Work Text:
Now that Kyo completed the paperwork necessary to leave the Five Stars and make his own team, he was finally accustomed to going on jobs. Or, at least, the straightforward ones. He quickly noticed that Maki gave him bounties that were suspiciously similar to the ones that he used to have as a Five Star – the ones that, in normal circustances without Digimon around, organizations like the military police would get involved. Kidnappings, disappearance of important people in the government, attacks on rich companies... the list goes on. It wasn’t until she gave him a new assignment that he decided to voice his opinion on the matter.
“Don’t you have anything more mundane?”
It wasn’t like he didn’t want the jobs. They paid more and, honestly, the action would probably help both him and Cougarmon with tedium and other intrusive thoughts that kept pestering his head constantly. Punching some armed mafioso or trafficker was a bonus to keep his temper in check. However, said jobs had higher chances of seeing his former coworkers again, and after his last episode with Kaito, Kyo would rather keep his distance for a long while.
Maybe ten years. Twenty would be good, too.
Maki gave him an apologetic look, “Sorry, I thought those would fit you better. Feeling uncomfortable?”
Kyo just sighed as he finished his drink. Maybe he should’ve asked Yoshimura to not give away details of his past work to his new informant. Without that baggage, he would bet that bounties that required only a level Champion Digimon would come his way, and he would be content with that. No Five Star would approach those, “You could say that. I wanted to start from zero.”
At that, Maki gave a chuckle, “As much as I want to help you on that front, the image of the former Five Star of Gold working in bounties that involve searching for baby Digimon would raise a few eyebrows from my colleagues. Maybe the ones with Champion levels are better for what you want? Not frustratingly tedious, but also not dangerous enough to get the other Five Stars to notice you.”
Kyo flinched, which made the informant just laugh a bit more.
“I’ve had my fair share of encounters with them in the past,” she said, “Mostly with Klay and Rose. The latter can be friendly enough if you know what to say and keep your guard up. The former...,” she shrugged and took the empty cup from the table, “I suppose you know how he is. Not someone that sparks joy, for sure. Judging from your secrecy, I can see that you want to stay away from them.”
Oh, he suddenly felt a new sense of camaraderie with the older woman. Her face could only be described as someone that would give everything in their power to not go through a specific experience again. Kyo didn’t know how, where or when Maki met the other two, but just the tone of her voice was enough to tell him that she didn’t want to give any details besides the headache of meeting them for starters.
Fine, he could give Rose some of his patience. She was a much better human being than Klay, that was a fact, and Lilamon could be cordial and even kind when she wasn’t laughing at weaker opponents. But if he had to hear another unsolicited fashion advice from them ever again, he would consider adopting Yosshi’s choice of clothes for his daily life.
“Alright, what about this one?” Maki interrupted his thoughts, handling him an envelope, “It arrived this morning, from one of the residents of the flooded areas, hence the paper instead of the more technological ways. Apparently, the people are desperate enough to ask for the help of Cleaners.”
“Are they aware of Digimon?” Because if they asked Maki personally, then that would change the logistics of the job quite a bit. For starters, he wouldn’t need to hide Cougarmon or ask them to behave like a cat. Not to mention all the paperwork that he would need to fill with the inevitable damages caused by the Digimon in the area. If the people that asked for the bounty were aware of such dangers, then maybe he wouldn’t need to even report anything this time, otherwise the Ministry would make their lives much more difficult. No one outside of the Shangri-La Egg wanted to have the government on their doors.
Maki nodded, “Or at least the ones involved. Apparently, there was a Cleaner in the case long before they asked for it. However, they disappeared on the job and now no one else wants to go there out of fear.”
That... was a curious development. Of course, some Cleaners had less fire power than others, but for a request that involved a Champion level, most part of them would jump at it. Kyo took the envelope and opened the paper inside of it.
HELP US
VILLAGE HAUNTED
Strange disappearances around Hikarigahama’s Central Lake
Defeat the ghosts keeping us awake at night!
For more information, please contact Miss Ikuhara in the main street
Kyo stared at the piece of paper for a few minutes.
