This is a re-editing and re-posting of this story.
As Tai leaves for an important soccer camp, Agumon feels neglected and plans to do something about it. Little do they know they're in for more than they bargained for.
Going by the English Dub
A few original characters
Spoilers for Digimon Adventure Tri
As Tai Kamiya does some last-minute packing for soccer camp, he takes a moment to reminisces how much his life has changed over the past six months since the defeat of Ordinemon. Much remains the same, he still goes to school, plays soccer, and chills as much as possible (although he's barely had any time to do that these past three months). However, his life direction has taken a significate changed. For one thing, he's been attending cram school at least 3 times a week. Who would've thought just a few months ago that carefree Tai, who put little effort into schoolwork before, would ever attend cram school? He must improve his grades and chances of getting into a decent college. Before, he wasn't sure he even wanted to further his education. Now however, after the sacrifice and death of his beloved teacher and mentor, Mr. Nishijima, Tai's ready to create his own future, whatever direction that may lead.
He's also stepped up his soccer game even more so than before in hopes of getting a soccer scholarship to pay for college. This camp he's attending is a big step towards that. Much pressure is involved here, and Tai has worked long and hard for this.
The biggest change in Tai's life, however, is that his digimon partner, Agumon (as all the partner digimon), are now living in the real world. It's been an adjustment having Agumon and Gatomon (his sister Kari's partner) in the house permanently, especially on the food bill, curtsey mostly of Agumon's insatiable, ravenous appetite! However, they wouldn't have it any other way.
However, with his crazy busy schedule as of late, Tai's been unintentionally neglecting his digimon, spending next to no actual time with Agumon, as well as barely seeing his own family. With the upcoming school break, Tai had promised Agumon that they'd hang out just like they used with no plans, spontaneously living by the moment. When Tai announced that he'd be going to this soccer camp for the weekend, the little orange dinosaur didn't take it well at all.
"Do you really have to go to this soccer camp Tai?" asks Agumon, sitting on the bed in distress.
Tai looks at him. "Agumon, I've already told you how important this camp is."
"More important than me?"
"Well, no, but as I said, this camp is key to getting a scholarship for college or even getting into college. The best coaches from the best teams will be there."
"Are you sure I can't go with you?" Agumon ask for the umpteenth time; "I'll pretend to be a stuffed toy."
"It's not that simple Agumon;" Tai clearly sounds disappointed. "I'm bunking with 40 other guys in a cabin, hiding you would be nearly impossible. Besides, I'm going to be busy the whole time."
"You're always busy it seems. I never see you anymore."
"What are you talking about?" ask Tai; "I see you every evening and on weekends. We could see each other in the mornings if you'd wake up."
"Then why don't you wake me?"
"You told me to quite doing that, remember? Not like you'll actually get up that early."
Agumon crosses his arms and keeps sulking. "It's just that, since I'm living in your world now, I thought we'd spend so much more time together. Between school and soccer and this cram thing, I hardly see you. I thought we were going to spend this whole school break together."
"Oh Agumon, it's only for 3 days;" Tai tries to sound cheerful. "When I get back, we'll spend the next three weeks just hanging out. Oh, and don't forget that Matt and TK are picking you up later today to play with Gabumon and Patamon. Izzy and Tentomon will be joining you. And Kari and Gatomon will take you out with them tomorrow to meet up with some of the others. You'll have a blast."
"Yea yea;" Agumon turns towards the wall; "I'll be the only digimon without my partner. That'll be lots of fun."
Tai's feeling frustrated. "Agumon please, you're making this difficult."
"Tai;" calls his mom, Yuko; "Are you still packing? You're going to be late. Come get your breakfast. I'm making pancakes, bacon and fried eggs."
Agumon's eyes light up and he leaps for joy. Tai smiles; "There's nothing like food to cheer you up, as Agumon always says."
15 minutes later as the guys fight over the remaining food, Kari and Gatomon shake their heads. No matter how many times they've seen it, it never ceases to amaze them. As Agumon greedily shovels the last of the fried eggs and bacon into his month, Tai's face turns red.
"Hey, some of that was mine!"
Agumon swallows and pats his belly; "Not anymore they're not."
"Why you."
Kari and Gatomon stare at each with sweat drops on their faces. Some things never change.
"Tai, let's go;" calls his dad, Susumu.
"Agumon, are you sure you don't want to go with us?" ask Yuko; "We're all going to see the cherry blossom trees after we drop Tai off."
