Chapter seven: The Worst Day in the Life
of Matsuda Takato
******
~One Week Later~
The morning air was covered in a cloud of digital fog, masking the sleepy
park in a vale of mist. The only sounds heard were of a massive battle placed
in a clearing behind the trees.
******
Takato stood with his guard up, shivering ever so slightly in the pouring
rain. This match was not going as planned…
His enemy; a wild Garurumon, it stood tall on it’s four legs, glaring
at him with a look of death. He looked ready for any move made against him
by the Chosen child; except for the fact that his tail gave the impression
that it wasn’t fully there…every few moments it phased in out of sight. But
either way, the Digimon did not seem worried.
Takato on the other hand could have been better. Already his clothing
was torn up, his muscles ached as if they had been covered in burning gasoline,
and his breath came out in ragaged gasps.
“FOX FIRE!” The Digimon open his jaws and in one quick moment let go a
beam of pure energy at Takato…then vanished.
Takato watched the beam of blue electrifying energy as it sped towards
him, his eyes glazing slightly in the process…suddenly the glazed look was
gone, and a glare replaced it as his Katana’s blade started to glow with
a bluish hue. He held his sword in front of him, perfectly straight, and
watched as the attack split in half as it came in contact with his blade.
Unharmed by the attack, Takato smirked, getting over confident. Lowering
his sword as if to bait his opponent into the open, it was that moment the
Garurumon chose to attack. Launching himself from his hidden spot behind
the silver-haired boy…catching him completely unaware.
Takato heard the snarls of the Digimon and turned around, only to be greeted
with an oncoming physical attack from the Garurumon. With few seconds to
spare, he brought his sword up to unleash a counter attack. The next thing
that happened was almost to fast for the eyes to follow…
The Digimon was impaled with the blade, it’s coat of white and blue fur
not able to prevent the shiny metal from piercing its skin…still, he managed
to slash Takato across him chest with his left forepaw…before bursting into
fragments of data.
Takato carefully brought his sword back into his sheath and removed his
Katana’s hand guard, as he slipped it into his pocket. He used the scabbard
as a cane, leaning on it for support.
Carefully, he exited the Digital fog, lifting his goggles from his eyes,
Takato sighed, “Where’s Guilmon when you need him?”
******
Renamon appeared, soon after Takato had vanished. Glancing down at the
ground below her, it was easy to see the trail of blood that followed behind
the boy as he stumbled home.
The fox-type Digimon stared the blood on the ground, a look of deep confusion
in her eyes. “Ruki will want to know of this.”
With that, the fog around the area began to lift and Renamon phased out
of sight.
******
In the shadows of an alleyway corner a young man watched Takato from the
shadows, almost an inhuman hunger appearing in his eyes…
The man’s eyes wandered the bloody marks on Takato’s shirt…he could tell
the boy what in a lot of pain…they way he breathed was enough…coming out
in ragged gasps he flinched every time he drew in a breath. Still, he attempted
to stand tall as he headed home, despite the pain. Putting together the clues
from the scene before him, he came to one conclusion…
“So the young Matsuda is injured and wishes to hide it.”
His eyes had already started to glow crimson red as unnatural wind started
to pick up around him, making both his hair and clothing toss and turn in
the false breeze. He didn’t bother to hide the smile on his face, seeming
only to be made out of cruelty…and pride for the young boy. He had fought
well, despite the great disadvantage.
The teeth on the left and right side of his mouth had begun to grow, becoming
more vampire-like by the second. They stopped once reaching the gums of the
lower jaw.
His hungry eyes were taken off his prey, and he started at his left hand,
almost completely lost in thought. “I could end his life with but one whip
of my Bloody Stream…” He smirked, and dug his nails into his palm as he clenched
into a fist. A pool of blood was created as it slowly dripped from his hand,
almost as if to start his signature attack.
“But then my prize would be destroyed.” He concluded with a frown, dropping
his hand and letting the collected blood splatter against of the ground,
before bursting into a small stream of data.
His gaze turned back to the boy, his look of hunger gone and his appearance
shifting back to the normality of a young adult. A look of distance drew
across his expression.
“Soon Matsuda…soon you, and your power shall be mine.”
With these last words, the blond haired man slipped back into the corner
of the alleyway, hidden even better by the shadows. Just as his figure fully
vanished from sight, a flock of bats emerged from the shadows where he had
once appeared. Following their natural instincts, the winged creatures of
the night took flight in hopes in finding food for the night.
