Digi Redux - Companion Story (Patreon)

Digi Redux

Written by Dudebulge

Koji Kobayashi had always loved playing video games, though not as much as he used to. These days he had less time on his hands thanks to his job, the commute, and his roommate who was well, a lot. When he was a child living in Tokyo though, he spent every waking moment, when he wasn’t at school or doing homework, saving his allowance to go to the arcade or buy a new video game to play. When he turned eleven and his family moved to California, he didn’t know anyone, was sometimes teased for his accent when speaking English and had trouble adapting to certain American customs. Still, he had his brand new Playstation 2 at home and that was familiar enough, even a means to talk with some of the other kids at school, although beyond that they didn’t seem to have much in common He started to become more isolated, and his parents began to worry about him. Koji worried himself if he was ever going to make a friend here. But then he found it.

In hindsight he was surprised it didn’t appear with more fanfare, or like from a portal opening out of the sky, but it was honestly sort of mundane. He had come home on a city bus that day after class and grabbed a snack from the fridge like he always did before heading to his room. He was excited to play the new Capcom fighting game that he had saved up for but when he knelt down on the floor to pop open his game console, a glint of color caught his eye: There on the floor of his room, slightly hidden under his television cabinet was a shining cd. His first thought naturally was that one of his games was upside down and catching the light on its reflective side but he always made sure to put his games carefully back into their cases so they wouldn’t get damaged when he wasn’t playing them. That and this disc was shining with its own light, like a rainbow, and it wasn’t in the sunlight, in fact it was fully in the shadow of his tv. Curious.

He slid the game out from under the cabinet and lifted it between his thumb and forefinger, inspecting it, wondering. He turned it around to see what game it was but both sides emanated that odd, vibrant rainbow glow.

“No title? What are you?” He asked the game.

Suddenly a new thought occurred to him: Was this something he could actually play? Maybe it wasn’t a Playstation 2 disc, so could it be a music cd instead? Either way his PS2 should be able to play it so he opened the disc tray and set the luminous enigma into it. He closed it back up, and turned his tv on before sitting back against his heels to wait expectantly. As fate would have it, the boy would not have long to wait. The screen of his television began to distort, light beams, or maybe something akin to conduits began to stream towards and around him, a path of rainbow light that moved through and past him until suddenly he couldn’t see his room anymore. Koji became frightened and quickly got to his feet to run, or at least shut off his console but his feet weren’t on the floor and the game console was not there when he reached his hand forward. Instead he felt like he was falling into the pathway of light and he began to shake. However, it wasn’t a fall, not exactly, it was more like an irresistible pull forward, into his tv? Maybe that was already gone, as he rotated in space, no longer sure which way was up and which was down, or any other direction for that matter. Now the scenery was changing. The rainbow lights were dimming. No, they were disappearing into more light. He was outside, in a jungle maybe? There were large looming trees surrounding him with bending fronds not unlike palm trees… But these were violet? Perhaps all of the bright lights had altered his vision. There was a lurching then, as if gravity had caught ahold of him again and then the ground rushed up to meet him and he sprawled out across it, though it wasn’t a terrible impact like he might have been expecting.

Koji’s heart raced and he struggled to catch his breath before getting to his feet. He dusted off the front of his jeans and looked around. He blinked a few times before coming to terms with the fact that these trees were in fact purple. The sky was a slow, moving collection of those same rainbow rays that pulled him here earlier and the ground beneath his feet was a soft, spongy cobalt-blue moss. True he was only a kid, but he was reasonably sure that there was nowhere on Earth like this. The sky alone made that clear. It was a time before smartphones and even if he had owned one back then he doubted it would offer much help.

“Okay, I don’t… So now what do I do?” He asked himself.