“Ghosts?”
“I know, right? But regardless of how absurd it sounds, the disappearances are real, and the village near the lake had at least seven cases of it before the last Cleaner tried to help them out. Before they did, however, the villagers received a small report claiming they met a small animal around the place carrying some children on its back, and they said the creature didn’t seem to be dangerous. I suppose this Miss Ikuhara, who knows about Digimon, decided to act after hearing about this.”
Kyo had doubts on the seriousness of the case. Taking the Digimon not looking dangerous aside (many were cute and could be extremely powerful), if they didn’t find any corpses that suffered Cold Heart, then the culprit was most likely giving them a prank.
... Which could still be terrifying, if the victims didn’t know any better.
He got up from the chair, giving Maki a tired smile, “Very well. Consider the job done.”
ꕤꕤꕤ
The village was smaller than what Kyo thought it would be. It was around the flooded area because of the lake near it. Before the cataclysm of decades ago, the Hikarigahama lake could be considered a rival to the one in Shiga Prefecture, with 650 square kilometers. Now it was reduced to one third of its perimeter, and the houses around it suffered every rainy season, which resulted in a permanent flooded zone.
It reminded him of Asuka and Tomoro’s neighborhood.
Shaking his head, Kyo decided to start searching for the main street inside of the village. The houses were in good condition, all things considered, and some of them even had two floors, which gave the idea of a rural area much more than a poor one. The main issue he noticed was how there was no one outside, even though it was lunch time. All he could hear were the birds.
“Everyone here is afraid,” Cougarmon said.
Kyo tilted his head towards his partner, “Of the ghosts?”
“Maybe,” the Digimon shrugged, “But there are many people inside of the houses. Some of them are also staring at you from their windows, I might add.”
Kyo didn’t need Cougarmon to warn about that. He could sense the hostility as soon as he approached the village, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the people there were afraid of them. The spirits haunting the place were most likely Digimon, and coming here with one that looked like a lion was probably not the brightest idea they ever had – they were probably extra spooked. Not that he cared though. If they disliked Cougarmon, that was their problem, not his.
Fortunately, they didn’t need to search the area for too long. The main street was notable for its market, although no one was over there at the moment and only their tents could be seem. But it seemed almost like they were in a festival of the rural areas, except it looked much more like a ghost town now. Kyo took the liberty of looking through the tents when an older woman tapped him on the shoulder.
“Excuse me,” she said, “Were you sent by Miss Maki?”
The older woman had almost half of his height, and was walking with a cane. Her dress was a simple one, covered in drawings of sunflowers, with her hair tied in a bun.
Kyo nodded, giving her a bright smile. She didn’t seem scared like the other villagers, so he tried to appear as docile as possible, “Yes. Are you Miss Ikuhara?”
“Why, yes, I am. Oh dear, she sent someone so young and thin... I was expecting a more muscular man, the types that can carry you easily in their arms towards the sunset.”
The older woman was almost dreaming about such a scenario, and Kyo was trying really hard to keep his smile on his face. Cougarmon, the traitor, snorted nearby. He couldn’t help but wonder if the granny would be satisfied with a black panther Digimon carrying her instead.
Professionalism. Professionalism.
“I can guarantee you, ma’am, that we are qualified for the job. Now, what exactly happened here?”
The older woman frowned, “Oh dear, it was terrible. The roofs, they... oh my, it’s too terrible to relive.”
Kyo waited until the woman could compose herself again, but she just kept repeating vague phrases of roofs and rain, without any mention of Digimon. He wondered if at that rate he and Cougarmon would need to camp outside and wait it out until the Digimon appeared.
“Grandma! What are you doing to our guest!”
Kyo saw a younger girl running towards them – and what was more interesting was the Tinkermon together with her. She had long hair and a pink dress, her most notable trait being the bags under her eyes, probably because of the nights awake trying to make sense of the incidents near the area, if they even lived together.
