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Makoto decided to become stronger, no matter what. If not for him, then it would be for Chiropmon.
Up until this point, his life had been a paradise in another’s eyes. He lived in a big house, never to want anything. His teachers all loved him, and his grades were only becoming better and better with each year. He was, apparently, popular as well. Many other children wanted to talk to him and he even got the weird nickname of Prince of the Kuonji Industries.
He never managed to know who started to spread this title around. He never asked for it.
Regardless, it was a life that many people would kill for. Anyone would be willing to trade anything just to live inside of Shangri-La Egg, not to mention all the other things he had in life.
He would trade all of it in a heartbeat.
It’s not like he hated his life. He had many good things in it, and of course he would always be grateful to everything his parents provided him for. He couldn’t remember her face, but he knew his mother was a person full of love, someone that was gone way too soon because of an illness that not even all the money in the world could save her from. His father... he used to be someone warm. He used to look at him and the smile he received from above was indeed from someone that had nothing but affection towards his sons. Once his mother died, Makoto became confused at his father’s sudden change – it was like he was living with someone completely different. Tsukasa also had changed. He didn’t want to hang out anymore, nor play with him. Not even use the computer for fun. He focused only on his studies and barely talked to him anymore.
Makoto was a young child back then, but he understood that everything was happening because of his mother’s departure. The pain was also affecting him, after all. And with both his father and the person that was supposed to be his other half blatantly ignoring him outside of studies – be either for school or to take over the Kuonji Industries – he started to feel...
Incredibly lonely.
That was when Chiropmon was born. After a long day of reading book after book, and having to listen to his tutor about the tradition of the family and how he would disappoint his mother if he didn’t act like a proper heir, Makoto just couldn’t deal with anything anymore. He just fell on his bed, wishing for the embrace of his mom. The next thing that he saw was his Sapotama glowing red, a big message of “ERROR” on its screen, followed by the word “DIGIMON”.
And then Makoto was not lonely anymore.
Chiropmon had been a light in his days. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to introduce his new friend to his father, he couldn’t trust that man obsessed with the family company anymore. But he still loved Tsukasa and hoped that Chiropmon’s presence would be enough to make his brother act like he used to. What a mistake that was.
Makoto was never angry at his brother, no. Disappointed, yes, but never angry. Tsukasa was under a lot of stress and the chance of getting their father’s attention was extremely tempting. He understood that. Didn’t mean he could deal with the hurt that came with it, though.
After that, he decided to run away with Chiropmon. If his family wasn’t going to accept his friend, his other self, then so be it. They would find their own life together. And thus he took his bag, water, energy bars, credits enough to go by, and ran from his grandparents’ mansion. He left a message saying he would be fine so the elderly couple wouldn’t worry themselves to sickness. And since his Sapotama wasn’t connected to the main servers anymore, then the Ministry wouldn’t find them if they were fast enough to leave the Egg. He didn’t even bother changing his clothes.
Unfortunately, he was just a kid and wasn’t ready for what he was about to find outside of the perfect paradise that was his first home. The streets were dangerous at night, and if it wasn’t for Chiropmon knocking down some burglars, he would’ve been in a terrible situation right after escaping that place. But they didn’t let that stop them. If Makoto were to go back home, Chiropmon would be separated from him and maybe even worse. Maybe they would disappear just like his mother.
And so, Makoto ran. And ran, ran and ran. Towards what, he didn’t know. He just wanted to find a proper place to rest the night so he could find a job that would accept a kid the next day. And if he couldn’t find one, then he might as well have a living through hacking. Fortunately, Chiropmon had incredible skills with computers so that would be something easy to do. Illegal, but at this point he didn’t have the luxury of choosing. He was so anxious, that he didn’t notice the temperature of his body slowly rising, and his vision becoming blurry.
“Makoto!”
Chiropmon’s voice was a distant echo, and then Makoto fell asleep.
☕︎☕︎☕︎
He woke up inside of a room he never saw before in his life. His back was hurting quite a lot, probably because of the way he was sleeping – on a sofa instead of a bed or just the floor. His muscles couldn’t stop complaining, but at least it seemed like they weren’t in immediate danger...
That’s, right, Chiropmon! Where were they?!
“Relax,” came a voice nearby, “They are right there.”
“Makoto!” Chiropmon’s voice came as the bat digimon landed on his lap, “You are awake!”
“I... fainted?”
