Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digital Heart ❯ The Past ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

*Eight years ago*


“Oh, my head…” The young girl sat up, placing a hand to her forehead, pink-streaked blond hair falling around her face. “Where am I?”
She looked unsteadily around, vision whirling, and she tried to get her bearings.
She’d landed in the middle of a forest clearing, a pink purse that matched her cotton tank top sitting just out of reach of her hand. She imagined it was hers, though she didn’t know why, picked it up, and up-ended it on the grass in front of her, hoping something in it would give her a clue as to either where or—as she was now realizing—who she was.
She’d had no idea such a small purse could carry so much junk, and she wondered if she had actually needed most of it. Wadded up tissues with spots of lipstick, two mostly full bottles of nail polish—neither of which were coloring her fingernails or toes, as she could tell by the sandals on her feet—, invitations to parties, folded up flyers, twenty dollars, receipts, a compact mirror and foundation, and most important now, a student ID card.
“Laura Hibiya, seventh grade,” she read aloud. The mirror told her that her face matched the picture. “Well, I guess that’s me… But this doesn’t tell me where I’m from, or why I’m in a forest. But if I have amnesia, how do I know this is a forest? Maybe it’s not a forest at all! Oh, now I’m confused!” She slumped onto her back on the grass again, frustrated.
“Hey, so I’m not alone!”
Laura looked up to see a boy with wild brown hair and goggles jogging towards her, waving. He was wearing a red T-shirt and grass stained shorts. She waved slowly back.
“Hi!” he said energetically. Who’re you?”
“Laura. Laura Hibiya.”
“I’m Taki Kumamoto.” Taki pulled out his school ID card as proof. “See?”
“Look at that,” she said, picking up hers and showing it to him. “We go to the same school! Same grade, too!”
“Oh, cool! S’pose we’re friends?”
“We might be,” she said dubiously. “I actually don’t know.”
“Me neither; I woke up here with a couple of my things and a real nasty headache. Gone now, though. I remember words like ‘forest’ and tree’ and all that communication stuff, but I can’t remember anything about myself or my actual life.”
“Me neither! Wow, I’m so glad we met, I was beginning to wonder if ‘forest’ was really a word or if I was making it up!”
Taki smiled sheepishly. “Actually, I had that problem, too. I threw it out to see if you knew it as well.” They made eye contact, grinned, then started to laugh uncontrollably.
A rustling in the bushes around the edge of the clearing made both of them turn and look, and out tumbled a boy with fluffy blond hair in black shorts and a blue T-shirt. He looked younger than either of them.
“Uhm, hi,” he said nervously. “Do either of you know where this is?”
“No, we don’t,” Laura said. “We know our names and that’s about it. Who are you?”
“Jimmy Aogiri.” He bowed politely. “Nice to meet you. The only reason I know who I am is--”
“You found your school ID card?” intoned Taki and Laura.
Jimmy looked startled, then nodded. “Yeah.” He fumbled in his pockets for it, then proffered it to the other two.
“Wow, you go to the same school as us, too!” exclaimed Laura.
“Yeah, but look: He’s in sixth grade,” Taki pointed out.
“Doesn’t mean I’m not as good as you guys,” he said defensively.
“Whoa, hey Jimmy, didn’t mean any offense!” Taki scrambled for words. “It just means you’re younger, that’s all! I bet you’re smarter than me!”
“Yeah, I mean, for all I know I fail all my classes and never do my homework!” added Laura.
The sound of voices from the other end of the clearing made the three of them stop, and they turned to see two more girls walking towards them. One of them—a strawberry brunette with glasses and wearing a long and rust colored skirt—waved, saying something excitedly to her purple-haired companion, then started running towards the others. The purple-haired girl kept walking at her leisurely pace, her laid back demeanor not matching her loudly orange pants and black Lycra tank top.
“Hi!” the first girl approached. “I’m Rory Ikezaki.” She held up her school card, and the others held up theirs—all the same school.
