Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ By My Decision ❯ Worrying and Waiting ( Chapter 6 )

[Notes:

FI-FUCKING-NALLY. I was hoping like hell Chapter 5 wouldn't be my last hurrah for this story and as it turns out, it wasn't! I beat the oppressive school system's ASS. Hah! So, yeah. Around mid-April I was going through some crazy shit involving my computer to allegedly have a brand spanking new hardrive, only to have my computer be too SHITTY to accept a wonderful 60 GB hardrive, and when I got my computer back, the driver was fucked and so was everything else. I ended up having to just use a Master Recovery to fix things, and I ended up losing more than I thought as a result of that…but that was peachy because I didn't like how I was originally going with Chapter 6 the first time around.

School was interfering and guilt-tripping me insanely, preventing me from being able to work on this fic too much, so I tried to make do with making Sweet Song ABC (that Junzumi one-shot) while waiting for my summer vacation. And… well, as of June 6th it's HERE! So just 6 days of that and here I am with a brand new chapter. Sorry I made you guys, like… wait and stuff.

I'm just sorry that this chapter sucks like, SO MUCH ASS compared to the last one. Then again, I expect no other chapter will be like 5. There's just one stinkin' POV in this whole chapter, and it was eerily kind of hard not getting to write Takato's POV for this chapter. So definitely, he and Jenrya will be all nice and awake in the next chapter. Then again, I feel this chapter, sucky and unexciting as it is, also serves a special purpose in redeeming the character of Ruki and Jaarin, since I did decide I was making them waaaay too mean for their own good. XD This is their big retribution chapter, so people who cared about that flawed detail in BMD can be like, happy and satisfied and stuff. For people who wanted that shounen-ai, well…YOU'RE GONNA HATE ME SO MUCH! Mwahahaha.

I also decided I would finally just spill out all the secrets I had with this story since it began (not to say there'll be OTHER new surprises later in the story, unless any of you actually READ my Deadjournal on a regular basis, then it ain't a surprise at all for anything) right now. So let's start with that obvious one!

Numbuh One, this story is not a Rukato. It never was, never is, never will be, and never WAS planned to be one. At all. Reason? I loathe Rukato with every inch of my being. @_@; And while we're at it, I loathe Jenruki just as much. Recently, Jenryo fell to that category as well. The ONLY reason BMD is listed under the Takato M. and Ruki M. sections of FFN is, well… Black pretty much answered that already for me. XD They're the main characters. If you look closely, Takato and Ruki are the only characters who I'll ever take a POV on. If you noted the hints, you would see that the two love triangles in this story have two people vying for Takato (Juri and Jenrya) and two people for Ruki (Ryo and Hirokazu). In all honesty, I don't know what pairings exactly will be final by the time BMD ends, but right now I'll list to you what couples ARE fair game for possibly happening in this story:

Jurato (Takato x Juri), Jenkato (Jenrya x Takato), Jenjuri (Jenrya x Juri), Ryuki (Ryo x Ruki), Rukazu (Ruki x Hirokazu), & Ryokazu (Ryo x Hirokazu).

Hirota (Hirokazu x Kenta) has been mentioned as happening in the past, but it won't happen again, as Kenta will remain unpaired for a good reason. I might possibly throw some Ruri (Ruki x Juri) hints, but I'm not sure if I'd want to add it to the real story line yet.

So if that couple isn't on the list, it ain't gonna happen, sorry. Actually, if you took the time to look, you'd find more than one Rukato or Jenruki fic under the Takato M. + Jenrya L. section as well. So it's all just as fair to me to have a Jurato and/or Jenkato in the alleged "Rukato" section. It doesn't outright SAY it's for pairing purposes only, you know…O_o So will there be positive Takato/Ruki interaction even if it isn't romantic? Probably. If you want that, um…stay tuned. If you want Rukato, you've got hundreds of fanfics on FFN alone to well enough suffice for that, methinks. ^^; So if I get more questions asking about Rukato, I'm going to laugh a whole lot. I find it greatly funny. Maybe you SHOULD send more Rukato-asking questions! XD I need some amusement!!

Eh, well. In any case, bad shit be coming along the way now. I think the last scene pretty much justifies that. I know it'll be hard for you, but ENJOY!!

…Oh, and Numbuh Two, yes, I DID get Yariko's last name (Kisaragi) off Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII. ^____^; I was replaying it at the time when I wrote that fiiiic! I let too many damn things influence me…]

[POV - Ruki]

Why do I have to care so much…? It's so stressful sometimes. At least I didn't have to be in so much pain when I didn't care about anyone. But maybe Renamon taught me that living that way would be no good for me… it did admittedly stunt my emotional growth. It explains why I'm usually cold half the time when I'm with my friends. Being anything else around them just feels so… wrong, now.

I could feel that all the caring was taking its toll on me now. I refused to open my eyes, but I already knew it was morning. The sun was shining through my window and thusly right over my eyes. Would I dare look at the clock…? I knew I'd have to wake up sometime soon. Staying in bed all day will just make it impossible for me to get to bed tonight… and tomorrow would be Monday. School…

I just really didn't want to live this day out. I couldn't. Not after what happened last night.

But what were the chances of Renamon actually letting me sleep any longer? She could probably tell I was faking it… I was just biding my time… bit by bit…

Then again… what kind of friend would I be not to get out of the house today and make sure Takato and Jenrya were okay? They were on the brink of death last night, or at least that's what the doctor said. I never thought much of those two in the past. I still really don't, but I can't help but worry for them… how could someone just… die at such a young age…?

