ルイくんの友達 @digitalgate02 - Tumblr Blog

Young Detective Prince Special ~The Midnight Caper of August First~

[AO3 v.]

Happy Digimon Day, I usually draw stuff for the day but since the loss (?) of my storage driver i got demotivated to draw cool stuff. So a friend suggested to write something for the fanfiction i'm working on at the moment...!!

So, have fun with it.

CW: Electrocution, Strangulation (?) if i find another TW to put here i will edit it btw

“I don’t think he is involved.”

Daisuke was definitely stubborn about this. About how he hated every time Ken came to give updates on the mysterious phantom thief who had been a nuisance to everyone.

The idea of Ohwada Rui just doing something that could potentially drag him into another miserable and awful period in his life just made Daisuke utterly worried.

“... And now I… I left everyone behind.”

He sighed, due to his mixed feelings, he decided to not open the ramen shop that day. He went around New York, just to cool off his head and forget about whatever was happening back in Tokyo.

But anxiety did not leave his mind. Trying to occupy his simple mind wasn’t working…

“Argh I can’t stay here without doing anything ya know?!”

“Daisuke?!”

On his brief stop at a local cafe, he just grabbed his head (at least not pulling his hair this time) and growled. V-mon frowned, he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to keep him up to the case Ichijouji Ken was investigating at the police.

“Sometimes I wish I could just… Talk with Noel right now! And just ask him to stop playing around! I mean, he likes to play and defy the law, but…!!”

“Daisuke, calm down…”

“Sigh… Why is it that of all the people we know, Rui is the one who's just acting weird right now?!”

“... He always was awkward though…” V-mon shrugged, “I don’t mean his looks, but he’s not good at talking with people, has some struggles to voice his thoughts and needs… And he can be a little intimidating too.”

“Intimidating…” he glanced at V-mon, “Yeah, he kinda got the bad guy vibes… But! He’s not a bad guy, right?!”

“I haven’t said that though…” V-mon pouted, “You are overthinking now!”

“Overthinking…?! I’m worried…!! It’s not like he--”

Suddenly, Daisuke’s phone rang. That caught both of them off guard and startled Daisuke like a puppy hearing the noises of the fireworks. Their little fight was interrupted by Hikari’s phone call.

“Hikari-chan…?”

He answered the call, “Heeeello, Hikari-chan!! What’s wron--”

“Tell me you didn’t forget to come to Odaiba next week!”

“H-huh…? What’s next week…?”

“You forgot… sigh.”

“... AH! CRAP, next week is the last week of July!! W-which means!!”

“August 1st is on the same week too, on Thursday. I know this date is not that… important for you, but…”

“No, it is important for me too. Even though I met V-mon in April when the school year started… August 1st is what caused me to become a Chosen Child later…!”

He looked at V-mon and smiled,

“No matter the date we met our digimon partners… This date sums up all of our feelings and our bonds with the digimon, and with ourselves. And I think we should drag a certain person to tag along with us this time.”

“You mean… Rui-kun?”

“As Miyako always says… Bingo!!” he chuckled.

“But do you think he will accept to gather together on that day?” V-mon blinked, “Daisuke, you should at least think about the possibility of him refusing our invite…”

“If he can’t… Then I will understand, but he could get to meet Taichi-san and the others! I think he only met Mimi-san so far?”

“Oh he met Joe too…!” V-mon reminded him, “Because of his eye injury.”

“Yeah, right…! He hasn't met Taichi-san, Yamato-senpai, Koushiro-san and Sora-san yet!!”

“Still… I wonder if everyone will gather this year… Everyone is getting busier, and we are rarely getting enough time to hang out…”

Hikari’s comment pierced his heart with the cold truth. The more they get older, the less time they get to meet and spend time together. But could this stop Motomiya Daisuke from being hopeful?

“I know, and this is why we HAVE to gather everyone then!”

Obviously no.

And then, on July 24 2015 (25 in Japan Standard Time)… Daisuke had made a new goal for that year, and he would do EVERYTHING to accomplish it.

“Thank you very much and come again soon~”

Ukkomon chirped as he waved his fins to the customers leaving the cafe shop Infinity. Rui, however, was at the cashier counter looking at his wristwatch in silence.

“...”

It was a bit harder to read his mind, his facial expression could mean that he needed a break or he was upset with something unknown. The watch screen reflected his face, bathed in the comfortable, quiet lighting of the café.

“Do you think… They would forgive me for trying to not rely on them?”

He muttered, and he knew Ukkomon’s supernatural senses would hear that. The digimon then approached and stood in front of him, on the counter.

“You are still worried about being a burden to them, right?”

Rui nodded in silence.

“I don’t think they are mad at you, but… Trying to keep them away could hurt their feelings though.”

“I… I know, but… we have to…! It’s not that I don’t appreciate them, it’s just…”

“You hate lying to others, isn’t it?”