She approached Kyo as she patted her grandmother on the head, “I’m truly sorry, she heard we were receiving guests soon and couldn’t help but keep her eyes on the street,” she extended her hand, which Kyo quickly took in a handshake, “My name is Yume Ikuhara. This is Tinkermon.”
The small fairy gave a wave towards Cougarmon, who nodded their head as a greeting, “Whassup?”
“I suppose you are the ones that sent the request?”
Before they could respond Cougarmon’s question, the old lady approached them with a surprised face, “My, the cat talked! And what a handsome voice. Yume, did you see that? Maybe little tinkerbell can be friends with them.”
“—Grandmother, please,” Yume replied with some frustration in her voice. Kyo sympathized with her already, “Let’s go inside, and then I can explain the situation.”
ꕤꕤꕤ
The house inside was pretty comfortable, all things considered. Kyo and Cougarmon were sitting near the kotatsu while Yume brought tea and other snacks to them. The older woman was now in her own room, after a long effort on everyone’s part in explaining to her that Cougarmon couldn’t stay with her for the time being.
“It happened a month ago,” Yume started once she was sitting down with them, Tinkermon on her right shoulder, “I was coming back from school and it was late at night. It was raining so I couldn’t see the surroundings well enough but... I saw a shadow carrying someone.”
Kyo nodded for her to continue.
“At first I thought it was just because I was tired, so I went back home without a fuss. But the next day one of my classmates had disappeared from their house.”
“The police was all over the place,” Tinkermon added, “His parents thought he was kidnapped, because apparently his room was a mess in the morning.”
“I suppose the police didn’t take the case seriously?” Kyo asked.
Yume shook her head, “No, they thought he just ran away from home and told his parents to wait it out.... and then the same thing happened the next week. I saw a shadow from my window and if it wasn’t for Tinkermon, I would’ve screamed. They were carrying two children, who were declared as disappeared the next day as well. And then it just... kept repeating,” she said with heavy eyes, “I couldn’t sleep well since then.”
Tinkermon hugged the arm of her partner, “Yume, if you could just let me fight that thing...!”
“No way. I don’t have enough e-pulse to make you evolve yet, Tinkermon. I can’t risk you being deleted.”
Kyo smiled at the pair, even though their circustances were not the best, they still cared greatly about each other. If one day humans and Digimon could coexist, he hoped it would be like this.
With a small cough, he continued, “What about the other Cleaner that came here before? I heard they also disappeared.”
Yume nodded, “Yes, although that one was a coincidence. She was a red-haired girl a bit older than me... she had a Pristimon and was together with other people, if I remember correctly. She told the villagers she would take care of the... ghost.... but she never came back.”
“Understood,” Kyo smiled at Cougarmon, “Guess we’ll be indeed camping out.”
ꕤꕤꕤ
The preparations were done quickly, all things considered. All Kyo and Cougarmon had to do was buy enough food and water to last for a night. They weren’t planning to sleep and they were not in the middle of winter, so anything else would be an useless comfort.
The night, however, was beautiful. Before leaving the Ikuharas residence, Kyo asked for the place where the kidnappings were happening most frequently, and Yume said her best guess was indeed near the lake. Camping outside, with such a bright sky and near the calming water had an effect that made Kyo surprised. He wasn’t in a rush, and the fear of causalties was not within him because of his supositions on the Digimon’s objectives. All of that coupled with how stunning the stars were above only made him thankful to have the opportunity to slow down and appreciate the scenario. He would never think about such activities back in his Five Star days, his main experience of looking at nature being in his childhood. It reminded of his time looking at the night sky with Karina and Minoru, through their small telescope. The observatory in Nirinso was still small in occupants, but he decided he would one day buy something similar there so the baby Digimons over there could have some fun.
Cougarmon was almost sleeping, his fur being brushed calmly by Kyo during that time, when he got up and noticed they had company.
The shadow was quite different from the one in his imagination. Then again, Yume didn’t describe it with enough details, only that it was carrying people on its back. Now that Kyo could see the... thing by himself, he could also observe feline characteristics. A tail, a pair of cat ears...