“Oh, you’re in the eighth grade,” Jimmy said, sounding a little crestfallen. “You’re all so much older than me…”
The fifth girl, now in hearing range, said, “I wouldn’t be worried about it. You might be smarter than all of us put together.” She smiled warmly at him. “Sylvia Kobayashi. 8th grade. I’d show you my ID card, but…” Sylvia turned and glowered at Rory. “it got knocked into the bushes and lost when Rory crashed into me in the woods.”
“I am REALLY sorry about that,” Rory apologized. “I honestly didn’t see you there, I didn’t mean to smack into you like that.”
“It’s all right,” Sylvia said, sighing. “I found out all I needed to know from the first glance.”
“Do you go to our school, too?” Laura asked.
“Yes,” Sylvia stated. “Looks like we have a common thread, at least.”
“Maybe that’s why we’re all here!” Taki enthused. Maybe we all hate the same teacher or something.”
Laura and Rory laughed, Sylvia rolled her eyes, and Jimmy looked doubtful.
“Maybe it’s related to location,” Jimmy said. “Maybe we all live in the same area or something.”
“Or maybe we were at some social gathering together,” Laura offered.
“We won’t find out much more by standing here,” Sylvia pointed out. “I know they say you’re supposed to stay in one place when you’re lost in the woods, but I really doubt that applies here; I don’t think we wandered off into the woods and forgot everything.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“What do we do now, then?” asked Jimmy. “Which direction do we go?”
“We’re stronger in numbers,” Rory began, “so wherever we choose, we should probably choose together.” She looked around the clearing, turning in a slow circle. “I know that the direction Sylvia and I came from had a small stream, and there’s that old saying about following water to find people.”
“Why do they say that?” Jimmy asked.
“Historically, people built their homes near water so they didn’t have to walk far to get a drink or wash the dishes,” Sylvia informed him. “Though, I don’t know about this place. Maybe things here are a little backwards.”
“Let’s think hopefully and find that stream,” Laura cut in. “Makes no sense to worry about it otherwise.”
“Are you sure we’re all going to be safe in the woods?” Taki questioned. “What if there are wild animals out there? Are any of us athletic enough to take out a wild cat or a bear?”
Rory grinned. “I dunno, can you do a flip?” When Taki looked like he was seriously considering it, she hastily added “I’m kidding!”
The group of five agreed to head into the woods to find the stream again, trampling undergrowth as they stepped into the trees. The stream itself wasn’t that far; they heard it before they saw it between the densely grown forest, burbling merrily. They followed it downstream, but they hadn’t gotten a whole quarter of a mile before they heard something following them.
“What was that?” Jimmy started, shoulders tensing.
“Maybe there are animals in here after all?” Laura offered nervously.
Taki swallowed hard. “If there is, doesn’t that mean we should run?”
Whatever was behind them was crashing closer. It sounded big.
“If we run,” Rory said, “We’d better run now, and really, REALLY fast.”
Almost as one, the five of them started bolting down the stream’s banks, away from the noise and hoping there would be a break in the tree line soon. The stream curved and twisted before them, creating sharp turns they had to slow down for. Whatever was chasing them, it was starting to sound closer.
“Are we going to make it?” Sylvia cried. “Argh, this is not good!”
“Less talking, more running!” Taki yelled back. Sylvia tried to put on a burst of speed in desperate response, but tripped on a muddy patch and skidded across the ground and into a tree, making impact with her back and shoulders. She yipped in pain, and the others turned to see what happened.
“Aw, c’mon, we don’t have time for this!” Taki started impatiently, panic lacing his voice.
“We aren’t going to just leave her here,” Laura snapped at him. “We’ve gotta make a stand!”
“Don’t worry,” Jimmy said, trying to soothe Sylvia. She was biting her lip, trying to take her mind off her back, but it didn’t look like it was working.
“Remind me never to run on mud again,” she hissed through her teeth, trying to smile. Jimmy half-heartedly giggled and tried to help her to her feet before turning to face what was coming.
Bushes crashed and swayed, but nothing broke out. Instead, it spread and circled around them.
