Beginning of Adventure - [Hiroyo][Job]

Packing for a trip was a task many people put off until last minute. It was simply human nature! Hiroyo had a good excuse though, some of her clothing wasn't suitable for vague ambiguous adventures! Not that she could tell you what kind of clothing was suitable she had done her best. There was a newly bought set of suitcases all in white with little grey and yellow flowers sitting by the main door to her apartment, all packed and ready to go. Inside was what she considered a good ratio of sensible everyday clothing, the sort of clothes she wore to the climbing gym, and a mix between the two. This had all been finished up yesterday in the early afternoon, so that wasn't what she had procrastinated on.

She had taken a shower around one with an apology to her coworkers and picked out what she thought was a cute short yellow sundress with a wide brown belt and a pair of black knee-length leggings underneath. She'd been humming as she picked out the outfit, and the humming had only continued as she carefully applied her make up and then settled a white sun-hat with a yellow ribbon carefully on her head. This was all completed by three which was also when the humming stopped.

Hiroyo stood in the doorway to the hall closet that she grudgingly shared with her roommate, certain that she faced the biggest dilemma she had faced in the past year (not counting the incident two nights ago, she could honestly say she would not change her answer for anything). Boxes of various sizes and shapes were carefully stacked on the shelves that dominated the top half of the closet. She bit her lower lip as she let her eyes rove over the carefully written labels that hung from each box. How could she possibly decide which of her hats to take with her? If she was just picking out a hat for each outfit she packed then the choices would be easy, but even she knew trying to carry around twenty hatboxes was excessive!

One of her precious hats might get squished or drop a box in a puddle!

No, she had to be smart about this. She had to limit her choices and then make sure those choices could fit multiple scenarios and outfits and moods! She took a deep breath to center herself, letting her eyes close as she focused. She had to be mature about this, face the problem head on with a rational mindset.

"Waaah! I don't know what to pick!" She finally wailed, sinking to her knees in front of the closet, her head hanging down in defeat. It was too hard! She couldn't pick only a couple! She sniffled pathetically in front of the closet, wallowing in her misery for a moment. Luckily for everyone (including the person who has to write this debacle) her phone beeped to alert her of a new text.

"Ooh, I bet that's Ryouta!" She promptly straightened up and reached up to pull her phone off a little table adorned with a fake plant. A quick glance at her phone's screen proved her correct and she quickly texted him back. Once finished she locked her phone's screen and set it back on the table where a certain battered looking digivice was also resting. 

"Alright, I can't despair! I've got stuff to do today!" She declared as she got her legs underneath her and stood from the floor, a determined gleam in her eyes. She'd limit herself to three hats besides the one she was wearing! This packing thing would be easy! With that new found determination she carefully pulled three boxes out of the stacks and used a wide black ribbon to tie them together. After that everything ran much smoothly and in no time at all she was out the door with her phone and the digivice carefully stored in her purse.

One short bus ride later she'd be at the station and ready to go!

---

Elsewhere in the apartment a messy haired girl would sign in relief as the main door finally closed and readjusted her pillow. She loved her roommate, really, but the girl had no concern for others trying to sleep in!

At least she had the delicious cakes all to herself now.

---

Subject: Great!
From: Oda Hiroyo
To: Noguchi Ryouta
Sorry, but do you mind if we meet up at the station? I know it's last minute but it is closer than going all the way to your place!

Hiroyo kept her eyes on on the timetables for departures and arrivals. Her foot tapped impatiently on the ground as her eyes scanned back and forth. She truly was impatient but her act served a further purpose, by acting so impatient other people tended to leave her alone. No one liked dealing with a grumpy traveler after all.!

If Ryouta’s greeting was anything to go by then Hiroyo would be stuck with one anyways. She spun on her heel to face him with a genuine scowl taking the place of the fake one. “Wow, what a way to greet someone this early in the morning! Not even a ‘how are you’ or ‘good morning’ or anything.” She scoffed, dragging her heel across the ground. “Wearing makeup is a perfectly normal thing for a woman to do! Besides,” She grumbled, her voice growing a little quieter as her scowl shifted to a pout. “If I don’t I look like a middle schooler.”

That pout was quickly changed to a huff as she watched him just easily haul her bags up like they weighed nothing. Maybe she should have met him at the coffee shop after all, then she wouldn’t have had to struggle with all her bags on the bus. ‘Ugh, it was definitely his reach that made it easy, not a matter of strength!’ She thought, puffing her cheeks out in a very child-like fashion. Why, oh life, hadn’t she been blessed with longer limbs?

The comment about her hats caused her to gape like a fish as he started walking away. “I could never sell my hats!” She finally declared after a quick jog to catch up with him. Once she did catch up to him she had to take two steps to his one just to keep up. “They're the most important part of my wardrobe!” Wow, let’s  hope that isn’t actually true!