Ukkomon was the only one able to read his mind at this point. Maybe this shows how stronger those bonds had become after the closure of their pettiest fight three years ago.

“Yeah… You don’t like it either, do you?”

Ukkomon shook his head, gently, “No, I don’t like to lie to others… I never lied to you though. But I also did bad things instead… And what I did hurt you and your feelings further…!”

“Yeah, because we weren’t talking enough…” he sighed with a frown.

“So you shouldn’t avoid them to not lie…! Maybe you could be more honest about your feelings, they became your friends. You made friends with them on your own, without my help.”

“But… Being honest means… I will have to deal with them being angry by my actions… And I… I don’t think they--”

“You can do it…!”

Ukkomon grabbed Rui’s cheeks and made him look at him. He didn’t use his technique of course, but it was a serious determined glare… Like when a supportive parent just tries to help their child to face some difficulty in their life.

“You are not alone, and you’re free to do whatever you want, Rui! You’re not a little child needing my help. You’re a grown up, stronger and cool. We’re proud of you, so… Don’t worry about it.”

“Ukkomon…?”

The digimon gently let his face go and floated back, smiling.

“You can do it, ok…??”

Rui blinked, and then smiled back at those words of support and encouragement.

“MAN, that cat eared helmet thief…!!”

Ichijouji Ken heard one of his coworkers at the department complaining about the last case, the one at professor Shibayama’s residence. He was looking at the reports the professor had given to him, about the mysterious digimon with glowing green eyes.

And then the message…

　　　　　　　The dangerous path has opened.

　　　　　　　　　　　Take it or quit.

Noel Leblanc -- AKA Arsenemon -- wasn’t that good at going straight to the point, he would resort to charades and codes, all in order to play an exciting detective vs phantom thief game. Sometimes he would take it too far and end up almost being mistaken as the enemy. His antics and methods were completely ‘questionably legal’ but Ken and his group couldn’t complain about it.

Not when the same group of people had also done ‘questionably legal’ stuff in the past, since their first digimon adventure together in their lives.

Daisuke’s speculation that the mysterious Chat Noir was brainwashing the victims in order to take information out of them (as dubbed as “Stealing a Memory”) sounded something that came straight from a mystery fiction work, especially with the flavored choice of words to possibly keep the police out of the radar, but well enough to be caught by Ken and the Chosen Children.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong… You could consider taking information out of someone via brainwashing something akin to ‘stealing’ a ‘memory’, right?

“Officer Oozora,” Ken politely called one of his coworkers (one who wasn’t throwing a fit at least), “Do we know when the victims of the previous ‘assassination’ attempts will be released from the hospital?”

“Oh--?! I will make a call! Just a minute, I’ll be back.”

That question caught the other officer’s curiosity, making him then leave the room to call the hospital. Wormmon looked at Ken, and whispered:

“Will you tell them about what we discovered or…”

“Not yet, we first need to catch Noel’s little agent… And learn more about what he and Noel are trying to do with their target.”

Wormmon nodded in response, and then they waited for Oozora to come back.

A few minutes of call with the hospital receptionist and then the officer returned to the room,

“They are keeping them for two more weeks to make sure they are fine to be released, so around August 5 and 6 they might be available to report anything to the department.”

“Hmm… Right.”

Then there's still a chance to catch Chat Noir before the department does and disrupts Noel Leblanc's plans…

“Do you think they could help to catch that guy, Ichijouji?” Oozora asked him.

“Well, our job is to catch whoever is disturbing the peace and putting innocent lives’ in danger. And if it is a digimon… We need to capture and escort them back to the Digital World.”

“Ah right, the digi-business thing…”

Oozora does not have a digimon partner, but a few people in the department had. After all, that small special unit was specialized in digimon cases.

But Ken, sly as a trickster fox, had to keep his own coworkers and the Chosen Children in it away from Chat Noir until he and his group of friends had details about what the digimon researcher Himekawa Maki was up to.

Why would she be Noel’s target? Is she the one who got the stolen blue prints and notes about the creation of Menoa Bellucci’s Eosmon?

“Um… I’ve been thinking…”

“...?”

“Maybe… We could let Ichijouji-kun and the others help us?”

The trio of misfits -- Noel, Youta and Mizuki -- and their digimon had called their rookie agent for a small reunion, now that they got their target identified.

“I’d prefer to not rush a fateful reencounter though” Noel said, nonchalantly, “Especially now that Ichijouji-san works as a police detective, if we let him know our plans immediately… It could cause grave consequences to his own reputation.”

“Um… so we let him catch us?” the small companion digimon who was Chat Noir’s partner (?) asked, tilting his head like a confused pup.

“Yup,” Youta answered the digimon, “And I think Noel is having fun playing with Ichijouji once again.”

“Having… fun?” Chat Noir blinked his eyes, then… “Is it fun to be chased by the police…?”