Taki blanched. “Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me; you mean there’s more than one?!”
“Well, maybe it means their smaller than we thought,” Rory said hopefully. “Maybe we can take them on…”
Then the undergrowth parted, and out leapt four of the most bizarre creatures any of them had ever seen.
“What the heck is going on?” Laura wailed, bracing herself for an attack as the others were doing.
But no attack came.
The monsters stood expectantly at their feet, staring up at them curiously. Jimmy was the first to relax, bending down to look face to face with the creature in front of him. It looked like a bear wearing a knit hat with the words “DIGIMON” printed around the rolled up cuff.
“Who are you?” Jimmy asked, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. It blinked twice, causing Jimmy to jump in surprise. Then it smiled in a way it must have thought friendly (it didn’t seem aware of its sharp, white teeth) and giggled.
“I’m Kumamon!” it announced cheerfully. Jimmy stared, then looked at Sylvia.
“I didn’t really expect him to respond,” he exclaimed. “You heard him talk too, right?”
Sylvia and Rory, one on each side of Jimmy, turned and stared at each other.
“Yeah,” Rory said. “It… talked…” She looked at the beast in front of her. Whatever it was, it looked like it had gotten lost in someone’s kendo training gear, and it toted a bamboo training sword. “Do you talk, too?”
It blinked, then bowed formally to her. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, lady. I am Kotemon, your Digimon partner.”
Rory blushed. “Wow, you’re really formal…”
Sylvia turned her attention to the monkey sort of creature standing in front of her. It had bright green fur, some of it in dreadlocks pulled into place by a bright red and very thick hair tie at the top of its head. It wore a leopard skin loincloth strapped over his shoulder, and a slingshot held it’s place on his back. It’s long green tail bended in and out of a question mark at her.
“I’m Monmon!” it announced. “I’m your Digimon, now and forever!”
Sylvia raised an eyebrow. “Is that a promise or a threat?”
Monmon laughed. “Pick one, pick one!”
Taki faced his Digimon. This one looked like a red and blue frog with several tails waving about behind him. It looked back, smiling shyly.
“I’m Elecmon,” it said benignly. “We get to be partners from here on out.”
“Uhm, nice to meet you?” Taki started, laughing nervously. “I’ve never met a Digimon before, I’m not really sure how to go about introductions.”
Elecmon’s smile widened. “Saying ‘nice to meet you’ works fine.”
Laura looked at her Digimon in bewilderment. It had blue eyes and a red flower petal like a helmet covering the top of it’s face. It’s hands were also flowers, and its body made it look sincerely like a walking tulip.
“I’m Floramon!” it announced cheerfully. “Let’s be friends!”
“Awfully forward of you,” Laura said, giggling. “All right!” She put out her hand. “Wanna shake hands on it?”
“Well, I don’t actually have hands, but I’ll shake flower with you!” It laughed. Flower and hand made contact.
In that instant, Laura fainted.
“Oh my gosh, what happened?!” Rory started, rushing over. “Laura, are you okay? Was it poisonous or something?”
Laura’s eyes opened, and she blinked a few times before speaking. When she spoke, it was rushed and confused.
“Soccer game!” she cried. “I was at a soccer game, and there was a brilliant flash of light and then I woke up in that clearing! Oh my goodness, Mom and Dad are going to be so worried, I disappeared from sitting right next to them!”
Rory and Taki fussed over Laura, trying to make her calm down. Sylvia stood nearby, looking as helpless as she felt and still wincing from her back, but Jimmy was looking contemplatively at Kumamon.
“What is it?” Kumamon asked, confused. “What happened to that girl?”
“I’m not sure. Hey, hold still a minute, okay?” Jimmy requested. Kumamon stood at attention, and Jimmy reached out and touched Kumamon’s nose.
He felt the ground slide away beneath him, and sound and vision faded before he found himself standing at the edge of a soccer field, cheering loudly.
“Go Taki!” he yelled. “Let’s take home a trophy!”
“Jimmy, calm down!” his sister insisted. “You’re so embarrassing sometimes.”
