Leaving the rabbit-like creature to aid her grandmother, Tohru made sure to close the door before heading into the kitchen. Her grandmother, an elderly woman of short structure due to her age, was busying herself with unpacking food items onto the table. Her whitened thin hair was tied into a low ponytail that draped over her shoulder. Her hazel colored hues were hidden behind a pair of old prescription lenses.

"Could you put away the vegetables, Tohru?" Her grandmother, Mrs. Harima, requested as the corners of her lips tugged up to reveal a sweet smile upon seeing the teenager. With a nod of her head, Tohru began placing all the vegetables in the fridge. The elder woman quietly thanked Tohru as she was putting some baking ingredients in one of the many cub boards in their kitchen.

"How was your day, grandma?" The young brunette questioned as she was gathering up the discarded grocery bags to put in the recycling bin.

"Oh, it was just like any other day. I wouldn't want to bore you with the tedious details." Mrs. Harima let a soft chuckle escape her thin lips. "What about your day, Tohru? Did you get to see Masaru?" She added in a teasing manner that caused Tohru's cheeks to flush red.

"Well...uh...not really. He never showed up at our meeting spot." Tohru replied dejectedly, shifting her weight uncomfortably while her face continued to heat up. Her grandmother's smile faded briefly as she stepped towards Tohru, placing a wrinkled hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he had a good reason. Perhaps something came up." Mrs. Harima attempted to reassure the younger girl, her thumb gently tracing small circles into the material of Tohru's hoodie.

"Yeah...he probably got caught up with something important." Tohru paused, lips closing then parting again to make a comment pertaining to the boy they were discussing.

"Like cramming piles of food into his mouth?" Mrs. Harima remarked, beating her own granddaughter to the punch. Tohru's green hues were wide for a mere few seconds before a snort emitted from her throat. Both females burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter over the fact that they were thinking the exact same thing about Tohru's hot headed friend. After calming down from their hysterics, Tohru wiped tears from her eyes and offered to finish putting the rest of the groceries away while her grandmother got some relaxation.

The house had grown peacefully quiet with only the sounds of cabinets opening and closing and bags rustling. That was...until her grandmother's terrified shriek pierced through the silence and causing Tohru to drop everything she was doing and make a mad dash for Mrs. Harima's room. (She almost slipped on the hardwood floor on the way. Socks on hardwood floors don't mix.)

However, what she saw was probably just as bad as seeing her grandmother laying on the floor in pain. Instead she found that the still injured creature she brought home had wandered into her grandmother's room and managed to scare the living daylights out of the elderly woman. Mrs. Harima was backed up against the wall, eyes wide in both confusion and fear. Her hazel hues left the creature that was just staring up at her to glance over at her alarmed granddaughter. "T-Tohru..! W...What is..." Her voice was shaky, her frail body stiffened as if she had the idea that the little creature would actually attack her if she made the wrong move. The rabbit-like creature tilted his head to the side and took the tiniest step forward, causing Mrs. Harima's body to stiffen further and a yelp to leave her lips.

"G-Grandma, please calm down. He's not going to hurt you." Tohru gently assured her frightened grandmother while taking a step into the room and moving slowly toward the creature. Slow and steady, she kept telling herself. Arms reaching out to prepare to scoop up the mystery creature in her arms just in case he really did decide to harm her grandmother. However, she was not so lucky, as he sensed her coming up behind him and spun around to glare up at her defiantly.

"Stay away from me, human!" He shouted angrily, launching himself at Tohru and successfully landing a blow to her abdomen using his forehead before landing on his stubby feet and running out of the room. Tohru let out a grunt of pain and was knocked off her feet, falling backwards onto her bottom and doubling over while gasping for air. (His headbutt attack was surprisingly hard enough to knock the wind out of her) This caused Mrs. Harima to cry out in concern and rush over to her fallen granddaughter, kneeling by her side and giving her a soothing backrub. All the while, the small creature hid behind the doorframe and glared at the two.

"Tohru...did...that thing just talk?" Mrs. Harima whispered as quietly as she possibly could so as to avoid angering the creature further. Nodding her head, Tohru slowly sat up as she was able to breathe again though her stomach still ached a bit from the impact. "What is it and where did it come from?" Her grandmother questioned further, her hazel eyes filled with genuine fear and concern for their safety. Now that she knew this thing could attack them if he so desired, she wasn't too keen on the idea of him being inside the house with them.

"That I'm..not really...sure...grandma. I..I found it in the park before." Was all Tohru replied with before grabbing onto the wooden bedpost and, using it as support, pushed herself up onto her feet. "But I'm going to find out one way or another.." With that said, her emerald hues now locked onto the creature's darker eyes as she began stepping towards him again. Instead of attacking her though, he fled out into the hallway. Tohru gave chase in hot pursuit of the creature as she stumbled into the living room, spotting him making an attempt to escape by climbing up onto the couch that was located near the window. She sprinted across the room and leapt onto the couch, arms outstretched to grab him. Instead of catching him though, she went face first into the couch cushion, nearly knocking the piece of furniture backwards.

