Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Lost ❯ Hearts ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Neverwhere 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.12.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 1.9K | Visits: 285 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 04.12.2003 | Pages: 4 | Words: 1.9K | Visits: 285 | Status: Completed
Chapter 8 - Hearts
"Hello dear, how was the party?"
"The party? Oh, that. It was okay, I guess."
"Okay Rika, what's wrong?"
"I… it's nothing mom, I'm going to bed."
"Rika… I'm your mother, we may not be as close as others are, but I still know when something's bothering you. Tell me."
"Only if you promise not to tell anyone. Not the authorities, not the other tamers, no one."
I waited for my mother's promise. She wasn't getting a thing without it.
At least she keeps her word when she says things now.
Things between mom and I had gotten better after D-Reaper. I knew Takato had only specified the other tamers in his promise, but I knew if he were here he would have amended it to include mom too. He's like that.
And now he's back.
"I promise Rika."
She smiled at me then, probably wondering exactly why I needed the promise.
"After I left the party, a digimon appeared at school, but when I got there, it was already defeated."
"So?"
"There were tracks in the mud. One set was human, another set was the Cyclonemon that was deleted, and the other…"
"Yes?"
"Renamon swears that they're Guilmon tracks."
"Then…?"
"I might have seen proof that Takato is still alive."
Again, as I thought of him, I fingered the goggles at my waist. Mom noticed. She notices more than I had thought at first.
"And you still like him, don't you?"
I blushed insanely deep. This was not going at all the way I expected it too.
"Wh… where would you get a stupid idea like that?"
"Oh, come on Rika, mothers notice these things. That far off look you get whenever someone says his name, the way you touch those goggles for reassurance whenever you don't know what to do. If you know how to read the signs Rika, it's clear that you've been head over heals for him for a long time now."
Oh boy. Mom is definitely more perceptive than she looks.
I gulped. The room suddenly seemed very small, and my throat went completely dry. I sighed.
No use hiding it now.
"Do you think anyone else knows?"
"With the way you usually act young lady, probably not."
"We…well, goodnight mom."
Mom chuckled as she spoke.
"Goodnight Rika, pleasant dreams… of Takato…"
"Grrrr."
There are days I really hate my mom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I growled as Tai and Henry walked in and sat down. They obviously had some really secret way to get into the building, because not even Renamon could see them approach the building, but they were never late for class. It was incredibly irritating. I simply couldn't find them. Not after school either. Oh, Henry was easy enough to spot, he walked Jeri home everyday, but Tai just seemed to disappear after school yesterday, not to be seen again until this morning, since he ducked out to give us 'privacy' for our party.
Stupid Tai.
As if the letters weren't confusing enough, when Kazu mentioned wanting to meet Tai, Henry paled like he had just been struck with lightning. They were hiding something, I knew it.
And I'll find out what it is too.
Ms Asaji spoke.
"Class, as you know it's the end of senior year. As you may, or in Tai's case may not, already know, it's tradition here at West Shinjuku High for every senior to write a report as his or her final grade. But, this year, we've decided to let you off a bit easier. You still have to do the paper, but you'll be working in pairs."
She brought out a relatively large box with two holes in it. She used that box all the time for group project assignments. One hole had slips with names in it, the other had topics in it.
"Let's get this started shall we?"
She reached into one of the holes in the box and pulled out two slips of paper.
"The first pair is Henry and… Jeri!"
Figures, somehow they always seem to get paired up. How do they manage it?
"The second pair is Tai and… Rika!"
I imagine it would have been faintly amusing to watch the sweat instantly appear on the back of Tai's neck if I hadn't been so angry myself.
Of all the stupid luck… How the hell did I get stuck with him!?
"All right, now, select one of your partners to come up and get a topic out of the other hole. Quickly now!"
Great…
"Get up there. Stupid baby…"
"Me?"
How dense is this guy?
"No, the moron in front of you. Move. Now."
He sighed in defeat, slumped his shoulders and hung his head.
"Yes, Rika."
I smirked.
Maybe this won't be too bad after all.
I watched as Henry reached in and grabbed a topic. He looked at it and smiled. He showed it to Jeri, who smiled as well.
Somehow they always get the good topics too. While I always get the crappy ones. How the hell do they do that?
I had a side view of Tai as he went to grab our topic. It was strange. He reached in and pulled out a topic. He looked at it, and then looked like most people do when they look down one of my glares. Scared out of their minds. Then his hood moved. It might have been a passing student, but I didn't think so. Then his eyes narrowed and he came and sat back down, an angry frown on his face. He handed me the slip without saying a word.
*The life of Takato Matsuki*
Great. Just great. Why me?
