Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Being a Tamer ❯ Period of Adjustment ( Chapter 2 )

"This can't be happening," Jenrya muttered to himself as he walked down the sidewalk, Terriermon held in his arms. Shiuchon and Lopmon were a pace and a half behind him, and behind them were Jaarin and her new partner Gazimon. Their father was still at the Hypnos building taking care of some things unrelated to the data extraction experiment. "This just cannot be happening."

Terriermon tilted his head back so that he was looking his partner in the face. "Jen, moumantai," he told him. "Maybe it won't be that bad."

Jenrya looked down at his partner with an incredulous expression on his face. "'Won't be that bad?'" he echoed. "Terriermon, we're talking about Makuramon, the guy who tried to kidnap my little sister and kill Lopmon because she protected her! And now he's going to be living in our house! What if he tries something?" His face flashed with anger, and he shifted his gaze back forward so that he could watch where he was going.

Terriermon looked back to the front too. "Okay, don't moumantai," he said.

Back behind Jenrya and Terriermon, Shiuchon and Lopmon were walking side by side as the size difference between them made carrying her partner for long distances a little difficult for the youngest Lee daughter. As they walked, Shiuchon noticed that Lopmon kept glancing behind them, at Jaarin and Gazimon. She'd look back to the front every time Shiuchon caught her doing it, but once the little girl's attention was elsewhere, Lopmon would look back at the newest Tamer and her partner. Finally curiosity got the better of Shiuchon and she asked, "Lopmon? Is something wrong?"

Lopmon looked up at her partner in surprise. "Huh? Um, no, no. Nothing's wrong, Shiuchon-chan. I'm fine."

"It's okay; you can tell me," Shiuchon pressed. "It's probably having Gazimon around, isn't it? I'll bet it's weird having a former teammate suddenly back in your life all of a sudden."

"Yes, something like that," Lopmon answered. Inwardly she shivered. Shiuchon's explanation hadn't been the whole truth, but it was enough to satisfy her and hopefully Lopmon's Tamer wouldn't ask any more about it.

At the back of the group were Jaarin and her new partner. Jaarin had never been more excited as she had been when her silver and white D-Arc had appeared in her hands, marking her as Gazimon's Tamer. Finally she could be a real Tamer like Jenrya and like Shiuchon. But her excitement faded as the former Deva made it perfectly clear to everyone within earshot that he didn't want a partner. The vocal protests went on for the length of time it took them to get out of the building. By the time the Lee siblings had begun their trek back to their apartment, Gazimon had sunken into a silent funk. He rested in Jaarin's arms, his own arms crossed across his chest and his face fixed in an expression of stony anger. The only reason Jaarin was carrying him was to make sure that he didn't run off.

"Why don't you look on the bright side?" she asked, trying to engage him in conversation. "I've always wanted to be a Tamer, and now I am. We're a team now. We'll get to help Jenrya and Shiuchon and their partners take care of any wild Digimon that show up in the area. We'll be making a difference around here. Plus you'll get to work with Lopmon again; she used to be your teammate, didn't she? It'll be like old times."

Gazimon snorted. "Hmph! I rather be deleted and have my data absorbed again than help that traitor Lopmon and her friends. And that includes you!" he added with a sour glance in her direction.

Jaarin sighed; this was going to be harder than she thought. "What have you got against humans anyway? What did we do to you?"

"Humans are a disgusting, destructive race!" Gazimon declared. "You weren't content with polluting and corrupting your world; when you were finished with it you lot started messing with ours. So we have to take care of anything that threatens us. That includes you foul humans!"

"Well, like it or not what Qinglongmon said in there today was true," Jaarin pointed out. "If it wasn't for Dad and his friends, you wouldn't even be here." Gazimon arrogantly stuck his nose in the air, pointedly ignoring her. Jaarin sighed; it looked like being a Tamer was going to be a lot more difficult than she had first thought.