“I mean, isn’t something fun to you…?” Noel chuckled innocently, “My apologies for dragging you into this, monsieur. But you keep showing some… excitement for doing risky things like these.”

“... Heh” he smirked, “Let’s say the first time I did it was really troublesome, but I think it is indeed fun.”

“You’re just… sounding like them again” the small digimon sighed, concerned about the agent’s behavior.

“I m-mean… Ichijouji-kun also broke the law before. And before. And his friends did it too. Can… Can they blame me…?”

Noel dropped that smile, noticing he once again just enabled the worst on someone… By sheer accident, of course.

“So, what would you ask me to do this time?”

“Wow, so you already know why we called you here,” Lunamon teased him.

“You always call us mostly to talk about those missions,” the small digi-partner in crime rolled his eyes, while Chat Noir just coughed.

“We need you to do something for us indeed,” Coronamon confirmed with a nod.

“And what is it…?”

“Ahem…” Noel continued, “It’s not related to the current case, but might help considering the current target is connected to this person… But on a business level only.”

Chat Noir and his small digimon friend looked at each other, then back to the thieves.

“However… this person has connections to someone stubborn we are acquainted with that could make it difficult.”

“Someone stubborn…?” the tiny digimon repeated vaguely.

“But fear not, we know that said acquaintance will probably be scheduled for personal matters with other people,” Noel added.

“And what exactly do you want us to do this time and when…?”

“In the first hours of August 1st, we would like you to recover something unfairly given to this case’s target.”

Miss Espimon then projected a hologram with the details with her eyes.

“This person…!!?”

“ALRIGHT… We have to do our best!!”

Daisuke cracked his knuckles, he took his phone and started typing some messages at the chat group.

YO! EVERYONE! WE GOTTA HANG OUT ON AUG 1ST THIS YEAR.

HOW ABOUT GOING TO THE DIGITAL WORLD?

OR A RESORT? A BEACH? CAMPING?

Visiting your ol’ pal Daisuke in New York? 👉👈

Someone immediately replied:

Miyako: You using the 👉👈 is weird, please don’t.

You: It wasn’t me!! It was the phone’s autocorrector! 💢

Miyako: By using that combination of emoji you are giving the message that you would like us to visit you more often.

Miyako: And may I remind you that we are already going to visit you as soon as we are free to do so.

You: But… the autocorrector…

You: Argh!! I want to hang out with y’all on that special day!!

You: Here! I said it!

You: but that was my autocorrector, V-mon uses this emoji online when ordering snacks and it automatically had saved that combo!! 💢💢💢💢💢💢💢

Miyako: I'd like to cool my head for once. But I have to use my free time to catch Noel's little agent before the police do and we never learn what he and his crew are up to.

Miyako: However I do believe if Noel is involved, this means something concerning is happening behind the curtains.

You: Huh… Miyako…??

You: Wait a MINUTE------ KEN WHAT THE HECK!?

Miyako: Sorry, it’s not Miyako-san. It’s me. My phone is charging, I spent the entire day checking the previous clues left and professor Shibayama’s report that my battery ran off quickly.

You: Ok, so it was you who said the emoji combo was weird?! I mean, you don’t use emoji! At! All!

Miyako: No, it wasn’t Ken-kun. It was me 😶

You: YOU GUYS ARE MAKING ME CONFUSED!!! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Takeru: There’s only way to know if who is typing is Ken-kun or Miyako-san‼️

Takeru: Miyako-san uses emojis ☝️ Ken-kun uses periods at the end of his msgs wo/ emojis.

You: Takeru what the heck!?

You: This does not mean Ken cannot use emojis, or Miyako cannot use periods!! 💢💢💢

Takeru: It’s about styles, not whether they can or cannot use one or another… 🤦

Iori: I agree, Ichijouji-san using emoji could be a red flag that he is not the real Ichijouji Ken.

You: ……………………………………………………………………

Hikari: if I ever type suspiciously, please consider it a signal that I’ve been kidnapped and I need to send you a message without calling the kidnapper’s attention ✌

You: GUYS. PLEASE. LISTEN. 🗣️

Iori: Have you ever thought about the fact that Ichijouji-san's phone is off and charging, but he and Miyako-san are together at this moment, taking turns to use her phone instead?

You: Yes, I did! But then Takeru just!! 💢💢💢

Takeru: Am I the real Takaishi Takeru though? 🤔 What if I’m using his phone right now to invade your little chit chat with your friends, mon ami ❓🐈‍⬛

You: WHAT THE?!?!?!