Just seeing their pale, limp bodies last night struck a nerve with me. It made me realize if they had died last night, I never would have been able to apologize to them for all the mean things I've done to them over the years that I knew them. I practically shunned Takato earlier when he gave me a compliment, and I betrayed Jenrya in a way that'd make sure that he'd never ever trust me again. It doesn't help that this all could've possibly been my fault. It was my and Jaarin's plan to have Jenrya to ride that boat in the first place…

I promised I wouldn't beat myself up over it until we were sure on what happened. There were still a lot of unanswered questions when we all retreated to our homes last night. And I wouldn't know these answers until I went and visited the boys myself. I just wanted to cringe at the thought of seeing them again… so cold and limp, and practically lifeless. I'd never seen ANYONE like that before… and now that I have… it must've made me realize just how thin the barrier of life and death really is.

And I've been so careless with that barrier in my childhood…

"Ruki," came my long-loathed wake-up call. "If you stay in bed any longer, you'll miss breakfast. And you'll need to sustain your energy if you're planning to make use of your day."

I was too shaken and guilt-ridden to argue with my partner right now. So I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What time is it…?"

"It's almost eleven," Renamon indicated, pointing to a nearby clock. "And you've gotten many calls this morning already."

Shaking the hair out of my face, I made a low grumble. "Why am I not surprised…"

Renamon just looked sharply at me. "All of your friends have been up hours ago. They'd like it if you'd join them. This is just my opinion, Ruki… but I think you're very much needed at this time."

"I won't abandon them," I promised. "Not at a time like this…"

Renamon just nodded, closing her eyes. "Good. You haven't forgotten what's happened…"

"I was hoping it was just some nightmare…"

"I wished it was," Renamon sympathized. "How could such a horrible incident happen to such good children who've saved the world?"

By now I've pulled myself fully out of my bed, and was heading to my closet to get dressed. "Guess it's how life goes sometimes… the worst things can happen to the best people no matter what the circumstance. I just hope they're still alive now." My eyelids still felt heavy; I obviously didn't sleep well last night. "I couldn't forgive myself if they actually died from this…"

"I have a feeling," Renamon said hopefully. "That they won't give up so easily. But to prevail through their obstacles, they'll need you here for them. Believe in them, Ruki… I know it's not easy for you, but…"

"I can do that," I assured to her. "I just… wish something like this didn't have to happen just to show me how much I actually care."

"Just don't forget this event," Renamon advised. "And you'll surely learn something in the long run from it all."

"Yeah…" I had finished dressing. My overly tense nerves had effectively made me lose my appetite, but I supposed that it wasn't good to go off without eating. There was no sense in starving myself like models do. "You're coming with me, right?"

Renamon turned to me. "I'll be right behind you."

I gave a silent nod in acknowledgment. We proceeded out of my room and to the kitchen. There was already a plate of a considerably small breakfast set out on the table with a vacant chair. My mother and grandmother were sitting on the other side of the table, both drinking coffee, and had been conversing with each other until they noticed my presence. To this, their chat went into an uncomfortable silence.

Someone had to break the ice; might as well be me. "O… hayo."

"I kept reheating your breakfast…," My mom said distantly. "So it wouldn't get cold…"

I looked directly to her, nodded, and sat down to start eating. Renamon continued to walk until she was right behind me. "Sorry I took my time waking up…"

Grandma just shook her head, looking more distressed than she should be, I thought… "We had a feeling you'd want some extra sleeping time, after all the hysteria gone on last night."

"Arigatou," I mumbled, eating quickly, but rather unenthusiastically. "Thanks for staying calm despite all this… the other parents were kind of freaking out last night…"

"We're just glad nothing happened to you," mother explained. "I don't even want to think about how it'd be around here if it was you in this position…"

Grandma expression-wise was trying her very best to keep a calm, straight face. "You'll tell us what happened when you find out, won't you?"

"I will," though I wasn't very eager to do this at all… there are just some things I had to do sometimes. Looking down at my plate, I realized that I'd been eating my food at an incredibly slow pace, and I was already full. "I guess I should get going soon, though."

Mom nodded to me solemnly. "Yes, your friends really need you right now for moral support…"

"Take your breakfast with you," Grandma suggested. "I can tell by the way you look that you don't seem to be hungry right now… but still, it's a good idea to eat something. Especially since you'll be out for a while."

"Good idea," I sighed, and started scraping most of my breakfast into a carryout box. "Sorry; I think last night sorta made me lose my appetite…"

"We understand," mother said quietly. "I just pray those boys are safe…"

Forcibly, I made myself stand up and walk towards the front door, with Renamon closely behind.

"There's only one way to find out," Renamon noted. "Don't worry; if we need anything, we'll be sure to give you both a call."

Grandma looked up to Renamon. "We'll be here all day."

"See you guys later, then," I said, intentionally trying to use as little emotion possible to choke that out as I stepped into the outside world…

It was so cold last night. So, so cold… none of us even realized how cold it really was until we were out on the lake ourselves. With all that in perspective, it was hard to think about how Takato and Jenrya possibly dealt with this for an extended period of time. We were almost sure they wouldn't make it when we did end up finding them… it must've been a true miracle for the both of them to survive.

The bitter, biting cold air was gone now, thankfully. Everything was bright, temperate, and overall comfortable. As well as it should be; it's close to noon now. This made things a little easier, I guess…

Shutting the door after Renamon made her way out, I began to walk onto the long path, all of a sudden realizing something.

"Um… Renamon?"