"Okay, now that you've gotten your assignment, I need a volunteer to take the box back to my office."
Tai instantly raised his hand.
"All right Tai, you can go. It's down the hall to your left."
I waited for Tai to come back. It took about ten minutes before he opened the door.
"Ms. Asaji…"
Teacher's pet.
"Yes, Tai?"
"I'm sorry Ms. Asaji, but I took a wrong turn. The box fell down several flights of stairs and broke. I was forced to throw it away."
"Tai, there's only two levels to the building."
"I know. I'm occasionally really clumsy."
Ms. Asaji sighed.
"Just sit down Tai."
"Yes, Ma'am."
He came and sat back down, muttering something about stupid rabbits.
"How can you be that clumsy?"
"It was on purpose."
Taking frustration out on the box? He's more immature than I am.
"Somehow I don't think the box deserved it, Glove-boy."
"It didn't, but the Terriermon inside did."
"Henry's Terriermon was in the box!?"
"Yes."
"I'll kill him!"
"Easy Rika, I don't think Henry knew."
I calmed down. He was right. Terriermon would do something like that unauthorized. Henry wouldn't ever cheat in school in any form.
"All right Glove-boy. Let's get started. We should talk to people who knew the Gogglehead."
"Didn't you know him pretty well?"
It took me a second to answer, as I was fighting off the urge to cry. So, I only answered softly.
"Not nearly as well as I would have liked…"
"Rika?"
"Nothing. We'll talk to Kazu and Kenta. Them were his best friends before he became a tamer. They'll have some good info."
Tai turned several shades of green then.
"What's wrong Glove-boy?"
"N…nothing, just… something occurred to me that's all."
The mystery deepens. What's with him?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So then Chumly screamed like a little girl and ran off screaming!"
As I recall it was Kazu who screamed.
"Kazu, that was you who screamed. Takato was fine with having Ms. Asaji another year."
"Kentaaaaa… Fine, so it was me who screamed and ran off, but Takato was still scared!"
Well, I must admit that I was a little freaked out… but sheesh. When is Rika gonna get too pissed off and send them running like she used to?
I glanced to my right at Rika, who was twitching slightly.
Good. Shouldn't be long now.
Surprisingly, Rika managed to restrain herself, and the conversation lasted another ten minutes. In my notes I idly corrected the times that Kazu switched himself with me, Henry or Kenta without saying anything. Then, Kazu made a life-threatening mistake.
"Soooo, Rika. Tai your boyfriend?"
I blushed, Kenta and I looked at each other, nodded just like we used to, then simultaneously dove into the bushes next to us and peeked out. You could almost see steam come out of Rika's ears. Kenta gave me a weird look. He looked like he was going to say something, but then Kazu screamed like a girl again, and took off, Rika in hot pursuit.
"Well, that could have been worse."
"How did you do it?"
"That? I've been Rika's classmate for two days Kenta."
"That wasn't what I meant."
"What did you mean then?"
"How did you survive this long?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"In the digital world."
Oh, crap.
"I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Come on… Takato! You think that some hair dye and contacts are gonna fool me? After everything that's happened? I mean I've known you since you were six! We did the almost-mind-reading thing again just now, like we used to when avoiding Kazu when he had some crazy scheme."
"Kazu didn't notice…"
"Kazu barely has a single functioning brain cell and we both know it."
I sighed.
Today has not been my day.
"Look, Kenta. Don't tell anyone. Please. Henry's the only other person who knows."
"Look Takato, you've changed. You never used to be this desperate."
"You've changed too Kenta. You never used to be this smart. Look, come by Henry's tonight… without Kazu, and I'll tell you where I've been all these years, and what I'm up to now,"
"One question Takato. Are you one of these 'evil' tamers?"
I smirked. Then I laughed.
"Me? Kenta, that's rich. Me, one of them. Of course not. I haven't changed that much."
He smiled.
"That's good."
Then, using my best James Bond impression, which isn't very good at all, I said:
"I'm Gallantmon. ChaosGallantmon."
Then we both collapsed into helpless laughter, and headed out to find Kazu before Rika could kill him. For a second, just a second, it was just like old times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the week passed relatively smoothly. Rika and I didn't get much on the project done, but I knew if push came to shove I could simply write the stupid thing myself. A couple of attacks came, but they were wild ones, nothing serious. Kenta hung out with Henry and me a lot and we reminisced about old times. As I stood watching the train that would take them back home, two things occurred to me, both of which were slightly disquieting.
One was what I had said to Henry. Too many years, too many differences. I had grown apart from the other tamers. Talking with Kenta proved that more than just distance had separated us. We had other interests now. Things would never go back to being 'the same'. The second was that I felt out of place. The saying goes: home is where the heart is.