By the time dinnertime in the Lee household rolled around, Mrs. Lee and Riinchei had learned about Jaarin's new status as a Digimon Tamer. Mayumi didn't take the news very well, moaning about how another of her children would be out risking her life, but did her best to be accepting of Gazimon. Of course Gazimon's attitude didn't help matters, leaving Mrs. Lee to wonder how her sweet, polite eldest daughter could have been partnered with such a coarse creature. Rinchei complimented his sister about it, saying that he wished he had a Digimon partner of his own.

Don't be so quick to say that, Rin-chan, Jaarin thought as she glanced over at her partner. Gazimon was sitting at the small table that had been set up for Lopmon and Terriermon in the dining room, eyeing the bowl of miso soup that had been set in front of him with obvious mistrust. Every so often he would glance up at the humans at their dinner table, and shoot any one of them a glare.

"C'mon, eat up Gazimon!" Terriermon said in that rather cheerful way of his, something else that Gazimon found annoyed him to no end. "This stuff is really good! Mayumi-kaasan is a great cook!" Gazimon merely grunted in reply and continued to look at the soup.

Lopmon looked up from her own meal. "You've got to eat something, Gazimon," she said. "Starving yourself isn't going to do you or Jaarin any good. Besides," she added "would you rather be out foraging for your dinner instead?"

The scruffy rabbit 'mon glared at her, but picked up his spoon. She has a point. Damnit, she always does this to me! Why? he thought to himself as he dipped the spoon in his miso soup and brought it up to his lips. To his surprise it was quite good, better than some fare he had sampled in the Digital World and certainly much better than the real world food he'd tried when Zhuiqaomon had sent him to retrieve Culumon after his other eight Devas had failed. And it was definately better than having to search for food in the Digital World day after day. Before long Gazimon had finished the entire bowl. Glancing up, he noticed that Lopmon was quietly sipping her own soup, and that Terriermon had finished his own and was looking at him with an expression that clearly said, "I told you so." Gazimon clenched his fist and growled. Somehow the humans and their human-loving Digimon had taken him in, and he'd fallen for it. And that irritated him to no end.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, with each Lee wandering off to do his or her own thing. Janyuu and Jenrya disappeared into the boy's bedroom, presumably to look over the data from the extractor session earlier in the day, while Mrs. Lee went into the kitchen to take care of the dishes. Rinchei laid claim to the television and turned on a sports game while Jaarin and Shiuchon went into their own rooms. Gazimon noticed that Terriermon and Lopmon instinctively followed their Tamers, leaving him the only one left in the dining room.

It occured to him that this was the perfect chance to make a break for it. He could sneak out of the house, and with his knowledge of the layout of Shinjuku and knowledge borrowed from Impmon's data of where the only open portal to the Digital World in the city was, he could be heading back to the Digital World before the sun was even up. Grinning to himself, Gazimon crept toward the door. But as he reached out a paw to the doorknob to open the door, he found himself stopping. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't open the door. Why can't I do this? he wondered to himself. I want to get out of here, but something's stopping me! "Why can't I leave?" he asked himself aloud.

"Rinchei, have you seen my book?" Gazimon crept away from the door and peeked around the edge of the wall. Jaarin was standing behind the couch, glaring at her brother who was lying stretched out to his full-length on the couch.

"I left it here when Jenrya, Shiuchon-chan and I went to the Hypnos building this afternoon," she continued. "I know you had to have done something with it so you could use the entire couch as your lounge chair; now hand it over!"

Rinchei sighed and stuck one hand behind his back, pulling out a paperback novel. "All right, all right. Here," he said, holding it out to her. Catching a glimpse of the cover he grinned and commented, "Hey, this is a good book. How far have you gotten?"

"Fifth chapter," she answered.

"Ooh, that far? Too bad; the ending's really awesome. You wanna hear it?" Rinchei grinned. Jaarin snatched the book from him, then thwacked him on the arm with it before going back to her bedroom.

Could...she be the reason that I can't leave this place? Gazimon wondered to himself. She said that she'd always wanted to be a Tamer, and now she's my Tamer. Is that why I can't bring myself to leave? Gazimon stared after Jaarin for a few seconds before snapping himself out of it and shaking his head violently. "No," he said to himself. "I'm not going to let some pathetic human control my life. I'm going to get out of this place!