"Hai?"

"I just… I," cringing, I looked away. "I sort of chickened out last night… I left before everyone else did…"

"You were just a bit upset and emotionally distraught," Renamon explained coolly. "Everyone was, I imagine. You mustn't be ashamed of that."

"It's not that," I insisted. "I just… because I was the first one to leave, I didn't get to see what became of them. Are… are Takato and Jen still in the hospital?"

"I don't think so," said Renamon. "According to the calls this morning, they were able to stabilize the two well enough to where it would only take some extensive care at home to nurse them back to health. So there was really no point for either of them staying at the hospital; they should both be at their respective homes."

"Are you sure…?"

Renamon closed her eyes. "Well, it's the best one can assume when one set of people claim they're watching over Takato, and the other set watching over Jenrya."

"Good point," I admitted. "So… um, who's watching who, now?"

"Let's see… Ryo and Hirokazu said they would watch over Takato, so that means Kenta and Juri are at Jenrya's house."

I paused just then, waiting for this to process in my mind. Did I really want those Rooster Heads' company when I'm like this…?

Immediately, I started to walk in another direction, Renamon following closely behind.

"Why did you switch paths, Ruki…?"

"This is the way to Jenrya's house, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically. "Come on, we're paying him a visit."

[POV - Nobody]

Things had never been quieter in the Lee household than now. Even Shuichon was respectfully calm in the event of what happened to her big brother. Speaking of Jenrya, he never had woken up since he was found unconscious with Takato last night. No one even bothered questioning why Jenrya had been found collapsed completely over his best friend, and it was certain that even now, no one cared about that detail. Both he and Takato were in a critical condition upon reaching the hospital, so it was quite fortunate that Jaarin and the others found them when they did. Overwhelmed with concern, Jaarin had acquired a searchlight somehow, and its brilliant white trail was a great help in locating the two boys.

It wasn't until the very early hours of the morning that Jenrya and Takato were released from the hospital, to finish their recovery in the comfort of their own homes. Jenrya's family greatly empathized on the 'comfort' part of the doctor's order. He practically had five blankets draped over his body, covering everything except for his head. One of the blankets was electric, the heater was turned on nearly to full blast for the night, and Jenrya's window in his room was very well shut; no cold air would be touching his room, that was for sure.

Thankfully, according to plan, Jenrya was recovering well, albeit slowly. With him and Takato out of commission, only Terriermon would've had the ability to tell the others exactly what happened last night. However, a flight across the lake, a frantic attempt to gather everyone up to rescue Takato and Jenrya, and a hectic ride back out on the lake was clearly taking a toll on Terriermon's own health by the time they were heading for the hospital. As a result, he fell soundly to sleep as the doctor was making his report. Now he had awakened, fully back to health and calmed down, but as much as he'd like to be with his partner in his time of need, it wasn't possible, for the minute he woke up and was informed of the situation currently, Terriermon was obligated to tell the entire situation to the family, and let this mystery rest once and for all.

Kenta and Juri, both arriving around 8 AM or so, agreed to keep a constant eye over Jenrya if he happened to recover at any time today. The idea of just sitting in his bedroom for the entire Sunday might've seemed like the waste of their last free day before school tomorrow, but at this point, nobody cared. The well being of Jenrya was the top priority with them, as Takato's was with Hirokazu and Ryo. No one was going to leave until they were sure their friends would be okay… or at the very least, wake up.

Staring hard at Jenrya, Kenta let out a small sigh. Many things were going through his mind right now, and having a situation like this on his mind all the time was a feeling he could easily do without.

"It's kind of weird…"

Juri broke her own gaze at Jenrya and brought it to Kenta. "Weird?"

"It's not important," Kenta assured sullenly. "I just… kind of find it weird…"

"I don't understand," said Juri. "What's so weird…?"

"Well… it's just that," Kenta paused for a moment, trying to find the right words to express himself. "Jen's always been such a quiet guy. He observed us way more than he ever did actually speak to us… but for some reason it's kind of… uncomfortably weird that he's so quiet now. I mean… he's not doing anything."

Juri sadly looked back to Jenrya. "I know what you mean. He looks peaceful right now… but it just feels so… wrong."

"It could possibly be the fact that if we'd gotten him and Takato to the doctor any later, we'd be seeing Jenrya the exact same way we are now… but he'd be in a casket instead of a bed." Kenta sounded grim on the later part of his sentence, but simply just saying that made him flinch.

Juri's own features were looking increasingly disturbed; this own train of thought went through her mind before. "Don't… don't say that, please…"

Kenta nodded and turned away a bit. "Y-yeah… I mean, neither of them should die right now, anyway. They've been taken care of… they'll wake up…"

Juri looked to the bedroom door, which had been shut since Terriermon had woken up. "I just can't help but wonder how this all happened. I mean… I feel bad for making Jen-chan going through that boat ride in the first place. Maybe if I hadn't pressured him, we could've avoided this…." Shaking her head in disbelief, she turned to Kenta. "Are we at fault…?"

"No, of course not!" Kenta assured. Sensing Juri's guilt starting to inflate beyond control, he patted her on the shoulder. "Besides, we still don't know how Takato winded up on the same boat as Jen. We hadn't even seen Takato since… a while back, so who knows how he got mixed up in this. But how were we to know that the stupid bet Jaarin made would've caused this?"

"I guess…"

Kenta frowned a little. "If you have to pin the blame on anybody for Jenrya's case, do it to Ruki and Jaarin; they're the ones who made the plan to begin with."

