Copost-
@Lillian and Clyde
School was always the best time of day and the worse time of day for Tsukiko. It was loud and he didn’t have too many friends. Beyond Dashi-kun, who was at most just weird. He had an annoying habit of calling other people sama. Which Tsukiko wouldn’t accept. The thing was, he didn’t know where Dashi-kun was. Tsukiko was in the hallways and hadn’t seen Dashi-kun anywhere.
They had discussed that after school, they would test out the new applications on their phone. DigiApplication. That’s where Dracomon came from. The Digital World. Or that’s what Dracomon told Tsukiko at least. He said it was pretty, but dangerous. Dashi-kun and him were friends. Sort of.
Tsukiko was always getting in the way of bullies. When they were hurting kids, and he was always getting beat up for it. Except that Tsukiko did not care much about it. His parents were supportive enough of Dracomon’s presence. He was too big and loud to keep hidden forever, as long as Dracomon didn’t interrupt his studies too much.
That’s all they really cared about. Was that he stayed smart. He didn’t get distracted. He wasn’t let any pets before because it would take away the responsibility of his studies. And they were pretty upset that this pet could speak. Let alone it ate like a truck.
School was slow and boring, but when the school bell rang. Tsukiko decided he needed to get Dracomon and get Tadash-kun to come to the park with him. Easier to spot as the sea of students swarmed out of campus he came up from behind Dashi-kun and put his hands around his eyes.
“Ta-da...guess who,” Tsukiko giggled a little.
Tadashi was ready to go home and hide. He had been pushed around and laughed at all day for sleeping during class. Snoozing Loser, they called him... He wanted to cry and hide under his covers while Yoshi petted his back while brewing some tea for him. He was hidden at the turn on a hallway, his frail body shivering as he hugged his knees.
His attention was alerted when he heard a male's voice, turning to see Tsukiko. He quickly hid his face, his arms tightening. He really didn't want to face the feminine boy at the moment, he just wanted to cry the day away.
"You should have come and get me Dashi-kun, I'll protect you from the bullies, that's a promise," Tsukiko told Dashi-kun, "Are we still going to click the DigiApplication on our phones at the park today?"
"Just leave me alone, Natsume-sama..." He mumbled, submissively hiding his face and scooching away. He didn't want Tsukiko to concern about him, why did the boy even bother talking to him? He couldn't protect himself, so why was he so invested in talking to him?
"Tsu-ki-ko-kun," he said in a sing song way, "Or at least Natsume-kun." he paused, and skipped around to look at Tadashi forward, "We made a promise didn't we. To press the DigiApplication together. If nothing happens I'll leave you alone, but if something happens, well then I won't. Ne?"
That's right, he did promise... The boy groaned, getting up to his feet. His sleep deprived expression and messy hair spoke his mood.
"Fine..." He moaned, rubbing his eyes.
"Okay I have to get Dracomon, you can come with, you can get a drink from the store," Tsukiko told him, but didn't really leave much room for Dashi-kun to make a dash for it. Grabbing Dashi-kun hands, "Let's go!" Taking charge.
While he was dragged, he then had a thought;
"Hey... If we might go to another world, shouldn't we get food and stuff first?" He asked, "That wouldn't be good if we get there and can't get back to get food."
"We have a lot of ready made food at our convenience store," Tsukiko put a finger on his chin, "But will they have any microwaves?"
"Probably not. Dunno." The boy spoke once more, "We should bring food anyway... I wouldn't wanna starve to death." He frowned, "That wouldn't be good..."
"We have rice balls, that should last us a while," Tsukiko said, "we can also heat water up. I am sure there is water. So we could have ramen."
"Well, let's go then." He shrugged.
Happy Mart run and owned by the Natsume family for 20 years. Read the little sticker tag on the window. They had escaped the storm that was his mother and he headed up stairs. Where they had dumped their school bag contents onto the floor, and now had empty backpacks. Jamming whatever they could consider into the backpack. While Dracomon watch curiously.
Tsukiko only had met Dracomon a month or two ago, so they didn't have much of a relationship. Though Tsukiko could feel a bond forming with Dracomon.
