Tohru let out a grunt as she struggled in her sad attempts to get into the spandex bodysuit she was given. She began to mentally curse whoever had thought making this the official DATS uniform as she finally pulled the suit up past her hips. Getting the rest of it on was much easier and the brunette soon pulled on the short sleeved jacket that all DATS members had to wear over the bodysuit. She clipped on a white belt around her waist and tried to suck in her stomach a bit so it wouldn't seem so tight on her, but she couldn't hold it like that for too long. After pulling on her white knee-high boots, she stood up and peered into the fullbody mirror attached to the wall.

Her eyebrows furrowed in disapproval, her emerald hues scanning her reflection up and down. "I look horrible in this..." Tohru mumbled to herself and Terriermon was quick to protest against this claim.

"No you don't Tohru! If you looked horrible, I would have told you so!" The stuffed animal looking Digimon reassured his human partner, hopping up onto her head and laying on his stomach. His long and floppy ears hung down the sides of her head. Tohru rolled her eyes at his failed attempt to convince her that she didn't look so terrible in this very uncomfortable, tight fitting uniform.

"Thanks Terriermon, at least I know you'll always be honest with me." Tohru droned sarcastically as a small chuckle rumbled from her throat and a tiny grin tugged at her lips. For a few more moments, the brunette found herself studying her reflection in the mirror. Her uniform was similar in appearance to Yoshino's, it went down to her mid thigh instead of being an entirely fullbodied suit like Masaru's. She sported the same short jacket to wear over her upper area and a white belt around her waist along with the same knee high boots. The only real difference between the two female uniforms was the color. Tohru's was green and Yoshino's was magenta, matching her hair and eye color.

Breathing out a heavy sigh of defeat, her shoulders drooped as Tohru replaced Terriermon on top of her head with her gray beanie and held him in her arms to her chest. She exited the changing room and reluctantly walked into the main surveillance area. The moment she stepped through the automatic double doors, the familiar sound of her childhood friend's angry complaints echoed off the metal walls. From what she could tell, he was pissed off because his target, a PetiteMeramon, was able to get away from him.

Masaru sulked in the corner, sitting backwards in a swivel chair across the room from Yoshino who was starting to regret letting him try to secure a Digimon on his own. "I kind of figured it was too early to let you do it on your own..." The magenta haired girl sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. A silent turtle-like Digimon called Kamemon went around with a tray holding tea cups and a pot of piping hot tea. He offered some to Yoshino, who graciously accepted the offer. Kamemon turned and walked over to Tohru, offering her some tea but she smiled and shook her head.

Floating near Yoshino's head was what Tohru presumed to be the older girl's partner, a pink and green flower bud looking creature. It had two black hollow dots for eyes and a constantly open oval shaped mouth and stubby little limbs. A small yellow root was sprouting out the top of its head. Tohru thought the little flower bud was cute.

"Um...good morning Yoshino, Masaru." Tohru greeted her comrades as she approached the sulking teenager. The moment he heard his childhood friend's voice Masaru's head perked up and a wide grin formed on his lips. The taller boy stood up, bringing Tohru into a semi-headlock and giving her a noogie.

"Jeez, shorty! You don't have to be so timid!" Masaru's laugh was light and carefree as he ruffled her head. Tohru had gone red in the face and her body tensed up from the sudden contact. The auburn haired boy released her from under his arm and affectionately pet her head. Yoshino had been observing this little scene before her, thinking it strange at first that Masaru's mood would change so suddenly. Though she recalled how his forest green eyes had lit up the moment his close friend walked into the room. It became clear to her then and a tiny hint of a smile tugged at her lips.

"R-Right..." Tohru sheepishly glanced down and lightly pulled at her bangs.

The sound of the automatic double doors slid open-gaining the attention of the three already in the room-and two newcomers entered the surveillance room. A boy who looked to be around Masaru's age and height and a much shorter, tan skinned girl. The boy had light blonde hair and the prettiest cerulean eyes Tohru had ever seen. They seemed to stand out due to his very pale complexion. The girl had mid-back length wavy dark brown hair and light brown eyes. Her complexion was actually even tanner than Masaru's, making her look more foreign and exotic. The boy's DATS uniform was completely blue while the girl's was orange. In the boy's hands was a large egg with an odd pattern; a Digiegg.

The blonde male placed the Digiegg on the counter top in front of Yoshino, his expression completely emotionless and stoney. "Digimon secured." Just being in this boy's presence, Tohru got the feeling that he wasn't someone she could get along with...or rather, someone that Masaru wouldn't get along with. In fact, her prediction was spot on as Masaru looked as if he wanted to tear this guy's pretty boy face off.

"Tohma-sama!" The high pitched squeals of Miki and Megumi echoed in the large room as the two aformentioned older girls ran over to the blonde boy, presumed by Tohru to be named 'Tohma.' "When did you get back?" Megumi added with another fangirl squeal. The girl who had walked in with him stood a good distance away from the other members, leaning up against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. Her Digimon partner, an orange lion cub-like creature with flames coming out of his tail and the jewel attached to his forehead, was standing beside her and mimicking her pose.

"So annoying..." The silent girl mumbled, her brown hues glaring daggers into the backs of Miki and Megumis' heads. Tohru glanced back at the tan skinned girl curiously, wondering if she was annoyed by all the squealing or...if there was another reason.

"Who're you?!" Masaru shouted from across the room only for his question to be disregarded by the blonde as mere background noise. "Gonna ignore me, huh..?" The auburn haired boy growled lowly, fists clenching tightly as he stalked over to the group. The sudden loud thump of Masaru's fist slamming against the counter top was successful in startling Tohru, making her flinch before she rushed over. Worried that her best friend was going to cause trouble with the blonde newcomer, she was ready to try and calm his firey rage if need be. "Hey! Are you listening?!" Masaru spat, his anger boiling as the blonde boy continued to outright disregard his presence.

Even Tohru had to admit, this kind of behavior towards her best friend was even striking a nerve within herself. Who did this guy think he was? He had this stuck up air about him, like he thought he was better than his peers. Masaru's forest green gaze traveled over to the egg sitting ontop of the counter before glaring a hole into Tohma's head. "That was my prey!" The hot headed boy growled when he realized that this egg belonged to the same Digimon he had tried to capture before.

Tohma silently turned to stare back at Masaru before starting to walk toward him. Thinking that the blonde was looking for a fight, the brunet raised his fists up with a cocky smirk playing on his lips. However, Tohma simply walked past Masaru without so much as a passing glance and approached Satsuma and raised his arm up to salute his superior. Mouth dropping open in disbelief, Masaru turned on his heel to glare at the back of Tohma's head. Tohru took a step toward her childhood friend with the intent of attempting to hold him back if he were to fly off the handle.