"I don't want to blame anybody," Juri clarified, suddenly feeling a headache coming on. "I still believe this was all entirely an accident… Ruki-chan and Jaarin-chan are sorry for what they did; I could see it in their faces, Kenta…"

"Maybe so," said Kenta. "But I have a feeling regardless of how sorry they are, they're gonna tear themselves apart because of this."

Juri nodded in agreement. "I hope Ruki comes soon… have you even seen Jaarin yet this morning?"

"Not that I recall," Kenta replied sadly. "I think Rinchei said something about her being in the kitchen since 5, though. She's really into catering to Jen as much as she possibly can…"

"I hope that isn't the case, though," Juri mused, by now looking dazed. "I… I hope Terriermon tells us that this was all just an accident, that didn't have anything to do with what Jaarin-chan and Ruki-chan did…"

"It can't be that long of an explanation," Kenta commented, in an attempt to be helpful. He looked over to the door. "He'll let us know just as soon as he's done breaking the news to Jen's parents. But sometime today we'll have to let 'Kazu, Ryo, and Takato's parents know about it too."

"Yeah," Juri agreed, although clearly dreading the time that comes. "But Takato's parents… don't tend to be as calm about these things as Jenrya's are."

"True," Kenta sullenly admitted. "If Takato actually caused this, he's going to get the grounding sentence from hell. Even if he didn't have anything to do with what happened, I have a feeling his mom's going to do anything to reprimand him somehow."

"Well… let's wait a while," Juri suggested, slouching forward even further. "We'll hear Terriermon out, and… maybe we should wait and see if Jen wakes up anytime soon. And maybe his side of the story will clear up some more things…"

Kenta could only sigh. "If he ever wakes up today, that may help…"

As an abrupt end to the conversation, the door of Jenrya's room suddenly squeaked open. And almost painfully so, a hand was gradually coming forward over the edge of the door. Kenta and Juri's attention immediately went to the pale, reluctant hand as more of it came into view, until the rest of the body forced itself entirely into the room.

It was Ruki, no less. Never before, had either fellow Tamer seen her look this guilty. Unwillingly spread over her face, Ruki's sorrow and fear was only summed up in a small choking sound as she acknowledged her friends being in the room already.

She was greeted by a somewhat forced period of silence.

"… Thanks for coming," Juri finally said. "We were about ready to think…"

"… that you didn't care enough to visit again," Kenta finished, making sure to avoid any tone to his voice that would suggest he was kidding.

Ruki sighed and joined her friends to sit down. "I'm not heartless," she said in her own self-defense. "So, how is he?"

"He's recovering, at least," Juri answered, as everyone looked back to their silent, unconscious friend. "Last we've heard, Takato's recovering too. They should be able to make it…"

"Good to know," Ruki commented, nodding. "Any word on how this happened yet…?"

"Terriermon's still finishing up on telling it to Jen's parents. We'll know after they know," Kenta assured. "Then we'll have to call Ryo and Hirokazu to let them be aware of it…"

Ruki looked to the side, clearly unsatisfied. Having to wait to know whether or not this was all her fault was no walk in the park. "How long could this story possibly be?"

"Hopefully not much longer," Kenta said uneasily, sensing Ruki's crude impatience. "No one's even walked in to check on us since Terriermon started talking.

"Oh," Ruki mumbled, softening. "… how's Jaarin taking it?"

Juri just shook her head. "I… we're not sure. But if she hasn't gotten any better since last night…"

Everyone automatically winced, recalling how upset Jenrya's sister was the night before. More than anyone else, Jaarin was suffering the most at this point. Even Ruki could vouch for that; she may have been an accomplice, but at least she hadn't thought up the entire plan that may have caused this. On top of that, Ruki didn't have the responsibility of BEING an older sister to Jenrya. It was one thing to be betrayed and let down by a friend, but a blood relative? One that had to take care of the younger sibling no matter what?

"I wish I could… say something," Ruki choked out. "To help her, you know? This just can't be her fault… how could we know this would happen…?"

It was after that, when Jaarin made her presence known in Jenrya's room. Though the other Tamers never had seen much of her, they could clearly tell when Jaarin was okay, and when she wasn't. And she was anything but okay, even at this very moment. She was emotionally drained, psychically worn… but she still had no signed of faltering as she still had a perfect posture. In addition, she was also carrying a tray, which had an impressive breakfast spread over it.

The food itself was extremely fresh, despite however long Jaarin spent making it. Steam was still rising above everything, and the calm, unintrusive smell made the other Tamers feel somewhat at ease. Obviously, though, the food alone couldn't break the tension in the room. Jaarin finally had to face her brother's friends and formally apologize. Something she never would have imagined doing.

"Jaarin," Ruki acknowledged as sympathetically as she could muster. "How're things…?"

Shaking her head, Jaarin simply looked to the bed-ridden Jenrya. "He still hasn't woken up yet?"

Juri looked to Jaarin questioningly. "How long would people in his condition stay unconscious?"

"I don't know," Jaarin whispered. "This… this never really happened before."

"He hasn't really moved or anything," Kenta sadly reported. "What if it… like… takes another week or so?"

"That's ridiculous," Jaarin dismissed, frowning. "Jenrya's a strong kid. He's… he's going to pull through this. He'll survive. … And it will be today that he wakes up."

Ruki glanced over to the breakfast tray as Jaarin slowly set it down on a table. "You made all that for him?"

