Chapter Text
Chapter 2 – Little Brother
A day had hardly passed since the incident in the auditorium, when Hiro heard knocking on her door. Thinking it was a teacher or the female dorm leader, she dragged herself from the bed and shuffled over.
Wearing nothing but her nightgown, she reached for the door, still feeling that horrible numbness inside. She hadn’t even eaten since the incident, and sleep refused to come.
Hiro opened the door slightly and peered out, seeing the last person she expected to come see her. Kiyoshirou. His startling blue eyes were filled with concerned as he shuffled, clearly tensed and uneasy to be out here.
Which made sense, boys were not allowed at all to be in the girl’s dormitory. Even more so for the Boys dorm leader to be here.
“Kiyoshirou?” She stared, her fingers wrapped around the door’s edge. Why would he risk trouble by coming here to see her?
“Hiroko, I heard.” He said, giving a slight nod as his eyes filled even more with concern and something else. Almost like fear.
Hiro lowered her head, eyes downcast as the horrid memories of her friends came to the surface. How he moaned in pain, how his body became twisted and frail with old age. She shivered and sucked in a breath, feeling tears threatening to fall. “Y-Yes…”
Kiyoshirou sighed. “Nomura was hospitalized, I just heard the news, since I was out yesterday. I’m sorry.”
He risked coming here just to say that?
“Also… you got asked, didn’t you? Like that girl did?” He asked, his voice growing quiet and full of fear. “What time is it?”
She nodded again, shoulders shaking. “Kiyoshirou please… I don’t…” She raised a hand to her face and let out a sob. “I don’t w-want to talk about it, please…”
“Dammit!” Kiyoshirou said, turning away as his face began to fill with panic. He grabbed at his hair, looking beside himself. “This is bad! This is bad! Bad! Bad! This is really bad!”
Hiro looked up and stared at him, now feeling confused at his behaviour. The way he looked, the way he was acting, it was like he had a run in himself with the Sewn-lip man. Had her senior really seen something?
“Kiyo-!”
She stopped as the silver haired boy shoved something into her hands. She blinked and looked down, seeing a strange blue item in her hand, looking like a bit of paper on a chain. “W-What is this?”
Kiyoshirou looked at her as if she was crazy, his eyes wide. “Can’t you tell?! It’s a talisman!”
A talisman, why would he give her a talisman? She looked up just as the older teen began to frantically walk away, his eyes darting everywhere as if looking for danger.
Once he reached the stairs, her turned around to face her and ripped open his jacket, revealing countless talismans around his neck. “I am NOT cursed!” He yelled with a manic look in his eyes, before darting down the stairs and vanishing.
Hiro simply stood there, completely taken aback. Her senior had always been strange, but even this was a new level of insanity. She remembered his outburst before, when Kotaru had joked about the Sewn-lip man.
Did Kiyoshirou actually know something? Had he actually seen the monster, had a run-in like her? And that was why he had come all this way to give her a talisman?
She looked at the item in her hand, a strange feeling cutting though the numbness. He had given this to her, as an act of trying to keep her safe in his own strange weird way. It was something Kotaru would have done…
Hiro placed the talisman around her neck, then gently closed her door before locking it. Now that Kiyoshirou was gone, the silence became heavy. She walked over to her bed and slowly sat down, staring ahead at the wall.
There was no homework to do, since the teachers had given her a week of absence to recover from her traumatic experience, and she didn’t feel like doing anything else.
She pulled out her phone and noticed an update from Lirurun, so she clicked and began to scroll through the forums.
[Did you hear? It happened again at Hazakura Academy. 0o0]
[No way!!! :o Seriously?]
[I herd it was 2 studonts this time who got their time stolin, crazi.]
[No, get your facts right, and your spelling. One student got their time stolen by the Sewn-lip man, a boy. The other a girl, she witnessed the whole thing and managed to get away.]
[Woah! 0o0 Think she’ll come give us the scoop?]
[Damn, imagine seeing that? feel sorry 4 her. That’s gotta be rough X( ]
Hiro jumped up and threw her phone across the room, shaking. It landed against the wall, then fell with a clatter, thankfully undamaged by the looks of it. Not that she cared at that moment, as anger bubbled up inside her.
