Digimon Adventure Tri: Echo

31) Bringing the Shadows

"Are you sure that you can't stay?"

Kaya finished pressing her bag into the backseat of the car that she and Chisane had driven to reach Odaiba in the first place. It was a tight fit, but she and Chisane had managed to make it work before, so it was going to work out again. Kaya hit the door shut with her hip once everything was settled before letting out a sigh and turning to face Atsuo. "Yeah... I'm sure," she replied. 

Atsuo let out a heavy sigh before shaking his head. "I guess that it makes sense... I mean, Chisane isn't doing all that well right now, and staying here in Odaiba is only going to make things worse for her," he murmured. "If you wind up deciding to come back at any point, all you have to do is reach out. I would be more than happy to open my home to you again. It's the least that I can do given all that we've done for one another over the course of the past fifteen years."

"Thanks, Atsuo," Kaya smiled to herself. Everything about her was tense and stressed. A few days had passed since Chisane collapsed, and the sun was high in the sky that Sunday afternoon. Kaya had only stuck around for as long as she had with hopes that Chisane would start feeling at least a little bit better, but nothing had improved. Chisane's general sickness was only getting worse, and so, Kaya had no choice but to force all of her things into the back of the car. Chisane was in the passenger seat, her head falling sideways in her slumber. Chisane hadn't slept through the night in ages, and when she actually managed to catch some rest the night before, Kaya couldn't bring herself to wake her up. Kaya was just glad that she had learned how to become at least decently strong physically so that she could lift her business partner into the car. 

"I know that everything is going to be fine," Atsuo told her, his grin bright as could be. "You know what Chisane's like. She's a fighter, and if anybody is going to get through this, it's going to be her. I guess that she just needs a little bit of time away from Odaiba to recuperate. When you guys are next in town, you should come back to see us. We could all go back to the Digital World to see our partners again."

"I suppose so," Kaya murmured under her breath. "Just promise me that you and the rest of the group will at least try to stay out of trouble while we're gone. I'm not going to be happy if I hear any news of you or the rest of the team getting into danger because of the Dark Ocean. That place has caused everyone more than enough grief to last a lifetime if you ask me."

"I understand that completely," Atsuo assured her with a shake of her head. "I'll do what I can to keep everybody from causing problems. Well... You know, to a degree. You know how I cause trouble around here." He laughed a moment later and then shrugged to himself. "You go on and head back to Tottori. Chisane's going to be fine. I'm sure of it. If you ever happen to need anything, you can call me. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to come by right off the bat, but... I'll do what I can."

Kaya looked down at Chisane's sleeping face through the car window for a long time. Chisane didn't deserve to look so pale and sickly, and just the sight of Chisane so ill made Kaya want to punch something with every ounce of force that she had in her body. Atsuo's words did at least a little something to calm her nerves though, and she let out a small sigh as she glanced up to him a moment later. "Thanks, Atsuo," she told him quietly. She couldn't think of anything else to say, but she figured that she didn't have to talk in the first place. There were some bonds that not even time would be able to destroy completely. 

Atsuo was quiet for another few moments, just allowing the heaviness of the moment to sink in, before he let out a sigh. "Well, off you go! Tottori is waiting for you, and I'm not going to be the one who keeps you here," he announced. "Tell me that you're alright when you get there, got it? I don't want to spend the rest of the day worrying about you. After all, that's going to mess with my rockstar complexion, and I don't want to wish that horror upon my fans."