"He'll need a lot of food when he wakes up," Jaarin reasoned. "I imagine anyone would be terribly low on energy after almost freezing to death…"

"That's true," Juri admitted, her eyes now, once again, back on the floor. Oddly enough, she was feeling something awful inside her and it had only risen up in her again the moment Jaarin walked into the room… 'She must be in so much pain right now… and she's so resilient against it..' "It's good though, Jaarin-chan… that you really believe in your brother."

"We all believe in him," Jaarin countered, closing her eyes and slightly bowing her head, with the insinuation that merely believing in Jenrya wasn't going to make her any less guilty for what's already been done. "I just… don't know what else to do…"

"What are you talking about?" Kenta asked in disbelief. "You slaved in the kitchen for hours making him breakfast even though he can't eat it yet. Considering that not much else will be helpful for Jen-kun at this point, you should slow down, Jaarin."

"It was really thoughtful of you to do that for him," Ruki complimented shyly. "Please don't beat yourself up over it anymore… not until you're certain what went on last night."

Juri was almost looking desperate for Jaarin to feel better. "Whatever you did, you never meant to hurt him! You have to remember that… he'll forgive you!"

Suddenly, Jaarin rose back to her upright posture, eyes wide open and glaring. Everyone else abruptly ceased their encouragements.

"Will you all stop telling me what to do?!" was the nerve-breaking shout she forced out of her tired self. "I'm five years older than all of you, and I've known Jenrya five years longer than the rest of you! By NOW, wouldn't you think I would know how to properly handle being in this kind of situation?!" Jaarin was shaking uncontrollably, just from her first outburst. Half from anger and aggravation of Jenrya's friends relentlessly sugarcoating the situation. The other half was desperate, upset… for all the torture she might've put Jenrya through in his lifetime. And this whole situation in general.

"If I'm going to BE upset, then god DAMN IT, I'm going to be upset!!"

With that, Jaarin ran past Juri, Kenta, and Ruki, and promptly to Jenrya's bed, where she fell to her knees in order to be on level with her brother. Flinging her arms desperately over the cover sheets, she collapsed onto the bed into several sorrowful cries. The kind of cry that came close to making the other Tamers cry with her, just from hearing it. It was truly a pitiful sight to behold. Not long after it, Juri permanently shielded her eyes from the depressing scene.

Being the sensitive girl she was… Juri couldn't bear to let her eyes see how badly Jaarin was torturing herself over Jenrya. But it was purely understandable; even Ruki and Kenta were having a difficult time just watching Jaarin break down like this. Much less try to stop her.

"What the hell am I?" Jaarin asked no one in particular. And it was fair enough; no one was daring to answer her. "Just what kind of sister am I to DO this to my own little brother?! Why didn't I realize someday I'd be going too far and I'd end up killing him?! But did I listen?! NOOO!!"

Kenta looked over to Ruki, nervous and unsure as he ever would be, and choked out a slight whisper. "… I… is it a good idea to stop her…?"

Ruki didn't even look at Kenta. Her eyes were stuck, wide open and terrified, of the self-hating Jaarin. "… If you're planning to do it, be my guest. But there's no way in hell that I'm being apart of it. Just look at her…"

"I don't DESERVE his forgiveness!" Jaarin declared to everyone present in the room. "I don't deserve to be around him again! …I don't even deserve to be his sister anymore... why would he trust me after this? He never trusts me anyway. And I don't blame him, because since Day 1 I've treated him like shit!!" In frustration, she pounded a fist against the bed, but of course making sure she didn't make any physical contact with Jenrya. "I'm the worst sister in the world… how could you forgive anyone for that?"

"I wish she would stop," Juri softly told the others. "It's not her fault and she knows it…"

Kenta did a double take. "G… good point, Katou!" He sharply looked to Jaarin. "Jaarin, didn't you at least overhear Terriermon? What did he say?"

Slowly, Jaarin tried to calm down and rise above the sheets she was sobbing into. "I'm sure Terriermon is just sugarcoating everything… I didn't hear the entire story, but something about the boats Jen and Takato were in… they malfunctioned or something…"

"See? I…it couldn't have been your fault, then!" Ruki shot out. "You didn't know what condition those boats were in, did you?"

"No, but if I never sent him on the boat in the first place…"

"It was just a damn game!" Ruki asserted, standing up, and pointing at Jaarin. "You know as well as I do that we'd never really hurt anybody…! If… if Jenrya can't figure that one out on his own, then he needs help!" From her sudden display of emotions, Ruki was finding herself extremely tense. Reluctantly, she calmed down a slight bit. "Of course we still need to apologize to him… but we don't have to completely hate ourselves because of some horrible, immature prank we played. That's not what Jenrya wants us to do, Jaarin."

"It's not like he's your brother," Jaarin bitterly replied. "How could you possibly know what he's thinking?"

Ruki looked hard down on Jenrya, who was still just as still and serene as ever under his sheets. Narrowing her eyes, she folded her arms and lowered her voice to a quiet-but-still-easily-audible level. "Trust me. …He knows what happened better than any of us. If he hated us that much… he wouldn't even be trying to survive."

That shut Jaarin up quite well. She made no further attempts to continue the argument. Kenta, all the meanwhile, was looking over to Ruki, to Jaarin, to Jenrya, to the breakfast, and to Juri over and over again. Even after the shouting had dissipated, Juri was trying her best not to look at anyone. Gradually, she was losing her cool and would be upset again at any time.

Jaarin looked to Jenrya once more, with a pair of begging, teary eyes. For her, the longer she kept seeing her brother so still and silent, the longer she would be reeling in pain from the utter guilt of it all.

