Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Jeri's Very Interesting Week ❯ A Tamer's Guide to Dating ( Chapter 4 )

Note: Sorry for the wait. I wanted to catch the newer episodes and see Impmon digivolve before I wrote anything else.

Summary: Henry discovers the secret of Calumon's immense power, while Jeri and Takato hang out.

A Tamer's Guide to Dating

Henry fumbled with his hands nervously as his father stared out of the window. So far, nothing had been said, and he had a feeling it would only get worse.

"Do you know," Mr. Wong said suddenly, "where the first Digimon were created?"

"No, Dad."

He raised a finger and tapped his forehead. "Right here. Just a handful of college students, myself included, came up with them one day. Granted, the early versions were nothing like the ones you're probably used to. I guess by now they'd be outdated…or maybe even extinct, as it were."

"So…you helped create Digimon?"

"That's right, son. We came up with the basic programming that would become necessary for any Digimon to exist. Of course, it's probably been modified by now, but some things have to remain constant."

"Why are you telling me this, Dad?"

Mr. Wong turned away from the window and looked at his son. "Henry, the Digimon we created only got as far as the monitors on our computers. They were living creatures, but they were not living, breathing creatures that you could touch. Obviously, that was years ago, and it's no longer true." He frowned slightly. "What's his name?"

Henry blinked. "Him who?"

Mr. Wong just stared at him.

"Oh. It's Terriormon."

The expression on his father's face didn't change.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I was just hoping he was one I could recognize from the old days. Must be one of the newer ones." Mr. Wong cleared his throat. "Does Susie…?"

"No. She thinks he's stuffed." Henry paled a bit. "Which is starting to become a problem."

Mr. Wong almost smiled. "Well, if I rescued him, do you think he'd talk to me for a while? I've got some questions for him."

"Dad, if you rescued him from Susie, Terriormon would worship the ground you walk on."

* * * * *

"Come on, Jeri! You can do it!"

"Okay, okay! Stop yelling!"

"So do it already!"

Jeri took a deep breath and dialed the number, muttering nervously to herself. "Please don't be home, be at the park with Guilmon, just don't pick up the pho-"

"Hello?"

Jeri sighed in defeat and closed her eyes. "Hi, Takato. It's me."

"Jeri?" he said after a slight pause. "Well, this is a nice surprise."

Jeri's cheeks turned pink. "I…um…it is?"

"Sure. Actually, I was just about to invite you and Calumon to meet us at the park."

"Oh…really?"

"What's he saying, what's he saying?! Tell meeee!"

Jeri did her best to ignore the excited Digimon on her head. "That…sounds like fun."

There was a longer pause. "Jeri, is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Why would anything be wrong?"

"Well…you don't sound like…you. Y'know?"

"Um…I don't?"

"Don't what?" Calumon asked, bouncing on her shoulder.

"What was that?" Takato asked.

"Huh? Oh, that's Calumon. Hey…you wanna talk to him?!"

"I don't know if that's a good id-"

Jeri shoved the phone up to Calumon's face. "He wants to talk to you!"

"Great! Hi, Takato!"

There was an audible sigh on the other end. "Hi, Calumon…"

Jeri sighed in relief and collapsed across her bed. Talking to Takato had been so much easier back when he was just the cute boy on the other side of the classroom that was obsessed with Digimon. Now he was the cute boy who obviously cared about her a great deal. Things got so much harder when you were dealing with all these…feelings.

Calumon chattered on for another ten minutes before hanging up and hopping on Jeri's back. "C'mon, we gotta go, let's go, let's gooooo!"

"Go where?" Jeri asked.

"To meet Takato at the park! I told him I'd bring you!"

"What?!" Jeri grabbed Calumon and shook him. "Why'd you do that?! Now I HAVE to go!"

Calumon's eyes rolled about in his head for a few moments. "But…I thought you LIKED him?" he asked in a dizzy voice.

"I DO! But he can't KNOW that yet!"

Calumon frowned as his head cleared. "You humans are weird. If you like each other, why don't you just say so? That's what I'd do."

"It's not that simple!"

"Sure it is!" Calumon hopped onto her head. "I like you! See, that wasn't hard at all!"

Jeri groaned and shook her head. "It's just different for humans, Calumon. And now if I don't go, Takato will think I don't like him."

"So…you DO like him, but you don't want him to know. But if you don't go, he'll think you don't like him. So…if you DO go and you act like you don't like him, won't he just think you don't like him, anyway?"

"No! Because the fact that I showed up indicates I do like him, but the fact that I'm nervous indicates that even though I'm not feeling too good, I still want to be near him, and that means that I REALLY like him, but I can't say it."

Calumon frowned. "I still say just give him a lip thing and get it all over with."

