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If there was one thing the Digital World taught Izumi to appreciate, it was colors. Wearing the same outfit for several months got to her in the end ( got to all of them really ), and she loved Fairymon and Shutumon, and being Fairymon and Shutumon, but there were only so many shades of pink and purple a girl could go through before going mad.
So in the human world, she expanded her palette. Clothes is all tones of the rainbow, learning to use makeup to bring even more color around... She’d have gone for her hair, too, if not for her school’s rules against that ( she compensated by using colorful ribbons and hats instead. there’d be time in the future, since they had a future, thanks to everything they fought for-- in any case, she’d gotten into enough trouble just having blonde hair in the first place ).
(Her phone case kept the familiar pinks and purples, but the boys knew better than to bring it up. She’d never admit it out loud, but she was thankful for it. Plus, they did the same.)
Today, she wore white with dark blues, her nails a sparkling silver, trimmed and manicured to perfection. Kouji had taken up kendo upon returning home, wanting to keep fighting fit, and there was absolutely no way she or any of their friends was gonna let him go to the qualifiers for Regionals without being there to make as much of a ruckus in the stands as they could. She’d met up with Takuya on her way to the train station; Junpei and Tomoki would meet them halfway, and Koichi would be grabbing a ride with Kouji and their father.
They were making their way to the station slowly. No matter how much they wanted to be there, how much they hurried, the train schedules wouldn’t change for them and in their excitement to get together with everyone, they were early. It was always like this. None of them could really meet up all that often, so when it did, nobody could actually arrive on time. By the time the agreed upon hour hit, they’d already be there.
Too bad their good mood didn’t seem to affect everyone around them. Takuya had reached over to mess up her growing bangs ( “are you trying to get them to cover your eyes like Fairymon’s visor or something?”, he teased) and Izumi had playfully swatted his hand away, unwilling to confirm or deny his guess. Sadly, her swat missed her mark, and ended up hitting a man that was passing by them.
“Oh, sorry!” Izumi called out, not even faltering in her pace. Mistakes happen, and there was no need to dwell on that. Sadly, the man she’d bothered seemed to disagree, turning back to grab her shoulder and pull her back.
“Hey, you think you can just slap people and walk off, you weirdo foreigner?” Izumi tried to ignore him, pull away, but he just tightened his grip and pulled her back, forcing her to face him. “Can you even understand what I’m saying?”
Behind her, she could hear Takuya trying to get to her, but being blocked off by a friend of the man who’d grabbed her ( and his words were far too familiar for a place that was supposed to be home). She didn’t worry about him, knowing that a bunch of jerks were way too small fry after everything they’d been through. The man who’d grabbed her kept shaking her, pressing harder on her shoulder, but Izumi didn’t flinch. Eyes steeled, she simply reached over, grabbing the man’s neck with a single hand, perfectly pointed ( talons ) nails digging into the skin, tiny red drops springing up under grip.
Izumi knew her grip wasn’t very strong. If she’d never been anything but human, it probably would’ve been shaken off immediately. But if you spend enough time being something else, it sticks with you. Izumi didn’t want the man to breathe, so despite her nominally weak grip, he didn’t. She smiled.
“Leave us alone.” Izumi kept smiling, her order punctuated by the sound of Takuya punching the other guy in the face and the smell of burnt flesh and burnt gloves. She didn’t even need to look to know the bright blue glint burning in her friend’s eyes.. It was her cue, ripping her hand away from the man who’d let her go in desperation. There wasn’t a single moment to appreciate the five small bleeding marks on his neck as she and Takuya sped away. They didn’t stop until they were sure they were far enough away, barely winded.
She was the one who burst out laughing first, Takuya joining in after barely a second. Of all ridiculous things to encounter, really. And despite the setback, they were still way too early for their train.
“I should get some new gloves before we meet up with the others…” Takuya said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with the hand he hadn’t almost set on fire while punching a guy. His parents would worry about it, not knowing how it happened, and the others would worry because they knew exactly how that could happen.
Izumi took his hand in hers, assessing the damage- Yeah, you really need a new pair- and kept her hands in front of her, staring at her nails even after Takuya withdrew his hand. Her spotless paint job had been covered in speckles and stains...
Actually, that was a good color. Next time, she would paint her nails red.