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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 19:26:28 GMT
What a boring day... A young teenager named Hachi thought has he looked out of the large window from his penthouse in western Shibuya. He had just finished school for the day, as well as finished up his homework, so now there was nothing to do. Nothing on TV, nothing of interest on any streaming service, nor any games he wanted to play. Maybe I truly should get some friends... I wonder when Father will be home?
Hachi's father, Niki Zaan, was the CEO of a large technology company in Tokyo, Z-Inc (pronounced "Zinck"). Having him arrive late at night was not an uncommon occurrence for Hachi, since the young man was pretty self sufficient on his own. He knew that his father did at least care about him, so there was no malice or ill-intent towards his father. Hell, ill-intent is probably the last thing Hachi would ever wish upon anyone.
With his penthouse and his money, why wouldn't Hachi have any friends? Well that is simple: his aura. Hachi knew this more than anybody, but the general vibe that surrounds him is one that makes people uncomfortable. It could be the way his eyes always seem like they're closed, the way he's always, ALWAYS smiling, his general laid-back attitude... he assumed it gave others a bad impression about him.
He even overheard a couple of bullies call him Brock once or twice.
Bleep bleep bleep!
"Hm?" Hachi suddenly heard his phone go off. Reaching into his school uniform's pant pocket, he pulled out a silver smartphone. Unlocking it, he saw that he had a text message from an... unknown sender? Well I only have my mother and father in my contacts. Maybe it is a classmate? Hachi opened up the text message and read it:
Would you wish to start now? Yes or no?
"Huh, that's weird... might as well," Hachi spoke to himself as he typed "sure" and hit send. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't what happened next...
"Hachi Zaan, you have been chosen. Your Digital journey awaits you."
"My Digital Journey..." Hachi repeated. A new message appeared on screen:
Please make your way to the Shibuya Train Terminal and head to the abandoned platform.
"Abandoned platform... sounds simple enough."
And just like that, Hachi had grabbed his things and headed down to the train terminal. While he did wonder the legibility of the random text messages, Hachi was just going along for the ride at this point. Beats sitting around being bored at home, right?
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 19, 2020 20:49:04 GMT
By some unseen force, the stars all aligned to give Honoka a rather pleasant surprise; a day off. She had just finished school and was informed that practice was cancelled for the day. And just right now, she received a text from her father that she wasn't needed at the shop tonight, so she was free to do whatever she wanted until it got dark.
So the teenage girl simply stared dumbfounded in the middle of the station. Having nothing to do... it had been a long time since that had happened. She had to take a second and think... what could she do? It's not like she had any money to shop for something, and her hobbies included gymnastics, which she couldn't practice today, spending time at the Rainbow which from what her father texted, she'd just be in the way, and her last hobby was dancing. She looked around the crowded station for a second. It's not she could just start breaking down here.
But something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Was it a... floating flower? No... not just a flower. It had a vaguely humanoid shape, much like a mandrake. Except unlike a real mandrake, this one was floating through the air, staring at her. She looked around at the people around her, but none of them seemed to even notice it! Instead, the plant creature floated off.
Honoka instinctively followed the ghostly plant as she politely made her way through the bustling crowd in the station. The phantasmagorical herb creature always remained in sight of the young woman and continued to lead her through thinner and thinner crowds, until she found herself at an abandoned platform. That... shouldn't be the case. This was Central Shibuya for crying out loud!
"Hello?" She called out hesitantly. "Is anybody there?"
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 21:05:05 GMT
When Hachi had arrived, he had taken note of just how many people were actually there. He did not take the train as often as most, since either his father or an employee of his father's would usually drive Hachi to school every day. It was definitely a bit overwhelming, but nothing Hachi couldn't handle. He kept that smile on his face and walked onto the platform.
And of course most people that saw him just kinda looked away.