Miyako: Ok, Takeru-kun you shouldn’t mess with Daisuke’s head like that 😓

Miyako: I agree with Miyako-san, he will end up taking the bait…

Iori: It’s OK, he would not fall for a cheap trick like that…

You: NOEL WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH TAKERU’S PHONE AND TROLLING ME?! 💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢

Iori: …

Miyako: …

Hikari: okay… sometimes we forget that it’s too easy to taunt Daisuke-kun… 💧

Takeru: Sorry… It was a joke, I’m not Noel-kun!! I couldn’t resist…!! 🙇

Rui: What… Why is my phone beeping that much… I forgot to mute it…

You: RUUUUUUUUI!! WE GOTTA TALK ABOUT THE 8/1!! RIGHT! NOW!

Rui: 8/1…? Eight over one…??

Takeru: Daisuke is talking about August 1st, a special date for us.

Rui: Oh… Congrats on your relationship…?

Daisuke: TAKERU AND I AIN’T DATING OR GETTING HITCHED!! 💢💢💢

Miyako: How many times has Daisuke used that angry emoji now…?

Rui: 😕

However, Ken really found it suspicious that Takeru did that kind of taunt. Miyako had left the phone with him when he sent that message, but…

Rui: What is Aug 1st an important date for you guys…?

Hikari: it’s the day Takeru-kun and I met our partners, and a few more digimon-related events happened too

Rui: Oh… I see…

Daisuke: Well it’s not like… all good stuff… But we try to focus on the good things, and a tribute to Tailmon’s loyal friend Wizardmon…

Rui: Something… bad happened to Tailmon’s friend…?

Takeru: It’s a long story… Well, what Daisuke wanted to do, before we went a little off-topic was… Every Aug 1st and 3rd we try to gather to celebrate and also to pay respects for Wizardmon.

Takeru: So he was trying to get all the people who were involved to gather again.

Rui: I see…

Daisuke: We still didn’t introduce you to the rest of the gang tho! So maybe if you can…

Rui: … I will think about it. But I don’t want to… disturb your heartfelt reunion.

Ken also noticed Rui trying to not get involved with them, and it was bridging old memories to the time he was trying to avoid Daisuke and the others, assuming he did not belong in their group. That he was just a nuisance and disturbing their teamwork.

And how Miyako had come to catch him, bring him back to the battle and thus feel they all needed him there. Be as Daisuke’s jogress partner or as their friend.

Rui was not different from him, Ken presumed. And they wouldn’t force Rui to get engaged with their group activities if he didn’t want to. But they all wished he didn’t simply try to shove them away like that…

...

“Sigh…”

Meanwhile, Rui asked himself if it was the right thing to do. He looked at the wristwatch. It was late at night in Japan and morning in New York if he was correct…

“It’s for their own sake.”

He muttered, trying to internalize those words.

In the last week of July, Daisuke and V-mon packed their stuff to spend their three-day brief vacation with the 02 group. He set their departure from New York at 6:00 am on July 31st, since they could just open the Digital Gate and then reach Japan in a few minutes, arriving in Tokyo at 7:00 pm.

“Yawn…”

Though the effects of jetlag were just beginning to hit Daisuke, he went back to his parents' house in Odaiba, being carried by XV-mon along with their luggage.

“...”

Someone was reading the messages on his phone, eyes watching every activity in it. 7 o’clock pm was enough time to get ready… So, he checked a peculiar person’s information again.

The name on the screen…

Kutou Daiki, Ministry of Defense - Digital World Department Information Strategy Section Information Consultant

This person definitely had an interesting job title… It wasn’t suspicious, but if this person was unfairly used to hide a potential crime proof…

--------------------- It was his duty to retrieve it anyway.

9 pm…

Chat Noir, or rather, the person who was the mysterious new phantom thief in the news, approached their target’s house, in a residential area in Shinonome. He examined the area with caution and without letting anyone else notice him there.

He could touch objects because he had been wearing gloves, even if it was summer at this point. But at least such gloves wouldn’t leave any fingerprints in the crime scene…

Then… he checked his phone’s digital clock. His next move was opening the private group chat using the app Noel and co. installed on his phone to talk with the thieves.

And finally, he took something that looked like a small Espimon-head-shaped drone and put it inside the house’s yard, between the bars protecting the residence.

“That’s enough… I guess.”

“Rookie, you shouldn’t go to the target’s residence too early…” Mizuki sighed through the private line.

“No, wait a sec… It’s not that early and he already did what we needed to scan the house!” Miss Espimon said, “Oho, I’m detecting it…!! It’s here…!!”

The phone screen showed him a map, and his gaze caught the blinking spot and his mind started to plan a route to sneak into the house and to get out.

“Alright, I got it… Wait until it’s midnight. I’m coming back to the hideout now.”

But… what were they looking for inside that person’s house…?

“Daisuke!”

Someone called him, someone… Ah.

“You big imp, WAKE UP!!”

And Jun’s scream just made him open his eyes, frightened. He yelled something out of response:

“GAH, I’M LATE FOR SCHOOL-- Huh?!?”

He looked at her holding a phone. The awkward silence lasted for three minutes, until she just…

“You got a call.”

