Disclaimer:

Comrade Terror: I believe I'll let Growmon handle the disclaimer this time.

Growmon: The Growl says CT doesn't own Digimon but does own Altimamon.

Comrade Terror: Thanks Growmon.

Growmon: The Growl also says read about The Growl in CT's humor fic.

Comrade Terror: I'm sure they already have if they wanted to. Now I think it's time for you to…

Growmon: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK, JABRONI! The Growl is busy promoting The Growl in your other fic.

Comrade Terror: *Sighs and pushes a button. A trap door under Growmon opens up and he falls in.*

Growmon: The Growls says you haven't heard the last of The Growl! The Growl says The Growl'll be baaaaaaaa…

Comrade Terror: God I hate that third person stuff.

Finally an update! What's it been? One…two years? Hey, if you're still reading this, thanks for putting up with my long gap in between updates. Thanks also for all your support and reviews. I'm going to try to make more time in my ever-busy life for writing. I promise.

Ok, I'm going to try to answer some of the many questions I received. One thing I won't do though is give out spoilers. If you have a question about the future of the story, E-mail it to me and I'll answer it as best I can.

Q: Am I going to publish this?

A: No, unless I can come up with enough money to afford the royalties Toei would demand.

Q: Is Hirokazu going to be a Tamer and can we choose his digimon?

A: I don't consider this a spoiler because I figure most people have realized that he will be a Tamer. As to the later question, I haven't decided.

Q: Can you involve Shuichon more?

A: Actually, I'm giving her entire character an overhaul. If you look back you'll notice changes in the places about her. It's nothing that changes the plot, so you don't need to re-read it. There's a reason for this. I've discovered some info since my last update. It turns out that, according to Toei, Shuichon was SEVEN in the actual Tamers series. Yes, seven. Even though she was never shown as attending school and acted like a little kid. Anyway, this means that she's ten for TBAT. So she'll probably have a drastically increased role. After all, the other Tamers, except Ryo, were all ten in the original series, and look what they did.

Q: Why didn't the Holy Beasts let Ryo in on the meeting?

A: For the same reason Altimamon kept Fladramon and her troops outside. They have agreed to make it a friendly, Gods only assembly.

Q: Why do you put the Translate-O-Matic at the end of the fic?

A: I do that so that I don't spoil anything. Such as it would have in the last chapter. If I had put it at the top, everyone would have known Megalo Growmon would make his debut before it ever happened.

Q: Will there be any Yaoi, Yuri or crossbreeding in this fic?

A: Good question. I won't say yes, but I won't say no either. There very well may be some. I'm sorry if that upsets anyone. I hope you'll still read the fic even if there are possible Yaoi, Yuri and/or crossbreeding couplings or scenes in the future. No matter what happens though, straight couplings will always be the mainstream.

Phew, I think I got them all. Also, you may notice I changed the way the Tamer Digimon evolve. I did this after playing "Rumble Arena" (Believe it or not they are still making games for the PSX) and noticing how they evolve.

A quick dollar to yen exchange rate.

1$ (American dollar) = about 100¥ (Japanese yen)

On to the chapter:

~*~

To be a Tamer

Chapter 10: Different

"I can't believe it! A talking doggie!" the young child of about five or six cried while squeezing Plotmon like a plush toy.

The Digi-puppy groaned with wide eyes, "Shhh. Please don't yell, kid. Juri-chan doesn't want humans to know about me."

"You know Juri?"

"Yes, and I really need to go find her right now."

"She's not here, but you can play with me. I'm Masahiko," the young boy that was Katou Masahiko said proudly.

Plotmon sighed. This must be a low level human or something. At least I won't have to fight it, "Ok, Masahiko. Why don't we play hide and seek. You go count and I'll go hide."

"Great!" Masahiko dropped Plotmon flat on her backside and ran into the kitchen to begin counting. Plotmon shrugged and exited via the open window she had entered from.

In the kitchen, Mrs. Katou stared at her son, ho had his face down on the kitchen table, counting, "Masahiko-chan, what are you doing?"

"I'm playing hide and seek with a nice talking doggie," he said honestly.

Mr. Katou sighed, "All this stuff with your sister must have gotten you too worked up. Come on, it's past your bedtime."

"But dad…"

"Now."

"Aww…"

~*~

The following morning Takato stirred at the sounds of coughing coming from down the hall. Although half-awake, his mind quickly picked up on the absence of Ruki. He stretched and tried to shake off his drowsiness while he put on his clothes.

Walking down the hall, he once again heard the coughing sounds coming from the door to the bathroom. He quickly identified them as Ruki's. He knocked on the door, "Ruki, are you alright?"

"I'm a pregnant thirteen-year-old with morning sickness! Yeah, I'm totally fine!" she snapped at him from inside the bathroom. She sighed and flushed the toilet as her nausea faded.

"Sorry. I…didn't know."

"You want me to wake you up so you can watch?" she asked grumpily as she walked over to the cabinet to find some mouthwash.

"Sorry…" Takato sighed as he walked away from the bathroom door. As he entered the kitchen his nostrils were filled with the smell of eggs cooking.

"I made you two some breakfast," Seiko said.

"Thanks Hata-sam…I mean, grand-ma," Takato smiled politely, "but I'm really not that hungry."

"Nonsense, you need to eat before you go to school," she sat a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.

"Well," he inhaled the aroma, "maybe a little."

"Just give her time," the middle aged woman said.

"Hmm?" Takato managed with his mouth full.

"Ruki-chan. Be patient with her. She's going through a lot of changes right now."

"I know. I just wish she wouldn't take it out on me."

"She has that right. It IS partially your fault," Seiko said firmly.

He sighed, "I understand that. I just…I don't know. I guess I just want her to know that I care."

"She knows. If she didn't, you wouldn't be here right now."

"I guess so."

Hata looked at him, "Do you really want to help her through this?"

"Yes. How?"

"Do exactly what you are doing," she smiled.

"What?"

"You're there for her. You let her take her frustration out on you."

"Ok, but how does that show her I care?"

"It'll help rebuild her self-confidence, and that's something she really needs right now."

Takato smiled, "Thanks. Hey, I just thought of something. Aren't you surprised that I'm still here?"

"Ruki-chan told me all about what happened."

Matsuda gulped, "She did?" oh no. If Ruki told her what my mom called her…

"She said your mother got upset and fainted when she heard. Then your father said it would be best if you stay here."

"Oh," Takato felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his chest.

"Why? Did something else happen?"

He suddenly tensed up again, "Well…no…uhh…"

"He's just upset about his mom being angry at him," Ruki said, appearing behind Takato.

"Uhh…yeah. That's what happened. I guess I'm just…a little shook up," Takato said. He looked over at Ruki as Seiko went to get her a plate of food. She smiled at him and mouthed a 'sorry'. He smiled back. She loves me. She hates me. She loves me. She hates me. Now she loves me again. I know I'm doing the right thing but I just wish she'd pick love and go with it.

"I have no doubt all of this has upset her greatly, but she will accept it in time," Seiko said.

Lady, you don't know my mother. Takato snickered silently before speaking, "I hope you're right."

"You can have the bathroom now, Taka-chan," Ruki smiled at her lover and turned back to her grandmother, "Thanks," she managed to get out before she dug into her plate of food that her pregnant body was desperate for.

Takato sweatdropped at the sight. Wow. She eats about as fast as Guilmon. I don't know if I should be disgusted or turned on.

~*~

Youkomon awoke to the new day slowly. She immediately looked at her paw, sighing at the sight of blue/black fur. Why? I would always devolve within a few hours before. Is this some kind of punishment? Yes, the gods are punishing me for trusting that lying shadow creature and betraying Ruki. Youkomon's red eyes became moist at the thought of what she had done, "She forgave me! Why are you still doing this to me?! I am sorry! I want to be Ruki's digimon again!" she shouted toward the sky.

"Huh? Wha…" Guilmon snapped awake.

"Oh," Youkomon looked down at her now undersized lover, "Guilmon…I…uhh…" she blushed heavily, remembering what all she had done to him the previous night. She didn't even notice he was blushing as well.

Although he wasn't in control, he could remember exactly what his viral side had done. But there was more than that. It was something else… They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Guilmon looked down and kicked the ground sheepishly. He opened his mouth and looked back at her, "Rena…"

"Guilmon," she said at the same time. They both laughed nervously and stared some more.

"Did I hurt…" they both began again.

"This isn't going very well," Guilmon sighed.

Youkomon giggled, "I am all right. I was more worried about you."

"I'm fine," Guilmon said, "but what about you? Are you sure you're ok?"

"I am a little better than ok," Youkomon smiled.

"You're…not mad?" he asked in disbelief.

"Why would I be? I started it," she admitted in shame.

"Oh yeah," he blushed a little, "but you're not hurt, right?"

Youkomon giggled and approached him, "I said I was fine, did I not?" she attempted to nuzzled him, but ended up pushing him over. She blushed a little, "Sorry, I forgot."

"It's ok, but…when do you get to be Renamon again?"

"I…do not know," she said sadly. "Maybe never."

"I'll still love you," he said quickly.

Youkomon's jaw dropped, "T-thank you," she said, totally stunned by the abruptness of his comment. What about Ruki? Could she ever accept me like this permanently?

"I'll love you no matter what," Guilmon interrupted her worries with a warm hug around her neck.

He can accept me. In fact, his entire world seems to revolve around loving me, and making me feel better. Why can mine not ever seem to do the same? I hurt him, he forgives me, then I hurt him again, he forgives me and the cycle repeats endlessly. He deserves so much better.

"Renamon, are you listening?" Guilmon waved his hand in front of her face.

She looked down at him, "Why? Why do you stay with me?"

"I love you."

"But I have done so much to you. I have hit you, yelled at you, blamed you for things you did not do, I even…raped you…TWICE."

"What is raped?" Guilmon asked, desperate to understand the word he had been hearing so often.

"Rape is when you force someone to mate with you."

"Like Pajiramon did?"

He is so young and he has already been raped by two digimon, she thought sadly before answering, "Yes."

"Oh, that IS bad, but when did you do that to me?"

"You do not even remember our first time?"

Guilmon scratched his head, "Yeah, but when did you do 'rape' on me?"

Youkomon resisted the urge to giggle at the very serious situation, "I forced you to mate with me."

"But…that wasn't bad. I thought rape is bad," he said, trying to understand as best he could.

Now Youkomon was confused, "What do you mean was not bad? It was the worst thing I could have possibly done to you."

"When Pajiramon did 'rape' on me, it hurt…it really hurt bad. It hurt more than anything I've ever felt. When you did 'rape' on me, it felt good."

"It…did?"

"Well sort of. It kinda felt weird at first, but then I started feeling this new warm, fuzzy feeling inside my chest. Somehow I knew it was love, but I still didn't understand. Then you got sad and ran away before I got to say anything. I'm sorry. I don't know why I didn't say something then. I guess I'm broken or something," the fire lizard said with concern.

"No, Guilmon…" she fell silent, still processing the mouthful he had fed her. He did it again. All his naivety and he can probably see the world with more clarity than the gods themselves. She felt almost like crying, "You are not broken. You are perfect. You are the most perfect digimon in the entire world. You are far more than I deserve."

"Why?"

"You care. You care about everyone but yourself. Yesterday, you were trying to help me. I have hurt you so much…and you were trying to help me. Why?"

"Because I lo…"

"Love me. I know. Just as I know you love your Tamer, and would never hurt him."

Guilmon could help but be a little frightened at her darker tone, "You love yours too, don't you?"

"I…have no Tamer."

"But…"

"I know. I had a Tamer. I had the best Tamer in the world. I had the best friend in the world, but that is gone. It is all gone."

"I…don't understand."

"I have lost Ruki…FOREVER. I threw our partnership away. I lost everything. Not for her, not for you…for me. For my own damned greed. I wanted to know. I did not want to be confused anymore. I did not even think about how much I might lose. I thought about me. Only me."

Guilmon could only try to understand what she was saying, "Ruki…still likes you, doesn't she?"

"That is what she said. I believed her, but I also believed that this would go away. I would go to sleep and it would all be fine in the mourning," Youkomon's voice changed in a way that only a few people could detect. Guilmon was one of them, "Nothing is fine. It IS not fine, it WAS not fine and it never WILL be fine! Who the hell was I kidding?!" Youkomon slammed the ground with building anger and frustration.

"Renamon don't…don't get mad," her lover begged, for her safety and his own.

"Mad?! I am not mad. Who said I was mad?"

"Nobody, I just wanted to hel…"

"You just wanted to tease me. You just wanted to make fun of me because you still have a Tamer and I do not!" she growled and pushed him over with her paw. He sat up, but faced away from her, "Well…are you even going to look at me?!"

"No," Guilmon said firmly. She couldn't see it, but he was tearing up.

"Why not?" she asked in frustration.

"I don't want to say it."

"Tell me!" she demanded.

Guilmon sniffled, "B-because if I look at you like you are now, I…might forget how much I love you," he said in total honesty.

"You…" Youkomon fell silent. Her mind wanted to hug him and tear him limb from limb at the same time. Her muscles quivered as her mind raced. She spoke in a shaky voice, "I need to go. I need to be alone…NOW."

"No!" Guilmon said quickly. He jumped up and turned around, "You don't have to go. I'm looking at you again. See? I'm looking," he pleaded, but she just leapt away. He slumped over. Why does she always hate me? Why can't I ever understand her? I want to make her happy. I want to make her fell good around me like I do around her. I want to make her the happiest digimon in the whole wide world. I…want to know how to get back to Takato. Guilmon suddenly panicked, realizing his only guide back was long gone. Maybe…home is over here. I think that's the way.

