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Post by Kai Aizawa on Mar 27, 2022 4:51:10 GMT
Kai emerged from the portal, wearing her school uniform that she had washed during her time in the Digital World, cleaning during her time in Deeplane. She had her Xros Loader in her blazer's inner coat pocket. She couldn't believe she was finally back in her own world. There was a light rain in the weather. Kai found herself stumbling through the trash heap, the fact that she was finally in a familiar place, breathing the air of the human world, finally let everything she had been through get to her. She thought she had coped with everything, but it was easier to do in the Digital World, but after she would return, the weight of it all and the pressure started to overwhelm her.
She could feel her heart rate start to sky rocket as she would stumble over to the side, her breathing was shaky before she would fall against a side wall, sliding down as she would sit down on what was a filing cabinet, her eye looking up into the sky as drops of rain fell on her skin. The magnitude of what she learned and what she saw, and how it can impact her ability to even walk down a street in her own world started to get to her. She would look up into the sky as the rain was gently coming down, starting to calm her breathing and just sit and stared blankly until she thought she could make sense of her thoughts.
"Life as such has to be taken as a cosmic joke - and then suddenly you relax because there is nothing to be tense about. And in that very relaxation something starts changing in you - a radical change, a transformation - and the small things of life starts having new meaning, new significance. One learns only one thing, how to rejoice in life. Rajneesh."
She whispered as she was trying to recite the quote hoping that it would have some sort of ease on her strain, only to find no solace in it quite yet as she would just stare upwards into the sky at the side of the trash heap.
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Mar 27, 2022 5:15:12 GMT
Meanwhile not far a shockingly young looking forty year old woman stepped out of a coffee shop with some kind of coffee drink in her left hand. Being the caffeine powered human she was she began walking down the sidewalk. Though it had been rainy on and off all day she had gotten to the coffee shop during one of the breaks so didn't get soaking wet along the way. After all a black leather jacket can only keep one dry for only so long.
What caused her to then pass by the river she had no idea. Sometimes she did things at random. As the first hints of raindrops landed on her glasses she caught sight of faint movement out of the corner of her eye causing her to witness a teen girl's stumble and coming to a landing on a file cabinet. Physically the girl seemed fine but the expression on the girl's face was worrying. It was as if she had been through a lot. Boy could she understand that as her life had never really been easy and got more difficult with becoming a spirit wielder.
As if moving on instinct she moved towards the girl before she asked "Hey there, are you alright?"
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Mar 27, 2022 6:37:16 GMT
At first Kai seemed a bit unresponsive, her time processing the different world with different laws regarding how it operates now that she was no longer standing in it. It took a moment for her to register the fact that someone had approached her before she would slowly look over to the woman who she guessed was late twenties to early thirties at most. Kai let out a sigh as she would try to find some sort of way to explain. However she knew she would really need to be careful with what sort of story she weaved to explain it, however she decided to start with a non specific form of the truth to help her get started. She figured as long as it wasn't technically a lie, just omission of specifics, it'd be easier to avoid breaking any type of a bluff she could put out right now.
"Just, had a bad fall and recovering from a bit of shock after a rough few days." She said as she was not entirely wrong, she did fall from twenty feet into the Digital World, and she was at the moment dealing with a repressed overload resurfacing. Not to mention she assumed she was having her first conversation with someone and trying to keep the Digital World separate from those unaware of it. She knew a multitude of reasons it'd be best to not share that information. "Just, need a few to catch my breath. I'll be fine."
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Mar 27, 2022 8:20:24 GMT
Stacy watched as the girl seemed unresponsive for a bit. Could she of not heard her somehow? Could she of been deaf? If that were the case this would be awkward since Stacy didn't know sign language in any form. Standing there was beginning to feel awkward and just as she thought to try and repeat herself in Japanese the girl seemed to be alert to her presence. After the teen sighed it was clear to Stacy that the unknown teen was trying to come up with something to say.
Then the girl spoke up mentioning she had a bad fall and was recovering from shock after a rough few days. Judging by her earlier unresponsive behavior this made sense to Stacy. However, she was getting a feeling she couldn't put her finger on that she wasn't getting the whole truth. Looking around she realized which river she was near. It was Shibuya River which was one of the cities natural entry point into the Digital World. Since she didn't know if this girl knew anything regarding digimon it was probably best that she doesn't bring up anything involving alternate worlds inhabited by sentient talking monsters.
"Are you sure your fine? You looked a bit like a zombie earlier." Stacy said sounding a bit skeptical but then again what did she know? The girl could indeed be tougher than she looked as Stacy was very much an example of that.