As he walked, he noticed someone just standing there in the station. She was wearing the same school uniform that Hachi wears, or at least what he saw the females wearing at school. It was very hard to miss her, as she had pink hair that stood out among all the black and brown hairs. Hachi wasn't one to speak though, his hair was green. Still, he walked up to the girl and asked, "You look lost. Need some help?"
It wouldn't be long before the girl saw this supposed "ghost" however, not like Hachi could see it. However, nearby would be a ghost that only he could see... only this one looked like a green worm, with a purple beak? Much like the flower ghost, this one floated away too.
"That's odd... I thought I just saw a ghost..." Hachi commented. He saw this girl begin to make her way through the bustling crowd, going the same way that the ghost did. Did she see it too? Hachi began making his own way through the crowd, following this girl and probably looking like a creep in the process.
This continued until they found their way... to the abandoned platform. "Well I can safely say this is where I'm supposed to be. Did you get a weird text message as well? I'm Hachi, by the way."
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 19, 2020 21:28:23 GMT
Honoka didn't even hear the boy speak at first. She had been too distracted in her own thoughts to even pay attention to him in the bustling crowd. But at the abandoned platform where no one was around she suddenly heard him speak up from behind her. She let out a surprised shriek twirling around in an instant to see a girl... no... just an effeminate young man in front of her. He asked if she got a weird text message, and then introduced himself as Hachi.
"N-no..." She replied, looking around her. She couldn't find the strange flower ghost anymore. Was she just hallucination it, then? What had brought her here in the first place? She turned back to the green-haired teenager. He had a calm, easy smile despite the strange circumstance. Like he knew something that she didn't. And what was that about getting a weird text message?
Honoka realized she forgot to introduce herself and gave a bow to both greet and apologize. "And my name is Nijimura Honoka," She answered to the strange young man. She gave one more look at her surroundings. "But don't you think this is kind of weird? Why is no one around here right now?"
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 21:52:05 GMT
Hachi looked only a tiny bit surprised when the girl shrieked upon him speaking in the abandoned platform. He chuckled slightly. "No worries, I am just a classmate of yours. You do go to Shibuya Academy, correct?" When he asked about a weird text message, she mentioned that she did not get one. "Then what brought you down here then? Did you see that bug ghost as well?"
The girl had introduced herself as Honoka Nijimura, bowing towards Hachi as a sign of greeting. She then asked if he thought this whole situation was weird. With a smile, Hachi replied, "Of course I think it's weird. You don't see flying ghosts or receive ominous text messages every day. I think it's kind of exciting."
Moving forward on the platform would seem to be impossible for now, as the doorway to properly enter this platform was locked. Next to the door would be some sort of scanner device. The young man would walk up to inspect it. "Doubtful that a ticket would be a sufficient way in, don't you think, Honoka?" Hachi asked while looking right at her.
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 19, 2020 22:26:10 GMT
"Uh... yeah..." She replied nervously to Hachi's question. It's not like she could lie about it while wearing her uniform, after all. Then he started asking about how why she came down here in the first place, mentioning something about a... bug ghost? "What!? Why would I follow a bug? That ghost definitely wasn't a bug! It was more like a mandragora! Bell-shaped flowers with a humanoid shape!" One that had... eyes.
And then the boy started to... smile. Considering the situation they were in, this wan't the time to be so relaxed! Honoka pointed an accusatory finger at Hachi. "That's no reason to get excited! First off; ghosts aren't supposed to be real in the first place! And when you get an ominous text message, then you're not supposed to just do what it says! Call the police or something!"
Still, Hachi did point out something strange about the station. It wasn't like any other station entrance she had ever been to. It looked like it needed some kind of scanner? Come to think of it... She fiddled around her bag until she pulled out the pink device that dropped on top of her head earlier. Everything started getting weird ever since this thing came into her life. And as much as she lectured Hachi about blindly following weird instructions, she had to admit that she was a bit curious to see what was behind this door.
With baited breath, Honoka placed her strange new device up to the reader.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 22:51:19 GMT
Hachi looked a bit surprised when Honoka said that the ghost she saw wasn't a bug, but was more of a mandragora flower in a humanoid shape. Then Hachi began to... laugh? "Maybe the bug ghost that I saw was attracted to your own flower ghost!"
