MPC 66A/66X (60B): Just A Day Ago
Sept 27, 2019 2:58:01 GMT
Post by Hideo Kino on Sept 27, 2019 2:58:01 GMT
MPC Name: Well, you asked for it/ Wild Card (From Your Point of View)
MPC Number: 66A, 66X (60B)
Reward Requested: Posts
Note: Splitting this up with spoiler tags because the word count (10657) would make it a massive text wall.
MPC Number: 66A, 66X (60B)
Reward Requested: Posts
Note: Splitting this up with spoiler tags because the word count (10657) would make it a massive text wall.
This wasn’t my bed.
That was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. My bed at home was smaller than this, and didn’t have as many sheets as this one. I can move my hands all over the bed without reaching an end, but I quickly reach a very familiar feeling – a hard, yet smooth and flexible leg that I’ve held in my hand so many times before. The last piece I need to know that I wasn’t home – she never stayed a rookie while sleeping in my bed, so my parents didn’t risk learning she wasn’t just a toy.
“Kuki?” I ask aloud, carefully shaking her leg to get her attention. No reaction – she mutters in her sleep a bit, but she’s out of it. I try it again, but this time, she pulls her leg out of my grasp. “C’mon Kuki, this is serious! I dunno where we are!”
When that doesn’t seem to be enough, I leave the comfort of those sheets to look for her body. It doesn’t take long— I just had to follow where her leg pulled towards. But just as I push against her body to wake her, she rolls the opposite way; I slide across her body and learn that she was sleeping pretty close to the end of the bed, because I can’t stop myself from falling off it.
I’m still groggy from just waking up, and react too slowly to grasp at anything to stop my fall. Out of pure reflex, my eyes open – not that it would help me, but it happens whenever I know I’m about to get hurt.
…
And in that brief moment, I experience something...weird. When I opened my eyes, there was a change. As my eyes move around, it changes. I reach out towards it, and I instinctively realize that what’s now moving in front of my eyes is my hands, and I feel it touch the soft carpeted ground.
I’m so mesmerized that I just realized I never hit the floor. Kuki caught me by the legs, and she pulls me up by them. I continue to look down, eyes wide as things just move in front of me. I’m not even paying attention as she starts railing on me for almost getting myself hurt, but I’m not paying attention to her. She probably noticed, as once I’m all the way up, she turns me towards her.
But I didn’t know that because of where her voice was coming from. I could tell because I knew she was right in front of me.
She’d gone silent, shifting me around for whatever reason. My eyes keep on her, despite her turning me around, until they hurt too much and I have to move them back. She does this again, turning me the other way, and I once again try to keep my eyes facing her until I can’t any more.
She stops me once again, right in front of her. “Hideo, I want you to do something.” She presses one of her legs against my right hand – as smooth as they always were. “I want you to touch the end of my leg without touching up to it.”
Unsure why, I nod, just reaching over to where I knew the tip was...and I realized that I wasn’t sure why I knew it was over there. I didn’t need to feel for the leg; she didn’t have it straight, so if I just followed the leg up without touching, I wouldn’t have touched the tip. But my hand carefully touches the tip on my first try.
She doesn’t respond, and for a moment, I think I did something wrong.
And then her legs wrap around me as her face pushes into mine. I didn’t expect her to hug me like this, though I was fairly used to it by now; it wasn't the first surprise hug she ever gave me.
What I really didn’t expect was that loud “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” noise she made, or that she started rolling around the bed with me still in her legs. I can’t do much to stop her – she’s a lot stronger than I am. At least she was doing this on something soft.
“HIDEO. HIDEO, YOU CAN SEE.”
Between the screaming, the hugging, and the rolling, it was hard for me to really process what she was saying. “What?” It was all I muster out.
She finally lets me go, though she’s still hopping up and down on the bed. “Hideo, you were looking at me when I was turning you around! And you could see where the end of my leg was! You can see! YOU CAN SEE!”
The reality hits me as I turn my head around, and what I’m “seeing” changes. I look around around as much as I can without actually moving until I rest my eyes back on Kuki. I reach out towards her face – what I know to be her face. I narrowly avoid touching her eyes – what I remember to be her eyes – as my hand moves to her cheek. My other hand reaches the other side as I gently squeeze her cheeks.
A warm feeling rushes through my body as a number of emotions swell up, each one competing to be the first to come from my mouth; awe that I’m able to see, joy that the first face I was seeing was Kuki’s, an interest to see even more. I’m not even questioning any of it anymore as I try to say something – but come up with a choked nothing.
“Hideo? Are you alright?”
These feelings just overwhelm me, and they end up expressing themselves the only other way they could find.
I can already feel the tears in my eyes drop down my face. I try to tell her I’m alright, but I still can’t speak. I smile the best I can, but it’s too hard to keep up. All I can do to try and calm myself was pull her into my own embrace and hold her as tightly as I can.
It was there that I finally got a word out.
“Kuki...” Maybe I was just trying to hide the fact I was crying from her, but my broken voice made it way too obvious. Speaking any further only gets a few sobs from me, so I stop. How could I be so happy, but not even be able to hold a smile?
She hugs me back, carefully patting me on the back. “There there, Hideo. It’s alright. Just let it all out. I’m here for you.”
I don’t really have anything to say to that. Outside of my family, she’s the only one I’m fine crying in front of.
So I do just as she said.
That was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. My bed at home was smaller than this, and didn’t have as many sheets as this one. I can move my hands all over the bed without reaching an end, but I quickly reach a very familiar feeling – a hard, yet smooth and flexible leg that I’ve held in my hand so many times before. The last piece I need to know that I wasn’t home – she never stayed a rookie while sleeping in my bed, so my parents didn’t risk learning she wasn’t just a toy.
“Kuki?” I ask aloud, carefully shaking her leg to get her attention. No reaction – she mutters in her sleep a bit, but she’s out of it. I try it again, but this time, she pulls her leg out of my grasp. “C’mon Kuki, this is serious! I dunno where we are!”
When that doesn’t seem to be enough, I leave the comfort of those sheets to look for her body. It doesn’t take long— I just had to follow where her leg pulled towards. But just as I push against her body to wake her, she rolls the opposite way; I slide across her body and learn that she was sleeping pretty close to the end of the bed, because I can’t stop myself from falling off it.
I’m still groggy from just waking up, and react too slowly to grasp at anything to stop my fall. Out of pure reflex, my eyes open – not that it would help me, but it happens whenever I know I’m about to get hurt.
…
And in that brief moment, I experience something...weird. When I opened my eyes, there was a change. As my eyes move around, it changes. I reach out towards it, and I instinctively realize that what’s now moving in front of my eyes is my hands, and I feel it touch the soft carpeted ground.
I’m so mesmerized that I just realized I never hit the floor. Kuki caught me by the legs, and she pulls me up by them. I continue to look down, eyes wide as things just move in front of me. I’m not even paying attention as she starts railing on me for almost getting myself hurt, but I’m not paying attention to her. She probably noticed, as once I’m all the way up, she turns me towards her.
But I didn’t know that because of where her voice was coming from. I could tell because I knew she was right in front of me.
She’d gone silent, shifting me around for whatever reason. My eyes keep on her, despite her turning me around, until they hurt too much and I have to move them back. She does this again, turning me the other way, and I once again try to keep my eyes facing her until I can’t any more.
She stops me once again, right in front of her. “Hideo, I want you to do something.” She presses one of her legs against my right hand – as smooth as they always were. “I want you to touch the end of my leg without touching up to it.”
Unsure why, I nod, just reaching over to where I knew the tip was...and I realized that I wasn’t sure why I knew it was over there. I didn’t need to feel for the leg; she didn’t have it straight, so if I just followed the leg up without touching, I wouldn’t have touched the tip. But my hand carefully touches the tip on my first try.
She doesn’t respond, and for a moment, I think I did something wrong.
And then her legs wrap around me as her face pushes into mine. I didn’t expect her to hug me like this, though I was fairly used to it by now; it wasn't the first surprise hug she ever gave me.
What I really didn’t expect was that loud “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” noise she made, or that she started rolling around the bed with me still in her legs. I can’t do much to stop her – she’s a lot stronger than I am. At least she was doing this on something soft.
“HIDEO. HIDEO, YOU CAN SEE.”
Between the screaming, the hugging, and the rolling, it was hard for me to really process what she was saying. “What?” It was all I muster out.
She finally lets me go, though she’s still hopping up and down on the bed. “Hideo, you were looking at me when I was turning you around! And you could see where the end of my leg was! You can see! YOU CAN SEE!”
The reality hits me as I turn my head around, and what I’m “seeing” changes. I look around around as much as I can without actually moving until I rest my eyes back on Kuki. I reach out towards her face – what I know to be her face. I narrowly avoid touching her eyes – what I remember to be her eyes – as my hand moves to her cheek. My other hand reaches the other side as I gently squeeze her cheeks.
A warm feeling rushes through my body as a number of emotions swell up, each one competing to be the first to come from my mouth; awe that I’m able to see, joy that the first face I was seeing was Kuki’s, an interest to see even more. I’m not even questioning any of it anymore as I try to say something – but come up with a choked nothing.
“Hideo? Are you alright?”
These feelings just overwhelm me, and they end up expressing themselves the only other way they could find.
I can already feel the tears in my eyes drop down my face. I try to tell her I’m alright, but I still can’t speak. I smile the best I can, but it’s too hard to keep up. All I can do to try and calm myself was pull her into my own embrace and hold her as tightly as I can.
It was there that I finally got a word out.
“Kuki...” Maybe I was just trying to hide the fact I was crying from her, but my broken voice made it way too obvious. Speaking any further only gets a few sobs from me, so I stop. How could I be so happy, but not even be able to hold a smile?
She hugs me back, carefully patting me on the back. “There there, Hideo. It’s alright. Just let it all out. I’m here for you.”
I don’t really have anything to say to that. Outside of my family, she’s the only one I’m fine crying in front of.
So I do just as she said.
I’m not sure how long it went on for, but however much time I took was enough for me to calm down. We finally end our embrace, and Kuki helps me wipe the tears (and snot) off my face as my vision clears once again. “I can’t believe it,” I say, finally able to get words out with becoming a mess. “I...why can I see now?”
“Dunno.” she exclaims, her front legs in a strange angle, “But does that matter? You can see! That’s amazing!”
Unable to think of a response beyond nodding, I opt to just look around the room. I can tell this bed is a lot bigger than the one I had at home – and it was larger than even the one my parents had. And I didn’t have any tables at the sides. It reminded me that I still didn’t know where I was. “Um...Kuki? Do you know where we are? I can’t remember ever coming here.”
“You don’t?” She sounded confused, but it seemed more with me than the situation. “We’re at a hotel in the Digital World. We rented this room for a few days to celebrate getting a job done. You don’t remember?”