“Sis, what are you doin’ here--”

“We’ll talk about it later, now answer the call…!”

“R-right…” he put his legs on the floor and sat on his bed properly. Then, she handed him the phone, and he answered the call, “Heeello…?”

“Ah, Motomiya, is it you!? I heard from Yagami-senpai that you were coming this week…”

The voice made Daisuke smile,

“Hey, dude long time no see! And yeah, it’s me…!”

“I hope you had a good trip back to Japan, but I will be straight to the point: Are you busy now?”

“Hm? No, But… What’s up?”

“... There’s something I need to show you. And to request your help, if possible.”

Daisuke blinked, Chibimon glanced at him with a sleepy face:

“What happened, Daisuke…?”

11 pm,

The rookie phantom thief returned to Kutou Daiki’s residence, hiding in a spot no one in the street could see him. His helmet was streaming what he was seeing to Mizuki’s computer in their hideout. Still not midnight, but he was already trying to sneak into the yard.

Kutou had no pets, and his alarm was suddenly turned off by the mysterious small digimon companion Chat Noir has… However, both of them heard voices coming from the window.

“I have no idea what to do, Motomiya… I got a warning this morning.”

“A… Warning?”

“It’s one of those… calling cards, I got one in the mail this morning.”

“...”

“I don’t think I’m a potential victim of the mysterious Chat Noir. Aren’t they interested in the Futami Foundation’s digimon research?”

“Futami Foundation?”

“The name of the place the thief invaded twice, most of the victims work there or have a partnership with the foundation.”

Chat Noir took a peek from the window and saw…

“!!”

… Motomiya Daisuke talking with his target.

His heart skipped a beat, and he gulped silently. Unlike Ichijouji Ken, Daisuke is very very STUBBORN and unstoppable. That was one of the cool heroes who doesn't give up until there was still a chance for a turnaround in the battle.

----------- He will pursue you until you surrender and admit defeat.

…

Daisuke then asked Kutou -- “What does the calling card say?”

“It says they will arrive at midnight. So I thought the best was calling for your assistance.”

“Heh, didn’t you know? In my High School days I chased a phantom thief too! We even caught him! But he escaped.”

“Then you didn’t catch him,” Kutou said with a snarky remark. Yet, lightly.

“H-hey!!” Daisuke pouted, then he coughed, “A-anyway… Leave it to us. I will catch ‘em in no time!”

“I know you guys can do it, well… I will wait in my room.”

“Sure, dude!”

…

Chat Noir checked his phone’s digital clock once again,

“Is he the one Noel-kun talked about…?”

Then, checked the house’s map.

“I would need to distract him and V-mon in order to get that item…”

The invisible small digimon floated next to him -- “What should we do now…?”

“... He’s a stubborn person, so we have to find a way to give him and V-mon a little extra task to get us to act freely.”

“... You’re sounding like a bad guy…”

“This… This is needed. They will understand later... I hope so.”

The small digimon nodded in return, but deep down he could notice there was some concern in the thief’s words. Yes, Chat Noir was afraid of Daisuke and V-mon for some reason.

“Then, how will we keep them busy?”

“Hmm…” he put the phone back in his pocket, then looked through the window. Next he looked at the digimon, “I got it… Please listen carefully.”

While the rookie agent gave the unknown digimon companion instructions, Daisuke and V-mon left that spot and started checking the house’s rooms and entrances. When Chat Noir and the small digimon looked again…

“Huh, they are gone…!”

… they lost Daisuke and V-mon. Yup.

“M-maybe this is a good thing…?” Chat Noir babbled, then opened the window. He jumped inside through it and landed on an empty corridor. He then contacted the other thieves, “The stubborn person you mentioned is here… If the small Mot-camera is still around, please keep me informed about his and V-mon’s moves.”

“Right… Just don’t waste your time, rookie.”

A pause, then Youta added, “... And be careful.”

“Ok, thank you…”

He checked something on his arm, perhaps a wrist communicator? Or a smart watch? Whatever that accessory gear was, it showed a hologram map from its surface. Chat Noir would guide himself to the second floor by using it.

The house wasn’t that big, but also was a reasonable size. It had at least four rooms excluding the kitchen and the bathroom. Kutou was possibly sharing rent with someone, a roommate perhaps? But he had no time to wonder why that person would live in that place alone.

The invisible digimon helped, looking up for the two rooms upstairs. But so far there was… nothing like the mission’s target. And Kutou wasn’t in any of those rooms…?! Maybe he was in the other two rooms downstairs…?

“... That’s suspicious, don’t you think?” the thief stopped, hiding in one of the rooms’ big closet.

The companion digimon nodded.

“Hold on, I think the map is… upside down.” and he fixed it by rotating the hologram with his other hand, “Huh…!?”

He and the digimon looked at it, eyes widened.

