Moonlight Rain: Chapter 1: All Abroad!

It was a quiet and beautiful day in the housing district of Meguro, Japan. In the middle of this neighborhood there’s a large brick house that stood within a multicolored picket fence.

The house had a single cherry blossom tree in the front yard with a simple wooden swing hanging from two ropes that were thrown and secured around a large sturdy branch. Inside the house stood an eleven year old girl who was glaring furiously at a middle aged man, a young woman and a teenage boy.

“YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND ME!” the girls shout mixed with the slamming of the front door which frightened a small flock of birds from the Cherry Blossom tree.

The girl jerked the front gate open; ignoring the calls of the teenage boy that was trying to get her to come back as she slammed the gate shut and took off towards the shopping district of town. The girl’s arms were crossed firmly across her chest as she walked further from her home and family.

She wore a plain cream tube top under an open black vest over a pair of black cotton shorts that stopped mid-thigh and a pair of black knee high combat boots with white laces. She had her straight butt-length hair pulled up in a high ponytail that was secured by a cream colored scrunchy; that stood out against her jet black hair. Her black barrel style duffel bag bounced against her hip as she walked; having no destination in mind at all.

Her arms came uncrossed when her phone started to play Bad Apple, and she stopped to find it in the bag that she carried. Once she found her phone she gave it a quizzical stare as she read the message on the screen.

'Would you like to start?'
'Yes or No'

She tossed the idea back and forth in her head, before she clicked yes and continued on her way.

“Amaya Tsukino” a vivid feminine voice spoke aloud from her phone causing her to stop in her tracks. “It's time to decide your future Amaya. Your destiny is calling. Take the five forty five out bound train.” the voice instructed as it starts to fade away.

Amaya stood there for moment thinking whether or not she should obey what the voice had told her to do. She had fifteen minutes and the train station was only a ten minute walk away. After weighing her options she started towards the station and purchased her ticket at five forty.

She sat down in one of the seats just as people started to pour into the train. Amaya sat back and watched the world outside blur past as the train took off down the tracks. Her phone rang again and she took it out of her pocket while listening for further instructions.

“Get to Shibuya station by six. Take the elevator to the basement.” the same voice instructed her making her nod absent mindedly.

Amaya's attention was quickly diverted to a boy that shot to his feet screaming something she couldn’t quite catch. This boy had on a beige hat that covered most of his brown hair and a pair of goggles was set firmly on top of the hat. He had a red short sleeved jacket over a yellow tee shirt that had an unusual black symbol in the center of it.

He also wore a pair of beige cargo shorts that stopped just below his knees and a pair of red and white sneakers with white socks. Amaya turned her attention from the boy as soon as she saw her stop coming up. She stood from her seat and walked over to the train doors without bumping into anyone else. As soon as the train doors opened Amaya walked out of them; walking straight past the goggle wearing boy and to the elevators.

She had no idea someone was behind her until she turned to press the button for the basement, but found a boy with a bandanna on had beat her to it. This boy had long midnight blue hair that was tied back neatly into a low ponytail. He had on a royal blue jacket and a black pair of pants that stopped a bit short of his ankles.

His jacket had yellow lines that went down the side of each sleeve and he wore a pair of blue and white sneakers with white socks. Amaya couldn't tell anymore about this boy since he had his back turned to her and didn't seem to have any intentions of turning around.

Amaya's attention diverted from the bandanna wearing boy when she heard a shout and a thud that sounded right next to her. The goggle wearing boy was now sitting on the floor beside her, rubbing his face with a gloved hand. The goggle wearing boy looked up at the bandanna wearing boy after he removed his hand from his face.

“Hey, did you get a message too?” goggle boy asked the bandanna wearing boy only to have him turn away from him without answering his question. “You could answer me a least!” were the last words spoken before the elevator started to pick up speed.

Amaya's eyes darted to the light above the doors that showed the floor they were on only to see that they were well past the basement. The elevator hit the ground hard which made goggles hit his head on the floor while Amaya struggled to stay on her feet.

“It's up to you now, which one will you choose?” the voice from her phone asked as Amaya walked out of the elevator.

Amaya heard the goggle wearing boy shout something, but he got no reply from anyone that heard what he said. Amaya continued to walk until she came upon a silver train that she walked into and sat down in one of the seats. The train took off a few minutes after she sat down and she thought she was alone for the ride.

Amaya closed her eyes enjoying the quiet until the door, on the back of the car she was in, opened. Amaya cracked open one eye and then the other while watching the bandanna wearing boy from before enter through door. Amaya took note that he had on a yellow shirt as he shut the door to the car.