~*~

Plotmon tried desperately to keep her eyes open. Adrenaline had kept her awake throughout her night search. Adrenaline that was now all but gone. She walked in a zombified quadruped manner. Must stay awake. Oh gods, I haven't had a good night's sleep in…I don't think I want to remember.

She stopped at large, decorative, public fountain and splashed her face with some water before continuing on through the recreational park area she had come to. I just wish I knew this world better…or knew Juri-chan better. I really should have stayed with her. I good partner probably would have. Gods, I have been playing the hero for most of my life. Why can't I be a good digimon partner? Is it me? Am I the problem? It seems that every time I get close to someone something bad happens to them and I can't do a thing about it.

Lost in her own thoughts, Plotmon accidentally tripped over a dip in the ground. She tripped forward on three paws before falling flat on her underside with legs sprawled out. She lay there, eyes closed and body still, save for the movement of her chest as she breathed. Within a few minutes, a small purr-like snore began coming from her.

~*~

Juri sighed, "I don't get Jen. I think he cares, then I think he doesn't understand me, then he does something to make me think he cares and then he does this to make me think he doesn't understand me. What is it, caring or not understanding?"

"Culu?" Culumon shrugged, he was quickly growing tired of all these confusing love questions.

"I suppose you wouldn't understand, would you?" Juri stared at him for a moment. She was sitting inside the same large playground structure where Takato, Hirokazu and Kenta came to play Digimon cards. The chamber was a small, windowed area with a hole in the ground for entering and exiting. Culumon had dropped by not long after she had arrived the previous night. She never did understand how he always seemed to be drawn to her. It was as if he were a second partner to her.

"No, but I do know that being sad isn't very fun."

"That's an understatement," Juri muttered. "Worrying and crying yourself to sleep isn't very fun either."

"Why can't you just be happy, culu?"

She giggled, "It's not that easy."

"You just laughed. That's easy to do."

"No, you don't understand. Even if I laughed the rest of my life, my problems wouldn't go away."

"But it would sure be funny."

"You're missing my point."

"You have a point on you?"

Katou sighed. This was the third or fourth time she had tried explaining this to him. Wait a minute, that's it! "Culumon, do you remember that digimon battle in the subway?"

"Culu," he nodded.

"And do you remember how you felt when you would hugging on to me?"

"Culu. I was so scared…and worried. I didn't want to see you get hurt, but I didn't know what to do."

"I knew it. That feeling you felt is what I'm feeling right now…sort of."

"But I'm ok. I'm not going to get hurt."

"No, not about YOU getting hurt. It's about Jen and Hirokazu-kun. I know I'm going to have to hurt one of them, but I don't which one. I was just going to let Hirokazu-kun know tonight that I couldn't date him, but now I wonder if I'm doing the right thing."

"Why do you have to hurt anyone?"

"I just do. I can't go on having two lovers."

"Culu?" Culumon scratched his head. "I love lots of things. I love you, Takato, Lee, Guilmon, Terriermon, Ruki, Renamon, Guilmon's bread rolls he gives me…I really love those."

She sweatdropped, "This is a different love. It's a special love. You can only give it to one person."

"Oh…gee that's sad. 'Special love' sounds really…special. You should give it to everybody, culu."

"It wouldn't be very special if I did that."

"I guess so. Hey, do Guilmon and Renamon have 'special love' for each other?"

"Yeah, but how did you know that?"

"Culu, they seem really happy together. Guilmon is always saying how much he loves Renamon."

"Yeah, that's 'special love'," I just wish Jen would act like that.

"Wow, that must be a lot of fun. I want 'special love'."

"You're a little too young for that."

"But aren't you young too?"

"Well…" Juri sat in silence for a moment. That's sounds so different coming from a Digimon. He…he's right. Even when Jen said it, I guess I didn't realize. Look at Takato. How is he going to support Ruki's baby? Is that it? Is that why Jen doesn't want to get close to me? It makes sense. Jen probably knows about Ruki, but I doubt Hirokazu does. Maybe I judged him a little quick on that, but what about our fight yesterday. Was that another attempt to protect me? Why? But…he never made any attempt to tell me to leave when we were in the subway against the other Deva. I don't know. It just doesn't add up.

"Culu?" Culumon interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Culumon. I was just thinking. What did you say?"

"I asked if you thought Plotmon would give me 'special love'."

"I don't know about that," Juri told him. Plotmon, my God I forgot all about her. I've had her for a couple days and have practically abandoned her. That's it! I'm through worrying about these stupid things. I missed a whole day of school over this. I'm going to go find Plotmon right now and apologize. Then I'm going to confront Jen after school and tell him the truth. I'm going to have to let Hirokazu down, no matter how much it hurts us both. I got myself into all this. I can get out of it. She smiled and patted the small white digimon on the head, "Culumon, you're looking at a brand new Katou Juri."

"Culu?" Culumon's green eyes scanned around the room. "Where did the old one go?"

"It's a figure of speech. Come on, let's go find Plotmon," she said as she sat the small Digimon on her shoulder.

"Great! Now I can ask her for 'special love'."

Juri sweatdropped, "I thought I said you needed to wait until you're older."

"Aww, but I really want some now."

Juri giggled at an image of Culumon and Plotmon that popped into her head. Eww, I can't believe I just thought that. Maybe I do need to settle down a little.

~*~

"And you told them everything?"

"Yes, Asanuma-sensei," Takato lied. This gets easier each time I do it. I don't know if that should fill me with pride or scare me.

"What did they say?"

"They…uhh…were very upset. My dad said he was really disappointed in me and my mom actually fainted," he half-lied.

"She fainted because she found out you were doing drugs?"

"Yeah. She's…uhh…just that kind of person. She faints a lot. Just last week she fainted because two characters on her favorite TV drama said they were getting divorced," Takato resisted the urge to laugh. He wasn't particularly fond of his mother's comments toward Ruki, and telling stories about her seemed like a nice consolation.

"Oh, I didn't know that. I'm sorry."

"It's ok, just don't tell it to her or she'll faint," he smirked.

"You shouldn't make fun of her, Takato," Nami scolded.

"Sorry, Asanuma-sensei."

"Sorry Asanuma-sensei," Hirokazu mimicked as he walked into the classroom. He smiled at his grammar teacher. "I see you're giving him hel…err…words for not coming in yesterday morning," he stuttered.

Nami gave him a harsh look, "Half swearing is rude too."

"Sorry, it slipped."

"Indeed, now what are you doing in here? School is about to start and you should be in your homeroom."

"Yeah, I just wanted to see how bad of punishment my buddy here is getting," he ruffed up Takato's brown hair while the Tamer just stared at him.

"His punishment is none of your business. He and I were having a private talk."

"A 'private' talk, eh? So he was trying to romance his way out of this."

Asanuma sighed and pointed out the door, "Get to homeroom, Hirokazu."

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you to alone for your 'private' talk," he smirked and walked out the door.

"And Hirokazu?" she called after him.

"Yes?" he said in a singsong voice, walking backwards back into the classroom.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning for another lesson on proper manners."

"Aww shi…uhh…cago. Chicago. It's a big city in America," he laughed nervously as he exited the room.

"He can remember Geography but he can't remember how to behave," Nami joked to Takato.

He giggled, "But why didn't you say anything?"

"I told you before, this is a personal problem and should remain that way. It's something you and your family must work on together."

"I understand…and I will. Thank you, Asanuma-sensei," he bowed politely before heading off to his own homeroom.

She shook her head. You can't fool me, Matsuda Takato. I've seen too many young boys act this way. I know there's something more you aren't telling me. I just pray that you aren't doing something that's going to ruin your life.

~*~

"You totally embarrassed both of us yesterday," Ryo scolded as he clung to his flying armored dragon.

"YOU totally embarrassed both of us!" his partner retorted.

"Me? I don't recall attacking someone that we were specifically told not to."

"She was an enemy."

"Maybe so, but she didn't do anything to us."

"She was going to attack you," Cyberdramon said frankly.

"No she wasn't. She was just curious. I could see it in her eyes."

"When did you actually look at her eyes?"

"Hey! That was uncalled for."

"But true?"

"No. I barely even looked at her."

"I am observant. Your eyes often wandered from your game. You were distracted by her every move."

"Bull!"

"Then why are you upset now?" Cyberdramon smirked.

"Because you're making me upset."

"I was always good at that," Cyberdramon smiled at his private joke as he landed. He set his partner on the ground.

"Alright look, just turn back into Monodramon and…"

"No! You will talk to ME, not him. This is our personal business," the dragon said firmly.

"We don't have 'personal business'. We're partners. We have a job to do," Ryo said. He noticed his 'contact' approaching, "Look, he's here. We can discuss this later."

"It's always 'later' with you," the dragon mumbled as he turned around.

Baihumon, Ryo's 'contact' nodded his head politely, "Greetings, justice warrior. I apologize for summoning you to my sector on such short notice, but it was urgent."

Ryo grew cautious immediately. Baihumon was rarely polite and never apologized for anything, "What is this all about?"

Baihumon smiled, "Straight to the point. I like that. I require your services. The Digital World's survival hangs in the balance."

The Digital World's survival ALWAYS hangs in the balance. I wouldn't even be here in the first place if it hadn't hung in the balance. Ryo resisted the urge to giggle as he spoke, "What do you guys need no…"

"No, not 'guys'…me. Only me."

"Only you? But why just you?"

"The others are too foolish to see it. Only I know what must be done to save the Digital World."

If I had five hundred yen for every time I've heard that one… "Which is?"

"You must go to the human realm and retrieve the savior digimon of legend."

"To…Earth? I get to go back to Earth?" the teen asked hopefully.

"Only to get the savior digimon. You must contact me as soon as you have her."

"Her? Just who is this savior?"

"A Renamon. According to my spies in Altimamon's…" Baihumon quickly realized his error.

Ryo threw up his arms, "Wait a minute. You said spies. Now I'm no Holy Beast, but I know for a fact that you guys agreed to stop spying on one another."

"What Altimamon doesn't know won't hurt him," the white tiger made a bellowing laugh. "But on with my mission…"

"Do any of the other Holy Beasts even know of this?" Akiyama interrupted.

He shook his head, "They can't see it. This is the only way. You must…"

"No, just stop. There's no way I'm going to go to Earth AGAINST the other Holy Beasts will to take a digimon. Plus, if she's on Earth, she probably has a partner, right?"

"Yes."

"I am not taking a digimon from her partner."

"Just listen…"

"No, I don't want any part of this. It's just plain wrong," Ryo began to walk away Cyberdramon silently followed.

"Wait!" Baihumon yelled, but Ryo didn't stop. "If you do this for me, I'll send you back!"

Ryo froze, and turned, "What did you say?"

"I said I could send you back, back to your realm."

Back. Back home. God it's been years since if seen my foster family. It's been years since I've seen another human period. No, no I won't be tempted. Well, maybe it won't hurt to ask, just a little. "Permanently?"

"Yes."

"Could Cyberdramon go as well?"

"If he wishes."

"But…in all the time I've been here none of you have ever talked about sending me back. Why now?"

"The savior digimon you bring back will help stop Altimamon for good. Your mission will have ended. I'm sure the other will have no objections to you returning."

"And if they do?"

"I will insist we return you."

Ryo stared at the ground, and then at his digimon. Cyberdramon gave him an uneasy look, "Whatever you choose to do, I will follow," he said. Despite all their past rivalries and clashes, the dragon would still go to the ends of existence for the teen. I know you better than you think I do, Ryo. We both do. Just as we know how much you've wanted this.

"I…still don't know."

Baihumon smiled. He knew he had struck a nerve, "I can give you a day to think it over. Meet me here tomorrow at this time with your decision."

Ryo nodded at Baihumon leapt away. Oh man, why can't things ever be easy? Even if I do this, I'm going to have to break some kid's heart when I take that Renamon. I don't know if I could live with myself if I…

"Do it," Cyberdramon interrupted.

"What?"

"Do it. Take the Renamon. It's your ticket home. We know that's what you truly want."

"But what about the digimon…and her partner? What about the other Holy Beasts?"

"You're always worrying about others. You never do anything for yourself. Do this one thing for YOU, not them."

"You used to do a lot of things for you and look what happened," Ryo said.

"This isn't just Millenniumon, Ryo. This is both of us. We both want you to be happy, and we both know going home to your family will make you happy," Cyberdramon said honestly.

"That's just it. I don't know if I could ever be happy knowing I stole a kid's digimon, even if I'm at home. Besides, weren't you questioning my desires a little bit ago?"

Cyberdramon smirked, "So you did desire her?"

"What?! No, no, that's not what I meant. Let's…let's just go back to Qinglongmon's sector," Akiyama said as he blushed nervously.

"As you wish," the dragon said as he lifted Ryo onto his shoulder.

~*~

Guilmon exited the forest passage and walked into…the same clearing where he had spent the night. He sighed. The forest's smells made his nose useless. Ohh, I'm never going to get back to Takato without Renamon's help. But what if she never comes back? What if I never get to see Takato again? What if I never see ANYONE again? Why did I have to go and make Renamon sad again? "I don't wanna be lost anymore! I don't want Renamon to be sad. Stupid! Stupid Guilmon! You're supposed to love her!" Guilmon sobbed while pounding a tree, his childlike side in full control. He stopped as he heard snickering coming from behind him. He turned.