But then, where does my heart lie?
"Hello dear, how was the party?"
"The party? Oh, that. It was okay, I guess."
"Okay Rika, what's wrong?"
"I… it's nothing mom, I'm going to bed."
"Rika… I'm your mother, we may not be as close as others are, but I still know when something's bothering you. Tell me."
"Only if you promise not to tell anyone. Not the authorities, not the other tamers, no one."
I waited for my mother's promise. She wasn't getting a thing without it.
At least she keeps her word when she says things now.
Things between mom and I had gotten better after D-Reaper. I knew Takato had only specified the other tamers in his promise, but I knew if he were here he would have amended it to include mom too. He's like that.
And now he's back.
"I promise Rika."
She smiled at me then, probably wondering exactly why I needed the promise.
"After I left the party, a digimon appeared at school, but when I got there, it was already defeated."
"So?"
"There were tracks in the mud. One set was human, another set was the Cyclonemon that was deleted, and the other…"
"Yes?"
"Renamon swears that they're Guilmon tracks."
"Then…?"
"I might have seen proof that Takato is still alive."
Again, as I thought of him, I fingered the goggles at my waist. Mom noticed. She notices more than I had thought at first.
"And you still like him, don't you?"
I blushed insanely deep. This was not going at all the way I expected it too.
"Wh… where would you get a stupid idea like that?"
"Oh, come on Rika, mothers notice these things. That far off look you get whenever someone says his name, the way you touch those goggles for reassurance whenever you don't know what to do. If you know how to read the signs Rika, it's clear that you've been head over heals for him for a long time now."
Oh boy. Mom is definitely more perceptive than she looks.
I gulped. The room suddenly seemed very small, and my throat went completely dry. I sighed.
No use hiding it now.
"Do you think anyone else knows?"
"With the way you usually act young lady, probably not."
"We…well, goodnight mom."
Mom chuckled as she spoke.
"Goodnight Rika, pleasant dreams… of Takato…"
"Grrrr."
There are days I really hate my mom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I growled as Tai and Henry walked in and sat down. They obviously had some really secret way to get into the building, because not even Renamon could see them approach the building, but they were never late for class. It was incredibly irritating. I simply couldn't find them. Not after school either. Oh, Henry was easy enough to spot, he walked Jeri home everyday, but Tai just seemed to disappear after school yesterday, not to be seen again until this morning, since he ducked out to give us 'privacy' for our party.
Stupid Tai.
As if the letters weren't confusing enough, when Kazu mentioned wanting to meet Tai, Henry paled like he had just been struck with lightning. They were hiding something, I knew it.
And I'll find out what it is too.
Ms Asaji spoke.
"Class, as you know it's the end of senior year. As you may, or in Tai's case may not, already know, it's tradition here at West Shinjuku High for every senior to write a report as his or her final grade. But, this year, we've decided to let you off a bit easier. You still have to do the paper, but you'll be working in pairs."
She brought out a relatively large box with two holes in it. She used that box all the time for group project assignments. One hole had slips with names in it, the other had topics in it.
"Let's get this started shall we?"
She reached into one of the holes in the box and pulled out two slips of paper.
"The first pair is Henry and… Jeri!"
Figures, somehow they always seem to get paired up. How do they manage it?
"The second pair is Tai and… Rika!"
I imagine it would have been faintly amusing to watch the sweat instantly appear on the back of Tai's neck if I hadn't been so angry myself.
Of all the stupid luck… How the hell did I get stuck with him!?
"All right, now, select one of your partners to come up and get a topic out of the other hole. Quickly now!"
Great…
"Get up there. Stupid baby…"
"Me?"
How dense is this guy?
"No, the moron in front of you. Move. Now."
He sighed in defeat, slumped his shoulders and hung his head.
"Yes, Rika."
I smirked.
Maybe this won't be too bad after all.
I watched as Henry reached in and grabbed a topic. He looked at it and smiled. He showed it to Jeri, who smiled as well.
Somehow they always get the good topics too. While I always get the crappy ones. How the hell do they do that?
I had a side view of Tai as he went to grab our topic. It was strange. He reached in and pulled out a topic. He looked at it, and then looked like most people do when they look down one of my glares. Scared out of their minds. Then his hood moved. It might have been a passing student, but I didn't think so. Then his eyes narrowed and he came and sat back down, an angry frown on his face. He handed me the slip without saying a word.
*The life of Takato Matsuki*
Great. Just great. Why me?
"Okay, now that you've gotten your assignment, I need a volunteer to take the box back to my office."
Tai instantly raised his hand.