"Tohma H. Norstein. I'm here to take up my position back in the Japanese division after returning from the European division." Satsuma stood from his chair and nodded in acknowledgement towards the blonde. Norstein...? That seemed like a foreign last name, so Tohru figured that he was half European and half Japanese. The younger looking girl then stepped away from the wall and stood beside the blue clad teenager, raising her hand up to salute their Captain.

"Rosa Bosque. I've returned from the Spanish division and will be taking up my position here in the Japanese division." The moment she spoke, Tohru took note of the heavy accent present in Rosa's voice. This was only verified by her mention of having come from the Spanish division of DATS. Her earlier claim was right, this girl was a straight up foreigner from Spain.

"Its good to have you both back in our division." Satsuma welcomed them both before turning to Masaru, who was coughing into his hand and pacing around behind Tohma as if he wanted to get their attention. "Masaru, why don't you introduce yourself to-"

"Why do I have to introduce myself to him?? I'm his superior after all, even if it is by only a few days!" Masaru stated, only for this claim to be shot down by the older man.

"Actually Masaru, Tohma is YOUR superior." Satsuma corrected the hot headed teenager, earning himself a confused stare from Masaru. Yoshino was quick to jump in and add onto this new and irritating piece of information.

"Tohma was actually working here in the Japanese division until about six months ago when the European branch requested his help." Yoshino stated matter of factly in that bored tone of hers that Tohru had grown so used to hearing on days like this. "The same goes for Rosa, who was sent off to the Spanish division around the same time to help out there. So she's your superior as well, Masaru."

"W-Wha...? You mean that pipsqueak?" Masaru questioned with widened eyes as he pointed in Rosa's direction, earning him a rather nasty glare from the now pissed off looking Spaniard.

"Better watch what you say, idiot..." An angry mumble was heard from Rosa, but was ignored by the auburn haired male, who still held a look of pure confusion.

"How can someone like him be my superior when he's the same age as me and Tohru?" Masaru questioned increduously as he kept glancing over at Tohma. He was answered by an unhealthy, heaping dose of high pitched squealing courtesy of Miki and Megumi; the unofficial Tohma H. Norstein fanclub.

"Its because he's a genius! He graduated from the prestigious Stockholm University's Institution of Science at the age of thirteen!" Megumi squealed as she held hands with Miki and revelled in their fangirlish joy together. Tohru's eyes widened and she blinked as she turned her shocked stare to Tohma. This guy was only fourteen years old and he was already out of college?! She was still only in middle school! Needless to say, the brunette began to feel vastly inferior to the blonde boy which only contributed to shooting her confidence down even further. Masaru shared her shock in learning that the blonde was a genius at such a young age.

"His family is also of Austrian nobility! So he's pretty much a prince!" Miki added along with another high pitched squeal erupting from both her mouth and Megumi's. Terriermon clamped his stubby hands over his ears to try and block out all the fangirl squeals, a whimper rumbling in his throat.

"I'm glad you're not like this Tohru.." The rabbit-like Digimon whispered, annoyance evident in his hushed tone. Tohru had flinched a bit when the squeals really went right through her eardrums and nodded her head in agreement. Sure, she did think that Tohma was rather handsome and he had really pretty eyes. Tohru just didn't find rich pretty boys like him to be attractive to her. Her type of guy was...well...

"What'd you say?! I dare you to say that again, blondie!" Masaru's growls snapped Tohru out of her thoughts and she drew her attention to the growing argument between the two boys. Tohma seemed unaffected by the hot headed teen getting into his face, Masaru's shaking fists raised in anger, ceruelan hues glaring back into a firey sea of forest green.

"I said that DATS has no need for someone like you. You don't take your job seriously and you'll only get in the way." Tohma repeated himself bluntly, not once flinching when Masaru's muscles had moved as if he were going to swing a punch at him. Masaru had refrained from doing so, however, as even he had some ounce of self control in him. "You're loud and you only seem to rely on your fists to get anything done. You don't know how to use tactical strategy in battle. This will only result in your failure." The more Tohru listened to this guy insult her best friend, the more her repressed anger began to boil deep within her. Fists clenched and trembling, Tohru's lips parted and the words she tried to hold back began to spill out, aimed right at Tohma.

"S-Stop it! How could you even say that to Masaru when you don't know a thing about him?!" Silence filled the room and Tohru soon realized every individual in the room was staring wide eyed at her, expressing their shock and surprise at her rather sudden and uncharacteristic outburst. The girl shrunk under their wide eyed gazes and sheepishly twiddeled her fingers, face turning red as embarrassment replaced her anger.

There was one individual, however, unphased by the sudden outburst that came from the usually quiet Tohru. Tohma drew his cold, stony gaze from his hot headed rival to the girl who had defended him. "You are not fit to work for DATS either. You seem to only rely soley on your emotions and your attachment to Masaru has clouded your judgement of his behavior. DATS members need to be independent and confident, you lack both of these qualities."

His sharp, criticizing words cut right through Tohru's very being like the blade of a knife. She outwardly flinched at every single belittling comment made at her personal flaws. What hurt her most was being told she lacked any confidence or independence. The worst part about this was that everything he said was right. Tohru tore her hurt filled gaze away from the taller blonde, opting to look at the floor to hide her flustered appearance. Tears formed in her eyes despite how much she mentally screamed at herself not to start crying in front of everyone.

A low growl erupted from Masaru's throat, fists clenched even tighter, body trembling as his anger finally reached its boiling point. He could handle being insulted by this rich pretty boy, but the moment he decided to insult Tohru was the final nail in the coffin for him. "You son of a bitch!" The auburn haired male broke free of all restraint and swung his fist, intending to punch Tohma in his snooty face. "I'm gonna make you apologize to her!!"

Tohru's head jerked up at her best friend's words, tear filled eyes wide. He was...he was defending her. Just like he always had. However...that was the problem.

If Masaru has to keep coming to my rescue, I'll never learn to stand up for myself.

She had no confidence in herself.

She was dependent on him.

Everything Tohma said about her was right.

Before Masaru's fist could connect with its target, Tohma caught his fist in the palm of his own hand and held it there without any trouble at all. "See? You rely only on your brute strength and act before you can think things through. Do you really think you can beat me at the level you're at?"

"Yeah, I think I can take you on at the level I'm at! In fact, why don't we settle this with a boxing match right now?!" Masaru spat, pulling his fist away from Tohma's grip and staring the blonde boy down, trying to intimidate him with his firey glare. Despite his efforts to scare Tohma out of his boots (Quite literally, as Tohma is wearing boots), the intelligent blonde remained emotionless and cold.

"Fine then. I guess words won't get through to that thing in that head of yours you call a brain." With that, the two boys and the rest of the DATS members currently occupying the space made their way into the training room. In the middle of the large area was a boxing ring and standing on either side across from each other were the two feuding rivals; Masaru (representing the color red) and Tohma (representing the color blue).