"Nah, I'd rather not;" answers Agumon with a clear distress in his voice; "No fun without Tai."
"We're not that boring, are we?" asks Susumu.
"Ok dear;" says Yuko as she picks up one of Tai's bags. "Well, Agumon, stay put and don't eat "ALL" of the food. We'll be back in a few hours. Stay safe."
As the family go out the door, Tai goes over to Agumon, who turns his towards him.
"Come on buddy, at least give me a hug."
"I will if I can go with you."
Tai huffs; "Ok, be that way."
Agumon relents; "Well, I might as well humor you."
The pair share a hug, and Tai heads for the door. "Hang in there buddy. I'll be back before you know it."
Agumon turns away again, crossing his arms. Tai sieges and leaves. After a moment, Agumon gets up and goes out on the balcony. He can see the family loading up. He sniffs sadly and goes back inside. It's not that he doesn't understand that everything Tai's doing is for all of them, even soccer camp. Still, he misses his partner terribly. If Tai would just spend a little more time with him.
That's when something catches the digimon's eye and he gets an idea.
"Tai," ask his mom; "where's your duffle bag?"
Tai's mouth drops open. "Oops, I knew I forgot something."
Kari arrives with his bag, panting. "I got it. Jeez Tai, how much did you pack? It's only 3 days. You only need a few soccer clothes."
Susumu quickly grabs the bag before Tai can and throws it into the trunk. Tai takes one last glance at his apartment window as the car pulls away. He wishes he could move the mountains right now to take Agumon, but it's just not safe for him. Digimon continue to get bad press and people in general still don't trust them.
The car soon pulls into the parking lot where the rest of Tai's teammates are waiting. Before he can grab his bags, two of his teammates snatch them.
"Hey, those are my bags!"
"Well, you're late;" says his teammate. "Come on Tai, everyone else is on the bus."
Tai says good-bye to his family and gets on the bus. Coach Nina Hino checks him off and he takes a set. Turns out, he's not very last one to arrive. One more guy is late. Two minutes later he arrives. The doors close behind him, and the driver starts the bus.
"Where were you, Wayne?" asks his teammate Timothy; "Tai's actually not last for once."
"I set my alarm for PM instead of AM;" explains Wayne.
"You knucklehead."
"Sit down;" calls out Coach Hino; "I got some last-minute announcements."
Wayne then notices what appears to be a girl sitting up front. It's Coach Hino's 9-year-old niece, Katherine, with her nose in a book and headphones in her ears.
"Hey Coach, what's she doing here?" ask Wayne; "I thought she was spending the weekend with her dad."
Tai's surprised. He hadn't noticed Katherine when he got on board.
"Yea well that fell through, as usual;" sieges Coach Hino; "Anyway, all you guys know just to let her be. She won't bother any of you if you don't bother her. Don't touch her, don't mess with her. Am I clear on that?"
Coach Hino looks at all the guys with a stern look on her face. All the guys answer in agreement. She goes over a few basic rules, including the food credit limits each player has when they stop for lunch. She also tells them that security has been strictly tightened around the sports complex due to "odd circumstances" in the area, and that nobody is to leave the grounds at any time, period.
Tai raises an eyebrow. "Odd circumstances? What kind of odd circumstances?"
"Oh didn't you hear?" replies Wayne; "Half a dozen hikers or so have gone missing in the past couple of days."
"Really?" ask Tai.
"Yea," says Timothy, "At least that's what it says on social media. No trace of them, no witnesses, nothing. Very odd indeed."
"Yea, maybe some giant man-eating plant got them." The guys give Wayne funny looks. "Or maybe flesh-eating zombies, or maybe alien abductions, or a demon clown called It. Just a rumor going around."
Timothy rolls his eyes. "Wayne, you've been watching too many scary movies."
"Well, they've put in some seriously strict security around the campgrounds. They've even got police there patrolling. It's going to feel like prison."
"No, it won't doofus. Not like we'll have much free time to go exploring the woods anyway. Oh." Timothy jiggles his pocket; "got my coins for the pay phone. Phone receptions supposed to be nonexistent out there. You guys got yours?"
OH NO! Tai left his change at home. Oh well, not like he'll really need to call home, but his family, especially Agumon, would love to hear from him. Maybe he can borrow some change, or maybe he'll get phone reception by chance. It's not like anything serious, other than soccer, is going to happen.