He didn’t want to panic, and first he looked around behind him to see if there was some kind of pathway or portal back to his room. Maybe the disc that brought him here, but he found nothing. Suddenly there was a loud crash followed by a roaring which caused him to stiffen and freeze. What in the world could make a sound like that? It sounded fierce, and big, no, gigantic. Another crash, and in the distance he saw a tree fall over, and then another, this one closer. His heart pounded again, oh what the hell? Should he run, or try to hide? His feet felt glued to the moss on which he stood so he leaned back against the nearest tree which was easily wide enough to hide him from view of whatever was coming this way. But now the ground shook and he knew it was with each quaking step of whatever the thing was.

“This is not happening, I am not here, this is like, a dream, or a new game. Yes, my parents bought me a new game as a surprise and I’m playing it, I’m having fun - I’m not lost in some jungle getting hunted down by a monster, because that would be crazy.” Koji told himself aloud, though he was not believing himself in the least.

“I can think of crazier things.” Said a new voice, and Koji whirled his head to the side to see a peculiar, short creature looking at him with a kind of a grin on its face.

“AHHHHHH!!!” The boy exclaimed and moved behind the tree, putting something between himself and the beast.

The newcomer sighed, and Koji poked his head around the trunk to look at it. It had a face sort of like a dog he supposed, with floppy ears and the snout, fur over its face and down its back but… It also looked kind of like an alligator maybe? It had a reptile’s tail for sure and clawed feet. He knew immediately that this thing wasn’t the lumbering titan at least, he could still hear thundering steps getting closer, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. It did speak English though and–

“Look, I know you’re new here, but trust me man, hiding is not gonna work. There’s caves on the coast that Tyrannomon can’t fit inside of, so hurry up and come with me!” The creature said.

“I um, I don’t know, and I don’t know you either and I think this isn’t real anyway and I…” Koji stammered.

“We don’t have time for this.” The stranger said with resignation.

Suddenly the short monster moved quickly to where the kid was holding tightly to the tree and reached up with a clawed hand to grab his. He was shocked by the touch but it didn’t hurt, and then the beast tugged at him insistently and Koji felt his feet moving under him as they began to run.

Koji wasn’t the most athletic boy in his class, in fact he was what his parents called ‘an indoor kid’ but that day he ran all-out for what seemed like miles before they reached the edge of the jungle and a great, rolling pink ocean beyond. In spite of how exhausted he was, and the threat of impending death, he stopped and was taken aback by the view stretching out before him.

“Whoa.” Was all he said.

“Down here! What are you waiting for!” Exclaimed Koji’s companion.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sorry!”

They had reached a series of small cliffs leading down to a turquoise beach, and the fuzzy dog-lizard creature was already starting to climb downward. Koji looked back toward the sea of trees and now he could make out the massive form crashing through them: It was twenty feet tall easy, and had a massive toothy head, dripping saliva. It was terrifying. What had it been called? Tyrannomon, and it was easy to understand why: it was a dinosaur, pure and simple. But how was that simple? How could he exist in a place with dinosaurs and talking dog-lizards and oceans the color of cotton candy and–

“What is your deal?! Hurry up, man!” The creature yelled from below.

Not for the first time today Koji had to stop trying to make sense of this world long enough to respond to it.

“Grab there, that ledge, good! Now put your foot down here, that’s it, keep moving!”

“O-okay! I-I can do it, don’t worry!” Koji said, trying to convince the little monster as well as himself.

The descent did become easier, but as they neared the bottom, first pebbles, then stones and now larger rocks began to cascade down around them. As the two peered upwards, the monstrous red t-rex had reached the top and had begun roaring down at them. It swung its massive head from side to side, probably looking for a way to get down to them. Koji wondered if it might just jump, it could probably do it safely, and then what would they do? The boy shook with fear.

“Here! In here!” Called the creature, indicating a small opening at the base of the cliffs where it met the beach.

Koji followed him inside. The cave had a small entrance but opened into a much larger system beyond.

“We’ll be safe here for now.” The monster said once they were tucked away inside.