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Mar 28, 2022 2:33:47 GMT
"Yeah, like I said, it was just a rough patch and finally got out of it after one last hurdle, just need a moment." She said as she was still in quite the number of shock. She was trying to not give away details that she was in another world or lead towards that explanation for fear of looking like she was crazy or more likely in some sort of withdrawal. She would try her best as she would look the woman in the eyes with a warm smile.
She figured she might as well try and keep the older woman occupied on matters besides why Kai was in the trash dump of the Shibuya River as she had a feeling she wouldn't leave just at her word. "I'm Kai Aizawa, senior year student. No parents to call, no one to worry about besides school counselors and maybe two friends parents that might notice. I live alone." She said as she was confident that her father in no way screwed over the foreigner in any way that might make her transfer any negative feelings towards anyone related to him. SHe also ran through the list of contacts in case the woman was gonna ask anything.
"My only family is in Okinawa so no point in asking if there's anyone to call. I'm fine, just, need to catch my breath and get home, far, from, well what's nearby. Can't explain it."
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Mar 28, 2022 4:34:54 GMT
"Fair enough." Stacy said deciding not to push it as if the girl wanted to tell her more then she would. For now she would just listen. "I get undergoing a rough patch myself. I guess I'm still recovering from such a patch myself so who am I to judge?" Stacy said before reaching up and removing her glasses to clean the raindrops from them before putting them in one of her coat pockets. This was not a complete cleaning as one could only do so much with only one free hand. Her left hand still was holding her coffee after all.
Stacy smiled before she replied "And I'm Stacy Miller. I moved here to Japan over a year ago from the US. So I also understand about no family living near me." Stacy had been watching Kai's posture and was now getting the feeling that Kai was definitely being evasive. "Kai, don't worry. If you aren't comfortable with explaining something with a total stranger I can fully understand. Just so you know I am mostly harmless and chances are if I was a threat you could still likely outrun me." Stacy said with a smile before taking a sip of her coffee. Since she was not in digimon form she was basically a slow moving threat at best especially in a dead sprint. That and her stamina was just atrocious.
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Mar 28, 2022 6:38:16 GMT
The young teenage girl listened to the woman, still looking up as she was barely recovering as the mental stress was taking some physiological strain. Kai knew that Stacy wasn't entirely wrong and that under normal circumstances Kai could outrun the older woman, Kai wasn't even close to her physical prime yet and she was a leading track member in school. Kai still put the odds in her favor, but she was not too eager to risk stumbling and getting hurt or offending the foreign woman. She did not know anything about her and offending her could prove disastrous.
"Well, yeah, it's not like I'm embarrassed, just, it was an unbelievably bad luck and I finally got a chance to breath real air after it all." She said as she wasn't really responding to the cold rain coming down on her as she would try to move a bit, only to lean a bit to the side after she slipped, causing her Fusion Loader to fall out of her purse onto her lap, accidentally unleashing the Pteranomon-X within, who would be staring at the woman, positioned with the business end of her left wing's gun aimed right at Stacy's throat. Tera shot a glance towards Kai before back to Stacy, back to Kai again before finally back to Stacy.
Tera would quickly assess the situation as she tried to logically deduce the situation. "Ah, I see, a fifty year old woman beat up Kai and is about to mug her. Well, guess it's time to use my immense Digimon power to defend her without any agency that is able to stop me in this world and I don't even know why I said the last part." She said as she was greatly unaware as she would start to charge up her cannon in a blind attempt to be seen as heroic. "Stand... Down..." Kai said in a dry, slightly raspy tone. "I'm sorry you like being mugged by the elderly? She's a sixty year old." She said confused.
"Does it look like I'm being mugged by a middle aged woman? Find a middle aged woman first, she's barely pushing 30. Secondly, I'm having a full blown stress meltdown. Thirdly, get back in the Xros Loader." She said in a matter of fact tone as she was starting to feel like she was getting a headache.
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Mar 28, 2022 8:51:44 GMT
Stacy nodded in response to Kai's words as the teen moved a bit. As she moved something fell out of her pocket which caused Stacy to dig her glasses out of her pocket and put them on seeing that a Xros Loader had fallen out of Kai's pocket. Before the older woman could respond a digimon species Stacy had never seen before came out of the Xros Loader staring her down before pointing a gun at Stacy's throat. Well damn. This had just gotten more complicated.
Her digimon instincts flared up causing her to place her coffee on a neaby garbage can lid before pulling out her D-Tector clenching it in her left hand tightly hoping things wouldn't accelerate any further. Then Tera called her fifty. Raising her eyebrows incredulously she thought 'Seriously? I heard some digimon weren't very aware of human matters but to mistake me for a person older than thirty would be ridiculous by human terms.' Upon being called sixty then Stacy just sighed at how ridiculous at how this had become despite possibly being in life threatening danger. Hell if a gun wasn't being pointed at her she would of probably been laughing by now.
