering.
"Uh, hi, Fox Face," he greeted while rubbing the back of his head anxiously. "Here to see Henry?"
She read something in his green eyes that reminded her of Takato whenever he learned something embarrassing and didn't want to let on that he knew about it. It didn't take much to discern that Terriermon informed him about her studies with Henry.
"Yes," she said simply. "But not for the reason you think." She swiveled her head over to Terriermon. "Yamaki has informed Rika that there has been a development with her and Takato's digi-egg. He desires that we all be present for it."
"Ah, okay." She watched Impmon purse his lips together before speaking. "Um, then this is probably a good time to tell you that Henry has a classmate we should probably be worried about."
Renamon arched an eyebrow at this.
"Impmon thinks Yua is some nefarious digimon mastermind or something," Terriermon clarified. "Trying to get close to him through his cram school."
"Hey! All I said was that I saw a tail! I didn't say anything like that!"
Renamon narrowed her eyes at this. "A tail?"
"Yeah! She had a foxy tail kinda like yours. Only it was there for like a second and reflected in a window. I thought it might have been you for a second, only…" He paused and then looked more closely at Renamon. "You weren't tailing him while he was on his way here, were you?"
"No," Renamon replied with a shake of her head. "I have been with Rika. You said you saw this in a reflection?"
"He saw it," Terriermon clarified. "I didn't see anything."
"You were on his head, poodlemon," Impmon shot at him. "You wouldn't have seen anything."
"And I didn't sense anything either. Neither did you. You sure you didn't eat something that made you sick?"
"We didn't sense ol' Fox Face until she dropped in on us." Impmon folded his arms together and glared at Terriermon. "Don't tell me it can't be done."
"I think that's enough conversation for now." Renamon somersaulted down to the ground. In spite of her casual tone, her mind whirled with concern for Henry. The memory of the night she sensed a threatening presence watching her came to mind. Though brief, she couldn't help but wonder if there were a connection between that incident – one that occurred so soon after her 'breakup' with Henry – and what Impmon described.
Humans have said that a reflection reveals the true nature of the supernatural, she thought while making her way over to the window of Henry's classroom. Perhaps there is more to Yua than meets the eye.
Impmon's description of a foxtail held her thoughts. Could another of her kind be living amongst humans using their transformation abilities? Or could it be something else?
She halted in front of the window and scanned the classroom. She quickly found Yua seated in front of a computer, busily typing away. Henry sat next to her doing the same. She saw nothing out of the ordinary between them, and Yua appeared to be as normal a human as one could be. Deciding a test was in order, she extended her senses and probed the room. She felt nothing her eyes weren't showing her. Opting to take things a step further, she lowered the guards of her mind and, focusing on Yua, envisioned her as a threat to be extinguished. A danger to Henry that should be destroyed to protect him. She felt her data surge sharply, preparing her body for combat. She imagined her hands wrapping tightly about Yua's neck – the first of the many means she would use to dispose of her.
Yua jumped in her chair as if goosed and Henry, along with several students near her, shifted in their seats uncomfortably. Yua's head whirled about and zeroed in on the window, blue eyes blazing, yet, oddly, not in panic or terror. A stark contrast to her fellow classmates, even Henry, who appeared alarmed. Renamon withdrew her senses and reestablished the guards of her mind. Her body's code slowed and her muscles relaxed.
"Sheesh," she heard Impmon say behind her. "Warn me when you're about to do that. You just made my skin crawl."
Ignoring him, Renamon tapped a claw on the window, and this time she got the attention of everyone in the room. Henry, upon seeing her, rose from his chair. His face full of concern, he approached the window.
"Renamon?" he greeted upon pushing it open. "Is everything alright?"
"Yamaki has called a meeting about Takato and Rika's digi-egg. Your cellphone was off so I volunteered to inform you of it." She glanced over at Yua, who now drew up to Henry guardedly. She bowed her head politely. "Hello again. Thank you for continuing to look after Henry."
Yua's blue eyes met Renamon's. The kitsune felt as though she were being searched over.
Interesting…
"It's no problem," Yua said coolly. Renamon saw her flexing her fingers, as though they were claws. "He requires looking after."
