It had been another long, sleepless night. More night terrors about the incident ten years ago; not only had they been occurring more frequently, they were getting worse. Kuroko had stayed up surfing the net and tinkering with her airsoft guns before finally falling asleep... about an hour before her alarm went off. She'd barely made it to class on time, and struggled to stay awake. Then, around lunchtime, she'd decided to head up to the roof. The warm sun and the light breeze had lulled her to sleep.
When Kuroko woke up, it was almost time for school to end. Her teachers had had enough. She had confided in a few about her night terrors, but it seemed they didn't understand. So for the first time all year, Kuroko had been given detention. Luckily for her, it turned out to be a time to catch up on her sleep.
Until the entire room began violently shaking.
Kuroko had been leaning back in her chair with her feet on her desk, her head resting on the desk behind her. Everything began moving underneath her chair. Kuroko fell, cursing and grumbling under her breath. Just as suddenly as it had began, the earthquake stopped. She could hear the other students swearing and trying to figure out what had happened. Everyone seemed to be okay, except for Mr. Fujo. Concerned, she moved to check on him, even if she didn't particularly like the man.
Still breathing, Kuroko thought.
Pulse seems okay. Must've just hit his head. Kuroko was suddenly aware of something else: the back of the room was gone, replaced by what seemed like neverending, blank whiteness. "The hell is going on?" she murmured to herself. There was a familiar sensation in the air. It felt electrically charged, as if a thunderstorm was brewing. She shuddered.
It feels like back then... Ones and zeroes seemed to flicker and dance through the air like sparks.
There was something else: a bright light, like a shining glass window, had appeared where the back of the classroom had once been. The rational part of her brain told Kuroko to stay away from it. But something else was curious. If this was related to the Yokai Incident...
She followed the others, grabbing her bag.
Only one way to find out, Kuroko thought. She took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal.
The little reptile Digimon had been searching for food again when the quake struck. The ground split open, cutting him off from the little hut where he and a few other Digimon lived. And then the ground opened up, and he was in freefall. He seemed to fall for hours before he landed face-first in a pile of books. "Owwwww..." he murmured.
The little Digimon popped his head out of the book pile. He could hear voices. Was it someone that could hurt him? His nostrils twitched. There were a few Digimon nearby. But the others...
Humans?But there was one scent that was familiar. It had been years since he'd encountered the human who had given him food, and here she was. The little Digimon leaped up, surging forward. "It's you! It's you! It's been so long!" He ran past the first few humans before leaping at one of them.
Less than a minute after Kuroko stepped through the portal, a black, dinosaurian creature plowed past the others and jumped up high. The first thing that caught her eye were the large claws and sharp, pointed teeth. The caveman part of Kuroko's brain told her this was a predator. And yet, it looked so happy. And why was it speaking like a human? Before she could figure that out, the creature bowled her over, nuzzling at her happily. "I missed you! Did you bring more for me to eat?"
Kuroko blinked. "Is... Is it really you, Buck?"
"In the data!" The Digimon grinned, and Kuroko hugged his snout.
"I never got to thank you for saving me," she said.
"You can thank me with more candy bars."
Kuroko couldn't help but laugh.