“We found you unconscious in the middle of the street,” Makoto heard the male voice explain, and turned his head to find an older man sitting right in front of him, in another sofa, “Your partner digimon couldn’t stop yelling for help. Fortunately we found you in time.”
How embarrassing... Makoto hugged Chiropmon, relieved at them being safe and sound, “I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you, mister...?”
“My name is Kyo,” the man said as he handled Makoto a bottle of water, “Kyo Sawashiro. It seems your fever is gone as well. How are you feeling?”
Makoto placed a hand on his own forehead, noticing that he indeed was feeling better. His heartbeat was back to normal, and besides the sweat, his body was stable enough, as he wasn’t trembling anymore. He gave a quick nod towards the man, “Thank you for helping us. My name is Makoto K—Makoto.”
Kyo noticed the hesitation on the surname, Makoto could see from the way he became worried - furrowed brows, tight lips. He wondered if he would be interrogated and then sent back home. If that man knew about digimon, then that means he worked for the government. Was he together with the Ministry of Civil Protection? World Union?
Fear coming back in full force, Makoto got up with Chiropmon still in his arms, “Thank you for the help. I shall be on my way now.”
“Now, now, hold on,” Kyo said as he placed a hand on Makoto’s smaller shoulders, “You just recovered from fainting in the middle of the street. Why don’t you try to eat something first?”
No way. He wouldn’t be here waiting for them to take Chiropmon away—
“Hey, Kyo! Did he wake up already?”
The new voice was female this time, roughly young and abrasive. He could hear footsteps coming closer, probably from the second floor of that place. Before he could react, the girl got an arm on his shoulders in a half-hug.
“Don’t go around trying to run away, you are in no shape for that!”
Makoto sighed. So it was that obvious he was trying to run away. Fine, but he was not letting them take Chiropmon away from him. He took advantage of his smaller stature and quickly got away from her hold, going towards the exit as fast as he could.
Which, unfortunately, was not quick enough. Makoto felt himself be held by another digimon, from their mouth even, as if he was a small kitten about to be disciplined by its mother.
“Cougarmon, easy there,” Kyo said from his place, “He is still weak.”
“Are you sure about that?” The girl by his side asked with an amused voice, “He had a lot of energy just now.”
Kyo coughed on his hand and approached them, “Don’t worry, we are not going to hurt you,” he said in a gentle voice, “Nor do anything else that you might be thinking about.”
Makoto wasn’t sure if he believed that but... “Are you... not going to take Chiropmon away?”
From his arms, the small digimon trembled, but Makoto couldn’t sense fear. It was probably stress from having to watch him fainting, but he could see that his partner was not afraid of that duo.
Now that he could think about it, Chiropmon was not being held hostage, nor was locked up in a box or a cage. They were flying freely before he woke up. If those people were trying to get him back home, then Chiropmon wouldn’t be nearby for starters.
...He was feeling so silly, now. His cheeks were probably red while the other digimon – Cougarmon? – slowly let him go.
“We aren’t,” Kyo replied, “We are not going to ask you to stay for longer than what you want, but you should at least recover. And... well. Why were you alone at night? Were you being attacked?”
Makoto probably visibly tensed at that question, because Kyo asked only once before guiding him to the sofa again, and the girl became quieter, pensive, and just left for the kitchen. One of the advantages of being a quiet kid is that he developed many skills of analyzing others, and he could see that he was in front of good people. However, after everything that happened at home... after his father becoming someone completely different, after Tsukasa betrayed him... can he even trust strangers like this?
What if his father sent people here and they decided he wasn’t worth the trouble?
No, Makoto wouldn’t – shouldn’t – involve other people in his troubles. And he swore that he would grow stronger to protect both himself and Chiropmon. He wouldn’t let his heart be taken by gentle words or concerns again, he would trust only himself and his partner from now on.
But he needed a story, and fast. He was never good at lying, but maybe he could hide things. Enough details to not link him to the Kuonji Industries or Shangrila-Egg.
Chiropmon looked at him, worried. He gave his partner the best smile he could muster in such circustances.
“Chiropmon was being attacked,” that wasn’t a lie, “And I tried to bring them to safety.” That also wasn’t a lie.
However, it wasn’t enough of a story. He didn’t explain who or what had attacked them, or why he was laying around on the street instead of going to the police.
“I see,” Kyo said from the other sofa, “You tried to protect your partner.”
Makoto... slowly nodded. He needed to keep himself strong, no matter how much the others seemed to understand him.
“Are you part of a Cleaner team?” The girl asked as she gave him some tea. The aroma was nice, and that was probably the reason why he was taken by surprise and lowered his guard.