"Sounds like she and I are on the same page," Terriermon said, hopping atop Renamon's head.
"Terriermon…" Henry groaned. Before the rabbit-dog digimon could even start to say 'momentai' Henry said, "I'll be there." He turned to his teacher and bowed respectfully. "I'm sorry. This is something I have to do."
The teacher, a rotund woman with shortly-cropped hair, nodded numbly, her eyes focused intently on Renamon. "We, ah, can discuss this later."
"I'll bring you notes after class," Yua said. Henry nodded to her in gratitude and then returned to his computer where he proceeded to log out. After packing up his things, he left the room, leaving his classmates to stare attentively at Renamon and Terriermon. Yua especially. Renamon felt the girl's assessing eyes bore into her. She felt her fur bristle slightly in response. Yes, she felt something – aggression perhaps – emanating from the human and directed toward her. Renamon inclined her head toward her again and drew away from the room. Disappearing back into the thick leaves of the tree with Terriermon, she found Impmon waiting for her.
"Well?" the dark-furred digimon asked. "What do you think about her, Toots?"
Renamon glanced back in the direction of the building, her eyes contemplative. "Unusual," she admitted. "Even for a human."
"I'm gonna stay behind to keep an eye on her."
"Don't you think you're taking this a little too seriously?" Terriermon asked.
"You're certainly not taking it seriously enough, and you're Henry's partner!" Impmon scolded right back. "And don't say momentai!"
"I wasn't going to, but you seriously do need to take it easy." The long-eared digimon sighed. "She is weird. I'm not going to argue. But humans are weird, period. She might be just weirder than what we're used to. Besides, how do we know that tail you saw wasn't her digimon partner? Renamon can drop in from out of nowhere half the time anyway."
"Did she have a digivice?" Renamon asked.
"I didn't see one."
"Me neither," Impmon huffed. He folded his arms together. "Look, it's not going to hurt if I keep an eye on her. Whatever's going on with Takato and Rika doesn't need me sitting in on it. If it's something serious, Fox Face can tell me later."
"That's reasonable," Renamon nodded in agreement. "I advise that you don't do anything that might harm her. If she does have a partner, it would be best to not provoke them into a battle."
"You'll get no argument from me there." Impmon leaned back on the branch and folded his arms behind his head.
Her ear twitched at the sound of the school's door being opened. She turned to find Henry exiting the building.
"I believe that's our cue," Renamon said. "I'll look in on you later."
"Make sure you're on your best behavior while we're gone!" Terriermon chirped.
"Momentai," Impmon grunted. Renamon teleported away with her charge before Terriermon could respond in kind.
"He's stealing my lines!" the long-eared digimon grumbled once Renamon materialized next to Henry. "There's seriously got to be a law against that."
"Momentai," Renamon said before turning to the Rookie's partner. The boy looked at her, his grey eyes searching her blue ones anxiously. "Hello, Henry."
"Hey…Renamon." He coughed awkwardly.
"And what am I? Chopped liver?" Terriermon asked from atop Renamon's head. Henry's mouth quirked, becoming a strained smile.
"Hey, Terriermon."
"That's better!" The rabbit-dog leapt over to Henry's head. "Momentai! Both of you! We have important things to talk about and we can't have you two acting like Takato and Rika before they got together! Stuff that involves Yua."
"Y-Yua?" Henry arched an eyebrow in bewilderment. He looked at Renamon for confirmation. The vulpine digimon nodded regretfully.
"Impmon has reason to believe that she is involved with a digimon in some manner," she explained.
"He said he saw a fox tail on her window reflection when he met up with us."
"Yua? And a digimon?!" Henry came to a halt and looked up at the window of his classroom with alarm.
"It might be that she has a digimon partner," Renamon said. "Impmon will keep an eye on her. In the meantime, it might be a good idea to inform the others about this, just in case there's something to be concerned about."
Henry shook his head, completely unsure how to take this news. Seeing his uncertainty, Renamon placed a paw on his shoulder. Henry turned back to her and once again their eyes met.
"I am sure things will be alright," is something Takato would say, Renamon thought. Yet, she found she couldn't summon the words to her lips. Saying something certain in the face of uncertainty felt too much like lying. She didn't feel comfortable doing so to Henry, no matter how well meaning her intentions.