The boy did not flinch or react accordingly when Honoka pointed at him, lecturing him about how it's not the time to be relaxed about this. First she claimed that ghosts were not real, and then she criticized Hachi for not calling the police when receiving that text message. "Because the police are definitely going to believe a fifteen year old who said his phone began speaking to him," he said, keeping his smile, "and how do you know that ghosts don't exist? Lots of weird stuff has been happening lately, remember. Golden Week? That incident at the train station at the beginning of the school year? None of that was in my imagination."
When Hachi referenced the strange scanner, Honoka rummaged through her bag and pulled out a strange device. She placed it near the scanner, and just like that the door opened up. "Open sesame," Hachi joked before walking through the door.
The corridor would be completely devoid of windows, the only light source being a row of ceiling lights leading to the end of the hallway. "So what brought you down to the abandoned platform, anyways? You were following a flower ghost?"
After a few moments they would reach the end of the corridor, housing nothing but a simple elevator. Hachi walked up and pressed a button, allowing the doors to open. "You're welcome to leave if you want, but I wanna see how deep the rabbithole is," Hachi said as he entered the elevator.
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 19, 2020 23:42:28 GMT
"That's crazy! If they're both ghosts, then... why would... That doesn't make sense... I think..." Come to think of it, it's not like she was an expert on ghosts, considering that they didn't exist in the first place. "And... why would there be two ghosts just luring people into an abandoned platform!" Still, he insisted that he saw a bug ghost... whatever that was about. But why would a bug have a ghost? Come to think of it, why would a flower have a ghost!?
She tried to shake such unreasonable thoughts aside as Hachi just shook off her lecture with that... unnaturally natural smile of his. She really didn't have an answer for that. It wasn't like she paid a whole lot of attention to it. Besides, she was always so focused on her own projects.
After she scanned her device that actually worked by some miracle the door in front of them began to open up, and a thought came to Honoka's mind. If this place was abandoned, then why would there be lights on? She heard Hachi crack a joke, and walk fearlessly beyond. She glanced through to see the lighting on the ceiling still. "Thank goodness..." She softly whispered as she let out a sigh of relief and followed Hachi further in.
Hachi asked her why she was even here in the first place. "I don't know if it was a ghost or whatever, but... today I was just... bored, I guess..." To be perfectly honest, Honoka didn't have a clear-cut reason why she was here. But this just seemed interesting so she continued on.
Then they approached an elevator door. Without hesitation Hachi pressed the elevator door button and stepped inside. She didn't want to admit it, but she was far too curious to turn back right now. She stepped in soon after. "For all we know there could be some sort of creepy... ghost cult or something down here. So you shouldn't be traveling alone!" Honoka had no idea why she was following a ghost to an abandoned part of the subway, and then exploring said area with some creepy-smiling boy she had just met, but here she was nonetheless.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2020 0:10:28 GMT
All these questions were clearly swirling through Honoka's mind. And of course, Hachi only had one solution for all of them. "I'm just as curious as you. Why don't we go find out what this all means for ourselves, hm?"
When Hachi asked Honoka what brought her down here, she said that she was just bored until she saw that flower ghost thing. "Is that so? I was bored at home as well until I got that message. Here, I can show you what it was..." The boy would then pull out his phone and open up the messaging app, showing Honoka the conversation:
>Would you wish to start now? Yes or no?
sure<
>Hachi Zaan, you have been chosen. Your Digital journey awaits you.
>Please make your way to the Shibuya Train Terminal and head to the abandoned platform. "The weirdest part was that after I responded, the messages actually started to speak. As if an AI was reading it. Weird, right?"Hachi was glad that Honoko stepped into the elevator with him. Whatever was happening, it was sure to be more interesting with someone else experiencing it with him. She made an excuse that she simply didn't want Hachi to travel alone. "You know, I'm surprised you are still here with me. Everyone else tends to avoid me. I don't know why." As he said that, his unsettling aura seemingly increased. Suddenly the lights indicating what floor they were on glitched out. After reaching the lowest level, B2, the light just kept going and going, as if they were going even deeper than what was phuysically possible. "Well that isn't normal."