******
Else where two Digimon spent their hours playing tag…Guilmon and Culumon
chased after each other. Culumon was it this time, and giggled as he chased
after Guilmon. Guilmon laughed, “You can’t catch me, Culumon!” It had been
such a long time since he’d had fun like this…
Suddenly the smaller of the two Digimon tripped, Culumon’s expression
turned to one of confusion as he fell, the triangular symbol on his forehead
flashing bright red.
The same look of confusion fell upon Guilmon’s face…he felt it too…the
symbol on his stomach began to glow, much like Culumon’s, except brighter,
something was wrong…
The confusion wasn’t gone, just hidden, and a more ferial look replaced
it. "Takato’s in pain…" He could feel the pain in almost equal amounts,
a mysterious slash appearing across his chest.
"Takato needs my help!" This was the only thought that ran through
the Digimon’s mind as he hurried away from the vicinity.
“Culu! Hey! Wait for me!”
******
Something was wrong with Takato today…Juri knew it….
The brown haired girl had noticed Takato when he had arrived at class
a bit late. In some ways he looked as if he had been in some sort of battle,
and they way he leaned on that oddly carved cane of his, he seem to be in
some sort of pain, even though he tried to hide it. Watching him closes
she noticed how irregular his breathing was, every time he took in a new,
fresh breath of air he flinched as if he were touched by a hot coal…
His excuse was full of holes, and was not really that conclusive…
After all, he had said he’d been attack by muggers with knives…that was
doubtful; it didn’t make sense to bring such an obviously valuable item,
and have it in plain sight, just a little while after being mugged. She doubted
he was that stupid, even with all the changes he had gone through in the
past few years....
She was worried.
He was hiding something, and she knew it…throwing out all her efforts
he had still ignored her, and always seemed to keep at least three feet
between them. It was almost as if he though she had the plague, and just
by even acknowledging her presence would mean death.
And considering his injury…no, she wasn’t that naïve, she had noticed
it for what it was after he had been knocked over by Hirokazu while entering
the class room. The look of pain on his face had been enough…he needed a
doctor, or something along those lines…
She looked back at her silver haired ‘friend,’ and much to her amusement
found him doing what he use to do when she first met him…drawing, and ignoring
the teacher’s instructions…. "Even after all this time, he still can’t
focus on what he’s told to…something’s never change…." She though to
herself with a small smile, and a shake of her head.
He thoughts were interrupted by a soft tap on the shoulder, and she flinched
visibly, already knowing who it was…Miss Asaji glared down at her.
“Excuse me, Katou-san, I don’t mean to pry into your romance life, but
do you think you could keep your focus on what we’re doing up on the board,
and postpone your flirting with Matsuda-san until after class? I do have a
lesson I need to teach.”
Juri felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment, and quickly turned to face
towards the board. Sadly, after only a few moments, her curiosity got the
better of her….
She remember the old Takato found it hard to stop blushing once he started,
and he blushed so easily, especially at things like crushes….
However, turning around she received a shock to find Takato hadn’t even
given the slightest reaction to their teacher’s comment like she had originally
though…he was throwing a cold glare at her.
She quickly turned around, her eyes filled with pain, that glare never
disappearing from her thoughts….
His glare had been a combination of two emotions, anger and…betrayal.
But why would he direct such emotions at her? What had she done to receive
such scorn?
“What happened to you Takato…?” She asked in a tone barely over a whisper.
"What changed you from that sweet little boy, to this cold and angry one?"
The bell rang, signaling that class was over, and the end of yet another
school day. Juri didn’t dare turn her head in Takato’s direction as she got
ready to go. She was afraid of what he might do if she did.
******
“Grandma, I’m going to do my homework in my room, I’ll be a while.” She
announced, heading from her front door to her bedroom, backpack and jacket
in her arms.
“Okay Ruki,” She looked back at her grandmother, their eyes meting for
one short moment before Ruki closed her bedroom door.
Only silence greeted her as she turned around to face her bedroom, "I
wonder where Renamon is…" She wondered, before deciding it really didn’t
matter. Renamon could take care of herself, she didn’t need her Tamer to
baby-sit her, and Ruki wasn’t about to start.