"We will determine what is going on," she said instead. "For Yua's sake."
"That's right!" Terriermon said, giving Henry's head a squeeze with his ears. "Momentai! I'm sure it's not another IceDevimon situation. Otherwise, something would have already happened by now!"
Renamon frowned, not sure if she agreed with her digital companion. IceDevimon had been in the real world for an unknown length of time and then spent the better part of the day stalking Rika, getting her worked up so she would isolate herself before making his move. "There's no guarantee that such won't still be the case," she said. "We must remain on guard, especially if the digimon in question is able to evade our ability to detect it."
"That's…a good point." Terriermon pouted. "Guilmon's right. You really are right all the time."
"Why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" Henry asked.
"Maybe because I'd like to be right for a change?"
"I'm sure you'll get your chance one of these days." He smiled at Renamon. "You're right. Let's talk to Yamaki. Maybe he can come up with something."
Renamon's expression softened into a smile and she nodded in agreement.
"Shall we?" she asked, holding out her paw. Henry gazed at it for a moment before taking hold of it. Renamon's claws closed gently around him, causing his hand to all but vanish within her massive grasp. Terriermon giggled.
"In public?" he teased. "You two are so naughty."
"Rude," Renamon replied just as Henry breathed a heavy sigh.
"Terriermon…"
"Momentai!" the long-eared digimon chirped happily.
Deciding they ought to get moving, Renamon tightened her grip around Henry's hand and the three of them faded from view.
###
Impmon breathed a sigh of relief at how silent things were with Terriermon gone.
That's better. Now I can hear myself think for a change. Sheesh. How does his partner manage with Rabbit Stew always chatting away like that? No wonder why he's always yelling at him whenever he gets up to making fun of someone. Motor mouth really needs a padlock before he gets into serious trouble.
Impmon stretched and then yawned. He had to admit, he was starting to wonder if perhaps he really imagined things after all. So far, his target hadn't actually done anything more out of the ordinary than give people unsettling looks. Humans did that all the time without needing encouragement from the digital world. Even his partners had their moments, even though they were better behaved now than when he first met them.
He adjusted his seating. Once he found a more comfortable bit of bark for his tush, he frowned at the window. Yua stood there, her piercing blue eyes gazing directly at him. Though the leaves hid him quite well, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she pinpointed his location.
"Yeah? What're you looking at?" he muttered under his breath, too low for the human ear to detect at this distance. Yua, however, smiled knowingly. Then, turning, she walked back to her seat.
Impmon shuddered, wondering if he was the one who needed a padlock for his mouth instead.
###
"Ryo!" Kazu exclaimed happily at the sight of the Legendary Tamer upon entering through Hypnos' doors. "Top of the morning to you! What have you been up to…late…ly…"
Kazu's words died in his throat at the sight of Rika and Takato following Ryo from behind. When it came to Ryo, he took his movie star appearance for granted. Rika as well. Regardless of what she wore or didn't, when it came to looks, he always thought she looked quite beautiful. Even when fights with digimon got rough, he could say with complete and utter confidence that she looked stellar. In fact, he believed that no situation existed that she couldn't come out of looking excellent. So, when she appeared with her hair done up differently and what appeared to be dark red lipstick, it gave him pause, but not enough to make him question why.
Rika being Rika, she was crazier than catfish.
Takato on the other hand remained an entirely different story. So much so, he had to double check on Guilmon to make sure that whatever went on with those two hadn't spread to him either.
Guilmon looks pretty normal. That's good at least. Kazu breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of the red dinosaur digimon done up in tacky outfits and wearing makeup made his skin crawl. He looked back at Takato.
"Whoa, Chumley! What's with the hair? Did you accidently fall into a bathtub with actual soap for a change?"
"Zip it, Kazu," Rika growled. She grabbed hold of Takato's hand and then reflexively pulled him closer to her. Remembering the beach, Kazu held up his hands and threw on a cheesy, placating grin.
"Hey, take it easy! I'm just asking questions. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you saw his hair have a look like that? It's practically glowing!"
"Takato was helping Rika with a photoshoot," Guilmon explained. Kazu lifted an eyebrow at the saurian.