“I...” No matter how hard I think, I can’t remember anything that happened yesterday. I did remember that we were going to do a job in the Digital World, and that I was super-excited the night before. But after sleeping at my bed at home (and making sure I had a good excuse for an extended leave in another world – that I was visiting a friend), I can’t remember anything. “No, I don’t. Just the night before we were gonna go.”
“Well that’s weird.” To be honest, I was expecting her to sound more concerned. She always overreacted if anything bad happened to me; memory loss should’ve made her go nuts. But she seems pretty chill with it. “Can’t say I know a lot about memory loss. Anyways, shouldn’t you worry about something more important?”
She poked me right on the belly, and as if my body was listening to her, my stomach growled. I was hungry; dealing with it was quickly becoming my new priority. “Yeah..I guess we can have breakfast first. You know where my stuff is so I can get ready?”
“Yeah, I’ll get it for you. Just go use the bathroom if you need to.”
She helpfully pointed it out to me, and I made my first steps off the bed. My steps were slow, clumsy, as if I was walking without my cane. But I’m starting to get the hang of sight – I still use my hands to make sure I don’t bump into anything, but I know where things are like I’ve already learned the entire room.
I find the bathroom, and after finding the toilet, get my business done. But as I wash my hands, I find myself face-to-face with someone. It moves when I do, moves its mouth when I move mine, but seems to be completely silent.
I realize that this is a mirror, and I’m looking at myself. I was told that these were in pretty much every bathroom, but they didn’t really matter much to someone like me. Until now.
I can’t resist taking the chance to look over myself, to learn what the expressions I only knew the feeling of looked like. Smiling, frowning, anger, sadness. It’s something I’d wanted to know for a while. And then I take a look at my eyes. My parents told me they’re green – now I finally know what that that color is like…
But there’s something I don’t get.
I leave the bathroom. Kuki seemed to have been waiting for me, and she wastes no time handing me a single item – I recognize the feeling as my digivice. “Where’s everything else?” I ask, scanning around the room for the rest of my belongings, “My bag and everything.”
“We can leave it here! We got the room for another night, so we can leave your stuff here! We only need to take the digivice with us anyways, for all your bits and if I need to evolve. And these rooms recognize us, so we don’t need a key or anything.”
I sigh as I put it in my pocket. It was a better idea to just go along with her, but there’s one more thing I need before we leave. “Kuki? I gotta question for you.”
She looks over to me. “Yeah? Shoot.”
“Why are you green?”
Her body was the same color as my eyes – and I knew my eyes were green. But she told me her body was pink...so why was she the same color as my eyes?
She looks pretty shocked by my question. “Oh...uh...am I really green?” she asks, a bit of nervousness leaking from her voice. She taps her way into the bathroom, climbs up to the mirror...and gasps.
But I’d heard her gasp before, when I got hurt. Those gasps were longer, more drawn-in. This one was short and shallow. She wasn’t as surprised as I’d expected. “Gosh...uh...” She made the same motion with her legs as she did before – which I now knew was a shrug. ”I’m still like this? This happened yesterday. I got turned green. I hope it doesn’t last long.”
Exiting the bathroom, she pushes me along towards the door. “Well then, come on! We gotta get breakfast!” The door opens as we get close enough, and I can’t really stop her from pushing me along with her. When we’re outside the room, she stops pushing me, instead inserting one of her legs into my hand, but still lead me along. The same way she always lead me around the Digital World. I don’t really resist, since my stomach is really starting to get mad at me.
She leads me to another room – a fairly small shiny room, with a number of buttons on the side. I see her reach over to press one of them...and just barely misses it. She grunts, sliding her hand onto the button until it lights up. Didn’t seem like her to miss something like that...but I didn’t comment on it. Maybe she was just so giddy that she messed up.
On the way down, looking at our reflections in the shiny metal walls, I took notice to something else odd – I already knew that she had eight eyes, one pair much larger than the other three. The three smaller pairs of eyes were the same color – very similar to her body – but the biggest pair was a different color. Strikingly different, though I wasn’t sure what that color was.
Maybe also part of the curse?
Who knew. My rumbling stomach moved my thoughts to that of food.
“Dunno.” she exclaims, her front legs in a strange angle, “But does that matter? You can see! That’s amazing!”
Unable to think of a response beyond nodding, I opt to just look around the room. I can tell this bed is a lot bigger than the one I had at home – and it was larger than even the one my parents had. And I didn’t have any tables at the sides. It reminded me that I still didn’t know where I was. “Um...Kuki? Do you know where we are? I can’t remember ever coming here.”
“You don’t?” She sounded confused, but it seemed more with me than the situation. “We’re at a hotel in the Digital World. We rented this room for a few days to celebrate getting a job done. You don’t remember?”
“I...” No matter how hard I think, I can’t remember anything that happened yesterday. I did remember that we were going to do a job in the Digital World, and that I was super-excited the night before. But after sleeping at my bed at home (and making sure I had a good excuse for an extended leave in another world – that I was visiting a friend), I can’t remember anything. “No, I don’t. Just the night before we were gonna go.”
“Well that’s weird.” To be honest, I was expecting her to sound more concerned. She always overreacted if anything bad happened to me; memory loss should’ve made her go nuts. But she seems pretty chill with it. “Can’t say I know a lot about memory loss. Anyways, shouldn’t you worry about something more important?”
She poked me right on the belly, and as if my body was listening to her, my stomach growled. I was hungry; dealing with it was quickly becoming my new priority. “Yeah..I guess we can have breakfast first. You know where my stuff is so I can get ready?”
“Yeah, I’ll get it for you. Just go use the bathroom if you need to.”
She helpfully pointed it out to me, and I made my first steps off the bed. My steps were slow, clumsy, as if I was walking without my cane. But I’m starting to get the hang of sight – I still use my hands to make sure I don’t bump into anything, but I know where things are like I’ve already learned the entire room.
I find the bathroom, and after finding the toilet, get my business done. But as I wash my hands, I find myself face-to-face with someone. It moves when I do, moves its mouth when I move mine, but seems to be completely silent.
I realize that this is a mirror, and I’m looking at myself. I was told that these were in pretty much every bathroom, but they didn’t really matter much to someone like me. Until now.
I can’t resist taking the chance to look over myself, to learn what the expressions I only knew the feeling of looked like. Smiling, frowning, anger, sadness. It’s something I’d wanted to know for a while. And then I take a look at my eyes. My parents told me they’re green – now I finally know what that that color is like…
But there’s something I don’t get.
I leave the bathroom. Kuki seemed to have been waiting for me, and she wastes no time handing me a single item – I recognize the feeling as my digivice. “Where’s everything else?” I ask, scanning around the room for the rest of my belongings, “My bag and everything.”
“We can leave it here! We got the room for another night, so we can leave your stuff here! We only need to take the digivice with us anyways, for all your bits and if I need to evolve. And these rooms recognize us, so we don’t need a key or anything.”
I sigh as I put it in my pocket. It was a better idea to just go along with her, but there’s one more thing I need before we leave. “Kuki? I gotta question for you.”
She looks over to me. “Yeah? Shoot.”
“Why are you green?”
Her body was the same color as my eyes – and I knew my eyes were green. But she told me her body was pink...so why was she the same color as my eyes?
She looks pretty shocked by my question. “Oh...uh...am I really green?” she asks, a bit of nervousness leaking from her voice. She taps her way into the bathroom, climbs up to the mirror...and gasps.
But I’d heard her gasp before, when I got hurt. Those gasps were longer, more drawn-in. This one was short and shallow. She wasn’t as surprised as I’d expected. “Gosh...uh...” She made the same motion with her legs as she did before – which I now knew was a shrug. ”I’m still like this? This happened yesterday. I got turned green. I hope it doesn’t last long.”
Exiting the bathroom, she pushes me along towards the door. “Well then, come on! We gotta get breakfast!” The door opens as we get close enough, and I can’t really stop her from pushing me along with her. When we’re outside the room, she stops pushing me, instead inserting one of her legs into my hand, but still lead me along. The same way she always lead me around the Digital World. I don’t really resist, since my stomach is really starting to get mad at me.
She leads me to another room – a fairly small shiny room, with a number of buttons on the side. I see her reach over to press one of them...and just barely misses it. She grunts, sliding her hand onto the button until it lights up. Didn’t seem like her to miss something like that...but I didn’t comment on it. Maybe she was just so giddy that she messed up.
On the way down, looking at our reflections in the shiny metal walls, I took notice to something else odd – I already knew that she had eight eyes, one pair much larger than the other three. The three smaller pairs of eyes were the same color – very similar to her body – but the biggest pair was a different color. Strikingly different, though I wasn’t sure what that color was.
Maybe also part of the curse?
Who knew. My rumbling stomach moved my thoughts to that of food.
Being able to see my food didn’t exactly make it taste any better, but it made it much easier to see where all of it was. I made sure I didn’t spill a single drop of my drink, and my plate was completely clean by the time I was done.
Kuki...seemed to be less graceful about her eating. She couldn’t hold any utensils, so she had to go face-first into all her food. But I thought she was careful enough not to spill her drink, or to not almost knock her plate off the table. And I never imagined her to slip off her chair while eating (thankfully, she said it didn’t hurt her). I didn’t really believe it when she told me she was just trying to make me laugh – which it did – so I pretended she really did do all of that intentionally.
Afterwards, she insisted that we take a look around the Digital Core, a suggestion I really didn’t have any opposition to. I could already tell that this place was huge because of how no single street felt the same to walk across, but finally being able to see it reinforced just how massive this one city was. And if this city was so huge, what was my home city like? It must have been even larger than this!
And I loved being able to see what so many different digimon looked like! Tall and short, thick or thin, humanish or monsterish, every one of them looked so unique that I couldn’t help but wonder what else they could turn into! I even saw a few other humans (at least, I think they were human – some digimon seemed really human-like), all taller and probably older than me.
I remember someone commenting I was the youngest tamer he met. I guess that was true.
But Kuki didn’t just want me to gawk at pedestrians all day; she had plans, and she wanted to do a lot! She took me to go see a movie about an Andromon from the future protecting his tamer in the past from a BigMamemon sent to kill him – which was kinda funny despite how serious the movie tried to be, but being able to watch it in action gave me a good idea of what digimon fighting really looked like. And it made me glad that Kuki did her best to keep me away from all of it.
After that, she brought me to a museum of “digimon art”, with each piece accompanied with a small description...which didn’t help because while I could see the letters, I didn’t know how to read them. And they lacked any braille too, so I had to rely on Kuki to read them for me. Looking at the pictures was nice though: some had really pretty colors on them. Others were more than just drawings – some were sculptures, and some were strange displays that me and Kuki didn’t really understand. I wasn’t allowed to touch most art, so seeing is was the only way I could’ve known how pretty all of it was!
