Chapter 13: Me? I'm Not a Chosen Child Anymore
Mizuki stood before the group, his posture relaxed but his gaze direct. He had no intention of burying the truth about the data he had siphoned from the Kuwagamon battle. What was done was done. He simply wasn't the type of person to reap the benefits in the shadows and play innocent in the light.
If the children felt used, if they demanded compensation or threw a fit, he was fully prepared to accept their anger and meet their demands when the time came.
However, the reaction he braced for never arrived.
The children merely exchanged a few quiet glances. There was no outrage, no betrayal flashing in their eyes.
Taichi, carrying his usual carefree swagger, stepped right up to Mizuki and delivered a hearty slap to his shoulder. "Man, I thought you were about to confess to something serious. It's just this?"
Mizuki blinked.
"It's just some data~" Taichi grinned, waving a hand dismissively. "If you need it, Mizuki, just take it. Honestly, I was worried I wouldn't have a chance to repay you for saving our lives back there. Now we can call it even~"
Beneath that rough, boyish exterior, Taichi's emotional intelligence was sharp. His seemingly careless words were actually a deliberate, subtle reminder to the rest of the group: Mizuki saved us from Kuwagamon. We owe him.
Kari, always in tune with her older brother, immediately chimed in. "Brother is right. Brother Mizuki, there's absolutely no need to worry about it. After all, you saved us, didn't you?"
Izzy adjusted his laptop strap and nodded in firm agreement. "In fact, Mizuki, you could have completely concealed all of this from us. We wouldn't have known any better. But you still chose to confess. Just based on this straightforward action, we can tell that you are completely trustworthy."
Hearing the earnest words of these three, the last subtle traces of concern melted away from the hearts of the other children—not that they had been overly bothered to begin with. Even Matt, who usually kept his guard up, merely gave Mizuki a quiet glance, shoved his hands into his pockets, and let the matter drop entirely.
Seeing their genuine lack of resentment, Mizuki let out a quiet breath.
'Should I say they truly live up to the title of DigiDestined...?'he murmured inwardly, a faint smile tugging at his lips.'Just this personality... well, how should I put it? They are incredibly good people, but they are certainly easy to take advantage of~'He looked at their young, earnest faces.'However... they are worthy of being my childhood memories~ It truly makes me happy.'
Just as Mizuki was reflecting on the warmth of the moment, Izzy spoke up again, his brow furrowed with a hint of academic curiosity.
"Classmate Mizuki, now that you mention it, I noticed something earlier."
"Oh?" Mizuki tilted his head.
"When you talk about the DigiDestined, you always seem to use the term 'you all'." Izzy observed him closely. "This specific way of excluding yourself—could it be that you are not a DigiDestined like us?"
Mizuki's smile widened slightly. 'Should I say he truly lives up to being the sharpest mind here? He is quite perceptive.'
"That's right, just as you suspected." Mizuki reached down and flipped his empty pockets inside out for them to see. "I don't have a Digivice, nor am I a DigiDestined."
A ripple of surprise passed through the group.
"As for why I came to this world..." Mizuki shrugged, his tone turning a bit helpless. "Well, I actually have no idea myself."
Sensing their gazes instinctively shifting between him and the towering figure of LadyDevimon standing just behind him, Mizuki understood their unspoken question.
"I think I mentioned this before, didn't I?" He gestured to the dark angel. "LadyDevimon is my friend. It's fundamentally different from the partner relationship you DigiDestined share with your Digimon."
"It doesn't matter if Mizu isn't a DigiDestined!"
Before Mizuki could say another word, LadyDevimon leaned down, scooped him up, and crushed him against her chest in a fierce hug.
Given her imposing stature of over two meters, lifting a twelve-year-old boy who barely stood at 1.59 meters was absolutely effortless. Mizuki's feet dangled in the air as her dark, leather-clad arms wrapped securely around him.
"Mizu was the one who saved me when I was lost, and Mizu has been taking care of me all this time," LadyDevimon declared, her crimson eyes sweeping over the children with fierce loyalty. "Even if he isn't a DigiDestined, it doesn't matter. I'll do anything for Mizu!"
Hearing the absolute resolution in her voice, Mizuki sighed softly. He knew she was overthinking things again, worried that his lack of a 'chosen' status might make him feel inferior. Abandoning any thought of struggling out of her tight embrace, he simply reached up and patted her arm.
What LadyDevimon needed right now was his affirmation. Compared to her feelings, what did a little bit of physical awkwardness or his personal dignity matter?
As Mizuki quietly comforted the towering dark Digimon, Taichi watched the interaction with a soft, genuine smile.