The small gun on their hand was the last thing he saw before everything became dark.
ꕤꕤꕤ
“—ey. Hey!”
Kyo woke up with a sudden slap on his cheeks.
“Oh, good, you are awake!” A feminine voice called out to him, “Thought you were dead for a second there.”
“Kyo, are you alright?”
The last voice was Cougarmon’s. He still couldn’t see well due to how dark the whole place was, but his vision was finally starting to get used to it. His partner was by his side, and the person that had just slapped him was... in front of him, maybe. The shadow was a bit difficult to distinguish from other shapes.
Had... had he been possessed? The possibility was a strong one, considering he didn’t remember how he got inside of this place. Since Cougarmon was unharmed, it meant his partner had to follow him as a way to make sure nothing bad would happen to his body, but the thought still gave him a fright. He let his guard down. If it was a Digimon with much more malice, he wouldn’t have survived that attack. So much carelessness from his part, he felt like slapping himself now, the lingering fuzziness of his body and mind not helping his sensation of nausea.
“I told you to not slap him, Reina,” another voice said from the person’s lap, “He is probably confused.”
“Eh, he will survive.”
Kyo blamed his tiredness, and the fact the girl used violence on his head to wake him up, but he was starting to lose his patience with the job. A stark contrast from his peaceful view of the stars not long ago. It was hard to see her completely, but he noticed the red hair and the small Digimon in her arms, “Are you the previous Cleaner that came for the bounty?”
The girl seemed less hostile, now that he was finally saying something, “Yep. My name’s Reina Sakuya. This is Pristimon.”
The panda-like Digimon waved her claws, “Nice to meet you. Sorry for the rough awakening.”
Reina quickly shook her partner up and down, “Shush, you!”
Kyo chuckled a bit at them. At least they were both fine, and if they were in such high spirits then it would mean the other people that had been kidnapped were safe as well.
Wherever they were.
“My name is Kyo Sawashiro,” he said as he got up, cleaning the dust from his clothes, “What happened? Last thing I remember, a Digimon appeared in front of us and then I fell unconscious.”
“Right, the job,” the girl said as if that was something without importance at the moment, “Ganvivormon possessed your body and brought you here so you wouldn’t attack them.”
Yikes, so he was truly possessed, “And where is here?”
Reina’s partner – Pristimon, if he heard correctly – opened the door of the room and Kyo immediately saw where, exactly, they were.
It was a hospital. Or a small clinic, but there were many people inside, much more than the seven that he was informed about, and it wasn’t only that. He could see many Digimon in that place as well, all of them looking sick, red glitches all over their bodies as if they just got out of violent fights. They were all laying on futons and small In-Training Digimon were hurrying from one side to another so they could take care of the worst cases in the clinic.
At the center of it, Kyo saw the Digimon that was most likely the shadow that, uh, possessed him earlier. The yellow cat Digimon was quite peculiar. They were inside of a huge doll that was similar to a pill with small teeth, and they were also wearing an outfit typical for nurses. They had big glasses similar of Tomoro’s, and the gun in their hands was being used to heal other patients, instead of attacking them.
“This place seems to be a clinic for the injured,” Cougarmon said by his side, “The kidnapped people were apparently all sick in a way or another, so they decided to take them here for treatment.”
“A bit excessive, wouldn’t you say?” Kyo said exasperated, “Was it really necessary to bring them here against their consent?”
“That’s what I said,” Reina remarked from the other room, her position not changing from how he first met her, “They were planning to give them back before morning, but apparently their illness was really bad. There were some infections, which I’m not that much surprised. Dirt lake and all.”
“And you?” Kyo turned to her, “Are you sick too?”
That surprised her, and her body moved in a way as if she was trying to make herself smaller, “What do you mean?”
“You didn’t move ever since we started this conversation.”
“What, are you a detective or something? This has nothing to do with y—“
“Her leg is broken,” came the answer from her partner Pristimon.
“Pristimon!”
The smaller Digimon shrugged, “Reina, if you keep acting like this, it won’t heal properly. Let other people help you.”