But despite my distraction, it was obvious that Kuki didn’t look too good. She was being a lot clumsier than usual, bumping into things occasionally or tripping over stuff even I wouldn’t have. And it took her a bit longer to read the stuff than the other people and digimon needed. I asked her if she was alright, but she just told me she was tired from yesterday. I didn’t push it any further, but I knew it had to be more than that; me being tired didn’t make me clumsy, it just made me want to do less stuff.
But I said nothing. She wanted me to have a really good time, so I pretended I wasn’t noticing her missteps. And I was having fun doing everything, but there was something wrong with her.
Kuki...seemed to be less graceful about her eating. She couldn’t hold any utensils, so she had to go face-first into all her food. But I thought she was careful enough not to spill her drink, or to not almost knock her plate off the table. And I never imagined her to slip off her chair while eating (thankfully, she said it didn’t hurt her). I didn’t really believe it when she told me she was just trying to make me laugh – which it did – so I pretended she really did do all of that intentionally.
Afterwards, she insisted that we take a look around the Digital Core, a suggestion I really didn’t have any opposition to. I could already tell that this place was huge because of how no single street felt the same to walk across, but finally being able to see it reinforced just how massive this one city was. And if this city was so huge, what was my home city like? It must have been even larger than this!
And I loved being able to see what so many different digimon looked like! Tall and short, thick or thin, humanish or monsterish, every one of them looked so unique that I couldn’t help but wonder what else they could turn into! I even saw a few other humans (at least, I think they were human – some digimon seemed really human-like), all taller and probably older than me.
I remember someone commenting I was the youngest tamer he met. I guess that was true.
But Kuki didn’t just want me to gawk at pedestrians all day; she had plans, and she wanted to do a lot! She took me to go see a movie about an Andromon from the future protecting his tamer in the past from a BigMamemon sent to kill him – which was kinda funny despite how serious the movie tried to be, but being able to watch it in action gave me a good idea of what digimon fighting really looked like. And it made me glad that Kuki did her best to keep me away from all of it.
After that, she brought me to a museum of “digimon art”, with each piece accompanied with a small description...which didn’t help because while I could see the letters, I didn’t know how to read them. And they lacked any braille too, so I had to rely on Kuki to read them for me. Looking at the pictures was nice though: some had really pretty colors on them. Others were more than just drawings – some were sculptures, and some were strange displays that me and Kuki didn’t really understand. I wasn’t allowed to touch most art, so seeing is was the only way I could’ve known how pretty all of it was!
But despite my distraction, it was obvious that Kuki didn’t look too good. She was being a lot clumsier than usual, bumping into things occasionally or tripping over stuff even I wouldn’t have. And it took her a bit longer to read the stuff than the other people and digimon needed. I asked her if she was alright, but she just told me she was tired from yesterday. I didn’t push it any further, but I knew it had to be more than that; me being tired didn’t make me clumsy, it just made me want to do less stuff.
But I said nothing. She wanted me to have a really good time, so I pretended I wasn’t noticing her missteps. And I was having fun doing everything, but there was something wrong with her.
Our day out ended with watching the sun set and the moon rise. Both were breathtaking views, but they only lasted for so long, and we knew it was best to head back to our room. For dinner, we’d decided just to order some room service and watch TV for the rest of the night together. Maybe a little boring to some people, but being able to actually watch a TV for once was something I wanted to try out; until now, it wasn’t much different than a radio to me.
But finally being able to just sit down and relax with Kuki, without her taking me to see so many things, I was finally starting to think about the questions I had earlier: why was I able to see? Why didn’t I remember anything that happened yesterday? Why did Kuki’s big eyes look different from the others? Why was she acting so weird?
I want to enjoy this time, but now with those thoughts bugging me, I just can’t. I need to know why today’s been so weird.
I take a look around the room. It didn’t seem to change since this morning – even the sheets weren’t made. Kuki was right by my side, watching the TV with me as she lied with her legs splayed out on the bed – save for her two front legs, which propped her head up; she was matching me perfectly, or as well as she could with a spider-shaped body and four extra limbs.
I remember that she’d gotten my digivice from somewhere in here, which probably meant my bag was around here too. But I couldn’t see it anywhere – even if I didn’t know what it would look like exactly, there wasn’t anything bag-like in view. If it was in here, it must have been hidden somewhere. There could be a few spots it could fit in – I could rule out the bathroom, and there were a few closets and cabinets that were big enough. It wasn’t close to the bathroom since I didn’t hear her while I was in there, so that ruled out a few more areas.
I’m fairly certain Kuki knows where it is, since she was able to find my digivice so easily before. So I could just do this the easy way.
“Hey Kuki?” I ask, drawing her attention from the TV, “You know where my stuff is?”
“Oh, your stuff?” Her answer was quick, curt. I don’t think she was expecting it. “Is there something you need?”
“Yeah. I was wondering what my books looked like.” It was one of the few forms of entertainment I could bring to the Digital World, since electronics didn’t work. And I could read them anywhere, since braille didn’t need light to read.
“They look like any other books. Just with bumps instead of letters. They don’t even have pictures in them, so you don’t need to look at them.”
I wasn’t sure why she was trying to dissuade me from looking at them. She’d never done it before. Wasn’t like looking at a book that I’d read before was going to be dangerous.
I think she noticed me raise my eyebrow. “C’mon, let’s watch some more TV! Our food’ll be here soon.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I turned back to watch it, but I couldn’t shake off how suspicious she was acting. Not just with that, but during the entire day. The cogs in my mind turn as I think of my next move, and in just a few minutes, I hatch a plan.
I take one more look around the room. “Hey Kuki? Can I see my D-Terminal?” I always left it in my bag, since while it was apparently a pretty important thing to keep around, I never really used it. Kuki used it more than I did.
“That thing? I don’t think that’s gonna do much if you can’t read.” She wasn’t wrong, but there she was again, trying to stop me.
“I know, but I wanna know what it looks like.” A good enough excuse as any, and she seems pretty uneasy about it. She’s even silent for a moment, and I think she was trying to find a reason refuse me. So I give her a chance; “I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick. Think you can get that for me while I’m there.”
She sighed, but nodded and waved me off. “Yeah, sure. Just go do your business and I’ll have it ready.”
I nod, making my way to the bathroom. I didn’t look back, but it didn’t sound like she’d moved at all. If what I thought was going on was going on, she must’ve been watching me, waiting for me to be out of sight before getting what I asked for.
I close the door, letting her think I was still unaware. I didn’t actually have to use the bathroom, so I just waited for a minute or two before flushing the toilet and washing my hands. I take one more look into the mirror, and wonder why Kuki was the same color as my eyes, except for her largest eyes. How didn’t she notice until she looked into the mirror? Her entire body was green. I could see my hands fine without needing a mirror, so why did she need one to know what her color was?
All done, I exit the bathroom. And sure enough, right by Kuki was a little gray brick-shaped toy with a screen and a few buttons on it. “Got it for ya!” she exclaimed, tapping on it as if I hadn’t already seen it. I smile as I glance over the room, walking towards the bed slowly. I looked for anything that looked different, any cabinets or drawers or closets that were more or less open than before on the side of the room closer to the door out – opposite of the bathroom. But everything seemed the same as I remembered – maybe she did and it was too subtle, but I didn’t know where to start…and if I just started randomly searching areas, she’d notice.
Retaking my seat next to her, I pick up the D-terminal, fiddling with it uselessly. She was right about me not really getting anything out of it, but I had to make it look like it had my attention. Now I had to think about how to distract her long enough. Maybe I could wait for the food to get here before checking around, but would that distract her long enough to go through more than a single spot?
With a stroke of luck, a new opportunity arose. “Imma be right back, Hideo,” she said to move, hopping off the bed, “My turn to use the toilet. If our food gets here, you can answer the door.” I nodded, this time watching her as she walked to the bathroom – taking note that she somehow missed the doorknob and had to slide her hand onto it – until she closed the door behind her.
I didn’t have long, so I had to work fast. My mind raced as I couldn’t decide where to look first. I had an entire half of the room to search, with only a few minutes at most. And if I wasn’t careful, she’d know which ones I’d look through, which would get her suspicious. If I didn’t look now, I’d lose out on my chance, but the precious time I had was slipping away as I was unsure how to spend it.
Looking down, I noticed the sheets on the bed were a further down than before. Maybe Kuki had just been a bit clumsy when she was getting off or on the bed, but I realized that I hadn’t considered the bottom of the bed to be a hiding spot. I’d never hid anything under my own bed before – that was a good way for it to get vacuumed up – and this one seemed lower than my bed at home. But taking a peek under the covers, there was enough space for me to move my hands through.
With no better idea, I reach into the darkness – and my hand finds a very familiar texture. My bag was underneath the bed – so this was where she hid it!
I couldn’t just take it out though, so I opt to pat around the inside to see what I had. I could feel the books and my folded-up cane inside there, things that I always brought when I came here, but I felt something new. It was metallic and shaped like a teapot, but the end where the water came out was really long. The part where water was supposed to be stored was smaller by comparison, though wider.
It shakes a little as I move my hand against it, as if it were reacting to me, but the sound of a flushing toilet stops me from thinking too much about it. I pull the object out and hastily close my bag. It was a shiny yellow color, but I don’t really have time to look closely; I need to hide it as fast as possible.
So I put it under the closest spot: underneath a pillow on the bed. Admittedly a dumb spot – all she had to do was so much as put her head on the pillow to know something was under there. I was already back in my spot as I watched her exit the bathroom and walk over towards me – with her leaving the door open. She didn’t seem to notice anything off, and climbed onto the bed right next to me.
Out of habit, I place my hand on her head, scratching between the ear closest to me – which is easy when I can see where it is. She giggles as always, though now I can finally see the satisfied smile on her face. I find myself smiling too, but I feel uneasy. She had to have gotten my D-terminal and digivice from my bag down there. She knew it was down there, and wasn’t telling me. She had to know about the teapot.
“Hey Kuki?” I ask yet again, “Did we get anything weird yesterday?”
“Whaddya mean, Hideo?”
“I mean, did we find anything special that could’ve caused all the weird stuff today? Me being able to see, you turning green? Was there anything strange in my bag, maybe something we found yesterday?”
“No, not really.”
Such a casual line felt like it stabbed me right in the heart. She was lying to me; there’s no way she wouldn’t know about the teapot. It wasn’t that small – it was larger than my D-terminal. It was impossible for her to miss it.
Now I really needed to know what was up with it. But there was only one chance I could think of, and I just had to wait for it…
Gosh, this room service was slow. It felt like hours since we called for it.
knock knock knock
I wasn’t really keep track of time, but that didn’t matter; that had to be the room service. “Kuki, you mind getting that?”