"Your relationship is really good," Taichi said.
Right as the words left his mouth, a small claw tugged at his sleeve. Taichi looked down to see Agumon staring up at him with wide, expectant eyes.
"Taichi, I can hug you like that too," the little dinosaur offered earnestly.
Taichi burst into a hearty laugh, reaching down to ruffle Agumon's head. "Let's wait until you grow up a bit more first! But when it comes to friendship, I don't think we lose out to Mizuki~ Right, Agumon?"
"Mhm! We are partners, and we are friends!"
Watching Yagami Taichi grab Agumon's claws and start doing a strange, joyful dance right there in the dirt, Kari and Izzy instinctively exchanged a look. Both recognized the exact same emotion in each other's eyes: a deep, familiar helplessness toward Taichi's antics.
And beneath that helplessness... a quiet, obvious affection.
Compared to their original, blind stumbling through the digital wilderness, the children's journey was now vastly more structured with Mizuki taking the lead.
Under his careful guidance, the group of DigiDestined handled through the dense foliage, gradually arriving at the outer edge of a sprawling tropical rainforest. The air here was thick and humid, the canopy above filtering the sunlight into a deep, emerald green.
This was the border area leading directly into the Village of Beginnings.
However, as they stepped past the tree line, Mizuki's relaxed demeanor vanished. He frowned, his senses catching a faint, sour note in the air. The Village of Beginnings was emitting a deeply disturbing aura—a cold, heavy pressure that felt entirely wrong for a place of birth.
"Mizu?"
LadyDevimon, still carrying him, immediately noticed the sudden tension stiffening his body.
"We only left for half a day," Mizuki murmured, his eyes narrowing toward the distant center of the forest. "Could something have happened to the Village of Beginnings?"
He tapped LadyDevimon's arm. "Let's hurry back and check."
"Mhm." She nodded, her own expression turning serious.
Hearing their hushed exchange, the children stopped walking, the lighthearted atmosphere evaporating.
"Mizuki, what happened?" Taichi asked, his tone dropping into a serious register. Having grown familiar with him, Taichi had naturally dropped the formalities, calling him directly by his name.
"Something might have happened to the Village of Beginnings," Mizuki explained quickly, seeing the confusion on their faces. "This is the Village of Beginnings, the sacred place where all Digimon in the Digital World are born."
He pointed toward the dense trees ahead. "The entire reason I brought you here is that, for File Island, where we are currently located, this village is relatively the safest area. After getting permission from Elecmon, the caretaker, you could easily use this place as your initial base camp for exploring this world."
Mizuki's jaw tightened. "But now, I suddenly have a very bad feeling. I'm worried that something has invaded the village."
He looked directly at Taichi. "So I'll go ahead and check. You all should stay right here and wait. Do not approach rashly."
Having given his warning, Mizuki gave a sharp nod to LadyDevimon.
Receiving his signal, the fallen angel spread her tattered, dark wings. With a powerful thrust that kicked up a cloud of dust and leaves, she took flight, carrying Mizuki swiftly toward the heart of the Village of Beginnings.
Taichi stood in the clearing, watching Mizuki's silhouette shrink against the sky. He slowly retracted his gaze and looked at the rest of his companions.
"As expected, it would be better if we went over and checked," Taichi said, his fists clenching at his sides. "Although we know nothing about this world, we can't just blindly rely on others to take care of everything for us."
Without waiting for a debate, Taichi broke into a sprint, Agumon right on his heels, chasing after the direction Mizuki had flown.
Seeing this, Kari quickly took a step forward. "Brother, I also—"
"Kari, you stay here!" Taichi's voice echoed back, cutting her off. "Izzy, please look after Kari for me!"
"Huh!? Me?" Izzy froze, utterly stunned. He pointed a finger at his own chest, then turned his head to look for Kari.
He blinked. Kari wasn't there.
"Kari?!"
Izzy whipped his head around, only to see Kari's small back already disappearing into the brush as she chased after her brother.
Muttering under his breath that things were rapidly spiraling out of control, Izzy grabbed his laptop tight against his chest and sprinted after them. "Tentomon, let's go too!"
"Alright~ Izzy!" the insectoid Digimon buzzed, flying after him.
First Taichi, then Kari, and finally Izzy.
With three people suddenly breaking away from the group, the remaining children stood in the clearing, looking at each other as a restless energy began to stir among them.
Finally, without a single word spoken, it was entirely unclear who made the decision first. The remaining five children simply adjusted their bags, called to their Digimon, and quickly ran into the forest, following the trail of their companions ahead.
[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!]