Tohru stood outside of the ring on Masaru's side, silently praying that he comes out the victor. Yoshino stood beside her, the magenta haired girl's face displaying her annoyance at this whole fiasco. She clearly knew who was going to win this boxing match and found it to be entirely pointless. Agumon was loudly shouting words of encouragement to his human partner and Terriermon was sleeping on top of Tohru's head, having grown bored from the lack of action today. Lalamon floated by the boxing ring carrying a small mallet; it was her job to ring the bell and start the match.

Standing outside Tohma's side of the ring were Miki and Megumi, the two fangirls acting as his own personal cheerleaders. Satsuma stood a few feet away, silently observing the match from a distance. Tohma's partner, Gaomon, stood behind his tamer in complete silence. From what Tohru could see, Gaomon was a Digimon of few words and only spoke when spoken to. He was loyal to his human partner and would obey any of the blonde's orders. Gaomon was a blue and white Shiba Inu-like Digimon who sported a red headband around his head and matching boxing gloves. He always responded to Tohma's commands with a "Yes, Master."

Rosa and her partner Coronamon leaned against the wall away from the other DATS members, both human and Digimon in the same pose with their arms crossed over their chests and watching the fight emotionlessly.

"Masaru, put a headguard on! You're gonna need it!" Yoshino scolded the auburn haired male, thrusting out a red headguard in front of herself. The teenager looked at her from over his shoulder and shook his head, claiming that he didn't need it and pointing out that Tohma wasn't wearing one either. Yoshino gave up with a shrug and tossed the headguard aside and sat in a folding chair beside the ring.

"Go Aniki! Beat him to a pulp!" Agumon called out to the hot blooded boy.

"Y-You can do it, Masaru!" Tohru cheered him on to show her support and pumped her fist in the air enthusiastically. "Show him who's the best street fighter around!" Masaru glanced down at his best friend and gave her a thumbs up and winked, causing Tohru's heart to thump in her chest and her cheeks turned red.

Lalamon swung the mallet and rang the bell, signaling for the match to start. Immediately, Masaru charged in toward his rival with fists raised and took a swing at the blonde. Tohma easily dodged the other boy's punch by stepping back.

"Is that all you can do..? You'll never get anywhere if all you rely on is brute strength without any kind of strategy." Masaru gritted his teeth angrily, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes narrowed.

"Shut up!" He swung his fists at Tohma again and again, but each time he aimed a punch at the rich blonde's face he simply stepped back to dodge it. Tohru felt a seed of worry beginning to plant itself in her stomach. Was Tohma really that much stronger than Masaru?

"Why is it that you joined DATS in the first place?" Tohma questioned the boy who was continuing to throw more and more punches at him.

"So I can fight strong guys like you!" Masaru spat, attempting to throw another punch at Tohma's face but was caught by surprise when the blonde socked him right in the stomach. Masaru stumbled back as he had the wind knocked out of him. Clutching his abdomenal area in pain he tried to get back the oxygen that he'd lost.

"That's it? How boring..."

"I said, shut up!!" Masaru growled, Tohma's words only fueling his anger as he kept assaulting the blonde with punch after punch. None of his offensive onslaughts connected with their target. Tohma knew that this whole match was pointless and Masaru was someone who was beyond help. In one powerful swing, he sent a punch right into the hot blooded male's jaw and sent him flying to the ground.

Tohru let out a small gasp and flinched when Tohma's fist connected with Masaru's jaw. Her emerald hues wide, stomach churning and twisting in knots as she watched her best friend lay on the floor of the ring. He needed to get up, or he'll lose to Tohma!

From across the room, Rosa hadn't moved from her spot since the match began. She had heard that Tohma was strong, having beaten Olympic champion boxers in the past. Seeing him in action for herself though, was quite impressive. She had a feeling that the hot headed idiot would lose to the boy she secretly admired. "That ended quickly...how boring..."

"That boy fighting Tohma is quite the stubborn mule, isn't he?" Coronamon spoke for what seeemed like the first time today, never taking his big green eyes off the match.

"He sure is, Coronamon. Though its good that at least someone believes in him.." The Spaniard turned her gaze to a concerned and worried looking Tohru before going back to watching the match.

Yoshino began the count down the moment Masaru's back hit the floor. As each number left her lips, Tohru could do nothing but watch helplessly as her friend's chances at losing this match were becoming greater and greater by the second.

"1...2...3...4..."

"Come on, Masaru! You can still win this!" Tohru called out to the auburn haired boy as he struggled to stand up on his feet. She wanted to climb into the ring and help him up herself, to be his support like she always has been. However, if she did that he would lose automatically.

"5...6..."

He was still struggling to stand up, but the pain he felt was starting to get to him. No...he...he couldn't lose to Tohma! Masaru was the best fighter she knew!

"7...8..."

"Please get up Masaru!"

"9...10!" Lalamon rang the bell to end the match and solidifying Tohma's flawless victory. A round of squeals could be heard echoeing throughout the room from the blonde's fangirls. Tohru's arms dropped to her sides, emerald eyes staring at her fallen crush in disbelief. He...he lost?

"Rude and vulgar people aren't needed in DATS..." Tohma said bitterly as he crouched down to climb out of the ring. Masaru stood up panting for air, not yet ready to accept that he was just defeated by a prissy rich blonde.

"I'm..not done yet, blondie." Masaru's voice strained, still clutching at his throbbing abdomen. Pain pulsed through his stomach each time he breathed or even moved. "This isn't over..." He raised his fists once more, eager to continue their fight. Tohma's eyebrows furrowed, his patience wearing thin from his hot headed rival's attitude.

But wait, the match was over wasn't it? Of course, Masaru wasn't going to admit defeat yet-especially to this "prissy blonde asshole" as he would put it-and he wasn't about to forfeit his title as Japan's number one ultimate fighter.

"This match is over. Face it, you lost."

A determined smirk played on Masaru's lips, a chuckle erupting from his throat. "What match? This is a real fight! So get back in the ring and face me!" Now irritated beyond belief, Tohma changed his mind and got back into the ring only to have a punch thrown at him by Masaru. The powerful punch connected with his jaw and sent him staggering back and bounced against the rope barrier keeping him from falling out of the ring.

"Doesn't feel good to be the one on the receiving end of a punch, does it?" Masaru taunted as he panted after exerting some more of his energy just to deliver that punch into Tohma's jaw. The brunet couldn't control the smug smirk that formed on his lips. He'd finally given this asshat a peice of his mind in the only way he knew how, with his fists.

Rosa's bored expression shifted slowly into one of slight annoyance, but hidden in her brown hues was a hint of interest and amusement. Anyone that could land a hit on Tohma had to be at least a bit stronger than the average guy, though she doubted that this occurance was anything other than pure dumb luck.

The moment Masaru stood up to continue the fight, Tohru's eyes lit up at the very sight of her childhood friend refusing to give up. That was what she admired about him. His bravery, strength, confidence and optimism. Who cares that he lost a dumb fight? It didn't matter if he lost because he was still willing to continue the fight whether there was a loser or a winner.