“Yeah, yeah.” As she hopped off the bed, I moved over to the pillow the teapot was under, and sure enough, it was still there. I look over to see Kuki at the door, already open. She was greeted by a funny-looking digimon; shaped like a person, but small and with a hat that looked like a hamburger bun I'd eaten for lunch. I could smell the food almost immediately, and I was famished, but I couldn’t let temptation stop me.
I grab the lamp, and slowly make my way over to the bathroom. It’s the only place where I could get real privacy, and just as importantly, it had a lock. I manage to reach the door – which wasn’t completely closed, and use a single hand to open it enough for me to get through.
I hadn’t realized that my body wasn’t blocking the teapot. And while Kuki wasn’t looking at the moment, that Burger-hat digimon was. “Hey, don’t Djinnmons usually live in those?”
My heart sank the moment he said that. Kuki turned around, and her mouth was wide open. “HIDEO, PUT THAT DOWN!” she shouted as she broke into a sprint.
My legs finally decided to move as I dashed right into the room, slamming the door with my free hand. As I heard her rapid footsteps get closer, I slammed in the lock. I could see the knob of the door shake as Kuki tried to open the door, but it hardly budged. It was working; despite how strong she was, the lock held.
My heart is racing as she keeps trying to get in. I can hear her yelling through the door; “HIDEO! THAT THING IS DANGEROUS! GIVE IT BACK!” So she did know what it was!...but if it was so dangerous, why was she keeping it around? I take a few steps back, and just now found out I was sweating. This was the first time I ever did something like this to her...and the first time she lied to me.
But finally being able to just sit down and relax with Kuki, without her taking me to see so many things, I was finally starting to think about the questions I had earlier: why was I able to see? Why didn’t I remember anything that happened yesterday? Why did Kuki’s big eyes look different from the others? Why was she acting so weird?
I want to enjoy this time, but now with those thoughts bugging me, I just can’t. I need to know why today’s been so weird.
I take a look around the room. It didn’t seem to change since this morning – even the sheets weren’t made. Kuki was right by my side, watching the TV with me as she lied with her legs splayed out on the bed – save for her two front legs, which propped her head up; she was matching me perfectly, or as well as she could with a spider-shaped body and four extra limbs.
I remember that she’d gotten my digivice from somewhere in here, which probably meant my bag was around here too. But I couldn’t see it anywhere – even if I didn’t know what it would look like exactly, there wasn’t anything bag-like in view. If it was in here, it must have been hidden somewhere. There could be a few spots it could fit in – I could rule out the bathroom, and there were a few closets and cabinets that were big enough. It wasn’t close to the bathroom since I didn’t hear her while I was in there, so that ruled out a few more areas.
I’m fairly certain Kuki knows where it is, since she was able to find my digivice so easily before. So I could just do this the easy way.
“Hey Kuki?” I ask, drawing her attention from the TV, “You know where my stuff is?”
“Oh, your stuff?” Her answer was quick, curt. I don’t think she was expecting it. “Is there something you need?”
“Yeah. I was wondering what my books looked like.” It was one of the few forms of entertainment I could bring to the Digital World, since electronics didn’t work. And I could read them anywhere, since braille didn’t need light to read.
“They look like any other books. Just with bumps instead of letters. They don’t even have pictures in them, so you don’t need to look at them.”
I wasn’t sure why she was trying to dissuade me from looking at them. She’d never done it before. Wasn’t like looking at a book that I’d read before was going to be dangerous.
I think she noticed me raise my eyebrow. “C’mon, let’s watch some more TV! Our food’ll be here soon.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I turned back to watch it, but I couldn’t shake off how suspicious she was acting. Not just with that, but during the entire day. The cogs in my mind turn as I think of my next move, and in just a few minutes, I hatch a plan.
I take one more look around the room. “Hey Kuki? Can I see my D-Terminal?” I always left it in my bag, since while it was apparently a pretty important thing to keep around, I never really used it. Kuki used it more than I did.
“That thing? I don’t think that’s gonna do much if you can’t read.” She wasn’t wrong, but there she was again, trying to stop me.
“I know, but I wanna know what it looks like.” A good enough excuse as any, and she seems pretty uneasy about it. She’s even silent for a moment, and I think she was trying to find a reason refuse me. So I give her a chance; “I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick. Think you can get that for me while I’m there.”
She sighed, but nodded and waved me off. “Yeah, sure. Just go do your business and I’ll have it ready.”
I nod, making my way to the bathroom. I didn’t look back, but it didn’t sound like she’d moved at all. If what I thought was going on was going on, she must’ve been watching me, waiting for me to be out of sight before getting what I asked for.
I close the door, letting her think I was still unaware. I didn’t actually have to use the bathroom, so I just waited for a minute or two before flushing the toilet and washing my hands. I take one more look into the mirror, and wonder why Kuki was the same color as my eyes, except for her largest eyes. How didn’t she notice until she looked into the mirror? Her entire body was green. I could see my hands fine without needing a mirror, so why did she need one to know what her color was?
All done, I exit the bathroom. And sure enough, right by Kuki was a little gray brick-shaped toy with a screen and a few buttons on it. “Got it for ya!” she exclaimed, tapping on it as if I hadn’t already seen it. I smile as I glance over the room, walking towards the bed slowly. I looked for anything that looked different, any cabinets or drawers or closets that were more or less open than before on the side of the room closer to the door out – opposite of the bathroom. But everything seemed the same as I remembered – maybe she did and it was too subtle, but I didn’t know where to start…and if I just started randomly searching areas, she’d notice.
Retaking my seat next to her, I pick up the D-terminal, fiddling with it uselessly. She was right about me not really getting anything out of it, but I had to make it look like it had my attention. Now I had to think about how to distract her long enough. Maybe I could wait for the food to get here before checking around, but would that distract her long enough to go through more than a single spot?
With a stroke of luck, a new opportunity arose. “Imma be right back, Hideo,” she said to move, hopping off the bed, “My turn to use the toilet. If our food gets here, you can answer the door.” I nodded, this time watching her as she walked to the bathroom – taking note that she somehow missed the doorknob and had to slide her hand onto it – until she closed the door behind her.
I didn’t have long, so I had to work fast. My mind raced as I couldn’t decide where to look first. I had an entire half of the room to search, with only a few minutes at most. And if I wasn’t careful, she’d know which ones I’d look through, which would get her suspicious. If I didn’t look now, I’d lose out on my chance, but the precious time I had was slipping away as I was unsure how to spend it.
Looking down, I noticed the sheets on the bed were a further down than before. Maybe Kuki had just been a bit clumsy when she was getting off or on the bed, but I realized that I hadn’t considered the bottom of the bed to be a hiding spot. I’d never hid anything under my own bed before – that was a good way for it to get vacuumed up – and this one seemed lower than my bed at home. But taking a peek under the covers, there was enough space for me to move my hands through.
With no better idea, I reach into the darkness – and my hand finds a very familiar texture. My bag was underneath the bed – so this was where she hid it!
I couldn’t just take it out though, so I opt to pat around the inside to see what I had. I could feel the books and my folded-up cane inside there, things that I always brought when I came here, but I felt something new. It was metallic and shaped like a teapot, but the end where the water came out was really long. The part where water was supposed to be stored was smaller by comparison, though wider.
It shakes a little as I move my hand against it, as if it were reacting to me, but the sound of a flushing toilet stops me from thinking too much about it. I pull the object out and hastily close my bag. It was a shiny yellow color, but I don’t really have time to look closely; I need to hide it as fast as possible.
So I put it under the closest spot: underneath a pillow on the bed. Admittedly a dumb spot – all she had to do was so much as put her head on the pillow to know something was under there. I was already back in my spot as I watched her exit the bathroom and walk over towards me – with her leaving the door open. She didn’t seem to notice anything off, and climbed onto the bed right next to me.
Out of habit, I place my hand on her head, scratching between the ear closest to me – which is easy when I can see where it is. She giggles as always, though now I can finally see the satisfied smile on her face. I find myself smiling too, but I feel uneasy. She had to have gotten my D-terminal and digivice from my bag down there. She knew it was down there, and wasn’t telling me. She had to know about the teapot.
“Hey Kuki?” I ask yet again, “Did we get anything weird yesterday?”
“Whaddya mean, Hideo?”
“I mean, did we find anything special that could’ve caused all the weird stuff today? Me being able to see, you turning green? Was there anything strange in my bag, maybe something we found yesterday?”
“No, not really.”
Such a casual line felt like it stabbed me right in the heart. She was lying to me; there’s no way she wouldn’t know about the teapot. It wasn’t that small – it was larger than my D-terminal. It was impossible for her to miss it.
Now I really needed to know what was up with it. But there was only one chance I could think of, and I just had to wait for it…
Gosh, this room service was slow. It felt like hours since we called for it.
knock knock knock
I wasn’t really keep track of time, but that didn’t matter; that had to be the room service. “Kuki, you mind getting that?”
“Yeah, yeah.” As she hopped off the bed, I moved over to the pillow the teapot was under, and sure enough, it was still there. I look over to see Kuki at the door, already open. She was greeted by a funny-looking digimon; shaped like a person, but small and with a hat that looked like a hamburger bun I'd eaten for lunch. I could smell the food almost immediately, and I was famished, but I couldn’t let temptation stop me.
I grab the lamp, and slowly make my way over to the bathroom. It’s the only place where I could get real privacy, and just as importantly, it had a lock. I manage to reach the door – which wasn’t completely closed, and use a single hand to open it enough for me to get through.
I hadn’t realized that my body wasn’t blocking the teapot. And while Kuki wasn’t looking at the moment, that Burger-hat digimon was. “Hey, don’t Djinnmons usually live in those?”
My heart sank the moment he said that. Kuki turned around, and her mouth was wide open. “HIDEO, PUT THAT DOWN!” she shouted as she broke into a sprint.
My legs finally decided to move as I dashed right into the room, slamming the door with my free hand. As I heard her rapid footsteps get closer, I slammed in the lock. I could see the knob of the door shake as Kuki tried to open the door, but it hardly budged. It was working; despite how strong she was, the lock held.
My heart is racing as she keeps trying to get in. I can hear her yelling through the door; “HIDEO! THAT THING IS DANGEROUS! GIVE IT BACK!” So she did know what it was!...but if it was so dangerous, why was she keeping it around? I take a few steps back, and just now found out I was sweating. This was the first time I ever did something like this to her...and the first time she lied to me.