She wasn’t really going to her homework, it had just seemed like the best
excuse at the time, and it would keep her grandmother (and if she was lucky
her mother as well) off her back for a little while at least…
A week had past since she had been to the library, and still she hadn’t
reached into her backpack to read that newspaper article…she never had actually
bothered to do that report, though that was more out of laziness then anything
else.
She kept on trying to convince herself that she’d been to busy to look
at it, though she knew it was stupid. Sure there was always Digimon battles,
school, and homework to worry about…but it wasn’t like she had much of a
social life, okay, so she didn’t have a social life, period.
Was she scared? Scared of what she would find in that newspaper that just
might lessen the hate she had for the silver-haired goggle boy?
…No, that couldn’t be it. That was stupid…she wasn’t scared of something
as silly as that! Different emotions were mixing inside her, and in an angry
attempt to ride herself of the tension growing deep inside her mind she flung
both her backpack and coat across the room. The backpack hit the wall with
a soft ‘thud’, and moments later she heard her grandmother calling to her
from outside her bedroom door, “Ruki, are you okay in there?”
She spent a moment trying to calm herself, replying,
“I’m fine! I just dropped something!” "Idiot," She told herself,
realizing just then, how stupid that must have sounded, "couldn’t you
have come up with something better than that? Sure, I dropped my backpack
and it just magically flung itself across the room…great excuse."
Ruki could prattle hear her Grandmother frowning, despite the door that
separated them. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She asked, one last time, as
if giving her the chance to tell her what had really happened.
“Very sure.”
“…Okay Ruki. But call me if you need anything, you know I’m always willing
to help.”
“I will.”
The old woman sighed, before moving away from the door. Ruki sighed as
well, this time out of relief instead of worry. Waiting until her Grandmother’s
footsteps faded away, she glanced at her backpack once more. Did she have
the time to read the paper now? Sure she had homework… "But that can
wait."
She walked over her fallen backpack, silence hanging over her as she reached
over to pick it up. Opening it, she dug around inside it before withdrawing
the newspaper, the front-page title standing out more than anything else
in its bold printing.
Again, she read, Mother Found Dead; Both Father and Son Still Missing.
Just by reading that title she could feel about a million questions popping
up in her mind…she ignored them for now…hopefully every one of her questions
would be answered by reading the article…
‘Disaster at Matsuda Bakery.’
By Tendou Nabiki.
Last Tuesday in the early hours of the morning, Matsuda Mie, a middle
aged women living in the district of West Shinjuku was found dead in her
very own home when a regular customer--and close friend of the Matsuda's--dropped
by the Matsuda's Bakery at her normal time.
Shocked, and otherwise shaken, the young women searched for both Matsuda
Takato and Matsuda Takehiro, both who should have been in the house at the
time. Neither was found, and after another quick search through the house,
she called for an ambulance.
Police and an ambulance arrived just a few moments later, and Mrs. Matsuda’s
body was taken away, while the eyewitness stayed behind for further questioning.
“I don’t understand how this could have happened.” The eyewitness, stated
halfway through her questioning. “The Matsuda’s were always such nice people,
I would have never expected something like this to take place in their home.”
Police also questioned her on the fact that Takehiro might have has a
role to play in both Mie’s death and his son’s disappearance, but she stated
firmly that he would never do something like that to his own family. Nevertheless,
police are still investigating.
Any information known on the disappearances of both Matsuda Takato and
Matsuda Takehiro should be brought to the police immediately.
Ruki let the newspaper slip out of her hands; the only sound in the room
was the paper as it’s fluttered to the ground. But inside, Ruki fumed with
silent anger. No, it wasn’t anger, it was mixed emotions, she seemed to be
having those a lot lately…if anyone had bothered to ask her how she felt
these past few days she doubted she could have given them a truthful answer,
she couldn’t explain it.
She was confused…yes, confusion was on the top on the list when it came
to the different emotions stirring inside her. And now that she’d read the
article…her confusion seemed to have grown ten times worse.
"This stupid article was supposed to help me figure out this dumb goggle
head! Instead all it’s done is give me more questions in need of answering…"
This was giving her a headache…she needed answers, and she needed them
now. As much as she hated to admit it, Ruki’s level of patience was wearing
thin.
She glanced at her bedroom clock, it read, 7:14 pm….had it really been
that long? She guessed she should have been paying more attention to her
surrounding; it had only been around 4 o’clock when she first entered the
room. Her stomach growled, and Ruki knew she was feeling the effects of having
not eaten since breakfast. But food could wait. Her questions--in her mind
at least--could not. "I’ll get my answers if I have to hunt you down
myself!" She vowed, though she knew Renamon would be helping on this mission.