"A photoshoot? I thought Rika wouldn't go near those things with a fifty-foot pole. Are you sure she didn't accidently mistake it for something else?"
"Her mom wanted it to be a surprise for her since she was helping out."
"Guilmon, don't tell him that!" Takato scolded.
"But why? It's no longer a surprise, right? Besides, if Kazu doesn't know, he might digivolve you into NoPantsmon again."
"I… Guilmon!" Kazu protested. "That was just the one time! And only because I wanted to let Rika know what I thought she was missing out on! It wasn't my fault I didn't know they were already together!"
"You know we're in a lobby, right?" Takato asked while Rika glared angrily at Kazu. She looked about ready to add more, only for Takato to give her hand a gentle squeeze. She bit her lip.
"Kazu," Ryo sighed. "Just let it go, okay?"
"Okay, if you say so." Kazu shrugged nonchalantly. "Looks good on you though," he grinned at Takato. "I bet Rika'd like it if you went out more like that."
"I like him just fine his usual way!" Rika snapped, only to blush furiously once she realized what she just said. Kazu chuckled.
"Man, this digi-egg stuff must really be frying your brain if you're talking about what you like about Chumley."
"Where's Kenta?" Ryo asked, hoping to shift the topic of conversation to something other than their two friends.
"Kenta's in the little boy's room. Suzie's getting some grub for Lopmon from the vending machine." He thumbed the direction where the pair were located. "Where's Henry?"
"Renamon went to Henry's cram school to pick him up," Rika replied. "They'll be here shortly."
"Well, that answers that then." Kazu turned his focus back on Takato. The sheen on the goggle-wearing boy's hair gleamed brightly and it looked silky smooth. "Jeez, Chumley. What did you use for your hair?"
"I honestly don't know," Takato shrugged. "I just sat down in the chair and the stylists did their thing."
Kazu leaned forward, inspecting his friend's scalp. Reaching out, he poked a finger into the silky mess. Rika yanked Takato away.
"There'll be no touching of his hair." Rika tightened her grip around Takato's hand. "What's gotten into you? Did a digimon eat your brain or something?"
"I just wanted to make sure a digimon didn't replace his hair. Why do you care all of a sudden?"
"I'm sure it's got something to do with you yanking his pants down on a public beach, or so I've heard," came Suzie's voice as she and Lopmon approached, drinks and snacks in hand. "I don't blame her." She beamed at Rika and Takato. "Glad to finally see you two numbskulls got together. When's the wedding?"
"Oh, for goodness sake…" Rika rolled her eyes. Suzie didn't press her teasing. She could see the tension in both of them and could easily guess why.
"So, any clue what's going on with that digi-egg?" she asked instead. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kenta and MarineAngemon making their way back. There came a round of shaking heads.
"It must be something serious," Ryo said.
"How observant, Ryo," Rika huffed. "What was your first clue? When Yamaki messaged us or when our digivices acted up?"
"I bet it hatched or something," Kazu said. "I doubt Yamaki would call all of us together if it broke down like they said it was doing."
"He does have a point," Takato agreed. He felt Rika's hand tighten around his at that. He smiled and stroked her back with his thumb. "Hey, it'll be alright."
Rikak pressed her lips together, resisting the urge to verbally bite at him for saying something he couldn't actually know.
It's just his usual optimism, she reminded herself. She drew in a sigh to calm her nerves. It didn't help. Instead, her tension remained and with it a misplaced annoyance towards her gogglehead. I've got to remember he means well.
She felt something tug at the corners of her mind. Recognizing it, she turned to find Renamon phasing into view with Terriermon and Henry in tow. At first, relief flooded her at the sight of her partner, but she felt something gnawing in the back of her partner's mind.
"What's up?" she asked when the trio drew up to the group. Renamon shook her head.
"Possible trouble."
"Henry's girlfriend," chimed in Terriermon.
"Terriermon… She's not my girlfriend," Henry sighed.
"It can wait," Renamon said. She shot Terriermon a warning look. Terriermon shrugged.
After letting Yamaki know they had all arrived, an agent guided them to the main control room.
"Glad to see you're all here," Yamaki greeted while, above him, Riley and Tally swiveled around in their chairs.
