Chapter Text
The sound of scissors clicked softly as Tomoro held his head still, hands gripped to the front edge of the chair. Eyes closed as the scissors continued to move for a while before a hum behind him was followed by the sounds of metal clanging against metal, “I think that does it, I hope I didn’t make it too short.”
Tomoro opened his eyes to a hand held mirror and took it to look at his grandpa’s handy work. The undercut was perfect but the rest of his hair was a bit shorter then he normally kept it but considering his hair had gotten unwieldy over the past three months, this was a great improvement to feeling more like him then the captive he was. Tomoro passed the mirror back before softly speaking, “Thanks.”
His grandpa grinned before ruffling his hair, “That makes twice today you have managed to speak. Told you that given time and feeling comfortable, your voice would come back.”
“Tomoro,” Gekkomon called and Tomoro looked down to the rookie standing at his feet before scooping it up to hug close, nose buried into the top of its head. Gekkomon hugged back as it made the purring noise that Tomoro had come to rely on for feeling safe in an otherwise constant nightmare. Having been allowed to stay in the lab the past two weeks had done wonders for Tomoro’s nerves because no one was sneaking into his room at night and tossing the lethargic Monodramon to the ground and forcing themselves on him.
Three times was all it took for Tomoro to beg to his grandpa to let him stay in the lab because he didn’t want to be touched anymore. Didn’t want to see Monodramon struggle to move and protect Tomoro when the rookie was barely able to keep its eyes open. Tomoro was more terrified of losing Monodramon during one of his assaults than of the man forcing Tomoro under him. It was an odd feeling to be sure but between the repeat attacks and Monodramon getting beaten to a pulp and left on the floor glitching in and out of reality the last time Tomoro tried to fight back made the cry for help the only solution he could think of. He was more shocked that his grandpa moved swiftly to speak with Klay about the situation but Tomoro was so grateful. He couldn’t think of the last time he got to sleep in, much less cuddle both digimon close without the fear of being beaten, dragged out of bed by his hair, or raped.
The door to the lab opened and Tomoro looked over to see Naito walk in, his scowl already set but deepening when he spotted Tomoro, “Where is your uniform?” Tomoro flinched as his hold on Gekkomon tightened slightly.
“He is down here helping with work that Klay needs, he is being allowed liberties that are a fitting reward for the work,” Grandpa stood to block Naito from glaring a hole through Tomoro’s being. “What do you need? I was not informed of your visitation today.”
“Klay sent me down to gather Tenma, Sir. A bounty has appeared that Team Seven is needed for immediately,” Naito spoke with respect to Tomoro’s grandpa and it shocked him to see it. Tomoro had assumed that outside Klay, Naito spoke to everyone like used gum but maybe grandpa really did hold a position with Klay because of his research. It did leave Tomoro wondering why his grandpa was trapped here or what Klay had done but given that he had not seen any signs of his grandpa having a digimon, that did put the older man at a disadvantage in running for freedom. Hell Tomoro had a digimon and even got his sapotama back and still couldn’t get away.
“Understood, Tomoro,” Grandpa looked back to Tomoro with a soft smile, “It would seem you are needed. Go now and get ready, I’m sure Naito will ensure you make it back to the lab safely.”
Tomoro eyed the twitch in Naito’s eye at the comment but nodded before he booked it to his new room and swiftly changed out his jeans and tee-shirt for the boring Tactics green and black uniform. Tomoro hated the boots most of all but he could understand their use at least. Gekkomon perched atop his shoulder as Tomoro walked over to check on Monodramon, who was sleeping in a loose ball on the bed. Tomoro ran his hand down the dinosaur’s back before leaving the room, grabbing his watch as he went.
