"so your uncle had to break you out?" the red haired tamer asked her fellow tamer, who nodded in response. "yeah..." she muttered as she ran a hand through her hair. "so that's why i was didn't come with you guys." she added as she pressed her head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling. "the last couple of days was a complete mess for me..." she finished. the red haired girl sighed before standing up on her two feet.
"come on." she said as she extended a hand towards amari. "the boys are probably waiting for us." she stated. the plum haired tamer nodded her head as she reached out and grabbed rika's hand. the tomboy hoisted her up and let go of her hand, stretching immediately.
"school floors suck." amari groaned as she rubbed her side. rika rolled her violet eyes at the girl before turned her back towards her and opened the door to the classroom they slept in. "well, no one told you to sleep on the floor." she snorted. amari rolled her eyes at her words, following the girl out of the classroom.
"and you thought the desks would've been a better option?"
"it beats sleeping on the floor." the redhead stated as she opened the door to the neighboring classroom.
"...but i saw jeri in the evening." the brown haired tamer spoke, confusing amari. "and that's not possible since it takes hours to matsumoto from here." he stated. the two female tamers strolled over to the two boys who stood near the window. "it just doesn't make sense." takato finished. the red haired tamer raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. "are you sure you're not seeing things?" she asked, watching the boys turn around. "who knows? maybe your goggles were on too tight." she joked. the plum haired girl shivered as she felt a breeze pass through an opened window.
"did you two open the window?" she asked as her golden brown eyes trailed to the window. the blue haired boy blinked before his eyes wandered towards it. "i don't remember leaving it opened." he stated. a brief silence had washed over them as the curtains fluttered against the wind.
"it was jeri." the brown haired boy said as he turned to face his friends. "or jeri's ghost." he added. the three of them gasped at his words. "i know it sounds crazy." takato started. "i mean, she couldn't have gotten here that fast if she hitched a ride on a jet plane." he explained. "and the way that she looked? i don't know..." he muttered softly, walking over to his digimon and resting a hand on him. "there's something about this that gives me the willies." he finished. the red haired girl chuckled at the brown haired boy.
"oh please." she scoffed. "you get the willies when you lose a sock!" she joked, earning an elbow jab from the amari. the redhead winced softly at the minor assault. "we all hope that jeri's okay, takato." the plum haired tamer said as she looked over at him. rika nodded in agreement.
"she's been freaky ever since we got home." she stated solemnly, earning a nod from henry. "well, she has been through a lot." he said. takato hummed lowly in agreement. "i know, but it's not just upset." he said. "it's more than that." he added, frowning.
"it's like something's broken deep inside." he said sadly.
-time skip-
the plum haired girl's eyes wandered cautiously around the now evacuated streets of shinjuku. it was so eerie seeing such busy streets completely empty and quiet.
"how are you holding up, mari?" the blue haired tamer asked, looking over at the girl. he watched as the female tamer observed her surroundings solemnly. the moon inspired digimon in her arms looked up at her tamer worriedly.
"mari?"
"huh?" the plum haired girl asked, her eyes wandering down at lunamon. "what's up?" she questioned as she raised an eyebrow. "henry asked how were you holding up." the white digimon stated. amari blinked before looking over at her friend. "oh, sorry." she apologized. the half chinese tamer shook his head. "you're fine." he reassured. the dark skinned tamer hummed lowly as her eyes wandered down to the ground below her.
"something on your mind?" henry asked. he watched as amari let out a soft sigh.
"i had only moved to shinjuku five months ago." she started. "two weeks after the move, i met lu." she added as her eyes wandered around. "the once busy and bustling streets of shinjuku have been reduced to literally nothing." she stated. "all this happened so fast." she muttered. "i barely enjoyed being here..." she paused as her eye caught glimpse of a piece of paper that was taped against the shutters of takato's family store.
"hey, takato." the girl stated, gaining the brown haired boy's attention. "what's that?" she asked as she pointed the the paper. the goggleheaded tamer turned his head over to the paper on the shutters. his red eyes widened in shock as he read the words on it.
"kids, come to rika's house at once." he read out loud. the red haired girl raised an eyebrow. "huh?" she questioned. "our parents..." the brown haired tamer muttered. rika looked up at takato with a small frown on her face. "this can't be good." she stated, earning a nod from the plum haired girl. "i agree." she groaned. the girl's digimon glanced up at her with worry.
"i wonder if tamaki or your uncle told your mom about you leaving." she said, earning another groan from amari. "i don't wanna even think about that." she whined.