"Flashlight?" Tsukiko asked.
"Y-yeah..." He said as he nervously looked at Dracomon as he packed his own bag, "D-does the giant lizard have to look at me like that?"
"Dracomon?" Tsukiko asked looking at Dracomon, "He's not going to hurt you. Right?"
"I am not going to hurt you," Dracomon squawked, instead he tried to nuzzle Tadashi with his muzzle.
"D-does your parents know about him...?" He asked, shivering when the giant digital lizard nuzzled him. "I don't think a giant lizard is very easy to hide..."
"Yes," Tsukiko said, "He was causing so much ruckus they eventually did find out." Dracomon nuzzle Tsukiko who just giggled at Dracomon's touch, "Stop that tickles."
"I want to play," Dracomon said, wagging its tail like a dog.
"We'll play when we get to your world," Tsukiko told Dracomon.
"I'm hunrgy," Dracomon protested.
"I'll get you something to eat in a minute," Tsukiko told him, showing Dash-kun a pack of batteries and shoving them in the backpack.
Tadashi sighed in relief when he showed him the batteries, "Good, we'll need those." It would be really bad if the flashlight died while they were gone. He then proceeded to swing his bag full of supplies on his shoulder, huffing at the weight,
"W-well... Might as well go..." He spoke.
"I agree," Tsukiko said.
It took another half hour for them to get to the park. But the two boys were excited, it was difficult sneaking out of Tsukiko place without his family catching wind. It felt a bit like running away, but he didn't know how long he'd be gone. Though he hoped that it be only for a little bit. Not a long time.
When they finally entered the park, Tsukiko took out his cellphone.
"On the count of three," Tsukiko told Dashi-kun, "One....two..."
He suddenly lost consciousness when they pressed the button. He felt scared, suddenly falling asleep, he felt like he died for a moment. He somewhat gained consciousness, feeling like he was floating, and wet. Very wet, and cold...
"AAAH!" He cried, realizing he was in the ocean... How'd he get to the ocean? He looked around at the... Rather beautiful crags, but then noticed something in his arms.
"An... Egg?" He said, looking to his arms. It was a pretty big egg... Where did it come from? Well, it wouldn't be too much harm to keep it, right? Yeah. It was kinda cool, maybe it would hatch? He then came from the waves, shivering his butt off, basically.
"Natsume-samaaaaa?" He called out.
He felt dirt in through his fingers and a hot muzzle breathing on him. Tsukiko was slowly opening his eyes. To see a rather blue sky. The sound of the crashing waves. Tadashi! He slowly got up, bonking his head with Dracomon's head.
"Oww," Tsukiko rubbed his head.
"That hurt," Dracomon said rubbing his head.
"We need to find Tadashi-kun," Tsukiko said. Getting up he started to call for Tadashi.
"Tadashi-kun!" worry and anxiety was beginning to flood his senses though. What if they were lost from each other forever? How was Tsukiko suppose to go on from here?
"Tadashi-kun!" Tsukiko called out.
He thought he heard his last name, except the roaring of the sea was hard to hear anythng over it. Wandering the coast, looking for his friend.
"Natsume-samaaa?" He called out once more, trying to climb up the steep rocky cliffs. Well, that was pretty hard with a bag on your back and an egg in your arm. He managed to pull himself up to the top, seeing the figure of his classmate.
"Natsume-sama, there you are!" He said, running over to him.
"For some reason, I woke up in the water and... With this." He showed the blue and white egg, having a slightly freaked out expression, "It's huge."
"Tsu-ki-ko-kun," was the first thing Tsukiko responded with a little bit of a pout. Stop calling him sama it made him uncomfortable. Didn't Tadashi understand that? But then he saw the egg and Tsukiko eyes sparkled.
"I wonder what's inside!" he said completely forgetting about the name for a second.
"It's a DigiEgg!" Dracomon exclaimed excitedly.
"That's great," Tsukiko looked at Tadashi-kun, "Tadashi-kun, you're going to get your very own Digimon!"