* * * * *

"Did I mention I love you, Henry's Dad?" Terriormon asked.

Mr. Wong sighed and removed Terriormon's ears from his face. He'd never been face-hugged by two large, floppy ears before, and he didn't want it to become a habit. "Yes, several times. But I'll be happy if you can just answer some questions for me."

Terriormon started to leap to Henry's shoulders, then remembered what he'd just been through with Susie and decided he was still mad about it. "Fine with me." He chose the chair instead.

"Have you ever encountered a Digimon that seemed like it was unstoppable?"

Terriormon thought for a moment. "Well…everyone gets beaten, sooner or later."

"In that case, have you ever met one that seemed extremely difficult to beat?"

"Hmm…Mihiramon. That was one tough tiger. But I guess all the Devas have been tough so far."

"These Devas…are they good or evil?"

"Well, they seem to wanna kick the tar out of us, so my money's on evil."

Mr. Wong looked disappointed. "Oh. The Digimon I'm looking for would be good."

Terriormon scratched his head. "I would say Renamon, but she seems kinda evil half the time. Guilmon's okay, but definitely not unstoppable. Man, those first few days, I thought he'd never stop gettin' knocked on his butt…"

"Calumon!" Henry cried suddenly.

Terriormon and Mr. Wong looked at him. "What?"

"Um…I think it could be him," Henry muttered, blushing. "Well, now I do, after what Jeri told us."

"Does this Calumon help other Digimon?"

"Well, he's always around when we digivolve, and he keeps us entertained, if you call that helping."

"This is very important, son." Mr. Wong took a deep breath. "Is there a geometric shape anywhere on his body? It would be blue or purple or-"

"Red?" Terriormon guessed, looking at Henry.

Mr. Wong blinked. "Yes."

"Triangle?" Henry asked.

"That's…possible. Oh, dear."

"What? What is it, Dad?"

Mr. Wong looked worried and relieved at the same time. "I think we've found the protection program."

* * * * *

Takato watched Guilmon finish off the last of the day-old bread. "I don't think they're coming, pal."

"What? But why not, Takato?"

"I don't know, but it's been a whole half hour already. I've never known Jeri to be that late before."

"HI!" Calumon shouted as he suddenly dropped onto Guilmon's head. "We're here!"

"And you're late," Takato added, looking around. "Where's Jeri?"

"Right here," a voice behind him said.

He turned to see Jeri standing there, looking shy and generally nervous. "You okay?"

Jeri blushed and nodded quickly. "I'm fine," she muttered, looking away.

"Well, come on," Takato said, taking her hand and pulling her after him. "I know a great place where we can get free food."

Jeri looked down at her hand in his and turned bright red, thankful he wasn't looking at her.

Guilmon followed them at a distance. "Jerimon isn't supposed to be red like me, is she?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Calumon said. "They do that sometimes. Hey, maybe she'll give him a lip thing soon!"

"Is that anything like candy?" Guilmon asked hopefully. Takato always shared his candy.

"No, you can't EAT a lip thing," Calumon said wisely. "But they do make you feel yummy inside!"

"Oh," Guilmon said. "Maybe I can still have one, anyway…"

* * * * *

"A protection program?" Henry asked.

"I feel sorry for whoever Calumon's supposed to be protecting," Terriormon muttered.

"They were Digimon we inserted into the mainframe to police the others," Mr. Wong explained. "Digimon probably wouldn't like the fact that they were being controlled by humans, so we thought if we put the programs among them disguised as Digimon, they wouldn't get upset, since they didn't KNOW we were watching them."

"So Calumon's…a spy?"

"Not exactly. A spy would report back to someone, but if he were a protection program, Calumon would use his own logic system to determine right and wrong. He would protect what was right, and punish what was wrong. Although, some of the programs were flawed, and they might not function normally."

Henry and Terriermon looked at each other. There was NOTHING normal about the way Calumon functioned.

"Since Calumon helped you digivolve, he was obviously trying to help you protect humans from rogue Digimon."

"And what about when he digivolves himself?" Henry asked.

"A slightly different matter there. The programs would need to be powerful, in case they were the only ones capable of stopping a rogue. So we gave them the authority to access every Digimon's powers. At first, this was just meant to turn any rogue Digimon's powers back on them. But the programs grew smarter and stronger, and started using any Digimon's powers when needed. Still, they could only use it when something or someone was in danger."

"So is there any limit to a protection program's power?" Henry asked.

"Of course," Mr. Wong replied. "They can only use the powers of another Digimon offensively, because we only started them off with defensive powers. And no Digimon is all-powerful, so they can be defeated, but it's highly unlikely."

"So that's why Calumon never fought before," Terriormon said. "He really didn't know how without using someone else."

Henry frowned. "But when Jeri was attacked, he managed to digivolve, even though he didn't know exactly how."

