Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

16) Interlude to Chaos

Ding.

Yamato had been on the verge of falling asleep when he heard his phone emit a shrill beep. He reached his hand out, flopping without sight since he refused to open his eyes. After a few moments of mindless flailing, his fingers managed to curl around the sides of the phone. He forced his eyes open, immediately hissing at the sight of the bright light that met his eyes. He sat up slowly, careful to not disturb Gabumon. 

A few days had passed since the Digimon returned to Earth, but everything was still tense. Nobody was willing to be apart from their partners for long, and as far as Yamato could tell it would be a while before anyone felt truly safe without their Digimon close by. Going to school was a mess of paranoia and panic that Yamato never seemed to be able to escape. He detested it with every fiber of his being, but that didn't stop him from going through it anyways. He had too much to do to allow himself to get distracted even if he wanted nothing more than to wait until this whole situation had blown over and then some. 

Yamato stared at the screen until after his eyes adjusted to the newfound light. He was met with the sight of a text message log after he managed to press his way into the device. The Chosen Children were all in a shared chat for messages, and Yamato could see that the one who had sent the recent message was none other than Koushiro. 

'I've made plans for us to speak with the Harmonious Ones as soon as the chance arrives. We should be able to go in a few days when none of us have school.'

Yamato nodded to himself. Golden Week was coming soon, and it had arrived faster than any of them could have anticipated. The Digimon attacks had been distorting all of their perceptions of time. Still, having plans on when they were going to the Digital World was better than nothing, and Yamato was more than willing to mark it down as a plan of his. 

Yamato looked over to Gabumon once again, happy to see that his partner was still snoring away soundly. He turned off his phone after he had read over the message once more and internalized its words. With a light slapping sound, Yamato set the phone down against his desk, allowing his eyes to slip shut. 

He hoped that sleep came easily to him. Yamato hated the idea of having to wait bitterly through too much of his own imagination to find slumber. It seemed as if he couldn't get away from his own mind no matter how hard he tried. The fact of the matter, that Digimon attacks had continued, found him regardless of how fast he attempted to run. It was beyond frustrating, but there was little he could do about it. That wouldn't stop him from being upset about it, of course, but it was annoying regardless. 

Luckily for Yamato, he was granted with slumber rather swiftly. The gift came much sooner than he would have anticipated, not that he was complaining. His snores filled the room carefully, and Gabumon's steady breathing joined with his to create a gentle chorus. Neither one of them had any idea what they were in for, but for just a few fleeting moments, all that mattered was the fact that they were still alive and safe. There was no guarantee that would last forever, but at least they had it for a little while. That had to count for something in the grand scheme of the mess that had quickly become their lives, right?

~~~~~

Closing hours had come and gone a few days later when Hiraku heard a knock on his office door. "Come in," he announced drowsily, struggling to keep his eyes open. He had woken up earlier than he should have to get down to work, and he was starting to feel the punishment from such. He shouldn't have come into work so soon. There was paperwork for him to work on, yes, but he wasn't going to be of use to anyone, much less himself, if he was so close to falling asleep all the time. 

When the door opened, three people entered the room. Hiraku peered around his monitor to see Daigo and Maki standing together alongside someone much shorter than them both. Hiraku's eyes went wide with shock, and he got to his feet quickly. "No way...!" he whispered, suddenly wide awake. All thoughts of sleeping at his desk were quickly tossed to the wayside, and he darted towards the three new arrivals.