Apartment Hideout

[wrecking_yard]

Once we have everyone back in one group, the sun’s starting to set. Aoi starts to say something about getting back to the school, but trails off as we all stare in the direction of the waterway.

“…let’s find a place to camp,” she concludes.

There’s a couple more beats - we’re all wrung out and exhausted.

“The apartments may be the safest option; we wouldn’t be out in the open, they would have a harder time getting at anyone, and it did look like there would be food and supplies,” the Professor offers, and it’s the best idea anybody has.

We end up splitting between two apartments the way we’ve been splitting rooms at the school; the girls and the kids take over one a couple doors down, where it’ll be easy to hear if anything happens. Everything is dusty, but the place is like it was just left - food in the kitchen, the usual weird for this realm.

We’ve just put down backpacks when Minoru stares into the kitchen. “…Aoi’s in the other apartment.”

Which means she’s not going to be cooking over here, and nobody’s enough of a dick to suggest asking her to make dinner twice.

“Right, lemme see what we’ve got.” I walk into the kitchen and start going through cabinets and the fridge while there’s a moment of silence.

“You can cook?”, Minoru asks, and Takuma snickers.

“Yeeeaaah… I’m the only one there to do it a lot of the time.” There’s enough for a few meals here, even if I keep hanging up trying to think of what to do with them.

At least there’s a hot plate and a big enough pan to set up on the table. I know I can manage some kind of hot pot out of this without needing to think too hard. I’m done getting everything out of the fridge and cabinets when Dracmon manages to startle me before I can even try to start cutting anything.

“Uh, Kaito? I don’t think you should be messing with knives right now.”

He’s standing next to me, and Ryo’s just behind him; both of them look concerned and I hadn’t even noticed Ryo come into the kitchen.

I kinda want to argue but I’m too tired; I pass the knife over to Ryo. The professor gets up and pretty soon it’s become a group effort with little spurts of almost-normal anxious chatter that feels out of place in a way I can’t pin down.

Someone found a case of soda, and the dissociationtired fog lets up a little with that, food, and getting off my feet in the middle of Dracmon and everyone else there crowding around the small table.

There’s fits and spurts of conversation, but everyone except maybe the professor is still a bit off.
Lopmon is on the other side of me from Dracmon, with a good foot or so between them and Shuuji; Shuuji looks wilted and more out of it than I am - everyone else seems mostly just rattled, and the professor’s frowning with concern.

The professor scans the group, pausing on me and Dracmon; there’s a brief movement - some gesture from Dracmon that’s out of my line of sight, and he Professor sighs and nudges Shuuji gently. “Shuuji?”

“I. I don’t even know what to say?” He’s still curled in on himself, voice shaking. “I panicked - all I could think of was that I was responsible for everyone and it’d be my fault if something happened, and - I’ve been so much weaker than everyone else and didn’t know what else to do…”

“Okay… but why did that even seem like a good idea at the time?” He flinches, looking away, and I roll my eyes. “Look, it’s the same for everyone here - when any of us freaks out enough, the only thing we think of on our own is stupid shit. The question is where did that stupid shit come from?”

The Professor lets out a breath and I do catch Dracmon giving him a thumbs up.

“He’s got a point - you’re always kinda stuffy but I can’t remember ever seeing you go berserk like that,” Ryo adds.

Things are quiet for a few seconds, and Shuuji’s focused and a bit despondent - like he doesn’t get it either. “It… this isn’t like - a school trip where there’s teachers and things are mostly safe. We’re fighting for our lives, and -“. He has another pause. “I guess I thought - there had to be a strong leader, and I was supposed to be in charge and responsible for everyone.”

Minoru gives a broken half-laugh. “Your idea of a strong leader really needs some work.”

There’s dots starting to connect. “How much of that bullshit came from your dad?”

Shuuji pauses, and looks up at me like I just slapped him with a fish. The professor next to him has a moment of very alarmed and worried dawning recognition.

"What? You didn't learn it from school, it doesn't sound like the shit you come up with when you're not trying to be A Leader, and your dad's as much a piece of work as mine - mine's just too much of a coward to try to push me around too hard after I started biting back." Pretty sure he figured out who killed that staffer of his who was stalking Miu, too.

There's an awkward pause. After that bit with Miu introducing herself with her full name and Shuuji going twitchy, everybody's got to have figured out there's History with our families even if we'd never met, but neither of us had said anything about it beyond me snapping at him about not caring about "their weird mutually assured destruction feud" that one time.