I walk back enough that her yelling is hard to hear, and I set the golden teapot down. I remembered it shaking a bit while I was touching it, so I do that again, brushing my fingers across its surface. The teapot shakes, so I keep rubbing it, this time with my entire hand. All the while, Kuki had stopped trying to work the knob and started banging on the door; I doubt it’ll do much though, since these doors were probably made for bigger and stronger digimon to handle.
This seems to do the trick, as the teapot flies out of my hands, landing right on its bottom. Some gray smoke comes out of it, with some blue smoke following after it. While the gray smoke just fills the room, the green smoke sticks together, changing into various shapes until…
“Ahhh, I wondered how long it would be.” I heard a woman’s voice come from the blue smoke, a voice I didn’t remember, and yet was familiar. “Have you decided on your final wish?”
I...didn’t know what she was talking about. “What do you mean a third wish?” I asked, which was immediately received by a small laugh.
“Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know anything, would you? Allow me to explain once again;” The blue smoke packed itself together, and in just a few seconds, went into a human-like shape (well, the top half of a human – the bottom half was just a trail of blue smoke leading into the lamp), with a generous amount of shiny yellow jewelry over her body. “I am a Djinnmon of Trades. By finding my lamp, I’m obligated to grant three wishes. But know that every wish comes with a cost. Your companion has already spent two wishes, so you’ve one left before I’m free.”
It’s a lot to take in. It does remind me of the stories I heard of a genie in a bottle that’d grant you three wishes, but this wasn’t the same; if what she said was true, then Kuki already spent the first two wishes on stuff I don’t even remember, and each had a cost?
“Ah, I can already tell what you want to ask: ‘Djinnmon? What were Kuki’s two wishes?’” She did a pretty accurate impression of my voice, even though I didn’t say anything. And she knew what I called my partner? “Well, normally that would cost you. Consider this a freebie, but just because I think you look so cute with pink eyes.”
I stare at her, incredulous. “Wait, what do you mean pink? They’re green.”
She let out a high-pitched laugh, covering her mouth as if it’d make it any less painful for my ears. “Oh you poor child! You don’t even know what colors are which! Did she lie to you about that too?”
I look away from her for a moment, looking into the mirror. My eyes were still the same as before; green, just like Kuki said they were. I can also hear her still trying to make her way through the door. It sounds louder, but she didn’t seem to be making any more progress. There’s one more smack, this one even louder, and then it stops.
I really hope she didn’t do what I think she just did.
“You found my lamp during your little treasure hunting adventure yesterday. You split the treasure with the person who hired you, as well as everyone else in your group, so my Lamp went to you. But on your way back, you were caught in a rather unpleasant trap you’d missed. A poison entered your veins, and it was rather unfortunate that its effects were slow and tortuous. You were begging for help that nobody could give.” A chill ran through my body at the thought of such an experience. “You most certainly would have suffered until your death, had your partner not summoned me.”
“Her request was simple: save your life and stop your suffering. It was well within my power, but I required a payment: you would give me your memories of being poisoned, as well as all memory of that day once you went to sleep. A fairly generous price, and one you were completely willing to consent to. As if you had any other choice.” She gave me a wry smile with that last one, which just made me upset. “I’d expect you to look more thankful to the one who saved your life.”
That explained why I didn’t remember anything from yesterday. And from the sounds of it, I wouldn’t want to. But if that was the only reason why, Kuki would’ve told me. “Ok. Thank you for saving my life...but what was the second wish?”
She merely smiled, not even looking at me, instead over me. “For this part, I believe it would be best to let your friend in. I’d be shocked if that last blow actually knocked her unconscious.”
Right. That last hit was probably her putting all her strength into knocking the door down. With her head.
I walked over to the door, finally undoing the lock. I expected Kuki to have thrown the door open, yet I was the one who opened it. There she was, lying on the ground flatly. Her forehead looked a bit blue-er than before; she really did headbutt the door, didn’t she?
“Hideooooo? Why-why didn’t you listen to me?” She was doing her best not to sob, which didn’t stop her from sniffling. Was she crying because she hurt herself, or because I did this to her? Guilt found me either way, and I kneel down help lift her up. Gently, I lead her to the bathroom, where the Djinnmon patiently waited for us.
“Now then, her second wish. I believe you noticed that her larger eyes are a different color than the rest, no?”
I take one more look at Kuki’s face - who'd wiggled out of my grasp. She tries to avoid it and turn her face away from, but green and pink are very easy to differentiate – and now I know that it was the two eyes that were green, not her entire body. She’d lied to me about her body changing color so I wouldn’t realize my eyes weren’t green. A pretty easy trick when I didn’t know what colors were.
I nod to give a confirmation. “Her second wish was that you could see. And in exchange, I would take away the sight in her two best eyes.”
…
…
…
What?!
I look over at Kuki. She’s trying not to look at me, but I can see her shaking. “Kuki, is that why you’ve been so clumsy today? Because you can’t see?”
“N-no.” She even sounded unsteady, as if she was trying not to break down again. “I can see...kinda. I got eight eyes, so if I only lose sight in two of them, I can still see a lot...even if it’s my best eyes that I can’t see through.”
“But you can’t even touch a button right! Or open a door!”
She shrunk away when I shouted, and it was only then that I realized I was shouting. Did I scare her with what I said, or just by my volume? “I...I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to shout like that! But how did you get me to go along with it?! I’d never agree to a wish like that.” Something that would hurt her wasn’t worth it
She was silent, only looking over at the Djinnmon, who floated closer to me. She was almost right up to my face, and had the weirdest smile. I didn’t like it; it had a smug aura to it, like she was mocking us. “Well little spider? Will you tell him? Or will I?”
Kuki finally looked at me, but only for a moment. She looked downright miserable, and I think she was about to cry again. A few seconds passed before she gave an answer. Her voice was low, almost to a whisper, but I heard it well:
“I didn’t.”
Part of me had already reached that answer before this, but I’d hoped that I was wrong. There was no denying it now: she’d gone behind my back with this wish, and given me something I wasn’t asking for at a cost I couldn’t accept. Choking my anger down is a bit hard, but I manage. “So that’s why you were lying to me all day? About not knowing why I could see? About not knowing why I forgot about yesterday? And that you were acting like nothing was wrong?”
It’d be dishonest if I didn’t admit that I was guilty of the latter, but that wasn’t important.
For once, she was talking back to me – rather quickly, clearly desperate. “Well...it’s not that bad! You can see now! And I only lost a bit of my sight! And you’ve been having so much fun being able to see, and it’s-”
“I DIDN’T ASK FOR IT!” This time, I knew I was shouting at her. I just couldn’t let her continue – and she stopped right there, mouth wide open. It was the first time I ever yelled at her like that, but she just didn’t get it. “I don’t need it Kuki, especially if you lose your sight to do it.”
I don’t think she knew how to react to me yelling. She takes a few steps back as her mouth wavers, drops of water appear in all eight of her eyes. I must have scared her real bad with that one, and I really wanted to say I was sorry, but no more words came from my mouth. I didn’t have anything else to say to her.
I turn back towards the Djinnmon, having backed off, but still carrying her smug smile. I wished she could just read my mind so I didn’t have to say it. “Djinnmon, I wish-”
What I didn’t notice was that Kuki hadn’t just stepped back – she was preparing herself. She knew what I was going to wish for too, and she didn’t want me to say it; she’d jumped right on me, grabbing hold of me with every leg. One leg had some web on it, which I only knew about when she’d covered my mouth with it. I couldn’t say anything or even breathe (though she had the decency to leave my nose uncovered, so I wasn’t going to suffocate). I try to struggle out of he hold, but she’s still a lot stronger than me.
Why she did that was obvious, and she didn’t hesitate to stop me. “Djinnmon! I wish that he forgot-”
The Djinnmon, for the first time since I saw her, frowned. She snapped her fingers, and I could feel Kuki’s grip on my loosen until she just fell off of me with an unceremonious thud. “Know your place, pet. He summoned me forth, so it’s his wish. Not yours.”
I tear off the webbing on my mouth, but I also look back to make sure was ok. She was on her back, motionless for a moment, but that didn’t last long; she was quick to upright herself, look straight back at me...and reared her legs up again.
She was going to do it again, though I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop her even this time.
Right as she jumped, there was another snap behind me – and Kuki flew the opposite direction. The open door did nothing to stop her from flying right out. She doesn’t even have the chance to get back up when I hear a third snap and the door is closed shut and locked.
It sounds like Kuki fiddles with the doorknob a bit more, and stops when she’s unsuccessful. There’s an odd silence for a moment before I just hear something I’d never heard from her before; she start wailing, unable to hold back her anguish, everything she’d tried to hide uncovered and unable to stop me now. I hear her footsteps move away from the bathroom, until I can’t even hear her crying anymore.
The small moment of silence with just me (and the Djinnmon, though I’m not facing her so she might as well not even be there) really lets me take in what just happened; we’d had our first argument because she was lying to me, and it ended with me shouting at her before she’d gotten thrown out of the room. I can feel a pain in my chest as so many emotions are just conflicting with each other. It wasn’t like any argument I’d had with my siblings before, and I’m not sure what to do now.
Warm tears are already dripping from my eyes, and my nose is already stuffed up. I don’t even want to hold back my emotions any more, and I just stand there, sobbing onto my sweater sleeve. This day had gone from great but strange, to just awful. Ideas race through my mind about how I could’ve handled it without it ending so poorly, but the reality is just that this happened. No re-imaginings will change it.
I’m not given a lot of time to think it over though. Maybe just a few minutes pass before the guest I’d been ignoring spoke up. “Now then. Have you decided on your final wish, Hideo?”
I glance back at her, using my not-covered-in-snot-and-tears sleeve to give my face one more clear, though the mirror passing by my vision showed my face was a lot redder than before, and a little puffy. I was so sure of my wish just a little ago, but now, my confidence is gone. I didn’t need to keep my sight, but Kuki seemed so dead-set on me not wishing it away.
“Can I talk to Kuki first?” I ask.
She just shrugs. “Sure. Go ahead. She can’t take your wish unless you tell me to go back in here anyways. If she tries that again, I'll send her out the window.”
This seems to do the trick, as the teapot flies out of my hands, landing right on its bottom. Some gray smoke comes out of it, with some blue smoke following after it. While the gray smoke just fills the room, the green smoke sticks together, changing into various shapes until…
“Ahhh, I wondered how long it would be.” I heard a woman’s voice come from the blue smoke, a voice I didn’t remember, and yet was familiar. “Have you decided on your final wish?”
I...didn’t know what she was talking about. “What do you mean a third wish?” I asked, which was immediately received by a small laugh.
“Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know anything, would you? Allow me to explain once again;” The blue smoke packed itself together, and in just a few seconds, went into a human-like shape (well, the top half of a human – the bottom half was just a trail of blue smoke leading into the lamp), with a generous amount of shiny yellow jewelry over her body. “I am a Djinnmon of Trades. By finding my lamp, I’m obligated to grant three wishes. But know that every wish comes with a cost. Your companion has already spent two wishes, so you’ve one left before I’m free.”