… There was a fifth room. Underground.

“What…!?”

Chat Noir shook his head, and then focused again on the mission. Now knowing the target was downstairs and in some sort of basement was completely a surprise to him. He then took another look at the map, realizing there was a secret passage… inside that same closet.

“... Are we lucky today?” The digimon exclaimed, yet tilting his head. With no commentaries, Chat Noir started examining the closet and found a button. He pressed it and suddenly a hidden door opened, leading to a set of stairs for the room below them.

Checking the map once more, the duo realized the stairs led to what was supposed to be outside the house, but a second later they noticed that was purely a high-tech camouflage like Miss Espimon’s. So… Kutou Daiki… can use that kind of trick too…?

They looked at each other for a moment and nodded. Then, Chat Noir and the digimon took those stairs.

…

Outside, Daisuke and V-mon looked around to make sure there was nothing suspicious there. Except V-mon sensed a digimon nearby.

“Daisuke!”

The intrepid Chosen “Child” glanced at V-mon with a serious face. He and V-mon understood that something was happening inside the house… Eh, Somehow they knew. What was that? Sixth sense? Who knows… It felt more like a gut feeling.

“Alright…! Let’s go.”

Then, they went back to the house. Once they were back to the corridor, V-mon noticed the window -- the same window Chat Noir used to sneak inside -- was open. He called Daisuke’s attention to that detail. Daisuke’s eyes widened and he felt shivers down his spine, the fear that Kutou was in danger right now.

“We must hurry and find that guy!” he told V-mon, still thinking something weird was happening to Noel… Or rather, that Noel knew something they didn’t.

And if Noel is really doing those things, and playing a game with Ken… This means the idiot phantom thief has forgotten about his main goal and got absorbed into the caper shenanigans once again. Just like the first time Arsenemon crossed paths with Daisuke and the others seven years ago.

The duo started searching around the house, but it didn’t seem anyone else was inside. Wait a minute…

Where’s Kutou anyway?! Wasn’t he upstairs…? Daisuke started to wonder where the former technical school student was. And then, V-mon noticed one of the two rooms upstairs open… Without questioning, Daisuke ran to that room. Once inside, they realized there was only a bed, a desk and a chair, and nothing else… except for a closet door.

“What the--”

Daisuke and V-mon decided to check the closet. It was also empty. He scratched his hair, intrigued by the fact there wasn’t anyone else inside the house and this closet had the door open, and was empty as well. V-mon then leaned on the wall, because he was still sleepy from their NYC-to-Tokyo trip, and accidentally activated the hidden switch on it.

A mysterious door opened to them.

“... What did you do…?” Daisuke asked V-mon, blinking his eyes, “But how can… exist stairs… what that mean-- huh…?”

“I heard something too!” V-mon babbled, “It sounds like…”

“It is Kutou’s voice!!” Daisuke grabbed V-mon and carried him under his arm, and rushed downstairs, fearing for the worst.

In the basement, Kutou was facing the thief as they possibly presumed, but the scene was nothing like his assumptions.

“Kh… Why did you do that!?”

Chat Noir was the one in real trouble, not Kutou.

“Because I know what you are trying to do here, thief”

“You know…? Then you know that thing could put you in jail if they find it here…!”

“I don’t care, wouldn’t it be better for you too…?”

“I can’t let an innocent take the blame for this…!”

“But, am I really innocent though?”

Chat Noir clenched his hand, “Aren’t… you?”

Kutou laughed, “You know too much at this point… I can’t let you leave this place. And I can’t let Motomiya know either…” -- still, that sounded like a forced laugh… Something was really off with Kutou Daiki, at least it’s what Chat Noir thought.

“... Leave… Leave… h-him and V-mon out of this…!!” Chat Noir shouted.

But Daisuke just arrived and witnessed it:

Chat Noir was using that stick-or-bar weapon to counter a digimon attacking him while Kutou was relaxed and enjoying the show. The thief being on the floor fighting for his life just made Daisuke’s blood boil, and he yelled angrily:

“KUTOU WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING OR… TALKING ABOUT?!”

The distraction Daisuke caused made Chat Noir escape from the digimon attack… by the help of V-mon’s headbutting the attacker, and of the invisible digimon using his tiny wire-shaped tentacles wrapping around the thief’s arms and pulling him out of the enemy’s range.

“M-Motomiya…?” Kutou gasped, “H-how did you…”

“I have no idea what you’re doing here or why there’s a hidden underground lab here… But you’re up to something not good and trying to hurt Noe-- Chat Noir won’t help anyone!”

“What…!?” Chat Noir exclaimed, “Y-you… You came to…”

“I don’t know what’s going on… But I can’t stand watching it!” Daisuke took his smartphone D-3 (which was the replacement for the digivices at that time) “V-mon, time to evolve!”

“Roger!”