Why in the world can't I get out of this place? Gazimon thought to himself as he sat in Jaarin's bedroom window, staring up at the nighttime sky.

It had been a week since Gazimon had been reformatted, stripped of his powers as a Deva and made the partner of the human Lee Jaarin. Since that time Gazimon had made many more attempts to leave and head back to the Digital World, but each time could never bring himself to go more than five steps out the door. He kept justifying it to himself in his head: he was waiting until he had earned their trust and their guard was down. The other Tamers were probably guarding that portal to make sure that he didn't try anything. Mrs. Lee was a really good cook, as proven by her miso soup and some other dishes. But he promised himself that he wouldn't be staying around forever. He'd make it back to the Digital World even if it killed him. Again.

"Hey. What're you still doin' here?" a cocky, Brooklyn-accented voice asked, drawing Gazimon out of his introspection. He looked up to see Impmon on the fire escape in front of him. Without being invited, the goblin 'mon sat down on the windowsill beside him. "I thought you'd be back in da Digital Woild an' halfway ta da Land of da Four Holy Beasts by now."

"I...have my reasons for staying," Gazimon responded evasively. "What are you doing here, Impmon?"

Impmon stretched. "Insomnia," he answered. "Some nights I get a little restless an' can't sleep, so I wander around da city fer a bit." Gazimon nodded, as if he accepted the reason as a plausible one, and the two Digimon sat in silence for several minutes. The rabbit 'mon found it a bit unnerving, sitting next to a former opponent that he had once been a part of. After a while Impmon spoke. "Hey Gaz. You mind if I give ya some advice?"

Gazimon shot him a Look at the nickname, but said nothing.

"Don't be in such a rush to leave," Impmon said. "Dis Tamer ting really ain't dat bad, and neither are da humans."

Gazimon arched an eyebrow. "Strange for you to be saying that," he commented, remembering some memories he had gleaned from Impmon's own data. "Didn't you leave your Tamers for a time?"

"Yeah, I did," Impmon admitted "an' it was da biggest mistake I evah made in my life. Second biggest," he amended. "But in da end I realized dat I wasn't really complete wit'out Ai-chan and Mako-chan in my life. I needed dem just as much as dey needed me. An' sure, dey fought, 'specially over me, but dey outgrew dat an' loined to share when dey realized it was what made me leave in da foist place. It's da same wit Shiuchon an' dat dress-up game she likes ta play." Gazimon shuddered, remembering back to earlier in the week when he'd narrowly escaped being pulled into that game. "Sure, it annoys da heck outta Terriermon an' Lopmon, but dey know dat she don't mean anyting hoitful by it. An' someday she'll grow outta it. Ya jest gotta give da humans a chance. Dey're not all as bad as Zhuiqaomon makes 'em out ta be. An' I know ya hoid dis before, but Qinglongmon was right. If Jaarin's dad an' his Wild Bunch buddies hadn't built dat machine, yer data would still be mixin' wit mine and ya wouldn't have dis second chance."

Impmon got up and stretched, popping a couple vertebrae in his back as he did so. "Well, I gotta get back before one-a da twins wakes up an' notices I'm missin'. I don't wanna make 'em tink dat I ain't comin' back agin. You tink about wat I said, capice? See ya 'round, Gaz." With that Impmon walked off into the night, in the direction of his own home.

Gazimon stared after him, and kept staring even after Impmon had disappeared into the shadows. A lot of what he had said weighed heavily on Gazimon's mind. He also knew that much, if not all of it, was true, what with his data having been absorbed by Beelzebumon and kept a part of Impmon all this time. And it made an inner part of Gazimon wonder if Impmon was right in suggesting that he give Jaarin a chance. It's only fair, he thought to himself. After all, she stood up for me when the other Tamers were ready to leave me to die or something. He turned around and laid his eyes on Jaarin's sleeping form. Something inside of him stirred as he looked at her. I guess I'll give it a chance, he thought to himself. Gazimon hopped down out of the window, quietly walked over to Jaarin's bed, climbed up on it and curled up at the end like a dog. Kid, you've got yourself a Digimon, he thought before falling to sleep.