She seemed to be in a good mood despite her declaration and even hummed a little as she dug through her bag when they reached the lockers. There was a pause in both her humming and her rummaging for a moment then abruptly both resumed with more force. Not suspicious at all! She quickly pulled both of her phones out and shoved them into the locker, grinning a little too broadly as she backed away. “It’s fine, it’s fine, I’ve already told those who need to know that I’ll be on a hiking trip!” It was sorta true.

She followed closely behind him as they passed through the secret gate. Her eyes grew wide and the smile faded away to be replaced with a look of shock as she realized where they were going. The abandoned bit of the the train station? Didn’t the rumors say there were monsters there? Then again...Ryu was a digital monster..

The blatant staring continued and got even worse as they walked into the room with all the Trailmon. She couldn’t stop looking around because this was truly ridiculous wasn’t it? So many weird trains! Was this like, the secret parking place for the rich and famous? Why were there so many kids? Foreigners too! "I...I had no idea this was back here. The station doesn’t even look that big!”

As they approached Ryouta’s train finally her eyes widened and her jaw literally fell open as they stepped inside the train. Soon enough she recovered herself when addressed by Ilbert the butler and closed her mouth. After all, she’d been raised better than to gawk. “Ah, please take care of me!” She said, holding both hands in front of her and bowing to Ilbert as she had been taught was proper. Still, she couldn’t help but marvel at the car around her, it was massive! And this was all his?

“Hah, I’m not worried about the walk! I’m not one to skip leg day at the gym after all!” She boasted with a grin as she hopped her way onto a barstool one away from Ryouta for elbow space. For her that required literally hopping onto the bottom rung for a boost then awkardly twisting to land on the seat but she made it. The offer of food instantly made Ilbert one of her favorite people right now, she'd been in such a rush this morning she hadn't eaten a bit! "Ah, something with eggs please! I'm not a picky eater so whatever is fine." She giggled and flapped one of her hands around. It was true though! She didn't really care about food beyond it not being disgusting and being edible.

Once Ilbert was on his way she'd turn her attention back to  Ryouta and Ryu, her expression and mood still positive but a tad more serious. "So, what's the agenda? I'm assuming you have a travel itinerary all laid out?"

Hiroyo stared at where the butler had been. He had just, disappeared! "Hey! How'd he do that? Don't tell me your train is rigged with trap doors too." She demanded, turning on her stool to stare at Ryouta and Ryu behind him.

...who got onto the stool much, much more easily than she had. She narrowed her eyes at the little dragon, mouth twitching from side to side in annoyance. On one hand at least she knew how to work the stools for future reference! On the other, did Ryu seriously have to upstage her like that? It was embarrassing but ma be she'd laugh about it later!

She shifted her narrow eyed attention to Ryouta when he started talking. She noticed the last tinges of red from his aborted giggle-fit fading away but kept her sulking quiet and to herself for once. Maybe she was learning! The glare faded quickly as she listened, she was awfully quick to get over things today.

What a wonder a full night's rest could do for the attitude.

"Terminus City..? Hm." She couldn't really comment on the travel plan's details. She had never been there, it was a completely different world after all. Ah well, Ryouta seemed to know what he was doing so it should be fine! "I guess it sounds like a plan!"

"Dining car? Actually no, I'm not surprised." She declared and waved away her own half-formed question. She had seen just how huge the train was! She slid off the stool with much more ease than she had gotten on, although that was probably something that was better left unmentioned 'lest Hiroyo's wrath be risked! 

On the walk to the dining car she started to think that maaaybe she had underestimated just how much stamina was going to be eaten up by walking this far! She could still handle it of course, that wasn't the issue, but it was tiring for sure. If the meal was anything like the cake she had had at his dinner then it would be worth it. It was still a bit of a shock when no one, not two, but a full five course meal was brought out for just breakfast. No wonder Ryouta was so huge if he ate like this all the time! Ryu too, he looked so little but there was so much! Was it all to sustain transformations like he'd done back at the bakery?

"Hey, I know you promised five star meals but isn't this a little ridiculous? There's no way I can eat this much!" She remarked while carefully rearranging her own plates so that the omelette was within reach. It was a shame but the rest would probably end up getting thrown in the trash simply because she couldn't eat it unless they had a way to recycle it on the train which seemed pretty unlikely to her! 

Oh, the dessert she'd make room for too, even if it meant she would be as stuffed as a pot pie afterwards.

"Thank you very much Ilbert! It looks delicious." 

Hiroyo’s eyes squinted as she stared at Ryouta’s face, searching for a sign that he was pulling her leg. She gave up quickly.

“Okay, the butler is the train, and the train is a ...Digimon was it?” She gestured to Ryu as she spoke. “So they come in more forms than just ador-I mean small dragons who turn into bigger, scarier dragons?”