He walked up and sat down in the seat in front of Amaya giving her the opportunity to get a better look at him. He looked her age, if not a bit older and she noted that his bandanna was a darker blue than his jacket with jagged brown stripes on it.

She caught his eyes and thought she would drown in the color; a deep blue that resemble the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. She tore her eyes away from his and turned her gaze out the window with a light pink spread across her cheeks. She waited to see if he would say anything or at least introduce himself, but he didn't say a word so she decided to.

“Hi, I'm Amaya. Amaya Tsukino, what’s your name?” Amaya introduced herself politely giving him one of the best fake smiles she could muster up.

He gave her a what-do-I-care look before he turned his attention back out the window. Amaya rolled her eyes at him before she turned her attention to the world blurring by them; outside.

“Kouji Minamoto.” the boy stated plainly making Amaya snap her gaze back to him in slight disbelief.

“Nice to meet you, Kouji.” Amaya replied quickly trying to hide her shock from the boy in front of her.

The train jolted suddenly and Amaya was thrown out of her seat and roughly onto the floor. Kouji had somehow managed to take a hold of the metal pole beside him to keep from being thrown around. Amaya's head and back hit the back door of the train car and when she looked back at Kouji she saw confusion written across his face.

Her eyes went wide as an image of a white and blue metal wolf like monster flashed transparently over Kouji. Amaya blinked and the image was gone as was the confusion on Kouji's face. Her phone started to shine brightly from her pocket, but when Amaya pulled it out it was no longer her phone that she held. Her phone morphed into a weird blue, yellow and silver device; one she had never seen before.

“Welcome to the digital world Amaya, this is your d-tector.” the voice from her phone informed her calmly.

'D-tector?' Amaya questioned herself as she turned the device over in her hand.

Her d-tector was mainly a pale yellow with midnight blue grips and silver buttons. She sneaked a glance up at Kouji who was examining his own d-tector with a mild interest. Amaya picked herself up off of the floor, walked over to her seat, and plopped down in it ungracefully.

She caught the look Kouji gave her for a split second before he turned to look out the window again. Amaya couldn't decide if his arched brow had meant disapproval of her actions or a simple what-was-that kind of look. Amaya shrugged her shoulders absent mindedly as she turned her gaze out the window behind her seat.

'Toto, we are definitely not in Japan anymore.' Amaya thought to herself as the train pulled into an odd looking station.

The station was made up of all kinds of weird shaped building, each with a pipe sticking out from the top and each pipe with a small flame on the end of it. Amaya turned her attention to Kouji, who was already standing by the door, as the train pulled to a stop. She debated on whether follow him or to just stay put and leave him be. She sat there until Kouji started to walk away which made her spring to her feet.

“Minamoto! Wait up!” Amaya shouted as she ran to catch up with the now glaring boy.

“What?” Kouji snapped at her when she was barely a foot away from him.

“Can I go with you?” Amaya asked in her best timid voice as she bowed her head to the ground.

“As long as you stay out of my way I could care less what you do.” he informed her as he turned and started walking again.

'Well, aren't we a touchy jerk.' Amaya snapped internally as she fell into step behind him.

There wasn't another word said between the two as they walked farther away from the station. Kouji stopped suddenly which caused Amaya to walk straight into him.

He glared at her before he turned his attention back to what had made him stop in the first place. Amaya followed his gaze catching sight of a stocky boy around their age in a blue jumpsuit and a younger boy with a large hat running towards the station.

“There goes an accident waiting to happen” Kouji stated rather bluntly as he turned his focus back to the path ahead.

“They really shouldn't be wondering around alone in this place, but oh well I'm not here to play babysitter, and would you back off before I leave you somewhere.” Kouji rambled until he snapped at Amaya who hadn't moved away from him.

“You've got a bad attitude problem, you know that?” Amaya questioned while glaring at him as he took a few steps away from her.

“Why don't you go bother somebody else then?” Kouji questioned with irritation clear in his voice as he continued to walk on.

“Why don't you make me?” Amaya asked pointedly making Kouji falter a bit as they walked.

Kouji gave no reply as they continued to walk through the small town. They walked out of the town a few minutes later and into a lush green forest. Amaya kept her attention on the heels of Kouji's shoes as she followed close behind him.

Kouji stopped without warning causing Amaya to try and halt her movement, but instead she ended up stepping on the heel of Kouji's shoe and hitting him in the back again.

“Can't you watch where you're going?” Kouji snapped the question at Amaya who took a few steps back.

“I was watching where I was going. Why don't you give any indication that you are going to stop?” Amaya snapped back glaring up at the back of Kouji’s head.