Stupid Lirurun! If Kotaru hadn’t been so eager to get them photographic proof of the Sewn-lip Man, then maybe...
She stopped, now filled with grief and guilt as she sat down and began to sob, her hands on her face. “S-Stupid…”
There was no point getting angry, people were bound to talk and be fascinated by what had happened. Heck, she was like that herself, with her own fascination with the hologram ghost rumours.
Just then, there was rustling sound, like something moving though grass. Hiro yelped and jumped up from her bed, looking around frantically as her heart began to speed up. Whatever that noise was, it had come from somewhere in her room.
Hiro yelped and jumped back onto her bed again as she heard the rustling once more, her back pressing up again the wall. A cold fear washed over her, making her feel like she was about to be sick at any moment. “D-Don’t tell me… It’s the Sewn-lip Man again?!”
Had the monster been searching for her? Ready to finish off the job it had failed to do earlier?
Just then, something fell on her head and she screamed in fear, jumping off and throwing herself against her desk, almost knocking off her ipad to the floor. As she looked at the bed, she saw what had fallen on her head.
Three strange looking devices that looked almost like USB ports, or memory sticks.
“W-What are those?” She muttered to herself, slowly walking over with an air of caution. She reached out and picked them up, turning them over in her hands, before glancing at the ceiling. Where had they even come from?
Hiro looked over the strange objects again, before she paused, remembering the strange watch she had found when her father went missing.
When she packed up to leave for the dormitory, she had actually come across two more of the strange watches, and had placed all three of them in a box, which she had bought with her.
Why? Hiro had no idea, it was strange feeling she had, like she needed to bring them with her.
She went to her cupboard and pulled open the doors, before reaching in to grab the box. She placed it on the bed and lifted the lid, her hand reaching in to grab one of the watches.
Hiro turned it around in her hands and saw the slot on the side, which looked like a perfect fit for the strange USB ports. With her heart hammering, and her mouth going dry, she reached for the first one and plugged it in with trembling fingers.
“Wrong. That’s backup.” Issued the playful voice of her dad from the watch, which almost made Hiro drop it as she jumped in shock.
“D-Dad!?” She gasped, taking a step back in disbelief. It had been over half a year since she last heard her father’s voice. To hear it now, coming from the watch was quite jarring.
When no voice answered back, Hiro pulled out the USB port and plugged in the second one with bated breath.
“Too bad, that’s backup too.”
“Ugh… dad, come on.” She muttered in frustration, yanking out the port none too gently, before plugging in the final one.
This one seemed to be the right one, as the screen of the watch suddenly lit up, a white zigzag line appearing on the upper half. A second later, her bedroom completely changed as she yelped and stumbled back, her back hitting into the edge of her desk.
The whole floor of her room was now covered in long grass, as multiple-coloured particles of light floated in the air around her. Grass and plant-life were even growing off her bed and the rest of her furniture. It was utterly surreal.
“Am I… dreaming?” Hiro said, her voice stuttering. “This has to be a dream… or I’ve finally snapped and gone mad… oh no…”
Panic began to grow as she looked around, before she screamed and backed up against the window as her green eyes landed on a strange looking cat wearing a green raincoat, standing in front of her dorm door while staring at her.
Slowly, the creature raised a gloved paw, pointing one of it’s claws towards the chair at her desk.
“W-What?” Hiro muttered, eyes wide as she glanced at her chair. Something was there, just hiding away underneath her desk behind the chair. She could hear what sounded like teeth on metal.
Her heart leaped when she looked back at the cat, only to see they were now gone, leaving her alone in a room overtaken by nature. No, not alone. Whatever was under her desk was still there, chewing away on something.
Hiro gulped and slowly walked over, feeling sick again. Cautiously, she slowly leaned over and peered under her desk. What she saw, was nothing she had ever seen before as her eyes went wide.
There right at the back, chewing on her favourite drink canister she used for morning coffee, was a strange white dinosaur looking creature wearing a blue ragged bandana around its neck.
She was about to quietly step back, and make a beeline for the door to escape, when the creature suddenly locked eyes with her, it’s amber eyes growing wide before it suddenly threw the now ruined canister away, which rolled through the grass as it got up.
“Woah!” Hiro gasped as she quickly stepped back, just as the creature ran out from under her desk to face her.
