Chapter Text
The makeshift raft we threw together crashed through the rapids, water spraying on all of us. I was holding onto Kudamon, desperately trying to keep myself grounded and prevent them from flying off the raft.
Mimi and Takeru were scrambling around the raft with Takeru ripping off his sleeves to tie around logs, with Mimi doing the same on the other side. Palmon wrapped her vines around the logs to secure them, and Patamon flew over all of us.
Taichi and Agumon stood at the front of the raft. Taichi had his goggles on, scanning the rapids. “I think we’re almost there!” he exclaimed.
Mimi yanked at the fabric she was working on. “That’s amazing, Taichi. Care to help us out a bit?”
Taichi gestured to me. “He’s not doing anything!” he cried, waving his arms in the air. Him doing this almost caused him to fall into the river, but Agumon grabbed him in time.
Takeru flinched away from the edge. “Patamon, how close are we?”
Patamon landed on Takeru’s head. “Everyone brace yourself!”
I peeked open my eyes, confused. “Brace ourselves for whaAAAGHH-!”
The river ahead us was a steep drop, which we were barreling down at full speed. “WAHHHH!” Mimi held onto Palmon, who had her eyes shut tight.
The only one who seemed to enjoy this was Taichi, who held on the front of the raft, laughing giddily. “Agumon, this is amazing!” Agumon seemed to disagree seriously, along with everyone else.
Suddenly, the raft jolted upward, knocking Taichi into the air. “Uwahhh-!”
“Taichi!” Mimi and Takeru shouted in unison, reaching out frantically to attempt to grab him.
Me being the closest to him, I jumped forward to grab Taichi’s shirt collar. He dangled over the side, making startled yelps. “Z!” he shouted. “Pull me up!”
I was struggling to hold onto him. “I-I-” I stammered, latching my other hand onto his shirt. “I can’t!”
Right before Mimi or Takeru could help, the raft crashed into a large boulder. This sent everyone flying. “AGGHHH-! MIMI!” I screamed.
Kudamon seemed relatively unbothered by flying through the air. They did, however, seemed bothered by the fact that I was hurtling toward rushing water. “Don’t worry, Z! I’ll save you guys!” they shouted.
My digivice flashed with color, and Kudamon digivolved into Reppamon. They swung me around, and I sat on their back. They darted around the ravine, grabbing Mimi and Takeru.
“Wait, where’s Taichi?!” Takeru exclaimed, frantically glancing around.
Mimi gasped. “Down there!” she pointed down, practically hanging off Reppamon.
There Taichi was-struggling to keep his head above the water, flailing his arms. “Reppamon, can you get him?” I asked frantically.
“I’m having difficulty keeping upright with you guys on my back,” they growled. “I risk dropping you.”
Takeru looked up. “Patamon!” he shouted.
Patamon was struggling to keep himself aloft, due to the fact that he was carrying Palmon. “I’m.. trying to find.. Agumon!” he gasped.
Everything went silent, with the rushing water. Suddenly, an orange light lit up the ravine, and Greymon’s massive shape broke the water, holding Taichi up. “Don’t worry, Taichi! I got you!” Greymon roared.
Everyone collectively exhaled in relief. “Taichiiii!” Mimi called, waving her arms. “Are you ok?!”
Taichi sputtered, and raised a shaky thumbs-up. “Y’huh!” He called, hugging his other arm onto Greymon’s neck.
Patamon and Palmon landed on Reppamon’s back, and Reppamon took off at full speed to get to the end of the ravine.
Greymon followed Reppamon, sending waves of water in all directions. Reppamon landed on the shore. Greymon followed soon after, then they dedigivolved back to Agumon and Kudamon.
“Ok..” Kudamon flopped around my neck like a limp noodle. “So.. what next..?”
Takeru sat himself next to Taichi, who looked deflated and wet. “We need to find onii-chan’s group.” he said. “I’m sure Koushiro-san has come up with something to explain why Z is here.”
“For now,” Takeru stood up. “Let’s camp out here, and gather some firewood.”
Taichi nodded, struggling to his feet. “Good idea, Takeru-kun!” he exclaimed. “Takeru-kun and I will go gather wood. Mimi, Z-you two stay here!”
Before either of us could protest, Takeru and Taichi (along with their Digimon partners) dashed into the woods.
Mimi cursed under her breath, settling onto the grass with Palmon. “So, Z,” she said to me in a friendly tone. “Who are you most excited to see?”
I blinked, confused. “What do you mean?” I asked. “I’m excited to see everyone else.”
Ok. That’s a lie. Man, I miss Koushiro. I thought to myself. I don’t think he likes me very much, though. I sighed, resting my chin in my hands.
Suddenly, Mimi was right in my face with a sly smirk. “There’s someone, isn’t there?”
Is she reading my mind? “U-um.. no?” I stuttered, backing away.”
Kudamon poked their head out of my hair. “That’s a lie!” They exclaimed. “He’s actually head over heels for K-!”
I impulsively slapped Kudamon back into my hair, but they’d already said enough for Mimi to know who I was talking about. “K.. does this “K” happen to have the name “Izumi”?”