It’s a lot to take in. It does remind me of the stories I heard of a genie in a bottle that’d grant you three wishes, but this wasn’t the same; if what she said was true, then Kuki already spent the first two wishes on stuff I don’t even remember, and each had a cost?
“Ah, I can already tell what you want to ask: ‘Djinnmon? What were Kuki’s two wishes?’” She did a pretty accurate impression of my voice, even though I didn’t say anything. And she knew what I called my partner? “Well, normally that would cost you. Consider this a freebie, but just because I think you look so cute with pink eyes.”
I stare at her, incredulous. “Wait, what do you mean pink? They’re green.”
She let out a high-pitched laugh, covering her mouth as if it’d make it any less painful for my ears. “Oh you poor child! You don’t even know what colors are which! Did she lie to you about that too?”
I look away from her for a moment, looking into the mirror. My eyes were still the same as before; green, just like Kuki said they were. I can also hear her still trying to make her way through the door. It sounds louder, but she didn’t seem to be making any more progress. There’s one more smack, this one even louder, and then it stops.
I really hope she didn’t do what I think she just did.
“You found my lamp during your little treasure hunting adventure yesterday. You split the treasure with the person who hired you, as well as everyone else in your group, so my Lamp went to you. But on your way back, you were caught in a rather unpleasant trap you’d missed. A poison entered your veins, and it was rather unfortunate that its effects were slow and tortuous. You were begging for help that nobody could give.” A chill ran through my body at the thought of such an experience. “You most certainly would have suffered until your death, had your partner not summoned me.”
“Her request was simple: save your life and stop your suffering. It was well within my power, but I required a payment: you would give me your memories of being poisoned, as well as all memory of that day once you went to sleep. A fairly generous price, and one you were completely willing to consent to. As if you had any other choice.” She gave me a wry smile with that last one, which just made me upset. “I’d expect you to look more thankful to the one who saved your life.”
That explained why I didn’t remember anything from yesterday. And from the sounds of it, I wouldn’t want to. But if that was the only reason why, Kuki would’ve told me. “Ok. Thank you for saving my life...but what was the second wish?”
She merely smiled, not even looking at me, instead over me. “For this part, I believe it would be best to let your friend in. I’d be shocked if that last blow actually knocked her unconscious.”
Right. That last hit was probably her putting all her strength into knocking the door down. With her head.
I walked over to the door, finally undoing the lock. I expected Kuki to have thrown the door open, yet I was the one who opened it. There she was, lying on the ground flatly. Her forehead looked a bit blue-er than before; she really did headbutt the door, didn’t she?
“Hideooooo? Why-why didn’t you listen to me?” She was doing her best not to sob, which didn’t stop her from sniffling. Was she crying because she hurt herself, or because I did this to her? Guilt found me either way, and I kneel down help lift her up. Gently, I lead her to the bathroom, where the Djinnmon patiently waited for us.
“Now then, her second wish. I believe you noticed that her larger eyes are a different color than the rest, no?”
I take one more look at Kuki’s face - who'd wiggled out of my grasp. She tries to avoid it and turn her face away from, but green and pink are very easy to differentiate – and now I know that it was the two eyes that were green, not her entire body. She’d lied to me about her body changing color so I wouldn’t realize my eyes weren’t green. A pretty easy trick when I didn’t know what colors were.
I nod to give a confirmation. “Her second wish was that you could see. And in exchange, I would take away the sight in her two best eyes.”
…
…
…
What?!
I look over at Kuki. She’s trying not to look at me, but I can see her shaking. “Kuki, is that why you’ve been so clumsy today? Because you can’t see?”
“N-no.” She even sounded unsteady, as if she was trying not to break down again. “I can see...kinda. I got eight eyes, so if I only lose sight in two of them, I can still see a lot...even if it’s my best eyes that I can’t see through.”
“But you can’t even touch a button right! Or open a door!”
She shrunk away when I shouted, and it was only then that I realized I was shouting. Did I scare her with what I said, or just by my volume? “I...I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to shout like that! But how did you get me to go along with it?! I’d never agree to a wish like that.” Something that would hurt her wasn’t worth it
She was silent, only looking over at the Djinnmon, who floated closer to me. She was almost right up to my face, and had the weirdest smile. I didn’t like it; it had a smug aura to it, like she was mocking us. “Well little spider? Will you tell him? Or will I?”
Kuki finally looked at me, but only for a moment. She looked downright miserable, and I think she was about to cry again. A few seconds passed before she gave an answer. Her voice was low, almost to a whisper, but I heard it well:
“I didn’t.”
Part of me had already reached that answer before this, but I’d hoped that I was wrong. There was no denying it now: she’d gone behind my back with this wish, and given me something I wasn’t asking for at a cost I couldn’t accept. Choking my anger down is a bit hard, but I manage. “So that’s why you were lying to me all day? About not knowing why I could see? About not knowing why I forgot about yesterday? And that you were acting like nothing was wrong?”
It’d be dishonest if I didn’t admit that I was guilty of the latter, but that wasn’t important.
For once, she was talking back to me – rather quickly, clearly desperate. “Well...it’s not that bad! You can see now! And I only lost a bit of my sight! And you’ve been having so much fun being able to see, and it’s-”
“I DIDN’T ASK FOR IT!” This time, I knew I was shouting at her. I just couldn’t let her continue – and she stopped right there, mouth wide open. It was the first time I ever yelled at her like that, but she just didn’t get it. “I don’t need it Kuki, especially if you lose your sight to do it.”
I don’t think she knew how to react to me yelling. She takes a few steps back as her mouth wavers, drops of water appear in all eight of her eyes. I must have scared her real bad with that one, and I really wanted to say I was sorry, but no more words came from my mouth. I didn’t have anything else to say to her.
I turn back towards the Djinnmon, having backed off, but still carrying her smug smile. I wished she could just read my mind so I didn’t have to say it. “Djinnmon, I wish-”
What I didn’t notice was that Kuki hadn’t just stepped back – she was preparing herself. She knew what I was going to wish for too, and she didn’t want me to say it; she’d jumped right on me, grabbing hold of me with every leg. One leg had some web on it, which I only knew about when she’d covered my mouth with it. I couldn’t say anything or even breathe (though she had the decency to leave my nose uncovered, so I wasn’t going to suffocate). I try to struggle out of he hold, but she’s still a lot stronger than me.
Why she did that was obvious, and she didn’t hesitate to stop me. “Djinnmon! I wish that he forgot-”
The Djinnmon, for the first time since I saw her, frowned. She snapped her fingers, and I could feel Kuki’s grip on my loosen until she just fell off of me with an unceremonious thud. “Know your place, pet. He summoned me forth, so it’s his wish. Not yours.”
I tear off the webbing on my mouth, but I also look back to make sure was ok. She was on her back, motionless for a moment, but that didn’t last long; she was quick to upright herself, look straight back at me...and reared her legs up again.
She was going to do it again, though I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop her even this time.
Right as she jumped, there was another snap behind me – and Kuki flew the opposite direction. The open door did nothing to stop her from flying right out. She doesn’t even have the chance to get back up when I hear a third snap and the door is closed shut and locked.
It sounds like Kuki fiddles with the doorknob a bit more, and stops when she’s unsuccessful. There’s an odd silence for a moment before I just hear something I’d never heard from her before; she start wailing, unable to hold back her anguish, everything she’d tried to hide uncovered and unable to stop me now. I hear her footsteps move away from the bathroom, until I can’t even hear her crying anymore.
The small moment of silence with just me (and the Djinnmon, though I’m not facing her so she might as well not even be there) really lets me take in what just happened; we’d had our first argument because she was lying to me, and it ended with me shouting at her before she’d gotten thrown out of the room. I can feel a pain in my chest as so many emotions are just conflicting with each other. It wasn’t like any argument I’d had with my siblings before, and I’m not sure what to do now.
Warm tears are already dripping from my eyes, and my nose is already stuffed up. I don’t even want to hold back my emotions any more, and I just stand there, sobbing onto my sweater sleeve. This day had gone from great but strange, to just awful. Ideas race through my mind about how I could’ve handled it without it ending so poorly, but the reality is just that this happened. No re-imaginings will change it.
I’m not given a lot of time to think it over though. Maybe just a few minutes pass before the guest I’d been ignoring spoke up. “Now then. Have you decided on your final wish, Hideo?”
I glance back at her, using my not-covered-in-snot-and-tears sleeve to give my face one more clear, though the mirror passing by my vision showed my face was a lot redder than before, and a little puffy. I was so sure of my wish just a little ago, but now, my confidence is gone. I didn’t need to keep my sight, but Kuki seemed so dead-set on me not wishing it away.
“Can I talk to Kuki first?” I ask.
She just shrugs. “Sure. Go ahead. She can’t take your wish unless you tell me to go back in here anyways. If she tries that again, I'll send her out the window.”
I take a quick moment to compose myself before I exit the bathroom. I can’t see her, but I can hear some “huuu-huu-huuuuuu”-ing coming from the other side of the room. Walking to the other side, it gets clearer, and I can tell that she’s hiding in one of the cabinets...which had to be way too small for her to fit into comfortably.
As a rookie, anyways.
Narrowing down the one she’s in is fairly easy, though I think she heard me, as the crying stopped. Still, it doesn’t take long to find her.
And just like I suspected, she was a lot smaller now, and her body has changed; instead of a variety of pinks covering her body, she’s just a monotone pink color. Her legs are chubbier, and don’t look like they could poke right through me if I wasn’t careful. And her face is...mostly the same, actually, except the six still-pink eyes on her face are just little dots. She still has her big green eyes up front, which I think might actually be her only real eyes.
I reach forward, and she doesn’t seem to react beyond whimpering until I actually touch one of her legs; her whimper turns into a suppressed squeak as she retreats to the other site of the cabinet, until her butt hits the side. Even though she was facing me, she didn’t react until I touched her…she was as blind as I was before today.
“Kuki...” My voice is as quiet and as comforting as I can muster, but she seems afraid of me, unable to stop a few more tears from dripping out of her eyes. I reach towards her with two hands – one hand touches another one of her legs, but when she tries to get away, lands right in my other hand. Before she could move any further, I got a tight hold of her and lift her out. She struggles for a bit, trying to push her out, but now, she’s a lot weaker. Her soft body and limbs make it clear that she devolved into her in-training form...had it really been that rough on her?
“Kuki, please...I wanna talk. I didn’t make the wish yet.”
