Chapter Text
It was a surprisingly warm day for October. Although it was autumn, the Odaiba High’s soccer team was practicing in the field for their preliminary match against Shibuya High. A young boy with messy brown hair could be seen kicking the soccer ball through the field, passing by his other classmates in this practice run. The other students were calling out to him, but he ignored them and continued running faster.
“C’mon, Taichi, pass it to me!” one team member shouted while jogging alongside the focused boy.
“You won’t get past me!” another team member shouted.
“Do you wanna bet?” Taichi smirked as he continued his solo run. Nearing the goal, Taichi kicked the ball hard. It soared through the field, striking past the goalkeeper.
A whistle was heard as everyone gathered around Taichi. The coach walked up to where all the team members were gathered.
“It was a good play, Taichi,” the coach said. “But you have got to learn to play with the other team members! This isn’t a solo sport, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it, coach,” Taichi said, glanced away. He looked at the bleachers and saw his younger sister, Hikari, with another girl. He wondered briefly who that was, but decided to turn his attention back to the team. “Sorry about that, guys.”
In that moment, the other team members followed Taichi’s gaze, and upon noticing Hikari, Taichi’s younger sister, their expressions became euphoric.
“It’s no problem, Taichi!” another team member said.
“Hey hey, isn’t that your sister there?”
“Come on, call her over here!”
“Yeah, yeah, Taichi! Don’t be stingy.”
“HEY NOW, THAT’S MY SISTER!” Taichi shouted at his teammates. Then he looked away from everyone. “Anyway, why don’t we do some more running if you’re all so enthusiastic?”
“Yeah, let’s do it! She’ll be watching!”
Taichi glared at the team member, who immediately went silent.
“Let’s go, twenty laps around the field!” Taichi shouted as he prepared to run.
On the bleachers, Hikari giggled as she watched her older brother command his team members. She was there with her best friend, Miyako, who was busy checking out the guys on the field. Miyako determined that Hikari’s brother was the best choice out there.
“You should introduce me to your brother, ‘Kari,” Miyako said, turning to face her best friend.
“Huh? What’s this all of a sudden?” Hikari looking back at Miyako.
“Hehe, I just thought he’d make a good match,” Miyako said dreamily.
“Please don’t, Mi,” Hikari sighed. She took out her cell phone and checked the time. “Oh! It’s time to meet up with Takeru and the others!”
“Oh no, we can’t be late for Ken!” Miyako exclaimed as she ran ahead.
‘Just who are you after now, Mi?’ Hikari wondered internally.
As HIkari and Miyako left the field, and Taichi was busy running around with his team, three small figures were watching the humans warily. One was a round and pinkish little creature with two antenna-like ears, or something resembling ears. The second one was a greenish striped critter with a thick tail, and completely lacking any feet. The last one was a small, white creature that resembled a puppy, and had red feet, tail and ears. They had been hiding in a shrubbery, but as soon as HIkari and Miyako left, the green and puppy-like critters bounced their way after the two girls. The last pink creature remained, watching Taichi intently.
**
In another place, a young boy was sitting at his desk, leaning against the chair. His eyes were closed, but he was certainly not sleeping. Lost in thoughts, he wondered how long his small band would last while he was in high school.
‘Would we still be performing when I go to college? …Will I even be going to college?’ the boy asked himself. Sighing, he pushed his chair back and left the classroom.
The boy looked out the window. There were students running around the field; he wondered what their purpose was. He wondered if they even contemplated something that far off yet. As he closed his eyes for a slight respite, the boy suddenly heard a noise from the other side of his desk. He opened his eyes to see a critter sitting atop the desk next to him. It was a small round creature with orange fur on top and white on the bottom, and a large silver horn on the top of its head.
“Just… what is this?” the boy said, flabbergasted. “I don’t believe this. Did I fall asleep already?”
**
Inside a strange bedroom filled with monitors, a lone boy sat in front of the main screen. He vigorously tapped at the keys of a lit-up keyboard, which was the only sound in the otherwise quiet room. The boy sometimes took a very slight break to drink his iced cold tea bottle, then sat before setting aside. Various bottles were littered around the floor.