“Ohh! You’re Hiroko Amanokawa!” He said, his voice actually sounding adorable as he looked at her with excitement, his tail wagging.
She felt faint as she grabbed onto the ledge of the window. “You… you talked… You can talk…”
“I’m Gammamon!” The creature said, looking extremely happy to see her as he raised one of his hands, which was tipped with black claws.
“Gamma… mon… Huh? What?! G-Gammamon?” Hiro said weakly, trying to make sense of what was happening right now. First, she was assaulted by strange plugs that fell on her head, then her room changed to look like it had been abandoned for years, and now a small white dinosaur was talking to her.
As if the universe hadn’t finished messing with her mind yet, a sudden bright light appeared behind Gammamon, which flickered into the form of her missing father.
“Hi Pumpkin! You doing all right? I’m doing all right. Were you surprised?” Her father said cheerfully as he raised a hand.
“D... Dad?” Hiro said, her voice cracking slightly as her eyes widen in disbelief. She pushed away from the window, taking a step closer.
“Hokuto!” Gammamon said happily as he turned around and raised his arms in greeting. Then he swung them forward, clearly going to hug the leg of Hokuto, only to blink in confusion as his clawed hands phrased right through.
“Dad…” She said again, feeling a rush of emotions. Confusion, hurt, anger, sadness and relief. “What is this? What’s going on?! What have you been doing? Where are you?!”
Hokuto grinned and raised a hand, amusement in his eyes. “You just interrupted me, huh?”
“Interrupted… huh?” Hiro blinked and stopped moving, before looking at the form of her father as a sudden realization hit her. “You’re not… really here, are you? This is just a recording… oh dad…”
She lowered her head, feeling tears threatening to fall once more. Half a year he had been gone, to the point she had actually started to believe he might actually be dead. Yet even after all that time, he couldn’t be bothered to check up on his daughter.
Couldn’t even care what effect his disappearance had on her. Instead, he sends her a monster, and a hologram message, looking as if he was having the time of his life while she had suffered in loneliness and grief.
“You didn’t need to time that…” Hiro whispered, slowly looking up while biting back her tears. Why should she be surprised or upset by this, the only person she could truly depend on has always been herself.
It wasn’t like she needed her father, she had learnt not to need him.
Hokuto smiled brightly, as he gestured animatedly with his hands. “This is the Digital World! Well, it’s like a cyberspace. I don’t know too much, but isn’t it cool? Interrupted me again, huh?”
Hiro just stared, trying to hold back her anger. There was no point arguing with someone who wasn’t even here.
“Don’t get mad!” He laughed after a pause. “That Gammamon is a Digimon. A creature unknown to mankind. In other words, a Digital Monster.”
“Digimon?” She blinked, before looking down at Gammamon who was now happily trying to chew on the hologram’s leg. “Digital… Monster?”
Digital… did that mean Gammamon wasn’t even real? Yet watching the little creature, it felt like he was real. The Sewn-lip man was defiantly real, and she briefly wondered if that monster was a Digimon too. Could Gammamon be just as dangerous?
“Hiroko.”
Hiro looked up when her dad said her name with a serious tone. He was looking serious too, the most serious she had seen him in a long time.
“Starting today, Gammamon is your little brother.” He then gave a wide toothy grin, as if he was giving her a special treat. “Take care of him!”
“Huh? Little brother?” She muttered, her brain seeming to stop as it tried to process the words her dad just said. Little… brother… wait…
“What!?” She yelped loudly, jerking back in sheer disbelief. Did her dad really expect her to just accept a monster as her new little brother!? Just like that, out of the blue? He did not realise she was at school! She had lessons, school work… how was she suppose to take care of a creature as her brother on top of all that, like it was nothing!
“Ohh, little brother!” Gammamon squealed with delight, finally turning around to face her as he raised his arms, his adorable amber eyes filling with joy.
Hokuto laughed after another long pause, as if he really had anticipated when to time his recorded message. “No need to worry about me. Now, take care of your brother!”
“Dad no!” Hiro said frantically, waving her arms in a panic. “You can’t just dump a Digimon on me and expect me to… I have school! He’s not-!”
She stopped as the hologram of her father vanished in a puff of white particles. Then seconds later, he reappeared looking sheepish.