Finally the elevator came to a sudden stop and opened the doors. From there was a staircase leading down to a platform with multiple trains taking passengers. There were a few people walking around... but there were even more inhuman creatures, some even turning into humans themselves it seemed. Hachi's facial expression remained the same, but he did end up losing his smile. "This wasn't what I was expecting."
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 20, 2020 1:01:41 GMT
Honoka glanced at Hachi's screen on his silver phone. She read the chat log, unable to decipher any hidden meanings to it. "Hmm... Zaan..." She said instead. What a weird family name. Still, she couldn't quite help but feel like she had heard it before.
"Wait... if whoever sent you that message was supposed to bring you here, then does that mean you have one of these things as well?" She wondered, pulling out the pink device she used to open the door. "Otherwise how would you have gotten in?" The object literally fell from the sky to hit the girl in the head earlier on. But did that mean that it was supposed to go to Hachi?
Still, Hachi seemed to lament his relative unpopularity with the same smile on his face. When hit directly with that smile, Honoka's suddenly felt like there were a thousand worms crawling around on her skin. She resisted the urge to visibly shudder before speaking up.
"W-well... I can't say for sure since I literally met you like, ten minutes ago, but don't you think it's because you seem a little too..." Creepy. "Easygoing? I bet your classmates don't think you take them seriously! I'm sure if you try harder you'll make plenty of friends! Have you tried playing any sports, or-" She took a glance at the elevator that was seemingly going haywire and couldn't finish speaking. Honoka wasn't expecting the elevator to do that.
Nor was she expecting the sight when the elevator doors stopped and opened up for them. Her jaw dropped and she instinctively pressed her back to the elevator wall.
"No way..." She muttered in disbelief. "Absolutely no way that this is real...!"
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2020 1:46:49 GMT
Honoka only seemed to repeat Hachi's family name when she was reading over his text messages that he had gotten before. "Yeah, that's my family name. My father owns a tech company, and this phone actually comes from it. He gets me all the things they make, and we have a room just for storing them, it's that many."
Honoka then asked if Hachi had gotten one of those devices that she had used to open up the door. "No, I don't think so. If you hadn't shown up I probably would've just gave up and gone home, heheh. Maybe someone slipped it into my bag though..." Hachi took off his school bag and rummaged through it. Eventually he did pull a similar device out of it, only it was black with dark green trim, and dark purple buttons. "Well, what do you know?" He wasn't even phased by it!
When Hachi touched on his lack of friends at school, Honoka suggested that maybe it was because he's too easygoing, so his classmates won't take him seriously. "You don't have to lie; I know it's because I creep people out. Sometimes it's kinda fun; no one hassles you and you can intimidate whoever you want. It is lonely, however."
Now was the big reveal. Creatures of various sizes going on and off the train. Hachi couldn't believe his eyes... but in a good way! "We have to check this out," he said, skipping the stairs and hopping off the relatively short platform the elevator was on and just casually walking up to a silver colored train. The creatures simply looked at him and didn't do a thing. Maybe they were friendly?
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 20, 2020 3:22:38 GMT
Honoka couldn't believe her eyes as she watched Hachi gleefully skip his way down the steps to approach the monsters below.
"What do you think you're doing!?" The young woman chastised, rushing out of the elevator to follow Hachi. "Why would you willingly walk towards the monsters?" Despite her urge to shout at the boy, she settled for harsh whispers, instead. She didn't want to make a scene when there was... a... gorilla with a metal arm cannon walking close by. She saw that Hachi was holding a similar device to her own, albeit in a different color. They seemed to attract some attention, regardless, but no one seemed to make any moves against the pair.