The expression on my face gave everything away. No point in denying it. “U-um.. yeah. It’s Koushiro.”
Mimi lit up and snatched my hands. “Z! This is amazing!”
I was confused. “W-why?” I gently tried to pull my hands away, but Mimi’s grip was firm. “Why is this so amazing?”
Mimi scoffed, releasing on of my hands to fan herself. “Koushiro-kun is SO uptight. He’s ALWAYS on his computer. It’s a wonder you like him at all!”
“What do you mean?”
Mimi shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.” she grinned. “I’ll do the honor of setting you two up!” she exclaimed.
“Set who two up?” Takeru pushed his way through the clearing, holding multiple logs of firewood. Patamon followed him out, holding a couple of smaller twigs.
Taichi and Agumon “What’d we miss?” Agumon exclaimed, one log under each arm.
I shoved Mimi away and stood up. “Oh, nothing! We were just chatting! Nothing much.”
Taichi and Takeru glanced at each other but shrugged. They threw the wood into the pile and had Agumon light it. “So, what now?” Patamon asked, poking the fire.
“We could play a game?” Kudamon asked, flying out of my hair to sit with Patamon, Agumon and Palmon.
“We could play hide and seek?” Palmon suggested.
“Or tag!”
All of our Digimon ran off to do whatever they would do, and the rest of us sat around the fire. The other three were already jovially laughing and joking. They’ve known each other for so long. I feel so out of place.
Suddenly, Mimi slung one of her arms over my shoulders. “Z-kun!” she exclaimed loudly, making me jump. “Tell us about yourself!”
I blinked, confused. “You… Know about me, though,” I murmured, trying to duck away from Mimi’s arm (but failing to do so).
“Actually, not really,” Taichi said. “I know your name, your age, and the fact you’re in Mimi-chan and Koushiro-kun’s classes.
Takeru’s eyes glittered. “Tell us about you!” he exclaimed. “What do you enjoy doing? Where are you from? I haven’t seen you before this year!”
I had my gaze on my feet. “Um.. America.”
Mimi gasped. “America? I spent a long time in New York!” she cried. “What part of America are you from?”
“Um. California.”
“You say “um” a lot,” Taichi observed, poking the fire. “Don’t you have anything interesting to say?”
Takeru shoved Taichi. “Be nice!”
The boys started a playful mini-argument. Mimi scoffed, but I could tell that she didn’t mind. “Sooo, Z.”
“You’re inconsistent in what you call me, Mimi.” I observed, trying to avoid a conversation about my interests.
She tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you only call me “Z-kun” whenever we’re around other people. When it’s just me, you only call me Z.”
Mimi looked confused. “Do I really? I’m so sorry, do you want me to be more consistent?”
I shook my head. “No, no no! I’m sorry, I made it seem like an issue. It’s not.”
She looked relieved. Right at that moment, the boys turned their attention back to us. “Ohoho, we got a couple of lovebirds over here~” Taichi exclaimed, which scared me half to death.
“Oh, no!” Mimi said, waving him off. Before I could stop her from saying more, she barreled on. “Z-kun isn’t even into girls- he’s got a thing for Koushiro-kun!”
Stunned silence.
Takeru was the one to break this silence. “Well, Z actually has a chance.”
Everyone turned to him. “Wait, really?” I exclaimed, with a bit too much excitement. “How do you know?”
Takeru shrugged. “He came to me one day, saying he needed to talk to someone. He told me that he thinks that he’s bisexual, but he’s too scared to pursue a romantic relationship.”
Everyone was silent, until Mimi burst out with an excited cry. “Owaaah! This is perfect!”
Taichi grinned. “We could totally set them up!” he exclaimed. “What do you think, Takeru?”
Takeru looked slightly guilty. “I feel like I shouldn’t have told you guys..” he murmured. “Koushiro-san told me that in confidence.”
Taichi patted Takeru on the back. “Don’t worry about it! We’re doing him a favor, anyway. He’s got no social life, so it’s unlikely he’d find a boyfriend or girlfriend without our help!”
“You guys are kind of mean to Koushiro,” I observed. “Can’t you, like, be nicer?” When everyone fell silent, I shrugged. “Or, keep going. It doesn’t matter to me.”
Takeru yawned, and Mimi looked a bit tired. “Maybe we should go to sleep. We’ll need energy for tomorrow, right?”
Taichi nodded. “I’ll keep first watch. Mmm, Z’ll be next.”
“Huh? I didn’t- hh, never mind.”
Mimi stared after where our Digimon had run off. “I’ll go look for-”
Loud footsteps crashed through the undergrowth and Agumon burst out of the bushes, followed by Palmon. Patamon and Kudamon were in the air, all of them excited. “We found them!” Palmon cried. “We found them!”
Mimi jumped up. “Found who? Who?!”
Palmon leapt into Mimi’s arms and hugged her. “Yamato’s group!”
Everyone stood up. “If Yamato’s group is here,” Taichi thought out loud.
“That means Koushiro-kun is also here!” Mimi exclaimed. “This is perfect!”
Oh. Crap.