[fanfic] Digimon Adventure 02: Fireflies: Chapter 8

[higuchimon]

Story Title: Fireflies
Word Count: chapter: 2,969||story: 23,344

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“Owww...” I hurt a lot. Not as much as I think I should, given that something just blew up not that far away, but it still takes me a couple of minutes to realize that I'm not dead. I sit up carefully and look around, trying to figure out what it was that happened. The more I see, the more I can tell that I’m not the only person who isn’t dead. There are a few injuries, I think, but but nothing really bad. I can’t even be certain if they’re really injuries or just what I think should have happened, because of whatever it was that happened. Speaking of that, I wonder just what it was. Was it a Digimon attack? Or something else? Something worse?

I get up on my feet as carefully as I can and check myself out a little more carefully and thoroughly. Right, no injuries here. Just some dust and dirt and a bruise or two from where I hit the sidewalk. Looks like I made it out of whatever it was in one piece. I can’t see any strange Digimon around, other than those who appear to have partners already, and they’re busy making certain that their partners are all right too. It doesn’t look as if it were an attack, then. I hope it was just an accident of some kind.

The more I look around, the more I’m certain that no one was hurt seriously, either. At least not where I can see. There's a lot of muttering and murmuring and worry, but it looks like everything is all right. No one's really hurt, just a lot of shock and some property damage. There are already police officers converging, and a fire truck is heading...somewhere. It’s going down the street, in the same direction that Daisuke usually comes from.

I'm heading that way without even thinking about it. I know it's silly to think that he's involved, but it's morning, it was a big explosion, and Daisuke was late. Maybe he's just a little involved. The way you can be a little dead or something. Besides, if something dramatic is going on, Daisuke’s probably going to be there. If he wasn’t the cause of it, then he could’ve been hurt by it, or is making sure no one else was. At any rate, that’s the way to go if I want to find out what’s going on with him.

As near as I can figure out, the site of the explosion was a gas station, or at least it used to be part of one. There's a girl and a Candmon there, and both of them are looking pretty ashamed of themselves. They're pretty near what was someone’s car, maybe twenty minutes ago. Oh, that's not going to be good. It looked like it was a pretty nice car, too. I can’t remember if insurance agencies have started to carry Digimon insurance or not, but it’s looking more and more as if that would be a good idea.

“I'm so sorry!” Candmon keeps on apologizing, with the girl bowing and spluttering apologies just as much as her partner is. I think I recognize her, and when I see the goggles in her hands, I know I do. It's Daisuke's friend, Saito Kimiko. He’s told me a few things about her, and we’ve talked a couple of times, though I wouldn’t go so far as saying that she’s a friend of mine. “I'm so sorry!”

The person they're apologizing to is just staring from them to what used to be the car and back again. It looks like the worst thing that happened to them was some dust and smoke. Unlike their vehicle. “My car...”

That's not going to be good. I've known people who have never saved up enough for their own car in their lives. I wonder if it was a new car, too. It looks like it might have been, but it's kind of hard to tell now. It does look like a new pile of junk. I wouldn’t even bother taking it to a repair shop if it were me.

“Hikari!” A blur of blue comes racing down the sidewalk and battens onto my leg as if it’s life depended on contact with me. “Hikari, help!”

“V-mon?” I look down to see him staring back up at me with huge, absolutely terrified eyes. It’s been a long time since I saw him that scared. “What's wrong? Where's Daisuke?” All right, now I'm really worried. No one around here is hurt, but I don't see Daisuke anywhere, so that could mean he is hurt, and I just can't see him. Wonderful deductive reasoning, Hikari.

“Come on!” He tugs again, and I follow him, avoiding all the trash and debris as best I can. Things look worse than they are, I think. That has a tendancy to happen a lot of the time. I do see a few injured people, mostly scrapes, bruises, and some minor cuts, but for the most part, it’s just things that were really broken up, not people.

I can’t help but with that Tailmon were with me, if only because if she were, I’d have to my D-3 and Digimental. I feel almost naked without them. If I had them, I could have sent an e-mail to Daisuke and found out what was going on instead of wondering where he is until V-mon can get me there.

It doesn’t take long for me to find out anyway, though. Daisuke was closer to where we were going to meet than I thought.