“I forgot. Put on that Digivice in your hand and insert the DIM card again. Your world will change Pumpkin. See ya!”
He vanished again, as Hiro simply stared, utterly bewildered and feeling overwhelmed by what just happened. Seconds later, her room suddenly returned to normal. Gone was the grass and plant life, gone was the strange particles floating in the air.
Even Gammamon had vanished.
Hiro slowly looked down at the watch in her hand, the only piece of evidence proving that, what just happened, really did happen. So those weird plug in things were called DIM cards? “The Digital World? Digimon? Jeez, what was he doing for half a year? That good-for-nothing-!”
Some books suddenly fell off her shelf next to her desk, as if they had been knocked off, making her jump with a startled yelp.
“Is t-that you Gammamon? Are you there?” She stuttered, stepping back to be closer to the window again.
No answer.
Hiro looked at the watch, remembering her dad’s words. Thinking this had to be a bad idea, she put on the watch with trembling fingers. The moment she tightened the strips so it fit her wrist comfortably, the screen lit up with a symbol of a person, as Gammamon suddenly appeared.
Yet he was not physical in form, but see through like a hologram. The little Digimon was standing on her desk, exploring the items on her shelves with an expression similar to that of a curious child.
“A hologram?” She blinked, staring at the form of Gammamon as he knocked off another book from her shelf. “Wait, is this even alive?”
Had her father just played one big joke on her? No… the creature had looked real earlier.
She glanced at the Digivice, then cautiously reinserted the DIM card. On cue, the holographic form of Gammamon became physical like before, though her bedroom stayed the same this time.
Seeing himself manifest, made the little Digimon squeal with delight as he looked over himself, then with a glint in his eyes, he crouched before leaping towards Hiro who yelped.
He playfully bit her leg, not hard enough to break skin, but definably hard enough to hurt due to his incredibly sharp teeth, making her cry out and stumble back, legs hitting the bed which caused her to fall onto it.
“N-Not a hologram!” Hiro winced in pain as she felt Gammamon’s teeth gnaw away, like a puppy playfully biting a toy when over excited. “Don’t bite! That hurts!”
Gammamon stopped at her raised voice, tilting his head slightly before smiling brightly as he raised a hand. “Hiroko! Take care of me!”
She jerked away from him, quickly scrambling off the bed as the little Digimon blinked, watching her confused as his happy expression faded. “No way! I don’t care what Dad said!” She yelled, feeling frustrated and angry again. “You’re not my brother just because he said so, he can’t just drop you on me and expect me to….”
Ding ding ding diiiing!
Ding ding ding diiiing!
Hiro froze at the multiple alarms going off on her phone, which had began to vibrate on the floor where it had fell earlier, after she had thrown it. A crashing wave of fear hit her, as she glanced at the clock on her desk, eyes widening when she saw the handles spinning around like a blur.
Just like in the auditorium…
Gammamon spun around towards the window and went on all fours, now looking feral as he began to growl, deep and guttural. Seconds later, the window smashed to pieces, shards of glass flying everywhere as Hiro screamed and raised her arms to protect her face. Some of the glass shards hit her arms, not enough to dig in, but enough to slice the skin and cause bleeding.
She winced and looked at the damage, briefly feeling relieved at seeing no glass stuck in her arms, before seeing what had caused her window to explode in the first place.
It was the Sewn-lip Man, watching her beyond the smashed window with a twisted grin.
The sight of him made her freeze up in terror. Something that he didn’t seem to expect as his grin turned into a look of surprise. “Huh? You can see me clearly?” A growl from Gammamon made him pause and look over. “Is that a Digimon?”
“I’m Gammamon!” the little white digimon said, voice laced with a deep growl as his body seem to tense up, claws digging into the bed sheets.
The Sewn-lip Man looked curious. “I’m Clockmon.” He introduced himself, as causal as can be.
Clockmon? With a name like that, he had to be a Digimon like Gammamon, a... what did her dad say? A digital monster?
“What do you want?!” Gammamon snarled, clearly getting more and more agitated. It was amazing how threatening and downright dangerous he looked, compare to his adorable child like behaviour from earlier.
Even Hiro started feeling scared of him.
Clockmon locked eyes with her and grinned maliciously, as she gasped and took an involuntary step back. “My greatest pleasure is to look at the time stolen from humans! Her time… is mine!”
