Kyobama & Squiren [MPC#34]

"As ready as I'll ever be." He replied, smiling earnestly. He held out his arm towards the slightly taller, sharply dressed nun, bowing jokingly. "Shall we go, Ms. President?" There was a light jovial tone in his voice. This was a new kind of adventure for them both. "Let's go show the digital world their government isn't completely useless after all." A tall order after the mess the first their predecessors had left in their wake. But hey; it wasn't the most impossible thing that had ever been demanded of them.

---

It had been two years since they the elections. Progress had been made. It had been a slow start. Much slower than he and Kyo had anticipated. The damage done by their predecessors ran as deep as the very infrastructure of the government. Replacing the corrupt presidents wasn't enough. They had needed to root out the corrupted seeds that had been planted on within the very congress of the Digital world.

Thinking that everything would be smooth sailing from there however, frankly just plain wishful. All kind of accusations and scandals were thrown at their every move. Nothing could be done without meeting some resistance. It was to the point that he was beginning to believe sometimes protest just came for the sake of protest. 

It was lucky that Kyo had such a solid conviction. Whoever said that trees that didn't bend wouldn't make it past a storm obviously didn't know what they were talking about, because Kyo had weathered the shitstorm that had been their entire term so far with enviable calm. Her chill was contagious. Whenever he thought he was going to punch someone, her presence was calming. Thankfully so; because even when after they had rooted out the corrupt, there were still far too many people Squire wanted to punch across the room.

However, not everything was terrible. They may have been forced to brace themselves against the shitstorm for every action they tried to take, but take them they did. Change came whether the naysayers liked it or not, and lo and behold, it was good. They weren't nearly done, but already the situation in the digital world was beginning to be much better than before. Much time they had lost while cleaning up after the mess left behind by their predecessors; but now, they was finally growth and progress.

Rather expertly serving a cup of tea, the not so young dragon, handed it to the president of the Digital World, humming softly. 

"I'll be honest." He started casually as he gyrated a spoon within his own cup of tea, taking a seat across from the president. "After all we went through during the first year, I'm surprised how well we are doing now." he pursed his lips, looking at his spoon. "I'm even more surprised of how little we've changed as people, however." Power changes people, he had once been told. Other than a slightly inflated ego the first few months after the election, he couldn't quite say he had seen Kyo change much. Himself? He wasn't sure. 

Taking a drag off his tea, the dragon set the cup on a table, crossing a leg over the other as he leaned back onto his seat, steepling his finger as he smiled at her. "It's been two years since we first walked into this office. Tell me, Ms. President... what do you think awaits us from here on now?"

Leave it to Kyo to notice such subtle changes. A small smile graced the dragon's lips as leaned back in his chair, giving the president a wry look. She wasn't wrong, he guessed. He hadn't meant that kind of change, but he guessed it counted. The greatest change in them was the fact that they had actually matured. A life of combat and violence hadn't managed that. Being shoved behind a desk forced to oversee decisions that would affect the life of over a million others however, had.

"My plans for the future?" He echoed. Oh, he didn't have any, he supposed. He hadn't thought much beyond this four years. A second election? Perhaps. Would they get re-elected? If the next two years went as well as this past year had, they would. Somehow though, he doubted they would manage it. Something in his gut told him that even with all the changes they had done to the infrastructure, their enemies still held enough power to bring them real trouble. Specially in their next campaign.

"For now, my only goal is make sure we accomplish everything we set out to do, during this period." Because who knew if they would get a second chance at all. After this was all over though? Who knew. Maybe he would go back to archaeology. Maybe he would just retire completely and disappear from the public scene. Or maybe he would get married. "I'll tell you at the end of our term." He promised, smiling teasingly. 

---

Things did not get easier. In fact, they got harder. It seemed like, realizing just how close the two of them were to fixing the problems of their home, their enemies had decided to gather their resources and just hit them with everything they had.

It served as a setback for a good few months. Then he and Kyo quite literally blasted their way through it entirely. With Yuu's help, it was almost too easy to find their detractors, what with the ridiculous amounts of money they were spending all at once. They weren't foolish enough to do it on a single account, but... they weren't smart enough to fool the leader of P.R.O.F.I.T.

They hadn't eliminated their opposition entirely, but a good chunk of it was blown away from this one mistake. Too scared to get caught, the rest of the opposition seemed to go silent entirely. Without a constant stream of detractors, they were able to pass by the congress with much greater ease than they had ever had during the entirety of their period. 

All good things however, must come to an end.

Ambitious was a way to call it. Overly confident would have been another. But then, there was room for confidence in so much success, he supposed. Where their two predecessors failed, they had so far succeeded soundly. In fact, it made him even wonder if the other presidents hadn't been trying to fuck up the digital world. The thought angered him more than he cared to admit. It also made him reluctant to not try for a second run. 

Going back to Whitewater after all of this almost sounded too easy. It was calm and peaceful there. His body almost begged him to rush this entire thing. What he wouldn't do for a night of sleep without the weight of the entire world crushing his shoulders. 

But would finally being out of the office truly free them? He couldn't help but feel that no matter what happened, he would always feel responsible. For every little mistake their successors made. For every big mistake. Heck, if they allowed their successors to actually be corrupt he wouldn't be able to sleep at all. Just knowing there was the possibility of someone undoing their hard, stressful work made him to punch something.