Naito seemed to accept the speed at which Tomoro changed because the man turned and left without waiting for Tomoro to reach him. They made their way swiftly through the halls to a different elevator that was far closer to the lab. Tomoro still couldn’t tell the halls apart but the walk was under three minutes versus the ten minute walk from his old room. This elevator took them to a large greenhouse style room with a pond somehow built into the center of the room. Hotaruko and Granit were already standing at the ready and Tomoro jogged over to them, much to the clear shock on both of their faces. Well mostly Hotaruko, Granit raised an eyebrow which was more expression than Tomoro was used to.
“We had assumed you didn’t make it after drowning,” Hotaruko whispered and Tomoro winced because it can’t have felt great believing they lost another member of their team so soon after the last. Tomoro turned to face Naito glaring holes though him as Gekkomon hugged the back of Tomoro’s head, tail hanging behind him for once.
Klay looked over the three and smiled as he stood and walked over, “Good morning, I have an urgent mission for you three. A young girl has run away from home because she spawned a Tinkermon and the family are close friends of mine. They wish for us to find their daughter and bring her back safely.”
Tomoro raised an eyebrow because something felt off with the way Klay spoke. He didn’t sound worried at all for the girl. Hotaruko spoke as she eyed Naito, “I assume the digimon is to be deleted then? To remove the bounty from the child’s head?”
Klay shook his head, “No, we will take the Tinkermon in for the time being because my friends are unsure of how to proceed. If their daughter has bonded with the digimon, there is a chance they might allow the girl to become a cleaner if only to spare her the loss of her companion.”
Tomoro fought to not wrinkle his nose at that. The idea of letting a child do bounties seemed ridiculous considering the danger there was in it but then again, if the story was true then it was possible the family was rich enough to hire good cleaners to take the child out on bounties to satisfy whatever requirements needed to be met. Tomoro hadn’t really had a chance to find out what being a cleaner really entailed. Maybe he could finally ask questions while they flew out for the mission.
Hotaruko nodded, “Understood sir.”
Klay smiled as he looked over the group, “The child’s safety is number one but as I said, no harm is to come to Tinkermon. They have into the slums, oddly enough, not far from your home Tomoro so I’d like you to help run the mission with Hotaruko for moving around the area.”
Tomoro nodded, maybe this was the chance he needed to run but he had no way to talk Monodramon with him and if he asked to go back to his room to grab something, that’d seem too fishy to be allowed. Klay dismissed them with a wave of his head before turning to speak with Naito in hushed tones.
Hotaruko led them out of the room and down the hall to an elevator that they all filed in before she turned to give Tomoro a relieved smile, “I’m glad to see you are okay. Where have you been?”
Tomoro lifted up his wrist to swiftly type into his watch, ‘I have been helping with something in some basement level of the building. I moved rooms too because I was being bullied pretty badly by some asshole.’
Hotaruko frowned before she leaned closer, “Bullied? I heard about the wounds since the nurses had not been quiet about it. I… you didn’t agree, did you.” Tomoro looked away before nodding, hand now gripping his other wrist tightly as he swallowed.
“What are you talking about?” Gekkomon dropped down to Tomoro’s shoulder to look Tomoro in the eye, “What wounds would the nurses have talked about?”
Hotaruko scooped up Gekkomon, “Oh, it was related to the wounds he suffered from-”
The door to the elevator opened and Tomoro paled at the man on the other side, even as his face lit up into a leer, “Oh! Tomoro! Just the person I was looking for!” The man grabbed Tomoro by the wrist and had him out of the elevator before Tomoro could get his body to resist.
“Unhand him! We are leaving for a mission,” Hotaruko growled as she stomped after Tomoro before she grabbed his arm to keep Tomoro from disappearing. “It's an urgent mission from Klay, we need to leave now.”
Ade looked back with a raised eyebrow before looking at Tomoro, “You’re willingly coming with me, right?” Tomoro swallowed as he looked at Hotaruko with the hopes she could see through his bluff as he nodded. Ade pulled Tomoro free from her blackened grip.
“Tomoro? What about the mission?” Gekkomon nuzzled the side of Tomoro’s face before whispering softly, “This guy is giving off bad vibes, can I make him go away?”