"Please forgive me," Jaarin finally whispered, shuddering. "I'll never… hurt you again." She sighed, looking up to the ceiling. "Even if that means I can't be around you anymore…"

Mayumi, Janyuu, and Terriermon came into Jenrya's room at last, with Janyuu carrying Terriermon. The poor little Digimon had exhausted himself from explaining the entire situation in detail. Nobody exchanged any words as the group entered the room, leaving Rinchei and Shuichon to be standing at the entrance to the room. Mayumi stepped ahead of the rest of her family, and quietly knelt down next to Jaarin. She took a moment to observe her unconscious son, before turning to Jaarin. She continued not to make a sound as she put her hands on Jaarin's shoulders, and turned her sideways so she could directly talk with her.

"… It wasn't your fault."

Jaarin blinked, wiped away her tears, and stared at her mother in disbelief. "What did you say…?"

"It wasn't your fault," Mayumi calmly repeated. "We know what exactly happened now, Jaarin… it wasn't you."

Jaarin just hatefully shook her head. "It had to be…"

"No," Mayumi cut her off. "You had nothing to do with them ending up in the lake, nearly freezing to death. Whether or not you tricked Jenrya into going on the boats, Takato would've been there anyway."

"That… that doesn't make any sense," Jaarin argued, though didn't dare raise her voice at this time. "There would've been at least two other people in the lake, freezing with them…"

Janyuu saw it fit to put in a word. "They accidentally ended up in a boat together, dear."

"Together…?" Jaarin's eyes widened, not expecting to hear that. Her good intentions for Jenrya were already destroyed before the ride even began? "How… how can that be?"

"Takato was being naïve and Jen didn't notice until it was too late," Terriermon explained, though still looking a little drained on the physical side. "But it was an honest-to-god accident, Jaarin. Neither of them rode with any girls."

Hearing this just made Jaarin slump. "So even what good I tried to do for him failed," she acknowledged. "Now he really doesn't need a reason to forgive me…"

"It was really my fault why they both fell in the lake," Terriermon groaned. "I was messing with the boat even after Jen told me to stop, and I ended up makin' the boat sink. I didn't mean any harm, though… I really didn't… but it sunk anyway… so I had to find you and the others as fast as I could before those two turned into ice cubes. I found you all singing the Ondo, and then… well… yeah." He tried to look cheerful for Jaarin's sake. "It wasn't in the least your fault, you see!"

"Maybe we could've at least saved Jenrya the trouble if we didn't trick him," Ruki suddenly admitted. "It seems kind of… unnecessary that he went through this."

Mayumi looked sternly to Ruki. "I don't want you or Jaarin beating yourselves up for what happened last night. You have the story from Terriermon, now. You have absolutely no reason to take the brunt of the blame."

"No one's going to be punished," Janyuu clarified. "We can accept this as an honest accident on everybody's part."

"Do you promise?" Mayumi inquired, extending one hand to Ruki and her other to Jaarin. "Not to worry about this anymore?"

Reluctantly, both girls accepted the hand, shook, and therefore promised to let the ordeal rest.

"Good call, I think," Kenta whispered to Juri. "After all, it was Ruki and Jaarin's plan to trick him onto the boat in the first place, but they did give him a choice, and Jenrya accepted it. However, he wouldn't have accepted it if Ruki, you, and me didn't pressure him into it. Then there's Terriermon's whole thing… we can just say it's kind of everyone's fault, right? And therefore it all cancels out into being no one's fault."

Juri didn't respond. While everyone else went back to silently observing Jenrya, she stood up without a warning, causing all eyes to suddenly lay on her.

Ruki was the most curious. "Juri…?"

With closed eyes, and a bowed head, Juri positioned herself to walk towards the door. Sensing her about to exit, Rinchei and Shuichon moved out of the way.

"What's wrong?" Kenta asked to break the silence, sounding genuinely concerned.

"I… I just want to call Takato's parents," Juri requested, trying to sound as undemanding as possible. "Now that we know what happened… I think the others might want to know."

"That's right," said Kenta, remembering the deal they had made with Hirokazu, Ryo, and Takato's parents. To immediately call one another the second one boy was regaining consciousness or they finally learned what really happened. "We ought to let them know, I bet Takato hasn't woken up, either."

Ruki looked down at the floor, trying to look as indifferent and inquisitive as possible. "So, how are they taking this…?"

"Not too well," Janyuu answered. "That kid has some high-strung parents, and apparently those other boys have no idea what happened at all."

"Figures," Kenta muttered, rolling his eyes. "They were too busy trying to impress Makino while this all went on."

"It's not like I asked them to stalk me," Ruki snapped back, but not sounding very angry about it. "If it were my choice, they should've been stuck on that ride all night long. But that's not important right now…" She smiled at Juri. "Go ahead and call them."

Juri made a very weak attempt to smile back. The smile was there… any reason for her smiling was not. "Arigatou."

[POV - Nobody]

"… You think he'll wake up any time today?"

"I really wouldn't know. I'm not exactly a doctor or anything."

"But you're Ryo! You're Ryo!"

"… Who is not a doctor."

"Damn."

"Kids, you might want to come here for a second," Takehiro, the remotely calmer parent of Takato quickly barged into his son's room and approached the two Rooster Heads sitting before his bedside. "We've just gotten a call from the Lee residence."

Ryo immediately stood. "Did something happen…?"

"Probably, if they called us. That was part of the deal," Takehiro reminded. He pointed back to the door of Takato's room. "Come on, it's best we all listen together. Mie's holding on for us."

