Chapter 180: Have They Always Been Like This?
Clack, clack, clack.
The rhythmic, rapid-fire staccato of keystrokes bounced off the cold stone walls of the empty underground chamber. Bathed in the pale blue glow of the laptop screen, Izzy looked entirely different. Despite his small stature, the boy was currently wielding a level of technical prowess that would leave seasoned adult professionals staring in disbelief.
His fingers flew across the keys, blurring into a continuous motion. As cascading strings of encrypted code parsed across the monitor, his typing speed only accelerated. His brow was furrowed, his jaw set. The usual shy, easygoing demeanor had vanished, replaced by an intense, almost commanding presence.
The rest of the group stood a few paces back, watching in stunned silence.
"Is this... Izzy-senpai's true self?" Mimi murmured. She leaned slightly, her gaze drifting toward the one person in the room who knew the young hacker best.
Catching her eye, Taichi offered a firm, unhesitating nod. "Izzy has always been an incredibly capable guy."
"I am not denying that," Mimi whispered back, her eyes reflecting the scrolling data. "I just mean... he feels so completely different from his usual self right now. It is almost intimidating."
"Everyone has a hidden side, more or less." Taichi shrugged, his tone light and completely unbothered. He leaned against the damp wall, watching his friend work.
Whether Izzy was the quiet boy who awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, or this fiercely focused digital operative, it made zero difference. All Taichi needed to know was that the boy sitting in front of that screen was his best friend. That single fact was more than enough.
A heavy, decisive strike on the Enter key echoed through the room. The frantic typing ceased.
Seeing Izzy pull his hands back from the keyboard, the rest of the children immediately crowded around the small screen.
"Izzy-senpai, did it work?" Mimi asked, leaning over his shoulder.
"Great job, Izzy. I knew you could pull it off," Taichi said, grinning broadly.
Mimi blinked, turning to look at Taichi with utter bewilderment. "Wait, how do you even know he succeeded? He has not said anything yet!"
Ignoring her confusion, Izzy let out a long breath and nodded. He turned his chair slightly, looking up at Taichi with a complicated, deeply moved expression. "You really put a lot of faith in me."
"Of course I do." Taichi stepped forward and clapped a warm hand onto Izzy's shoulder. "I do not just have faith in you. Honestly, there are plenty of times I would rather trust your judgment over my own." He paused, a playful glint entering his eyes. "Oh, right. I suppose I have to add Mizuki to that list now, too."
"Taichi, you..." Izzy trailed off.
Staring at his best friend's bright, unwavering smile, the heavy knot of tension that had been sitting in his chest for days began to loosen. The dark, unknown suppression lurking deep in his eyes faded just a fraction.
'Perhaps... I should find the time to tell Taichi the truth about Mizuki,' Izzy thought, his fingers curling slightly against his knees.
After all the grueling effort and sleepless nights of the past few weeks, he was slowly coming to a painful realization. He could not carry the crushing weight of this secret alone anymore. But if Taichi was there to share the burden—
His quiet contemplation was abruptly shattered. Izzy blinked, his gaze shifting toward the sudden commotion beside him. Taichi was currently waving his hands in a frantic panic, desperately trying to comfort a very pouty Kari.
"Wait, so I am not just losing to Izzy, but to Mizuki too?" Kari puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms over her chest. "But I was with my big brother first..."
"Ah, no, wait! That is not what I meant at all!" Taichi stammered, his usual cool composure completely evaporating. "Kari, you are totally different! To me, you are the absolute most important person!"
Halfway through his frantic declaration, Taichi froze. The air in the underground chamber seemed to drop a few degrees. He slowly turned his head, catching the flat, unamused stares of the rest of the group.
"Uh... I am not saying the rest of you are not important!" he hastily added, sweating bullets.
"Oh, we understand. We completely understand." Sora, usually the mature voice of reason, decided to lean into the chaos. She crossed her arms, perfectly mimicking Kari's pout, and leveled a deeply resentful glare at him.
Mimi caught on instantly. Snickering behind her hand, she sidled up next to Sora and sighed dramatically. "Sora-senpai, it seems Taichi-senpai is just completely unreliable after all. From now on, we poor girls will just have to fend for ourselves."
"Exactly," Sora nodded solemnly, though her eyes danced with mischief.
Not wanting to be left out of the drama, Gomamon flopped over and wrapped his flippers tightly around Joe's leg. "Oh, Joe, you are so pitiful!" the seal Digimon wailed theatrically. "Taichi does not want you anymore!"