V-mon was beamed with the light coming from the smartphone, evolving him into XV-mon.

“Y-you idiot, you shouldn’t fight here!!” Kutou snapped in panic.

“... I’m not a good fighter…” Chat Noir muttered to himself, then he glanced at Daisuke, “M-Motomiya-kun… Kutou Daiki is hiding a copy of Eosmon’s code…”

“Eosmon’s… code?” Daisuke gritted his teeth.

“I arrived late, and he infused it into this digimon in front of us.”

Daisuke squinted his eyes at Kutou, with a deadly stare.

“You… you don’t believe him, right Motomiya?” Kutou said nervously, “I didn’t--”

“...”

“I can prove you…!” Then, Chat Noir snapped his fingers and the invisible small digimon passed over Kutou’s head and played an audio on the speakers.

“Kutou-kun you have enough resources for a small favor, yes?”

The voice of a man was heard. Then, next, Kutou Daiki’s own voice:

“Yes, I do. But how can I help you, mister?”

“I know that, during the Eosmon incident you managed to steal its code and store it in your database. We would like to put something to the test.”

“Hmmm?”

“You know… Menoa Bellucci… She built a digimon. And we would like to study its properties. So, can you… Use this small DigiEgg here and inject such data into it for us? You will be rewarded if you succeed, of course.”

“Yeah, I think I can do it.”

Kutou swallowed. Now, Daisuke was angry at him because the other grabbed his collar and pushed him against the wall. Meanwhile, XV-mon and Chat Noir were trying to deal with the digimon… The screens on the underground lab stated that the enemy was a Death-X-Dorugamon species.

“YOU LIED TO ME!?”

“M-Motomiya-- I--”

He was crying, but not because of Kutou and yes…

“YOU SACRIFICED AN INNOCENT DIGIMON LIFE?! FOR WHAT?! MONEY OR SOMETHING?!”

“...” Kutou didn’t look at him anymore. He had… suddenly changed that whole façade all again.

“... XV-mon, destroy that digimon.”

“W-what?!” XV-mon stuttered, “A-are you…”

“This digimon deserves to be free from this cursed man. It needs to return back to DigiEgg state and take it away from this guy’s filthy hands.”

Chat Noir was also surprised by that action.

“SO BLOW IT AND THIS PLACE--”

“WAIT A SECOND!!” Chat Noir intervened, grabbing Daisuke’s arm gently, “He… He’s not doing it for evil needs.”

“...?” Daisuke stopped, but did not look at him.

“Besides… We’re underground, I know you’re showing some… destructive tendencies like… *cough* someone you know, but try to… calm down.”

“He’s right, Daisuke…!!” XV-mon said, while still throwing hands with the enemy digimon.

“... Take us to the ground level,” Kutou said, wavering.

“... How?” Daisuke’s serious tone was still terrifying both Kutou and the thief.

“Press... the first button on the control panel,” Kutou pointed at the computer keyboard, his hand shaking in fear.

Chat Noir nodded and pressed the button, suddenly the entire structure moved upstairs…!? A door opened on the grass and they all were now outside, in the backyard of the house.

“... Finish it” Kutou said, tears sprouting from his eyes, “please.”

Daisuke kept holding Kutou by his shirt collar, watching his moves.

“XV-mon… do it.”

“Alright…” XV-mon agreed and threw the opponent digimon to the air, but that digimon now was free to fly and tried to attack XV-mon with its wires from his tail.

“GUH!” The phantom dragon digimon was caught by said wires and started to get strangled. Death-X-Dorugamon then tried to electrocute him, trying to stop Daisuke’s digimon from resisting, “GAAAAAAAAAH!!”

Daisuke then looked at the battle and saw his digi-bud in pain, and he wanted to attack that monster, but then… he witnessed something unexpected:

“GET OFF HIM, YOU… EVIL CREATURE!!”

Chat Noir threw his weapon at the enemy. It was enough to force the bad digimon to get distracted and XV-mon set free from the loose cables. The digimon tried to attack Chat Noir, only to XV-mon have protected him.

“X-LASER!!”

XV-mon’s laser went in the undead digimon’s direction, but the beast used its own attack -- Cannonball -- against it. A huge explosion caught them all offguard, and some of the attack’s debris flew around. Chat Noir tried to repel them with the rod he got back, but one of the small ones hit Daisuke’s head.

“UGH!!”

His vision became blurred and suddenly… he slowly began to lose his consciousness

“M-Motomiya!!” he heard Kutou’s voice, but then…

“LIAR DREAM!!”

A familiar voice was heard by Motomiya Daisuke and XV-mon. Right when XV-mon had his vision blocked by the smoke, he could sense SOMEONE familiar was there.

And another weird voice…

“I won’t let you hurt V-mon and Daisuke-kun while I’m here!!”

The voice Daisuke and XV-mon heard was Rui’s?! What?!