"All right Tai, you can go. It's down the hall to your left."
I waited for Tai to come back. It took about ten minutes before he opened the door.
"Ms. Asaji…"
Teacher's pet.
"Yes, Tai?"
"I'm sorry Ms. Asaji, but I took a wrong turn. The box fell down several flights of stairs and broke. I was forced to throw it away."
"Tai, there's only two levels to the building."
"I know. I'm occasionally really clumsy."
Ms. Asaji sighed.
"Just sit down Tai."
"Yes, Ma'am."
He came and sat back down, muttering something about stupid rabbits.
"How can you be that clumsy?"
"It was on purpose."
Taking frustration out on the box? He's more immature than I am.
"Somehow I don't think the box deserved it, Glove-boy."
"It didn't, but the Terriermon inside did."
"Henry's Terriermon was in the box!?"
"Yes."
"I'll kill him!"
"Easy Rika, I don't think Henry knew."
I calmed down. He was right. Terriermon would do something like that unauthorized. Henry wouldn't ever cheat in school in any form.
"All right Glove-boy. Let's get started. We should talk to people who knew the Gogglehead."
"Didn't you know him pretty well?"
It took me a second to answer, as I was fighting off the urge to cry. So, I only answered softly.
"Not nearly as well as I would have liked…"
"Rika?"
"Nothing. We'll talk to Kazu and Kenta. Them were his best friends before he became a tamer. They'll have some good info."
Tai turned several shades of green then.
"What's wrong Glove-boy?"
"N…nothing, just… something occurred to me that's all."
The mystery deepens. What's with him?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So then Chumly screamed like a little girl and ran off screaming!"
As I recall it was Kazu who screamed.
"Kazu, that was you who screamed. Takato was fine with having Ms. Asaji another year."
"Kentaaaaa… Fine, so it was me who screamed and ran off, but Takato was still scared!"
Well, I must admit that I was a little freaked out… but sheesh. When is Rika gonna get too pissed off and send them running like she used to?
I glanced to my right at Rika, who was twitching slightly.
Good. Shouldn't be long now.
Surprisingly, Rika managed to restrain herself, and the conversation lasted another ten minutes. In my notes I idly corrected the times that Kazu switched himself with me, Henry or Kenta without saying anything. Then, Kazu made a life-threatening mistake.
"Soooo, Rika. Tai your boyfriend?"
I blushed, Kenta and I looked at each other, nodded just like we used to, then simultaneously dove into the bushes next to us and peeked out. You could almost see steam come out of Rika's ears. Kenta gave me a weird look. He looked like he was going to say something, but then Kazu screamed like a girl again, and took off, Rika in hot pursuit.
"Well, that could have been worse."
"How did you do it?"
"That? I've been Rika's classmate for two days Kenta."
"That wasn't what I meant."
"What did you mean then?"
"How did you survive this long?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"In the digital world."
Oh, crap.
"I don't know what you're talking about…"
"Come on… Takato! You think that some hair dye and contacts are gonna fool me? After everything that's happened? I mean I've known you since you were six! We did the almost-mind-reading thing again just now, like we used to when avoiding Kazu when he had some crazy scheme."
"Kazu didn't notice…"
"Kazu barely has a single functioning brain cell and we both know it."
I sighed.
Today has not been my day.
"Look, Kenta. Don't tell anyone. Please. Henry's the only other person who knows."
"Look Takato, you've changed. You never used to be this desperate."
"You've changed too Kenta. You never used to be this smart. Look, come by Henry's tonight… without Kazu, and I'll tell you where I've been all these years, and what I'm up to now,"
"One question Takato. Are you one of these 'evil' tamers?"
I smirked. Then I laughed.
"Me? Kenta, that's rich. Me, one of them. Of course not. I haven't changed that much."
He smiled.
"That's good."
Then, using my best James Bond impression, which isn't very good at all, I said:
"I'm Gallantmon. ChaosGallantmon."
Then we both collapsed into helpless laughter, and headed out to find Kazu before Rika could kill him. For a second, just a second, it was just like old times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the week passed relatively smoothly. Rika and I didn't get much on the project done, but I knew if push came to shove I could simply write the stupid thing myself. A couple of attacks came, but they were wild ones, nothing serious. Kenta hung out with Henry and me a lot and we reminisced about old times. As I stood watching the train that would take them back home, two things occurred to me, both of which were slightly disquieting.
One was what I had said to Henry. Too many years, too many differences. I had grown apart from the other tamers. Talking with Kenta proved that more than just distance had separated us. We had other interests now. Things would never go back to being 'the same'. The second was that I felt out of place. The saying goes: home is where the heart is.
But then, where does my heart lie?