Giant man-eating plant; Tai thinks to himself; What a lame suggestion. I'd much rather hear that digimon were attacking again.
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"Of course it's my job to retrieve all these balls;" grumblings a campgrounds keeper, "why don't they have the students do the retrieving? Their responsible for all these balls being out here. As if I don't have enough to do already."
He picks up what he assumes is the last ball and heads towards where he left the cart, only it's not there. This can't be right; it was by this tree just a minute ago. As he stands there scratching his head, he spots the cart some several yards away, next to a large bush.
"Now I'm sure I didn't put it all the way over there." The keeper goes to get the cart, but as he tries to move it, it seems stuck. "What the?" He tries harder to pull it, then it seems to jerk the opposite direction and flips him over, landing on his back. The cart tips over and the balls spill. The keeper, who fortunately isn't hurt, lies in a daze for a moment, then slowly gets up, rubbing his back.
"OW! Jeez. How did that happen? I'm too old to be doing summersaults."
He looks at the cart and huffs. Now he has to pick up all those balls again. At least they're all in one place this time. As he starts, one balls starts to move. He goes to grab it, but it keeps going, not rolling, but as if it's being dragged.
The keeper runs after the ball as it's dragged into the large bush; "Alright you kids, enough playing around!"
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"Give it back Rico! GIVE IT!" Some of Tai's teammates are trying to make Rico Hosoda give Timothy his phone back. A little over an hour into the trip, this is the second time that Rico has taken somebody's phone and made a prank call on it, this time making fun of Timothy's girlfriend, right before losing service. Coach Hino finally gets Rico to hand it over.
"Why of course ma'am, I'd be delighted."
Coach snatches it from him. "Go back to your seat Rico and stay there. One more incident and you're standing up front for the rest of trip. Is that clear?"
"Yes ma'am;" replies Rico rather snarly. Coach points to his seat and he takes it, with a smug look on his face. Coach then hands the phone back to Timothy.
"How dare he;" Timothy says to Tai and Wayne. "Great, no service. Now my girlfriend probably thinks I've insulted her and I can't call her back to explain."
Tai shakes his head, not knowing what to say. Rico, while completely professional and cooperative on the soccer field, isn't really the friendliest of sorts and loves to play dirty, boarderlining on mean, types of tricks on the guys. He's also a snoop and loves to spread dirty gossip, one of the top reasons not to bring Agumon on this trip.
Tai starts to turn his attention back to the peanuts that Timothy had brought, only the trio have finished them all.
"Why didn't you guys bring snacks;" ask Timothy.
"We forgot;" Tai and Wayne both answered.
"I'll get some from the coolers in the back;" Tai volunteers. Before he can get up, however, another of his teammates comes up front.
"Coach, we've got a problem. There's no more snacks."
"What do you mean?" ask Coach Hino.
"I mean that both of the snack coolers in back are empty. There's a bunch of empty wrappers underneath the seats."
"Already? That can't be." Coach gets up to inspect. Tai, Timothy, and Wayne also get up and follow. She checks the empty coolers and is shocked.
"I can't believe this. You guys finished all them snacks already?" All the boys shrug their shoulders. "I swear. I know some of you guys are real big eaters;" she glances at Tai; "but this is ridiculous. We've hardly been on the road for an hour. And we're not stopping till we stop for lunch. You boys really need to learn some self-control."
"That's like, a couple of hours!" says Tai; "What are we supposed to do till then?"
"Really Tai;" replies Coach Hino; "A couple more hours won't kill you."
Tai sighs and goes back to his seat with Timothy and Wayne; "Can you believe those guys back there. They could have at least offered to share with us."
"They must be stressed out about camp;" says Wayne. "Oh well, let's ask some of the other guys if they have snacks to share."
As Coach Hino talks with the Assistant Coach, Katherine emerges from her seat, with her headphones still in her ears, and starts stretching.
"Hey guys look;" says Timothy; "Katherine's got her hair down, and she's in normal clothes."
Tai hadn't taken noticed before, but yes, Katherine is in normal casual clothes. Usually when she comes to the field to wait on her aunt, she's in pink or caramel tights with a black leotard underneath gym shorts, and a light jacket. Her hair is usually in a bun, and she carries a gym bag with a dancer stiletto on it. Tai remembers hearing that she's involved in dance and acrobatics. She's also rumored to love swimming and playing in the water, in addition to being a book worm. Katherine tends to keep her distance from the guys and seems to only talk to her aunt.