Outside the roaring grew fainter and the walls of the cave shook less. Perhaps they could finally relax a little… That or the dog-lizard had just lured him into his den and Koji might have to fight him. He didn’t think he could run anymore, and the Tyrannomon was outside, so fighting seemed like the only choice if it came to that. Koji decided he might try to get on the creature’s good side in any case.

“Thank you, for back there, and in the jungle. You really helped me out. My name is Koji by the way, Koji Kobayashi.” He started to bow, but then remembered he was supposed to shake hands now, so he offered that instead..

“I know who you are, Koji, and I’m Gabumon, it’s real nice to finally meet you!” The beast reached its large clawed hand out and Koji shook it, a perplexed look coming over his face.

“You know who I am?”

“Well yes, a lot of us know about you, and your friends.”

“M-my friends?” Now he was genuinely confused. If he meant the kids at school that he sometimes talked with about video games, he didn’t think they were close enough to be friends. He really had a difficult time making friends, at least since the move.

“The other human kids of course, the Digidestined!”

“I… don’t know what that means.”

“Oh really? Huh, I just thought all human children knew each other.”

“That’s definitely not the case. Do your, um, people all know each other?”

“Well kind of, in our code, on some level all digimon understand each other, I dunno how to explain it. But, fair point! I guess I won’t make any more assumptions about humans, I’ll just ask you!”

“So you’re a, uh… Digimon was it?”

“Digimon - digital monsters, yup! You know, all of us who were born and live in the digital world!” Gabumon exclaimed happily.

“I didn’t know, are you like, real? I mean, alive?”

“As alive as you are!”

“Wow, I guess we haven’t covered the digital world in science class yet.”

“I’m sure you will! But you can ask me stuff while you’re here too. I mean, I am a few years older than you and I know a thing or two about living here. Think of me as your big brother!”

“I’ve never had a brother before, and how do you know you’re older than me?”

The digimon put his hands on his hips. “Because I was five when the elders learned that the Digidestined had been born into your world, that’s how.”

“Oh, okay.” Koji’s head swam with questions, he barely knew where to begin. “Why did you help me earlier, why do you want to be my big brother anyway?”

Gabumon actually looked a little sheepish at that. “Well, uh, because.”

“Becauuuuuse?”

“Because everyone here knows that if you get to be friends with a Digidestined that you become strong! But… Well, it’s more than that, it’s also an unbreakable bond, like best friends and… Oh come on Koji, don’t make me say it.”

“Say what? I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me.”

The monster hung his head dejectedly and touched the tips of his claws together. “I don’t really have any friends, so you’d sorta be my first.”

“Oh.”

“See?! Now you’re probably thinking there must be something wrong with me!”

Koji stepped forward and knelt down to put his hand on Gabumon’s head. “I don’t think that at all. You saved my life already, and the truth is I don’t really have any friends anymore either.”

“R-really?”

“Yeah, so I guess that means there’s something wrong with both of us.”

“Haha, yeah, we’re real losers!” Gabumon said.

“Hey, no that’s not what I meant!”

They both laughed, and Koji felt for the first time since arriving, actually at ease. He actually felt a little happy. He had traveled to a strange new world that until a couple of minutes ago had no idea existed, and now he had befriended, or been befriended by a digital monster. Would he be able to get home again? What dangers, or maybe even adventures awaited him here? It was all so much to take in but, at least he wouldn’t be alone.

**********

“Hey!”

Koji was startled out of his daydream. Ever since childhood he sometimes got so lost in his thoughts that the rest of the world disappeared for a time. He was sitting on his couch in the apartment he shared with his roommate, the memories of when he was a kid, first visiting the digital world quickly faded to the back of his mind again.

“What?” Koji responded.

“Man, you really get lost in your thoughts don’t you? Always have I guess.” The other man said with a chuckle. “Anyway, I was asking what you’re playing?”

Koji looked down at the controller in his hands and then back to the screen in front of him. “Street Fighter 6, I was just doing some World Tour.”