When Gazimon woke up the next morning it was to the usual sounds of morning chaos in the Lee household as the kids got ready for school and Janyuu got ready to go to work. He looked around, a bit disoriented, until he remembered his conversation with Impmon the night before and his own decision to sleep on Jaarin's bed instead of on the floor like he usually did. The door opened and he looked up in time to see Jaarin enter.

"Oh. Morning, Gazimon," Jaarin greeted him. She'd bade him good morning every morning since the first day that she had brought him home. But now Gazimon noticed a distinct lack of conviction between this most recent greeting and the first cheerful "Good morning!" that she had issued him. Maybe I've got something to do with it, Gazimon thought to himself. Quietly he watched her pull her school uniform out of her closet.

"Um, Jaarin?" he spoke up nervously. The girl turned around and looked at him expectantly. "Um, you don't mind if I go to school with you today, do you?"

Jaarin blinked. Before this Gazimon had never expressed an interest in going to school with her. The first time she had asked if he wanted to go, he had given her a Look that plainly stated that he'd rather have a root canal done without painkiller. He reserved similar looks for Terriermon and Lopmon as he watched them accompany their tamers to school. After staring at him in disbelief for a few more seconds Jaarin finally asked, "Why?"

"Huh?" Gazimon said.

"Why the sudden interest in wanting to go to school with me?" Jaarin asked again. "I thought you hated humans and didn't want a thing to have to do with us, especially me. Why'd you change your mind?"

Gazimon fidgeted. "Well, I...did some thinking last night," he answered. Gazimon wasn't really sure he wanted to admit that it had been Impmon who had caused him to think twice about several things. "And I realized I haven't been exactly fair to you. So, can I?"

Jaarin smiled. "Sure."

Jaarin had been excited by the fact that Gazimon wanted to put some effort into being her Digimon, and was proving it by going to school with her. But as they entered the school yard, she began having second thoughts. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed as her fellow schoolmates caught glimpses of Gazimon for the first time. Some did double-takes, while others just stared and some others even pointed and whispered. Jaarin thought she caught the words "scruffy" a few times as she walked past, Gazimon seated on her shoulder. Personally she thought it was kind of cute; even though he looked like a rabbit, in some ways he still acted like a monkey.

The pair made it inside the school building with no problems, probably because people were too surprised by what they saw, Gazimon figured. Ignoring the whispered comments and stifled laughter that was building, Jaarin walked with Gazimon to her homeroom class and sat down at her desk. "So, what exactly do you do in here?" Gazimon asked, watching as other students filed in and sat down at their own desks. Jaarin began to quietly explain the concept of the public school system to him as a sallow-faced girl with short-cut brown hair approached her desk.

"Well, well, Lee Jaarin," she said, and Gazimon noticed a distinct snide accent in her voice. "What do we have here? Is this one of the rejects from your little sister's toybox?"

"Toybox reject?" Gazimon thought to himself. Why that little stuck-up... I've got a good mind to send a good Paralyze Breath her way.

Jaarin took a deep breath, reminding herself not to give this girl the satisfaction of knowing she'd gotten to her. "No, Sango. This is Gazimon. He's my Digimon partner."

Ogino Sango arched an eyebrow. "You" she repeated "have a Digimon partner?"

"Yes," responded Jaarin. "We've been partners for a week."

"Then why hasn't he come to school with you before?" Sango asked with a smirk.

"Because we've been working out some differences," Jaarin answered calmly. She scowled as Sango reached out and tweaked one of Gazimon's ears; Gazimon jerked back and favored the girl with a scowl of his own. "Could you leave him alone, please? He's not something for you to pick at."

Sango tucked her hand close to her chest. "Hmmph. Why would I want to hang around something so mangy anyway?"

"He is not mangy! Gazimon is a very well-kept Digimon! And he's more polite than certain people around here!" Jaarin proclaimed.