Rico decides to take this opportunity to see what Katherine's reading. He picks up the book in her seat and laughs loudly.
"Jurassic Park? What nine-year-old girl reads Jurassic Park? What a freak."
Some of the guys laugh, but Tai is offended. "That's not funny Rico."
"Oh, and look at this;" Rico continues; "she's listening to somebody called Garth Brooks. Who the heck is that? An American cowboy?"
Rico then notices Katherine looking at him, with a stoic face and her arms crossed.
"Give it back to her Rico;" comes the voice of Coach Hino.
"Oh yes ma'am. Of course." Rico slowly hands the book to the girl, with a smug look on his face; "I believe this is yours." She grabs the book, slaps Rico on the arm with it, and turns back to her seat.
"OW! Hey, that's hard cover."
Coach Hino grabs Rico by the ear and takes him to the front of the bus. Tai and his friends are stunned.
"Man, I can't believe he did that, to a little girl. Rico can be such a jerk."
"I know dude;" agrees Timothy, "if he wasn't such a great player and teammate on the field, I wouldn't put up with him."
"I have to admit though;" says Wayne; "it is very particular for a girl to be reading Jurassic Park, especially at her young age."
"Maybe;" replies Tai; "who knows? Maybe she likes dinosaurs."
Speaking of dinosaurs, Tai wonders how Agumon is doing back home.
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"Those trees aren't as pretty this year, sorry to say;" says Gatomon as the Kamiyas return home.
"They do seemed kind of sparse right now;" agrees Yoka; "we did have longer winter then usual. The rest will probably bloom soon."
"At least we got to go to the cherry blossom market and get their special sponge cake;" says Susumu; "these goodies should cheer Agumon up."
"Agumon;" calls Yoka; "we're home."
Agumon doesn't come. Kari and Gatomon check Tai's room. He's not in sight. Maybe he's playing hide and seek, not unusual for him, except his hiding places are usually given away by a trail of crams or drips, or by the sounds of his tummy rumbling or him sneezing.
"Strange;" says Yoko, "the place seems spotless." Yoko checks the cabinets and the fridge. "Hmm, doesn't look like any food's been touched since we left. I wonder if he's feeling alright."
The family looks around the apartment. There seems to be no sign of Agumon. He's never hide this good before. They wonder if Agumon has wondered off somewhere, which he sometimes does. The digimon aren't supposed to wonder the streets by themselves (even though they do, especially when their bored or tired of being cooped up). Agumon tends to get into more mischief than some of the others, usually food motivated.
The Kamiyas start calling and texting their friends. No one has seen or heard from the orange dinosaur today. They look around the block, but they can't really call out his name. The Kamiyas are getting worried.
"You don't think he might have gone with Tai do you?" wonders Susumu.
"How?" ask Yoku; "We left him here, and he can't hide in the car, we would have spotted him."
Kari then remembers something. "Wait. I ran back up here to get Tai's duffle bag. The bag felt awfully heavy. You don't think…"
"Even Agumon wouldn't do something that crazy." Gatomon doesn't believe what she's saying, and everybody looks at each other.
"Call Tai!"
"I'll try dear;" replies Susumu; "but he may have little to no service out there."
"I'll call too;" agrees Kari.
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The bus stops at a park-like rest area. Most of the boys hurry off and race towards the rest rooms. Rico, however, decides to linger on the bus, and snoop. A phone starts ringing, there must been reception here. Rico smirks as he finds the phone and answers it.
"What's uuuuuup?"
"Ah Tai;" answers a female voice; "Are you there?"
Rico clears his throat. "Ma'am, this is a recording. If you'd please hang up and redial your number later, you may get the person you're looking for at no additional charge. This is a recording."
"What…..hey! Who is this? Put Tai on….." Rico hangs up. He then decides to take the prank further. He hits call back and the same girl answers. "Tai, is it you?"
"Hello baaabaa. Got a message for you." Rico burps and makes armpit farts, then hangs up. He then decides to take the batteries out of the phone, then places it back on the seat. He finds three other phones and does the same with them.
"I'm a ba-a-a-a-ad boy."
After restroom breaks and stretching, the soccer team checks out the five food stations, including an American style truck and a dessert station.
"Hey Lame Wayne;" informs Timothy, "Why don't you be adventurous for a change? Check out that #8."
This #8 is a 2-pound burger patty topped with fried mushrooms and onions, smoked bacon and ham, melted Swiss cheese, sweet peppers, jalapeños and a mustard chili sauce between two huge sesame seed buns.
