Chapter Text
Kari slowly made her way towards Davis' family's apartment building, lost in her thoughts.
True, she had left her brother and Matt behind to - hopefully - solve whatever they had going on, with the intent to go out and eat with the group of friends she made on her second visit to the Digital World. And well, it would have gone that way as intended, if Davis hadn't remembered that his cousin was now back from her summer classes, so he wanted to invite her over too. None of them minded, of course, but it was up to her to go and find his cousin, for Davis was busily making ramen for them all.
She snorted, the air feeling a bit colder as she finally arrived at the Motomiya's door.
In her humble opinion, he just wanted to ask for T.K.'s personal input and while there was nothing wrong with that, there was only so many minutes she could spend watching four of her friends make heart eyes at each other while she and Cody just sat there waiting. Kari did feel bad for the younger boy and hoped his partner Digimon and Gatomon were enough to keep him occupied until her return, as he didn't want to come with her. Dryly wondering what she would return to, the brunette reached up and rang the intercom.
"Hold up, I will be right there!"
Ah, that must be his cousin... Ruri, right?
Kari thought about it, wondering what Davis' cousin looked like... did she look like him? Was there a reason why they hadn't met her until now? Now that she was thinking about it, there wasn't much she knew about Davis beyond the crush he used to have on before realizing that he liked guys, specifically her best friend, T.K. Which now made for two couples always blushing about and Kari was happy for them, she was, but if she had to keep hearing about it...
"You must be Kari, yeah?"
... lost in thought as she was, the brunette blinked at the girl in front of her, surprised just how alike she and Davis looked - the only difference being eye color and her hair being a shade lighter than her friend's. But that cheeky grin? Yes, that was one she was used to across all the years yet... why was her heart beating so fast, all of a sudden? The girl who she presumed was Ruri looked at her in confusion, probably wondering why Kari didn't respond yet. Shaking herself free from those sudden, awkward thoughts and feelings, she plastered a smile for Ruri.
"Yes... Ruri? It's so nice to finally meet you!"
Ruri took in the brunette who used to be her cousin-turned-brother's crush and kind of wondered if she had smiled at him in such a fake way too. If so, it didn't surprise her that he had moved on, she only wished that it hadn't taken him less time to do so. As such, her impression of Kari wasn't a great one - and this smile? It didn't prove much but... first impression was definitely not a kind one. So as she watched Kari attempt to look behind her in wonder, Ruri leaned against the door with an equally fake smile on her face.
"It's nice to meet you too!"
She moved outside, closed the door and locked it behind herself before facing Kari again. Really, she wished that she meant in a genuine way, but for now... this girl didn't really give her anything to work with. Either her cousin had really poor taste or...
Ruri watched as Kari shyly waved and turned to leave, clearly thinking she would follow her. Which she did after a beat, throwing a glance at the locked door. If all ended well, she and Davis would be back before midnight, so he wouldn't be alone... gripping her hands into fists, the redhead quietly cursed.
She would never let him be alone, not now that she finally found him again after they lost each other so many times...
If that meant playing a game of be nice with her cousin's friends, so be it. There were only so many people she was willing to lose.
.
Davis glanced away from T.K.'s beautiful blue eyes - how could he ever find them annoying? Well, that was something for his younger self to wonder about - when he noticed that Kari had returned from his apartment, now with Ruri in tow. Weirdly enough, it did take them a moment to come back, maybe something happened? They were only in the park nearby their place and yet...
He tried to catch Ruri's eye, but his cousin avoiding his gaze, clearly lost in thought about something. Davis just hoped that neither of them sad something awkward about him.
"Davis? The ramen is burning..."
"Ughhh ... T.K., tell me next time!"
"But you are so cute when you are annoyed!"
With that, he pointedly ignored his boyfriend's pout, moving to rescue the ramen if he could while staring at a chuckling Patamon instead. Meanwhile, Veemon went over to the girls, welcoming back in that cheery way he always did and that's where Davis lost himself in the cooking, he did want this to be edible at least...
... however, a certain glasses-wearing girl took in the odd tension between Kari and this new girl, who was this mysterious Ruri Davis only now decided to mention, which was odd. They had just met, what possible reason could they have to be at odds with each other already? Unless this girl is as bad as Davis used to be when they were younger, but to Yolei, she seemed fine. Even cool. A bit stand-off-ish, yes, but not like a loudmouth... so what was the issue? Her brain started to attempt to solve this like it would a math problem, leaving her boyfriend and their partner Digimon to smile beside her - Yolei would never change and well, they wouldn't have it any other way.
It was only Cody who noticed that this Ruri had no partner Digimon with her, resolving to ask Davis about it some other day. Of course, the teen knew he could potentially just ask the girl herself, but well, she was older and Cody was far too polite to directly question a stranger like that. His calculated eyes turned to look at their self-assigned chef. Davis, on the other hand, was a completely different story, as by now Cody felt safe enough to ask him pretty much everything.
Besides dating, that is. Even he knew better than to take dating advice from Davis Motomiya.
.
"Soorrrraaaaaa... did you hear?"
The light-haired redhead sighed, glancing away from her the clothes she was working on to look at her girlfriend, their partner Digimon sitting on both of her sides as they looked over the already finished products, intent on modeling them. Which was just fine by Sora, she loved seeing them happy and in clothes her own hands created.
"What? Did Tai and Matt finally come to their senses?" she questioned instead. "I swear, it's been a few months since I broke up with Matt and yet..."
"Not that, no." Mimi stared at her phone as she waved that away. "I mean, they did - Tai just confirmed it in our group chat and I'm happy for them - but I meant the fact that Davis has a cousin! Can you believe it? Why did he never tell us about her? Unless..."
"Davis? Cousin?" Sora left her work behind for a moment to move over and gaze over the brunette's shoulder as Biyomon and Palmon went to take a nap. "... not that I know of, no. Also, unless what...? You don't think she isn't...?"
"I mean, it's possible, but I thought every kid would be?"
The confusion was obvious on Mimi's face... because, wasn't that Oikawa's sacrifice? Ensuring every kid had that chance at happiness that was ripped away from him?
Sora didn't know the answer to that, so she simply slowly embraced her girlfriend in a comforting way. If there was an issue in any regard, they would solve it.
Together, as they've always done since they were children making their first steps into what they would come to know as the Digital World.