“Now… Let’s see what you will yield to me now,” the boy said menacingly to no one in particular.
In the corner of the room was a small critter. It was beige in color, and was standing on its feet—or, the closest thing it had to feet. It was watching the young boy intently, determining when would be a good time to reveal itself. That was when it that was now. Jumping out of its corner, it collided with the boy just as he got up to get another bottle of tea.
“Argh!” the two said simultaneously, as both fell to the floor.
**
In another apartment, a young girl with light brown hair was resting on her bed with a giant teddy bear. She was lying down with her legs swinging in the air. She was an exchange student from America, but she was born in Japan. Her parents moved to America when she was around two years old, so she didn’t have any memories from when she was in Japan. That made her very grateful that she was able to return; albeit for a limited time unless her parents decided to stay here. She hoped they would since she herself wanted to stay.
“Oh, wouldn’t it be good to stay?” She sighed dreamily.
Unbeknownst to her, a small yellow critter was hiding in the closet. It wanted the girl to notice her, but at the same time, it was afraid of how she’d react to the critter. Shivering in fear, the critter remained in its place.
**
Another young girl was pacing impatiently, lost in thoughts and appearing troubled. She walked to her closet and stared into it, as if she was expecting something other than clothes to be inside. Then she abruptly closed the door and resumed pacing. Suddenly, she threw herself on her bed and closed her eyes tightly.
“What did I do to deserve this…?” the young girl asked no one. “Why doesn’t she…?”
In her conflict, she hadn’t noticed small animal-like creature in her closet. It was small and green, with a flower bud on the top of its head. In just a few moments, the critter jumped out of the closet and onto the bed where the girl was lying.
“Wh-Wh-What?!” the girl said with a startled expression. “Wait, what are you?”
“I’m Tanemon! I’m your Digimon partner!” Tanemon, the plant-like creature sitting on the girl’s bed, yelped.
“My Digi-what?”
“Digimon!” Tanemon jumped up again before settling on the bed once more.
“Uh… I don’t get it, but okay…”
**
Inside another room in another house, an older boy was studying with multiple books stacked around him. He was so absorbed in his studying that he hadn’t notice a creature sitting on his bed, unconcerned about the possibility of being discovered. He was circular in shape and grey in color with red devious eyes. It was watching the boy with curious eyes, wondering if he would notice it, and what his reaction might be upon discovering it. Its mind was going through various situations, such as if the boy might panic or yell.
In the middle of studying, the boy heard his stomach growl. His face went slightly pinkish. “I guess I’m hungry, eheh…”
The moment the boy stood up and turned to the door. He saw the animal-like critter on his bed. He thought he almost had a heart attack, but he caught himself. Staring at it, he wondered just what it was doing on his bed, and where it came from.
“Are you… Just what are you?” the boy asked. “But more importantly, I need food.”
“I’m your Digmon partner, Pagumon!” the Digimon chirped. “Let me come with you to get food!”
“NO!” the boy suddenly raised his voice. Then, noticing he raised his voice, he sulked. “Absolutely not. I don’t know how my parents would react to a… random head thing.”
“Aww… Fine… But you gotta be back soon!” Pagumon called out.
**
At Odaiba High, a young boy was running laps around the field by himself. He wanted to practice harder so he could win the match against Yamato High in a few months. He aspired to be like Taichi, who was Hikari’s elder brother. The thought of getting approval from Hikari herself was also a strong motivation for him, too. The weather was beating down on him as sweat seeping through his clothing as he didn’t realize it was a warm day for October.
While this boy was running, a small creature was sitting on the bleachers, watching him. Its fur was sky blue with dark blue stripes, with a thick tail that wagged happily as it watched. The little critter watched for about thirty minutes—though of course, these kinds of things can’t tell time—until the boy walked toward it.
“Did someone leave their stuffed animal behind or something?” the boy wondered out loud. Just as he turned to leave, the little critter flew to the boy’s side.
“Wait, Daisuke!” the little critter cried out as he dropped to the ground.
“….Hold up. How do you know my name?” the boy, named Daisuke, asked.
“It’s me, Wanyamon! Your Digimon partner!” Wanyamon said happily, jumping up and down repeatedly.
