Unforeseen [John|Valentine's]

Kyo certainly was not the only one who had a plethora of questions and concerns churning throughout their mind. John stood quietly in front of the mirror in the restroom adjacent to his bedroom, in which John's Agumon partner waited on the queen size bed. Dressed in a black button-up dress shirt with an unbuttoned collar, blue jeans, and a beige light leather jacket, the man felt ready for his date. He quickly checked his cellphone to get the time. "Okay, good. I'm not running late." He peered through the doorway to view the small dinosaur. "How do I look?"

Casimeir tilted his head to the side in order to properly study his human partner. Then, a smile spread across his lips. "You look like a million bits! A lot better than the last date, actually!" His smile faded somewhat, and his eyes grew concerned. "I hope you're not nervous, John. This is someone we've before, right? So it's not like you'll be surprised by their personality."

John hummed, checking the mirror again before he spritzed some cologne onto his neck. Girls liked cologne, right? "Yeah, but it's been a long time since I've seen her. There's a lot of catching up I need to do. Anyway. I have to head out." With a gentle smile, John approached Casimeir to stroke him on the head as an affectioante goodbye. "Hold down the fort while I'm gone, buddy."

Two minutes before the allocated meeting time, John was now on the outskirts of the park. He stopped at its entrance now that some not-so-pleasant memories reared their ugly heads. John's last blind date was at this park. And it didn't go entirely well for him. What was worse, he had to ditch his date for AEGIS business. John was caught in a moment of self-doubt. "No," he spat quietly, gritting his teeth in defiance. "This is going to be a wonderful date. I'm not going to let business end it prematurely. Boss said I had the day off, so I'm using it!"

Putting on a confident and warm smile now, John entered the park. The bad memories yielded to happy ones. This was the same park where he oficially began his new life in Japan. Where he met his first roommate...What ever happened to her, he thought? The park was also a favorite spot of his and Casimeir's to watch the sunset.

It wouldn't be too long before John spotted the holosuited Digimon. Furrowing a brow, John fished out his cellphone again to double-check the picture his date sent him before. His eyes shifted between the photo and the girl on the bench down the path. "Yup, that's her." His smile returned and he approached her, slipping his phone back where it belonged.

"Hey there, Kyo!" he chirped. "It's been a while, hasn't it? You look wonderful!"

Well, John didn't expect such a huge question to be brought out in the open so suddenly. But Kyo had every right to ask it, being a Digimon on a date with a human. But before he could quell her concerns, he wanted to offer thanks for her compliment. "I appreciate that, Kyo. I'm glad you like my outfit!"

The bright smile of his dimmed, but not by much. "I mean, of course I'm okay with it, Kyo. I wouldn't have agreed to a date if I didn't, right?" These words rang true to the core. "I like to believe that I'm an open-minded person. I mean, we're both sentient beings capable of higher thinking, aren't we?"

John took a pause, trying to properly express his thoughts on the matter. "My point is, I view Digimon as equals, if not more." The smile returned to its former glow. "There's an ice cream and coffee shop not far from here I've been dying to visit. How does that sound to you?"

John eagerly took the lead for the beginning of his date with the excited Kyo. With the date officially underway, Michael could already tell that this would be a much better event than his last blind date. For starters, the two's personalities appeared to mesh well, which was important to the tamer.

"Okay," John chimed while pointing a finger, "it's coming up soon." His face was beaming brightly. "I can tell that we're gonna have a great time." It wasn't much longer until John crossed the threshold for the ice cream and coffee shop. His entry was greeted by both the chime of the bell and that of the shop workers in a cheery attitude.

"Hi!" A girl greeted. "Welcome to Sweet Dreams! What will you be having today?"

There were many flavors and toppings to choose from. And everything looked to be so scrumptious. Though, John already had in mind what he wanted to have for his treat. "I'd like a banana split, please, with cookies and cream, cookie dough, and chocolate ice cream, please!"

The server responded with a happy grin. "Alright! I'll get those orders ready in no time! Please have a seat and we'll bring your ice cream to you when it's ready!"

John thanked the server girl before he made his way to a booth with comfortable-looking red cushions. "This is nice," John began once he was seated. "I'm enjoying the day so far. I'd like to learn more about you, Kyo. How long have you been friends with Yuu?"

John was sure to hang onto every word. He listened with his attention undivided while the disguised Digimon recounted the saga of her beginnings. Vivid images filled John's head with the aid of his imagination.