He lunged at her, mallet raised high and ready to slam down on her head as Hiro cried out and raised her bleeding arms in a feeble attempt to protect herself.
“You give bad vibes!” Gammamon yelled angrily, then launched himself towards Clockmon, landing such a powerful head-butt, that the pair of them went flying out of the window and into the streets below.
Thanks to the slippers protecting her feet, Hiro ran over to what remained of her window, watching Clockmon and Gammamon dart away as they fought. There was an explosion from a nearby building, moments later she saw the two dart from said building to the next, before vanishing from sight.
She could have walked away, choose to run and report the attack, maybe move to a new dormitory room and hope that was enough to keep her safe.
Yet she couldn’t.
Hiro grabbed her red hoodie instead and gave chase, practically flying down the stairs before leaving the building and following the trail of destruction left behind.
She couldn’t walk away after Gammamon protected her from being attacked, and the words of her dad echoed in her mind.
Starting today, Gammamon is your little brother. Take care of him!
Hiro ran down the streets, not caring that she was running in her trainers and nightgown as she caught glimpses of the two digimon locked in combat, leaping from building roof to roof. There was even a point where the two somehow seem to literally smash right through a building itself, leaving behind a small explosion of destruction.
“They’re too rough! Like, are all Digimon battle-hungry?!” She exclaimed to herself, panting as she darted across the road, before running up the street towards the local park where she had just seen the two land.
Hiro arrived, just in time to see Gammamon and Clockmon launched themselves at each other.
“Your time is mine!” Clockmon grinned, before swinging down his mallet to hit the smaller digimon’s head, halting him in his tracks.
Gammamon dropped down and landed on his feet, before rings of data appeared around his body, just like it had done with Kotaru.
Hiro stopped running and froze up, dread and fear making her body shake as she watched the little digimon’s time flow out into Clockmon who was laughing manically.
Gammamon looked to be in pain as he trembled, eyes squeezed shut. It was like seeing the attack on Kotaru happen all over again.
Something dark and shadowy rose from Gammamon amongst the stolen time. Hiro had no idea what it was, but Clockmon suddenly seemed terrified of it, his laughter ending in a choked gasp.
The strange shadow vanished, and Gammamon opened his eyes, fiery determination and rage burning in them as he took a laboured step forward.
Somehow, he was fighting back, refusing to give in as he forced himself forward. Even Clockmon’s look of terror turned into one of disbelief and shock.
Hiro clenched her hands as she watched. If Gammamon wasn’t going to give up, neither was she. Last time, she had been too scared, too powerless to help Kotaru when he was in trouble.
Yet this Digimon who she only just met, protected her, fighting against a creature who meant to do her harm. This time, she was going to do something, and not just stand there to watch.
Fear turned into determination as she took a step forward, right at the same time Gammamon did. He took another step, and so did she, and another... and another, their steps synced in time.
A strange feeling overcame her, as her digivice suddenly flashed blue with a beep.
Hiro glanced at it, and it was then that she noticed a twig nearby that held a single chestnut. An idea formed in her head, a wild crazy idea. She quickly grabbed the twig with the chestnut, and hoping with all her heart that this will work, threw it at the stream of light connecting the two digimon.
The twig spun through the air before stopping right above Gammamon’s head. Then with a shudder, it flew through the stream of stolen time before coming to a stop above Clockmon who looked up confused.
Within a split second, the Chestnut rapidly grew into a full fledged chestnut tree and began to fall.
Clockmon barely dodged in time as the tree smashed into the ground where he had been standing, breaking the stream of stolen time and freeing Gammamon.
“Just as I thought!” Hiro grinned, feeling adrenaline flowing, and her heart pounding as she pointed at Clockmon. “I fast-forwarded the chestnut’s time with your powers!”
“Not bad, human!” He sneered, narrowing his eyes as he gripped his mallet more tightly.
Hiro turned away from Clockmon, and focused on Gammamon who still had his amber eyes fixated on the enemy, no longer looking as if in pain, though his breathing was laboured slightly. “You ok?”
The little white Digimon nodded, then began to run towards Clockmon with a growl. “Hiroko, nice going!”
His praise made the last bit of fear disappear, replaced with a sense of pride at herself. She had helped turn the tide of battle for him, gave him a second chance to fight.
