"Kathy? Wes?!" Haru called, taking a quick turn-around to see what was behind him then stepping into a fluent motion back into his run down to the gym. There was no one there based on the glance he took. It looked as if the two had gotten lost in the crowds of people swarming the halls. Cursing to himself, the boy swerved around a couple pillars of smoke that seemed to try and attack him. The only reason he was able to keep his pace was because he wasn't going to be a pushover for others in his way at that moment. He thought he was working to protect his friends, but it looked like it was in vain. "I'll prepare ahead of them."
Entering the gymnasium, Haru found himself in the perfect spot to see a familiar face warding a pillar of smoke away by throwing a basketball at it. The ball not only slammed into the creature within the smoke; it rebounded off and the other boy caught it. Once again, Haru cursed as he recognized that it was Hiroshi. Just his luck. However, now wasn't the time to be standing around and watching. By the look of it, Hiroshi was the only brave soul in a group of five that were trapped in the large room. A weapon, Haru thought to himself as he scanned the area that he could see, Need to bail him out. The only thing that seemed readily available was a flag pole on the nearby wall. It was a few feet higher than the boy, but he could probably pull it out from it's holder and wield it like a spear or staff. The school's personal flag was on the pole, but now wasn't the time to argue ethics that he didn't have the pride for. Running up to the flag, the boy jumped for the wall, sprang off it with one foot, and grabbed the flagpole as he launched himself off the wall. As predicted, the pole came out without a fight and was now in his possession. It was time to fight back. Haru charged after Hiroshi and the other four students.
"YOU?!" Hiroshi blurted as Haru came into view. The other boy watched as the two incoming creatures were swept by the incoming pole and were tossed aside. "About time you showed up!!"
"I was supposed to meet you here? When was that established?" Haru retorted, smashing his weapon over another enemy's head, "I don't recall telling you to come meet me anywhere."
"You're such a slacker, don't even lie!" Hiroshi stated as he threw the basketball at another creature. It was about to come back when Haru suddenly swung the flagpole like a bat and hit it back into another approaching enemy. Hiroshi grunted to himself as he caught it after the second rebound. "I heard the rumors! You're failing out of this school! I thought you'd be skipping class in here!"
"Well that's what you get for believing rumors!" Haru growled, missing sight of a creature coming from his side. Before he caught sight of it and prepared for the incoming attack, however, Hiroshi's ball brushed past the boy's hair and made a solid hit; knocking the creature back. With that suddenly out of the way Haru returned to attacking. "My grades have nothing to do with this, so kindly shut up or I won't cover you."
"Cover me? I just saved your ass, too!" Hiroshi argued, finding himself back-to-back with the other boy, "If anything those four need to grab something that will help us!" The other four students murmured in fear as they sat back and watched the two have at the mysterious creatures inside the smoke. It looked like that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
"He does have a point, you know," a male voice came from Hiroshi's pocket, "For all we know, Haru's doing just fine, and had extenuating circumstances as to why he was late. Like this, for example."
"Quiet you! I don't need my own pet talking to me like I'm wrong!" Hiroshi yelled at his pocket; forcing Haru to fend off another approaching enemy trying to attack him.
"Oh? You're pet's talking now?" Haru asked as he glanced at his own pocket, "Mine's been silent on the way here, but she's talked to me as well."
"Haru-- zzt-- say yes to this next message-- zzt-- I can't hold on much longer, but you have to summon me-- zzzzzztt!!-- Aaargh!!!" a different female voice sounded from Haru's pocket. It sounded relatively the same as the last voice, but it sounded more dark and melancholy. It was fighting sudden surges of static before crying out.
"Program? Hey, Program?!" Haru asked as he parried an incoming attack. He was worried; that scream sounded rather painful, but he couldn't reach into his pocket in time to see what was going on. "Program, are you alright?! Speak to me!"
"... Do you want to take part in a game? There's no turning back once you say yes," the first female voice asked, sounding serious with the warning. Haru looked at the screen to see an option panel on it. It just read "Yes" and "No." Hiroshi's pet did the same, but it didn't sound like it was going through any sort of pain. What do they do? Under the second voice's advice, they should say yes. However, it sounded like the second voice was now gone. What would saying yes accomplish? If it was something to do with the device, then it could just be a simple game. They couldn't multitask between the two. On the other hand, there was a temptation to do it. Haru felt a strong feeling towards saying yes; it seemed like it was the right thing to do. Although hesitant, he pressed the button with "Yes" selected and watched the screen go white.
The white of the screen illuminated a small radius around the device, but it seemed to be enough to repel the smoke-creatures away. The entire device turned white and a small orb sprouted from it. Both Haru and Hiroshi staggered back as the orb floated around them before hovering a couple feet away. It started to take shape; a dark fog surrounding the creature as it gained it's true form. "Haru... you've freed me," the voice from before said, a set of red eyes glaring from the smoke, "You shouldn't have done that. It so sweet that..."
Haru braced himself as the creature lunged for him and tackled him to the ground. It stood on top of him; looking down at him before leaning in. Haru closed his eyes. He was anticipating razor-sharp claws, fangs, or-- something wet? Haru reopened his eyes to see a rabbit-like creature holding on to the sides of his head as it licked him on the face. It had four large purple ears, an antenna, a medal with the moon on it (connecting a strand of pink ribbon laced around the creature's neck together), crescent moon markings on its forehead, arms, and stomach, and seemed to have a dress on (but it wasn't; somehow it was the same whitish-pink that the rest of the skin was-- was it a part of the creature that was made to look like it had a dress on?). There was no way it was going to be hostile towards him... not a chance. "... I could just eat you up!!" the creature said, laughing as it rubbed cheek to cheek with Haru.
"Uhm... who are you?" Haru asked, a little red in the face as the creature giggled and hugged him tightly, "Were you that voice in the pet device?" Speaking of which, the boy forgot that he was still holding the device. He brought it up to his face to look at it, but now it looked completely different!! It seemed to have the likeness of an mp3 model with a green body and white buttons. How was that possible?
"It's me, Lunamon!! But you may call me 'Luna' instead!" the creature, Luna, said smiling at him like he should have known and he was silly for asking, "Or 'Lunie!' Sounds like the perfect pet name for your baby sister!"
"Baby sister?" Haru asked, sitting up as he held supported Luna in his one-armed grasp, "I'll say "Loony" fits... I'm sorry, but I don't think my family's genes cover giant ears... claws... or mutant rabbit..." Luna looked at him as if he was speaking some other language, but once again she couldn't help but giggle.
"That's okay! Most Digimon don't wear Human pants!" Luna laughed reassuringly. That made the boy just stare at her confused. What... did she really just say that?
"... Digimon?" Haru asked, avoiding the exploding his brain wanted to do just by trying to comprehend how she didn't understand what he meant.
All that time, Hiroshi, the other four students, and even the creatures still surrounded by pillars of smoke did nothing as they watched Lunamon and Haru interact. Each side had a reason to be completely lost, and Luna was surely an odd entity. Had she been the virtual pet all along...?