Second Chance of the Fallen [Open]

Makoto was somewhat relieved to find out that digimon seemed to be able to eat human food. But the next part of the conversation made her a little startled. "...have you seriously not eaten anything for 3 days?" she asked. Going without food for that amount of time was simply downright stupid in her opinion. Especially for growing teenagers.

But she didn't state this verbally. Makoto generally kept her opinions to herself, at least that was how she was raised. Especially when talking to strangers that may turn out to be useful as acquaintances in the end.

"Alright, so negative emotions can adversely affect digimon, is that right?" Makoto asked, finding that information fascinating. She supposed that must work for internalized emotions as well. She gave a momentary worried look at Kuramon, hoping that they would not fail each other when the time came for it to truly count.

Then the final sentence made Makoto blink. "The digital world?" she repeated. "And you have to jump in that... filth to get there?" Makoto could hardly believe this. She should have guessed that it wouldn't be as simple as clicking her heels together 3 times in order to be transported to the world where these creatures came from, but the Shibuya river... that was honestly a step too far in her opinion.

Makoto was honestly quite startled by these words. Sympathy flashed through her mind for a fleeting moment. Katsura lived on the streets? By herself? With no shelter?

Immediately Makoto pondered what to do about this. Surely she could offer some charity to Katsura in exchange for her so freely assisting her with this new information about digimon. Perhaps, one day, such an act of charity will be rewarded for her?

But then again, Makoto didn't know if Katsura was telling the truth or not. But, if her situation was surely destitute, Makoto would not turn her away if such an act of charity turned out to be the course of events. After all, Makoto was in a position of weakness at the moment. She appeared to be in possession of a very weak digimon, while Katsura had a stronger one. Maybe, for the moment, they could have an arrangement that would give Katsura food and shelter; and Makoto the knowledge of how to properly raise digimon.

"I'm sorry to hear that" Makoto said, assuming an honest expression. "I can't thank you enough for the help you've given me just now, as to how I should raise Kuramon. If you like, perhaps I could ask my parents if you could lodge at our apartment for a little while?".

Makoto could hardly let Katsura continue living on the streets. Such a senseless waste of life that would be if she starved to death?

It seemed the plunge into the Shibuya river was inevitable. But of course, that wasn't something Makoto intended to do any time soon. But for the meantime, she hoped to simply focus on how to raise Kuramon properly. She tried to ignore Nyao's suspicious gaze on her for the moment.

After she said the words, Makoto suddenly felt... quite odd. Like how one does if they had never tried something before and wasn't sure if it was the right or wrong thing. And she had just turned her thoughts of charity into an act, and wasn't really certain if she would feel happy about it or regret it. Well then. She supposed if Katsura and Nyao were good guests, then that would be just great. But of course her parents had the final say.

"Alright. My apartment is this way" Makoto answered, giving a short bow back first, then began to walk. As she did so, Kuramon wiggled about in her arms, looking a bit flustered about something.

"What's the matter?" Makoto asked. "Are you alright, Kuramon?"

Kuramon made some bubbly noises with an uncomfortable expression. Makoto suggested different ways that it might be satisfied. "Are you hurt? Tired? Hungry?" Kuramon burst with noise at this point. "I see, you're hungry. Well, I'll get you some food at home" she said. It was only a few doors down. The apartment block was middle-upper class designed, 12 storeys high, with Makoto's being on the 9th.

Makoto took out her residential card and swiped it on the entrance, then once inside after they crossed the small lobby, again in the elevator, which took her to her floor.

"Mom and dad tend to work in the early morning shifts, so they're usually home before me" Makoto explained to Katsura on the way, mostly to inform her to expect to see her parents and not have to wait for them to come home later.

It was kind of a surprising experience for Makoto. Namely that she never really thought that she'd ever be this caring toward a creature she would see as her 'pet'. Of course since her mother was allergic to cats and that the terms of her parents' lease on their apartment meant there would be no chance of them owning a dog, she didn't expect that there would be such an example like this happening where she'd be introducing two unknown life-forms into her apartment.

And so once they arrived on the ninth floor, Makoto led Katsura to her apartment. Then at the door, Makoto swiped her residential card again and opened the entrance to her home. After she removed her shoes, she stepped into the living room, and prepared to present her guest to her parents. As usual, they were in the lounge room, watching a DVD that shared their mutual interest in drama and science.

"Hello, mom and dad" she said in Japanese to her family. "This is Katsura Ise, a friend I met today. Would it be okay if she stayed here tonight?" she indicated the girl in question.

"Of course, that's perfectly fine" Makoto's mother Reina said, looking delighted to see that her daughter had finally introduced a friend into their household. She and her husband Akira turned their attention from the television to that of their daughter and her friend.

"I can set up a spare bed in my study if you like" Makoto's father offered. But that was only if the case was that Katsura preferred her own room.

Before that question was answered, Makoto's mother Reina noticed the digimon they were holding. "Oh, they look like cute plush toys" she said. "Is this how you met your friend, Makoto?"

"Yeah, that's right, mom" Makoto answered. This was mostly true. Kuramon was being still and silent like she had advised him, and it seemed that her parents thought that they were plushies from a video game that she was interested in. Which reduced the complication a significant amount.