“Ah, the stubborn type, I see.”
“Tch.”
Kyo took the liberty of checking the state of her leg. Judging from the position, it wasnt broken per se, just strained, but it was still swollen and a light purple color could be seem even if she tried to hide it with her socks “Since we are in a clinic, why not let Ganvivormon take a look at it?”
Reina just looked the other way, clearly annoyed, “I can take care of myself.”
“That’s not what Ganvivormon thought, otherwise they wouldn’t have kidnapped you too,” He said as gently as he could. That girl reminded Kyo of his younger years in the orphanage, always trying to do everything alone, “You won’t be able to walk for a while if it’s not treated soon. There’s no shame in accepting help.”
Reina seemed thoughtful at this. She looked at him again, guard up, eyes preparing themselves for a possible attack, an animal cornered without anyone else nearby to protect her besides her Digimon partner, “I need to be strong if I want to live by myself.”
“...What about your team? You are a Cleaner, aren’t you?”
“Hah!” Pristimon laughed bitterly, “They were the ones that hurt her for starters! Went along with her in the job only to almost drown her in the lake!”
“Pristimon.”
“What?! Reina, those jerks deserve to be known!”
Kyo paused the conversation and took a closer look at Reina. There was enough moonlight to make out small scratches on her legs and arms, though it was hard to tell if they were from a fight or if they were just dirt. Maybe it was both.
He took a tentative step forward, stopping again when Reina tensed and Pristimon hovered closer – they gave him the background on their partner’s injuries, but probably decided they wouldn’t drop their guard just because he seemed nicer than her former teammates. Now that he has gotten this far, he noticed he wasn’t sure what to do, because his only experience with taking care of younger people were the baby Digimon in Nirinso and an unconscious Tomoro. Even so, he said the first thing in his mind, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
He did want to actually hurt the ones that did that to her after this, though. Kyo wasn’t close to her by any means, but if this was how they treated their allies, then he didn’t want to know what they were doing out there in bounties.
“Then what do you want from me?” She asked, still not letting her guard down.
“Pardon?”
She shrugged, “Why would a stranger be concerned over the injury of some brat? You are going to ask me something in exchange, won’t you?”
Oh, forget hurting the people that did it to her. He was going to send them to the nearest hospital. If Cougarmon was not nearby, their presence reminding Kyo to stay professional and composed and to concentrate on the job, then he would’ve already kicked the nearest wall and scared off one of the patients.
But his patience was still running thin, so he grabbed Reina as if she was some sack of potatoes and carried her to Ganvivormon.
“Hey, what gives!” She said as she struggled to free herself, “Put me down!”
He, indeed, put her down, but it was on a futon and it was as gently as he could, otherwise her feet would become worse.
“Oh dear,” the cat Digimon said, “I was wondering when she would approach me.”
“Are you the leader here?” Cougarmon asked while their partner tried to keep Reina still on the futon, receiving a kick on the face for his troubles. It was kind of impressive, considering her legs were injured.
Ganvivormon nodded, their smile not leaving their face, “My Owner wished to take care of his sick wife. She was dying from a tumor in her stomach. They couldn’t stay with me once she was healed, so they decided I should escape from World Union and go on a journey to take care of everyone I would encounter. Nothing makes me happier than heal my patients.”
Cougarmon nodded. They weren’t a random berserk Digimon. Their methods needed some... polishing, but they weren’t a threat, quite the contrary. Cougarmon looked at the other feline while they tried to heal Reina’s legs with the lasers coming from their gun, and then gave a silent nod to Kyo.
“Yes, we don’t need to report anything here,” He mentally said, and hoped his partner would understand the message.
Well, maybe some instructions would be nice. If the villagers could accept Tinkermon, then surely they can accept the existence of another Digimon, especially if they are taking care of the sick people for free—
It was then that he felt another kick on his legs.
“Ouch.”
He looked behind him only to find Reina, who was trying really hard to hide her grin but at some point had given up on that, “That’s for carrying me like a sack of potatoes earlier. This is not how you treat a lady.”