Kouji rolled his eyes at her, not that she could see his actions for she was behind him, and stared straight ahead. In front of the two was a stone wall covered in bright green moss with a doorway like hole cut into it. The hole was dark and covered with lush green vines that signaled no one had been in that place in a while.

“It's probably safer to stay away from creepy holes in the wall, but I didn't come all this way to play it safe.” Kouji informed himself making Amaya give him a questioning look.

“Do you talk to yourself often?” Amaya questioned while receiving a glare from Kouji.

“Why did I agree to let you come with me?” Kouji answered with another question, but instead of a glare he got a fake smile.

“You had no choice in the matter, so either go in and find out what’s up with the hole in the wall or let's keep moving, bandanna boy.” Amaya chirped getting a dead panned look from Kouji as he walked through the entrance of the hole.

“Anyone here?” Kouji called out as he started to walk down the stairs that connected to the entrance way.

“Who in their right mind would want to live in such a dark place?” Amaya shouted after him which earned her another glare as she started down the stairs herself.

'Why did I get stuck with this girl?' Kouji questioned himself internally while glancing over his shoulder at the ravenette behind him.

Amaya was looking up instead of down at the stairs which made Kouji wonder just how long it would take for her to miss one and come crashing down on top of him. Amaya didn't miss a single step which surprised him, how had she kept from doing so? They kept going and somehow ended up in a tunnel that reminded Amaya of a sewer corridor.

She kept a good foot behind Kouji as they continued to walk, but she was finding it a little hard to keep up with him in the growing darkness. She stopped short of his back when a sudden light blinded her from the end of the tunnel. Kouji had stopped and was surprised that Amaya hadn't walked into his back as he pushed the bars that blocked the end of the tunnel out; they mad a loud clang when the hit the ground below.

“What's this?” Kouji questioned as he glanced around the dome like room at the end of the tunnel; which was a good ten feet or more off the ground.

“It's a dead end.” Amaya informed him flatly as she tiptoed to look over his shoulder at the area below them.

“I can see that.” Kouji informed her in a dead panned tone as his patients with her lessened.

“Then why'd you ask?” Amaya questioned with her right hand propped up on her waist.

“Help somebody!” a boy’s voice shouted in panic just as Kouji had opened his mouth to reply to the girl behind him.

“I'm not a chocolate bar!” a squeakier voice shouted, as Amaya leaned against Kouji’s back to get a better look at who was screaming.

The two boys they had seen running towards the train station were now being chased by some weird little monsters. These little monsters look to be about the size of a basketball with two large ears on either side. They were gray in color and Amaya could have sworn she was seeing things, but after she blinked and rubbed her eyes the little monsters were still there.

“Help anyone please!” both boys yelled in unison almost begging someone to help them get away from the little monsters that were attacking them.

Kouji pushed Amaya back, jumped from the tunnel, and took a hold of a nearby pole; that kept him from jumping to his death. Amaya sat down in the mouth of the tunnel with her legs dangling over the edge as Kouji slid down and broke off a piece of the poll with a single kick.

The little monsters all charged at Kouji who used the pole to ward them off. The two boys that Kouji had gone to help just stood there in amazement as Kouji fought against the little monsters with skills that Amaya didn’t know he had.

'Wow, this boy can fight. Now, if only he had a little less attitude.' Amaya thought as she watched Kouji fend off the little monsters below.

Amaya's worrisome side kicked in as she watched the little monsters cover Kouji from head to toe. She held her breathe until one of the little monsters flew up to the height of the tunnel and the others went flying off in all kinds of directions. The little monster that Kouji had sent flying into the air hit the ground below hard which made Kouji smirk at his accomplishment.

“Oh yeah human, don't smile yet!” the little monster shouted as a blue bar code like light surrounded him like a cocoon.

“I'll eat you up!” a slimy trash heap looking monster shouted as it took the place of the other monsters.

“Kouji, get out of there!” Amaya shouted down to him in fright; he couldn't fight that thing!

The monster turned towards the two boys that Amaya didn't know, and attacked. Jumpsuit boy and the little boy ran away from the monster, but the little boy tripped over his own two feet. Kouji scooped him up in his arms and ran out of the monsters attack range just in the nick of time.

Amaya's eye twitched at the damage this monster was causing; for each time it attacked there was a gaping hole left where its attack had hit. The monster kept attacking and the boys kept running out of the way of its attacks; like a bad game of cat and mouse. Amaya followed Kouji's every move; watching as Kouji ran for not only his life, but the small boy's life as well.

Kouji got backed between the monster and a hole that he almost fell in, but luckily he hit his knee instead of falling backwards. He placed the little boy on the ground and glared at the monster while Amaya silently prayed for someone, or something to help him.