Tohma got to his feet and returned to his composed state, cerulean hues glaring at the boy in front of him. The two boys raised their fists and charged at each other, swinging at their opponent with all their might. The moment their fists connected with the other's jaw the tension in the room grew thick as silence fell over every individual. Both boys staggered back, each having a newly formed bruise on their cheeks before their bodies slowly came crashing down to the floor.

~~**~~

Tohru exhaled a sigh as she stuck a medical bandage onto Masaru's bruised cheek, earning a pained grunt from the auburn haired boy. She closed the medical kit in her lap, giving her friend a concerned glance. Unfortunately for him, the match with Tohma ended with no winner. She wasn't about to remind the street fighter of that as she didn't want to damage his wounded pride any further. The reserved girl opened her mouth to try and cheer him up but her mind couldn't come up with the right words.

Rosa walked by the pair, mumbled an insult aimed at Masaru in her native tongue, before walking over to her favorite spot to stand; the wall. Coronamon followed her and copied her signature pose of leaning her back against the wall's surface and crossing her arms over her chest. Judging from her lone wolf attitude and her body language, she was putting up a facade of being a cool and composed person.

'She seems like a mean person, but maybe that's just an act?' Tohru didn't want to judge the Spaniard just because of her 'leave me alone, I'm too cool for you' attitude. Maybe she was just a lonely girl like herself who didn't know how to make friends.

"Hmph...that Coronamon thinks he's so cool..." Terriermon grumbled in a hushed tone as he lay perched on her shoulder, annoyed and trying to burn a hole in Coronamon's head. "I don't like that Gaomon either..."

"Jealous?" Tohru smiled amused.

"I'm not jealous of that guy! He should be jealous of me, I'm way cuter than him!" Tohru stifled a giggle at her partner's obvious jealousy toward Coronamon.

The automatic double doors slid open and in walked Tohma and Gaomon, the former individual sporting a few bruises on his face. He avoided making eye contact with anyone in the room, displaying his obvious embarrassment over letting Masaru's earlier taunting get to him. Both partners were silent, not once speaking a word to anyone.

Tohru happened to catch Rosa glancing over at the blonde occasionally from where she was standing. The tan skinned girl would start to move away from the wall as if she were going to approach Tohma, but each time she performed this action she'd go right back to leaning against the wall's metallic surface.

Things seemed to have settled down after the boxing match between the two rivals. The only sources of noise that could be heard in the surveillance room were Miki and Megumi's fingertips typing away at the keyboards of their computers, the occasional yawn of boredom from Yoshino and a small cough or sniffle from every other DATS agent present. Nobody really knew what to say or talk about, probably wanting to avoid triggering another argument between Masaru and Tohma.

'I'm glad they aren't arguing right now, but this is really boring. I almost wish a Digimon would show up-'

Tohru's internal monologue was cut short due to the blaring of the alarms piercing through the thick silence that had settled upon them. The entire room began to turn red, only managing to startle her further as she quickly looked around for the source of all the sudden noise. "W-What's going on?!"

Miki and Megumi were pulling up a grid map on their monitors and a set of coordinates. Yoshino, noticing Tohru's alarmed state, rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her a bit. "Its alright Tohru. Its just the alarms signalling a Digimon sighting somewhere in Yokohama."

Tohru sheepishly nodded her head, her body relaxing a smidgen now that she realized this was not a cause for alarm. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, she glanced up at the large monitors that displayed the location of the current Digimon sighting. Miki announced the exact coordinate in a professional tone that came off as uncharacteristic to Tohru, especially after seeing the way she had fangirled over Tohma. Her tone was more serious, nothing like the feminine and giddy tone she used earlier today.

A small blinking dot could be seen on the grid map, the dot being the Digimon that was sighted. Masaru got to his feet and smirked, itching to take on this new mission. A picture of the Digimon appeared on the monitors, displaying a visual of a PetitMeramon.

"A PetitMeramon? Didn't Tohma already secure that Digimon earlier?" Yoshino questioned and turned to the blue clad male, who nodded his head with an air of alarm. Masaru's smirk slowly began to fade, forest green eyes widening. Unbeknownst to the street fighter, the terrible feeling welling up in his gut was caused by all of his growing guilt.

There had been only one blinking dot when the grid popped up on the large screen, however every few seconds more and more of those dots began to appear. As more dots appeared, the more Masaru's guilt took over every part of him. He couldn't move, only stared up at the monitors as his entire body trembled. "W-What's going on here?!" Judging by the sudden sense of alarm in Miki's tone, something was horribly wrong here.

"T-The Digimon signal is mulitpying! I-Its still increasing!!" Megumi cried out in a state of panic, her big brown doll like eyes counting the number of signals that were popping up. Counting up the total number of blinking signals displayed on the grid, a panicked gasp sounded from Miki's throat.

"T-There's almost a hundred of them!" Amidst all the chaos going on in the room, Satsuma and Kudamon remained calm and level headed. The Digimon draped around the man's neck spoke up after taking a few minutes to observe the rapidly growing number of signals. Kudamon, being from the Digital World himself, knew almost everything there was to know about his own species.

"I might be able to explain just what is going on here." Kudamon started as he lifted up his head to gaze around at all the younger DATS members, "It would appear that even if a small amount of PetitMeramon's body remains, it has the ability to develop into more bodies and multiply within a short amount of time." Masaru's muscles tensed, his jaw clenching and his teeth gritted. The street fighter was physically trembling, beginning to realize the growing feeling of guilt in the core of his being.

Kudamon had seemed to notice the street fighter's rising tension because the next words out of his mouth made the auburn haired boy outwardly flinch, "You seem to know something about this...Masaru."

"But..its just strange that they were able to multiply in only a few hours..." Satsuma mused to himself, crossing his arms over his wide chest. Tohma and Gaomon stepped up to the older man and saluted him, the blonde speaking in that professional and no nonsense tone of his.

"Captain! Allow us to handle this!" Tohma requested and seeing as the two silent loners were the perfect team for the job, Satsuma agreed to this and gave him permission to head out. After all, Tohma and Gaomon were boasted to be one of the best teams at DATS. This decision didn't go over too well with Yokohama's local street fighter.

"No way! That thing was originally my target, so I'm gonna be the one to fight it!" Masaru stated, turning his head to his superior as if to ask if doing the mission would be okay with him. Of course, deep down he already knew the answer, but he was far too stubborn to back down now. Tohma strode past him, ignoring the hot headed male and heading out the sliding double doors with Gaomon at his side.

"I'm going too!" Masaru exclaimed as he had begun to turn on his heels and follow the blonde out the doors. Tohru, worried for what her friend might try to do, began to do the same when Satsuma's authoritive voice stopped them both in their tracks. The smaller brunette's body visibly flinched at the scolding tone the Captain's voice took on.