He's also underneath what used to be a street sign, slumped against the side of a building. I just stop and stare for a few moments, hardly believing my eyes. Seeing Daisuke asleep when we’re out camping or having a sleepover is weird enough. But seeing him unconscious, pale, and with blood coming from a few places is downright scary!

“Does he need help?” Saito is beside me, and I have no idea how she got there. Shouldn't she still be trying to straighten things out with whoever that guy was? Never mind, I can ask about that later. Daisuke needs some help now.

“Do you have a cell phone?” I knew I needed to get one. Maybe now my parents will listen to me when I tell them they're useful in emergencies. They got Taichi one in case anything happens while he's out with Chizuru, even if it did get smashed. I don't think they were quite expecting something like this, though. I know I wasn't.

Saito hands me her phone, and I start to hit the buttons before I start thinking. Who am I going to call? The police are already down at the gas station. That's who I need to talk to. “Here, take this, I don't think I need it after all.” Before Saito can say anything at all, I'm heading back the way I came. Why can't I be Jyou or Iori? They'd know how to react without making a complete fool of themselves. But all I can think about is the way Daisuke's arm is bending the wrong way, and the blood coming from the cut on his forehead, and on his arms and I think I even saw some on his pants...

I have to stop thinking about it. I can't help him if I get hysterical. I wish Tailmon were here. Or Miyako. They can always calm me down when I get too freaked out about something. I’m positive I’m being too freaked about this. I don’t know how much freaked would be too much, but this is it. I can hardly think straight for two minutes in a row. But I’ve got to do something, for Daisuke’s sake.

“Officer!” I grab the first official looking person I see in a police officer’s uniform who isn’t talking to someone else about the accident. “My friend needs help, he's hurt!” I sound like I'm in some cheesy disaster movie, but it's true! What am I supposed to say, some stupid spill of exactly how badly he's cut up and what I think could be wrong with him when I don’t know? Any kind of mistake could have bad results. That's one thing Jyou taught us: when you don't know what to do for someone who's hurt, don't do anything. You could just make it worse.

“Show me where he is.” That’s all the man says as he starts to follow me. I guess I got lucky and found someone who could help me right away.

I lead him back to where Daisuke is, with Saito still standing near him, looking as if she wants to start pulling things away from him and get him on his feet. I know just how he feels, he shouldn't be laying there! This is Daisuke, he needs to be moving around, and looking a lot healthier than this!

The officer calls someone on his radio, probably an ambulance. I'm too flustered to really pay that much attention right now. Then he's tapping me on the shoulder. What does he want? Oh, right. Information on who this is and who I am. “He’s Motomiya Daisuke, one of my best friends, and this is his partner, V-mon. I'm Yagami Hikari, and this is Saito Kimiko with her partner Candmon.”

From the look in his eyes, he recognizes my name and Daisuke’s. Sometimes being a little known for saving the world has its benefits. It has drawbacks too, but this isn’t one of those times. “An ambulance should be here shortly. Is there anyone at his home you can call?”

“I'm not sure.” I check my watch, what time do his parents leave for work anyway? I'm not sure of anything right now. I doubt I could put my hands on the Digimental of Light if it sat up in front of me and did the tango. “I can try, though.” Maybe Jun will know how to get in touch with them, if they're not there. If I can remember her number. That'll be a laugh, the way I'm feeling now. I can hardly remember how to walk properly.

I borrow Saito's phone again, and try calling the Motomiyas. No answer there. Guess they left already. What's Jun's number? I can't remember, no matter how hard I try. It’s something simple, I know it is, but I just can’t think of it. It’s all the noise; it has to be. What's making it? Oh, it's the ambulance. Can't they do something about the smell? Everything's like gas around here, and we already had one blowup. Do they want another? Do they want more people to get hurt like Daisuke?

Wait, I know how to get in touch with Jun. My fingers are flying over the buttons before I even bother thinking again. This has to be why Daisuke doesn't bother thinking too much about things. It can take too much time. Reacting is much, much faster, and right now, is getting a lot better results. “Jyou? Sorry to bother you, but I need to know Shuu's phone number.” I hope this works. I hope he doesn’t freak out too much if I happen to spill out what happened. I’m not sure if I should, not right now anyway.

“What's going on?” I can hear him paging through something as he's talking to me. That must be where he keeps numbers and such. I should get one of those.

“There was some kind of explosion. You know Saito, that friend of Daisuke's with the Candmon?” I wait for him to say yes, then go on. “I think he got a little too close to the gas station Daisuke passes on the way to school.” I guess I told him after all. He is Daisuke’s friend; he should know when something happens to him.