Now startled, he leapt off the couch and made a beeline for the front door. Cursing under her breath, Tohru continued this wild goose chase by running after him. He jumped up into the air, one of his floppy ears reaching for the doorknob. He was so close to succeeding in his escape, however before he could grab the knob he felt two strong arms wrap around his body and sending him face first into the wooden door. As Tohru had managed to finally catch him, she too went face first into the door as well. Mrs. Harima cautiously stepped out of her bedroom only to see her granddaughter holding the annoyed looking creature tightly in her arms. Both had red marks on their foreheads and noses as a result of hitting the door.

"Uh...I caught him grandma." Tohru chuckled nervously, blood starting to drip down from her nose. A sigh of both relief and unconditional worry left the elderly woman's lips before she went to fetch her granddaughter a tissue.

—

Tohru let a yawn escape her throat as the tomboyish teenager climbed into her small bed, glancing down at the tired looking creature that lay beside her. His back was turned to her, a sour expression plastered on his otherwise adorable features. He's still angry at me, isn't he? Softly exhaling a sigh, the brunette laid her head down on one of her soft plain white pillows. Her emerald hues were glued onto the creature's form as she was contemplating what it is that he could possibly be thinking about right now. Though she didn't have to ponder this for long when his voice pierced through the silence.

"Why did you help me...?" He questioned weakly, successfully taking Tohru by surprise. Was something like that really bothering him that much? The brunette didn't answer at first, having taken a few minutes to actually process this question and try to come up with a reasonable answer.

"Well...I'm...not entirely sure why..." Tohru started, the corners of her lips tugged up ever so slightly to form a warm smile. "..But when I saw you laying on the ground, looking the way you did, I just felt like I needed to help you." This was honestly the only logical answer she could come up with, and had it been any other person that found him, they would have called the police rather than taking it upon themselves to come to his aid. "I don't know where you came from or what you are...but in that moment, none of that seemed to matter. I just really wanted to keep you safe."

This answer made no sense to him, or rather, he was trying to force himself to believe it made no sense. Everything about this girl caused every part of him to stiffen up with caution; her caring smile, the gentle and motherly tone she used to speak to him, and the comforting feeling he got every single time she held him in her arms. He wanted to believe that this was all just very good acting and she would eventually attempt to harm him, just as humans had done to his entire world ten years prior. However, whenever their eyes locked he couldn't bring himself to think that this girl was evil. Despite having been attacked by him and having to deal with his hatred for her, she was still making it her mission to befriend him.

Her kindness felt very real.

He turned his body around, now coming face to face with the girl and locking eyes with her once again. This always seemed to send his emotions into a frenzy and his thoughts to become jumbled. He didn't want to admit out loud that he was beginning to trust her, however he kept his guard up in the case that she wasn't nearly as kind as she made herself out to be. He was beginning to doubt that all humans were evil because of this one girl. "My name is Terriermon..." He spoke once again after a thick silence that came over the two.

"Terriermon..." Tohru tried out the name to see how well it would roll off of her tongue before deciding that she liked the way it sounded. "What exactly are you?" Terriermon went quiet for a few mere seconds before answering.

"I'm a Digimon." Was all he replied with as he observed the girl's expression change to one of utter confusion, which surprised the rabbit-like Digimon. She had no idea what a Digimon was so she couldn't have known anything about what had happened on that horrible day ten years ago. That was a given, but he had always believed that all humans were evil due to the actions of a few individuals. This way of thinking was beginning to bother him. There was no way this girl could have thoughts of harming anything, let alone an entire race of his fellow Digimon.

"A Digimon..?"

"A monster that's made out of data...and I come from another world...the Digital World." Terriermon explained, the sour expression that had been plastered all over his features softening. Her emerald hues actually lit up with newfound curiosity at the news that a world other than her own existed.

"And...there are other Digimon besides you?" Curiosity and excitement were evident in her tone as her smile returned to her features.

"..Yeah. We all vary in appearance, shape, size, and personality." Her eyes widened and lit up further.

"Wow...that sounds so cool! I wonder what kind of Digimon there are out there!" She laughed cheerfully, her reaction to this news resulting in a surprised looking Terriermon. His features softened as the Digimon scooted himself closer to the girl's body, giving her permission to put her arms around him in response. Tohru seemed to get the hint, carefully bringing him into her warm embrace and pulling the blanket over their bodies.

"Goodnight Terriermon." Tohru's warm smile never faded from her face as her eyes fluttered shut, snuggling with him as if he were a stuffed animal. Funny thing was, he really did resemble a stuffed plush toy. Terriermon said nothing back, however he felt that he didn't need to. His eyes slowly closed as he suddenly recalled hearing the girl's name being uttered by her grandmother earlier that day before being consumed by a peaceful slumber.

Tohru...

Said girl was recalling how hard it'd been to convince her grandmother to let him stay the night after the elderly woman nearly had a panic attack upon discovering him in their house. She'd gone on to scold Tohru for acting on a whim, however she wasn't too cross with the teenager. Mrs. Harima knew how her granddaughter's mind worked. Despite her tomboyish appearance, Tohru had a very maternal nature and always came to the aid of those in need.

Before sleep consumed her entire being as well, a troubling thought had crossed her mind.

Who...or what attacked you, Terriermon?

—

Looks like Terriermon is starting to warm up to Tohru, isn't he? X3 There will be more bonding between them in the next chapter.