The six and a half-foot tall werewolf hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to his friend. Koji noticed, with a rush of embarrassment that the digimon only had on a small towel around his waist and it was covering next to nothing.

“Let me get player two!” The big wolf said as he grabbed the second controller from next to Koji.

“Bro! I know you just finished your shower but at least put some pants on!”

Koji’s roommate raised an eyebrow and flashed a smile. “Oh c’mon, you still gonna pretend you’re not enjoying the show?”

“...Bro.” Was all Koji said with a sigh.

Two years ago, almost by magic, the shimmering rainbow disc had appeared on Koji’s kitchen counter. For nearly three days he didn’t touch it, afraid of what it might mean. He was an adult with responsibilities now, he couldn’t just get wrapped up in some epic saga in the digital world again! But maybe it was dire, like the first time and he really had no choice: He’d never be able to live with himself if he allowed something awful to happen to his friends over there, especially his partner digimon. So he steeled himself and used the disc in his PS5 and the digimon he used to know as Gabumon had come back into his life here, in the human world. He was older, bigger, but still very much himself and it was amazing to catch up again all these years later. Apparently he had just missed his human friend so much and wanted to reconnect. Now the monster spent most of his time in his Weregarurumon form, a ‘digivolved’ version of his smaller self and went by the name ‘Rutger.’ When they were both young, on a trip to the human world, Koji had shown him his favorite movie ‘Blade Runner’ and the Gabumon had decided on the name of an actor in that, who he thought was ‘really cool.’ Most digimon weren’t given names like people, but Rutger in many ways wasn’t like most digimon.

“World Tour mode is single-player, you know that.”

“Yeah but I want to fight you and beat yer butt!”

“Let’s do that later, give me like fifteen more minutes of this.”

“Well, I can watch you play that for a bit, and you can try to stop staring at my crotch, right?”

Koji blushed again, and Rutger grinned. In the nearly two decades since they had first met, they had both grown up of course but Koji had realized he was gay and though his ‘big brother’ was completely accepting of him, (homosexuality wasn’t really a thing in the digital world, or any other sexuality for that matter) he also delighted in teasing Koji about it. Not in a mean way, or traditionally mean he supposed, but Rutger liked to show off, and he knew Koji couldn’t take his eyes off of him. And in fairness, he had developed into a great-looking guy, with the dadbod that Koji liked so much, hairy obviously and everything below the waist was more than impressive too. Still, it was just so weird. They weren’t even the same species, and they had been childhood best friends. But while Rutger remained in the digital world after their adventures together, with the other Digidestined’s digimon partners, Koji of course had come back to the human world with his new human friends and grown up. They had been apart for almost twenty years, and though they weren’t strangers… in some ways they practically were. Koji had gotten taller, grown some facial hair, gotten a job, had two relationships that fizzled out and Rutger, well shit he was literally a different person, at least physically.

“Why do you do that?” Koji asked then, frustration evident in his voice.

“Do what?”

“Look, yeah I’m gay, but you don’t have to flaunt your stuff around me for a reaction. It’s hard for me.”

“Oh, I bet it is.”

“Dammit, that’s not what I meant.” Koji said, exasperated.

Rutger’s tone softened. “Look, we were out of the bigger towels and I figured it didn’t really matter.”

“Well it does, like, this isn’t the first time you’ve done this, or ‘forgotten’ to close your robe, or pissed with the bathroom door open!”

“Sorry.”

“I haven’t been on a date, or hell even a hook-up in, god, like probably before you appeared here and started living with me! I’m obviously hard-up and you don’t make it any easier on me!”

“Koji, c’mon, I’m sorry man, don’t get upset.”

“Why do you do it, anyway? Like, you’re supposed to be my friend but you also just love to torture me?”

“N-no, of course not!”

“Then what is it?!”

“I… Come on man, don’t make me say it.”

“Just say it.”

