Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn’t hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

“The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown.”

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

But as soon as I realized where the noise came from, I let out a sigh. In the guest room downstairs, Koushiro had left the door open, his PC shooter game on blast.

“KOUSHIRO!!”

“Aah!” Koushiro jumped up from his seat, throwing off his gaming headset and frantically lowering the volume of the PC. “I’m sorry!”

“I told you to lower it,” said Motimon on the side. “You knew she was asleep!”

“The world is in a state of calamity and you’re playing your game?!” I cried.

“Well, yeah! Why not??”

“I don’t understand you!” I pouted and dropped to the ground.

“Aww, don’t be sad,” said Motimon, floating across the floor to nuzzle by my side. “We’ve got each other.”

“I guess…” I gathered Motimon into my arms and held him tightly.

“Think about it,” said Koushiro. “We’re stuck inside. We won’t be able to leave the house. Gotta do something to pass the time.”

I stare at Koushiro, then at Motimon, both of them shrugging. Sighing again, I got up, pulled up a chair next to Koushiro and watched him un-pause and continue the game. It was something I knew I had to get used to, anyway.

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn’t hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

“The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown.”

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

I discovered Wormmon scrambling to clean up a spilled glass of orange juice. Ken stood in front of the TV that was now turned off. He stared in front of him in a daze.

“Are you okay, Ken?” I asked, concerned.

“Not if this is how it’s going to be. I turned the TV off. I can’t watch any more of the news…”

Quietly, he walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. As much as I wanted to try to help him, I knew that leaving him alone was the best thing to do at that moment.

But Wormmon had a different idea. He squandered over to me, speaking excitedly but in a hushed voice.

I grinned at him and knew exactly what to do.

By the time Ken had returned to the living room with a cup of coffee, I had connected his laptop to the TV, which was turned on.

“Keeennnn!!!”

Ken was taken aback by Daisuke's huge grin on the big screen. 

“Ken!! Aren’t you happy to see me?”

Ken took a moment of silence.

“Turn off the TV,” he said.

I laughed, and then I heard Miyako’s laughter. One by one, Miyako, Takeru, Hikari, and Iori appeared from their own cameras. I picked up Wormmon, hugging him for thinking of a sweet idea.

“It’s great to see you, Ken,” said Hikari with a smile.

“Likewise,” Ken replied. Then he turned to me and Wormmon and smiled. “Thanks, guys.”

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

"I'm fine, Taichi."

Hikari had just stopped her phone ringing and picked it up. Tailmon waved at me as she pounced on top of the table near her. When Hikari noticed I was there, she gave me a half-smile, something she normally did whenever her older brother was calling to check on her.

"I haven't caught anything…" she continued. "I don't have a fever." She then turned to me and motioned her hand for me to approach her. "Feel my forehead and tell him."

I held the back of my hand against her forehead. "She doesn't have a fever," I said into the phone.

"Did you hear that, Taichi? I don't have a fever… No, she doesn't have a fever, either! Do you? Relax! We're going to be okay. I'll text you, okay? … Okay… I love you."

She ended the call with a sigh. "You're going to hear me talking to him a lot," she told me.

"I can see why," said Taimon who jumped into my arms to be petted. "Especially knowing how sick you've gotten before, Hikari."

"I know. He can be a little overbearing."

The three of us went into the kitchen in silence and made ourselves some breakfast. When I handed Hikari her the milk carton for her cereal, her phone beeped and she laughed a little as she read the message that just popped up.

"I texted my brother to make sure he had some breakfast, and he replied with a joke. He's so silly."

It made me smile. Sure, she was going to rant about him from time to time, but I knew that she missed him, and that she wasn't going to mind it at all.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn’t hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

“The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown.”

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

I found Taichi and Agumon in the living room. Taichi had just played the sound effect of an air horn, and he was holding his phone in front of his face, the red dot on the screen blinking before him.

“Aaaand we are vlogging LIVE in my living room, just heard the news that my city is officially on lockdown. This is intense!”

I watched Taichi move the camera until Agumon appeared on screen, waving and smiling as he stood behind.

“Oh - and look who else joined us!” Taichi laughed as he realized I had been standing there. He was unfazed at my grimace through his camera. “We’ve just learned about the end of mankind as we know it! Do you have any thoughts?”

“Shut it down, Taichi,” I said crossing my arms.

Then he frowned, and hit the camera’s pause button. “Come on. I have to do something while we’re stuck here.”

“We can always eat!” said Agumon.

“Don’t even think about eating all of our food, Agumon. Everything’s so hard to find out there right now.”