"You never met my father." He's not denying where he got it.

"No, but I caught more than my old bastard realizes; you can't blackmail someone if there's no dirt. Besides, people whose parents aren't dicks don't act like us." I gesture vaguely in the direction of Takuma and Ryo. Ryo's a mess, yeah, but what I've heard sounds like it's the opposite problem; his mom was great, and then she died. I've got no clue about the Professor, but he's old enough to have grandkids.

Shuuji opens his mouth, and it's clear he wants to argue, but he also keeps flinching and glancing at Lopmon, who's inched around to be partly behind me.

"...It's certainly not unheard of." The professor's sad, quiet statement gets him to stop whatever internal fight he was having and listen. "Abusive parents tell their children it's normal and right, and sometimes that gets carried forward, until and unless the child decides to break from what they were taught."

Shuuji wilts again. "I - yes, he's harsh, but... He wants us to succeed."

"Yeah, and how's that been working out?" Dracmon shifts, one hand watching Takuma and one on Shuuji. "You just said yourself you've got no clue what you're doing, you're just kinda panicking."

"So ... 'Dad' affects how you grow, right?" Agumon's glancing around in confusion, checking if anyone's going to correct him; Dracmon did mention that they don't work like humans do - eggs basically show up and hatch; usually someone will at least try to look out for the "baby" forms until they get their feet under them, but that's not guaranteed, especially with the way things are lately...and Takuma'd mentioned that Agumon was still in a blobby baby form when they met. "Kinda like how you guys affect us.... so your Dad hurt you and it made you act awful and hurt Lopmon, which almost made Lopmon turn into something awful." He's looking between Shuuji and me in confusion, but he seems more confused by me - while Shuuji is just staring into the pot in mute horror.

Falcomon ruffles his feathers. "I believe a 'father' is more like the way Garudamon taught me, or the way Saberleomon's tribe looked after Dracmon, but your reasoning of the end result isn't wrong..." He pauses, feathers flexing with a concerned glance toward Shuuji.

Takuma rests a hand on Agumon's head. "We can talk about some of it later, right now we need to help Shuuji and Lopmon."

Agumon still looks distressed, but nods and sidles a little closer to Takuma.

Lopmon shrinks behind me for a few seconds, then stomps resolutely forward, climbing onto the table and taking a deep breath.

"Stupid stupid stupid Shuuji!"

Shuuji had been zoning out - now he's blinking widely and pushing back into he wall.

"Stupid stupid - you knew it hurt! You were hurting a lot! If it hurt you that much why were you doing it?!"

He shrinks in on himself, curling into a ball, voice muffled into his sleeve. "I didn't know what else to do..."

"Stupid!", Lopmon blurts, and sits on the table in a huff, fuming.

The Professor clears his throat. "I think... it's safe to say that you realize it was the wrong way to go about things?"

Shuuji nods weakly, not looking up.

"Then the first step to doing better is to avoid doing what you know is wrong."

Shuuji's still, Lopmon is nodding and glaring.

"As for the right thing to do... what do you want to accomplish?" He nudges Shuuji's arm.

"I don't... want anyone to die here."

The Professor nods. "Then... perhaps try and think about what is important to you, and look to learn better ways to handle everything? And listen to Lopmon - you can both do more to make sure nobody dies if you work together and trust each other... and the others here. You have all made it this far and kept each other alive, after all, and they did bring out of that trap safely."

Things are quiet, and then Shuuji nods, uncurling a little to stare at the table and ... just short of Lopmon.
"...You're right." Another quiet pause. "...Can we talk, later? When we're not - all needing to stay so close?"

"Of course." The Professor pats his shoulder, and Lopmon walks across the table to sit next to the old man.

"...You all must hate me..."

"Only when you're being a dick and acting like your Dad. Stop acting like your Dad and we're fine."

Minoru snickers; Ryo jerks a thumb my direction. "...Yeah, what he said. I mean, even if you just go back to Mister Fussypants like you always were around school, I'd be okay with that."

Takuma is nodding and smiling. "We don't hate you - I know you want everyone to be okay, and how good you were at looking out for everyone back home, even if people didn't always listen."
At least they have the benefit of knowing him in situations where he's not having a messy breakdown.

"So if you start that shit again, one of us can smack you upside the head or something and tell you to stop acting like your dad, right?"

Shuuji nods quietly.

"Great."