Hirokazu stood with Ryo, but kept his eyes on Takato, who was lying just as peacefully as Jenrya was, and very utterly silent. He wasn't quite as overloaded on blankets as his best friend was (mainly because the Matsudas never owned nearly as many blankets to begin with as the Lees had), but he was still well-covered from neck to toe. The window was tightly shut, and it was certain no cold air would reach a centimeter within the room. Guilmon, naturally, was also present, never laying his eyes off his sleeping partner. It was a basic visual reference of perhaps, someone's dog or a Saint Bernard looking over any sick person in bed, never leaving their side, even for a moment.

"Do I come too?" Guilmon asked, without looking at anyone else.

"I think you'd rather stay right where you are," Takehiro noted with a smile. "You just keep an eye out on Takato for us, okay, Guilmon? Let us know if he makes any sudden movements."

"Kay," Guilmon sort of breathed out, in a tired and depressed manner. "I can do that."

"Good," Takehiro looked to Hirokazu and Ryo, started walking for the door, and reiterating his former gesture. "Let's move on, you two."

Hirokazu sighed, quickly following Ryo and exiting Takato's room. Out of everyone else, Hirokazu understood what was going on the least. Seeing his old friend in a dire state was already frustrating him; not knowing how it happened was just making it all the worse for him. Despite it all, Hirokazu did his best to look unaffected to Ryo, who was decidedly calm, and more than anything else, maturely concerned about what happened. He was around just as much as Hirokazu was during the incident. And yet he had a much better attitude going about it.

'I've got so much to learn from Ryo,' Hirokazu thought sullenly. 'I must be doing something wrong… I always feel like a moron when I'm around him.'

Hirokazu shook that negative thought away from him as he looked up to Ryo, and smiled. 'And somehow, I don't care feeling that way at all!'

"Let's hope it's good news, eh, Shiota?" Ryo asked his acquaintance. To make the question sound at least optimistic, he flashed a grin at his admirer.

"Couldn't imagine hoping any other way," Hirokazu replied, making good work with keeping his casual calmness about himself. "I hope Ruki's not taking it too hard, though. …I think she's blaming herself for all this."

At most, this made Ryo blink. "… That's right. She does think this whole thing started because of that plan she and Jenrya's sister made."

"I know she's the Digimon Queen and all," Hirokazu admitted, narrowing his eyes to signify a rare moment of his cynicism. "But I doubt even she or Jaarin could make that elaborate of scheme. Besides, they wouldn't want to kill both of them off."

"Any little incident has the ability to gradually grow into something worse, 'Kazu," Ryo noted, raising his index finger. "It's called the snowball effect. I'm not saying I suspect Ruki of trying to hurt Jenrya and Takato, but I still understand why she might be feeling guilty right now."

"Always staying open-minded about these things, I see," Hirokazu acknowledged, closing his eyes and smiling, and putting his hands in his pockets. "We're so lucky to have you as a friend, Ryo… Makino more than the rest of us, I'm sure."

Ryo, caught off-guard with that kind of compliment, just remained sophisticated with a small chuckle and a shrug. "You need to remember, I'm four years your senior. It's like an obligation for me to help you through experiences I might've already gone through."

This immediately caught Hirokazu's attention. "You went through this kind of thing before?"

"Maybe not exactly how this turned out," Ryo said, looking upwards, digging around in his memory. "But I'm sure at some point in my life I was guilt-tripping myself because I thought I did something horrible to a friend." He gave Hirokazu a warm smile to reassure him. "There's nothing wrong with it. It shows how much you care for your friends. And we're all friends here, aren't we?"

"Pretty damn good friends to me," Hirokazu agreed.

Hirokazu, Ryo, and Takehiro were on the bottom floor now, in the kitchen. Mie was where Takehiro said she was, near the phone and standing by. Being high-strung, Mie was easily the most distraught victim of the group. Compared to Jaarin, she was utterly hysterical.

"Katou Juri's on the line," she said. Immediately, she offered the phone to her surrounding company. "Anyone want control of the phone?"

Hirokazu raised a hand and opened his mouth, only uttering an inaudible sound until Ryo stepped ahead of him, nodded, and took the phone without saying a word.

Slightly crestfallen, Hirokazu just folded his arms behind his back and listened intently to what was said over the phone. Takehiro and Mie followed suit.

"What's up?" Ryo asked without a hint of worry in his voice. "Did Jen wake up yet?"

The phone conversation commenced, Juri's voice over the phone being too quiet for anyone other than Ryo to clearly comprehend what she was trying to say. Everyone just intently looked to Ryo for any changes in his expressions as he directly received the news. More than anything, Ryo would give "Oh"s in response, some sounding perfectly accepting, and others on the verge of disappointment. The constant switching back-and-forth of these emotions made the air very tense in the small kitchen. As it was, the call hardly lasted more than five minutes, yet for the others it seemed like an eternity had passed the moment Ryo said "Okay, I'll let everyone know. Arigatou, Juri-san. Good luck, and we'll call you back soon. Ja."

"What'd she say…?" Hirokazu blurted out, somehow wanting to be the first one to pop that question.

Ryo sighed, as he turned around to hang up the phone. "Apparently they've all decided to handle it by saying it was everyone's fault in some way or another, so because of that, no one's getting any direct punishment. Turns out this was mostly just an innocent accident after all."

Hirokazu sighed in relief, oddly enough, for Ruki's sake. "That must take a load of stress off her…"

Mie and Takehiro didn't bother inquiring Hirokazu about who 'she' was.