His sister was tall and blond, and honestly looked like she didn’t want to be there.
“You’re just mad because you have to watch me instead of go to the mall,” Jimmy snipped. “I thought you liked soccer.”
His sister grinned. “Some parts of soccer.” She turned her attention to a boy a little older than she was as he ran past in green and black soccer shorts and a matching jersey.
Jimmy rolled his eyes, once again condemning his sister to stupidity.
Then the world went bright, and then very dark.
Jimmy woke up to see Kumamon standing over him and looking worried, and Sylvia checking his vital signs and asking him how many fingers he saw.
“Three,” he said. Her face flooded with relief, and Jimmy felt suddenly guilty. “I’m sorry,” He said, “I should’ve warned you what I was doing. Has anyone else touched their Digimon?”
“Not yet,” Sylvia responded, then understanding hit her so hard Jimmy could almost see the light click on. “Oh! Hey, Rory, Taki, sit down and then touch your Digimon!”
The two complied, and a moment later both were caught from behind by Jimmy and Laura before hurting themselves as they fell backward, while Sylvia lay gingerly down and tapped Monmon’s foot.
Taki had been milliseconds from kicking a scoring goal, and Rory had been watching passively from the bleachers while her sister went ballistic as she cheered. Sylvia stated she hadn’t been far off from Jimmy and his sister-- she remembered this because she thought his sister was being stereotypically blond and irritating. That was about the point when they all saw the blinding light, and had ended up in the woods.
“Mom and Dad are probably really upset,” Taki started dismally. “And I let down the whole team AND our chance at the play offs in one fell swoop. How bad is that?”
Sylvia gave him a pat on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry about it. If they’re still mad when you get back, just tell them it was beyond your control. Which it was.”
“Yeah, let them be mad at whoever brought us here!” Rory declared. “It’s their fault, anyway!”
Jimmy rubbed Kumamon’s ears, then touched his paws, then tickled his tummy. Above the noise of Kumamon’s laughter, he announced, “Looks like we’re not going to learn anything else about what’s going on.”
“I can’t even remember where I live,” Laura sighed unhappily. “How do we get home if we don’t know where to go?”
“Looks like all we can remember is what we did or thought immediately before we got here,” Rory added. “I suppose we’ll run into other things that’ll trigger our memories. Hey, though, at least we know we sort of knew each other!”
“Yeah!” Taki brightened. “I was probably star of the soccer team! I bet you all knew me through word of mouth, at least!”
“I was thinking about what I was going to wear when I went to hang out with the girls,” Laura said. “I bet I was very keen on fashion.”
Before the others could add their own ideas, the bushes began to sway again, and the group turned to see what it was.
A boy, about their age and wearing a brown, hooded tunic and light pants, stumbled out of the brush, composed himself, and smiled winningly.
“I’m Gennai,” he said. “I’ve come to welcome you to the Digital World.”
“Oh, wow,” Laura sighed. “He’s so cute…”
Sylvia resisted the urge to turn her nose up in disgust and tried to ask nicely, “What’s the Digital World?”
Gennai turned a blue gaze on her, and she steeled herself and stared him down, refusing to allow herself to move no matter how badly she wanted to roll her pained shoulders.
“This place is the Digital World,” he said coolly, smile never leaving his face. “It’s the world that was created with the rise of digital technology. You’re all here because it needs help.”
“Why us?” Rory asked him. “And why couldn’t you have left us in the real world to help?”
“It’s a strictly internal problem,” he replied, “and you all have the most potential for qualities we need. It’s improbable to find all the qualities in a single human, and on top of that, we don’t really know what these exact qualities are.”
The group in front of him groaned collectively.
“Then how do you know you need us?” Taki demanded.
“Because you five seemed the most probable,” Gennai announced, grinning.
“One question,” Jimmy started. “Where’s your Digimon?”
Gennai looked at him evenly, smile faltering but not failing. “I don’t need one. I’m a digital being.”
Jimmy swallowed hard. Digital monsters, he could handle. But… Digital people?