"yeah, i don't think we should even go." the red haired tamer said, gaining the boys attention. "why not?" the blue haired boy asked in curiosity. "why not?" she reiterated, looking down. "what if it's a trap or something..." she muttered under her breath. takato tilted his head at her assumption. "rika, my folks aren't like that." he reassured. "maybe they wanna talk." he stated. the yellow fox digimon appeared next to her tamer.
"you know rika, he may be right." renamon said, gaining the red haired girl's attention. "we should trust them." she added. rika looked at the two boys with a frown. "i don't believe this." she complained before stomping off. "you guys are so naive!" she exclaimed. the plum haired girl frowned at the girl's outburst. "r-rika wait up!" she blurted out as she jogged after her.
"jeri!" takato called out, halting the two girls. "what?" the red haired girl asked, looking over her shoulder and seeing the brown haired boy dash across the street. amari turned around to takato, immediately trailing her eyes to the direction he was looking. the girl frowned, seeing absolutely no one. everyone jogged over the the gogglehead in confusion. "takato, what's wrong?" guilmon asked, tilting his head. his tamer looked down at the ground solemnly.
"jeri..." he started. "i just saw her." he added. "she was right here."
his fellow tamers gasped in shock. "did you see anything?" the redhead asked, looking over at henry. the half chinese tamer shook his head. "not me." he stated. the digimon in amari's arms shivered in anticipation, startling her tamer. "lu, what's up?" she asked as she looked down at her digimon. "i sense something nearby..." she murmured. renamon nodded her head at lunamon's words. "i do too." she stated. rika looked up at the fox curiosly. "really?" she asked. "was it jeri?" she questioned. the white rabbit digimon let out a soft sigh, shaking her head.
"we don't know." she answered.
-time skip, rika's house-
"hello?" the red haired girl said as she opened the door to her house. the three kids and their digimon were all greeted by their parents, who all wore smiles on their faces.
"welcome home!" takato's father greeted, clearing his throat. "well, to rika's home anyway." he clarified with a chuckle. "hope you're hungry."
-slight time skip-
"holy mackerel!" the brown haired tamer exclaimed as his red eyes gazed upon the food that laid before everyone. henry's digimon partner giggled as he hopped off of henry's shoulders and ran around. "buns and beans and sauerkraut, i'm gonna eat 'till i pass out!" he cheered. the blue haired tamer groaned as he yanked the rabbit digimon by his ears and sitting him down next to him.
amari's golden brown eyes wandered down at the food before her, taking note of the yakisoba noodles that sat across from her. her eyes then wandered over to the plate of mochi next to it. the girl could feel her mouth water. two of her favorite dishes were sitting right in front of her.
"you know the drill, mari." her father chuckled, gaining her attention. "the savories first then the mochi." he smiled. the plum haired girl gave her dad a small smile and nod before grabbing a small helping of the noodles with her chopsticks. before she started eating, she looked over at the moon rabbit next to her.
"did you want anything, lu?" she asked as she tilted her head. lunamon blinked before her pink eyes wandered over to the rice balls that rested next to the noodles. amari smiled down at her digimon before grabbing two rice balls for the rabbit. "here you are." she mused as she put them on her plate. the little rabbit nodded her head before grabbing one of them and munching on it.
the plum haired girl smiled softly as she hung her head low.
"whatcha thinking about, princess?" kei asked his daughter. the girl blinked and raised her head. "nothing dad." she said in a reassuring tone. the man across from her shook his head at her. "it isn't nothing, mari." he sighed. "you're thinking about your mother, aren't you?" he asked. the young girl pursed her lips together at his observation.
"she told you, didn't she?"
"she did." the plum haired man stated. "and she wanted me to tell you that she isn't upset." he stated. amari's eyes widened in shock.
she wasn't upset?
"she was just...shaken up by all that's been going on." he explained. "she didn't want anything happening to you like the last incident." he added. the plum haired girl hummed lowly at her father's words. she bit the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from crying.
"she worries about you, y'know." the man spoke, smiling softly. "she keeps telling me that you just took your first steps yesterday..." he chuckled. "that tamaki had taught you to say your first words..." he continued. "she doesn't want to see her little girl hurt in any way." he added. "but...she then realized that you're not the little girl who needs to be coddled by her mother every second." he said. "she's came to the realization that you've grown quite a bit and that it's finally time for you to do things your way." he finished.
amari felt tears stinging the corners of her eyes.
she finally didn't feel trapped.
her mother finally understood that she needed to sprout her wings.
pressing her forearm against her eyes, she sniffled softly and rubbed them. "thank you for telling me." she murmured softly. the red haired tamer next to her smiled at her softly as she placed as hand on her back. "you've wanted to hear those words for a while now, haven't you?" she asked, earning a nod from amari. "yeah." she breathed out. "hearing those words mean so much to me." she smiled.
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teehee