Gatomon's eyes met Hikari's, and in that instant, she froze completely, unable to move an inch.
After a brief moment of confusion, Hikari seemed to realize something.
"Can't sleep? Then, come here~"
Without giving Gatomon the slightest chance to object, she openly stretched out her arms.
"Wait a sec! Calm down first—hey, don't come near me!!!"
Despite her protests, Gatomon's body remained stubbornly honest. In the end, she was firmly caught in Hikari's embrace, unable to escape despite flailing her limbs desperately.
In reality, with her strength, escaping from Hikari's grip would've been easy—after all, Hikari was typically just a weak little girl who only occasionally showed bursts of uncontrollable strength.
Yet somehow, Gatomon couldn't break free at all. On some level, she clearly didn't truly want to escape.
Why?!
Gatomon stared blankly, unable to comprehend this utterly illogical situation. Yet despite her bewilderment, she eventually gave up the excellent opportunity laid out before her eyes.
…Forget it. From the looks of things, I'll have plenty of other chances anyway. Consider yourself lucky this time!
Silently convincing herself, Gatomon slowly closed her eyes in Hikari's embrace…
…How strange. This warmth—why does it feel so nostalgic?
Though completely unaware of the reason, something deeply buried beneath the ice of her consciousness began to thaw, just a little.
Meanwhile, hiding in the shadows, Zero watched everything clearly.
Those sounds earlier were just some Rookie-level Digimon passing by. They had no intention of ambushing Zero's group; upon noticing others present, they quietly detoured without a word.
Zero's senses were sharp enough to realize they were harmless the moment he detected them. He'd only used the sounds as an excuse to leave, deliberately creating a situation to test Gatomon's reaction.
He never worried Gatomon, as an undercover agent, would truly harm Hikari. Even if Gatomon herself had forgotten, the bond buried deepest within her consciousness would instinctively warn her that the girl before her was special.
Besides, Zero was watching secretly from nearby. If Gatomon made any suspicious move, he was strong enough to intervene instantly.
Thus, he'd managed to witness this highly memorable scene~
Things unfolded exactly as Zero had predicted—he didn't even have to deliberately intervene. As long as Hikari, his ultimate trump card, was around, Gatomon would obediently surrender.
From the moment Myotismon dispatched Gatomon to deal with Taichi and Hikari, he'd essentially given her away.
Then, suddenly, Zero realized something—
Wait a second… if Gatomon's being used as a body pillow by Hikari, doesn't that mean I'm the only one left on night watch?!
At that moment, Zero realized he'd inadvertently dug a pit for himself. He'd totally played himself…
Helplessly, Zero tiptoed quietly back to the campfire and silently sat down.
…Hajime, how are you now? I really miss you!!!
...
The next morning…
"…I'm so sorry! I must've been sleep-confused last night—really, really sorry!"
Hikari clasped her hands apologetically, sincerely explaining to Gatomon.
It seemed she was genuinely trying to convince her that hugging Gatomon throughout the night was merely because she'd been groggy from sleep.
Gatomon, having been hugged as a pillow the entire night, wore an extremely complicated expression.
"Just… confused by sleep?"
Bullshit. If you gave that excuse to a ghost, even the ghost wouldn't believe it!
Yet truthfully, Hikari probably really had been sleep-confused last night, and had simply grabbed Gatomon as a pillow out of instinct.
Gatomon's feelings were incredibly complicated, but in the end, she just helplessly flicked her tail.
"Forget it. Honestly, I slept pretty comfortably last night too…"
"Oh?" Suddenly, Hikari changed her tune. "…Then, does that mean I can keep sleeping with Gatomon from now on?"
"Hey!"
At that moment, Zero became completely certain that this little girl was absolutely a natural-born manipulator. Though he'd had faint suspicions even when first watching Adventure, now those suspicions were solidified.
Mm, seems like Gatomon's future status in this family is definitely in trouble—probably doomed to be the one getting pushed around.
…Wait, what am I thinking?!
Meanwhile, Taichi, watching this scene with a mixture of amusement and helplessness, suddenly noticed Zero's expression.
"Hey, Zero, why are you crying?"