"Hey, humans!" An gruff, angry voice called out from behind them. Honoka spun around to see a gray rabbit creature with long, black claws standing impatiently. "Didn't anyone teach ya dat it's just rude ta stand in front' a train like dat? There're Digimon dat gots places ta be!"
"Eep!" Honoka couldn't help but squeak out in shock. She unintentionally pressed a button on her device and an image displayed from her screen. "Hmm...? Gazimon...?"
"So ya know my name; big whoop!" The rabbit creature apparently named Gazimon announced, pushing past the girl to step onto the train, nearly knocking her over. She regained her balance quickly enough and took a few steps back.
"I'm... sorry...?" Honoka meekly apologized, though the rabbit creature paid her no further mind. Utterly baffled, she looked over to Hachi. "Hachi-san... what should we... I mean... what can we..." She seemed too shell-shocked to even think up a question properly.
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2020 20:04:26 GMT
"Come on, they don't look that scary," Hachi whispered back to Honoka as she followed him. He caught a glance at that same gorilla with the metal arm cannon. "Okay, there are some you might not want to mess with, but come on, they are all just living lives like we are, aren't they?"
As Hachi was about to step onto the train, he heard an angry voice call out to him and Honoka. Turning around, he would face some sort of angry grey rabbit. He was apparently criticizing them for standing in front of the train and presumably blocking others from getting on and off. "Digimon... that must be what all these monsters are, huh?"
Honoka seemed to get information on this particular Digimon through her weird device, which said that this one's name was Gazimon. Gazimon then got annoyed and pushed Honoka out of the way so that he could get on the train, thankfully she didn't lose her balance at all.
With Hachi still in front of the doorway of the train, Honoka asked him what they should do. Suddenly the train slowly began to move, taking Hachi with it. He looked back and smiled at Honoka. "Why don't we find out where this train goes?"
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on May 21, 2020 20:24:42 GMT
Once again, this strange boy seemed entirely nonplussed by their strange set of circumstances. She wanted to chastise the boy to act more normal, but as she looked around to all these bizarre creatures, simply going about their day, some just chatting with one another, each of them acting relatively normal... She wasn't sure what normal was supposed to be right now. She supposed... that maybe she should try and take everything in stride. She had a feeling if she panicked over every single think that she found weird then she'd just give herself a heart attack.
Suddenly Hachi was on the train and it began moving. "Wait, don't leave me behind!" She blurted out without really thinking about it. She hopped onto the train right before the doors closed and let out a sigh of relief before catching herself. Wait... why was she relieved? She just jumped onto a train where she had no idea where it was going, with its passengers being a bunch of... monster creatures she had never seen before, with a boy she had never met before today! What about that should she be relieved about?
Still, it was too late to do anything about it, now. Instead, she just nodded to Hachi and looked around towards the passengers, who were staring at the pair. "Hello..." She nervously greeted the creatures of bizarre shapes and sizes.
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2020 20:36:44 GMT
Hachi happily extended a hand out towards Honoka when the train started moving, and she began chasing after it. Whether or not she took the hand, Honoka would find herself on the train anyways. It was a very nice looking train, with seemingly wooden insides and a nice carpet flooring... there were even lights inside!
Honoka then greeted those that were in the same car with them at the moment. There was a big cactus Digimon with red boxing gloves holding onto a green plant-like Digimon with red eyes, as if it was a mother holding onto her baby.
Another Digimon inside the car looked like a wizard, with long gold hair tied up into a ponytail and dark blue hat and cape, who simply looked at the humans and looked back out the window.
And the last Digimon inside this specific car was a Digimon that looked like a bunch of rocks put together, with golden eyes. He was definitely the shortest of the bunch, if you didn't count the baby that the cactus Digimon was holding.
All three looked over at Honoka as she greeted them. They... didn't seem to care much? To them, it was just more humans coming onto the train, humans were a regular occurence for them these days. Hachi found an empty seat close to the door they had entered and sat down, inviting Honoka to sit alongside him.
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