“Why!?” she shouts, but quickly lowers her voice. “I already know you’re gonna undo my wish, so just get it over with.“
“Because I wanna know why you did it. Why did you make that wish without telling me?”
“Because…*hic*...I’ve seen what you go through not being able to see. All your stumbles, all the times you need me to tell you what’s happening, all the times you got hurt...and yesterday...*sniff*”
It wasn’t something I liked thinking about. I never wanted to feel like a burden to anyone, let alone her, but there was definitely a lot I relied on others to do for me. And not just because I didn’t know how to do them. There was always a small sense of guilt when I worried other people, but I couldn’t avoid it no matter how I tried.
She’d paused for a moment. I suspected that she was afraid I was going to interrupt her, but I only stroke her back.
“...I thought you’d be better off able to see things. But when I talked to you about it yesterday, you said you were fine being blind. And you just wouldn’t understand when I tried to convince you to let me make the wish...so I thought that you just didn’t know what you were missing. So...so I made the wish anyways. If you got to see everything, you’d...you’d...”
After that, she broke down in tears. If her plan was to convince me I needed to see, then it was no wonder she was taking this so hard; her plan completely backfired.
I hold her close to my body, and she clings to me as if I was going to try and run from her.
“Kuki...I get it. You thought you could change my mind if I was finally able to see. But I’m not any different now. Being able to see is cool and all, but I’m used to not having it. Just being able to see and hear and touch everything is enough for me. Being able to see isn’t much different than if I had six more legs!” She whimpers a little; I pet her on the head as comfort. “Despite everything that’s happened, I’m still me. And I don’t need to see to be me. I don’t want you to hurt or change yourself to change that.”
“But...even if it means you’ll be dependent on me?”
“Kuki, I’m only nine years old! I still need my parents for a lot of stuff! And besides, we’re partners! We help each other out! I don’t mind asking your for help, but you also gotta listen to me. Got it?”
She buries her face into my chest, which isn’t nearly enough to block out her voice. Not that I think she was trying to hide what she was saying. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Hideo...I’m sorry...”
I just hold her like this, letting her cry it out. I think I got through to her, so no harm in letting her get it out of her system. And for the first time since I found that lamp, I feel kinda happy.
Once she finally got that out of her system, I place her down in the middle of the bed, letting her know when I got off so she could finally return to her rookie form. The digivolution process was pretty flashy...so flashy that I can’t really see what’s going on underneath that light. By the time it goes away, she’s back to her normal spider size, the large green eyes still present. At least she could see a bit, though I didn’t expect her to be glaring across the room.
“So now that you’ve dealt with that, you wanna make your final wish? I do want to be from the lamp sometime today.”
I turn around to see that the Djinnmon was lying on a couch. I could see her lamp settled at the end of her seat...and I could only imagine that she’d somehow carried her own lamp all the way over there. A weird way to move.
Regardless, I nod. “Djinnmon...I wish that you undo Kuki’s second wish. I want her to have her sight back.”
“How completely expected.” She seemed to be looking over at Kuki, probably expecting her to act up again. “Any objections? There's a perfectly good window to get thrown through.”
“No. Just get it over with.” She sounded pretty tired, though I couldn’t blame her.
“Well then...if you will undo the effects this day had on you, then I will take your memories of this day as well. Will that suffice?”
That offer ran a chill through my spine. I was going to forget everything again?
Kuki places one of her legs on my hand, stopping me right there. “It’s fine Hideo...really. As long as one of us remembers, it’ll be ok. I won’t force you to see again.” She sounded pretty confident with her declaration, but her face just looked displeased.
“...actually, can I change that a little?” This seemed to catch both their attention, with both their eyes on me. “Can that not happen until tomorrow? Just so we get the rest of today to enjoy it?”
“Bold of you to change the deal like that...but I’ll allow it. You will keep her sight until midnight – and at that time, you will remember naught of what occurred this day. Better?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s good.”
And with a snap of her fingers, glitter covered me and Kuki...and that was it. I didn’t feel any different, I could still remember today, and I could still see. My partner merely sighed, resigned to just let this happen.
The Djinnmon, however, looked ecstatic. More blue smoke poured out of the lamp, filling in the lower half of her body. She now just looked a lot like a human; just taller, covered in jewelry, and floating off the ground.
Before I could get a real good look at her, one of Kuki’s legs blocked my vision. “I know you’re a digimon, but there’s a kid here. A human kid.”
“Says the naked spider. Anyways, know where I can get one of these rooms myself? This is a pretty comfy place.”
“Just get out of here and go downstairs.”
“No need to be rude...mind if I have some of your food before I go?”
“Just get out.”
“Not even a nib-”
“GET OOOOOOOOUT!”
As a rookie, anyways.
Narrowing down the one she’s in is fairly easy, though I think she heard me, as the crying stopped. Still, it doesn’t take long to find her.
And just like I suspected, she was a lot smaller now, and her body has changed; instead of a variety of pinks covering her body, she’s just a monotone pink color. Her legs are chubbier, and don’t look like they could poke right through me if I wasn’t careful. And her face is...mostly the same, actually, except the six still-pink eyes on her face are just little dots. She still has her big green eyes up front, which I think might actually be her only real eyes.
I reach forward, and she doesn’t seem to react beyond whimpering until I actually touch one of her legs; her whimper turns into a suppressed squeak as she retreats to the other site of the cabinet, until her butt hits the side. Even though she was facing me, she didn’t react until I touched her…she was as blind as I was before today.
“Kuki...” My voice is as quiet and as comforting as I can muster, but she seems afraid of me, unable to stop a few more tears from dripping out of her eyes. I reach towards her with two hands – one hand touches another one of her legs, but when she tries to get away, lands right in my other hand. Before she could move any further, I got a tight hold of her and lift her out. She struggles for a bit, trying to push her out, but now, she’s a lot weaker. Her soft body and limbs make it clear that she devolved into her in-training form...had it really been that rough on her?
“Kuki, please...I wanna talk. I didn’t make the wish yet.”
“Why!?” she shouts, but quickly lowers her voice. “I already know you’re gonna undo my wish, so just get it over with.“
“Because I wanna know why you did it. Why did you make that wish without telling me?”
“Because…*hic*...I’ve seen what you go through not being able to see. All your stumbles, all the times you need me to tell you what’s happening, all the times you got hurt...and yesterday...*sniff*”
It wasn’t something I liked thinking about. I never wanted to feel like a burden to anyone, let alone her, but there was definitely a lot I relied on others to do for me. And not just because I didn’t know how to do them. There was always a small sense of guilt when I worried other people, but I couldn’t avoid it no matter how I tried.
She’d paused for a moment. I suspected that she was afraid I was going to interrupt her, but I only stroke her back.
“...I thought you’d be better off able to see things. But when I talked to you about it yesterday, you said you were fine being blind. And you just wouldn’t understand when I tried to convince you to let me make the wish...so I thought that you just didn’t know what you were missing. So...so I made the wish anyways. If you got to see everything, you’d...you’d...”
After that, she broke down in tears. If her plan was to convince me I needed to see, then it was no wonder she was taking this so hard; her plan completely backfired.
I hold her close to my body, and she clings to me as if I was going to try and run from her.
“Kuki...I get it. You thought you could change my mind if I was finally able to see. But I’m not any different now. Being able to see is cool and all, but I’m used to not having it. Just being able to see and hear and touch everything is enough for me. Being able to see isn’t much different than if I had six more legs!” She whimpers a little; I pet her on the head as comfort. “Despite everything that’s happened, I’m still me. And I don’t need to see to be me. I don’t want you to hurt or change yourself to change that.”
“But...even if it means you’ll be dependent on me?”
“Kuki, I’m only nine years old! I still need my parents for a lot of stuff! And besides, we’re partners! We help each other out! I don’t mind asking your for help, but you also gotta listen to me. Got it?”
She buries her face into my chest, which isn’t nearly enough to block out her voice. Not that I think she was trying to hide what she was saying. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Hideo...I’m sorry...”
I just hold her like this, letting her cry it out. I think I got through to her, so no harm in letting her get it out of her system. And for the first time since I found that lamp, I feel kinda happy.
Once she finally got that out of her system, I place her down in the middle of the bed, letting her know when I got off so she could finally return to her rookie form. The digivolution process was pretty flashy...so flashy that I can’t really see what’s going on underneath that light. By the time it goes away, she’s back to her normal spider size, the large green eyes still present. At least she could see a bit, though I didn’t expect her to be glaring across the room.
“So now that you’ve dealt with that, you wanna make your final wish? I do want to be from the lamp sometime today.”
I turn around to see that the Djinnmon was lying on a couch. I could see her lamp settled at the end of her seat...and I could only imagine that she’d somehow carried her own lamp all the way over there. A weird way to move.
Regardless, I nod. “Djinnmon...I wish that you undo Kuki’s second wish. I want her to have her sight back.”
“How completely expected.” She seemed to be looking over at Kuki, probably expecting her to act up again. “Any objections? There's a perfectly good window to get thrown through.”
“No. Just get it over with.” She sounded pretty tired, though I couldn’t blame her.
“Well then...if you will undo the effects this day had on you, then I will take your memories of this day as well. Will that suffice?”
That offer ran a chill through my spine. I was going to forget everything again?
Kuki places one of her legs on my hand, stopping me right there. “It’s fine Hideo...really. As long as one of us remembers, it’ll be ok. I won’t force you to see again.” She sounded pretty confident with her declaration, but her face just looked displeased.
“...actually, can I change that a little?” This seemed to catch both their attention, with both their eyes on me. “Can that not happen until tomorrow? Just so we get the rest of today to enjoy it?”
“Bold of you to change the deal like that...but I’ll allow it. You will keep her sight until midnight – and at that time, you will remember naught of what occurred this day. Better?”
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s good.”
And with a snap of her fingers, glitter covered me and Kuki...and that was it. I didn’t feel any different, I could still remember today, and I could still see. My partner merely sighed, resigned to just let this happen.
The Djinnmon, however, looked ecstatic. More blue smoke poured out of the lamp, filling in the lower half of her body. She now just looked a lot like a human; just taller, covered in jewelry, and floating off the ground.
Before I could get a real good look at her, one of Kuki’s legs blocked my vision. “I know you’re a digimon, but there’s a kid here. A human kid.”
“Says the naked spider. Anyways, know where I can get one of these rooms myself? This is a pretty comfy place.”
“Just get out of here and go downstairs.”
“No need to be rude...mind if I have some of your food before I go?”
“Just get out.”
“Not even a nib-”
“GET OOOOOOOOUT!”
The rest of the night wasn’t that eventful. We ate our dinner (which had gotten cold by now), watched a bit of tv, and got ready for bed. I didn’t really want to say anything; I was kinda hoping she would, but she didn’t. Maybe she was expecting the same from me?