The other girl smirked. "I wasn't referring to your...'partner,'" she retorted, emphasizing the word "partner" with a mocking tone of voice.

Gazimon felt a rush of anger well up inside of him. A few insults directed his way he could tolerate. But how dare this snob try to belittle his partner? Now he really had a good mind to try and Paralyze Breath her. To the surprise of everyone the scruffy-looking rabbit 'mon leapt up on the desk so that he was all but in Sango's face. "You watch your mouth!" he demanded. "Jaarin is my partner, and I won't stand for anyone putting down her or myself!" With that he sat down on the desk, legs dangling off of the edge and his back deliberately turned towards Sango. There was a smattering of applause from the other students who had gathered 'round, interested in seeing how this confrontation with Sango would turn out. Pouting, the other girl flounced over to her seat. The other students gravitated to their own desks as the teacher entered the room.

And Gazimon was the first thing she noticed.

"Miss Lee, what is that?" she asked, pointing to Gazimon.

"He is my Digimon partner, Mrs. Hotsuma," Jaarin answered. "His name is Gazimon."

"I thought I made it clear after the hamster incident that pets were not allowed in class," Mrs. Hotsuma told her. "I'm sorry, but he will have to leave. I'll let you leave class to go down to the office and call your mother to come pick him up."

Jaarin blinked; she wasn't going to let Gazimon stay! "You can't do that! He's not a pet, he's my partner! I'm his Tamer!"

Mrs. Hotsuma sighed. "Miss Lee, you are really trying my patience..." she started to say.

"Please, Mrs. Hotsuma," Jaarin pleaded. "Don't send Gazimon home. He won't disrupt the class, I promise!" Gazimon nodded to agree with her.

Back in her seat, Sango made a snooty noise. "If I were you, Mrs. Hotsuma, I'd throw that mangy litle thing out. He probably has fleas, and who knows what sort of diseases he might be carrying? And he threatened me!"

"Hey!" Gazimon yelped, offended. He glared daggers at the pale girl.

Jaarin jumped up in her seat, slamming her hands on the top of her desk (and nearly knocking Gazimon off and onto the floor). "You little snob; how dare you say that about Gazimon? He has more honor in one of his claws than you have in your entire body! And he did not threaten you; he only shouted at you because you provoked him!"

"I'm surprised he even knows what honor is!" Sango snapped back. Jaarin gasped and opened her mouth to retort, but the teacher stepped in.

"Miss Lee, Miss Ogino, I've heard quite enough out of the both of you," Mrs. Hotsuma said sternly. "Miss Lee, you know the rules about pets in school. And as for you, Miss Ogino, this is the third time this week that you've disrupted class. I'm not even going to bother with the hallway this time; to the principal's office, the both of you!"

Principal Miyamoto Yuusuke was known throughout the school as a stern, no-nonsense educator. He wanted Taiyou Academy to appear to the outside world as a professional school where only the brighest children of Shinjuku were taught. He was tempted to say that the brighest students in all of Japan went to his school, but he couldn't as long as the private academy in Tamachi and the Mugen Gakuen school in Juuban were still active. And of course, each school had its problem students.

Jaarin and Sango sat stiffly in the chairs in his office, trying not to squrim as Principal Miyamoto stared them down from across his desk. Sango was unconsciously gripping the armrests of her chair, as if to keep herself from bolting up and out the door. Gazimon sat on Jaarin's lap, the girl's hands clasped around his middle. Even the digimon couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by this man's presence.

Miyamoto looked at each girl, occassionally glancing at their records which lay open on his desk before him. He had seen Sango a few times before this present incident, always with the accusation that she had been copping an attitude with teachers. Miyamoto wished he could deal her a harsher punishment than detention, but then her parents were well-to-do people who helped fund a large part of the school and thought the world of their daughter, who was their only child. In short, Sango was pretty much untouchable. Jaarin, on the other hand, was a model student, the incident this morning not withstanding. She made good marks, was polite and friendly to her teachers and a majority of her classmates (one obvious exception was sitting right next to her). Plus she was the sister of two of the children who had helped save the city last year from that red, gelatinous mass that the Hypnos corporation had dubbed "D-Reaper."