And suspiciously the enemy digimon stopped attacking---?!

Suddenly, a very quick explosion happened in the middle of the smoke. XV-mon saw its shape and looked exactly like a winged lion. A scream of pain coming from Death-X-Dorugamon echoed around… and finally, the enemy was beaten.

“… What?” XV-mon exclaimed.

“Motomiya… Motomiya! Wake up! Open your eyes, Motomiya!!”

Then, XV-mon saw Daisuke in Kutou’s arms, now fainted. He noticed that Daisuke’s forehead had a bruise.

“Daisuke…!” And he flew in Daisuke and Kutou’s direction.

“...” Chat Noir then walked towards the two men in silence and left a calling card in Daisuke’s hands.

“What is this--” Kutou asked.

“Take him to the hospital, and once he wakes up, tell him the truth. You’re not good at lying… like me.” -- For some reason, the thief kept staring at the bruise in Daisuke’s forehead, clenching his fists. Fortunately, no one noticed that… Or could see his eye through the helmet lenses.

“Like you…?” Kutou raised an eyebrow.

After saying this, he ran away. XV-mon landed on the ground, and he and Kutou watched the thief leaving.

“... What did he… say?” XV-mon asked Kutou, and then noticed the calling card on Daisuke’s hand, “...”

“XV-mon, can you… take us to the nearest hospital, please?”

“Right…” XV-mon nodded at Kutou's request.

August 1st had just started on bad terms for Daisuke apparently…

“Ugh, my head…”

“D-Daisuke-kun!”

Daisuke opened his eyes after spending the rest of the night unconscious, luckily he hadn’t any critical damage and it was just a bruise in his forehead, now wrapped with bandage and treated.

When his vision came back… He noticed someone with purple hair sitting next to his bed.

“Rui…?”

Rui sighed in relief and then smiled,

“Are you… ok? What happened?” but the smile immediately faded to a worried frown.

“Phantom thief… I met him…”

“O-oh, you… You did?”

“I have no idea but… I heard your voice there… Maybe you were around and helped us out, have you… been here since I passed out? A-also… how long have I been asleep!?”

“Rui just came in,” V-mon told him, Ukkomon nodded confirming it.

“W-well, it’s 9:00 am…” Rui explained, “I told everyone else that you had been hurt and they will come here later. While you were sleeping… Kutou-san found… a calling card with you.”

“A… A what!?”

Rui then took a black card from the counter next to Daisuke’s bed and showed him,

“It seems to be… telling you to not keep intervening anymore?”

“Lemme see that!” and Daisuke snatched it from Rui’s hand.

-- Restrain yourself from participating in this chase. The dangerous path you take may lead you to misfortune and pain. Would you like to take it… Or save yourself? --

“Is… is Arsenemon taunting me again?!” he growled, a blood vein popped in his forehead.

“I don’t… I don’t think so…” Rui said, avoiding to look at Daisuke -- more precisely, he was glancing at the floor.

“Huh!?”

“Daisuke-kun… Maybe you should… Not fight the thief and this… Arsenemon guy. You… You already got hurt…!” He then glanced at Daisuke, frowning, “Please let Ichijouji-kun and the police take care of this…!”

“Why are you--”

Rui looked down again,

“I don’t want to… lose you.” and muttered to himself, hoping Daisuke would not hear him at all.

“What… What did you say, I didn’t hear you…?’

“... It’s okay,” he looked up at Daisuke once more, with a grin, “I will let you rest a bit more. I think the hospital will release you today too, they told me your injury wasn’t that concerning…!”

“But--”

“Ah, Kutou-san left this to you too,” and he took another paper from the table, “he told me to give it to you.”

A paper…? Daisuke took a read of it.

Motomiya, I’m sorry for all the misfortune I caused you last night. Apparently I was forced to do such a cruel thing, something that goes against our own beliefs regarding the digimon. A long time ago… I was partnered with a digimon named OmegaShoutmon. But unfortunately our lives took different paths and we drifted away from each other. I was… affected by the ‘Partnership Dissolution’ issue, and I had been requested to help find ways to bring the digimon back to life. Or, to undo the ‘Partnership Dissolution’ I’ve been analyzing the coding structure from Eosmon, but… My results ended up in several failed attempts. I am not happy with my own actions either. I tried to sound sketchy and accept the deal, turning myself into a repugnant person, a ‘Renegade Chosen Child’ to be exact. With this confession, I beg not only your pardon but also to give this paper to the police. I worry for my life though… But I will be willing to help the authorities catch the person who hired me to commit this atrocity to an innocent DigiEgg.

“So… Kutou was not… doing anything by his own free will…” Daisuke smiled in relief for a moment, “Maybe the thief was telling the truth. Right, Rui--"

But the moment Daisuke turned to Rui...

Ohwada Rui had already left the room.

“Huh…?” Daisuke blinked, “Where did he go?”