"No! Masaru and Tohru, you two will stay here! Let Tohma and Gaomon handle it this time around." The fighter's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles whitened and every muscle in his body trembled with anger, and a feeling left unknown to everyone else but himself, fear. Fear for how out of control the situation could get and he would be powerless to stop it.

Satsuma then turned his unseen gaze to Yoshino and Lalamon, ordering them to accompany Tohma as the designated driver. (It seems she had been deemed the designated driver of DATS long before Masaru and Tohru even joined), "Yoshino, you and Lalamon go with them to lend your support." The magenta haired teen nodded her head obediently and saluted her superior before she and her flower-bud like partner exited the surviellance room.

With that said and done, Masaru, Tohru, Rosa and their partners reluctantly stayed behind and watch everything that would happen on the monitors.

~~**~~

Everything had seemed to settle down after Tohma and Yoshino left the DATS building. The remaining individuals in the surveillance room watched what was currently going on at the scene of the Digimon sighting from the monitors. Tohma and Gaomon had no problems at all taking down each of the PetitMeramon they came across and the trunk of Yoshino's car was quickly becoming filled with more and more Digieggs. It was a wonder that there was enough room in there at all as her car was really not that big.

Masaru was unusually quiet, only the occasional curse word or mumble escaping his lips every now and then. Despite her bad first impressions of Tohma and his dog-like partner, they made a great team. The two were synced up with each other in probably the most flawless way possible; even she couldn't help but feel amazed by the sight of the two partners fighting. Of course, Tohma's methods of fighting were far different from Masaru's as he used strategic tactics to get things done as quickly and methodically as possible.

The problem she had with it was, there was no passion in his methods. Whenever she would watch Masaru train, she felt every ounce of his firey determination flowing through his body. Every little face he would make, the way he moved. Sure his method of fighting was as free style as it gets, but the way he fought motivated her. She felt the same passion and love for the sport that Masaru did, and that was why she admired her best friend's strength so much.

Terriermon, who had gotten bored after all of the chaos had finally settled, was perched on top of Tohru's head snoring softly, fast asleep. Rosa and Coronamon hadn't moved from their positions leaning against the wall, their eyes glued to the monitors. Tohru, realizing that she hadn't once even tried to talk to the silent girl, bashfully approached the two while twiddling her fingers and displaying her nervousness.

"Um...I-I never introduced myself to you earlier. I'm Tohru Harima, a-and this is my partner Terriermon." Tohru gestured to the sleeping Digimon on her head. A small bubble was moving in and out of his nostril as he snored soundly. Eyebrows furrowing a bit, Tohru removed Terriermon from her head and gently patted his cheek with the palm of her hand. The slight patting on his face jolted the Digimon awake and the bubble in his nose snapped. His dark eyes were wide for a few brief moments before he relaxed as he realized it was just his partner that woke him up.

"Tohru...what was that for? I was having a nice dream about ice cream.."

Tohru's lips tugged up into a smile that she couldn't control, his groggy mumbling was just too darn cute to resist. "I wanted you to meet Rosa and Coronamon." She turned him around in her arms to face the silent duo, who hadn't said a word the entire time she was standing in front of them.

"...You...don't have to be so formal.." Rosa finally spoke up, her accented voice coming off as sounding slightly annoyed. However, her face held no such sign of feeling any type of irritation in the slightest.

"Ah, s-sorry. I just didn't want to seem rude since you're my superior." Tohru stammered as her nervousness levels began to rise, her cheeks looking a bit flushed the more flustered she became. "Your name is Rosa, right? Who is your partner?" She asked curiously glancing down at the orange colored Digimon standing beside his partner.

"This is Coronamon..." Said Digimon nodded his head in Tohru's direction, acknowledging her presence.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tohru." Coronamon spoke politely, his tone greatly contrasting with his partner's. Terriermon seemed to notice that the other Digimon hadn't even once looked at him or even seemed to acknowledge he was there, resulting in the rabbit-like creature giving him a small glare.

"Aw! You're so cute!" Tohru cooed gently as she crouched down in front of the orange Digimon and pet him on the head, smiling sweetly and causing Coronamon to blush a bit.

"I..I am not cute." He mumbled, eyes shifting away slightly and avoiding looking at her out of embarrassment. This only seemed to make him cuter in her eyes and she let a small giggle escape her lips, making the Digimon blush more.

She stood up to her feet once more and offered Rosa a friendly grin, sticking her hand out for the girl to shake. "I hope that we'll become good friends, Rosa." Hearing this, the tan skinned girl's muscles stiffened, her intense brown hues softening. Silently, the Spaniard nodded her head slowly and took Tohru's hand in her own, shaking it before drawing it back to cross with the other arm over her chest.

Tohru then walked away after giving the silent duo one last friendly smile, Terriermon sending Coronamon small glares from over Tohru's shoulder. The orange Digimon glanced up at his anti-social partner after returning Terriermon's glares with a dirty look of his own.

"She's really nice, Rosa. I think she'd be a good friend for you..." Rosa scoffed at his words and looked downcast, no longer watching what was occuring on the monitors.

"I told you Coronamon...aside from you...I don't need friends..." She was unaware of her partner's concerned gaze and the little, almost incoherent sigh that escaped his mouth.

'Rosa...why won't you open up to anyone...?'

~~**~~

"I don't like that Coronamon..." Terriermon mumbled, his stubby arms crossed and his cheeks puffed out, clearly in a pouty mood, "...or Gaomon either. They think they're so cool..." Tohru glanced down at her annoyed partner with a raised eyebrow, one corner of her lips tugged up into a teasing smirk.

"Are you jealous, Terriermon?" Her digital partner puffed his cheeks out more and glanced away from his tamer.

"I am not jealous."

"...Sure you're not." Tohru chuckled, picking her partner up in her arms and giving him a gentle hug. "Don't worry Terriermon, to me you'll always be the best." She cooed and nuzzled her cheek against his. The rabbit like Digimon blushed a bit and nuzzled the girl back affectionately.

"You mean it?"

"Of course." The brunette let out a soft chuckle at her own partner's sensitivity. The fact that he was getting so jealous of Gaomon and Coronamon motivated her to help him become just as strong as they were. But to do that...first Tohru herself needed to become a stronger person.

"Tohru...did that blonde guy hurt you? He said those mean things to you before.." Terriermon gave his partner a concerned glance, to which the brunette hesitated to answer at first. She put on a smile and shook her head in response.

"No, he didn't hurt me. Don't worry, I'm fine Terriermon." She pet his head and glanced back up at the monitors just in time to see Gaomon take down another PetitMeramon. Tohru exhaled a small sigh, unaware of the fact that her digital partner had heard it. 'Besides...everything he said about me was true...'

