Digimon Frontier: The Warrior's Return

Chapter 7: Reunion of Warriors

Chapter 7: Reunion of Warriors

~Junpei POV~

"Hey you guys!" I yelled when I got off the Trailmon called Franken.

"Junpei!" they all answered. We clustered together, laughing, and I realized how much I'd missed them.

"It's been a while, Junpei-san!" Tomoki had grown since I last saw him - now he was almost Takuya's height. They looked more like brothers than ever.

Takuya laughed. "I didn't know they had Trailmon in America."

"They've got all kinds of crazy stuff in America," I said with a grin. "Have you seen Hummers?"

We all laughed and then I looked around expectantly. "Where's Izumi-chan?" I asked. "And Kouichi?"

"Kouichi's coming from Forest Terminal," Takuya said. "He'll be here soon."

I glanced at Kouji. That explained his tense look. "And Izumi-chan?"

Suddenly there was a whistle and a Mole Trailmon pulled into the station next to us. The doors popped open and when the steam cleared, Izumi stood on the platform like the best magic trick ever.

"IZUMI-CHAN!!" I cried, running towards her. And when she started running towards me, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

"TAKUYA!" she yelled and ran right past me into Takuya's arms.

"Izumi!" he said. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

Meanwhile, I stood forgotten by Mole. "That's rough," it said to me.

"That's my life," I said with a sigh. I wandered back over and eventually Izumi did notice me.

"Junpei!" she said. "It's good to see you."

"You too, Izumi-chan," I replied.

"Takuya-haaaaaan!" We all turned to see both Bokomon and Neemon running towards us.

"Bokomon! Neemon!" Takuya shouted. "Is that you?"

There was more excited commotion to see our old friends again. It was like deja-vu.

"This is great!" I said without thinking. "It's like a family reunion!"

Kouji made a quiet noise and turned obviously worried again. "Oops," I mumbled. "I'm sorry, Kouji."

"It's okay," he said, but even Tomoki could tell that was a lie. I felt worse.

"All right, then!" Takuya said into the silence. "If you're really that worried, Kouji, we'll start towards Forest Terminal. That way, we'll meet Kouichi partway there."

"Good idea, Takuya-niisan!" Tomoki cheered.

"Let's go find Kouichi," Izumi agreed.

Kouji smiled at us all. "Thank you, everyone."

We set off down the familiar track towards Forest Terminal, talking about the last time we'd come this way. Years had passed and we were all more mature, but some things never change. Takuya and Izumi began to argue fiercely, while Tomoki walked along the track, humming to himself. And though Kouji was walking with us, he was off in his own worried world.

I watched (and listened) to Takuya and Izumi's argument with a little interest. It reminded me of the play-fights I had with Ally. Except she was more physical than Izumi - she would tackle and poke me while we fought.

"What's that noise?" Neemon suddenly asked.

We all looked at him - Takuya and Izumi even stopped arguing. We all listened.