The big wolf let out an exaggerated sigh and looked away. “Because I like when you look.”

“What?”

“I like when you look at me like that. I like when you want me.”

Koji, for the life of him, didn't know how to respond.

When his human friend said nothing, Rutger continued. “It’s why I stayed. I can go back to the digital world sure, but… I’d miss you too much, y’know? Our friendship and also, I dunno, everything else we have and stuff we haven’t tried yet. And I know it’s new for both of us but, well what if we went slow and figured it out?”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“I mean yeah, maybe, I don’t know, if you like the idea then yes.”

“I thought digimon didn’t have sexualities like humans?”

Rutger rubbed one of his big paws through the mane on the back of his neck. “Yeah that’s usually true but, I think our bond kinda… altered my code on that one.”

“That’s possible?”

“I mean I don’t know for sure but, I know how I feel about you and it ain’t ‘just roommates.’”

“So you’ve been, what, trying to get me to make the first move?”

“Well yeah, you’re the one who has experience with this kinda stuff right? I know my equipment works, hell it’s why I take such long showers.”

“I actually wondered about that. You howl in there sometimes.”

“Heh, I uh, that’s me trying to be quiet.”

Koji looked at his old friend in a new light. “It honestly never really occurred to me that you might be into me, or at least want to try that kind of stuff with me.”

“Dude, you’re my best friend! Who else would I want to do stuff with?”

“I suppose there’s a certain amount of sense to that.”

“Look I, I know I’ve been coming on strong, but the truth is… I do want to go slow, figure things out, make sure we’re both cool with everything.”

“Yeah you mentioned that. How slow are we talking?”

“Like right now maybe, uh, just like, a kiss?” Rutger said shyly. Despite the fur on his face, Koji knew he was blushing deeply.

“Uh, yeah okay.” Koji felt his heartbeat rise as his bulky roommate leaned into him, placing one of his paws gently at the side of his face, eager but surprisingly tender.

“Now I’m just gonna, uh, uhhh…”

“You don’t need to overthink it, Bro.” Koji said and pressed his mouth against Rutger’s.

It was moist, warm, and he felt the larger man lean into it. This felt, well, different, and not only because his roommate had the mouth of a werewolf. He knew this man, had known him since they were kids together, knew his fears and frustrations, it was more intimate than what he shared with those guys he met on the apps. There was a real connection here, and he knew they both felt that.

They kissed for only a few moments more before Koji sat back against the couch and Rutger did the same.

“That was something.” Koji said, looking over at his friend.

“Yeah, it sure as hell was!”

“I take it that means you’d like to do it again?”

The digimon shook his head up and down emphatically. “Yes! And more!”

Koji smiled when he looked down and saw the towel had been pushed all the way back against Rutger’s belly by his impressive erection. Rutger caught his gaze and laughed.

“Y’know it’s no fair you’ve seen mine a bunch of times but I haven’t seen yours, except for the tent it's making in your shorts right now!”

“Hey, no one asked you to parade around the apartment with your cock out!” Koji said and laughed.

“Well until today I never heard any complaints about it!”

“I guess I should have complained sooner then!”

So you uh, wanna stay on the couch or…?”

“Or what? Go to my room? Your room?”

“Either one sounds good to me!”

“Your room then, it’s already a mess.”

“Sounds good to me!” Rutger said and easily picked up Koji in his powerful arms.

Koji’s head swam with memories as the wolf digimon strode to his room and pushed the door open with his foot. What a ride it had already been for the two of them: Strangers, to friends, to almost like brothers. Then there were the years apart, long and sometimes painful years, and then suddenly they were reunited and it was like a dream. Now in their thirties they were embarking on a new journey of discovery and passion. If his thoughts weren’t so entirely on this new physical component of their relationship, Koji might have stayed in his thoughts for hours. As it was he buried his face into the side of Rutger’s neck fluff and smiled. It seemed there were many more adventures yet to come for the Digidestined and his partner.

END