While the tale had a rather usual beginning akin to most partnered humans and Digimon, John's heart sank the moment that Kyo relayed a rather dark turn. Deletion. John had not known of many cases where Digimon were deleted from existence, to be reborn. John was reminded of the phoenix when he considered the concept as a whole; to die and be renewed.

"Oh," the human muttered, "I don't know what I'd do if Casimeir was deleted. But I'm very glad that you are still here, at least. It's incredible that Digimon me we die unless they have their data absorbed. And I couldn't begin to imagine how happy You was to find out that you were okay."

Wanting to move away from the somber subject, John considered expressing the beginning of his own journey. "I found Casimeir's egg in the forest. It was in a pond of all things," he said with a chuckle. John's eyes appeared to glaze over and a small smile crept to his lips. "We stayed in the human world for quite some time before we made our first visit to the Digital World. We were on a rescue mission to save Satoshi's partner, Gabumon. Gabumon's egg ended up hatching in the Digital World and the poor guy was prevented from visiting our world. But everything turned out okay in the end."

"That's right," John answered for both of Kyo's questions. "Satoshi is a very good friend of mine. We started out as just roommates, which led to our adventure into the Digital World. It wasn't long after that when we both became new members of AEGIS."

Kyo asked about what being an AEGIS member was like for John, to which he had a ready response. Smiling lightly, the human offered his thoughts. "Well, being in AEGIS is like you put it; we're like the police who are involved with human and Digimon relations. We act as ambassadors for both worlds in a way. What I mainly love about my job is that I get to help others and help make both worlds safer. I like to think that it's helped me and casimeir get close, but, we've always been best friends since the beginning."

Thinking back to some of his assignments brought up one mission in particular. The mysterious black tower which controlled other Digimon and prevented any sort of normal Digivolution. Would such a subject be appropriate for a date? He wasn't here to discuss business but to spend a lovely day with his date. And just that moment their individual ice cream treats arrived, the server granting the two a smile. "You both enjoy," she cheerfully chimed.

John couldn't wait to dig into his dish, each spoonful like a sugary dream. "Oh wow, this is amazing! I think this ice cream is better than the ones in the States!"

John's heart almost sank into a pool of minor sadness when Kyo expressed her opinion on whether helping others really mattered or not in the end. With a soft sigh, the human made sure to smile reassuringly for Kyo.

"It can seem that way sometimes," he admitted. "But honestly? If all of the kindness I had to offer didn't help anything change, then I couldn't care less. I know that even though helping people doesn't make a huge dent in the world, I can at least feel good that I made someone's day better. By me helping someone, it could inspire them to help others in their lives."

He glanced down to his almost-finished bowl of ice cream. The mixture of the treat was now almost a soupy cold substance. Half of a banana slice remained, now. John was nearly full, but he had just enough room to finish his food off.

His attention was brought back to Kyo when she asked about the United States. Now that was a question of the century, wasn't it? It was hard enough to compare Japan to his homeland, but John would certainly try to humor the disguised Digimon.

"Well," the human began, "it's hard to say for sure, being in Japan for only a few years compared to when I used to live in the States. I would say that the culture is unique. Japan seems to have one set overlying culture, where in the U.S., you had cultures from all over the world. Especially with food. You can practically ask for anything and you can find it in the States, especially in major cities. But here, you have to rely on chain restaurants."

Bringing an index finger to his lips, pondering, John tried to explain further. "The laws are certainly different, too. Not as much crime as you would find in America. So it's a nice thing to adapt to, I guess. There are Laws here that mirror those in America, so I'm happy about that."

He looked back down toward the table now. "Learning a new language, though? That's been the hardest thing so far. I have picked up bits and pieces here and there from Anime, but it's not that reliable of a source to learn a language properly. I've just considered myself lucky that the friends I've made, and my employers, all have the ability to speak English. I'd still like to keep learning, though. My luck's gonna run out eventually."

A gentle chuckle escaped John. "But if there was one thing that I had to choose as my reason for loving my new home?" He smiled warmly now that he was looking into Kyo's eyes. "It's the Digimon. Getting to explore the Digital World. Growing and learning with Casimeir in both of our worlds. I can't help but wonder if I had to move back to the United States, that I might end up losing my ability to enter the Digital World. Or worse...That I might have to say goodbye to Casimeir."

John snickered somewhat. He brought his left hand to his face. "The U.S. Government would have a field day if they discovered that Digimon existed," the human joked. "Yeah, I get that the whole Roswell Alien incident was a conspiracy. And everyone kids around about how Military scientists brought the wreckage back and studied the alien that was inside. But I can just see it now. Sending emissaries to the Digital World, inviting them to be an ally...Yeah, it's pretty silly to think about."