"D-digimon?!" He exclaimed, "What's a digimon, is it that huge lizard thing? Are huge lizards what Digimon are?!" He did want to have a giant lizard! He was already uncomfortable with Dracomon!
"Some are big lizards," Tsukiko said, finally Dracomon fumed.
"I am not a lizard! I am a dragon!" Dracomon told them with a huff.
"Sorry. Some are dragons and some are bunnies, some are?" Tsukiko looked at Dracomon.
"Lots of Digimon, they all come in different shapes and sizes," Dracomon said happily.
Tadashi was pale as the fresh fallen snow. What would this hatch into...? He stared hard at the Digi-egg, quietly wondering when it'd hatch.
"Hey, when do these things ha-" He was interrupted when the egg suddenly started hatching.
"A-ah-AAAHHH!" He cried out, "It's hatching it's hatching what do I do!" He stomped in place for a bit, panicking and staring at Tsukiko, until the shaking suddenly stopped. The top was open, and a pair of yellow eyes was staring at him.
"U-uh... Hello.. There..?" He said nervously to the baby digimon. The creature poked its head from the shell, staring quietly at Tadashi.
"Hey you're actually kinda--" One moment the blob of cuteness was staring at him, the next it's jaws were latched to his forehead.
"Oh wait... This actually doesn't hurt..." He said, dropping the egg shells and pulling the little creature from his forehead, who proceeded to snap at him. "Huh, hah. No teeth. Phew."
"What's your name?" Tsukiko asked the blue creature, "Are you hungry?"
"Hi!" Dracomon said happily, "I'm Dracomon."
"Mwaaah!" The little blue creature released a small roar at Dracomon.
"Aww, they're really cute." He said attempting to pet the creature, though it warranted a bite...
"Something tells me this guy won't have just gums for very long..." He said, "So do you have a name?"
"Mwaaaaarrrhhh!"
"Well I don't think your name is Mwarh so... I'll give you a name." He raised the baby up, "Hey how about Chomp?"
Bite to the face.
"Of course. Chomp it is."
"Mwaaaarrhh!" The digimon seemed to complain.
Tsukiko just giggled.
"So then what is your name," Tsukiko asked it sticking out his hand to pet it.
"Wait." He held the creature away from him, "Bad idea, unless you want... Furry ball spit on you." He set the Digimon down and got his bag in front of him, "Hey, are you hungry?"
He got out a rice ball, holding it in front of him. The Digimon immediately enveloped his entire mouth around the hand holding the ball of rice, then sliding off and chewing the ball of rice and swallowing. He seemed content.
"Oh you like it huh?" He said with a smile. Suddenly, the little Digimon was enveloped with light.
"Dodomon digivolve to... Dorimon!" He now had legs.. And a tail.
"Woah you look totally different now!" He said in shock.
"It's Dorimon, not Chomp! Dorimon Dorimon!"
"Okay okay, relax!"
"Raaah!" The digimon bit his hand.
"Ouch! That hurt!"
"Yeah I have teeth now! Beat that!"
"It turned big. Just like Dracomon," Tsukiko cheered, "Ne Dorimon, want another rice ball?" he asked offering the creature a rice ball.
"I want one," Dracomon said eating the rice ball for Dorimon out of Tsukiko's hand.
"Eh!" Tsukiko said, "That was for Dorimon."
"But it was tasty," Dracomon told Tsukiko.
"That was MIINEEE!" Dorimon cried, rushing at Dracomon ready to deliver a painful bite to the leg.
"Dorimon hey!" Tadashi called for the little creature.
"It's okay don't fight, there's more," Tsukiko said, handing Dorimon another rice ball.
"Riceballmon!" He said, running over to the rice ball and snatching it out of Tsukiko's hand. He consumed it in a heartbeat, then ran back over to Tadashi.
"So... Natsume-sama..." He called the boy's attention, holding the rambunctious digimon, "What do we do?"
"Tsukiko-kun, or Natsume-kun, please, sama makes me really uncomfortable," Tsukiko finally said with a little bit more insecurity. Because it dawned on him, he had no idea of getting back home. Tsukiko was a good kid. He went home when he was expected home and he didn't hate his parents. Sitting on the sand he held his knees into his chest.