“SPIRIT!” a boys scream filled the area which almost caused Amaya to fall from the tunnels mouth.

There was a bright flash of light before a black and red monster darted out and grabbed the trash heap digimon by its center. The red monsters actions caused the trash monster to start spitting out his attack wildly; leaving holes everywhere the attack touched. The red monster jumped back to stand in front of Kouji and appeared to be talking to Kouji who was looking at the damage the trash monsters attacks had caused.

The red monster was surrounded by a blue bar code like light and when it went away the goggle wearing boy from the elevator was standing in its place. The goggle wearing boy looked confused and seemed to be looking at his gloves for answers.

The trash monster spit another attack at Kouji, goggle boy and the little boy which caused the goggle wearing boy to take a dive for the smaller boy. The goggle wearing boy pushed the smaller boy out of the way, but instead of pushing Kouji out of the way with them, he pushed him into the hole.

“KOUJI!” Amaya screamed in panic with wide eyes and fear for Kouji's life.

Amaya's shout caught jumpsuit boy, goggles, the little boy and a blonde girl with two small monsters at her side's attention. Amaya hid her eyes behind her hands in an attempt to calm herself, but she found herself peeking through the gaps between her fingers. Amaya watched as the light that poured through the holes in the walls all started to move and shine directly into the hole Kouji had fallen into.

Amaya's hands fell to her side as a white and blue metal wolf like monster floated out of the hole. Amaya felt herself relax as soon as she spotted the wolf monster for she had a strong feeling that it was Kouji. She watched him as he landed on the ground and was attacked by the trash monster instantly. He ran towards the monsters attack while taking out a sword which he used to split the monsters attack in half.

He jumped up on top of the trash monsters head and thrust his sword straight downwards into its skull. The trash monster screamed out in pain before the bar code like light surrounded him, but instead of surrounding him like a cocoon it was in a straight line around him. The wolf monster scanned the trash monsters light which left an egg to float off while the same light surround the wolf monster like a cocoon.

In the wolf monsters place was Kouji who was on his hands and knees panting heavily. Amaya stood up just as the little boy and goggles ran to Kouji's side. Amaya ran to the other end of the tunnel letting her feet take her back to the stairs before anything else happened. She sat down on the bottom step with her head in her hands as she tried to comprehend what just happened.

Kouji found her still sitting in that same position a few minutes later, and stopped directly in front of her. The toe of Kouji's shoe came into Amaya's view which caused her to jerk her head back to look at him. Confusion, fear and concern were displayed in her eyes as she shot up to stand in front of him.

Amaya started to touch him, but instead she found herself running up the stairs and out of the hole they had entered in to start with. She stopped running when her hands met the bark of a tree that stood right outside of the hole. Amaya stood there panting; she had no idea what made her run away from Kouji.

Was it the fact that he had turned into a monster? Was it because she was actually worried about him? Was it because she had let him see the emotions that were running wild inside her head when she looked up at him?

Amaya wracked her brain for answers, but instead she found herself letting out a scream as she almost jumped right out of her skin. Kouji had merely laid his hand on her shoulder, having emerged from the hole in the wall to find her standing beside a tree, but retracted his hand quickly when she screamed and jumped. Amaya hugged the tree in an attempt to calm herself before she glanced over her shoulder at Kouji.

“Didn't anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on people!?” Amaya snapped at him while glaring over her shoulder.

“I wasn't sneaking, besides you're the one that ran off like you were afraid of something.” Kouji informed her as he walked past her leaving; her to herself.

Amaya stood there for all of a minute before she released the tree and took off after Kouji; she'd be damned if he left her behind. She caught up to him rather quickly and fell into step behind him; silently. Amaya followed him until they got to the edge of the forest where Kouji sat down in front of a tree and leaned back against it.

He glanced over at Amaya who was keeping a bit of a distance between them; almost as if she were afraid of him. She stood by the tree next to the one he was seated in front of and just watched him almost cautiously.

“Kouji?” Amaya questioned softly while catching his attention. “Are you alright?” she asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Kouji nodded noticing she relaxed a little before he looked up towards the sky where a bunch of ghost shaped monsters floated through the air.

“You sure are easy to scare, but at least you know how to keep out of the way.” Kouji stated with a smirk which made Amaya's blood boil.

“You're a jerk, Kouji!” Amaya shouted in anger before she stormed over to his side.

He glared up at her before she kicked him in the legs and walked off with both of her hands clenched into tight fists. Kouji watched as Amaya stormed off, but didn't make any move to follow or stop her.

'If she wants to go off on her own then let her.' Kouji told himself as the sassy ravenette disappeared from his line of sight.