"Because she was in danger, and there was no one else in range," Mr. Wong answered. "Calumon was forced to use his own powers to protect her."

"Where do his powers come from?" Henry asked.

"All the defensive powers of a protection program are stored in a single entity called the Matrix. It rests at the heart of the digital world, so deeply buried that no one, human or Digimon, should be able to reach it. Whenever a program needs help, it accesses the Matrix through its link-"

"The red triangle," Henry said.

Mr. Wong nodded. "-and is granted a certain amount of power. The amount is determined by the program's current level. For security reasons, the lowest level a program could have was Rookie."

"Calumon's definitely a Rookie," Terriormon chuckled.

"So in his current form, Calumon can only use another Rookie's powers?"

"Oh, not at all. A program can use ANY Digimon's attacks at ANY stage. Of course, they wouldn't have as much effect on a rogue if the stage and the attack didn't match up."

"Let me get this straight," Terriormon said slowly. "Not only is Calumon running around out there invincible and everything, but he can kick all our butts, too? The world just became VERY unfair."

"What happened to Momentie?" Henry asked with a smirk.

"Forget that! HE looks more like Princess Pretty Pants than I do, and he'd probably LIKE it."

* * * * *

Impmon slowly and painfully opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being blasted by Angemon.

"No, it was that little punk," he growled, remembering the supposedly innocent look on Calumon's face just before he digivolved. It wasn't possible. It wasn't logical. It wasn't FAIR. Calumon probably didn't have any experience in fighting. Why should he get all the power? Why should he get all the attention from the humans?

Impmon frowned and shook his head. No, humans were stupid and bratty. It didn't matter what got their attention. And if Calumon was stupid enough to hang out with them, well, he'd find out the hard way that humans were nothing but trouble. Impmon grinned evilly at the thought, then promptly passed out.

* * * * *

Jeri had never eaten so many different types of food before in her life. Takato seemed to know the best restaurants in town, and not just where they were located, either. He actually KNEW the restaurant owners…or they knew him, by the looks of it. They could hardly walk for ten minutes without someone spotting him and dragging them inside to try a new menu item. Jeri was so stuffed by the fifth place that she just started hoarding food in her dress to sneak back to Calumon & Guilmon (they had to wait outside).

But the really weird thing was that Takato wasn't trying to impress her. He made it look as if he did this sort of thing every day of his life. Jeri realized that this wasn't a date; Takato could barely gather the courage to be alone with her. Yet in every restaurant, he was a perfect gentleman, treating her like a queen. Whether he was doing this automatically or on purpose, Jeri couldn't be sure. They had been friends for a long time, but distinguishing simple acts of friendship from romantic gestures was becoming a real chore, so Jeri just sat back and enjoyed it.

Finally, they stopped at an ice cream parlor. Jeri got a tiny cone, but Takato got six large cones. Jeri had been shocked…until he gave one to Calumon and three to Guilmon, who seemed to be a bottomless pit.

"What about the other cone?" she asked.

Takato only grinned and held it up in the air.

Without warning, the cone was suddenly plucked neatly from his hand, vanishing into thin air.

Jeri's eyes widened. "How did you do that?"

"Cool!" Calumon cheered. "Do it again, do it again!"

Takato chuckled and leaned over to whisper in Jeri's ear. "Renamon's been following us since Shitsuki's House of Noodles."

Jeri nodded slightly. "But why?" she asked.

"Well, either Rika's insanely jealous and too busy to stalk us personally, or she's taken an interest in Calumon."

"I thought she didn't like him?"

Takato rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, she'll come around. You can only hate somebody so much when they keep helping you save the world."

Jeri smiled fondly at him. "You're so smart, Takato."

He blushed at bit. "Hey, it's getting late. I should take you home."

"Won't your parents mind if I sleep over?"

Takato's entire face was red now. "I meant YOUR home, Jeri…"

"Oh, okay." She slipped her hand into his. "Let's go then."

He nodded dumbly and practically let her drag him down the street.

"Takatomon's turning red again, Calumon," Guilmon pointed out.

"Hey, that's great! That means he might get a lip thing soon!"

"Will it hurt?"

"Only if he does it wrong, I guess…"

There was a heavy sigh somewhere above them. "You two are impossibly idiotic."

* * * * *

Rika frowned and checked her D-Power again. Unless it was broken, the clump of bushes just outside the zoo's monkey cage was concealing an injured Impmon. Her first thought was to summon Renamon and put the loser out of his misery. She was certain the attack on Jeri had been totally unprovoked. Not that Rika liked Jeri or anything. It was just that if she got hurt or dead, Goggle Boy would become distracted, then Guilmon would be distracted, and as much as Rika hated to admit it, WarGrowlmon did most of the work when it came to Devas (plus Guilmon had saved her from IceDevimon).