He looked at Tadashi-kun.
"I don't know," Tsukiko told Tadashi, "We didn't tell our parents." Tsukiko told Tadashi. He took out his cellphone to call is mother, ask if he could stay out a little later. There was no single. Tsukiko stared at the phone. He lifted it in different spots. The application was gone. And there was no single.
What was is mother going to say? Or his brother? Or his grandparents? Or his father? He shouldn't have went out. How do they get back home?
"Ne, Dracomon, can we go back from the Digital World to our world?" Tsukiko asked Dracomon.
"I got to your world," Dracomon told Tsukiko.
Except that wasn't really an answer.
"So we can get back?"
Dracomon made a serious face. In thought. Tsukiko looked at him hopeful.
"I don't know," Dracomon said. Tsukiko collapsed onto the sand. He was going to get in so much trouble now. His parents were going to scold him. He began to cry.
"..Sorry." He frowned, hiding his face in his hands. He made him upset... Ohh...
His body suddenly turned stiff when Tsukiko mentioned "parents". He then began to hyperventalate, covering his face. The memories of the crooked, broken bodies of his parents flashed before his eyes, then his brother's face, hearing the constant "You should have been stronger", over and over...
He was quiet for the first minute, but then erupted into tears and screaming, covering his face.
"H-hey hey? Whats wrong?!" Dorimon barked.
"Cheer up Tsukiko," Dracomon said.
But what broke Tsukiko out of his trance was Tadashi's sudden screaming. Tsukiko got up quickly, ignoring his own feelings.
"Tadashi-kun!" Tsukiko called out, "Ne. Tadashi-kun."
Tsukiko didn't know what to do, so he just pulled Tadashi-kun in for a hug.
Tadashi cried in the boy's arms, Dorimon coming from his lap.
"Heya what's his problem? Why's he roaring so loud?" He asked, completely ignorant to how human mannerisms work.
"He's not roaring Dorimon," Tsukiko said quietly, "He's crying."
"That's what humans do when they are sad," Dracomon added with a proud older brother smile.
Tadashi proceeded to have a meltdown, beginning to quiet down after a while and just going into gentle sobbing, as Dorimon watched.
"W-well... Well... What do we do?" Dorimon said, looking at Dracomon as if he was worried.
"Give him a hug," Dracomon said, and he launched into hugging Tadashi with Tsukiko.
"What'sa hug?" He asked.
"It's something that you do and makes someone feel better," Dracomon gave his simple explanation.
"It's a way to comfort someone by pressing yourself up against them," Tsukiko told Dorimon "and then you squeeze them."
"Ohhh..." Dorimon said, though he totally didn't get it. He turned to look at Tadashi, then walked over to him. He stared at the sniffling boy for a moment, before climbing up his back, jumping to his head, and biting down.
Tadashi let out a loud "OUCH!"
"Like thiths?" He asked.
"That isn't a hug! That isnt a hug! Ouch ouch ouch!" Tadashi cried out.
Tsukiko giggled for a second, at least Tadashi was snapped out of it. Dorimon was very cute, albeit bitey.
"Tadashi-kun," Tsukiko said, "I'm going to be right here by your side. While we're here or when we're outside in the Digital world. Because you showed me something no one else has shown me. That's why I am here. We're going to be best friends. Okay?"
"T-they died... Tsukiko-sama..." The boy whimpered, hiding his face. Dorimon still was attached to his skull, but he didn't care anymore.
"Tsukiko-kun, onigai?" he asked, he wasn't sure he wanted to ask who died. That's why he tried to avoid the question at first. He didn't want Tadashi-kun to be sad. "I am sorry if I brought something up that was painful." Tsukiko told Tadash-kun.
"Tsukiko-sa-sa..." His voice sounded broken for a minute,
"Tsukiko...Kun." He said it correctly, "Tsukiko-kun."
"Thank you," Tsukiko told Tadashi-kun, "We're going to have to be strong together. To find our way back home."