It just left a bad taste in my mouth – one that not even my dessert could get rid of.
We were both just lying there on our sides of the bed. Not really that different from where we woke up. I wanted to say something to her, but I just wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like we were going to say goodbye; I just wouldn’t remember today. She’d remember it just fine.
I glance to the side, and notice that she was looking right at me. I try to think of something, but I still draw a blank.
“Hideo? Are you sure you’re fine with forgetting everything?” She was the first to speak, and she sounded pretty resigned to everything. “You only got to see for a day...wasn’t there anything else you wanted to see?”
That was actually something on my mind for a bit, when we were just walking around and taking in the sights. “Well, I guess I could’ve gone to see what Shibuya is like. I heard it’s a really bright place, and it always sounded busy when I was walking outside; especially at night! And I wanted to see my house, and my parents, and my brother and sisters...but I’m not sure if I could explain why I can see now to mom and dad. Or why I have pink eyes.”
I sighed. There really was a lot more that I wanted to see. The warm plains that I’d spent so many days just relaxing on, the waves of the salty sea I could taste before I could hear, the softness of everything inside the village of beginnings. And there were so many digimon I wanted to see: I knew the ones I saw today were only a fraction of what existed in this world, and they all seemed so cool!
“But it’s fine. I don’t need to see to enjoy everything. That’s how my life’s always been, and I don’t need to change that.” I reached out, gently stroking her cheek. A feeling I’d felt many times, but never tired of.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re right. I guess I don’t really want things to change either.” It made a lot of sense; even though she was having trouble seeing, even though I could see, she still was leading me around everywhere, telling me what was written down, and just trying to make sure I had a good time. It wasn’t any different from every other day in the Digital World for us. “You at least had a lot of fun today, right?”
I grinned. “Of course I did!” It made her smile too; to her, that must have made this day worth it all.
As a laid there, an idea popped in my head. “Kuki? There’s one more thing I wanna do tonight.”
She didn’t respond immediately, instead glancing over me at the clock on the table at my side. “You only got a few minutes left before midnight, Hideo. Waddya want?” I probably would have known that if I could read a clock.
“Before I go to sleep, before I forget everything again...is it all right if I make sure the last thing I see is your face?”
She didn’t say anything; she just turned over, and turned me over before I could do it myself. We were face-to-face, and she was smiling.
I took in every detail I could; the way six of her eyes were like pretty little dots, while the main pair was larger than all of the combined. How her teeth were like they were built into her lips, yet she could still make the same expressions as me or anyone else with ease. The way her ears were long, and darker on the very tips. How her cheeks were a little darker than the rest of her face, as if she were blushing all the time. How round her head really was, how it looked (and felt) so soft despite the rest of her body feeling so tough.
She had a cute face.
I closed my eyes one last time, every single detail running in my head as many times as I could to try and burn it into my thoughts. But my thoughts went silent as I drifted into slumber.
It just left a bad taste in my mouth – one that not even my dessert could get rid of.
We were both just lying there on our sides of the bed. Not really that different from where we woke up. I wanted to say something to her, but I just wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like we were going to say goodbye; I just wouldn’t remember today. She’d remember it just fine.
I glance to the side, and notice that she was looking right at me. I try to think of something, but I still draw a blank.
“Hideo? Are you sure you’re fine with forgetting everything?” She was the first to speak, and she sounded pretty resigned to everything. “You only got to see for a day...wasn’t there anything else you wanted to see?”
That was actually something on my mind for a bit, when we were just walking around and taking in the sights. “Well, I guess I could’ve gone to see what Shibuya is like. I heard it’s a really bright place, and it always sounded busy when I was walking outside; especially at night! And I wanted to see my house, and my parents, and my brother and sisters...but I’m not sure if I could explain why I can see now to mom and dad. Or why I have pink eyes.”
I sighed. There really was a lot more that I wanted to see. The warm plains that I’d spent so many days just relaxing on, the waves of the salty sea I could taste before I could hear, the softness of everything inside the village of beginnings. And there were so many digimon I wanted to see: I knew the ones I saw today were only a fraction of what existed in this world, and they all seemed so cool!
“But it’s fine. I don’t need to see to enjoy everything. That’s how my life’s always been, and I don’t need to change that.” I reached out, gently stroking her cheek. A feeling I’d felt many times, but never tired of.
“Yeah, yeah. You’re right. I guess I don’t really want things to change either.” It made a lot of sense; even though she was having trouble seeing, even though I could see, she still was leading me around everywhere, telling me what was written down, and just trying to make sure I had a good time. It wasn’t any different from every other day in the Digital World for us. “You at least had a lot of fun today, right?”
I grinned. “Of course I did!” It made her smile too; to her, that must have made this day worth it all.
As a laid there, an idea popped in my head. “Kuki? There’s one more thing I wanna do tonight.”
She didn’t respond immediately, instead glancing over me at the clock on the table at my side. “You only got a few minutes left before midnight, Hideo. Waddya want?” I probably would have known that if I could read a clock.
“Before I go to sleep, before I forget everything again...is it all right if I make sure the last thing I see is your face?”
She didn’t say anything; she just turned over, and turned me over before I could do it myself. We were face-to-face, and she was smiling.
I took in every detail I could; the way six of her eyes were like pretty little dots, while the main pair was larger than all of the combined. How her teeth were like they were built into her lips, yet she could still make the same expressions as me or anyone else with ease. The way her ears were long, and darker on the very tips. How her cheeks were a little darker than the rest of her face, as if she were blushing all the time. How round her head really was, how it looked (and felt) so soft despite the rest of her body feeling so tough.
She had a cute face.
I closed my eyes one last time, every single detail running in my head as many times as I could to try and burn it into my thoughts. But my thoughts went silent as I drifted into slumber.
This wasn’t my bed.
That was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. My bed at home was smaller than this, and didn’t have as many sheets as this one. I can move my hands all over the bed without reaching an end, but I quickly reach a very familiar feeling – a hard, yet smooth and flexible leg that I’ve held in my hand so many times before. The last piece I need to know that I wasn’t home – she never stayed a rookie while sleeping in my bed, so my parents didn’t risk learning she wasn’t just a toy.
“Kuki?” I ask aloud, carefully shaking her leg to get her attention. I feel her shift around and yawn – I probably just woke her up, but getting sleep wasn’t important; “Kuki, where are we? I dunno where we are!”
“Calm down, Hideo.” She doesn’t sound all that concerned – more groggy than anything. “We’re in a hotel room in the Digital World. Some stuff happened, and you forgot the past couple of days.”
Now that I think of it, I can’t remember anything that happened yesterday. I did remember that we were going to do a job in the Digital World, and that I was super-excited about it-
My thoughts are interrupted as Kuki grabs me, pulling open one of my eyes with a pair of her legs. “W-what’re you doing, Kuki?” I ask as she turns me from side to side. I didn’t like opening them if I didn’t have to, since there wasn’t really much I could do with them. My eye is unmoving, and it starts to hurt from being open for so long – not to mention from being forced open.
At last she lets me go, sighing as my eye closes shut as tight as it can go. “What was that for?!”
“I just needed to check something,” she told me. “Guess I was just crazy for a moment. I thought they were another color for a second.”
“Well that’s a weird thing to think. And how’d you know I can remember the past couple of days?”
“It’s a long story.” I can hear her pick up my bag, and feel as she places it in my arms. “I’ll tell you on the way back.” I check to see if I have everything in order: books, check, cane, check, digivice, check, d-terminal, check! Nothing else in there; I guess we didn’t really get anything from that job other than money. “C’mon Hideo. If we get breakfast now, we can get back to the Human World before your parents find out.”
While I did want to learn what the heck happened in the past couple of days, she had a point. I made my way off the bed – which was a lot larger than the one I had at home – and Kuki was quick to guide me along with one of her legs.
As we enter an elevator – they all sound pretty similar, so I know when I'm in one – she popped a weird question.
“Hey Hideo? What do you think about my face?”
I’m pretty surprised she’d ask that out of nowhere, and I struggle to think of an answer. “Your face? Well, uh...it felt nice the last time you let me touch it.”
I’d hoped it was a good answer, but she just sighed. “Yeah, it is a nice face.”
Her confidence was pretty silly, though I had no idea why she would ask that question.
That was the first thing I thought of when I woke up. My bed at home was smaller than this, and didn’t have as many sheets as this one. I can move my hands all over the bed without reaching an end, but I quickly reach a very familiar feeling – a hard, yet smooth and flexible leg that I’ve held in my hand so many times before. The last piece I need to know that I wasn’t home – she never stayed a rookie while sleeping in my bed, so my parents didn’t risk learning she wasn’t just a toy.
“Kuki?” I ask aloud, carefully shaking her leg to get her attention. I feel her shift around and yawn – I probably just woke her up, but getting sleep wasn’t important; “Kuki, where are we? I dunno where we are!”
“Calm down, Hideo.” She doesn’t sound all that concerned – more groggy than anything. “We’re in a hotel room in the Digital World. Some stuff happened, and you forgot the past couple of days.”
Now that I think of it, I can’t remember anything that happened yesterday. I did remember that we were going to do a job in the Digital World, and that I was super-excited about it-
My thoughts are interrupted as Kuki grabs me, pulling open one of my eyes with a pair of her legs. “W-what’re you doing, Kuki?” I ask as she turns me from side to side. I didn’t like opening them if I didn’t have to, since there wasn’t really much I could do with them. My eye is unmoving, and it starts to hurt from being open for so long – not to mention from being forced open.
At last she lets me go, sighing as my eye closes shut as tight as it can go. “What was that for?!”
“I just needed to check something,” she told me. “Guess I was just crazy for a moment. I thought they were another color for a second.”
“Well that’s a weird thing to think. And how’d you know I can remember the past couple of days?”
“It’s a long story.” I can hear her pick up my bag, and feel as she places it in my arms. “I’ll tell you on the way back.” I check to see if I have everything in order: books, check, cane, check, digivice, check, d-terminal, check! Nothing else in there; I guess we didn’t really get anything from that job other than money. “C’mon Hideo. If we get breakfast now, we can get back to the Human World before your parents find out.”
While I did want to learn what the heck happened in the past couple of days, she had a point. I made my way off the bed – which was a lot larger than the one I had at home – and Kuki was quick to guide me along with one of her legs.
As we enter an elevator – they all sound pretty similar, so I know when I'm in one – she popped a weird question.
“Hey Hideo? What do you think about my face?”
I’m pretty surprised she’d ask that out of nowhere, and I struggle to think of an answer. “Your face? Well, uh...it felt nice the last time you let me touch it.”
I’d hoped it was a good answer, but she just sighed. “Yeah, it is a nice face.”
Her confidence was pretty silly, though I had no idea why she would ask that question.