"It's nothing. Just silently mourning… the pure-hearted me who used to only want to watch Ultraman fight monsters…"
"Huh?"
And thus, Hikari and Gatomon, Taichi and Zero—the two temporary partnerships—set out toward Etemon's stronghold. Zero suddenly had a strong feeling this trip would definitely become very lively.
...
"Myotismon-sama…"
About a week into their journey, Gatomon took an opportunity to leave the group, hiding alone in the shadows. From within the darkness emerged a palm-sized blood-red bat.
A deep male voice issued from the bat:
"…How goes the mission?"
Gatomon immediately lowered her head respectfully. "Very smoothly so far. I've successfully infiltrated their group, and they don't seem suspicious of me at all."
"Heh, naturally…"
Myotismon didn't find it strange—he knew Gatomon's capabilities, and besides, as a Holy-type Digimon, she naturally inspired trust in others.
Clearly, Myotismon assumed Gatomon had gained their trust through the act involving the Devidramon he'd sent, having no idea how easily she'd actually slipped in.
For her part, Gatomon found being inexplicably drawn to Hikari far too embarrassing, so she intentionally omitted this detail from her report.
Thus, though Gatomon's report wasn't exactly inaccurate, it caused Myotismon's understanding to become skewed.
Had Myotismon known about Hikari's unique attraction to Gatomon, he would've undoubtedly been more cautious, and wouldn't have handed himself over so easily.
"So then, what's Zero planning next?"
Gatomon promptly relayed Zero's movements. Hearing they were heading to raid Etemon's base, Myotismon saw nothing wrong with it.
"I see… dealing with the easier opponent first, consolidating strength step by step? Quite a reasonable move."
In reality, taking down Etemon was merely incidental; the real goal was the DigiChrome. But Gatomon knew nothing about this, and therefore Myotismon also remained unaware.
Although the result would be the same, misjudging the goal would ultimately lead to a massive error in understanding.
Myotismon intended to use Gatomon as an informant to trap Zero, never imagining that Zero was instead deliberately feeding him misinformation through Gatomon.
The pinnacle of intelligence warfare was delivering entirely truthful information, yet obscuring crucial intentions just enough to completely mislead the enemy.
"In that case, continue traveling with them. It's a good opportunity—you can subtly assist them in taking down Etemon. This indirectly solves one headache for us."
After their last battle, Myotismon had already abandoned the idea of recruiting Etemon, yet felt it was too bothersome to personally eliminate him.
Now was the perfect chance—Gatomon could help Zero's group eliminate Etemon, thus deepening their trust toward her. It was killing two birds with one stone.
"Of course, if there's an opportunity during the process to quietly eliminate those two humans as well, that'd be excellent."
After all, during the battle with Etemon, if some "tragic accident" occurred, it wouldn't seem particularly suspicious. Using Etemon to indirectly eliminate those humans was also quite appealing.
Best of all would be eliminating both Etemon and the two humans simultaneously—three birds with one stone.
"Act according to the situation. I'll leave the details entirely to your discretion. To avoid exposure, no further reports are needed until Etemon has been dealt with."
It seemed Myotismon greatly trusted Gatomon, given how she'd solved numerous problems for him previously.
Gatomon seemed deeply grateful for Myotismon's trust, responding eagerly:
"Yes, Myotismon-sama. I'll definitely complete this mission…"
Yet even as she said this, Hikari's smiling face appeared in her mind, and her DigiCore trembled violently.
Of course, Myotismon remained unaware—he communicated solely through a small bat, unable to detect such subtle shifts.
The bat dissolved into a wisp of red mist. Gatomon shook her head slightly, preparing to return to the group, when suddenly a calm, masculine voice echoed behind her.
"What's the matter, Gatomon? What are you doing here?"
Gatomon nearly jumped out of her fur, thinking her secret was exposed. But quickly realizing who it was, she replied in exasperation:
"You… don't joke around at times like this!"
Hearing Gatomon's irritated tone, the voice laughed apologetically.
"Heh, sorry, sorry~"
As he spoke, a figure wearing a pointed wizard's hat and carrying a staff slowly emerged from the darkness…