Chapter Text
Being alone was something he was used to, hours upon hours of silence. It was nothing new but silence had never been as hard to deal with as it had become. How long had Tomoro sat in this small cage of a room with a bed and the clothes on his back? His only companion was sleeping. Tomoro looked over at the small green ball on the bed before sighing and flopping back onto the bed. Tomoro ached everywhere, what with the bruises and bites that littered his arms and upper body.
Who ever thought that being a battery would be so exhausting and painful. His captors had been careful to keep him just exhausted to not be able to fight, too weak to keep his partner in anything other than its in-training stage. The little green pain in the ass did try to butt in when Tomoro was dragged from the room before being kicked like a soccer ball and knocked out.It hurt to watch, Tomoro might not exactly like the digimon but it did try like hell to protect him before they got scooped up and dragged off to wherever this was.
All Tomoro did was run home to clear his head. He didn’t understand being a cleaner, didn’t even get a chance to understand. He had been with Glowing Dawn for three days before Tomoro needed some space after yet another screaming match. He didn’t expect to not even make it to his place before a large flying purple digimon rained ice crystals down on him and Gekkomon.
Gekkomon did give the flying digimon trouble since he was so small and quick but it was clear that Gekkomon was just too weak to do any real damage. That didn’t slow him down though as Gekkomon got up time and again to fight. Tomoro tried to get Gekkomon to pull back so they could run but as he started to call out, something slammed him to the ground. Tomoro hissed as a knee dug between his shoulder blades.
Gekkomon moved to call out before getting nailed with an ice shard. He struggled to get up before the large digimon landed on him, pinning the small digimon to the ground.
“Good job Rhamphomon,” the person pinning Tomoro down grinned. He tied up Tomoro’s hands before pulling him back to his feet.
“What do you want? Why did you attack us?” Tomoro growled, trying to pull away from the taller teen.
“It will be explained later, just shut up for now.”
Tomoro looked back to Gekkomon before cursing, Rhamphomon was damn near crushing him.
“We aren’t going to delete him so long as you follow orders,” Tomoro looked back to the teen behind him, watching him for a minute before glancing back at Gekkomon.
“Fine,” Tomoro spat, Rhamphomon took into the sky, Gekkomon in his claws before grabbing him in his other foot. The teen easily climbed onto the back of the flying digimon before the ground fell away. Tomoro could just barely make out Glowing Dawn’s base in the distance before it disappeared.
“Keko?” Tomoro sighed, looking at the digimon next to him.
“I’m fine.”
“Keko!”
“I could be a hell of a lot worse off,” Tomoro muttered, rolling onto his side. Kekomon curled into his chest. Tomoro curled around the small digimon, “Hungry?” Tomoro offered a finger but Kekomon turned away. “I’m not going to faint, I promise.” Kekomon looked like he didn’t believe Tomoro, he was a rather expressive ball. “You haven’t taken any in quite a while, I don’t need you to delete yourself,” Kekomon frowned but accepted the finger. Tomoro watched the ice creep up his finger, it barely registered at this point considering the fact that he was being used by several digimon for their e-pulse needs and all of them were rookies.
The door to his room slid open causing Tomoro to flinch. Kekomon released his finger to hiss at whoever entered. Tomoro was too tired to really bother.
“Are you willing to listen to orders yet?” Tomoro relaxed at the voice.
“Piss off Raito.”
“You aren’t helping yourself. Naito isn’t known for his patience,” Raito sighed, “I can’t imagine how boring it must be to be holed up in here.”
“Keko! Keko keko keko!” Kekomon jumped on Tomoro’s side as he yelled. Tomoro had to fight to not knock the digimon off because his sides hurt. Raito was right about Naito not having patience and the multiple blows Tomoro took to the sides were loud and persistent reminders.
“Calm your digimon,” Raito sounded so bored, having stated this several times over.
“Kekomon said that bullying isn’t a good way to make friends,” Monodramon stated, Raito’s sighed again.
“It’s not bullying, you dumb digimon. Tenma needs to learn how things work here.”
“Keko keko keko!”
“Kekomon said that having other digimon bite Tenma is bullying.”
“Keko! Keko keko!”
“Kekomon, you must have miscounted. Tenma would have been cold hearted if he was really being bitten that often by that many digimon,” Monodramon’s voice was way too close for Tomoro’s comfort. He glanced as saw the small digimon was close enough to kick. His foot shot out and connected, sending the small dragon like digimon flying a few feet.
Raito didn’t take that lying down, grabbing Tomoro by the collar of his shirt before punching him hard in the face before dropping him back into the bed. Kekomon was yelling the whole time. “Next time you try that shit, I’ll do the same to Kekomon,” Raito hisses.
Tomoro cups his throbbing cheek as Kekomon buries against his chest. “Then keep your digimon away from me.”
“Hah?” Raito huffs, the door opening once more.
“Raito,” The new voice sends shivers down Tomoro’s spine. Naito soon towers over him. He reaches down, grabbing Kekomon by the large spike on his head. Passing the struggling in-training to Raito. “Take this thing elsewhere for a bit. I need to speak with Tenma one on one.
“I’m just watching?” Raito confirms, Tomoro watches Naito nod before Raito bows, exiting the room.
Tomoro looks back to Naito, swallowing hard.