"Damn it..." The level headed duo tore their gazes away from the screens to glance up at the unusually quiet Masaru. His lips were formed in a tight frown, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he were trying hard to keep his anger in check. Forest green eyes glared up at the footage playing on the monitors and the more he watched, the more the muscles in his body tightened. Another pair of emerald green hues filled with concern and worry studied him, taking in every little twitch of his muscles and every little facial tick.

Tohru turned her body to face her friend more directly, even if the boy was too focused on what was playing on the screens in front of him. A small hand began to drift away from her own body and inch ever so slowly toward the taller male. Half way there, her hand paused and there was a moment of hesitation, before she began to move it once again.

Seeing how hurt he looked, the amount of guilt hidden in those usually passionate eyes, she couldn't stand it. She wanted nothing more than to take his hand and pull him to her, to wrap her arms around his taller frame, to hold him and let him know she was there for him. She wanted her fingers to become enveloped in his warmth when she would take hold of his hand. Just the thought of holding his hand in her own made her cheeks feel warm and she was sure she was starting to blush, but that didn't matter to her. What mattered right now was making sure her best friend was okay.

"Do you see it now? This is the difference in strength between you and Tohma." Kudamon remarked, his tone holding a hint of harshness. Masaru noticeably flinched at the Digimon's tone and his body seemed to relax for just a moment. It was long enough for Tohru's fingers to gently brush against his unclenched hand, but before she could go any further Masaru turned on his heel and ran out of the surveillance room. In that brief few seconds, Tohru had noticed the boy's hurt expression, like he'd been kicked while he was down. Agumon called out for his partner and began to give chase after the boy.

Satsuma stood up to go after Masaru, but Kudamon's words stopped him before he could move from his desk. "No...we should let him be.." Tohru gazed at the spot where her best friend had just been standing, silently regretting that she hadn't taken his hand and consoled him. She drew her arm back to herself and turned to her superior, now regretting even more what she was about to do.

"I-I'm sorry sir...b-but I'm going after him! E-Excuse me!" Tohru stuttered out in a nervous panic, her voice cracking as she saluted him and quickly gave chase after her long time crush. She knew she was going to be in heaps of trouble for doing this, but she was only doing what she felt was right. That was to see what was wrong with her best friend. Satsuma made another move to stop her, but gave up and looked over at the silent duo that remained. His lips parted to give her an order, to go after the other two and make sure nothing happened to them.

Before he could say anything, Rosa left her spot against the wall and walked up to the Captain's desk with Coronamon loyally following suit. She raised her arm up in a salute and calmly spoke in a quiet, bored drone. "Captain, I request permission to go after them and make sure the idiot doesn't do anything stupid. I doubt that Tohru will be able to handle it on her own.." Coronamon glanced up at his partner, giving her an apprehensive and scolding look.

'She knows just how to draw people away from her...I wish she'd be a bit friendlier...'

"...Permission granted." As soon as these words left Satsuma's mouth, Rosa nodded and ran out the double doors with Coronamon following silently behind his partner. The Spaniard was quick to catch up to Tohru, reaching out and grabbing the girl's arm to stop her in her tracks.

As Tohru was running, footsteps were coming up fast behind her and something grabbed onto her wrist. The force made her skid a bit and she glanced over her shoulder at Rosa, who had a surprisingly strong grip on her wrist.

"Where are you going..? Why did you run out like that..?" Rosa questioned, no amount of emotion displayed on her face, however her tone held a slight hint of irritation.

"I-I'm going after Masaru. Something's wrong with him and I need to see if he's okay." Tohru responded, voice shaky as she desperately tried to pull her arm from the shorter girl's grasp. If she didn't, she might not be able to catch up to Masaru and she might lose sight of him.

"Why should that be any of your business..? If he's got a problem, let him fix it on his own..."

"..Its because he's my best friend and I care about him. If something is bothering him, as his close friend, I should know about it so I can be there and show him my support. That's what friends do for each other..." Tohru explained, emerald eyes pleading for Rosa to let go of her wrist. The tan skinned girl went quiet and slowly released Tohru from her grasp, her arm falling to her side as she watched the green clad girl run off down the long tunnel.

"...Rosa..?" Coronamon noticed the uncomfortable silence that had fallen over his partner, glancing up at her with concern. "...I think you should be friends with her...she's trying really hard to be there for Masaru, even if he is an idiot...she could be there for you too."

Rosa didn't say anything, instead she started running down the tunnel again. Coronamon breathed out a small sigh and caught up with her, running at her side and occasionally glancing up to study her face. To see if there was any sign of an emotion showing, but there was none. She remained emotionless. He wanted to know what was going on within Rosa, to know her inner conflicts and struggles. He wished she would open her heart up to him, and to others.

~~**~~

Tohru and Terriermon finally managed to catch up with Masaru and Agumon, the latter still chasing after his partner. The yellow lizard kept calling out to the fighter, but Masaru kept getting further and further away. Something was wrong, there was something bothering him. Tohru was always able to tell when there was something on Masaru's mind, she'd known him since she was a little girl after all.

"Aniki! Wait!" Agumon called out again, but his words had no affect on the fleeing boy.

"Shut up!" Masaru shouted, desperation in his tone as he continued to run away from his digital partner. He wanted to be alone, but why? He wasn't one to run from others when he was upset, he confronted them directly. He didn't run from his problems, he faced them head on. "Just leave me alo-" Before the auburn haired boy could finish, he tripped over some gravel and fell face first into the concrete.

"Masaru!" His name left her lips the moment he hit the ground and she was rushing to his side, putting a hand on his back as he got onto his knees. His head was downcast, forest green eyes staring at the ground and his body trembling. "L-Listen, I know you're angry at Tohma and you have every right to be. H-He was being a jerk to us and-"

"It's not him I'm mad at!" Masaru's words cut her off and he struggled to his feet, not once looking at his childhood friend or Agumon. "I'm mad at myself..." Those words lingered in Tohru's mind, emerald hues helplessly watching his back as he walked out of the tunnel and into the daylight of the afternoon.

"Aniki..." Agumon stumbled a bit as he went to go catch up to the taller boy, leaving Tohru standing in the same spot and pondering over Masaru's words.

He's mad at himself...? It confused her; Masaru was acting so out of character, he never usually doubted himself or his own abilities. It was then that Tohru recalled a moment earlier today when Masaru had been complaining about how the PetitMeramon was able to get away from him. Then she began to recall what happened when they found out about the flame Digimon multiplying. Kudamon had glanced over at Masaru as if he seemed to know that the boy had been the cause of this.

Guilt. It was guilt that was overtaking Masaru right now. He felt an overwhelming amount of guilt because of his own wreckless actions.

Tohru snapped out of her train of thought and followed Masaru out into the sunlight, squinting and shielding her eyes the moment she stepped out of the shade of the tunnel. "Masaru..?" She spoke softly as she tried to locate her friend, spotting him right ahead of her. He was standing beside an old man who was trying to light a fire and cook a fish, probably one that he had caught himself. He appeared to be a man who enjoyed the art of fishing.