“I don’t even know what a Digimon is,” Daisuke said dismissively. “Leave me alone.”
“No! We are your partners! Something big is going to happen!”
“Ugh, how am I gonna shake this thing off?” Daisuke sighed, resigning himself to his fate.
**
Inside a mid-sized apartment, a child of about nine years old was seen in kendo attire, practicing with his grandfather. The boy tried to block his grandfather’s strikes while landing his own, but each time was met with a failure or immediate counters. Moving swiftly didn’t work for this boy, but he persisted to strike at his grandfather. After a while, his grandfather maneuvered his way through and struck the shinai off the boy’s hands, signaling the end of the match.
“Why don’t we take a break, Iori?” the grandfather asked.
Iori nodded as he took off his shinai. “Alright, grandpa. Let’s take a break.” Iori sat down cross-legged while facing his grandfather. “Grandpa… I feel like I’m stuck in an impasse. What can I do?”
Iori’s grandfather closed his eyes though only for a brief moment. “What’s bothering you? You can tell your grandpa.”
Iori’s expression turned surprised for a second, before it resuming to a troubled one. “Well… It’s… um, related to school, that’s all. Maybe I’m just overthinking things.” Iori couldn’t say that he found a little critter recently, named Chapmon. It was more like this Chapmon found him, while he was changing his clothes for kendo. It was a small creature, with greenish skin and an appearance resembling a kind of turtle, but without a shell. He thought it was rather cute, but would never admit it to anyone.
“It’s n-nothing, grandpa,” Iori quickly said. “I’ll be back to shape next time!”
“I’m glad, then,” Iori’s grandfather said with a smile on his face.
“Thank you, grandpa,” Iori smiled back.
After a few moments, Iori returned to his room, where Chapmon was waiting. The little turtle-like thing called himself a Digimon; according to Chapmon, it crossed over from the Digital World into this world; when the boundary between the two lapsed. Chapmon said there were a few more Digimon that also arrived to this world, some good, some not so good. Iori was confused, but he accepted this Chapmon’s words at face value.
“How did it go, Iori?” Chapmon said, jumping on the bed a few times.
“It was… the usual,” Iori said hesitantly. “Don’t jump on the bed. Did you behave?”
“Of course, Iori!” Chapmon said as he settled down on the bed. “You don’t look well.”
“I… Well, it’s a bit hard to swallow what you’ve told me, in all honesty. Why me?” Iori asked.
“Iori…” Chapmon said before going silent.
“I’m sorry, Chapmon…” Iori said apologetically.
“I… don’t know why, but I’m sorry.”
**
The next day arrived in Odaiba for the children. In Odaiba Junior High, a shy young student was walking down the hallway. He was hugging his backpack in front of him as though there was something valuable inside. The truth was that a Digimon was held inside. This boy hugged the bag tightly, though not too tight that it would hurt the Digimon.
He gave furtive glances amidst his fellow schoolmates and avoided eye contact, but that was per usual for this boy. He rushed past everyone else to his classroom, which was near the end of the hallway. Inside, he sat down with the backpack on his lap. He opened it up to check on the little critter. It resembled a little bird, with dark orange fur on its head and dark green wings and feet. Upon unzipping its confinement, the Digimon chirped once; the boy immediately asked it to be silent since they were at school.
“What’s ‘skewl’?” the Digimon asked a whisper.
“Um… It’s where we learn about the world and everything around us? I’m not entirely sure,” the boy answered, now pondering what school really meant. For a long time, the boy was stuck in his thoughts before the critter called out to him.
“Ken? What’s wrong?”
“Huh? Wait, don’t speak, Pinamon!” Ken shushed the little bird.
“But Ken…” The bird looked down for a moment.
“Ah… I’m sorry, Pinamon,” Ken said in a whisper. “It’s just… No one would notice me anyway… but… I’m worried the teachers might suddenly show up…”
“It’ll be alright, Ken! I’ll always be on your side!” Pinamon chirped in a whisper, if that was possible.
“Uh… Not sure how that is related, but thank you, Pinamon,” Ken said, smiling to himself. He looked up to see his teacher walking into the classroom, so he quickly zipped up the backpack and hung it up behind his chair.