“...Cleaner...?”
“You don’t know what a Cleaner is?” The girl asked, “Then, Chiropmon was born recently, right?”
Oh no. Was he supposed to know what a Cleaner was? Was it something to do with digimon?
The girl sat besides him and gave him a pat on his head. It wasn’t as gentle as the other man’s touch, but it was much more kind than the gestures his father did to him in the last couple of years, “Let me guess, the people around you freaked out?”
He didn’t know what else to say. The stress was too much at the moment, so he couldn’t think of proper lies to hide himself and Chiropmon, so he nodded his head.
“Ahh, as expected,” she sighed as she placed her hands behind her head, “Back when I was in the orphanage everyone screamed when Pristimon was born too. Had to run away from the place or they would call the police or worse. So we had to go around and do jobs that involved other digimon. That’s what a Cleaner is, by the way. We accept requests to deal with random people that use digimon in crimes.”
Makoto looked around and saw a... yellow panda on the girl’s shoulders. He didn’t notice that before. Was that her digimon partner? Chiropmon seemed to know them already, since they were smiling at each other at that moment.
So, were they in a similar situation as his?
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that Makoto could do about that, “But in the end, it doesn’t really matter if I know what a Cleaner is...”
“And why not?” Kyo’s question was simple, and it was only natural they were confused at Makoto’s words. But he’d left a huge amount of details out of his narrative, so he couldn’t help the small levels of sarcasm in his voice.
“I can’t work as one. I need a place to go, and if I work for the government then they would separate me from Chiropmon.”
“They wouldn’t,” Kyo said with a certainty that it surprised him, “For starters, it’s in their law. If you don’t accept the removal of the digimon by the Ministry, then your other solution is to become a Cleaner. That way, you two won’t be separated.”
Makoto quickly looked at him, surprised at that new information. So if he became a Cleaner, then he wouldn’t need to say goodbye to Chiropmon? “But would they accept someone as young as me?”
The girl by his side laughed, “Nah, I started at eight. You are fine.”
Well, he was ten years old, so the age requirement was probably not a problem. Now he just needed to find a team, right?
But that needed him to trust other people. He needed to find a team that wouldn’t betray him nor sell Chiropmon away. Could he even do that?
The conversation was abruptly interrupted by an incredibly loud sound coming from the second floor.
“Ah,” Kyo got up and as soon as he did that, so did his digimon partner, “We need to first fix this problem. You can watch how we work, Makoto.”
At that, both Kyo and the girl (and their digimon partners) left to go to the second floor. Makoto followed them, unsure of what to do instead in that situation, and all of them entered a room with a computer. It was an old model, probably from seven or eight years ago, and its screen was emmiting a red light with many numbers on it. Makoto could hear the sound coming from the machine and if it suddenly started flying away like a plane on fire he wouldn’t be surprised. He never saw such chaos.
“That’s our current job,” Kyo explained as he took three chairs for them to sit down, “There’s a digimon that is causing quite a stir online, stealing data from banks and messing around with the identities of big companies. I’ve heard even the Kuonji Industries were having problems with it.”
If any of them saw Makoto flinching, none of them commented on it.
“And the bastard had the courage to hack our humble computer just because we were on the case,” the girl said, “We got Yoshimura to lock them inside of it before they could steal anything of value, but it became crazy like this and we don’t know what to do.”
Pristimon shrugged in defeat, “It’s not like we can get inside of it. This is not the Mirror World.”
Kyo had the courage to chuckle in the middle of that situation, “Next time, let’s try to lock them inside of the Mirror World instead.”
Pristimon shrugged from their place at the girl’s shoulders, “Hey, both me and Reina are used to this type of strategy. Not our fault it didn’t work this time.”
The girl - Reina - blushed for a second, clearly embarrassed, “Yes yes, we won’t try to kick them as soon as we see them. Lesson learned.”
God, what a mess. Makoto couldn’t help but pity the poor computer trying to process whatever was possessing it.
But that problem seemed to not be much different of a virus he met online some time ago, one that was trying to attack their company. It was kind of nostalgic. He and Tsukasa spent the whole night trying to get rid of it, and it was one of the few moments he had together with his brother in the last couple of months. Was this the same virus of back then? So, a digimon had attacked them? He would try to get the answers for those questions later. If, with the right equipment... “Excuse me. Can I try to get them out?”
The others stared at him, surprised. Did he say something wrong?