"Tohru...why is there an old man cooking fish out here?" Terriermon whispered in the girl's ear.

"Honestly, I have no idea..." Tohru whispered back, shrugging her shoulders and walking over to where the old man was sitting. He had a makeshift barbaque set up with an uncooked fish placed on top. He was fanning the flames under the fish, trying to feed them enough oxygen to grow into bigger flames. Who was this old man anyway, and why did it seem like Masaru knew him?

"Old man! What're you doing out here in a place like this??" Masaru questioned curiously as he crouched down a bit, putting his hands on his knees to support himself.

"You know this man, Masaru?" Tohru asked with a raised brow. Masaru glanced up at her as if just realizing she was standing there.

"He's the one who gave me my Digivice. Though...I don't really know his name." Tohru blinked and shook her head a bit, turning her attention back to the old man. A chuckle was heard rumbling from the older man's throat.

"To answer your earlier question, Masaru, I'm making a fire." He answered before glancing up at Tohru. "Who's your little friend?" This caught Tohru off guard and her body stiffened.

"I-I'm Tohru Harima, sir.." She stuttered as the blood rushed to her cheeks. The elderly man chuckled at Tohru's flustered state and went back to fanning the flames.

"As I was saying, its quite a pain that the wind keeps blowing out the fire...but once I make the flames bigger they won't go out no matter how much the wind blows." The old man smiled knowingly. The more he fanned the flames, the more they grew and the brighter they began to burn.

Tohru caught Masaru staring into the flames with an intense and concentrating gaze. She could tell that the gears in his head were beginning to turn. Her own emerald hues turned back to the flames and she too stared intently, her mind slowly beginning to put the pieces of the puzzle together just as he was.

"Fire is an interesting thing, isn't it...?"

That clever old man...He'd just given them the answer they'd been searching for. As if a lightbulb had just gone off above Masaru's head, he stood up straight with newfound determination blazing in those passionate eyes.

Rosa and Coronamon exited the tunnel and ran up to the other two teenagers, panting a bit since she was out of breath. Her brown hues glared at the back of Masaru's head, no doubt calling him a long string of curses in her native tongue in her mind. The three teenagers flinched when they suddenly heard voices in their ears, quickly removing their earpieces and staring own at the small communicators.

"Tohma! Digimon Signal in Area-B42!" Satsuma's voice sounded through the communication devices. Tohma's alarmed voice was the next to be heard responding back to their superior.

"What?! Aren't there gas tanks over there?!"

Tohru's emerald eyes widened as a sense of panic overtook her and she locked gazes with the auburn haired boy standing beside her. Both teenagers thinking the exact same thing; if the PetitMeramon were to attack the gas tanks...

Oh shit.

Masaru pressed the small button on the side of the earpiece and shouted into the speaker, "Leave it to us!!" Despite Yoshino and Tohma's protests for him not to interfere and to stay where he was, he looked to Tohru and Rosa with a firey gaze and a determined grin playing at his lips. "Let's go!"

"R-Right!"

"Wait, what?! You seriously think you'll be able to beat them?" Rosa asked putting her hands on her hips and glaring up at the taller boy. Masaru was unaffected by her glares and nodded his head, showing off his pearly whites.

"Yup! So don't try to stop me, pipsqueak!" With that, he grabbed Tohru's wrist and took off running while tugging his best friend along beside him. The green clad girl stumbled a bit and began running to catch up with him. A string of Spanish words could be heard from a good distance behind them, all coming from the mouth of the angry little Spaniard they'd left in the dust.

"I'm gonna strangle him when I get my hands on him!" Rosa growled and high tailed it after the other two teenagers, Coronamon following after her with a sigh leaving his lips. "Get back here, Daimon!!"

"Masaru! Tohru! Rosa! I can't allow either of you to do this! It's too dangerous!" Satsuma's commanding and booming voice shouted through the earpieces. As he was running, Masaru held the small device up to his lips and responded back.

"Whatever, just watch! We can handle this!" Before Satsuma could get a chance to yell at the boy, he turned off the communicator and put it back on his ear. Tohru prayed that the three of them wouldn't be in trouble once this was all over. Within a few minutes, the three teenagers and their partners arrived at the area of the Digimon sighting. Flying playfully and dangerously close to the gas tanks were several PetitMeramon.

Masaru let go of Tohru's wrist, as much as she didn't want him to, and turned to Agumon. "Agumon! Use Baby Burner on them!" This earned him a questioning look from not only his partner, but from Rosa and Coronamon as well.

"Idiot! Are you crazy?!" Rosa shouted as she stomped over to the taller boy and reached up, grabbing hold of his cheek and tugging on it hard. "If you do that, you'll blow us all up to high heaven! Do you even think with that brain of yours?!"

"Ow! Ow! Hey let go you little-" This only made Rosa tug harder on his cheek, but she ceased the moment Tohru hand wrapped around her wrist and slowly pulled it away from Masaru's face. Her emerald hues gazed sternly at the shorter girl and she shook her head.

"Its okay, he knows what he's doing. Just give him a chance, Rosa.." The Spaniard tugged her arm out of Tohru's grasp and crossed her arms over her chest in a pout.

"Fine..." Rosa mumbled, glaring at the taller boy while Tohru urged him to continue. Masaru smiled down at his best friend and turned back to the yellow lizard, his hands tightning into fists.

"Now, Agumon! Baby Burner!"

"B-But Aniki...my attacks won't work on them..." Agumon began to protest, now at a loss of what to do. His tamer wasn't going to have any of this hesitation crap.

"Just do it!" The intensity in Masaru's fierce gaze was enough to make Agumon comply and the yellow lizard began to shoot small fireballs from his mouth, hitting one of the flame Digimon. It seemed to have no effect, however. "Keep going!" Still unsure of how this would do any good, Agumon continued to blast more fire from his mouth at the PetitMeramon. The continuous flame blasts caused the flame Digimon to mold together, creating one larger PetitMeramon. Tohru watched as the single flame began to evolve and became Meramon, a flame man type of Digimon with stitches on the sides of its mouth and intimidating blue eyes.

"...So that's what you were trying to do...you were making it evolve so there was only one single Digimon left to fight." Rosa muttered, having realized what it was that Masaru had been planning. "I had no idea you could actually be clever, hot shot." The Spaniard teased with a smirk playing on her lips as she took out her red and white Digivice. Tohru's lips tugged up into an admiring smile, unclipping her green and white Digivice from her belt.

"Yeah. See? I told you I could handle it." Masaru smirked pridefully and turned to the fire Digimon, wagging a finger at him to egg him on. "Bring it!" Meramon snarled at the boy's taunts and got ready to attack the trio. "You know, I realized something when we were talking to the old man back there...sure, when wind blows against a flame, it goes out....but...." Meramon went in for an attack, swinging its large hand down to swipe at them. "...once you fuel the fire it bursts into flames....and.." He paused with a smirk playing on his lips, forest green hues blazing with firey determination as he jumped and with his fist raised he punched right through Meramon's large palm.