“Renamon?” Her voice was barely over a whisper as she spoke her partner’s
name, but it didn’t matter. If Renamon was paying attention, she had her
Tamer’s voice.
As she had done so many times before, Renamon appeared within seconds
of Ruki’s summon. “Yes, Ruki?”
Ruki didn’t bother to turn around and greet her Digimon; she had felt
her presents in the room before she had even spoken. Besides, it was probably
for the best…she knew her face, riddled with emotion would confuse Renamon.
It was a weakness, and if Ruki wouldn’t tolerate weakness from her own Digimon,
she wasn’t about to start accepting it from her own self.
She’d overcome this, she knew she could. Renamon would not be notified
of her Tamer’s new and….frustrating emotions. “I need your help, Renamon.”
She hoped her voice has sounded as calm as always…she couldn’t tell the difference
herself, but she knew Renamon would notice the slightest change.
Renamon frowned…Ruki could hear it, more than she could see it, the lights
in her room were off, and it was getting dark outside. The only light in
the room was from the window…moonlight. “What do you need my help for?” It
was rare that her Tamer admitted she needed help.
“I want to confront the ‘chosen’ boy.” She stated, “I asked you to keep
tabs on him…where is he hiding?”
‘Hiding’ seemed like the appropriate word…she hadn’t him since they’re
first meeting, well over a week ago, it was almost as if he was hiding from
her and her partner. She smirked; maybe he was scared of her. "That’s
doubtful." She reminded herself, their first encounter had been enough
to prove that his Digimon was much stronger than her own. "But we’ll
change that with both training and effort,” She thought, glancing at
Renamon. She would be the best. Nothing would prevent that from happening,
not even the arrival of goggle boy.
“The ‘chosen’ boy,” Renamon chose her Tamer’s own wording, “resides in
the Matsuda’s Bakery.”
"Or the remains of it, anyway." The redheaded girl thought, her memory
going back to the newspaper article. His old home would not be in that good
of condition, especially after years of neglect and vandalism. Still, it made
sense that he would stay there. By himself though? Ruki guessed he didn’t
have any legal guardian, in the city of Shinjuku anyway. All for the better
then…a plan was being formed in her mind.
******
"Damn it…damn it." This was the only thought running through Takato’s
head as he limped in the direct of home. Never before had he felt the urge
to go hide in a corner and die, then he had felt on this very day.
He’d shown such weakness…it was almost pathetic when he looked back on
it. He had promised himself he’d never act that weak again, and today it
had been broken. Pity had been the only emotion in everyone’s eyes…it didn’t
feel right to have that pity directed at him.
It didn’t matter that his wound was healing at an inhuman rate…it didn’t
matter that his pain was slowly vanishing as he struggled to keep himself
moving…all that matter was that he get home and try to turn this day in to
tomorrow. Tomorrow would be better. It had to be.
After a few minutes of walking he finally reached the corner of his bakery…he
stopped for a breather, he felt he really needed it.
“So you finally showed up.” The voice was feminine…he’d heard it before.
He turned around to glare at the offending figure, it was the girl he
had spoken with just a few days before…or was it weeks? He couldn’t remember.
Still…he had dreamed about her, he probably wouldn’t have remembered her
otherwise.
That Digimon…"Renamon," he remember, was behind her Tamer, leaning
against the sidewall of an ally way.
Right now he didn’t care what the she wanted, or what she didn’t want
for that matter. All he wanted to do get some sleep; he couldn’t care less
about anything else.
“Leave me alone.” He was trying to remain calm, despite the pain he was
in and his lack of sleep over the past few days. “Can’t you see I’m in no
mood to play games right now?” Normally he wouldn’t have remained silent…but
he couldn’t help it, he’d been tortured enough through out the day, she
wasn’t helping matters.
He turned back to the direction of the bakery, only to find Renamon blocking
the way. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and the look she gave
him suggested that she wasn’t going to move without a fight.
Takato couldn’t help but be defensive at a time like this, Renamon looked
ready to block any move he tried to throw at her and he wasn’t well enough
prepared for something like this, they’d caught him off guard…he could feel
himself starting to lose consciousness…and his hands were getting ready to
draw is Katana…not a good thing.