"Why in the hell did she pick you?" Impmon asked as he stepped out.

"Impmon. Are you lost too?"

"No, I'm not lost too," he mocked. "I've been watching you for about an hour and you're still not closer to getting back."

"Oh. Can you help me?"

"Help you. Help you?! I wish you were dead."

"But…what did I do to you?"

"Hmm, let's see. You're a human lover. You swooped in a stole a womon that would have undoubtedly been mine. You're constantly acting like a little baby, but somehow still mange to win Renamon over time and time again. Your whole damned existence is what you did to me."

"I don't understand."

"I don't understand. I don't understand. You NEVER understand. Maybe that's it. Renamon doesn't want a guy with brains. She just wants her own private sex toy."

"Leave Renamon out of this!"

"Why should I?"

"She's a nice digimon."

"Well, she was…until your corrupted her," Impmon lied. He really didn't care anymore. All he knew was that this digimon seemed to be at the center of all his problems, and it was time to make him pay.

"Corrupted?" Guilmon recognized the word. Ruki had said it before, "What is corrupted?"

"You made Renamon evil."

"That's not true."

"Oh yeah? Then why was she a nice, normal digimon until she met you?"

"She's still nice!"

"Really? But why is she always sad? She was never like that before."

"She…she's not always sad."

"Then were is she now?"

"She had to be alone. She was sa…"

"See! You did it again, didn't you? You keep making her all depressed."

Guilmon began to mope again, "Why do I keep doing that? I don't want her to be sad."

"You'll just keep making her said and she'll come back to you. Then you make her sad again and she comes back. She'd be so much happier with me."

"But…she loves me."

"She loved me first."

"Huh?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you about that, did she?" he asked. Guilmon shook his head, "I didn't think so. Your girlfriend is keeping a big secret from you."

"R-Renamon would never keep secrets from me," Guilmon said, not quite believing his own words.

"Then were did she always go when she ran from you?"

"I…don't know."

"Didn't she tell you?" Impmon pretended to be surprised.

"No."

"Did you ask her?"

"Yeah, but she always said it didn't matter."

"Is that so?" the purple imp smiled. "What if I said that she kept running to me?"

"No…she didn't. She doesn't like you. You're a bad digimon."

"She didn't think so. She thought I was a good digimon. A VERY good digimon."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," he smiled innocently at his tale. "Kind of nice, you know. The way she kisses, that nice fuzzy fur hugging your body, those soft gloves running across your…"

"Stop it! You're lying! You're always lying!" Guilmon cried as his mind began to feel cloudy.

Impmon ignored him and continued, "and then the way she mates. That's the best of all."

"Renamon only mates with me! She's mine!" the narrowed eyed fire lizard declared.

"Easy there, dino boy. Why don't you let her decide?"

"No! She's mine! Only mine!"

"What about I'll those times she was with me?" he smirked at his own lie

"I'll kill you!" the fully viral dinosaur attacked, but Impmon was ready. He sidestepped, sending Guilmon into a tree. The lizard was up and attacking again in an instant, "Rock Breaker!"

Impmon jumped back as Guilmon's fiery claws hit before him, and produced a fireball in his gloved hand, "Night of Fire!" he threw the burning ball at Guilmon's head. It landed, leaving a scorch mark across his cheek. Guilmon rubbed his cheek and smiled satanically, advancing towards the imp, "Night of Fire!" Impmon hit him again, this time in the chest, but with no reaction from his opponent. "You…you can't do that. That had to hurt. You can't! Summo…"

He only got partway into his secondary attack, as he was spear tackled by the lizard. Impmon wrestled with his adrenaline and viral filled attacker. He kneed Guilmon in the gut, winding him and allowing Impmon to break free, "If you think I'm running, you're wrong. I'm through running. You can never have Renamon as long as I'm here," Impmon said boldly.

Guilmon made a deep-chested snicker. He stalked towards his prey, softly growling and repeating one phrase, "She's mine."

~*~

"I heard enough of that last night. I didn't yell at her. Why does everyone keep saying that I did?" Lee complained as he sat with Takato at lunch.

"Because I know how you can be sometimes."

"Just what is that supposed to mean?" Jenrya asked, offended.

"Look Lee-kun, I know you were trying to protect and help her, but you have to let her fend for herself. She's a Tamer now."

"It's not that I don't think she can handle. I just…don't want to lose her," he blushed a little.

Takato patted his friend's shoulder, "Don't worry about it. I felt the same way about Ruki. Then I realized, she's going to get involved whether I let her or not. I guess it's just best if I sit back and let her."

"But Ruki's…you know."

"Carrying my baby?" Takato smirked. Lee looked around nervously before nodding, "Will you stop that. It's my problem, but you act like your life will come to an end if anyone finds out."

"Sorry."

"It's alright. I guess it's kind of a complement that you care that much about my problems," he shrugged. "Anyway, I know Ruki is pregnant, but she said being a Tamer makes her happy. I want her to be happy…for both our sakes."

Lee sweatdropped, "So you're saying just let Juri be Juri?"

"Yeah. Just let her do what she's going to do, and be ready to support her when she needs it."

"Matsuda Takato, that sounded downright intellectual," Jenrya complimented. Takato smiled before he continued, "Where'd you hear it?"

Matsuda sighed, "Ruki's grand-ma told me. Am I really that out of touch?"

"No, that just didn't sound like something you'd say."

"Oh. Then what I'm about to say may not either."

"What's that?"

"I want to propose to Ruki."

The blue/black haired Tamer shrugged, "In your position I don't think you have a choice."

"No. I want to REALLY propose. With a ring and everything."

"You're were right."

"Huh?"

"That doesn't sound like something you'd say," he smirked.

"Lee-kun!" Takato huffed.

Jenrya raised an eyebrow, "You are serious about this, aren't you?"

"Very serious. Ruki's been so depressed…and happy…and depressed again…and all roller coaster like ever since she found out. I want to do something to cheer her up. Something big"

"Well, that will certainly do that, but where are you going to get the money for a ring?"

"Don't ask me. I just thought this up on my way to school this morning. I was hoping you could help."

"I am NOT loaning you money."

"Not like that. I mean help as in suggestion help."

"Oh. Well how much do you have now?"

"Let's see…allowance…umm allowance…savings…minus stuff I've bought…uhh…about three thousand yen."

"Three thousand yen?! Where in the world are you going to buy a ring for three thousand yen?"

"I don't know. That's why I asked you."

Lee sighed, "I haven't a clue. I'd say you're up a river on that one."

Takato sighed too. I'll find a way to make it happen. I have to. I'm going to prove to Ruki once and for all just how much I care.

~*~

I'm going to prove to Renamon once and for all just how much I care. Impmon thought to himself as he wrestled with his attacker. And if it means deleting her mate and taking his place, so be… "Ack!" he yelped as Guilmon bit into his side.

He scooped up a clump of dirt and threw it into Guilmon viral, animalistic looking eyes. The fire lizard cried out in pain and surprise as he stumbled backwards. Impmon went to slug him, but Guilmon ducked. Impmon tumbled over his back and landed on his own backside. He noticed his body to slide down a hillside and grabbed Guilmon's tail.

"Get off!" the fire lizard growl as he kicked at the imp. In his efforts to free his tail, he lost his own balance and intentionally landed on Impmon. Both rolled and fought down the hill where they were greeted by a sudden drop on an embankment. Guilmon grabbed onto the ledge as he tumbled over. Impmon clung to his rival's tail once again. Guilmon started to pull himself up when the dirt he held on to gave way. The last things he remembered were he and Impmon free falling, a sudden wish for the slashing of a 'White Wings' card, the rapidly approaching ground and a painful thud as everything went black.

~*~

"Plotmon? Are you ok?" Juri roused her partner. Culumon watched the endeavor from her shoulder.

Plotmon sighed as her groggy mind became aware of the situation, "I was supposed to be rescuing you, but I guess I was a little too tired," she said, annoyed at herself. "Some partner I am."

"You're a great partner. I'm the one who's been screwing up," she admitted. "Besides, I didn't need rescuing. I just…needed to sort some things out."

"Where were you?"

"I was in…various places. Mostly here in the park."

"Your family was worried sick. I was too," Plotmon scolded.

Oh god, my dad probably thinks I'm running away because of "her" again. Why can't I just give her a chance? She's my mother…sort of. No, no one can replace mom. She was the best. Juri shook off her thoughts and nodded to her partner, "I'm sorry for that. I guess I haven't been much of a supportive Tamer, have I? Can you give me another chance?"

Plotmon looked hurt, "You don't even have to ask that. Of course I will. I'll never leave you."

"Thanks, Plotmon," Juri hugged her partner.

Culumon hopped off Juri's shoulder, "Plotmon, you're a really nice digimon. Can I have 'special love'?"

"Culumon! What did I say before?" Juri scolded.

He shook his head, "No culu. It's ok. I know how humans do it. Watch…" he grabbed Plotmon rosy cheeks in his tiny claws and kissed her full on the mouth. Plotmon stood, eyes wide as saucers, body stiff as a board as the small childlike digimon continued to kiss her. Culumon finally pulled away, "Was that special, culu?"

Juri was giggling and trying to keep from bursting with laughter, "Why did you do that?" Plotmon demanded.

"Take it easy. He didn't mean to. It was my fault."

"Oh," the Digi-puppy shook her head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just that…only two others have ever kissed me like that," she said the final portion in a near inaudible tone.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing," Plotmon regained her composure. "Sorry, Culumon, but you're a little too young for me," she patted him on the head playfully.

"Culu, but I want 'special love'. I did it right didn't I?"

"You can't make someone give you 'special love'. You have to find the right digimon for you," Katou explained.

"But what if I never do?"

"You will. Just give it time," Plotmon assured.

"Culu," Culumon nodded disappointedly. "Wait. What if I kiss I boy ddigimon? Would it work then?"

Both females sweatdropped, "I'll…explain that another time," Juri said.

"Times like this I'm glad a never had a son," Plotmon joked and sighed. You'd have been such a great father, Lopmon. I don't know of anyone better.

~*~

Guilmon's head throbbed as he sat up. He groaned. What happened? Where am I? Oh yeah, I was fighting Impmon. Guilmon looked over to see Impmon lying face down a couple meters from him. Stupid Impmon. He's always getting me into trouble. This is all his fault.

Guilmon shakily stood up, and walked over the unmoving imp, "Look what you've done. Now I'm more lost than ever!" he scolded. Impmon didn't move, "Impmon?" Guilmon eyed him curiously. He had a large bruise just above one of his purple horns. Guilmon experimentally poked him with a claw. He didn't move, "Impmon? Are you ok?" he asked with legitimate concern.

Guilmon felt his body become chilled. His lower lip quivered. Oh no. What did I do? I-I didn't mean to do it. I just…

~ "I'll kill you!" Guilmon saw through his own eyes in recent memory as he pounced. Impmon dodged him, but he got up immediately and attacked him again, "Rock Breaker!"~

I DID mean to do it. I killed Impmon! NO! He was mean, but I don't want him to be dead. Now Takato and Renamon are going to hate me forever. What do I do? I have to run. No, I can't run. Renamon will always find me. Maybe I can make Impmon alive again. Guilmon went to work trying to think of a way to bring the unconscious imp 'back to life'.

~*~

"Juri?! Wait a minute, shouldn't you be in there?" Terriermon pointed to the middle school.

"I didn't go today. I needed…to do some thinking."

"So why are you here now?"

"I need to talk to Hirokazu-kun…and Jen."

"Why Hirokazu first?"

"Something happened. Something I have to fix before it gets out of hand."

"What is it?" Terriermon questioned.

"Why are you asking her so many questions?" Plotmon jumped in. Juri smiled a 'thank you' to her.

"Just curious," Terriermon fidgeted while struggling to keep eye contact with the digimon. I wish she'd just tell me what really happened between that…Lopmon and her. My heart tells me to let her come to me. But that kiss. It felt so good…so perfect. Damn it, my mind's wandering again. Change the subject. Change the subject… "Don't you mind that?" he pointed to Culumon, who was now sleeping on her back.

"What him? He's no bother. He's kind of cute, actually."

"What about me?" the dog-bunny whined.

Plotmon threw him the 'get your mind out of the gutter' look, "I didn't mean cute in that way."

"Oh…hey there's the school bell," Terriermon sighed as he was taken off the spot.

"Good. I'm going to go find Hirokazu-kun when he comes out," Juri said.

"Won't you get in trouble if they see you?"

"There are so many kids coming out of the building. Who's going to notice me?" she smiled.

~*~

"So where are you off to?" Jenrya asked as he stood in front of Takato's locker.

"Ruki's house."

"You aren't even going to try to go home?"

"With my mom…"

"You are going to have to sooner or later."

The goggle head sighed, "I know. Maybe I'll go home…but my mom…and me…alone…that can't be good."

"Won't your dad be there?"

"He won't be able to stop her. He never can."

"You're always so negative. I know she's going to be mad. My mom would be too if she had known I slept with Juri. I think you just have to hold your head high and take what she dishes out."

"Maybe…hey wait a minute! You slept with Juri?!"

"Huh…no I didn't."

"Yes you did. You just said so."

"N-no I didn't."

"Now I know why you never lie, because you stink at it. Come on, you slept with one of my friends, so let's hear the story."

"I really don't think this is appropriate for here," Jenrya whispered.

"You're the one that blurted it out."