“I don’t understand yet, but dad said you’re my brother, right?” She said, clenching her fists.
Gammamon grinned. “Yeah! I’m Hiroko’s little brother! Now it’s my turn!” He leaped into the air towards the shocked Clockmon, one of his hands pulling back as his claws splayed out.
Hiro’s Digivice beeped again, as her body began to tingle slightly. Suddenly, there was a static like feeling in her head, forming a word. The sensation was strange, making her blink in astonishment. Then, as if it’s the right thing to do, she shouted out the word that was swimming in her mind.
“Breaclaw!”
Gammamon's clawed hand that was pulled back, burst into what seemed like flames. With a roar, he swung forward and slashed his claws across the clockface of Clockmon's body, tearing off the handles which went flying.
Clockmon stumbled back from the attack, then threw his head back as all the stolen time regurgitated from his mouth, spewing out into the air like golden glitter and code, before dispersing across the city sky.
Hiro could only watch in amazement at the dazzling display, hoping that the stolen time was returning to their rightful owners.
Once he had finished, Clockmon stumbled back before glaring hatefully at her, eyes burning as sweat dripped down his non-human face. “Your time… will definitely be mine!”
Without another word, he turned and leaped away, soon disappearing amongst the buildings of the city.
Hiro let out a deep breath before collapsing onto her rear, hands digging into the grass as deep relief flooded her, making herself feel giddy and light. It was finally over, for now at least.
She was safe, and it was all thanks to this strange digimon that was now apparently her little brother.
Gammamon was looking at his hand, flexing his claws with an awed expression. “Power came from Hiroko!”
“Eh?” She looked over, blinking. “From me?”
Power from her? What did he even mean by that? She glanced at the Digivice clasped on her wrist, thinking. Was it something to do with the strange sensation she felt, and the sudden rush when the name of an attack echoed in her mind?
No, that wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t like the word Breaclaw popped up in her mind, it was like she could see the word itself.
“Now, take good care of me, Hiroko!” Gammamon said, turning around with a happy cheer as he rushed over. The moment he got close though, he stopped, amber eyes glancing over the cuts on her arms and the dried blood.
“Hiroko is leaking!”
“Leaking? Wha...” Hiro glanced down confused, before realising what the little Digimon was talking about. “Oh, that. It's just blood where the glass cut me from the window. It’s fine.” She scratched at some of the dried blood, watching it flake off.
Gammamon tilted his head. “Blood?”
She sighed, realising she had some teaching to do. Not to mention learning herself about her new brother. “Nevermind... let’s just go back.”
Hiro paused, then groaned loudly and lowered her head, remembering the mess awaiting her back in her room.
Guess she wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.
Nearly three hours later, an exhausted Hiro stepped back to wipe the sweat from her forehead, admiring her handiwork. Her window was now covered in a blue tarpaulin held up by countless strips of tape, and all the glass scattered around her room was cleaned up.
Apart from the window, her room was back to how it looked before.
She placed the bag of rubbish next to her already full bin, and glanced at her bed. It had been freshly made with new covers, and Gammamon was in the middle, flat on his back and sleeping. His chest rising and falling with every breath, as his claws and tail twitched now and then.
Hiro gave a small smile, then yawned as exhaustion hit hard as she removed her gloves and tossed them to the side, before looking at the Digivice on her wrist, replaying the events of the day in her mind.
Her father’s message, Gammamon, that strange cat like monster that must be a Digimon, and of course the Sewn-lip Man who turned out to be a digimon himself.
Could it be possible all the other Hologram Ghost rumours out there, were caused by the Digimon too?
Hiro picked up her phone, ignoring the time displayed as she sat down at her desk and began to scroll the forums on the subject that she had joined.
If those rumours really were caused by Digimon... then maybe she could investigate them, now that she had Gammamon with her. Like a detective! She always did love those mystery shows she use to watch as a little kid.
Lured by the fantasy of being a detective, solving mysteries and saving the day, Hiro slowly slipped into sleep as her phone went slack in her hand, her head dropping onto the desk.
She had no idea the true horror, pain and nightmares the following year would bring... not just for her, but for the other two unfortunate teens that will find themselves swallowed up in the mystery of Hologram Ghosts.