For the moment, Makoto awaited Katsura's response to her parents, hopefully creating a response that would make them the least suspicious of the creatures they were holding.

"Well, alright" Mr. Terauchi said. "We'll be having an early dinner, Katsura. Would that be alright?".

It was mainly asked in case Katsura tended to eat a bit later. Neither of them really knew. It was quite a pleasant surprise for both of them, Makoto rarely brought around friends. Even if Katsura looked younger than Makoto, both were delighted that she seemed to be finally opening up.

Once Katsura had answered, Makoto would speak up. "Would it be okay if we had some snacks first?" she asked.

"Ah, yes, of course" Mrs Terauchi said. Makoto thanked her, then took 2 snack bars from the cupboard. She then led Katsura and Nyao into her room and closed the door.

"Here you are" she said, offering a snack bar to Katsura, remembering she hadn't eaten for quite a while and must be hungry. She didn't eat her own though, she merely unwrapped it and tried feeding it to Kuramon, sitting on her computer chair while the digimon was resting on her lap. He didn't eat it, just... seemed to absorb it with an invisible mouth in his gel-like body.

Then all of a sudden, something happened.

"Whoa!" Makoto exclaimed as Kuramon suddenly began to glow white. She almost dropped him on the floor, but instead caught him just in time and let him sit on the chair while she stood and watched. Before their eyes, he seemed to be growing suddenly. As the light faded, a new digimon formed in front of them. It had red eyes, tufty grey ears, and still no limbs, but it now had a visible mouth.

"Okay... wasn't expecting that" Makoto said, hoping her parents hadn't noticed the commotion. "So then. Kuramon, you've... evolved now?"

"It's Pagumon now" the digimon said. Makoto was startled by the fact that he could now talk.

"Right... so, it's Pagumon" Makoto said, trying to keep calm by focusing on what the facts were in this situation.

"Actually my name's Deuce" Pagumon said, bouncing on the spot a bit, flexing his ears. "Ahh, FINALLY! I can talk now!"

'Let's hope you can say things of value' Makoto thought, but kept that to herself. "Keep quiet, we don't want my parents to hear you" she warned. "So then, Deuce, well done on evolving. You have a name I see. Where did you get it from?"

"I... uh... can't really remember, sorry" said Deuce. "But all I know is that its Deuce".

Makoto turned to Katsura. "Is this a normal thing with digimon? Did Nyao already have a name when you met her?" she asked.

Makoto was pleased that Katsura accepted the snack bar, sharing her piece with Nyao. While not a very sustaining meal, it should at least make their stomachs comfortable until dinner arrived.

That led Makoto to the next conundrum. Her parents would be pleased for Katsura to attend the dinner table. Nyao, not so much. "We might have to improvise to make sure our digimon get some food from dinner as well" she said. "It should be fine though, mom and dad generally go to bed shortly after dinner, so we can get some leftovers then". Just as long as they were quiet.

It seemed something similar had happened on the occasion of Katsura's partner evolving, that she had named herself Nyao. "Hmm... I see" Makoto said, putting her finger to her temple to consider the logic of this development.

So, some digimon had names, others did not. Of course Makoto could immediately see the value of a name, since there seemed to be countless digimon of the same species that may make things confusing if they went by that in normal life. A name gave an individual identity. And it seemed that like how Nyao had made her identity Nyao, and how Deuce had made his identity Deuce, some digimon liked their identity. But... where had that identity come from? Makoto was curious about this.

However, there would be time for answers about that later. "Well, Katsura, hopefully this room will be okay for us" she said. "Incidentally, do you go to my school? Sorry, just the uniform in this area seems to be so similar I sometimes lose track of who goes where. I go to Shibuya North High School by the way". The elevator school where most children in Shibuya attended.

"If you need to do homework, you could use my desk" she continued. Makoto was quite content to do her homework on a writing board on her bed. Deuce meanwhile, who was watching this conversation, yawned audibly.

"Yeesh, worrying about homework on a night like this? Don't you see the privilege of what you have right now?" Deuce asked, irritably. "You have a digimon partner now, Mako! How are you thinking about homework at a time like this?"

Makoto gave a small smirk at these words. He did have a point. She had gained a digimon partner this day, so homework could obviously be delayed.

"Hmm" Makoto merely hummed to acknowledge that she understood what Katsura was saying. "I don't think I'd get away with that routine though" she continued. Hence how she thought that it would be the best plan to simply get food from the fridge for their digimon while there was nobody else awake in the house.

"...Shibuki High School?" Makoto repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Wasn't that destroyed some time ago?". Some time indeed. Makoto sighed. It seemed Katsura had been homeless for a long time if she hadn't been transferred to Shibuya afterward.

"Katsura-chan..." she said. "Please tell me more about the digital world. Are you able to get a home there?" she was curious. While there was little they could do here in Japan, well, if there was another world out there to explore, maybe some kind of long term solution was available?

While Makoto still wasn't overly interested in acts of charity, she was at least still willing to go over solutions to Katsura's homeless problem. Makoto knew that a surplus of favours owed would suit her in the long run.

Deuce meanwhile busied himself by bouncing around Makoto's room, exploring. The girl kept an eye on him, ready to intervene if he was about to break any of her things.