Lee groaned, "Look, can we just take a rain check. I really don't want to talk about this here."

"I think you mean you don't want to talk about it ever."

"Is that an option?"

"No. Besides, I always tell you about Ruki."

"No you don't, because I've never asked. That shouldn't be something you just talk about."

"Why not? Everyone does it."

"No, they don't. Take a look around, Takato-kun. The only one here with the 'problem' is you. No one else was that irresponsible," Jenrya said much firmer than he meant to. Takato sighed and looked at the ground, "I'm sorry, Takato-kun. I didn't mean it quite that…"

He held up a hand, "No no, you're right. I probably deserved that."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did. I screwed up. You think I'm afraid to admit it? I'm the world's biggest screw up."

"Now, hold on. I never said that."

"You didn't have to. It's true. I am the only one like this. Even if there are others having sex, they at least cared enough to protect themselves."

Lee glanced at a couple of kids who had taken notice of Takato's rant, "Whatever the case may be, this still isn't a good place to discuss it."

"Yeah, I guess so," Matsuda nodded. "You know what? I think I am going to go home. Who knows, maybe my mom will have a miracle change of heart. It wouldn't be the first time."

"I think that's a good idea. Good luck, and…sorry again."

"I told you don't worry about it," he said, adding mentally, that's for me to do. He sighed at himself as he began walking 'the green mile' home.

~*~

"And then you purposely lied AGAIN just to get him to kill the Guilmon for you, did you not?"

Pajiramon was nearly in tears as she was on her knees a few meters from her creator, "N-no master. He did it on his own. I swear."

"And now he's gone. Deleted."

"I tried to stop him. He wouldn't listen."

Altimamon sighed as he ran a hand through his silvery dreadlocks, "You know I was out of my sector so I was incapable of reading your thoughts at that time," he stated. She looked slightly relieved, "BUT , that doesn't mean I can't ask Chatsuramon what happened."

"I didn't do anything wrong. He's lying!" she defended.

"He is, is he?" Altimamon smirked. "But how would you that…if I haven't even told you what he said to me yet!"

"I…I…" Pajiramon entire body quivered. She had trapped herself, and she knew it. She began to cry, "I'm soooo sorry Altimamon-sama. I didn't mean to. I'll never do this again. I swear!"

"Of course. Just as you'll never rape a digimon again, you'll never kill a male soldier because he turned you down on a date and so on. It's just one thing after another with you. You've become an unstable warrior. I can't even trust you anymore."

"No sovereign. It's nothing like that. I can't help it. It's the urges from my viral attribute."

"All things can be controlled. The Guilmon is a viral digimon, yet he is not heartless."

"I'm not heartless. I'll change. I swear it. Please don't kill me," she sobbed and bowed as low as she possibly could.

He sighed, "For the last time I'm not going to kill you."

"Really?" she asked weakly.

"I'm many things, but a killer I'm not," he stated flatly as he looked down at her crying into his carpeted floor. He shook his head and sighed in disgust. Flipping a pair of dreadlocks out of his face with his hand, He looked over his right shoulder, "Kill her."

Pajiramon tensed as her head snapped up, just in time to see a hammer come crashing down on her. She had almost no time to feel the impact as her weakened body was practically deleted on contact. The hammer twisted and morphed back into its original dog shape. Chatsuramon looked at his master with an unasked question. Altimamon only nodded. The blue bulldog showed little regret as he closed his eyes and took in the data of the fallen sheep Deva.

"It had to be done," Altimamon assured as his protégé finished downloading.

"I know. She was too uncaring. She caused too much hurt," just like the humans.

"What do you mean by that thought?"

"I…had stopped the battle. It was over. They didn't stop. They killed him anyway. I wasn't ready for that. There was nothing I could do," Chatsuramon's eyes looked empty.

"Now you see why we must do what we're doing. They're savages."

"I know. I guess…I guess I never fully realized it until now."

Altimamon froze up. He closed his eyes in thought for a moment. Chatsuramon recognized to look immediately, "Who is speaking to you, master?"

"Shinduramon," Altimamon didn't bother to open his eyes. "Interesting. Most interesting."

"What is it?"

"Something…unusual has happened. I must 'meditate'. I leave you with the duty of informing the other Devas of Pajiramon's 'unfortunate demise' at the hands of the Tamers."

Chatsuramon nodded, "Of course."

Altimamon sighed as the dog Deva left his chambers. He sat cross-legged on a cushioned area of his floor and closed his eyes. Relaxing, he felt his mind begin to lift up, floating away from his body. The tattoo of the all-seeing eye flashed and began to glow a blue/white. His bodies breathing stopped, as did the pulse. It was dead in all aspects, yet he remained. He could see, smell, feel yet appeared to be nothing more than a shadow. The now shadowy silhouette saw the room fade to black.

As he opened its eyes, he saw Shinduramon standing on a tree branch before him. The roster Deva's body was clad in some type of rounded blue armor, trimmed in yellow. A large, metal, yellow pestle was welded to his back. His head bore the appearance of a normal rooster, save for two horns above the eyes and strange black slashes below. He was intently watching something.

Altimamon's shadow looked to see the Tamer Digimon Guilmon standing over the Tamer Digimon Impmon and engaged in some type of activity. He ran over rustled the branch of a nearby tree. Quickly returning to the unconscious body of the imp, he stood with eyes closed. Once…twice he clapped and held his hands together. ~Explain this?~ the shadow inserted its voice into Shinduramon's mind.

They were engaged in combat a few moments ago. Guilmon attacked the Impmon. They fell from a cliff side. When he awoke, he stared at the other of a while…and began doing 'this'. Shinduramon thought, knowing his master would hear.

"Intriguing," the shadow spoke softly.

On the ground Guilmon was holding back tears as he rustled the branch again. This is what Takato showed me. Ooh why isn't there a bell when I need one. He clapped twice. Please help me 'God'. I'm sorry I didn't ring your special bell, but Takato says you're really great so you can probably hear me. Can you help Impmon? I didn't mean for him to be dead. Please help him. He prayed the way Takato had instructed him. And again, for the fourth time, it failed.

Guilmon sighed. I'll never ask you for anything else, even if I get stuck as Growmon again. I promise. He waited, still nothing. Pretty please. I'll give you anything you want. He pleaded as he began to become desperate. He heard a crackle of thunder in the distance. Oh no. Not rain. Not now. Why does everything bad always happen to me?

"This is too good to be true," the shadow snickered at Guilmon's thoughts.

Shinduramon looked him in a confused manner, "Lord?"

"I'll take care of this. Go. Get some medical supplies and water for the injured digimon."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it," the shadow said in a darker tone.

"Of course," Shinduramon reluctantly agreed.

The shadow approached Guilmon from behind, "Greetings, artificial digimon."

"Wha…" Guilmon whiled around and starred at the new…thing. He stood in absolute fascination for a few moments, examining the shadow. "Are you… 'God'?"

"I'm better than any pathetic human god."

"So then you're Godmon. Takato never told me you were a digimon."

"How did you know I was a digimon?"

He sniffed, "You smell like a digimon," he experimentally poked at the shadow, or rather he attempted to. "Wow, that's a neat trick," he observed as his hand passed through the shadow.

Altimamon's shadow sighed as the fire lizard continued to curiously 'poke' at him. "Yes, but what about your friend?"

Guilmon looked up into the shadow's 'face', "You came to help him be alive again?"

"That is what you asked for, wasn't it?"

"Yeah!" Guilmon said happily. "I'm really sorry for not ringing your special bell. I couldn't find one."

The shadow walked over to the unconscious imp and smiled to himself, "What happened to him?"

Guilmon fidgeted, "He…uhh…kind of…died."

"Tell the truth."

Guilmon stood and looked at the ground for a moment before bursting into tears, "I killed him! I didn't mean to. It was an accident. I'm a good digimon. I swear!" he cried.

"That's odd, because I watched the whole battle," the shadow lied.

"You…saw that?"

"Yes. You attacked him didn't you?"

The viral digimon lip quivered. He nodded shamefully, "He was being mean. I was mad, but I don't want him to be dead! I'm soooo sorry, Godmon," he admitted. "Are…you going to tell Takato? Or Renamon?"

"Not if you don't want me to."

"Really? You promise?"

"Yes. I'll revive him and they won't even know you did this."

Guilmon sighed in relief, "Thank you so much, Godmon. You're the best."

"All you have to do is not tell anyone about this…or me. No matter what."

"Oh…I guess I can do that."

"You promise?" he asked, knowing the child digimon would never break his word.

Guilmon reluctantly nodded, "I promise."

"Good. Now return to your Tamer while I…revive this one."

"But how do I get back to him?"

The shadow sighed in frustration, "Go that way and you'll reach the path that leads back to the human city."

It had been dark, but Guilmon did remember traveling the dirt path with Youkomon. He nodded as he set off in a semi-depressed manner to find his human companion.

The shadow glanced over his shoulder as Shinduramon returned from the Digital World in a blanket of fog. I still cannot believe that something like that could have so much power. He isn't intelligent. Hell, he isn't even a real digimon. Yet he has still managed to cause me so many problems. As have you. He looked down at the still unconscious Impmon. Unfortunately, you're still a human pet and I'm not allowed to have you destroyed. Besides, I still need you.

~*~

"I knew you'd still make it," Hirokazu said with a smile. "Now I'm going to show you just how good of boyfriend I can be."

Juri fidgeted, "Uhh yeah. About that, I'm going to have to pass."

"No way. You promised me," he whined.

"I'm sorry."

"Can't you just go for a little bit?"

"I just can't do it, Hirokazu-kun. I'm…" with Jen, with Jen, with Jen, "sick."

"Oh. I guess I never really thought of it that way."

Ok, ok. This isn't bad. Just go with it and you don't have to hurt his feelings, "Yeah, I really couldn't go out in public. I just…came here to pick up my schoolwork for the day," she faked a cough.

"Oh, ok. I guess that makes sense. I thought you were going to break up with me."

For the last time we were never togeth…oh what's the use. Even if I say that he won't stop, and I'll hurt his feelings. This way everything is nice and calm, "Yeah. I'm just going to go inside now and get my work," she faked a sniffle. Plus I get to get the work I missed. It's a win win situation. She smiled at her thoughts and turned, bumping right into Jenrya. Oh shit.

"Juri? I thought you were home sick today."

"I just…came here to get the work I missed."

Great. A chance to make up for yesterday. Jenrya thought, "I can help you carry it if you want."

"You don't have to," Katou said nervously in an attempt to end the conversation.

"It's no problem. What's a boyfriend for?" he smiled.

Juri completely forgot about her situation as she heard his words, "You said…boyfriend."

"So?"

"You…aren't ashamed of me?"

"Why would I be?"

"I don't know. It's just that sometimes you act like you're upset you have a girlfriend."

"No I don't. I just think certain…'things' should be kept private. That's all. I've never been ashamed to have you as a girlfriend," he took her hand.

"Just a damn minute here," Hirokazu interrupted. Juri felt her heart drop from the clouds to her stomach. "You mean to tell me that you had another boyfriend."

"No…err I mean…yes…no! You aren't my boyfriend," she declared to the visor wearing teen. Jenrya watched on in confusion.

"What? What about the whole kiss thing, and the agreeing to go out with me, and the other kiss, and…"

"Didn't you tell him?" Jenrya questioned.

"I did. He didn't listen."

"No, you didn't. You mentioned to me about someone else but then you still kept coming on to me."

"Coming on to you?! That's it!" Juri was fuming. "I tired every way to be nice to you. You kissed me without warning…twice! I still tried to be nice to you."

"You kissed me back both times."

"You lied about you and I being together to all your friends. I STILL tried to be nice to you."

"You had just kissed me."

"You kissed me! Besides, since when does kissing mean 'scoring'?" she accused.

"I…uhh…"

"Now, I come here today and you're all over me to go out on some stupid date I supposedly agreed to."

"You DID agree to it!"

"No. No more. This has to stop. I'm with Jen. There, I finally said it. I'm with Jen."

Hirokazu was angry and sad at the same time, "Why didn't you just say that before?"

"I…didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Oh, and I suppose this doesn't hurt a bit?!"

"I…never wanted to do this."

"So you were going to just go on lying to me? I'll bet you aren't even sick. You haven't coughed, sniffled or sneezed one time since you started arguing with me."

"Now wait a minute. I was going to stay out of this, but what does that have to do with anything?" Jenrya jumped in, defending Juri.

"You. This is your fault too. I thought you were my friend. I thought you both were!"

"We can still be friends, Hirokazu-kun. Just not boyfriend and girlfriend," Katou reminded.

"Forget it! You both betrayed me."

"No, we didn't," Jenrya said.

"Yes you did! Real friends don't do that. I guess I just need to go find some real friends. Bye." He trudged off.

"Hirokazu-kun don't. I still want to be your friend," Juri called, but he just walked on.

"Let him go. He's so full of himself."

"Jen, don't you start too."

"Sorry, but he is. I can't believe some of the stuff he lies about. Being with you, kissing you a second time, you agreeing to go out with him…"

Juri fidgeted nervously, "Yeah…imagine that. Can we just forget this and go get my schoolwork? I just want to go home and lie down," she didn't have to fake a stress headache.

"Sure," he smiled.

"I can't believe her. She says she want to be my friend. My friend?! After that? And then he just sits there and agrees with her," Hirokazu mumbled to himself as he walked away from them. "This is stupid," he picked up a rock off the ground and grasped it firmly. This rock was his heartbreak, frustration and anger, "This is real damned stupid!" he turned and launched the rock.

