Chapter 33: Can We Go Back?
Just as Mizuki was reveling in the surge of power he'd gained from memorizing the last of the code, LadyDevimon's progress came to an abrupt halt.
However, unlike Mizuki, she hadn't stopped because she had successfully absorbed everything.
"Mizu, I'm sorry… I couldn't remember this much all at once…" Her voice was laced with disappointment. "And… I feel like my body has reached some kind of threshold."
"Is that so…" Mizuki murmured, falling into deep thought.
His own body, while enhanced, was still fundamentally human. A Digimon, on the other hand, was a being composed entirely of data. This gave them an innate talent for processing information, but it also made them far more susceptible to its influence. It was like a computer trying to run a program too large for its memory; once the processing limit was exceeded, it would inevitably crash.
Realizing this, Mizuki quickly pushed his analysis aside to comfort the disheartened LadyDevimon. "This isn't your fault at all, LadyDevimon."
He gave her a reassuring smile. "We can take our time with this. More, we've worked hard all day. Let's get some proper rest."
"Mhm," LadyDevimon nodded, her spirits lifting slightly. "Then, should I carry Mizu back?"
"Please do," he answered with a lighthearted tone.
At his agreement, LadyDevimon's expression brightened, and she gently scooped him into her arms. For her, it seemed, being this close to Mizuki was a source of unmatched bliss.
But just as the long, busy day was drawing to a close, an unexpected tension flared up between them.
Now, looking at LadyDevimon sitting opposite him on the bed, her expression utterly dejected, Mizuki couldn't help but feel a wave of helplessness wash over him.
The entire situation had escalated over the simple matter of where to sleep.
In the past, to better look after his partner when she was the small, often dormant Nyaromon, Mizuki had always slept right beside her. This habit hadn't changed even after she evolved into the more independent BlackGatomon.
However, ever since BlackGatomon stabilized her data and evolved into the fully-formed LadyDevimon, Mizuki hadn't shared a bed with her once.
To the relatively simple and earnest mind of his partner, this change could only be interpreted one way: he had started to dislike her.
She might have been able to endure the feeling at first, but as time wore on, the insecurity slowly festered. Today, after her failure to absorb all the code, that dam of suppressed emotion finally broke.
"Mizu… do you think I'm stupid?" she asked, her voice small.
"How could I ever think that?" Mizuki replied instantly, his tone firm. "LadyDevimon, in my eyes, you've always been the most amazing Digimon in the world!"
"If that's true," she countered, her voice trembling slightly, "then why haven't you slept with me since I evolved to the Ultimate Level?"
LadyDevimon lowered her head, her long silver hair obscuring her face. "It's not just that… you haven't treated me the same in other ways, either. It's like… like you're keeping your distance."
Her voice grew stronger, as if she were gathering every last scrap of her courage. She lifted her head, her crimson eyes locking onto his, intense and pleading.
"If… if you really don't dislike me, Mizu!" she declared, each word deliberate and heavy with meaning. "Then treat me like you did before!"
"Please… hug me gently like you used to, and stroke my head."
"Kiss my cheek when I'm feeling down, and personally wash me after I've worked hard."
"And finally, when night falls, hold me in your arms, whisper goodnight, and sleep together with me until dawn!"
"…"
Mizuki stared, utterly speechless, at LadyDevimon's flushed face as she blurted out the entire string of requests in a single, desperate breath. He took a slow, deep breath, trying to process the sheer weight of her words.
"Uh… LadyDevimon…" he began, struggling to find the right response. "You know it's not that I don't want to, but—"
"But what?" she pressed, leaning closer.
Her shadow fell over him, the bottomless darkness of her powerful form seeming to draw nearer and nearer. Mizuki's instincts kicked in, and he quickly placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping the advance that was about to engulf his entire field of vision.
"Look! LadyDevimon, I'm truly not unwilling!" he said, his voice a little strained. "It's just… well… there are certain human customs, and… and matters of moral ethics!"
"But I'm not human," LadyDevimon stated, her head tilted in genuine confusion at his rambling explanation. "I'm a Digimon."
"That may be true, but your current appearance is that of a human woman."
"Is that so…"
LadyDevimon fell silent, contemplating his words. A flicker of understanding dawned in her eyes.
"So, Mizu, you don't dislike me… but because of how I look now, you can't do those things anymore. Is that right?"
"Well, the direction of your understanding isn't quite right, but… overall, you could interpret it that way," Mizuki conceded with a sigh. He couldn't immediately think of a better way to explain the complexities of human social norms to his pure-hearted partner, so he tacitly agreed.
"If that's the case—"
The moment the thought formed in her mind, LadyDevimon began to mobilize the data within her body. A soft glow enveloped her as code buried deep in her past was reactivated. Her tall, elegant form shimmered and shrank, the beautiful, mature woman dissolving into a cascade of light, reforming into a round, chubby creature with long ears and a striped tail.
Nyaromon.
"In that case, there shouldn't be a problem, right?" she chirped, her voice now sweet and impossibly cute.
Mizuki met Nyaromon's clear, pure eyes. After a moment of stunned silence, he forcibly suppressed the lingering image of LadyDevimon and all the complicated feelings that came with it. With a gentle motion, he reached out and picked up the small Digimon.
Able to return to Mizuki's embrace just as she had in the past, Nyaromon's face lit up with an expression of immense, unadulterated happiness.
"Huuu~"
She took a deep, contented breath, nuzzling into his chest and inhaling his familiar scent. Her soft, adorable voice gradually quieted into a sleepy murmur.
"Mizu… please don't dislike me, okay?"
"We have to be together forever…"
"…Yeah."
Looking down at the small Digimon slowly falling asleep in his arms, Mizuki suddenly felt that his stubborn adherence to human ethics had been a bit too rigid. He had been so tangled up in his own anxieties that he'd failed to see what truly mattered.
Compared to all those trivial concerns, the feelings of the companion by his side were infinitely more important.
As that thought settled in his heart, Mizuki began to gently stroke Nyaromon's head, just as he always had before.
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