"How do you guys see in this place?" Kazu asked pointedly. "Seriously, this room is darker than Kenta's gym locker."
"Hey!" Kenta protested, but before anyone could say anything further, Yamaki snapped his lighter closed with a loud click. Kazu caught the intended message and quieted.
"The digi-egg hatched less than an hour ago," Yamaki continued. He indicated a nearby screen where a number of eggshell fragments floated in digital space. "It abruptly developed a digi-core and underwent rapid maturation."
Rika felt her mind flush with worry, imagining a tiny digimon escaping into the digital space. "Where is it?"
"We don't know," Yamaki admitted regretfully. "At least, not precisely. The tracer we imbedded is still tracking its movements, but for some reason we only have a vague idea of its location. We've deployed additional tracers to locate it, but it has so far proven evasive."
"Sounds like they get that from you, Renamon," Terriermon teased.
"Not now, Terriermon," Henry berated. He then turned to Yamaki. "Does it have anything to do with how unstable the data field ocean is? New information can change spatial relationships after all."
"We're looking into it right now," Yamaki replied. "Some unusual 'currents' were detected before the digi-core formed within the egg."
"I wonder what could have caused that," Takato mused, rubbing at his chin. He then looked at Rika. "Hey, our digivices reacted, didn't they? Could that have something to do with it?"
"Maybe…" Rika frowned. "But I thought our digivices were 'fixed' so they couldn't do anything to the digi-egg."
"There may have been a residual connection that we weren't aware of. It's quite possible that a strong enough surge of emotion from the two of you might have been enough to help finish the digi-egg's development."
"Man, so these two were at a fashion shoot together and their emotions got hot enough to help it hatch?" Kazu asked. "What were you two doing that made that happen?"
"That's none of your business!" Rika replied heatedly.
"Rika…" Takato began. Rika pulled her hand away from his and folded her arms together. Seeing this, Takato then fixed Kazu with a hard look. "We weren't doing anything except having our pictures taken."
"You also kissed and promised you'd have each other's backs," Guilmon pointed out. Rika turned toward the crimson dinosaur, anger flashing in her eyes. For a wonder, Guilmon remained undaunted and instead cocked his head in confusion.
"Why are you so mad? It's not like you were doing anything bad."
"I…" Rika hesitated. Why am I so upset? She shook her head and unfolded her arms. "Sorry."
"We're not judging you two," Ryo pointed out. "If anything, I think it's cool. It shows just how much you two care about one another."
"Yeah, it's just like a wedding vow," Terriermon added without a trace of humor in his voice. Blushing, Rika glanced over at Takato and saw, even in the darkness of Hypnos' control room, he mirrored her. The boy smiled and, in spite of herself, she returned it.
"Maybe," she said reluctantly. She reached out and took hold of Takato's hand once more. "I did feel something powerful then."
"Same here," Takato nodded, giving her hand a loving squeeze. "Maybe that's all it took."
"You guys are crazier than a fish sandwich," Kazu grinned. "No wonder why you got together."
"In spite of your pants shenanigans," Terriermon quipped.
"I'm never living that one down, am I?"
"Well, you're certainly not living it up."
"Sir," Riley spoke up from her chair. "We've detected the trail of the digimon newborn. Directing tracers towards it now."
"Can we get a visual?" Yamaki asked.
"The data stream is congested, but I'll try to clean it up," reported Tally. Her hands moved along her control panel. A screen flickered to life, displaying the familiar circuit boards of the spatial warp between worlds.
"Where is it?" Rika asked. She stepped closer to get a better look, but the screen showed nothing but circuit boards as far as the eye could see.
"Riley?" Yamaki asked.
"Working."
The scene expanded into its neighboring screens and the image magnified. The Tamers finally caught sight of something moving along the circuitry.
"There!" Henry announced, pointing. Terriermon leaned forward, squinting his eyes.
"It's pixilated. I can't tell what it is."
Rika felt her heart singing away inside her chest. Her mouth was dry. Almost painfully so. She ignored it though and drew up to the screen. There, she placed a hand upon its surface.