Regardless, he continued, “From what I can see, the digimon in question is similar to one that attacked a... software I once had. The Central Terminal from where they come from utilizes a system built upon a personal code that their partner is most likely using. The culprit is probably a hacker. Judging from the commands on the screen, the password has been strengthned to a higher level than the model of this computer, so in order to break it I’ll need some time, but I think with Chiropmon’s help I can skip 81 of the necessary steps and turn the program into a matrix from where I can attack them, and they wouldn’t have any choice but to go outside to protect themselves.”
A beat.
“I didn’t understand a single thing you said,” Reina was almost laughing, “But it was enough for me to trust your word! Hey Kyo, let’s have Makocchan at it!”
“M-makocchan?”
Kyo placed a hand on his shoulder. It was firm but tender, representing their trust on him, “You don’t like the nickname?”
Oh, it was much better than whatever the hell "Prince of the Kuonji Industries" was.
Makoto and Chiropmon looked at each other and smiled. They could do this.
It didn’t take too long. Both Kyo and Reina kept watching them, and bringing them snacks and water from time to time. The other digimon were relaxing on the floor, but still on high alert if anything happened.
Which it did. After thirty or so minutes of working through the codes, Makoto warned them to get in position, and soon after a Keramon left the computer, completely confused. While the other digimon were defeating them, returning them to an harmless Kuramon, Makoto placed an anti-virus software in the computer that Chiropmon would use to track the IP address of the hacker and Owner of said Keramon. Kyo and Reina asked him to take care of the baby digimon while they were going to arrest the culprit, and fortunately for everyone, the responsible was not that much far away. As expected, it was a hacker that had been attacking the Kuonji Industries a few months ago, and tried to attack that Cleaner team – Glowing Dawn – for getting in his way.
Makoto couldn’t help but sit abruptly on the sofa once they were back. What a day. Fortunately the baby digimon was scared of him-
(he wouldn’t delete them, he wasn’t heartless like that. Was it because of the trap he set for them?)
- so they behaved well enough, and now they were sleeping soundly near Cougarmon. It seems Kyo had plans towards them, which made Makoto curious, but...
It... wasn’t his problem to worry about, was it?
It was so curious. He didn’t have so much apprehension now. Was it because he was tired? But it was still different from how he first met this team. All the fear was gone. It was replaced by a warm feeling that came with tea, headpats and a new nickname that he liked for once.
It has been so long since he last felt at home like this.
Home...
Before he could notice, Reina was patting his head again and Kyo gave him a tissue. Was he crying? He was, and this time he wasn’t embarrassed at it. Because he knew this group wouldn’t judge him for it. Wouldn’t call him weak or unworthy because he was stressed, scared or tired.
And because of that atmosphere, because of everything that happened that day, the invitation to join Glowing Dawn wasn’t a surprise. For some reason, he could see in the faces of those people that he would be invited to join them. It also wasn’t a surprise when Kyo said their team was a family, because that was exactly what it felt like. It was the same feeling he had when his mother was still alive and he felt safe in her arms.
Maybe that was also what prompted Makoto to tell them the truth. Of his surname, of his family. Of everything he had left behind so he could protect the last few lights that were present in his life.
He didn’t give many details of how he left his previous home – he wasn’t feeling good enough for that yet. But he did say that he didn’t want to go back to a rich place if they wouldn’t let them have Chiropmon by his side.
However, even with all that, he still felt fear, “I’m not sure if I should involve you guys with my family problems.”
“There won’t be problems,” Kyo said as he patted both Chiropmon and the Kuramon that floated to his side, “You are here now. Don’t hesitate to leave a place that is hurting you.”
Makoto had incredible observation skills, he was aware of that. It was because of such skills that he noticed Kyo’s eyes and how they seemed distant. As if he was remembering something personal. Maybe he also had to leave a place that was hurting him. And he could also see... a wish, in both his eyes and Reina’s, the wish of hurting whoever was hurting Makoto. They barely knew each other, and yet...
Makoto always assumed, both from his own logic and the comments of others, that his life was how things had to be. He always had to be perfect, he always had to be better than his peers, even better than his own twin brother, always competing against each other to the point that it had ruined their relationship. And it was because of this way of living that, only a few hours ago, he was thinking about never trusting anyone ever again. He was close of turning just like his father.
But he wanted to try this. He wanted to trust them. No, he would trust them. From now on, he would trust his and Chiropmon’s new family.
(Plus, it seems they needed his help with their cyber security. Badly)