---
Kekomon is rather calm in his hands, shocking Raito. He was expecting the digimon to fight more to return to Tenma’s side. He looks down at Monodramon, “How many digimon was this thing claiming to have bitten Tenma?”
Monodramon looks up at Raito, his gold eyes glancing at Kekomon before meeting Raito’s. “He said that Tenma gets bit by four or so digimon a day and leave him too tired to get off the bed.”
“That makes no sense, we have Kekomon’s sapotama so it's not like Tenma could escape,” Raito shakes his head. “Whatever, it's not worth worrying about.”
Raito watches Kekomon, the digimon was clearly mopping but it made it easier to deal with the hyper brat. Gekkomon had been a nightmare when he first arrived. He managed to get loose and made a mess trying to get Tenma free.
Naito was not kind to either of them. Raito watched Tenma dragged off unconscious with his digimon, now in training, following behind. Tenma didn’t even acknowledge him for the first week after being placed in his holding room. Kekomon had even tried to fight Monodramon but Tenma swiftly grabbed him. Raito wouldn’t have deleted the small digimon but if Tenma thought so, it might make him more willing to work with them. It wasn’t like they planned to keep him locked up.
From what Raito had gathered, Tenma was going to be a cleaner for Tactics. At least, once he stopped fighting against it. Raito didn’t even take this long to come around when he was dragged in. Tactics weren't that bad, sure Naito could be an ass but as their leader, he sorta needed to be. Naito had high standards and wasn’t beyond corporal punishment. Given how stubborn Tenma was being, Raito knew things would get a lot worse before they got better and while he didn’t really care for the younger teen, Raito did hope the kid’s head straightened out for his own sake.
“Raito, bring back Kekomon,” Naito’s voice dispelling Raito’s wandering thoughts.
“Understood,” Raito replied, the walk back was short but Kekomon seemed to regain his spirit the closer they got, bursting through the door when Raito opened it. He winced at the sight. Tenma was on the ground, curled into a ball with his eyes screwed shut. Raito could see the start of a hand print on the kid’s neck. Raito rubbed the back of his, knowing full well how much that sucked.
Kekomon was jumping all around Tenma but not touching him, like the small digimon was worried about causing further injury. Raito sighed before closing the door, leaving the pair. Raito started down the hall before realizing that Monodramon was still standing at the door. “Monodramon?”
The digimon startled before hurrying after Raito, “Sorry, Kekomon’s cries distracted me.”
“His cries? He didn’t make a peep before we left.”
“As soon as the door closed, he started to try and get Tenma’s attention. Kekomon seems to think Tenma got hurt because of him again.”
“Ah…” Raito shrugged, “I can see why, his hyper attitude did get his partner beaten once already.”
---
Tomoro took his time getting off the floor, everything hurt, from his head and throat to stomach. Naito didn’t take kindly to his refusal to join Tactics. Tomoro took a deep breath before his sides protested too much, pushing himself onto his hands and knees. He stared down at the ground, eyes focusing on the bracelet now on his right wrist. It was a plain silver colored band with a small clear stone. It flickered purple for a moment before becoming clear again.
Kekomon made a small noise as Tomoro sat back on his heels, wincing the whole way. He looked at Kekomon, at the clear fear on the small digimon’s face before he scooped up the small creature. “I’m fine,” Tomoro muttered, even though his voice was hoarse and speaking was terribly painful. Whether or not he calmed Kekomon’s fear, Tomoro had no idea but the digimon buried deeper into his chest.
Tomoro looked at the bed, it wasn’t high but it did involve standing to climb onto and he wasn’t sure how that was going to go. Tomoro was beyond exhausted and so sore that he wanted to not move for a few days.
“Kekomon…” Tomoro waited for the digimon to look at him before he made a weak attempt at a smile. He offered his hand, “They are going to allow you to digivolve back into Gekkomon.” Kekomon looked at Tomoro’s hand before looking back up at him, shaking his whole body in refusal.
“I’m not going to be bitten anymore so you can safely have more e-pulse,” Tomoro nudged his hand against Kekomon, “Plus it will be a whole not easier to talk to you.”
Kekomon’s expression didn’t show a lot of trust in the promises of the assholes holding them captive but the digimon bit Tomoro’s hand regardless. Tomoro couldn’t hide his wince this time at the feeling of small teeth digging into his skin. Kekomon was careful to not break through, something that Tomoro was thankful for since all of the other digimon feeding off him didn’t spare him that thought.
Kekomon soon glowed white before growing, settling into Tomoro’s lap as Gekkomon. “Tomoro…” The lizard sounded as upset as Tomoro felt.
Tomoro tried for a more bright smile, if only to ease the digimon’s feelings, “It’s okay.” Gekkomon licked his face.
“Did they hurt you again because of me?”
Tomoro blinked as he stared down at his partner, “No, I… I guess Naito didn’t like my tone. This isn’t your fault at all.” Gekkomon nodded, head thumping against Tomoro’s chest. After a deep breath, Tomoro forced himself off the floor before collapsing into the bed. Gekkomon moved quickly to pull the blankets over Tomoro, something he didn’t bother to do. The room wasn’t cold enough to warrant the energy that Tomoro didn’t have. Gekkomon curled up against his side under the covers. Tomoro pulled the digimon close, burying his head under the covers with a small smile. Even with everything going sideways, it seemed like Gekkomon was going to try and cheer him up, even if it was just cuddling.