Chapter 11: Who is the Older Sibling Here?
"Alright, everyone." Mizuki clapped his hands once, the sharp sound cutting through the lingering murmurs in the clearing.
He swept his gaze over the group of children, his expression calm and unbothered. "Compared to my affairs, I think what you should be focusing on right now is your own situation." A faint, almost teasing smile touched his lips. "Aren't you curious? Why you came to this world in the first place."
"This world?"
Before anyone else could process the weight of those words, Joe stepped forward. His shoulders were stiff, and a strained, awkward chuckle escaped his throat. "Um... Classmate Mizuki, you must be joking. What is this world or that world? Aren't we on Earth?"
Mizuki looked at the older boy. Seeing the desperate, forced smile plastered across Joe's face, he understood exactly what the honest, anxiety-ridden student was trying to do. Mizuki offered him a brief, comforting glance—before ruthlessly shattering his fragile hopes.
"While I truly want to comfort you, I am afraid, Classmate Joe Kido, this is not Earth." Mizuki gestured vaguely to the bizarre, vibrant flora surrounding them. "Or rather, do you really think miraculous beings like Digimon would exist back home?"
Silence fell over the group.
At Mizuki's silent signal, Joe slowly lowered his head to look at the creature resting in his arms. The Digimon, Gomamon, had only recently evolved from his smaller Bukamon form. Initially, Joe had been terrified of the strange creature, but after Gomamon had thrown himself into danger to protect him, the bespectacled boy had slowly begun to accept his presence.
Sensing Joe's heavy gaze, Gomamon looked up. He raised a white, clawed paw and patted Joe's arm in a soothing rhythm. "Accept reality, Joe. You have to learn to enjoy the process."
"There is absolutely no way to enjoy something like this!" Joe shrieked, his voice cracking as he clutched his head.
Watching their interaction—a perfect mirror of their classic straight-man and comic-relief dynamic—Mizuki let out a soft chuckle and averted his gaze.
Just then, a cold, smooth voice drifted to his ear. LadyDevimon, who had been hovering silently at his side like a dark shadow, finally spoke.
"Mizu, you seem to be smiling more than before."
"Have I?" Mizuki pointed a finger at his own chest, tilting his head in genuine curiosity. "I thought I was quite fond of smiling to begin with."
He waited for a response, but was met only with LadyDevimon's heavy silence. Her crimson eyes remained fixed straight ahead, unreadable.
Ah, this?
Mizuki blinked, a bead of sweat threatening to form on his brow. 'Did I accidentally upset her somehow?'
What Mizuki failed to realize was that LadyDevimon was not angry. She was resentful. A dark, possessive coil of frustration twisted in her chest at the realization that these noisy, fragile human children—whom he had only just met—could draw out so many genuine smiles from her partner.
Slowly, however, that simmering resentment hardened into a sharp, burning motivation.
'To make Mizuki happy, I must work harder!'she vowed silently, her clawed fingers twitching at her sides.'If I break through my limits... If I reach the Mega level, Mizuki will surely show me even more of those smiles.'
LadyDevimon locked that determination deep within her dark core.
Normally, Mizuki's sharp intuition would have instantly picked up on his partner's shifting emotional state. But right now, his attention was completely monopolized by the children, forcing him to temporarily swallow his doubts.
"Mizuki." Tai stepped forward, his brow furrowed in serious thought. "Based on what you said earlier, do you happen to know how we came to this world?"
Mizuki shifted his focus to the goggle-wearing boy. It was obvious that this version of Tai was far more cautious and grounded than the reckless leader he could have been. The reason was entirely clear—he glanced briefly at the small girl standing close to Tai's side. Kari's presence changed everything.
Thinking of this, Mizuki nodded. "I know a little. You should all still remember that little item you received earlier, right?"
"You mean this thing?!"
Prompted by the question, the children hurriedly dug into their pockets, pulling out the small, unfamiliar devices. They held them up, their eyes darting between the strange gadgets and Mizuki's face.
Meeting their inquiring gazes, Mizuki nodded approvingly. "That is correct. The Digivice. This is the absolute symbol of your identity. It proves that you are the 'DigiDestined'."
"The DigiDestined..." Izzy murmured the word under his breath, his eyes widening as the gears in his brilliant mind began to turn. "Could it be... that someone specifically wants us to come to this world to accomplish something?"
"Exactly. You guessed correctly, Izzy." Mizuki gave the red-haired boy an appreciative look. "As expected of the genius Tai praised so highly. You figured out the core issue incredibly fast."
"No... it is nothing special..." The naturally shy Izzy was entirely unequipped to handle such direct praise. A deep flush crept up his neck, and he waved his hands awkwardly in front of his chest.
As Tai grinned and clapped Izzy on the shoulder, Sora, who had remained quiet for a long time, tentatively raised her voice.