It slammed off the side of a concrete building, centimeters in front of a man's face. Oh shit. Hirokazu immediately recognized the man as Kida Wakai, his history teacher. Kida was certainly not a small man, possibly one of the largest instructors in the building, and had an infamously short temper with any problem causing students. His generally casual dress style actually made him a bit more intimidating. Still, he could be friendly, and Hirokazu liked him more than many of his other teachers. But now…was a time for fear.

"Kida-sensei, I'm really sorry. I didn't see you there," Hirokazu said in all honesty. The semi-bearded, black haired man said nothing and picked the rock up off the ground. He slowly approached the teen, "I'll never EVER do anything like that again. I was really stupid."

Wakai reached the teen and raised the rock into the air. Hirokazu pressed his eyes shut and threw his hands up defensive in front of his face. He felt no blow, but rather the rock being placed back in his hand, "Do that again."

Shiota was left baffled, "What?"

"The rock. Throw it again. Just like you did," the man instructed.

"But…"

"Just throw it!" Kida commanded.

"Yes, Kida-sensei," Hirokazu gulped. No matter how odd the order, it was still better than facing his teacher. Ok, Hirokazu. He gave you a simple thing to do. Just do exactly what you did before and you might just live to tell about it. He grasped the rock tightly, trying to remember just what had caused him to throw it in the first place. Why did you do that to me, Juri? Why Lee? I'm so much better than him. I'm the one you should be with! He let loose another angst filled throw. The rock hit in about the same place as before…and just as hard.

Kida blinked for a moment before giving a deep laugh, "Fantastic. Do you do that often?"

Now Hirokazu was thoroughly lost, "No, Kida-sensei," he said honestly.

"Would you like to?"

"Excuse me?"

Wakai placed a hand on the teens shoulder, "Left handed pitchers are so hard to find. Especially ones like you. I'd love to have you on my little league team."

"I don't know if I could do that, Kida-sensei. I mean I've never really been a big baseball guy."

"Everyone starts somewhere."

"I guess so."

"I'll tell you what. You agree to come to my practice tomorrow after school, and I'll see if I can't get you out of your little morning session with Nami."

"Really?" He didn't bother to question Kida as to how he knew about that.

"Sure. You've got a lot of potential, kid."

About time someone noticed. I just wish it had been Juri. "Thanks Kida-sensei."

"Coach Kida," he corrected. "So do we have a deal?"

"Deal," Hirokazu smiled as he turned to head home. Hmm, all I have to do is show up and throw a ball and I'll get out of Asanuma's stupid manners lessons. This is just too good to pass up.

~*~

Mountain cascaded across the landscape. Their snow covered peaks and freezing temperatures mad living near impossible, except in a one area. Across the top on a frosty mountain was a city, no a metropolis, bustling with activity. Digimon of all shapes and kinds walked the noisy streets. No cars, just larger digimon traveled the roads. The rest took the sidewalk. Along the streets were small vents, vents that provided the lifeblood one the city…steam. Steam from deep underground pockets. Steamed that heated, powered and nurtured everything that was the city of Altimylon. Although many would say it was the largest city in the Digital World, none would argue it was the most advanced. Streetlights, also powered from the steam generators below the city, lit the city as night came with seconds, as it always did in this world.

Multi-story homes adorned this particular section of Altimylon. Some huge, some no bigger than a human house, all housing digimon. Several digimon walked to streets, most talking on cell phones. It might seem odd to an outsider to see creatures from an alternate world talking on cell phones, but they found it to be nothing more than commonplace. Traditional phones did not exist here, but almost every digimon in Altimylon owned a cell phone. Two feminine figures left one of the apartments, walking side by side to a destination.

"Come on. Just give the guy a chance," the shorter one said. She was obviously a plant type digimon. Her head was helmeted with the petal of a flower.

"Why should I? Love is nothing more than a distraction from my duty," an all too familiar Fladramon spoke. They turned the corner and walked down a series of steps into a tunnel.

"What duty?"

"Our duties to protect and serve the holy one. Have you forgotten that already, Lieutenant?" she taped the rank-indicting black band on the shoulder of her follow warrior.

"We have real lives too, and for the last time will you just call me Floramon, we aren't even on duty yet."

"In a perfect world we'd always be on duty," Fladramon smiled. Floramon sweatdropped as they emerged from the stairwell into the tunnel. It was nearly identical to any human subway tunnel, save for a lot more cleanliness. There was no graffiti or litter, just the waiting station for the transport train, or T2 as many digimon preferred to call it. Large digimon were forced to walk to their destination by foot on the roads. They never seemed to mind. Their large strides made most walks fairly easy.

"Hey, I'll tell you what, some of the girls and I are going out after we get out of work tonight. You want to come along?" Floramon offered as they boarded the electrical train.

"First off, it's our 'duty' not our 'job'. Second, I'll have to say no," Fladramon said coldly. "That doesn't sound like very much fun to me. Besides, I want to stay later and get some more things done."

"Why?"

The Major sighed, "If you must know tomorrow is the…peak day of my heat," she tried to say quietly. A couple of males look at her, but quickly turned back when she glared fiery daggers.

"Oh," Floramon blushed a little. All female digimon went through a three to four day heat once a month, but one day the heat was exceptionally prominent, "Well, that's nice."

"Nice? How can that be nice?"

"Come on. We get one free day off every month that the guys don't just because of our 'distractions'. What's not to like?"

"I can't believe you. You should be overjoyed to be serving in Altimamon's army. I hate missing a day every month. I wish I could always be on duty."

Floramon sweatdropped again, "Girl, you need to lighten up. Luckily, I have the perfect thing. Since you'll be off tomorrow anyway, why don't I set you up with a nice single male digi…"

"No."

"Come on."

"No."

"Just try…"

"I said no! I don't want some stupid mon drooling all over me."

"He's not like that."

"I don't care if he's a Deva. I'm not going…period. If this is all you're going to say to me than just leave me alone."

"Suit yourself, but I really think you'd have a good time," Floramon shrugged as the train arrived at its destination.

~*~

The biggest ring ever. Oh this is going to be great. She's going to be so happy. Takato smiled at his daydream, but suddenly realized he had made it home. Oh right, how could I ever forget this. Don't worry. She already knows so it can't be that bad, right? Ok, you're brave Takato. Eye of the tiger and all that stuff.

Takato quietly entered the bakery. His mother was setting up a display. Whether she didn't notice him or ignored him he was unsure. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out but air. He tried again, with the same results. Do it for Ruki. Do it for Ruki. "H-hello…mom."

Mie glanced at her son, not saying a word. Takehiro entered from the kitchen. He was about to say something when he noticed the situation. Wisely, he stepped back into the kitchen, "Mom?" Takato repeated.

"Takato-san hand me that sign," she finally spoke.

Takato immediately did what she asked. "Takato-san?" he questioned the honorific.

"You want to act like an adult, you can be treated like one," she said coldly, walking right by him.

"Mom, please don't do this. I didn't want to make you upset yesterday. I just wanted your loving support in this."

"My loving support?! You father tells me this had been going on for several months. If you wanted my loving support so badly why didn't you come to me in the beginning? Why did you hide it from me?"

"I…thought you'd be upset if I told you then."

"And you think I'm not upset now?!"

"Yes…err I mean no. I just wanted to tell you. I could have kept the whole thing from you but I didn't," he reminded.

"That's still doesn't make it any better."

"What else I am supposed to do?"

"Well, you could try doing some of the things children you age do. You're just lucky this can all be taken care of."

Takato felt uneasy at the tone of her voice, "What do you mean by that?"

"Come now, I know she's a Makino. I'm sure her family has already spoke with a doctor about it."

"About what?"

"Getting an abortion."

"What?! You can't be serious!"

Mie looked shocked, "You mean to tell me she's actually thinking about keeping the baby."

"No, there was no 'thinking about it'. WE are definitely keeping the baby."

"And just how do you plan on supporting this baby?"

"I'm going to work here. Dad said I could. I'll work really hard and earn my keep just like anyone else," the gogglehead declared proudly.

"Is that so?" Mie threw a look at he husband who was watching from the kitchen. He gulped.

Takato gulped too. Note to self, give really lengthy and heartfelt apology to dad. "Look, no matter what happens I will find a way to make it work. I love Ruki. I want to be with her forev…"

"No, I will here no more of this nonsense. You're thirteen and you've already brought enough shame to this family. I'll talk with her family myself. Until then, you're not to see that…trash again."

"No! No more! I stood here and let you do it yesterday and I'm sorry I did. Ruki is not trash! She is not a slut! She is the sweetest girl in the entire world! You have no right to talk about her like that!" Takato snapped. He couldn't help but feel bad. He had never so much and raised his voice to his mother before.

"And YOU have no right to talk to me like that. I'm your mother."

"I'm sorry, mom. I really am. But I DO love Ruki. I love her just as much now as I did before she was pregnant, maybe even more."

"You're too young to even truly understand love. That little tramp has just manipulated you into thinking that."

"You…did it again. I can't believe you. I just told you about doing that and you turned right around and called her a tramp. I'm…I'm just going to go, before I say something I'll regret."

"No, you're not going with ten kilometers of that…thing. You're going to your room," Mie commanded.

Takato clenched his fists in sheer rage, "That 'thing' is your future daughter-in-law. I'm marrying her, with…or without your consent," Takato tried to leave before he had a deeper emotional outburst.

"Matsuda Takato if you walk out that door for her…'love', you'll be giving up mine."

Takato froze. His mother had always made empty threats about 'removing her love' but none had ever come even close to coming true…until now. He turned, his head felt as heavy as his heart, "I'm sorry, mom. I just hope someday you can understand why I'm doing this," he sobbed slightly, before running out the door.

"Takato!" Mie called, although she knew it was futile.

"Just let him go. He'll be back. He just needs to deal with this on his own," Takehiro, who had entered from the kitchen during the fight, put his arm on his wife's shoulder.

"I don't even want to talk to YOU. This is your fault!" She knocked his arm away.

"What?"

"Takato can work here for a living?!"

"We've talked about all that before."

"No, that was totally different."

"Maybe he is a little younger but…"

"A LITTLE younger?! For god's sake he's only a boy."

"Not any more."

"I don't care what's happened. He's still my little boy. He's just under the spell of that little witch. And you're no better."

"What?"

"You've given them a quick fix to their problems by giving Takato a job. Don't you even care what his future ends up like?"

"But this IS the future we'd always dreamed of him having, just…not quite this soon."

"You not understanding me. If you hadn't given him that option, they would never have stayed together."

"What if they had? What if they really do share love?"

"They can't possible understand love at this young of age."

"Maybe, maybe not. Either way, we are probably going to have to let him work here."

"And just why is that?" she asked bitterly.

"Didn't you hear him? He's planning on marrying her."

"He's thirteen. Who's going to marry him?"

"And she's a Makino. If anyone has the right…influence to get something like that done, it would be her mother," he explained. "She gets it made official, they get married and we have to pass the bakery on to him."

"Oh no, we don't."

"But the taxes. When else will we get the chance?"

"Who says we have to…at all?"

"Dear, please. You're just angry. You don't mean…"

"He's disrespected everything this family stands for, he cares about that bitch more than us, he even had the nerve to stand in here and yell at me…his own mother."

"He wasn't actually yelling at you so much as he was defending her," Takehiro reminded.

"Oh my god. You're just going to stand here and defend everything he does, aren't you? How can you possibly take his side?" Mie complained.

Her husband sighed, "No, I'm not. There are no sides to take. We can't stop this from happening, but we can…"

"The hell we can't stop it," Mie stormed toward to house portion of the bakery.

"Where are you going?"

"To the Makino house. Someone has to put and end to this and do what's best for our son."

Takehiro grabbed his wife's shoulders before she could leave, "No!"

"Let me go."

"Mie, please, think about what you're doing."

"I am! It seems like I'm the only one left that thinks about what I'm doing. The world has gone insane."

"Dear, please don't. At least wait until you've calmed down," Takehiro begged.

"I am calm!" Mie slapped her husband across the cheek. Both stood and stared at one another for a few moments. Takehiro rubbed his cheek. Mie sighed, "Ok…ok I'll wait."

"Thank you," her husband smiled and went to kiss her.

Mie pushed away, "I…just want to lie down now."

"Go ahead. I'll watch after the bakery," Takehiro reassured. Mie smiled weakly in gratitude and went up to her room.

~*~

"So no matter what I'm always going to be here."

"Thanks mom," Ruki hugged her mother.

"I'm sorry," Rumiko said half-heartedly.

"What for?"

"That it had to come to this before I actually sat down and spent some time with you."

"I told you before, I don't regret what I did with Takato."

"I know that, but it still doesn't excuse the way I've shunned you before."

"I thought we agreed to put that behind us?"

Rumiko smiled. "I guess we did. Oh damn, I have a photo shoot in a half hour. I'm sorry to run out on you like this."

Ruki yawned, "That's ok. I was about to lie down for a little bit before dinner. I'm just…tired all of a sudden."

She sighed, "I told mother that school was going to be too much for you."

"No, no. It's not that bad. Besides, the trimester will be over before anything major happens."

"It's still more than a pregnant girl should be doing."

"I can handle it, mom. Trust me."

"Alright, but if anything happens I'm pulling you out right away. I mean it."

"Yeah, I got it," Ruki smiled as she headed to her room.

