Fleeting Hope

Chapter 2

Takeru once again woke up in a sweat, the memory of his nightmare burning behind his eyes. It followed the same pattern all of the previous ones had. A scream, his fear, and Patamon telling him there was no hope. He shuddered; it was silly. He felt as though he was being dramatic. If he told anyone of these nightmares compared to some of the ones, he had of Devimon, they would laugh in his face.

He sighed, brushing a hand across his face, grateful for the weekend. Takeru wasn't exactly sure how long he ended up laying there, overanalyzing every small detail of his nightmare he could remember before a loud ringing brought him back to his senses.

"Hello?" He answered groggily, rubbing the tired from his eyes.

"Did you just wake up, I've been standing at your door for hours," the voice on the other end, who he managed to realize was Miyako, half-shouted at him.

Takeru smiled cheekily, forgetting for a moment that he was on the phone and Miyako couldn't see him before speaking up, "why are you at my door?"

Miyako's groan of frustration could be heard from both the phone and the door of the apartment, "we're picking up the Digimon for a weekend home, remember?" Takeru could in fact, not remember that plan at all. He shook his head; he probably was just spacing out when they mentioned it.

"Give me like 10 minutes," he responded, ending the call before she could complain that 10 minutes was too long. He hurriedly got ready before rushing out the door.

Greeted with an irritated scowl, Takeru smiled wide, "always a pleasure to see such a beautiful sight in the morning." Miyako said nothing but stomped off in the direction of Iori's apartment before Takeru hummed, "thanks for coming to get me."

"Next time I'm letting you sleep through it," she growled, but she returned his smile.

Iori greeted them excitedly at the door, Hikari and Daisuke were already inside, Ken having to sit out this meeting since he lived so far away, "being able to access the digital world from any computer is so convenient," he commented.

Takeru couldn't help but agree, excitedly stepping into the living area. He glanced at Hikari and Daisuke who was explaining something to her rather animatedly. He laughed to himself a bit before beelining to the computer. He didn't say a word to anyone before opening the gate and whisking himself into the other world where he was immediately greeted by the Digimon.

"You ready to spend the weekend with me?" Takeru asked Patamon excitedly who merely responded by chirping a quick "yup" and landing on his head. Takeru ushered the Digimon through the gate before following after them.

"You waste no time Takeru," Hikari pointed out as Takeru and the Digimon landed easily in Iori's room.

Each of the Digimon greeted their partners with excited expressions, Takeru couldn't help but smile at the display. Before his thoughts could wander much further, however, he was broken out of them by his partner's voice.

"Don't you know Takeru?" Patamon glanced at his partner, smiling, "there is no hope."

Takeru whipped his head towards the Digimon, stumbling backwards, "w-what did you just say?!"

The small Digimon blinked, "I didn't say anything...?"

"Are you feeling ok Takeru?" Hikari asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Takeru stared at her, a mix of fear and confusion in his eyes as he bit his lip, unsure of what exactly to tell her. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't find the words to explain himself, all he could feel was embarrassment at his sudden fear. All he could do was turn away, still feeling her hot gaze on the back of his neck, shame filled him.