As for Kai she seemed to not be doing well but Stacy was more worried about the digimon problem at large. "Thirty is the oldest guess I've ever heard regarding my age but I assure you I even though I am older than I look that I am forty years old, not fifty or sixty." She stared at Tera calmly before she said "Like I told your general I am basically harmless as she hasn't tried to threaten my life like you have. Yet do you seriously wanna risk the attention from authorities in this world by trying to fill me with holes?"
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Mar 28, 2022 22:06:39 GMT
"But I'd do it to defend a teenage girl you just beat down, I'm sure they'd call me a hero!" Tera said confidently, not seeing any other way before she would stop for a moment and think about all the facts of the situation.
"Wait did you say you didn't assault her?Are you lying to me, you are legally bound to admit it if you are lying to me, my lawyer's right behind me." Tera said which seemed to get on Kai's last nerve as she picked up a nearby pickle jar and tossed it at Tera's head. "Imbecile, keeping up with you and the other world gave me a full blown stress breakdown when I got back. I couldn't make it far."
"If that were true I'm pointing my gun at a woman for a crime she didn't commit-" Tera said before she would start to realize what she was doing. "... Crap I'm sorry, I thought, cause well, sorry, I should probably warn you I have a trigger problem when I'm nervous-" Tera said before Kai would hold up her Fusion Loader and reabsorb her Digimon back into it.
She would look up at Stacy, what was more concerning was the fact that this woman didn't run away screaming the whole time. Kai looked directly at Stacy as the rain started to get a bit heavier. "You already knew, didn't you? About them, about what's on the other side of the portal." She said as she was cutting the air as she knew there was few other explanation as to why Stacy didn't run away from having a gun pointed at her. Kai was practically certain at this point. "You didn't run or scream, either you already know, or you just have no capability for reaction."
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Mar 28, 2022 22:51:31 GMT
"I didn't hurt Kai!" Stacy exclaimed sounding rather exasperated hoping she wouldn't need to resort to needing to digivolve since logic regarding not trying to attract unwanted attention that a potential battle would surely have a chance of attracting. "As far as I know she was hurt when I got here."
Stacy watched as Kai tried to get her partner under control by flinging a nearby pickle jar at her partner's head. Sounds like Kai had a pretty rough first trip to the Digital World judging by her words to her partner. Then it seemed Kai's partner was realizing what she was doing and mentioned having a trigger problem when nervous. "Might be a good excuse to try and practice control. Maybe try meditation." Soon Kai lifted her Fusion Loader and reabsorbed her now calm digimon back into it cause, unlike Stacy's rookie form, the metal Pteranodon didn't exactly blend in. "Yeah I already knew about digimon and their world but I understand why you didn't want to mention anything digimon related as it really isn't common knowledge." she said holding out her D-Tector so Kai could see it better before while retrieving her coffee with her right hand. "As for lacking the capability to react, that is far from the case. Since I'm a slow runner I fight if threatened. However digimon battles in this world are a horrible idea in most places. Like I said to your partner, they tend to attract unwanted attention most of the time."
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Mar 31, 2022 4:58:42 GMT
"Believe me I am well aware of the dangers. I didn't mean to let the cat out of the bag, but finnicky device ya know? Well guess you wouldn't." Kai said as she would double check the device that was being shown to her. She recognized it as the one that was in possession of the likes of Amelie, those who used totems of Digimon species to morph into the form of the totem. "You... don't have a Digimon partner do you? You're one of those, morphers right?" She said as she was starting to piece everything together, before rubbing her temple.
"Here I thought trying to prepare four essays in two days was gonna be my biggest headache... Trying to process everything of another world. It's, overwhelming. I was there for nearly a week. I, just wanna sleep this off and wake to a normal world, is that a bad thing? Is normal even something one can hope for anymore... Normally I reserve such questions for saints and philosophers, but I could use an answer." She said as she would look up at Stacy, drops of water pouring down her face from the rain. Kai took a moment to breath as her leg jerked for the moment, she would regain some of her energy.
"We're in the Shibuya river right?" She said as she was starting to become more cognisant of her surroundings as she would look about, seeing just where she was in the human world. She was getting her bearings and starting to know just how she would try to get home, however she was wondering if she should even go there right now.