Tomoro looked at his partner before he gave a small smile with a nod and Gekkomon sprung to action. Its tongue wrapping around Ade and sending him flying down the hall before Tomoro grabbed the rookie and ran back towards the other, Hotaruko already had her sapotama as the six of them raced from the building. “I'm going to want answers once we are out of reach,” Hotaruko side eyed Tomoro and all he could do was nod as they left the building Tylomon appeared the instant there was space for it.
Once they got into the air and set off in the direction of Tomoro’s home, he paired their communicators to the watch and began to explain what had been going on the last few days. Hotaruko was white by the time they landed and Granit, while still silent, was almost as pale.
‘Sorry for um… Upsetting you,’ Tomoro hugged Gekkomon close as he buried his head into the lizard’s soft spikes.
“I’m not upset with you. To think Naito would allow such…. Foul behavior….” Hotaruko let out a breath. “Please look at me.” Tomoro fought not to start crying because he didn’t want to seem weak before the others as he lifted his head to meet Hotaruko’s eyes. “You are not at fault for what has happened to you. I need you to understand that.” Tomoro looked away, chin dropping to the top of Gekkomon’s head.
Tomoro typed onto his watch as he watched the world flow by, ‘I’m not so sure anymore. I ran away and got myself stuck here. I got Raito killed while also making Monodramon take care of me because I can’t seem to do anything right anymore. Hell, I have even gotten Gekkomon hurt. How am I not at fault?’
“Tomoro, I got you hurt too so we can both be at fault for that, right?” Gekkomon muttered as the digimon burrowed into Tomoro’s chest, “Also, I don’t understand what that man was doing to you. Why was he forcing you to sleep with him? Did he want to cuddle?”
Tomoro felt his stomach twist as he fought to not puke and Tylomon was soon on the ground so Tomoro could stagger off to vomit. He passed Gekkomon to Hotaruko as he crouched in a corner and coughed up the non-existent contents of his stomach. “Tomoro? Why…. why are you getting sick?”
“Gekkomon, Tomoro met something different but we can’t explain it to you without making Tomoro sick. All I can say is that it is very bad what Ade was doing. It hurts Tomoro deeply,” Hotaruko sounded like she was struggling to not join Tomoro.
When Tomoro’s stomach finally settled and he sat back on his heels, a piece of gum was offered to Tomoro and he looked to see Granit crouched next to him. “It should help with the taste.”
Tomoro stared at the piece of gum and took it. He knew he couldn’t chew it but he appreciated the offer as he gave Granit a small smile. ‘I can’t eat food or drink anything but thank you.’
Granit frowned, “You can’t eat?”
“I eat for Tomoro, his body throws up everything he tries to eat or drink,” Gekkomon landed on Tomoro’s shoulder. “Grandpa is looking for an answer as to why.”
“Grandpa?” Hotaruko questioned and Tomoro sighed as he stood up, spitting once more to try and clear the bile from his mouth.
‘I can’t tell you, it’s something Klay as me working on,’ Tomoro poked Gekkomon in the cheek as the digimon looked sheepishly away.
“Sorry, I forgot,” The digimon hummed as it pressed its cheek into Tomoro’s, “Feel better?”
‘So long as we avoid that whole conversation,’ Tomoro walked over to Tylomon and climbed back on with the others. Gekkomon crawled back into Tomoro’s arms as they lifted off. The rest of the flight was quiet outside of minor course corrections made at Tomoro’s direction. They landed not far from his home but he ignored it in favor of looking for signs of the child.
“You live here?” Hotaruko wrinkled her nose as she looked around, “This place hardly seems safe.”
Tomoro shrugged before he started off towards the more dilapidated area because if one wanted to hide, that was the best place to go. The others followed close behind as Tomoro picked his way through the partially flooded alleys. Gekkomon stood on his head as it sniffed the air, “Tomoro, I smell a digimon nearby.”