Ryouta probably had indeed told her about his going hungry as a kid and she felt a little bad for forgetting. But there had been an actual dragon brought into the conversation! Who had transformed! Also a rather hefty debt that Hiroyo was disgusted at herself for accepting.

Still, it meant she could potentially pay off a life debt. When it came to it ten million yen was a small price to pay for peace of mind.

“If you say so!” Everything but the omelet and the dessert dish were swiftly pushed a little further in Ryouta’s direction. She really didn't think he’d be able to eat it all, but then again he was already way ahead of her!

“How about you tell me more about Terminus City and our other stops while we eat? You mentioned an...Andromon right?” Her fingers briefly touched the digivice at her side. The first mouthful of omelet disappeared from her plate, then was quickly joined by more. She couldn't keep up with either Ryu or Ryouta but she could do her best! Speaking of…

“Is the whole transforming thing why Ryu had even more than you or is it a metabolism thing?”

“Yeah, I mean this whole thing is rather hard to believe. I think the older someone gets the harder it is to easily accept something like that.” She mused. Well, maybe that just mainly applied to her? Hiroyo had to admit she had been forced to discard a lot of childish notions when she was disowned.

The gun metaphor was pretty easy to follow despite Hiroyo’s lack of experience with either guns or mons. “Okay! So without an emotional uh, connection? With the tamer then the Digimon can't shift at all, huh?” She sounded more like she was confirming something with herself than questioning Ryouta honestly. She leaned back in her chair, a thoughtful look on her face. “Can it ever backfire? Like, if the human is in a bad mood or the connection isn’t there, what happens?” It wouldn't take much insight to pick up on what was worrying her.

She ate quickly and refrained from talking while Ryouta was explaining the destination. She was honestly a little sleepy, she couldn't turn her whole schedule around in two days after all, but the food helped. She was honestly contemplating a nap if there was time.

“I think I’ve followed along so far… honestly if that's just the towns then I’m excited to see the rest of the world!” A wry smile touched her lips at the comment about borrowing money. Like hell she would! “Thanks for the offer but I’m definitely passing! How long until we get there by the way?”

‘No wrong evolution’ was a relief to Hiroyo’s heart and mind because there was one less way she could screw this up. As long as Ryouta and Ryu were around then she wasn't in danger. As long as she wasn’t in danger then there would be no need to digivolve. As long as there was no danger and no digivolving then she could just give the mon(s) associated with the digi vice alive and appease the ghost of their original partner. Maybe she could make life fun again for them. At the very least with Ilbert available they could live in the kind of luxury that was almost too absurd to be real.

If she did that then maybe she could find more reason to live then just the words that had been passed to her.

It was an excellent plan, if only she could keep from feeling bored and stifled while under Ryouta’s care. Hiroyo was sure he meant well, indeed his answers to her questions had been very knowledgeable, but there was just something about having to follow the lead of someone so much younger that irked her.

She knew it was her ego talking, knew it was ridiculous to feel that way. The way Ilbert seamlessly brought up and altered the hologram exactly when and how Routa wanted was proof enough that they had been working together for a long time which meant a long time spent in the digital world.

“So, I know Rut evolved ..up was it?” She asked with a look at the little Dragon. “and then ..down? Is that common among partnered digimon? Do the different stages have names?”

Her eyes widened at the news that they were only five minutes away from an entirely different world. “Wow so either Ilbert is the most ridiculously smooth ride ever,” she said with a grin because that wouldn't really be surprising on top of automated turrets. “or wait, you said ‘If we move’ which means we’re really close to that world here?”

The squeal from Hiroyo's lips at the sight of Petitmon was earsplitting. Luckily she seemed rather embarrassed by it and quickly covered her mouth with both hands, amusement glinting in her eyes.

"Sorry," She said, her words stifled by her hands. "he's just super cute!"

At least she didn't squeal again when he went up a stage. It wasn't her fault! It was totally a natural reaction to something that adorable! Humans were programmed to empathize with big eyes and general 'roundness'! At least, that's what she told herself as she watched Ryu's little show with wide eyes.

"I would say I hope you're not burning through too much energy showing me this, but I'm sure you've got plenty of food right?" She asked as the Coredramon turned into Wingdramon. She was almost shocked Ryu still fit even in Ilbert's spacious compartments. Almost.

A gasp slipped from Hiroyo's mouth as Slayerdramon made his appearance, the woman even going so far as to slip from her chair to circle around the knight like form. "It's like you have a suit of armor! And you have something beyond this?" She reached out and lightly touched the edge of his cape with her hand. It felt real.

"Hey, even if Ilbert wasn't that face you could still do you're job you know?" She said, her head dropping with a sigh. Ryouta really was unreal! She let her hand fall away from Ryu's cloak and stepped back, giving him an impish grin. "Sorry for intruding on your space!"