Suddenly a loud explosion was heard in the direction of the young Matsuda’s
home. This loud noise was enough to snap him out of his daze, and the Tamer
and her Digimon’s attention were diverted from him, if only for a few moments.
Using the last of his strength, Takato dashed towards his home. His right
hand had began to glow, a mark faintly traced by the light stood out beyond
anything else, glowing brighter and brighter as he reached his destination…he
gave off no sign of emotion to show he had witnessed this. Reaching for the
doorknob, he was shocked as a multicolored beam broke through the door, launching
him into an alleyway wall.
Pain blurred his vision and he cried out as he felt old wounds re-open,
causing fresh blood to coat his clothing…still, he reach for his Katana,
he had to defend himself…"Where is it?"
He must have lost it when he had fallen, but it was too late for that
now…Takato forced himself to focus on the matter at hand. That thing…he
strained his eyes, searching out his opponent. Still, dust observed his
vision, as well as the pain. Still…something was different…there something
odd about the Digimon that had just thrown him into this alley wall…it didn’t
feel…evil.
His eyes were starting to close…the symbol on his right hand developed
a crimson color…the last thing Takato saw was his opponent approaching before
being drawn into darkness.
******
Ruki mentally cursed at how stupid that ‘Chosen’ kid was behaving. She
couldn’t believe that the boy that had beaten her, of all people. Be defeated
by a mere glitch of an Adult ChaosGarurumon. "What was that idiot thinking..?"
He’d been stupid, thinking that he could just walk in there without his
Digimon. He couldn’t possibly defend himself. Then again…there was that
Katana he carried with him…but could he use it? He’d lost it in the fall,
though it didn’t seem to matter, it was unlikely that he’d be getting up
anytime soon.
"Where is his Digimon anyway..?" The main idea of catching him by
himself was making sure he truly was alone. Strangely, it hadn’t been hard.
"I would have thought him and his Digimon went everywhere together."
It seemed like the logical thing to do, but then again, this boy didn’t
seem to know the meaning on it. If he had, maybe he would have been more
cautious when trying to enter the house.
Ruki forced herself to ignored those thoughts, there was still the Digimon
to take care off. The ChaosGarurumon had exited the house, and noticed both
Ruki and Renamon in the process.
“Renamon-” Suddenly, Ruki stopped. What was that noise? An odd scrapping
sound…like the sound of metal on pavement…
She turned to the direction of the sound and did a double take. The silver
haired boy was standing in a pool of his own blood…his Katana in hand, and
in a ready position.
"What the hell?! Who the hell is this guy?!"
He stared at his opponent, but no signs of recognition of the other things
around him came over him as he brought his sword close to him. Eyes closed,
the boy seemed to concentrate for a moment…suddenly bright blue flames covered
the blade, and he returned to his original stance.
The ChaosGarurumon growled, angry at the boy’s reaction to him. Ruki was
still deciding what her reaction should be…this didn’t feel right. ChaosGarurumon
charged at his opponent, and Takato did the same, his Katana in hand…
Ruki suddenly recognized a new presence on the battlefield, one that hadn’t
been there just a few moments ago. “FOX LEAF ARROWHEAD!”
“Renamon! What are you doing?!”
…No reply came from her Digimon. Ruki thought about shouting a second
time but knew it would be pointless. Her Digimon had to be ignoring her
for some reason…it was the only explanation. Instead she watched as the
thousands of energy arrowheads descended upon the weakened ‘Chosen’, almost
in slow motion. At the same time she knew there was nothing she could do
to stop the attack from hitting the boy, and because of that a feeling of
guilty crept up on her…if he was hurt, it would have been her fault for not
being able to control her own Digimon…she shoved those thoughts away, still
watching as the arrowheads neared the boy. Suddenly, a whitish blur slammed
into him, making him fall to his left, narrowly avoiding Renamon’s attack.
“Good job, Terriermon!”
Ruki forced her eyes away from the battle scene before her to glance in
the direction she’d heard the voice, she’d found it on her left side,
Ruki turned her gaze away from the battle and looked for the source of
the voice. She found it on her left side.... "Not him again…"
Silently she cured to herself for not noticing the peace-loving tamer
when he’d first arrived…however, she turned back to watch the battle once
more, watching her Digimon attack the ChaosGarurumon in a berserk like method.
Renamon had acted like this before, something was wrong…it had to be...
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