"Um, Classmate Mizuki..." She gripped the brim of her hat, her eyes filled with apprehension. "The entity you mentioned that brought us to this world... they don't expect us to save the world, do they? Like... like in those comic book stories?"
"What? Save the world? That is so cool!"
Before Mizuki could even open his mouth to answer, Takeru threw his hands in the air, his face lighting up with absolute thrill. Being the youngest of the group, the heavy implications of danger flew completely over his head. To a child his age, the world was just an immediate, exciting adventure.
He squeezed the orange, winged creature in his arms tightly. "Patamon, do you think I will become a hero who saves the world?"
"Hmm." Patamon tilted his head, his large blue eyes blinking innocently. "Although I do not know what a hero is, if it is Takeru doing it, then it must be fine." He flapped his bat-like wings happily, perfectly matching his partner's boundless optimism.
But before Takeru could bask in his heroic fantasies for more than a few seconds, Matt shattered the mood.
"Are you kidding me?!" Matt snapped, his voice harsh with displeasure. He stepped aggressively between Takeru and the rest of the group. "Takeru is just a kid! To just drag us to this bizarre world without telling us anything—"
"Brother—" Takeru flinched, his joyful expression evaporating instantly. He looked up at his older brother with timid, wide eyes.
Matt did not soften his glare. He stared down at Takeru sternly, his fists clenched at his sides. "Takeru, you do not understand. Saving the world sounds incredibly dangerous just by hearing the words. If anything happened to you out here, not only would I not know how to face Mom, but I would never be able to forgive myself."
"Matt is right." Joe swallowed hard, his face pale as he tried to recover from his own internal panic. Realizing he was technically the oldest among the children, he forced his trembling spine straight, trying desperately to project authority. "Making a few children save the world... whoever is doing this is far too reckless."
A brief silence followed his brave declaration.
Then, a small voice piped up from near his ankles. "Joe, why are your legs shaking?"
Gomamon had hopped out of Joe's arms and was currently poking the older boy's violently trembling calf with a curious claw.
Joe's face flushed beet red. "Gomamon, stop being so honest!"
"But I think you are even more honest than me, Joe."
"Go—ma—mon!"
Watching the older boys visibly deflate under the stress, the simple-minded Mimi exchanged a long glance with her plant-like partner, Palmon. She tilted her head, genuinely confused by the heavy atmosphere.
"Um, does everyone really need to be this upset?" Mimi asked, her voice light and melodic. "Although it is definitely annoying to be dragged to this kind of dirty world without any warning, as long as Palmon and the others are here to protect us, everything will be fine, right?"
Mimi's casual confidence naturally shifted everyone's attention back to their respective Digimon.
Noticing Tai looking down at him, Agumon puffed out his chest and slapped it proudly with his small claws. "That is right! I will definitely protect Tai!"
To prove his point, Agumon opened his jaws wide, a bright orange glow rapidly gathering in the back of his throat. He was fully prepared to demonstrate his special move, Baby Flame, right then and there.
Panic erupted. Izzy and Kari lunged forward, waving their hands frantically to clamp Agumon's mouth shut. If they had been even a second slower, under Tai's expectant and entirely oblivious gaze, Agumon would have absolutely set the surrounding forest ablaze.
"Arson leads to a lifetime in jail, you know." Mizuki quipped dryly, crossing his arms.
"Though frustrating, that is just Tai," Izzy added with a heavy, helpless sigh, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.
Hearing Mizuki's teasing and Izzy's deadpan remark, Tai flushed with embarrassment. He rubbed the back of his neck and protested loudly. "Hey, what are you guys saying? I clearly already reflected on that! Right, Kari?"
He looked down, seeking validation from his little sister.
Kari looked up at him, her large eyes blinking slowly before curving into her usual, warm smile. "Mhm. Brother is right."
Facing Kari's adorable, unconditionally supportive face, Tai's heart—which had just been battered by his friends' relentless teasing—was instantly and completely healed. He dropped to his knees and pulled her into a tight hug. "As expected, Kari is the absolute best."
"Hehe."
Looking at the older boy clinging to her, a trace of fond helplessness flashed across Kari's small face. She raised a delicate hand and began to pat Tai's back in a slow, comforting rhythm.
Despite Kari being the younger sibling, at that exact moment, she radiated an inexplicable aura of deep, maternal warmth. She looked less like a little sister and more like a patient mother soothing a loud, overgrown toddler.
Standing a few feet away, Mizuki and Izzy watched the display in utter, stunned silence.
Izzy adjusted his laptop strap, his eyes twitching slightly. "Is this kind of thing... normal?"
Mizuki rubbed his chin, his expression entirely serious. "...Actually, sometimes I also wonder who the real older brother is... or perhaps, the older sister."
For once, the genius Izzy found himself completely at a loss for words, entirely unsure of how to respond to Mizuki's subconscious, yet incredibly accurate, question.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]