‘Lead the way but don’t scare them,’ Tomoro ran after Gekkomon as they went down several more alleys as the area turned even less safe. Tomoro hoped the kid wasn’t in this area because the chance of them being safe was shrinking as they went. Gekkomon ducked into a building and Tomoro squeezed in only for Gekkomon to hit the wall as he finished entering the small space. Tomoro grabbed the lizard before it rocketed back to attack and turned to see a Tinkermon with their fists at the ready.
“Go away!” The digimon yelled and Tomoro put Gekkomon onto his shoulder, thankful when the lizard stayed put as Tomoro raised his hands.
“Tomoro? Where did you go?” Hotaruko called and Tomoro clamped a hand over Gekkomon’s mouth, they didn’t need more people to make Tinkermon even less comfortable.
“You need to leave,” Tinkermon floated closer.
“Tomoro can’t talk but we were asked to help bring you and your partner to safety. This area is really bad to be in,” Gekkomon kept its volume down as it looked between Tinkermon and something behind the digimon. Tomoro assumed it was the kid.
“I can keep Yume safe,” Tinkermon growled.
Tomoro typed away on his watch before the robotic voice echoed in the small space, ‘This area is prone to flooding and collapses. This building is really unstable, please, we don’t want to harm you but it’s really not safe here.’ Tinkermon cocked its head to the side as it looked at his watch. ‘It allows me to talk to others, I lost my voice.’
“T-Tinkermon, I don’t want to stay here,” Yume called from the dark and Gekkomon was gone in an instant, the girl made a small squeak before she walked out with Gekkomon in her arms, a smile on her face, “Oh! What a cute digimon.”
“I’m Gekkomon! Don’t let Tomoro scare you, he is really nice too,” Gekkomon chirped as Yume looked and spotted Tomoro as he waved.
“Are you really here to take us somewhere safe?”
Tomoro wanted to say no because he didn’t believe Klay but what was he going to do with such a young girl? The idea of getting her home was what Tomoro wanted to believe so he nodded slowly.
“You don’t seem sure,” Tinkermon flew close to Tomoro’s head, “Why?”
Tomoro bit his lip as he looked back to Yume before returning to Tinkermon, ‘The people that sent me aren’t that nice but they said your partner’s family is looking for her so we were tasked with helping find her.’
Tinkermon hummed before it looked at Yume, “We ran away because of bullies but Yume’s family would be missing her.”
‘So, will you come with us?’ Tomoro listened to the building shift slightly before he walked over and scooped up Yume and Gekkomon before making his way over to the entrance and forcing them out. Tinkermon seemed to have heard the building shift too because it didn’t stop Tomoro as he started to squeeze himself through. The building shifted again and something bashed into the back of Tomoro’s head, sending him sprawling into the water as a chuck of the building collapsed into the water.
“Tomoro!” Gekkomon cried as Tomoro got onto his hands and knees to crawl away. Everything was blurry and Tomoro didn’t see a hole in the sunken road and fell into deeper water. Gekkomon’s tongue pulled him out and onto drier land as he shivered. Two missions and soaked both times, not a favorable pattern. “Tomoro, are you okay?” Tomoro nodded even as his vision got blurrier. He felt for his glasses and felt them so why couldn’t he see?
“Tomoro! You're bleeding!” Gekkomon was now on his shoulders as the digimon moved around. Tomoro couldn’t see the watch well enough to tell Gekkomon that he felt okay outside of not being able to see.
“Tomoro, you found her! I heard stuff splashing and I was got worried,” Tomoro turned to the sound of Hotaruko’s voice but he must have gotten the angle wrong because he felt warm hands on his cheeks and moving his head, “Your pupils are not the same size, how bad was the hit to the head?”
Tomoro blinked as his vision disappeared and his breath hitched, two missions for Tactics and he lost his vision…. He hoped it healed because he didn’t want to be truly blind and mute. How would he communicate with others now?