Kyo was seriously considering if he should ask where was the lady she was talking about, but refrained from doing so. They didn’t need another injured person in the clinic, and they had a long talk ahead with Ganvivormon.
ꕤꕤꕤ
“Oh dear, so we are getting a doctor in the village? And they look so cute. Look, Yume. Isn’t she lovely?”
“Yes, she is, grandma.”
Yume had a tired smile on her face, facing the consequences of another night fully awake, but from what the Cleaners saw, that would be the last one of such unhealthy activities. Ganvivormon was received with nothing but cheerfulness from the villagers, once Reina and Pristimon explained the situation to them. The people who were kidnapped were all kept inside of a safe house inside of the lake, so no one without a proper guide would be able to visit, but many of them were already returning to their families, Yume’s classmates included. It was clear that such an area was full of understanding people, and even their initial fear of Cougarmon seemed non-existent once the morning came.
Kyo sighed in relief. He wouldn’t need to report to World Union about this incident, since the comission was asked directly to Maki. No one would need to know about what happened here and the Digimon would be safe.
“I need to thank you for the help as well,” he turned to Reina and extended his hand, “If it wasn’t for you explaining the situation, then we would have many problems.”
She took his hand and shook it, still a bit tired from the night, “They just needed to know the truth, right? No need to lie when it was just a misunderstanding and poor management.”
“What are you going to do now?” Because Kyo hasn’t forgotten how her teammates treated her.
Reina just shrugged, “I’m used to this treatment. No one likes people who are violent and take charge like me. Guess I’ll just do solo missions for the time being until I find a new team.”
Kyo looked at Cougarmon, who only nodded with a smile, “Then, what about joining mine?”
Reina stared at him, waiting for a possible punchline.
There wasn’t one.
“Huh?”
“You heard it right,” he continued, “I just formed a new team. Glowing Dawn. Me and Cougarmon are the only members for now, but if there’s nowhere for you to go, you are free to join our family.”
The use of that word was still bitter to him, memories full of hurt, but at the same time, full of comfort.
Meanwhile, Reina was still staring at him, eyes with doubt and discord, a deer caught in headlights. She still wasn’t believing him.
“Maybe you can see how our house is? I can open a passage through the Mirror World, so we won’t need to walk too muc—“
“No, no, hold on,” she said as she took his hand, hurrying to a place where the villagers wouldn’t hear them. Yume and her grandmother waved to them in gratitude, and Kyo had to remember to greet them again if the chance came.
They stopped near a forest, not so much distant from the village itself, “Alright, what’s the catch?”
“I already told you,” he said with a smile, “There’s nothing hidden in this invitation. You are free to accept or refuse, and nothing bad will happen to you in any of such choices.”
“Why would you do that? We barely know each other!” She caught Pristimon in her arms, ready to run away if things got uglier, “I kicked you twice! Slapped you once too—“
“—Yes, and it still hurts, might I add.”
“—So why are you doing this?!”
Someone like Reina had been abandoned by her previous teammates, and from the way she was talking about her life, Kyo could take a guess that she was also an orphan. No one to give a hand to her besides her partner. She was just like his younger self, at the Sakura Orphanage, before Asuka befriended him. Before Karina and Minoru also found their way into his heart.
Call it a projection, but he wasn’t going to abandon her if he had the chance.
“Because you are full of love towards Digimon and other people,” he said as honestly as he could, “As soon as we returned to the village, you positioned yourself between Ganvivormon and the crowd, as if you were protecting them from any possible harm. As soon as you had your leg healed, you asked them if there was anything you could help in the clinic. And more importantly... you didn’t try to delete a Digimon at first opportunity.”
That, Kyo thought, was the most important part. Reina saw Digimon as their own beings instead of glitches.
The smile didn’t leave his face as he extended his hand towards her again, “You are someone worthy of being loved, too. Not only by me and Cougarmon, but from all our future teammates as well. What do you think?”
Pristimon looked at their partner with bright eyes. Cougarmon saw hope in them.
She took that hand.