His orange Digisoul burned bright around his fist and he landed a good distance back from the fallen Meramon. "...and once the flame gets going, nothing can stop it from burning stronger than ever!!" Tohru gazed admiringly at his back, her cheeks flushing. She realized what had been going on with Masaru before after thinking about his words more carefully.

Tohma had been the wind that blew out his fire, but once he got his determination back the flames in his soul began to burn bigger and brighter than ever. There was nothing that would make his fire go out now, not even Tohma.

Just as this happened, Yoshino's car skidded to a halt and the occupants quickly climbed out in time to see Masaru activate his Digisoul. The hot blooded boy put his hand over his Digivice, the wisp of orange data feeding into the device. Agumon began to glow brightly as he felt his tamer's power deep within his core. The yellow lizard grew bigger, more T-rex like in appearance, his body becoming an orange color with blue markings all over.

Tohru stared up at the large dinosaur Digimon awestruck, it was the first time she had ever seen Agumon's Adult level. He was really cool looking! She looked to her own partner and exchanged enthusiastic glances before a green wisp of data appeared over her heart, then surrounding her hand. She charged up her Digivice with her own Digisoul, allowing Terriermon to reach his Adult level, Gargomon.

"Don't think I'm gonna let you guys have all the fun." Rosa's lips curved into a small smirk as she tightened her hand into a clenched fist and her red Digisoul burst forth, burning bright. She charged up her own Digivice and Coronamon began to change shape and size, becoming a large orange lion with wings protruding from his back. His glorious mane was a bright yellow and adorning each of his legs were metal bracelets. Flames were shooting out of the bracelets and the head piece attached to his head, as well as his tail. "Let's do this, Firamon."

The lion nodded his head at his partner and gave Meramon a fierce, intimidating glare. Gargomon narrowed his eyes at Firamon and cocked his vulcans at Meramon. "Let's put out the fire!"

Tohru groaned at Gargomon's awful pun and chuckled at how corny it sounded. Tohma stared up at the large flame humanoid, mouth hanging open in disbelief. "He...he made the flames bigger to make it evolve on purpose..." He couldn't believe that Masaru, of all people, had been the one to think of this! Tohma himself hadn't even thought of doing that!

The three Adult level Digimon faced off against Meramon. Both of the flaming humanoid's arms began to flare up and he swung his large fists down on the smaller of the three. Firamon leapt out of the way and Gargomon quickly jumped up into the air and starting shooting right into Meramon's face. He howled in pain and swiped at the smaller Digimon, knocking him away.

"Gargomon!" Tohru cried out as her partner went flying, but was caught by GeoGreymon. Gargomon thanked his friend and hopped back onto the ground, bracing himself for the next attack. Firamon began to focus his power into the gem on his headpiece and unleashed a powerful fire blast right into Meramon's chest. More howls of pain were heard from Meramon before he growled and went in to attack again but came face to face with GeoGreymon. The t-rex Digimon opened his mouth wide and released a large fireball, his Mega Burst attack, right into Meramon.

Meramon roared in pain before he disappeared, a bunch of Digieggs dropping to the ground. The three Digimon de-evolved back into their child forms, celebrating their victory. Tohru cheered and looked to Masaru excitedly, who gave her a thumbs up and a wink. "See? Nothing to worry about! I had this taken care of!"

"Yeah, yeah. You did good, Daimon. Though I can't help but think this was all a fluke." Rosa commented as she waved him off, scoffing and walking over to an egg and picking it up. The Digimon began to help gather up the eggs and put them in the trunk of Yoshino's vehicle. Masaru narrowed his green eyes at the Spanish girl, sticking his tongue out at her before helping out with collecting the eggs. Tohru breathed out a sigh, shaking her head as a smile formed on her lips.

'That's the Masaru I know and love...he's got his fire back.'

Masaru loaded up another egg into the trunk and turned to Tohma and Yoshino, a cocky grin playing on his lips. "See? I was able to beat the PetitMeramon too." Tohma's cerulean eyes avoided his gaze and he seemed to scoff at Masaru's boasting.

"Don't let it go to your head. You just got lucky is all." His own pride was wounded now and he didn't want to admit that Masaru had actually done something clever. Seeing the blonde's look of defeat, the auburn haired boy's smirk grew wider as his ego skyrocketed.

"Heh, you're just sore because this means we're even now." Masaru taunted the rich blonde some more only to have his ear tugged on by Rosa.

"Quiet you! You're the one that caused all of this in the first place, remember?!" The younger girl reminded him, shooting down his boosted ego some. She let go of his ear and walked over to Tohma, taking the egg from him and putting it in the trunk. A small hint of red tinted her tanned cheeks the moment her fingertips brushed against Tohma's. She then turned to Tohru and took an egg from her as well and placed it in the trunk. "Um..."

"Yes...?" Tohru tensed up a bit, thinking that the Spanish girl was going to snap at her for something she did wrong.

"...Um...I'm...sorry for the way I acted towards you earlier...you were just worried about your friend..." Rosa turned away and got inside the car with Coronamon sitting on her lap. Tohru stared at the younger girl for a moment as a smile ghosted onto her lips.

"Let's just...get back to headquarters..." Yoshino sighed, knowing that all of them were going to be in for quite an earful once they did get back to DATS.

~~**~~

"I keep telling you, relying purely on brute strength alone without any strategy or tactics will get you nowhere!"

"Heh, you're just being a sore loser now."

"Stop getting such a swelled head, you just happened to get lucky-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!" Satsuma roared, his voice echoeing off the walls of the entire room and silencing everyone. Everyone noticeably flinched as his booming voice pierced their eardrums, even Rosa, the one who was usually the most composed out of all of them had been affected.

"Yup...its been quite a while since I've heard that thunderous voice of his..." Yoshino commented, already having expected this to happen even before they returned to headquarters.

"Masaru, Tohma. You two need to learn how to get along and work together. So from now on..."

Oh no...he couldn't be thinking of...

"You two, along with Tohru and Rosa, will be a team!" With that sudden announcement, a collective "WHAT?!" could be heard from just about every single individual occupying space in that room.

"I'm not gonna be on a team with him!"

"There's no way I can work with a brute like him!"

Both boys began to protest and argue against this decision, but Satsuma had made up his mind. "I don't want to hear anymore about it. You two are going to be working together from now on...so I suggest you learn to deal with each other."

Amongst all of the protesting and shouting, Tohru remained silent as her chest tightened. Tohma's words from before were being beaten into her brain as if it were a drum. They echoed louder and louder the more she realized she would have to work alongside the blonde boy with no way to avoid being around him.

Being around someone like Tohma made her feel insecure. Inferior.

They would be teammates from now on.