"Perhaps I'm speaking to hastily." He muttered after staring into his cup for a while. He wasn't too sure if his feelings would change by the end of their term. But at the moment, he wasn't too eager to give up control to just any fool. No, the position was simply too important. But they couldn't just choose their successors, unfortunately.

Scratching thoughtfully at his chin, he looked deep into his tea in thought. Perhaps they should begin grooming a possible candidate? Someone that fit their particular world views? Their particular style of government?

It sounded like an impossible task. Part of their success laid in their ability to casually fend off any (and there were many) attempts against their life from more conservative and/or radical opposition. There weren't many Super Mega level digimon like them around.

He would have to think deeply onto it later. Search around, make a list, gather the data. Then bring it up to Kyo to get her confirmation. The lucky thing about digimon was that they could be grown into adulthood fairly swiftly. He would have a possible pair of successors for their party ready in two years. Even if he had to train them from baby to Super Ultimate himself.

And of course. Kyo was already fishing for hints.

"Nope."

She wouldn't get any from him!

---

His job was done. Managing his duties as Vice-President while training and educating a pair of rookies proved to be as hard as he had imagined it would be. He had been spread thin, his stress reaching all new highs as he found himself sleeping less and less and his Ulforce overworked more and more. Apparently, even the Ulforce couldn't help mental fatigue, go figure.

But, he had managed. Two candidates, capable of protecting themselves as they brought along brand new ideas and approaches to the field. He hadn't teach them to follow his lead, or Kyo's. He had taught them the virtues which had helped them remain uncorrupted during the four grueling years.

Now, standing in the office that had served as both their fortress and their prison, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic. His fingers idly tapped at a simple box in his pocket, the dragon's core pulsing in his chest hard as the soon to be former President of the Digital World spoke.

"So we are." He responded, smiling as he turned towards her. Unreal? The feats were impressive, to say the least. That much he would admit. After all the hell the entire world had given them, however? He felt like it was the least Yggdrasil or whatever asshole created digital world could do for them.

He moved to stand in front of the President's desk, laying against it as Kyo spoke once more. He grinned, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. She didn't often compliment him so openly. It brought along a blush he thought that been left behind with his child form.

"Ah, nonsense." He spoke, pushing off the desk and walking towards her. "All of this was mostly your doing. All I did was a little pushing." He said as he rounded around her, before walking back towards the desk. He opened one of the cabinets, grinning as he pulled a... bottle of wine from it.

"Guess who prepared for this special occasion." He asked while grinning. Producing 2 cups from the same cabinet, he sauntered back towards her. The box on his pocket felt heavy.

"Don't suppose I could convince the President of the Digital world to have a drink with me?" He asked, smiling wide as he handed her one of the cups. He quite easily popped open the bottle, before serving them each. Very slowly, he raised the cup towards her, grinning as charmingly as he could manage. 

"To the best president the digital world will ever have." 

The dragon simply smirked.

"'Course. Didn't expect this to appease such a drunkard." he teased, making no move to get the second bottle. They would get to it eventually, no doubt. 

Tipping the cup towards his lip, he swallowed the strong flavor of the wine, shivering slightly. Drinking hadn't been as much of a pastime for him as it had been for Kyo before their election. 

They drank in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, Squire not quite feeling anything beyond a slight buzz; his healing factor didn't really let him enjoy drinking as much as he would have wanted during that night.

Of course, it wasn't meant to last. Kyo was not silent by nature. And of course she remembered what he had told her two years ago. Why wouldn't she? Had to make sure she caught him unprepared at all times.

"Oh." He uttered eloquently. "Yeah, that." He glanced down at his glass as he said this, gulping. Boy, he was not prepared for this. He didn't feel any of the confidence and courage he felt when entering a fight at that moment. Just nervousness he hadn't felt since years ago and the beating of his core.

No point in beating around the bush though. Tipping the glass towards his mouth, the dragon swallowed down the entire drink in one swoop, setting the cup onto a table before releasing a sound sigh, a shudder moving up his spine as goosebumps appeared over his skin.

"Well, I've had these two years to think deeply about it." He started, pacing around. His arm reached for the bottle of wine, emptying its contents on his glass before taking yet another drink of it. "You know, between the long hours of work and the stress from not punching enough people." He was hoping a little humor would make him less nervous.

It didn't.

"So... I've thought of going back to my old job." They both knew 'Archaeology' was just the professional term he used for 'risking my neck for largely non profitable thrills inside Ancient and often hazardous Ruins/Temples/Dungeons.'

"But while training our... possible successors, I came to the realization that... I'm not exactly getting younger." He said. "I hadn't realized it, but at some point, life passed by really fast, and now I'm rapidly approaching my 30s." Honestly, he had lived rather long for a digimon; their usual life expectancy didn't see them past a decade.

"So I wanted to get this all out of my chest, before life happens and I'm old and decrepit and regretting not having courage when it really mattered." He said as he reached into his pocket, slowly pulling out a small box. He stared at it thoughtfully, slowly moving it around in his grasp as if to examine every corner of it.

"This isn't really digimon thing. Out of all the things I ever learned of humans, this is the one tradition, the one thing about their culture I guess I've come to truly respect and covet."

"I don't know the specifics of this ritual." He said, turning to face Kyo fully, before stepping towards her and holding out the box in her direction. "But I'll try anyways."

"Kyo," he said, "Will you Marry me?"

Whoops. Bits, please.