I felt bad seeing Agumon frown, although Taichi wore a similar expression.

“I can’t even go for a run, or hang out with my friends…”

Taking Taichi’s phone, I held the camera in front of me and tapped the screen to unpause.

“I think it’s a crazy world we’re living in right now,” I said. “It’s gonna take some time adjusting, and it’s gonna be hard, but I’m sure we’ll make it through this!”

“Yeah!” agreed Agumon.

Then I stopped the video and looked at Taichi. He smiled, but I could tell he was still unhappy. His phone buzzed, and on the screen I saw the name of who sent him a message.

“I think I know exactly who might cheer you up,” I said, feeling mischievous.

“Wait, what?” Taichi asked, snapping out of his thoughts. “Who-?”

His eyes widened in fear when I showed him who sent him that message, and whose number I had just dialed.

“You did n-!” he snatched his phone from my hands and fumbled to end the call right away, but there was already a voice on the other end. “Uh - hey! Um…”

“Hmm?” Agumon asked as Taichi stared daggers at me. I held in my laughter.

“Yeah… I saw… crazy, huh? Oh, you were…?”

I noticed his cheeks turning red. “I was thinking about you, too…”

He was on the phone for a while. I walked into the kitchen and noticed Agumon had followed me. I put three pop-tarts in the toaster, and waited for them to come up. Then, putting my index finger to my lips, I handed one of them to Agumon, who ate it with delight.

I carried the third pop-tart to Taichi, who was still on the phone.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be tough,” he said, then he looked at me again. “But hey, I have reason to believe that we’ll make it through.”

We exchanged smiles as he ended the call.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

I must have imagined the loud sound. When I arrived in the living room, I saw Iori on the couch sitting in silence. The only sound was coming from the news report on the TV, and Upamon bouncing on the couch.

"Whee! Lockdown!" Upamon squeaked cheerfully.

"I can't believe we're actually stuck here for a while," I said.

"It seemed like we were on our way to it, anyway," Iori replied, with Upamon still jumping on the cushion beside him.

Upamon stopped when I went over to him to scratch behind his ear. He didn't seem worried at all, and neither did Iori. Knowing this put my own mind at ease.

"At least I have a ton of books to read," I added.

"I did see some books on your shelf that caught my eye. I'd like to borrow a few, if you don't mind."

"Go for it."

Before I knew it, Iori and I were on either end of the couch, each of us with our books in hand and cups of tea in front of us. Upamon sat on Iori's lap, staring wide-eyed at the pages of text in front of him.

I enjoyed this peace and quiet, consumed in my own form of entertainment… except when Iori's phone suddenly began to buzz like crazy.

"Sorry, I forgot to put the ringer on mute," he said, grabbing his phone to silence it. "Miyako and Daisuke are spamming the group chat. They're complaining about being bored."

"I'll never be bored as long as I'm with you, Iori!" said Upamon.

With good company and the comfort of silence, neither will I.

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

"Ugggghhhhhhhh."

I found Miyako sprawled on her stomach on the couch with Poromon sitting under her arm.

"What was that loud noise?" I asked.

"The sound of my life being ruined," she whined.

"It's not going to be that bad, Miyako."

"But it is!" Poromon wailed. "I'm gonna go hungry!"

"Don't be so dramatic," said Miyako. "We have boxes and boxes of snacks from my parents' store. That's what we're going to live off of for the rest of our lives."

I placed my hands on my hips. "You're both being dramatic."

"I don't want to watch the news anymore."

"Then, come. Let's have breakfast." Taking Miyako's hand, I dragged her off of the couch and led her to the kitchen, with Poyomon following behind.

Miyako seemed to feel much better after having some coffee.

"I hope Iori's okay," Miyako said aloud. "I wonder if we can at least wander the hallways in this apartment complex so that we can check on him."

"You're better off calling him," I said. "Everyone here has been so jittery about being so close in that narrow space."

"I know, right?! Like, how else are we going to avoid passing each other?"

"Yeah, it's ridicu..ah…"

I couldn't finish the sentence before I sneezed.

"No - NO!"

Miyako immediately flew out of her chair and grabbed Poromon as she ran up the stairs.

"Miyako! It's only allergies!" I yelled loud enough for her to hear behind her closed door upstairs, but she never went back down.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

I found Sora standing in front of the TV, her bowl of cereal now scattered all over the wooden floor.

"A lockdown?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Sora?" Biyomon asked as she sat on the couch, but Sora didn't respond. She grabbed her phone and held it up to her ear, starting her pacing back and forth.