"Such a weak, fragile Joe. Do not worry, from now on, only Gomamon will stay by your side!"
"Hey! Stop phrasing it so weirdly!" Joe yelped, his face flushing bright red as he frantically tried to peel the clinging Digimon off his leg. "You are making it sound like Taichi and I had some sort of unspeakable relationship!"
He finally managed to push Gomamon away, adjusting his glasses with a look of utter exasperation. "Besides, I am not a weakling! And I am not going to end up with just you as my only companion!"
"Aww, you are just being shy." Gomamon wiggled his eyebrows, entirely unbothered by the rejection. "Joe, you really are such a stubborn guy."
"Go—ma—mon!" Joe groaned, burying his face in his hands.
While Joe and Gomamon continued their loud, chaotic bickering, Patamon fluttered down to land on Takeru's head. The small orange Digimon tilted his head, his large blue eyes blinking in genuine curiosity.
"Takeru, Takeru?"
"Hmm? What is it, Patamon?"
"What does an 'unspeakable relationship' mean?"
Takeru frowned, scratching his cheek. "I do not really know." Seeking guidance, the young boy turned his head and looked up at the tall blonde standing beside him. "Matt? Do you know what an unspeakable relationship is?"
Matt froze.
The older brother stared down at the wide, painfully innocent eyes of both Takeru and Patamon. A visible shudder ran through him. He choked on his own breath, completely at a loss for words. After a long, agonizing second of silence, Matt abruptly reached out and clamped his hands over both Takeru's and Patamon's eyes.
"You two are still young. You absolutely do not need to understand these things yet."
"Eh?" Takeru and Patamon mumbled in unison, completely in the dark.
"What is wrong with everyone?"
While the human children were caught up in their noisy uproar, Biyomon and Palmon quietly waddled over to where Agumon and Gabumon were sitting.
"Why is everyone acting so strange all of a sudden?" Palmon asked, her vines twitching in confusion. "Agumon, Gabumon, do you guys have any idea what is going on?"
"I do not know." Agumon shook his head slowly. He stared blankly at Biyomon with wide, incredibly innocent eyes. "But more... when do we get to eat?"
Palmon's mouth twitched. She stared at the yellow reptile in sheer disbelief. "Seriously, Agumon? Why are you always thinking about food? Did you not just evolve to the Ultimate level recently? Should you not be a little more reliable by now?"
"But my stomach is completely empty. I really am hungry," Agumon whined, rubbing his round belly.
Before Palmon could scold him further, Gabumon leaned over, waving a clawed hand to defuse the situation. "Alright, alright, do not worry too much about it, Palmon, Biyomon. Everyone is just playing around to blow off some steam."
The pelt-wearing Digimon gestured toward the far corner of the room. "If you are really that curious about human behavior, why do you not ask BlackAgumon? He is definitely the most mature one out of all of us."
"BlackAgumon?" Biyomon and Palmon repeated in unison, turning their heads.
Standing in the darkest shadows of the underground chamber, leaning coolly against the stone wall with his arms crossed, BlackAgumon had his eyes firmly shut. Clearly not expecting the spotlight to suddenly swing his way, he paused. Slowly, dramatically, he opened a single golden eye.
"I apologize, but I cannot meet your expectations," BlackAgumon stated, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly register. "As a lone wanderer of the digital wastes, I am entirely unequipped to handle the trivialities of interpersonal relationships."
Gabumon sweatdropped. "Ah, well... I suppose that makes sense."
Agumon tilted his head, his stomach giving a loud rumble. "What is a lone wanderer? Can you eat it?"
Biyomon and Palmon just stared, completely speechless.
As the Digimon exchanged bewildered glances, entirely unsure of how to respond to the sheer absurdity of the conversation, Tentomon hovered near Izzy's shoulder. The insectoid Digimon let out a long, buzzing sigh.
"Everyone seems awfully relaxed all of a sudden."
Izzy offered a small, genuine smile, watching his friends bicker and laugh. "It is fine. Things have been incredibly tense lately, with danger around every corner. It is not a bad thing for everyone to let their guard down and relax a little bit while they have the chance."
He paused, his eyes drifting back to the glowing laptop screen displaying the fully parsed code. He blinked, suddenly realizing something.
"By the way... did we completely lose track of the main topic?"
Tentomon buzzed his wings, scratching his head with a mechanical claw. "Uh... I guess we did?"
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