No one can ever say that Jyou's stupid. He pages through whatever it is even faster. “How badly is Daisuke hurt?”

“I'm not really sure, but he's not awake, and I think his arm's broken, and he's bleeding out of a couple of places.” Glad I'm not the medical student. What's taking him so long?

There, he's reading off the number. Saito writes it down on one of her school notebooks as I repeat it out loud. Glad she's around, I could use all the help I can get right now, and probably some more. As soon as I'm done, I tell him good-bye and start punching in Shuu's number. I really hope Jun's with him, or he knows her number. Maybe I should've asked Jyou for hers. Why didn't I think of that when I was with him? But he could've just given it to me, if he'd thought about it. I can't waste time thinking about that now.

The paramedics are working on Daisuke. They've got him out from under that street sign, and they've got most of the major injuries cleaned up and bandaged already as far as I can tell. I want to ask how bad it is, but I don't want to interfere either. The phone just keeps on ringing! What are they doing?

I don't believe this. I'm getting his voice mail. I'm just not having good luck today. I leave a message telling him what happened and to let Jun know, since I can't remember her number, and for her to tell their parents too. Maybe he'll check this thing soon. If I weren't so worried about Daisuke I'd give him a piece of my mind as soon as I saw him, too. But I am worried about Daisuke, and he comes first until I know he’s all right.

They're lifting Daisuke into the ambulance now. I hurry over there; I'm going to go with him if at all possible. “Can I come along? I can't get in touch with any of his family, and I'm worried about him.”

One of them looks at the other; I'm pretty sure they have some rule about only family or something like that. But this is different. This is Daisuke. I can only hope that they understand that and don’t try to give me any problems. If I have to run back home and get Tailmon and fly with Angewomon to the hospital, I will. Who knows, that could even be faster.

“All right. What about his Digimon?” I pick up V-mon just as soon as he looks at me. V-mon has to be as worried as I am. He could even be more worried. I mean, Daisuke is my friend, but he’s V-mon’s partner. “Guess you're both going. Okay, get in, but stay out of the way, please?” I wonder why this guy is going out of his way to break what have to be the rules, but not for long. If it means I get to be there when Daisuke wakes up, I'm not going to argue about it. I wish I had my D-Terminal with me. I really need to get in touch with everyone else. I still can’t believe I left it behind.

Wait! I can see Daisuke's jacket where one of them has tugged it open, and I can see Daisuke's D-Terminal! This is just perfect. I get it out of there and start typing, telling everyone what's going on. This might even be faster than a phone call that no one seems around to get this morning. Once the e-mail's sent out, I look at the D-Terminal for a few moments. The symbols for the Digimentals of Courage and Friendship sort of glow back at me. They seem so friendly. But brave, too. Really, just like Daisuke. Of course, that's why he has them both. They are him, and he's them. No getting around it. Maybe that's why I like him, as a friend, and maybe more. He's just...so Daisuke. Stubborn and strong, headstrong and impulsive, protective and daring, wild and crazy. Sometimes I really wonder about his sanity, but it's just so much fun when he gets into one of his moods and the next thing I know we're running halfway across the Digital World on some fresh adventure. He's never lost his taste for those, and that's good. Sometimes peace gets a little on the boring side.

Not that I really want to go out of the way to mention that to some of the others, like Ken or Tailmon or Yamato or Takeru. I don’t want there to be war all the time. I’d hate that. I want there to be time for humans and Digimon to get along and be friends. I want it more than anything else in the world. But sometimes, it’s adversity, challenge, that makes us stronger and binds us to each other and our partners even more. We can use peace to explore it and make that bond grow, but it’s danger that forges it in the first place.

Once V-mon and I are settled into the hospital, I keep looking first at Daisuke and then at his Digimentals. It’s hard to decide which one I really want to pay the most attention to, especially since I’m also keeping an eye out to see if anyone responds to the e-mail. Once in a while I even look out the window to see how close we are to the hospital. It isn’t that far, and I’m really glad because of that. That means Daisuke will be helped a lot faster.

As we pull up to the hospital, I take a quick look at the D-Terminal again, and I think the Digimentals are flickering a little. That's weird. Mine has never done that before. But now, these two are flickering and shimmering: almost like fireflies.

To Be Continued