But then she paused. Impmon had to have a reason to hate humans in general and Tamers in particular. Whether it was a good reason or not wasn't up for discussion in his view, one-sided as it was. Still, Rika didn't know that much about him, and Renamon had hinted that humans had mistreated him once. Rika knew all too well what it was like to be mistreated; it was part of the reason she'd slipped out of the house so late this night. In a way, she really felt sorry for him. When she got cranky and violent, they called it a phase. When Impmon did it, they called him a monster.

It wasn't fair, she realized. But she could be, for a change.

With a sigh, Rika slipped the D-Power back into her pocket and headed home. She would keep an eye on Impmon, find out what made him tick. Maybe then she could keep him from getting his butt handed to him. After all, if Calumon could get her to loosen up, maybe she could be civil to a nasty Digimon.

Maybe.

* * * * *

Takato had been trying not to look. After all, Kenta & Kazu aside, Jeri was one of his best friends. He'd seen her a million times and knew perfectly well what she looked like.

Only he'd never really…looked.

Either that, or she'd never really looked this good. But the more time he spent with her, the more Takato realized that Jeri was definitely a lot more attractive than she had been at the start of their date.

….wait. This was NOT a date, when did it become a date?!

"Something wrong, Takato?" Jeri asked softly.

He blinked and glanced at her. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, we've been at my house for five minutes, and you still haven't said anything." She squeezed his hand affectionately.

Takato's face went blank. "Um…I was just…" He looked at her, suddenly helpless.

But she didn't continue to torture him with expectant silence. Instead, Jeri smiled. "I had a wonderful time. We should do it again soon."

Takato nodded rapidly. "Sure!"

Jeri glanced down. "I think this is where you let go."

Takato suddenly noticed he was still holding her hand. "Oh." Slowly, and even reluctantly, he released her hand.

"Thanks." Jeri grinned at him. "You're so funny, Takato. You always make me laugh."

Takato chuckled nervously. "Eh heh heh…"

Without warning, she stepped closer (a LOT closer) to him. "Well," she whispered, staring into his eyes, "I'll see you tomorrow, Takato."

Takato knew it would be wise to back up. Every remaining instinct in his body told him to, in fact. But for some reason, it seemed to make much more sense to lean forward. So he did. He noticed that Jeri's eyes were a brilliant amber color, radiating her innocence. At least, they had before. They were radiating something decidedly different now, though. Something quite…alluring.

He wasn't sure who finally leaned forward and sealed the kiss. Not that it mattered much after the initial connection. Takato was flooded with an overwhelming sense of awareness. A feeling that this was just…right. And Jeri didn't really complain when he wrapped his arms around her waist. He was only vaguely aware of her arms sliding around his neck. Kissing her was the only thing of importance at that moment. Not rogue Digimon, not the homework he hadn't done yet, not even the Devas. Only Jeri.

Finally, Jeri gently broke the kiss, her cheeks flushed.

Takato felt the need to say…something. Anything to ensure that the moment had really happened. "Jeri…I…"

She pressed a finger to his lips, stunning him into silence with a dazzling smile. "Good night, Takato." She kissed him once more, all too briefly in his now clearly biased opinion, then stepped back. Calumon dropped onto her head, giggling about "lip things" or something to that effect, and then they vanished inside the building.

"Takatomon?" Guilmon emerged from the bushes, looking curious. "What did she do to you?"

Takato blinked. "What DIDN'T she do to me?" he asked after a moment, shaking his head.

"So…no candy?"

"Candy? CANDY?" Takato stared at his Digimon. "Guilmon, how can you think of candy at a time like this?"

"What's wrong with now?

"I mean…I just…went on my first date, got my first kiss, and maybe even my first girlfri-" Takato froze, realizing what he was saying for (yup, you guessed it) the first time. "Is Jeri…my girlfriend?"

Something landed on Takato's head, but it was too light to be Calumon. He recognized it instantly, though: Jeri's puppet. There was a slip of paper sticking out of the mouth, which read, "YES!!!" Slowly, he looked up.

Jeri was leaning out of a third story window, grinning down at him. Calumon was perched on her head, still going on about "lip things" and why they were so cool.

Takato smiled and looked at Guilmon. "C'mon, buddy. Let's go home."

"Shouldn't you give Jerimon's thingee back?" Guilmon asked, sniffing at the puppet.

"I can do that later," he replied. "Like she said, I'll see her tomorrow."

And he did, too.

* * * * *

Continued in Chapter 5: Unexpected Allies

An act of kindness gives Impmon a new perspective on humans, and a Tamer to boot! But when his Tamer becomes interested in another Digimon, Impmon resorts to desperate measures to prove he's the best.