Fat cat & Sleepyhead [Open]

The end of the lunch break marked the beginning of yet another afternoon. "Only one class to go" whispered the tired teacher to herself. What a day. Fortunately, she'd have plenty of time later and already dreamt of all the ways she could relax and unwind. Lost in her thoughts of home, Nao missed the sound of another notification sent to her phone by the Digivice app. "Maybe I'll go to the dojo tonight...Or cuddle with Mako and watch a movie? I have to shop for groceries too...Aaaah..." followed by a another flow of options, enough to steal a sigh from her exhausted mind. "Y'know what, I'll just try to survive until I get back home, and I'll figure something out then..." closed this train of thought.

For the next handful of minutes before her next class, Nao absent mindedly read her notes and texted her sensei at the archery range to tell her she'd come pratice a little earlier than usual today. After the long break forced upon her by her injury, finally being able to visit the dojo regularly was a real breath of fresh air for the young woman. She tried to practice at least two times a week now, to try and get back into shape. Secretly, a part of Nao still hoped to progress enough to go pro and live off of this sport. These thoughts, however, she kept locked away somewhere when she convinced herself that it was too late, that she was too old, that her body couldn't handle it anymore. Nao hesitated for a second or two, unsure if she really wanted to go tonight.
Here, she noticed yet another notification from the Digivice app. This one read "Pafumon is hungry ". Ah, well, she didn't know how to feed these little guys even if she cared to, so again, this would wait. After all, Nao couldn't recall a single time she managed to keep her virtual pets alive more than a couple days at a time, back in the days.
With a resolute smile, Nao sent the text.  


The rest of the afternoon went and passed like every other. Tired students, focused students, uninterested students, questions unanswered and sentences butchered, the usual. When the bell rang the end of the day, Nao packed her stuff and left in the same hurry she arrived in. She left what she needed to in the faculty office, gently nodded and smiled to the few kids who wished her a good evening and confidently disappeared behind the school gates.

Shibuya was bustling at this time of day. That's the one thing Nao really struggled to get used to. So many people, so much noise, no matter the time of day. Not that she hated it, far from it, really. It was simply so different from everything she had ever known that it never ceased to amaze her. Lost in her own head, again, the woman made her way to the dojo. Even though it was far from the first time she went there, she still needed to use the GPS on her phone to not get lost in the maze of streets and detours of the densest city in the world. 
In any case, Nao made it. She borrowed everything she needed from the dojo, as she had not taken the time to stop by her home to get her own bow and her own kimono. Fortunately, there were not many other persons here today, so this equipment wouldn't be missed. She quickly changed, said hello to her sensi and to the other few fellow students, and jumped straight into practice. 

Despite the time that had passed, this movement was still burned inside Nao's body. She didn't have to think, it came as naturally as breathing, in a long, delicate motion.
Ashibumi. Eyes locked into the target, body turned to the side, bow in one hand, arrows in the other.
Dozukuri. Hips and shoulders perfectly balanced.
Yugamae. Grab the bow string with the hand holding the arrows, Get ready.
Uchiokoshi. Lift the bow above your hand in a single graceful breath.
Hikiwake. Draw a half circle to bring down the bow, pull on the string and get the arrow to meet your right cheek.
Kai. Unity. Pure armony between your hand, the string, the arrow, the bow, the target. Wait a moment, let it shine. Ten seconds. 
Hanare. The string leaves the hand almost by itself and flies along the line created by the perfect unity. 
Zanshin. Do not move. Watch the arrow fly. Its course is the result of this posture, it is the mirror of every most minute details in your being. It is the purpose of Kyudo.

Then, yudaoshi, bring the bow down and start again from the very beginning. 

Nao practiced for two hours, repeating the same movements again and again at the same time as the others in the dojo, following the instructions of their sensei. Satisfied, she took the clothes she borrowed with her to wash them at home and left the dojo, still sweating. Part of Nao wanted to walk back home, but the sun was beginning to set and she was too tired for more exercise tonight. She walked to the nearest train station and sat in a train, ready to fall asleep if she wasn't careful. 


Back home, finally. Nao hadn't opened the door but could already hear Mako meowing on the other side. Hopefully the grumpy cat didn't bother the neighbors... Mako was a pretty nice kitty, so it couldn't have been too bad, right? Nao pushed the door and in front of her unfolded the terrible truth of her absence. The whole place was a mess. The first thing to cross the teacher's mind was that burglars had come in. She panicked, slammed the door behind her and started looking for Mako as well as any missing valuable. “Meooow!”, Nao heard coming from the kitchen. In one step, she entered the room. Mako was there, hiding in a cupboard. And, right in front of the cupboard, sat around Mako's bowl, two weird little creatures.
One was a small black furball with big yellow eyes. It was looking directly at Mako, as if waiting for the fat red cat to come down to eat it.
The other was a sligtly bigger white mop-looking thing, with long ears and huge black eyes. It was curiously looking around the place and seemed to notice Nao when she appeared. It let out a surprised cry, drawing the attention of its fellow creature. 

At this moment, Nao's phone kept buzzing, flooded with notifications she couldn't care to look at right now. What the hell were those things? Slowly, as to not frighten them, Nao backed down a couple steps and grabbed a broom from the other room, ready to defend herself if these weird animals were agressive. 
Still as slowly, she walked back in the room. The animals were still there, now looking intensely at her. "Shoo! Go away!", screamed Nao to try and scare the creatures like she usually does when Mako's being a nuisance. The animals didn't react as Nao expected, and instead just jumped from their spot and moved closer to Nao, still observing her. Now actually scared, Nao started to hit in front of her with the broom, repeating the same couple words in a threatening tone : "Shoo! Move! Get out!". To no avail. 

Now, the two creatures didn't seem agressive at all, mostly curious actually. Slowly, or as fast as their legless bodies allowed it, the inched closer and closer to Nao as she was starting to break down for real. Scared, she fell on her back, tripping on some coat hanger that had been thrown to the ground. 
The yound woman hit the ground in a loud thud. Mako rushed out of the cupboard and went to hide someplace else. The two little furballs, however, took the opportunity to jump on Nao's legs. From here, they looked strangely familiar. 

At this exact moment, the memories from last night came back rushing inside Nao's head. The weird glitch on her computer, the egg on the chait when she left for work in the morning, that same egg on her phone and the two creatures that hatched out of it. Is this even possible? No, surely this is a weirdly elaborate joke. These things are toys, plushes or whatever planted there as some sort of weird prank. Right? Nao took her phone out and saw the seemingly endless list of notifications sent by the Digivice app : "Botamon is happy ", "Pafumon is happy ",  "Botamon is ready to digivolve", "Pafumon wants to play!',...
That's impossible, right? RIGHT!? Shaken and scared, Nao's vision blurred and she lost consciousness. 


Nao opened her eyes again. The sun outside the windows had set and only the city lights were left to shine a comforting glow in the apartment. Her head hurt, still on the cold hard floor. "Did I pass out from exhaustion? I had such a weird dream...", she mumbled to herself as she lifted up her head to look around. It was no dream, it was no nightmare. At her side, two new monsters were waiting patiently. A purple smug-looking puffball and a big white rat thing with long ears. Nao was about to scream when the two creatures spoke in unison : "Hello Nao! We're your Digimon partners!" 
Two new notifications had been sent to Nao's phone while she was asleep : "Congratulations! Botamon digivolved into Pagumon!" and "Congratulations! Pafumon digivolved into Kyaromon!"

What a day.