Ruki yawned again as she opened the outside door to her room. I'm tough. I can take a little fatigue. I just…need to rest for a little bit. I… Ruki fell silent. There, searching through her room was, "Guilmon!"

"Ruki!" Guilmon ran up and hugged her, happy to finally see a person he knew again.

If Ruki wasn't fatigued, she'd have been furious, "Guilmon, you can't be here."

"But I need to find Takato. He told me he was staying here."

"Well he's obviously not here now. He's probably at school or his house. Why do you need him so badly?"

"I really have to tell him about…uhh no I can't…nothing."

"What?"

"I…can't talk about it. He'll know. He'll be mad at me."

"Who? Takato?"

"No Godmo…err…someone secret."

"God?"

"No! That's a secret. You can't know about that."

Ruki was thoroughly lost as she stared curiously at the fire lizard. "What? You're making even less sense than you usually do."

"I can't talk about it. I just wanna see Takato…or Renamon. Is Renamon here?"

"You mean she wasn't with you?"

"No…well yeah…umm sorta."

Good god, what a freaky digimon. At least my digimo… Ruki's thoughts hesitated for a moment. Well, I suppose she technically isn't my digimon anymore. No. No, don't think about that. Renamon is still your best friend and you care about her… "Tell me exactly what happened."

Guilmon took a deep breath, "Well, we were together after we left your house. Then she took me into the forest to some place I'd never been before. It was nice. We talked for a little bit. She didn't think she was pretty anymore, but I said I still liked her. That made her happy again," Guilmon paused to get a few breaths before continuing. "Then we mated. That was really good. Well, it's always good, but this time it was extra good 'cause I got to be on top. I like being on top, but Renamon usually doesn't let me. She always says I'm too heavy…but not this time. So I got to be on top, and that was nice."

Oookkk, Takato was right about the honesty thing. Ruki threw her arms up. "Guilmon, I don't want to hear about your sex positions."

The fire lizard eyed her curiously. "But you said tell you everything that happened."

Ruki sweatdropped. "Look, just skip past the mating."

"Oh ok. Umm, after that we snuggled and talked for a little bit. Then we mated again. It was a lot different this time. Renamon was really rough and I…"

Makino slapped her forehead, "Skip past that mating too," she interrupted before he got graphic.

"Well…umm…we mated again after that."

The teen raised an eyebrow as her curiosity perked. "Just how many times did you two have sex?"

"Umm, let's see…" he began to count on his claws.

Ruki felt a twinge of jealousy. I wish your partner took after you. I have to fight him just to go twice without napping… she thought. Aloud she said, "Forget it. Just skip past all that to the part where Renamon left."

"Alright. Well when we woke up today she was still Youkomon."

"Still? It only took her a few hours to turn back from Kyuubimon."

"Yeah, that made her pretty sad. I was trying to cheer her up but…"

Seiko opened the door and looked in. Ruki quickly jumped in front of Guilmon, reaching behind her back to cover his muzzle, "Ruki-chan, dinner's almost ready."

"Ok, grand-ma," Ruki squirmed to keep Guilmon hidden behind her school dress.

Seiko eyed her for a moment and smiled, "You don't have to hide. I said you could stay here whenever you want. I can fix some extra tempura for you if you're hungry," she said, thinking it was Takato.

Guilmon's ears perked straight up. He wiggled out of Makino's grasp and peaked around her side. "I've never had that before. Is it better than bread?"

Ruki was too tense with stress to do anything but watch, "Oh…oh my…" Seiko gasped and took a step back with wonder and shock.

Ruki regained her physical composure quickly. "Grand-ma…he's…umm…uhh…" she looked to Guilmon. "You idiot!" she walloped the fire lizard across the cheek with a powerful slap before running to her grandmother.

"What did I do?" Guilmon rubbed his cheek and wondered why females always seemed to be hitting him.

"Grand-ma, it's ok. Don't be afraid. He's not vicious…just stupid," she glared daggers at the digimon, who looked away in shame.

"I'm ok…just a little startled."

"You're not scared?" Ruki asked with a little surprise.

"A little, no more than when I found out you were pregnant," Seiko said, trying to command her breathing back to a normal rate. "It spoke, didn't it?"

"Yes," Ruki seemed to have grown accustomed to her grandmother's unusually passive way of dealing with stressful situations.

"Will you speak to me?" she asked Guilmon.

Guilmon opened his mouth to talk but hesitated and looked at Ruki. She nodded, "I'm Guilmon," he said cautiously.

"Guilmon? Takato's friend?"

Ruki raised an eyebrow, "How did you know about that?"

Seiko smiled, "Your mother and I do talk to one another, you know. She mentioned something about friends of yours who were also sleeping together. I believe the other was Renmon."

"Renamon," Ruki corrected softly.

"And she is…like him?"

"Y…no…well, sort of. She a different kind of digimon, more like a fox."

"Digimon?"

"I'm a digimon," Guilmon said. They looked at him. He quickly threw his arms up defensively, looking at Ruki, "Sorry. I didn't mean to. Err…oops…I mean…sorry. No wait," Guilmon clamped his hands over his own muzzle to shut himself up.

Both females giggled, "You can talk, Guilmon," Ruki said.

"You won't hit me again?" he asked. She shook her head.

Hata spoke up, "I take your mother doesn't know about…this."

The teen shook her head again, "No. Please don't tell her. She's already down my throat about this whole pregnancy thing. If she knew about this she'd freak."

"I won't. As I said before, this is yet another thing that you must tell her on your own."

"How about I just never tell her," Ruki smirked.

"Secrets and lies are never good, Ruki-chan. They just lead to more secrets and lies. Now, would you mind explaining what exactly all of this 'Digimon' business is?"

"It's a long story."

"And one that can be told over dinner," Seiko said.

"Umm…Ruki's…uhh…other mom…can I still eat some tempura?" Guilmon asked tentatively.

"Guilmon," Ruki scolded.

"It's perfectly alright. I'm actually kind of curious about him," Seiko said honestly.

The fire lizards eyes brightened, "So I can eat?" he asked, directing the question to Ruki.

"I guess so," she shrugged.

Guilmon sighed in relief, "Good because I'm really hungry after all that mating I did last night," he smiled. Ruki slapped her forehead and grumbled.

~*~

"But I thought you were upset?" Juri asked her father, Katou Tadashi.

"I WAS. I thought some child-molesting psycho had kidnapped you. Now I find out you were just at the park the entire night. What's more, you did it all of your own free will!" he yelled. Juri's stepmother, Katou Shizue, was tending the bar. "Do you have any clue what your mother and I thought?"

"I'm sorry, daddy, I just…needed to do something."

"Was it so important that you couldn't even tell us?"

"Ye…well no. I should have told you. I'm really sorry. What else do you want me to say?" No, I'm not going to cry. I've done way too much crying the last two days. I'm a new Juri, a tougher Juri.

Tadashi sighed, "I suppose you're right. But I don't ever want anything like this happening again, do you understand?"

"Yes, daddy. I'm sorry for making you worry," Juri said in all honesty.

Her father nodded, "I have to get back down to the bar. Your mother's there by herself. I think it would be best if you went to your room," he said firmly.

"She's not my mother," Juri mumbled as he left. Oh great, now you're going to start that crap again. I thought you were the new, tougher, more caring Katou Juri. Yes, I'll show them both. I'll be the perfect daughter from now on. I'll be the perfect Tamer for Plotmon too. And now that I finally confronted Hirokazu, Jen and I can be the perfect couple. So many good things to come, but why do I still feel bad? It's like nothing's changed. No, I'm moving ahead whether I like it or not. First thing's first, Plotmon.

Juri was rather startled when she entered her bedroom. Plotmon and Culumon were…playing. Juri couldn't help but giggle a little as Plotmon playfully pounced and tickled Culumon. Funny, she always seemed so tough and serious to me. I guess everyone's truly is a kid at heart. She certainly seems to like Culumon. Juri recalled how Plotmon had asked her if Culumon could go back to her home with them. Well, she did seem kind of alone. Maybe she's never really had a friend. I certainly haven't been much of one…until now. "Hey Plotmon?"

The Digi-puppy looked up, "Huh? Oh hi Juri-chan. I didn't hear you come in. Was your father mad?"

"Yes…well sort of. I think he was more worried than angry. Daddy just has…his own way of showing it."

Plotmon smiled, "My father was like that."

"You had a father?"

Plotmon raised an eyebrow, "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Oh…" Juri blushed a little. "Sorry. I guess I never really thought of digimon like that."

"Like what?"

"You know, with moms and dads and families."

Plotmon shrugged, "I guess we're even. I don't know much about humans. The only ones I know are you, Jen and Ryo."

"Humans are weird, culu," Culumon jumped in.

"Hey!" Juri protested.

"Well…not all of them."

Katou smiled at the koala bear-like digimon and turned to her partner, "Akiyama Ryo?"

"You know him too?"

"I know OF him, from Hirokazu-kun and Takato-kun. He supposed to be the best digimon card player in Japan…maybe anywhere."

"He's the greatest hero ever. He saved the entire Digital World from Altimamon."

"Altimamon?" Juri pulled out her D-Arc and began to look through the digimon info. "Oh here he is."

"Culu, that's always neat," Culumon commented as a CGI profile of Altimamon appeared over the yellow device.

"That's him all right," Plotmon said.

"Altimamon, Holy Dragon Digimon, Vaccine type, Ultimate level," Katou recited. "But…aren't vaccine types nice digimon?"

"Guilmon is a virus. Is he evil?"

"Oh yeah. I never thought of it like that."

"He looks like a Deva person," Culumon observed.

"He should. All the Devas were made from his own data."

"He looks so dignified. What did he do that was so bad?"

"Created that murdering dog for one thing," Plotmon said firmly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"No. It's all right. Actually a lot of digimon think he isn't that bad. He's extremely intelligent and almost always calm. Ryo always joked that he knows more about humans than most humans do."

"So what did he do?"

"Took over the world."

"What?"

"He seized and ruled the Digital World for a long time…until Ryo came. Ryo saved us all. I just wish…"

"Wish what?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I wish he'd have killed Altimamon."

"Killing is bad," Culumon said.

Juri sighed. We are still quite different. I don't know if I could ever wish death on anyone. She paused her thoughts and turned to her partner, "Plotmon, if I told you not to kill…would you still do it?"

"Of course not. You're my Tamer."

"Even if it was the dog?"

"Oh…I should have known that's what you meant."

"Well?"

"Do I really have to answer this?"

"Yes. The more we know about each other the better partners we can become," Juri said, trying to feign great wisdom. "If you had a clear shot that you knew would kill him, but I told you not to do it, would you listen?"

"All right, but I'm only answering this because you made me," Plotmon looked like she was on a witness stand. "I would do it anyway, but ONLY if everything was like you said," she looked away. "Do you hate me for that?"

"No. I guess I really can't," Juri sighed, that certainly wasn't the answer she was hoping for.

"Culu…killing is bad," Culumon insisted, tugging on Plotmon's paw. "I'd never kill anyone in a million years."

"I know…but I just can't help it. I hate him so much. I'm sorry Juri-chan, Culumon. I really wish you wouldn't have asked me that," the Digi-puppy exhaled. "Here, why don't you two relax and I can tell you some of my less depressing life stories," she offered.

"I like happy stories," Culumon said, perking up.

Juri smiled a little, "That sounds like a good idea," she and Culumon sat and listened to Plotmon's tale of the Digital World's, and her own, history.

~*~

"What's wrong with you?" Ruki asked as she let her lover in.

"Don't ask."

"At least you bothered to knock this time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, let's just say your bad habits rubbed off on your digimon."

"Growmon came back?"

"No, Guilmon did."

"Did you hide him?" Takato asked nervously.

"Not exactly."

He grabbed her shoulders, "What do you mean 'not exactly'? You didn't…"

"No…he did."

Takato's eyes went wide-eyed in fear. "Oh god. How bad did they flip out?"

"It was just my grand-ma, and she didn't 'flip out' at all. Actually, she took the whole 'first encounter' thing better than I did. Now, I just wish Guilmon would shut up."

"Let me guess. Too much honesty?"

"WAY too much honesty, but at least she isn't mad at me for hiding this from her."

I remember my fist encounter with Guilmon. I thought he was going to disembowel me. Amazing how much he has matured since then. "So…what happened exactly?"

"Why don't you see for yourself? We were all eating."

"Renamon too."

"No," Ruki became a little quieter. "She hasn't been here in days, save for last night."

"Oh," he then smiled. "She'll be back. What's she going to do, abandon her partner?" he smirked. Ruki looked away, "Ruki, I was kidding. Come on. You always liked my jokes."

She shook her head sadly, "It's…something else. I'll tell you later," she waved him off as she headed back to the dinning area. Takato shrugged and followed.

~*~

Well, I suppose I should give them the news. Prepare for yelling. Hirokazu said to himself as he continued eating. "Say dad? What would you say if I said I knew someone who was going to try out for baseball?"

Mr. Shiota raised an eyebrow, "What?" he asked with a mouthful of beans.

"Well, let's just say I have a crazy friend who likes to play baseball."

"So?"

"Ok, now what if I said…"

"Hirokazu-chan, just tell us," Mrs. Shiota said. She had already finished her meal and was doing the dishes.

The visor wearing teen cringed a little, he hated being called chan. "One of my sensei asked me to be on the baseball team."

"That's nice," his mother said.

"Are you going to do it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know it sounds weir…hey wait a minute. You guys are ok with this?" he asked in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't we be? After school sports are a great idea," Mrs. Shiota smiled.