"Hey there," she said in a soft whisper. The pixilated figure – little more than a formless blob – continued to scamper away. Rika's eyes traced over it, burning its image – what little she could see – into her memory. It looked so small. So fragile. It reminded her of Calumon when she first saw him, and how his small, fragile nature tugged at her heart in a way she hadn't believed it capable of at the time. She felt Takato step into place next to her and his hand joined hers.
"Hey little guy," he said. "Welcome to the world."
"Can we speak to it?" Rika asked, glancing anxiously over at Yamaki. The man shook his head. Rika scowled.
"It's okay," Takato said. "We'll find a way to talk to it." He ran his tongue over his lips, brow knotted with thought. "I know this place must seem strange and big, but it's nothing to be afraid of as long as you're careful."
What is he…? Rika began, only to realize a second later. It was just like with the Ark, before it became sentient.
Perhaps more than that, she thought. Since receiving their digivices, so many strange things happened to them. From the very beginning, Takato dreamt of her before they ever met, and the bonds with their digimon strengthened to the point that they could not just feel their pain, strength, and even their thoughts during battle, they even merged with them physically. In the digital world, there were moments where they had been able to hear each other's voices despite being separated, and now, recently, her and Takato's dreams intwined with one another, merging to create a brand new digimon.
Could there be a chance that we can talk to it just like this? She suddenly felt hesitant, unsure of herself. What do I say to it? We're your mom and dad? To come home to us?
"We don't mean to frighten you, though we probably look pretty scary," Takato continued. "Fact is, we're kinda curious about who you are. And we'd kind of like to get to know you better. Maybe hang out and play games, if you're into that."
The screen blurred and the image nearly vanished. Takato looked over at Yamaki with alarm, but it quickly cleared up again.
"I'm getting a huge surge of data in the area surrounding it," Tally reported. "I'm attempting to compensate, but I don't know how long we'll be able to maintain visual."
"Is it attempting to bio-emerge?" Yamaki asked, flicking his lighter open. Riley shook her head.
"Negative. Its path appears to be taking it on a direction toward the digital world."
"Why would it be doing that?" Rika asked, perplexed. During their last trip to the digital world, many digimon expressed a desire to go to the real world and find a human partner. Did something change since then?
"Maybe he thinks it's like a game of tag or something," Kazu suggested. "I mean, going to the digital world would be a pretty good way to win."
"Don't be ridiculous," Rika castigated. Her expression softening, she leaned closer to the screen. She wanted to say something, but words failed to come to mind. I don't even know if anything is actually reaching it. Can't it just give us a sign or something that it hears us? Anything?
Once again, the screens blurred, and this time there would be no clearing it up. The blurring grew worse until the image became completely indecipherable. Soon enough, all of them dissolved into nothing more than bright light.
"Contact terminated," Riley reported from her position above them. "An intense warping was detected just before we lost visual. I believe the Wild One has gone to the digital world."
Rika felt her throat tighten at that. Gone. The digimon she and Takato made had gone. Left for the digital world. A place much, much more dangerous than where it had been. Cold fear found itself a home in her stomach. She banged a fist against the screen and finally found her voice.
"Don't…" she whispered before choking up. Clenching her eyes shut, she banged her fist against the screen again. She felt Takato's arms wrap around her. Anger swelled up inside her, directed at herself.
It's all my fault, she thought, drawing back from the screen. I couldn't say a thing. It left because of me.
###
A/N2: Working to get back into the swing of things.
So…yeah. Apologies for the absence. That upper respiratory infection I had left me with a little surprise where a thyroid nodule swelled. At first it didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but then suddenly there was a lot of muscle tension in my neck where it's located, pressure in my head and some muscle weakness. Not sure what it was *actually* doing apart from making me seriously uncomfortable (bloodwork says everything is fine otherwise), but since my visit to the ER I've been managing it with foods good for the thyroid and anti-inflammatories for the surrounding areas. I have ups and downs, but nothing as good or bad as previously. Going forward involves a biopsy sometime in the next month or so to make sure it's not cancerous (possible but unlikely, given it only has a 5% chance). At present, no other idea what to do about it except to keep doing what I've been doing and just tend to the symptoms until I know more about its root problem and how to deal with it. We'll see what happens.
-Crazyeight
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