"Good grief! Are you kidding me? No way! I'll stick with a classic cheeseburger with just lettuce and light ketchup. Absolutely no onions, tomatoes, pickles, mayonnaise, or mustard."
"Wimp;" chuckles Tai; "I believe I'll try it. How about you Timothy?"
"I think I'll try #13, the Luther Burger, or donut burger."
"A what?" ask Wayne.
"A double bacon and cheeseburger, except it's between two glazed donuts instead of buns."
"What? GROSS!" Wayne's face is turning green; "I can't believe they even have something like that, much less eat it. Who thinks up this stuff?"
"Hey Tai;" comes a voice from behind; "Bet you can't stomach that #8."
"Yes I can;" replies Tai; "I can eat 4 of them!."
"Challenge?"
"You bet."
"Oh no;" says Wayne; "Here they go again."
10 minutes later, Tai wins the challenge, finishing "6" of those giant burgers. His teammate only makes it to 3 and a half before throwing up. Tai doesn't throw-up but still has a bit of a stomachache from eating too much too fast. Meanwhile, Katherine's on the other side of the parking lot, doing jumping jacks, cartwheels, leg lifts, full splits, and a dance moves. She finally settles down and eats a small fish taco and a strawberry yogurt parfait she brought from home. She then takes out a drawing pad and colored pencils and starts sketching. When it's time to return to the bus, Tai's still reeling from his stomachache.
"You going to make it Tai?" ask Timothy.
"Yea;" Tai slowly gets up and starts walking, holding his stomach. They pass Katherine and Timothy sees her drawing. "Wow. Look at this."
Tai looks. Katherine notices and pulls her picture towards her chest.
"It's ok;" says Tai sweetly; "We'd like to see it. Will you show us your drawing? We won't laugh."
Katherine relents and slowly lets the guys see her drawing. It's a perfectly good drawing of a T-Rex.
"WOW! That's great Katherine;" comments Timothy; "Is that the T-Rex from Jurassic Park?"
Katherine nods and smiles shyly. Tai smiles back. "That's awesome Katherine. Do you like dinosaurs?"
Katherine gives a thumbs up and speaks. "My favorite is Tyrannosaurus Rex. You know the word Rex means king, as in King of the hunters. That's silly because the females are believed to have been much bigger and stronger. It should be 'Queen of the Dinosaurs', like Rexy here."
"Fascinating;" says Tai; "What else do you know about the T-Rex."
Katherine seems surprised. "You really want to hear it?"
"Sure."
Katherine cheerfully shares more facts about the T-Rex. Timothy and Wayne can't believe it. They've never heard Katherine talk. In fact, they've never seen her interact with anybody other than her aunt.
"Amazing;" says Wayne; "How did he do that?"
While all this is going on, Coach Hino is in an argument with the owner of the burger truck.
"What do you mean we owe you for another 15 burgers and loaded chili-cheese fry meals?"
"I mean look at this order lady;" he shows her; "The little guy took it without paying?"
"What little guy?"
"The one just over 3ft tall, wearing the blue raincoat and a doctor's mask."
"You must be mistaken, sir. There's nobody in our group matching that description. Why are you bothering me about it?"
"Your group are the only people here. Somebody's going to pay for it."
"These too;" arrives a lady from the dessert station.
On the bus, Tai is sitting next to Katherine, listening to her describe the dinosaurs in her illustrated Dinosaur encyclopedia. Usually, he's not interested in knowledgeable stuff, but Kathrine's passion and enthusiasm for dinosaurs is making him interested. Agumon's a dinosaur-type digimon after all, a kind of T-Rex type at that. Tai wonders if Katherine would like Agumon, not that they'll ever meet. Not anytime soon anyway.
Coach Hino storms onto the bus and blows her whistle. Everybody gives her their undivided attention. She holds up the receipts.
"I warned you guys about ordering over your lunch credit limits. I had to pay for fifteen extra-large burger and fry meals and a dozen desserts. I don't know who did this, and I'm not going ask who did. But I'm expecting full reimbursement by the end of the trip. Understood."
"Yes ma'am."
As the bus starts, Coach Hino soon forgets her anger when she sees Katherine talking and Tai listening to her. She can't help but smile. Most people aren't interested in what Katherine has to say and don't even try to make any sort of connection with her. Now it looks like Tai might be making that short list of people who have. It's so refreshing to see.