Sighing, Miyamoto folded his hands on his desk and looked at both girls. "Now girls," he began "you both know that we neither allow nor condone fighting in this school."

"Yes, sir," the girls chorused.

"Miss Ogino, I've had this little discussion with you before I believe," he said to her. Sango nodded. "This time it will be a week's worth of after school detentions. If your parents have a problem with it, have them talk to me." Sango nodded, beaming, and Jaarin made a little sound, like a squeak, that may have been a protest. She stifled it when Miyamoto looked in her direction. "Now, Miss Lee. I believe this is the first time I've had you in my office for misbehaving in class. From what Mrs. Hotsuma tells me you refuse to send your pet rabbit home."

"He is not a rabbit," Jaarin said for what felt like the hundredth time. "He is a Digimon, and he is my partner."

Miyamoto waved his hand as if to brush this excuse off. "Digimon or not, Miss Lee, he is still an animal, and therefore still qualifies as a pet."

Gazimon hopped to his feet in Jaarin's lap and bent forward, placing his paws on the edge of the principal's desk. "Animal?" he repeated. "How many animals do you know that can speak fluent Japanese and try to live their lives as civilized beings?"

"A rather rude little animal, at that," Miyamoto added, non-plussed. "The choice is yours, Miss Lee. Either you call your mother and have her take your...Digimon home, or else you can call and tell her to come pick you up from school, as you'll be suspended the rest of the day." Jaarin was silent for a long moment, as if weighing her options. Finally she stood up, forcing Gazimon to jump off of her lap before he fell off.

"Don't bother calling my mother, Mr. Miyamoto," Jaarin said with more than a touch of anger in her voice, as well as a hint of sarcasm. "It's such a nice day, I think I'll walk." With that she turned on her heel and calmly walked out of the office, Gazimon trailing behind her. Sango and Miyamoto stared after her a bit before the other girl smiled to herself and shrugged.

"That's one less mangy cur to deal with," she remarked non-chalantly as the principal tried to figure out what had just happened.

Gazimon trotted after Jaarin as fast as he could, trying to catch up with her as she exited the school. "Jaarin, wait!" he called, afraid that he would get left behind and forgotten in her anger. The girl stopped and waited for him to catch up, then bent down to allow him to scramble up onto her shoulder again. For a while they walked in silence, until Gazimon finally turned, looked his Tamer in the face and asked, "That wasn't a normal day at school, was it?"

Despite herself, Jaarin had to laugh.

Review Responses

Since people are being nice enough to review and may have questions, I thought it would be nice to respond to their reviews and answer said questions.

Rika Wong: Thank you!

Krocket: Hope this wasn't too long of a wait for you. And thanks for the compliment. I recognize you from Archive's Diaries "community." Your story sounds interesting too, and I can't wait to see it (aren't background characters fun? :).

Akino Ame: I agree wholeheartedly! Thanks for the compliments, and I hope the wait wasn't too long for you ;)

Vashkoda: Thank you for your compliment! I'm glad you like the fic so far. Actually it was my friend Cynthia who came up with the idea for a machine that would extract data. I just thought up the technical stuff. Yes, Lilian and Rai are Daisy and Curly, respectively. I mentioned that in my author's note at the beginning of the chapter. Rai's full name is Rai Aishuwarya; she was the only member of the Wild Bunch aside from Janyuu and Dr. McCoy whose full name was mentioned. Lilian was just a name I picked for Daisy to keep with the "flower theme." Yes, Jaarin knew how dangerous a Digimon could be, but she just wanted to protect her sister. And it was pretty easy for them to ignore Gazimon since at the time he was still in shock about having his powers as a Deva stripped away from him.

Butterfly-fire: Is this soon enough for you? ;)

Cynthia, Piedmon's Lady: Thanks! I had lots of fun writing this (and I'm sure you had as much fun reading it as it progressed)!