"I have to make sure everyone's alright."

I was worried about her, and I knew Biyomon was, too.

"Sora," I said calmly. "How are you?"

"Guys, I'm fine - Oh, good, Mom. You answered…"

She went on to call Taichi, Yamato, Koushiro… everyone on her friends' list to check on their well-being. I sat down on the couch and leaned against Biyomon, staring at the TV as the reporter talked about the people running around in panic, the businesses shutting down, the lack of staffing in hospitals, the empty shelves at the market...

That was when I felt Sora's hand over mine. I turned to Sora to see her look of concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

That was when I felt my eyes well up in tears.

"I'm not okay!" I shouted suddenly, the tears flowing down. "Are you?"

"No… I'm not…"

Sora burst into tears, and both of us couldn't stop.

How are we going to survive this mess?

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

I had to shout at Mimi to stop her from screaming any longer.

"This can't be happening!" Mimi cried. "A lockdown?! How am I supposed to survive?!"

Palmon was by her side, comforting her. "It's not the end of the world…" she said.

"It totally is!" Mimi fell onto the couch and sobbed into her palms. "I can't go to the beach, I can't see any of my friends - I can't even go shopping!"

I looked to Palmon and we both frowned. I knew Mimi would take this pretty hard, and I only wanted to figure a way to cheer her up.

"You know…" I said as I sat next to her. "We can always look at pretty beach pictures over the internet. And you can still shop online."

Mimi sniffled. "It's not the same."

"But you can still do it! And sometimes, there are even better sales, too…"

"I… I like sales…"

"There's also video chat whenever you want to talk to the others, so no one's really too far away."

"And you know you can talk to us," added Palmon. "We're your friends, too!"

Wiping her eyes, Mimi smiled. "Of course I know that."

Then, Mimi pulled both me and Palmon in for a hug. "You guys are the best! I'm glad I have you both to talk to all the time during this whole mess!"

Palmon smiled cheerfully, although I felt my own smile fade.

"All the time, huh?" I said with a nervous chuckle.

Mimi looked at me with sparkling eyes. "That's right! You know, we haven't talked much lately, so we can totally catch up! We can have spa nights and we can paint our nails together! We have so much to talk about. Wanna hear the juicy gossip that Miyako's been telling me? I've been dying to talk about my new shoes! And how's it going with those guys that you've been dating?!"

I didn't want to talk about any of these things.

It was my turn to scream.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The alarm went off. It was 8am. The sunlight blinded me between the curtains that I forgot to shut the night before. I stumbled out of bed and washed up, listening to the blaring of the morning news on the TV downstairs. The big topic was the same as it had been these last few weeks, and I only had to hear the one name to confirm it.

But today was different. The reporter had a different tone as he spoke. I couldn't hear what he said, but sounded more urgent, more concerned. As I shut off the water and dabbed my face with a towel, I realized why when I heard him say what we all had been dreading to hear.

"The mayor of this city has ordered a full city lockdown."

That was when I heard a loud noise downstairs. I ran down the steps as quickly as I could.

I arrived in the kitchen to find a mug scattered on the tiles. The coat closet by the door was forced wide open as Jou hurried to put on his medical coat. His mask hung around his neck as he bent down to dig for his shoes.

"Jou," I said, seeing the panic in his eyes as he muttered to himself about his shoes. "JOU."

"Not now," he replied urgently. "I have to get to the ER. They've had tons of staff call outs and the waiting room is jam-packed."

"Settle down, Jou," said Gomamon who appeared at his other side.

"I can't! Dammit, where are my shoes?!"

Jou was panicking. I was panicking. We saw this lockdown coming. We prepared for it. But how could we ever be ready for it?

I took a deep breath, and I bent to Jou's side, putting my hand over his to stop him.

"Breathe, Jou," I said, knowing that I needed to hear it, too. "You'll get there. You're going to help a lot of people."

"I'll do what I can."

I felt his shoulders relax, and I could tell he calmed down a little. Scanning the pile of shoes at the bottom of the closet, I spotted the exact pair that he had been scurrying to find and handed it to him.

"Go be a hero," I told him. It made him chuckle, and he squeezed my shoulder before standing up to put his shoes on.

Then, after he adjusted his coat and lifted his mask over his mouth, he headed out, shutting the door behind him.

"He'll be alright," Gomamon said.

"Yeah. He will be."

I smiled and picked Gomamon up, holding him tightly. But I felt my eyes water, and I knew that my expression was the opposite of how I really felt.