"Especially baseball. I was a star player on my team you know," his father smirked.

"Yeah, dad. I remember. Your game-winning hit in the championship game." I only hear it one or two hundred times a week.

Mrs. Shiota looked in confusion and walked over to the table, "Let me tell you about your fathers 'heroics'."

"Dear…" her husband said nervously.

She smiled, "I was there. The bases were loaded in the ninth inning and your father got hit in the head with a pitch. That scored the winning run."

"That's what happened?" Hirokazu snickered uncontrollably.

"It was still the championship game!" Mr. Shiota protested with a red face.

"No, it wasn't. It was the only game your team won that entire season," his wife corrected.

"Yeah…well…I'm not hungry anymore!" Mr. Shiota stormed out of the kitchen. Hirokazu and his mother continued to laugh.

The teen sighed as his laughter subsided. Maybe this isn't going to be so bad after all. Heck, I can't even remember the last time my parents actually supported something I did.

~*~

"Enough!" the shadow commanded. Impmon fell to the ground as Shinduramon's electrical attack subsided. Altimamon's shadow looked down at the twitching imp as rain began drizzling down. "Well?"

"Just go ahead and delete me. I don't have anything left for me here," Impmon spat weakly.

"That's exactly my point. If you'd have listened to me, you'd have the Renamon." And I'd have you both.

"No. No more of that. The things you made me do were horrible. She lost her bond."

"You're one to talk. You willingly sacrificed yours."

"That was different. My Tamers were terrible. Hers…" Impmon couldn't finish.

The shadow snickered, "She thinks Makino was a good Tamer?"

"Yes."

"But you can't accept that, can you?"

"Renamon liked her. That's all I need to know."

The shadow ignored him. "I wouldn't accept it either. Humans have no right associating with digimon. Let alone enslaving them. You see. Our beliefs aren't that different."

"No. I'm nothing like you."

"Regardless, I still need your aid. If you cooperate, you can win the Renamon yet."

"Forget it. I'm sorry I ever listened to you. I'll win Renamon's love by myself."

"Hmm, I believe we have a slight…misunderstanding," the shadow disappeared and Impmon began to hear a voice in his head. ~Because that wasn't a request. One way or another, you ARE going to help me~

Surprisingly, Impmon spoke with no fear, "Why don't you go fuc…"

"Puyavaha!" Shinduramon cried, attacking the imp upon a psychic command his master had given him. Again, the surge was light. Shinduramon couldn't deliver much higher of a surge or the rain would cause him the electrocute himself.

"Evil Flame Dragon!" from out of nowhere, a flaming dragon struck the rooster Deva, knocking him back. The dragon flew back, changing into Youkomon.

"Renamon?" Impmon managed to ask.

"Yes. I heard what you said. You truly have changed," Youkomon said, although her voice seemed shaky.

Apparently you didn't see me trying to kill dino-boy a few hours ago. The still wounded imp sighed and decided to tempt fate. "I don't suppose that means that you?"

"Impmon, I cannot…" Being struck by the counterattacking rooster interrupted Youkomon.

Altimamon's shadow watched the battle from atop a tree, where he had reappeared. Youkomon body was very tired and running on pure viral adrenaline. It was still outmatched by the Perfection level Deva. Excellent, this plays out very well. But wait…what is this? My dear savior, you're hiding something. Regardless, that can be dealt with too. He looked at the writhing Impmon.

Impmon struggled to keep his attention away from his own pain. No…gods no. I have to do something to help her. I…love her more than anything. Impmon felt an unrecognizable surge of energy. And I'd do anything to protect her! Impmon felt the energy grow and engulf his body. The light temporarily blinded Youkomon and the Deva. His instincts to him it was time for evolution, but it was more than that. He wasn't becoming an adult. "Impmon warp evolve! Beelzebumon!" Impmon felt immensely recovered, and strangely…human. His arms and legs were of a more traditional proportion, and covered in an armor-studded leather. The bomber jacket he now wore rustled as the light died down.

The Ultimate digimon Beelzebumon walked silently over to the rooster, who had Youkomon pinned to the ground. He grabbed him and pulled him off in a rather simple gesture. He tossed him toward a far tree and raised his left leg. In a totally fluid and almost choreographed manner, he drew two handgun like firearms, one from the left leg, one from behind his right shoulder. "Double Impact!" The shots impacted at the same time Shinduramon hit the tree, he was deleted almost instantly. Beelzebumon put his guns away. He could have downloaded the Deva's data, but that didn't really matter to him right now.

"Are you ok?" he asked, looking as if he were half awake.

Youkomon examined the new form of the digimon she knew well. The upper portion of his head was now covered in some type of biker helmet. The forehead portion of this was slitted, revealing a third eye. All three eyes shown a bright red, identical to Youkomon's. Below the helmet was a blue/gray, totally humanoid face. One that was actually quite handsome to her. Youkomon pressed her eyes shut as she attempted to distance herself from those thoughts, "I am alright, just tired. I came here to find Guilmon and apologize for my actions. Then I overheard you and…"

"Shh…" Beelzebumon placed a hand over her mouth briefly. "You said you were tired just take it easy." She felt his other hand on her neck, scratching her in a way that she found…quite pleasant.

She paid little heed to it, until he pressed his lips to her cheek, "Impmon…what are you doing?"

"I…don't know," he said truthfully. He kissed again, "Do you want me to stop?"

Most of Youkomon's conscious thinking was overrun by the mysterious fatigue. "I…just…no. No, do not stop that."

Beelzebumon didn't know if he could stop even if she had said yes. This was like a dream to him…in both senses of the word. Everything was quite hazy and seemed to be surreal. All he knew for sure was she was there. "Of course you don't," he tilted her head and began to suckle on the erogenous zone of her neck. "And you never want me to stop, do you?"

"Never stop," Youkomon breathed softly. Strangely she felt little doubt of what she was doing. Is this real? No, I could never do something like this. It is wrong…but so right…so perfect. His flesh is different, like a human. I wonder what he feels like under than jacket. So soft and muscular, I can practically feel it. She unconsciously began to move her paw that had slipped into his jacket.

Beelzebumon was having an even more difficult time orienting himself. "You've always wanted this, haven't you?" he spoke again, although he wasn't entirely sure if he had even spoken at all.

"Always," the bewitching fox said mechanically as it began to rain a little harder on both digimon. She gasped as his hands brushed across her chest area. She began to subconsciously tug at his jacket.

He took quick notice of this. I can't believe this. Not only do I warp evolve to ultimate, but I finally have her…and she WANTS it. But why now? It's perfect…too perfect! He realized they had nearly finished removing his jacket. "Renamon wait, this isn't right."

"Why not?" she asked from within her trance.

He smiled, "You should let me do it…" Wait a minute. That's not what I wanted to say. No! I see it now. This is…is…what was I saying? Why can't I remember? Damn it! Leave me alone! Beelzebumon had a quite prominent viral side, which began to involuntarily take over as he struggled against the outside influence in his mind. No! Not now! Not with her! I said don't want it this way! I said…He shuddered and lost his battle as her felt a few of her many tails stroke across the small of his back. Oh well, free sex is free sex.

"Never stop," Youkomon repeated as her tails began to curl. One by one they hooked themselves into the waist of his leather pants. There was no resistance from a belt. Beelzebumon had unknowingly taken care of that during his thoughts. Soon, the pants came off as well. His own, almost rat-like tail slipped out and began to play with its many mates.

The Ultimate digimon was completely gone as he continued to 'attack' her with a variety of caresses he hadn't even realized he knew. He gave a small groan when he felt another tail makes its way into his pitch black boxers. "No…not yet. I want to try something on you first…" The tail tore the boxers, freeing his semi-aroused self in one swift motion. "Or we can do it your way."

"My way is the only way," the black fox hooked her arms under his shoulders and pulled him on top of her.

"My kind of girl."

"Do it," Youkomon commanded. The satanic biker digimon had been ready for this moment ever since he'd known her. Youkomon sighed as he pumped himself inside. She began to feel less tired, but even less like herself. Not as big as Growmon, but I can make him quite satisfying…with some coaching. "Forward."

"What?" he said.

"Push forward."

"Like this?" he asked as he attempted to thrust deeper.

She grumbled with frustration. "Let me do it!" She rolled on top with renewed viral adrenaline.

"Hey!" Beelzebumon protested as his own viral side began to kick in.

"I am the one rewarding you. Just lie there!" Youkomon commanded as she began to grind her hips into him.

"That doesn't seem very rewarding to me," Beelzebumon growled, although truthfully not that undersatisfied.

"It is not my fault you cannot do it right," Youkomon panted as she began the thrust harder.

"Oh, I'm sure your little dino-boy is better," he shot back as his hips began to move involuntarily in rhythm.

"He is certainly bigger!"

"Cheap shot! Besides, anything would seem small in those tubby hips of your!" he cried as he really began to get into the rhythm.

"You certainly seem to be enjoying them!" a soft moan escaped Youkomon's mouth as her hip began to bounce onto him, driving his member deeper still.

"You don't sound like you mind me either!" Beelzebumon cried as he grasped her waist and began jackhammer himself into her.

"Guilty as charged," Youkomon half-giggled, half moaned. By now, the rain was flying as hard as the insults.

Beelzebumon slowed and rolled on top. "Now let's see if I can get this right…" He thrust forward, towards her head.

"Much better," Youkomon sighed as his pelvic bone was rubbed across her clit with each pump. "I like a mon that knows his place."

"What do you think of your precious Guilmon now?!" the satanic biker Digimon asked as he felt his orgasm near.

"Guil who?" Youkomon asked playfully as she locked her hind legs behind him. If they weren't already soaked with rain, they would have been with sweat.

"Good girl," the two finally fell silent, as they could no longer manage speech. Their hips were slamming together so hard it hurt, but release was so close…just beyond reach.

The double stimulation of his thrust was more than enough to let Youkomon finish first. She tensed crushed his pulsing member into herself with her legs, wanting to join with him forever. Beelzebumon could only manage small pumps at this point, but he was so close that it didn't matter.

He sighed as he emptied himself into her still spasming sex, but it was so much more than just that. His life goal was finally achieved. He had her…and she him. But it was wrong, very wrong. Only now did he once again see it. He looked down upon her. She was asleep, drowned in the tidal wave of fatigue that returned as she finished. "No. No! I didn't want her like this. This isn't what I wanted!"

"Shhh…you'll wake her up," the shadow smirked as it appeared in front of them.

Beelzebumon was too consumed with anger to even notice he was still naked. "You sick son of a bitch! How could you do that to us?!"

"I did nothing. You two were back in full control before anything happened. You wanted it. Well…at least your viral sides did," the silhouette explained.

"That is the most precious digimon in my life!" Beelzebumon was on his feet now, and changed the shadow. This was to no avail as he passed right through.

"I suggest you be quiet. A digimon who conceives needs a lot of rest before coding," the shadow pointed.

Beelzebumon froze. "What?!"

"You heard me," the shadow stalked slowly towards the totally stunned Digimon. "You had your fun…now it's time to pay the piper!" He drew back an arm. "Deepened Nail!" He slashed through the satanic digimon, cutting him back to Impmon in a matter of seconds. The power he had given Impmon during the battle was now a glowing orb in his hand. This 'Holy Orb' soon fizzled out and absorbed back into his pitch-black body.

"No…" Impmon said slowly.

"See what happens when you don't listen to me. I suggest you follow orders next time. Oh well, I suppose I should leave you two alone. This has been a rather…exhausting day. I will return…" With that, he vanished, returning to his body in the Digital World.

Impmon said nothing, mind still in confusion, guilt…and fear. Why? This was supposed to be so perfect…not like this. Oh gods, why does life hate me so much? Ok, so I'm a little obnoxious. Is that so bad? He sighed to himself and walked up to the sleeping Youkomon and did the only thing that he could think of doing. He curled up next to her and went to sleep.

~*~

"But it's raining outside," Guilmon whined.

"Look, we've been over this. You can't sleep in the guest room because Rumiko would probably find you when she comes home."

"And I can't sleep here because you wanna mate with Ruki."

"Y…no, I never said that."

"Then why can't I sleep here?"

"Because…umm…it would…" Takato sighed and hung his head in embarrassment. "What you said."

"See."

"Just sleep outside under a tree."

"But you always told me to never get under a tree in a storm."

Takato sighed. "Look, you don't have a home right now so you're making do with this. Of course, you can always go back to the woods…"

"No! I don't ever wanna go back there!"

"That's the third time you've said that. Just what the heck happened out there?"

"I…can't. It's a secret," Guilmon distraughtly said just as he had the previous times Takato had asked him.

The gogglehead patted his partner's head. "I thought we didn't keep secrets from each other."

"You didn't tell me Ruki was having a baby," Guilmon shot back.

"Oh yeah. I guess I didn't," he sighed.

"I hate secrets."

"Me too."

"Let's not have any more secrets," Guilmon proposed.

"Agreed. Now what happened in the woods?"

"Except for that."

Takato sighed. It hurt him to see his partner like this. Damn it Guilmon, I want to help you, but I can't if you don't let me. Hey, now where have I said that before? Takato smiled at his own joke. Who would have known Guilmon and Ruki actually have something in common. His thought were interrupted ask he heard Ruki yell from the study.

"Grand-ma, I finished my homework. I'm going to take a bath before I go to bed."

"Alright," Seiko called back.