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Mar 31, 2022 8:26:55 GMT
"More like a finnicky partner who mistook me as threatening but I'm not taking it personally since neither of you two know me." Stacy said chuckling a bit as she shook her head. "You're right about one thing though, I don't have a partner due to being a spirit wielder. Seeing that I am older than the average human involved with digimon it seems the universe has once again been showing examples of its odd sense of humor."
"Yes the thought of another world existing alongside this one is mind blowing enough never mind the monsters that dwell within it which makes me wonder how I've been able to process it as well as I did. Maybe it's because I was exposed to anime at a young age so talking monsters and parallel worlds don't seem so weird to me. Or maybe I am somewhat crazy, who knows?" Stacy said with a casual shrug seemingly not to bothered by the weirdness even from the start.
When Kai asked if they were at Shibuya River, Stacy looked around for a moment before she said "It would seem so and as far as I remember there is a natural gate to the Digital World around here. I prefer using the one in Shibuya Station myself though."
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Apr 3, 2022 2:35:52 GMT
"Yeah, I was trying to get to the station's counterpart on the other side. Only thing is, someone else tampered with my Loader before I got it, since it spawned with Tera in her egg. The Digimon who held onto it for a while had an extra part from a bulk order she put in for when Tera and I met..." She said as she was wondering if Stacy could see where the story was gonna lead. "However, after grueling agony and trauma that would traumatize a therapist just hearing about it later, when we got to Terminus, we ran into Tera's old boss, who told me about the, Digiport." She explained the obvious ending of the story and how she would eventually get out to the human world.
"However, now that you brought it up. You do seem to be quite, more experienced then those who were invited to the Digital World. Have, you just been around there for a long time, or, were you just invited more recently? Honestly I've been trying to figure out the rules of the matchmaking since I got there. Why some humans get specific partners, as tamers or generals, or even spirits." She said as she was honestly lost on the whole thing. However she was starting to regain her strength as she was progressively looking less pale and regaining some of her energy. She would start to feel a bit better as she would stand up, albeit a bit shakily.
"Though my sample size consists of a handful of tamers, generals with one partner, or a spirit one like yourself. Only pattern I can see is that every relationship has some unstable element on one side that gets grounded by the other. Spirit users, can't figure out what sort of fate guides that stuff." She said as she was quite lost in trying to figure out the pattern and logic of the universe.
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Post by ricochet-Stacy on Apr 3, 2022 4:47:57 GMT
"Wow. That makes my first trip to the Digital World seem mild by comparison." Stacy said when learning that Kai's Xros Loader was tampered with before she got it and even spawned with Tera's egg. "I don't know if it is common for digivices to be spawned with ones partner digimon unless it is with spirit wielders. Spirit Wielders tend to have access to rookie form totems but not always." Sure Stacy's first digivolution was the result of being possessed by her spirit but no one had gotten hurt since the spirit seemed to be benevolent in nature.
"As for me being experienced with matters regarding the Digital World that makes sense seeing as I got my D-Tector one night two years ago when it came shooting out of my laptop." Stacy said before continuing "As for why most people are chosen or how digimon are picked, I don't know what force makes those decisions. I just have learned to roll with it."
Seeing Kai shakily get up, Stacy walked over too her and held out her hand before she said "There is a coffee shop not far from here. Perhaps we should at least head there to get out of the rain. Then we can head for our respective homes when it settles down."
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Post by Kai Aizawa on Apr 6, 2022 7:36:25 GMT
"Yeah... sounds good." Kai said as she would look at Stacy, accepting the hand as right now she had to accept that she needed help, but for reasons that have been ingrained into her, she struggles to ask for it when it came to her personally. She would slowly begin to start to walk along with Stacy towards the coffee shop. Given everything she been through, getting out of the rain definitely sounded like a positive change for the moment.
"Could definitely use use any excuse to get out of the rain as quickly as possible." She said as the two would be heading towards the nearby coffee shop. Kai was just glad to be in some form of familiar setting though she would look around Shibuya. Though she had to admit, something did feel different to her as she would be looking at the streets as they seemed different, in a way she couldn't put her finger on at the moment. At the moment she was mostly itching to find a way home so she could safely fall apart just sob into a pillow or something to process what she was barely keeping in check bellow the surface.
In truth, Kai felt a dryness in her throat, her eyes were sore, there was a slight disturbance in her breathing, her primary coping mechanism with stress was to suppress it until it wasn't a priority, often by seeking out something capable of overshadowing the original problem or sleeping it off, or using her crafts of cooking or knitting to outlet the stress, never letting it show to other people at all costs. Kai thought she was dealing pretty well until she once again started to move, she mentally counted down in her head from a thousand by seven, but by the time she got down to two hundred and thirty seven she noted there was little change.
"Just need to keep going, to last a while, make it home in time..."
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