fandomweekly | [#005] sun goes down

Theme Prompt: #005 - Minor Characters
Title: sun goes down
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Rating/Warnings: None, unless you haven't seen 02 and don't want endgame spoilers.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 434
Summary: Some children's adventures have only just begun.

She's crying again tonight, hunched behind her English workbook. From the pillow in the basket she's prepared for me on the floor, I can watch her curl up at her desk. I can hear her sniffle, and feel the Digivice pressing against my side. When she first picked me up a month ago, the Digivice was warm. It's cold now.

She mutters that everyone's lied to her and puts her head down. --It's stupid to try, she says. Things working out had been a fluke. It's easier to be a hero when there's a crisis.

--You're a hero every day, Noriko, I tell her. To me, her room shines like a citrus-colored sun, full of pinks and oranges only second in glow to her face when she smiles. But if I push her too hard, she'll push away. I'm scared.

--Whoever heard of a hero that flunks all their tests? she says, then coughs. A hero who catches a cold every winter? If this stuff isn't as important as believing in yourself, why isn't that what's taught in schools?

I don't have an answer for that. I hop out of my basket and over to her chair. For a moment I even think I'm going to manage to jump onto her lap, but I overdo it and slam into the desk instead, face first, and flop backwards.

She's out of that chair in a moment. --YukimiBotamon! YukimiBotamon! The snot and tears on her cheeks gum my fur: she's hugging me. Why do you do that stuff when you know you'll screw it up?

I'm dizzy. It's like there are two Norikos above me. --Teach me English, I say.

--What?

--Staring at that book looks boring. Teach me English and then I'll be able to practice with you...

The two Norikos are starting to combine back into one now. --When are you ever gonna need to speak English? they ask. You're silly. You're not even from Earth.

--That's okay. I press myself against her sticky face. --I like it here best.

Now I've done it. But she doesn't flinch. She holds me against her and cries harder. She cries until her mother comes in and puts her to bed, but she finishes her homework in the morning.

--I think I screwed this all up, she says.

--You'll find out, I say. And then you'll know how to do it right.

--Do you want to hide in my backpack today? she asks.

I do. But I don't listen to the lesson. I watch Noriko instead, because I want her to teach me.