Takato smiled at a thought. Well, I said I wanted to prove how much I care. That would be a pretty nice start. He walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Guilmon questioned.

"To take a bath."

"But Ruki just said she was."

Matsuda looked back and smiled, "I know."

Guilmon blinked in confusion, "So…if you're going in there, can I sleep here?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Takato waved him off as he exited the room. Guilmon smiled happily and went to get comfy in Ruki's bed.

Ruki was already half out of her school uniform as she entered the bathroom. She sighed at the peaceful silence, which would not last long, "Hey Rukiiiiii!" Takato yelped as she accidentally shut his fingers in the door.

Ruki slid the door open enough to poke her head out. Her lover was clutching his hand a mouthing curses. "Taka-chan, what are you doing? I'm trying to take a bath."

"I know. I just thought I could…umm…also take a bath," he said, trying in vain to make it sound sexy.

"I don't know," Ruki said. The teen eyed her pleadingly. "I just want to relax right now."

"Come on. We've never done this before."

"We'll try it some other time. I promise," Ruki assured.

Takato sighed, "Alright."

~*~

Juri went wide-eyed. Culumon had fallen asleep and Plotmon was explaining some of the 'finer details' of her life story, "You don't mean it was…inside?"

"Well, he kind of folded it a little, but yes," Plotmon giggled.

"His ear…" the teen thought back to Wallace's Lopmon she had seen in the third Digimon movie, "is pretty big, isn't it?"

"Mmm hmm," Plotmon grinned. Both females laughed a little.

"Wow, he was really something wasn't he?"

"Was…" Plotmon sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No. It's all right. It's actually kind of nice to talk about it with someone."

Juri thought about something, "What about Primary Village?"

"Primary Village? What's that?"

"On the Digimon Adventure show, Primary Village is a place on File Island where all digimon are born. Some are even reborn."

Plotmon looked at her curiously, "Reborn? Are you serious?"

"It's on the show."

The Digi-puppy thought for a moment. "It's probably just some legend. I've been all over the Digital World and I've never even heard of File Island, and all digimon are born with their parents when their eggs hatch. Besides, if digimon were reborn we overpopulate and starve to death twice as fast."

"Oh…" Juri sighed. "I guess it IS only an anime. It probably wouldn't be very realistic. Sorry."

"For what?"

"Getting your hopes up."

Plotmon shrugged. "I've come to terms with it. It doesn't bother me anymore more. Well…until a few days ago."

"Terriermon?"

"Yes."

"He didn't mean to."

"I know, but of all the digimon to fall for, why did it have to be a Terriermon? They're practically Lopmon."

"Do you like him?"

"Yes…well, sort of. I don't know. I think I do, but then I think of Lopmon and I don't think I'm ready for something like that."

"Because he's a Terriermon or at all?"

"I…can't answer that. I never even attempted a relationship since then. At least not any I care to remember."

"What?"

"An Agumon and a Hawkmon, one-night-stands. Both are things I'd rather forget completely. It was only a month or so since it had happened. I was so lonely. I needed someone…anyone," she explained.

"Oh…I suppose I might have done the same thing. I just hope I never have to find out."

"I'll always be by your side."

"Thanks." The two shared a hug before heading off the bed.

~*~

Makino surfaced from under the water. Her 'bathtub' was more like a luxurious hot tub. Rumiko had purchased it because it claimed help the skin to stay tight and ward off aging marks. She sighed, letting the soothing liquid caress her body. Her eyes drifted shut, fully relaxed. Finally alone. Well…not totally. "At least you're a well behaved guest," Ruki rubbed her stomach. "Which is more than I can say for your father or his digimon." She sighed. "I know, I know. I shouldn't say that. I love your father, I really do. So why do I keep yelling at him? Yeah, maybe I do expect a little too much, but I can't help it. I want to give you everything I never had. But if I don't watch it, I may leave you without a father too."

"No, you won't," a voice came from behind her.

"Taka-chan?!"

"I'm sorry." Takato was clad only in his boxers and goggles. "I was going to surprise you and ask if it was 'some other time' yet. Sorry."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"About a minute. Who are you talking to?"

"The baby of course."

Takato started whistling the theme from the X-files. Ruki threw him a harsh look, "Sorry. I know I keep making jokes at the worst possible times. I can't help it. That's just how I deal with things."

"I know. I guess sometimes I do come down on you too hard."

"I probably deserve it."

"No, you don't. I've been putting you through hell, haven't I?"

"Well…"

"Be honest."

"A little, but if it helps you I'd gladly go through hell and back a thousand times," he assured.

"I don't doubt that for a second," she smiled. "And I do love you, even if I'm chewing you out."

"I know. I love you too. Night."

"Wait a minute. Where are you going?"

"To bed."

"What about your idea?"

"No. You were right. It was a dumb idea anyway. You really do deserve some relaxation and quiet time."

"I never said it was a dumb idea," she smiled. "And I can't think of a better person to relax with."

"Seriously?"

"There's only one compulsive liar in this room," she smirked.

"Not funny."

"Just get in the tub."

"At once, Makino-sama," Takato bowed formally. He kicked of his boxers and practically jumped in.

"I said get in not dive in."

"Sorry." He relaxed back in the water. "Wow, this is nice. It's like…three of my old bathtubs put together."

"Mmm hmm, but you forgot the best part." Ruki flipped around and cuddled up to him, kissing him briefly on the cheek.

"Hmm…OH, you mean that we're…"

"This IS what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Well yeah, but…I just thought you wanted to relax."

"I am," with that she began to kiss at his neck. "Isn't…this…relaxing?" she asked in between kisses.

"Quite," Matsuda happily submitted to her action and her began to stroke her back through the warm water. "But I need to help you relax."

"I'm open to suggestions," she replied coyly.

"Lay back I want to try something."

"Wait a minute. YOU actually want to try something new?"

"Just lay back."

"Yes, Matsuda-sama," she mocked, turning back to her original position.

"I think you'll like this," he said as he flipped his goggles over his eyes. "Whoever sad being a gogglehead was a bad thing?" he smirked, taking a breath and going underwater.

Ruki thanked god for physics, as the water slowed Takato's tongue to a pleasure filled walk across the lips of her sex. Takato was disappointed that he couldn't taste much more than water, but wasn't about to stop. He surfaced for an important breath. "That wasn't new," Ruki said.

"It was underwater. Besides, I haven't done 'it' yet," he smirked as he submerged again. Ruki was quite anxious to see what he had planned.

She wouldn't have to wait long. Takato unleashed a series of bubbles across he the entrance of her sex that sent her into shudders. The remainder of his air blown upon her clit even got her to surrender a squeal, something she rarely did. He popped up for another breath. "Taka-Chan?" his lover panted.

"Hmm?"

"Next time you have an idea and I mock you, hit me."

"I could, but I'd rather do this…" he dove for another bubble barrage. Ruki whimpered and bucked forward, trying to control her instincts to push his face against her, lest she steal his air source. The third volley was totally inside her sex, and, with the aid of his tongue, stimulating more extensively than anything she could have imagined. Within a few second the fourth attack came…and so did she. Takato could barely hear her cry of passion, but tasted a distinct difference in the water. He could have stopped, but he didn't. This was it. He was giving the best experience he could to the woman he loved. That was really all that matter.

This would continue for many intense minutes. Finally, an exhausted Takato surfaced for the last time. His lungs burned from the controlled breathing, but he could have really cared less. "Was that three or four?" he asked with a smile.

Ruki blushed. "You mean you knew?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you stop?"

"For the same reason you didn't stop me."

Ruki floated on top of him, letting his head rest on the side of the tub. She pulled the goggles off his head and set them besides the tub. "Did mention how much I love you?"

"I think I might have heard it one or two times under there, but it might have been 'My tofu'."

Ruki giggled and grasped as his member, which was practically aching from lack of attention. "Then let me show you." She slid back, letting him enter her. She was now on her knees, fully taken upon what his body had to offer. The water allowed Ruki to move up and down in a slow but satisfying rhythm on him. Best of all, her hands and upper body were free for snuggling.

"I don't think any of this was in this tub's brochure," Takato half-moaned.

"Somehow I think not," Ruki continued to hump him at a water-influenced speed.

"Faster," Takato begged.

"I can't. We'll just have to do it like this."

"But I don't know if I can…"

"We'll deal with that later, just go with it," she kissed him full on the mouth. He was so into it right now, he couldn't argue. She continued to caress, kiss and ride him. At one point, Takato couldn't quite tell if they were making out or making love, nor did he care. He drifted into a hormone induced dream state, knowing only how much he loved her. In and out, so fast yet so slow. Takato had no idea how much time passed, but he tried to cherish every minute.

Ruki didn't exactly hate it either. In fact, she quite enjoyed to prolong lovemaking, but she could tell it had to end soon. Takato had hold of her sides and was trying to speed her up, to little avail. She had tortured him for so long, but she knew he'd thank her in the end. "Do you want to end this?" she panted into his ear.

"Yes!" he desperately panted back. He ached so badly, yet blissfully, from being left on the verge of completion.

"Then be ready," she whispered something into his ear.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just let me know when you're almost there."

"I've been at that point for about ten minutes."

"Then do it," she took a breath.

He nodded and pushed her back into the water. The moment her upper body was below, her lower body surfaced, finally giving him the chance to pound himself to relief, which took about ten seconds. Takato slightly regretting letting it end moments before being caught up in the most powerful orgasm he could remember having. Ruki had her legs lock around his back, and moaned from underwater as she felt him drench her insides with numerous rounds of his long pent-up fluid, soon to be washed away into the water. They stayed locked tightly for almost twenty seconds, before Ruki had to release herself and surface.

They lay there, panting, Takato still feeling the effects of his orgasm. Ruki had been unable to have another, but felt far too satisfied at the moment to complain. Takato was the first to speak. "That was…relaxing."

"Very," Ruki concurred.

Takato snuggled up to her, enjoying her presence for a few more minutes before they would have to clean up and go to bed, "Remind me to thank your mother for buying this tub."

"Agreed."

~*~

Translate-O-Matic:

Ruki=Rika

Juri=Jeri

Hata Seiko=? (If anyone can tell me Ruki's grandmother's name in the US dub, I'd be grateful.)

Rumiko=Makino

Lee=Henry

Hirokazu=Kazu

Wallace=Willis

Asanuma=Asagi

Plotmon=Salamon

Beelzebumon=Beelzemon

Growmon=Growlmon

Megalo Growmon=War Growlmon

Fladramon=Flamedramon

Vajiramon=Vajramon

Chatsuramon=Caturamon

Shinduramon=Sinduramon

Qinglongmon=Azulongmon

Xuanwumon=Ebonwumon

Child=Rookie

Adult=Champion

Perfection/Perfect=Ultimate

Ultimate=Mega

Sensei=Teacher

San=Mr./Mrs./Miss

Sama=Sir/Ma'am

Chan=Title given to close friend, or family member. Can also be used for young children, regardless of gender.

Kun=Title used between boys who are close friends, or used by a girl to a boy who is a close friend (non-boyfriend). Can also be used by a male superior to a female subordinate.

~*~

Preview: Chapter 11, Black goes with any color: Youkomon and Impmon wake to a rather uncomfortable morning, especially for her. Guilmon is having some problems adjusting to his new home. Asanuma and Mie exchange bombshells, but what will it mean for Takato? Plotmon tries to explain the issues a female digimon faces to Juri. Guilmon and Impmon weren't fond of each other before, but this new "surprise" could put their rivalry at a fever pitch. And will someone please tell me what Altimamon is trying to do?! (Sorry, I got carried away ^_^)

~*~

Author's notes: Finally done. A nice little HUGE chapter. I hope it was worth the wait. Hey, I actually ended a chapter on a happy note. Like I said before, I'm definitely going to try to update quicker.

Sorry if the Youko/Beelzebu scene wasn't up everyone's alley. I received a lot of requests to do something like that after the last chapter.

Yes, Ryo and Jenrya really go screwed for screen time in this chapter. Everyone will probably get the same amount of time eventually, with the exception of Takato and Ruki.

In Japan, schools are year round and slit into three session or 'trimesters'. The Tamers are currently in the 1st trimester of the year, the Spring/Summer trimester. Sometime in Spring usually marks the beginning and end of the school year.

Takato's mother "Removed her love" from Takato, essentially disowning and dishonoring him. Normally, a son or daughter would probably do anything to win his/her mother's love back, but Takato was an exception.

I don't know if Hirokazu is left-handed or not, but for fic's sake he is. By the way, if anyone out there knows the name of the Shiotas, please let me know. I've looked everywhere.

Altimylon, Altimamon's capital city is a cross between his own name and Babylon, the city where Christian religion says all modern human races came from. I based it mainly on a high tech and large version of Narshe from Final Fantasy VI. (Final Fantasy III in the US)

The whole aspect of Digimon pregnancy and the female Digimon "Heat" will be covered later. Mostly in the next chapter.

Tempura is a Japanese dish that consists of Fried seafood, mushroom, and veggies. The batter dip for frying usually consists of water, eggs and flour. I'm not a Japanese culinary expert by a long shot so thanks to rukimakino for that info.

Thanks as always to my pre-readers and my Beta-reader Withoutmorals.

As I said before, if you have any questions on a particular part of the story, feel free to E-mail me a question or include it in your review. I try to answer any question I think people may have in my note, but I miss things.

R&R. Like any writer, I want to improve my skills so if you have any constructive criticism, feel free to submit it.

Signed as always,

The §upreme Øverlord of Ðarkness