"So no one tried to hurt our baby?" Mie asked hopefully.

"Nope," Ryo proudly confirmed. "The boats were cheap and shoddily-made to begin with. Takato and Jenrya just ended up on that ride by accident, and they happened to be on a boat that fell apart while they were on it."

"That's it?" Hirokazu blurted out. "Ruki got upset and thought she froze those two to death because of some shitty-" quickly, he turned to Takato's parents. "-Pardon me, some bootleg boats?"

Ryo couldn't help but sweatdrop at Hirokazu's ever-amusing vocabulary. "… It was that plan of hers and Jaarin's to get Jenrya, at least, on those boats in the first place. But neither of them knew how poorly they were made."

"Who the hell could trust a bicultural festival anyway?" Mie bitterly wondered. "We ought to just sue them for what they put us through. They, or anyone else could've been killed just from one of their rides!"

Takehiro just sighed and patted his wife on the shoulders. "Honey, we don't need to complicate things by filing a lawsuit against a bunch of people. If these rides were truly deadly, I'm sure they'd never be allowed to be in the festival in the first place."

"Then maybe Takato isn't ready for going to festivals on his own!" Mie announced. "Maybe what happened last night proves that he still needs us around to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"Aw, give him more credit!" Hirokazu argued. "The rest of us got to go by ourselves and we didn't die! Jenrya was more or less trapped into going on that ride in the first place, so it wasn't like he had a choice. Who's to say Takato had any more freedom than he did?"

Ryo quietly held out his index finger. "Juri told me that Takato wasn't with them during the time Jenrya was forced to go. In fact, they didn't know where he was."

"So he got himself lost?" Takehiro assumed, biting his lip in utter resentment, because he knew this fact wouldn't even come close to changing Mie's mind.

"Pretty much; that's what Terriermon said, and he's the only conscious witness right now," Ryo explained. "You have to trust his word."

"I'll trust them, all right," Mie grumbled, in a very low and quiet voice. "Takehiro, when our son wakes up… remind me to let him know he's not to go anywhere other than school on his own again."

Everyone save for Mie instantly widened their eyes from that remark.

"He… he's a teenager, honey," Takehiro choked out in utter confusion. "He's been doing things on his own since he was ten. Remember? We trusted him to go without us in the Digital World… he kept his promise, dear. He stayed alive for us. Are you willing to take that freedom away from him even though he's more than proven he can handle things on his own? Just from this incident?"

Sadly, for Mie's case, her husband's statement made too much sense for her to just ignore. After an extremely prolonged pause… she only sighed, and held her balled fist under her chin. Genuinely, she was emotionally distraught, to the point where she'd do anything to protect her only son…

… Was that so wrong?

"It's… it's not my place," Ryo very cautiously cut in. "To have a say, that is… but I wanted to suggest that maybe this isn't the right time to be discussing how to discipline Takato. He's not awake yet, and I figure until he does wake up, our top priority should be just to take care of him until he gets better." Ryo's feedback was even more of that tense silence.

Hirokazu, at last, decided to support the suggestion. "You can't jump to conclusions like that when Takato's laying there in bed, suffering. It's not a good time."

"… I guess you've got a point," Takehiro concurred, looking to Mie. "Is that okay…?"

Mie wouldn't say anything; she just shook her head, folded her arms, and slumped. She did indeed look like she had just lost something irreplaceable in her heart… even if she hadn't really lost it at all.

Wordlessly, she walked back up the stairs to Takato's room, and waited by Takato's side for any signs at all from him. Any sign telling her he'd be with them soon.

With just as much concern, Takehiro, Ryo, and Hirokazu followed her and promptly followed suit.

It was just all a matter of waiting and patience, now.

[POV - Nobody]

It's truly a pity.

"A pity?"

To think, your miserable life could've just ended here last night. And instead, your God has forsaken you, and forced you to live just how much longer on this wretched, unbearable planet?

"… Excuse me…?"

Trust me. You don't need this world at all. You just haven't a clue of how much you really don't need it.

"What are you talking about…? I… I like my home."

I have a much more suitable home that might cater to your needs better than that 'home' of yours, I believe.

"Look, who the hell are you? Where AM I?"

Where are you? Who am I? If you really must know, you must be willing to comply with me… at least for a little while.

"What, is taking me home just not an option right now? I don't really care that much about where I am, if that's what you're wondering. I can't even see anything."

I do suppose the entire pitch-black setting is a bit bland for anyone's tastes. But in all honesty, I didn't think you'd want to know what this place really looked like.

"So you're already hiding things from me? That's a really good way to earn my trust."

I never did say I was trying to gain your trust, boy. I just didn't imagine anyone would really like to see the truth.

"Okay, try me."

You might regret that.

"I am a Digimon Tamer… from all what I've been through just by being that, I don't think I'll be scared into things so easily."

Well, if you're that confident about it. Just don't complain if you don't like what you see.

"I'm not promising that-"

The darkness was gone, and yet there was still a large amount of black everywhere. But there were still traces of light, as it was reflecting off the black- but in the strangest of ways. Of course, he didn't expect to LIKE what he saw… but he also wasn't expecting something this out of the ordinary. It was any paranormal fanatic's worst nightmare and greatest hope combined into one.

He was bound by unintelligible shiny, black slime. From head to toe, the slime sickeningly glistened as it seemingly permanently attached itself to random parts of his body.

Just where was he? … It would be the last place he would EVER think of…

[Shitty chapter, shitty TBC!]