*Warning!* Domestic Violence and implied Suicidal thoughts. Read with caution or DO NOT READ AT ALL if such themes are too disturbing for you!

I don't detail it deeply, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

Piano songs referenced: Carpe Diem by Infinite Stream and Fires of a Revolution by MusicalBasics. Both found on Youtube.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, only my original characters and plot.

I've chosen to use the American names as I don't know any Japanese and would rather not risk offending the culture or language. I also didn't grow up in America or live there long enough to know laws etc. I had to google and research that stuff, so even in it's vague state, if its wrong. Please let me know.

I watched both the English Dub and Japanese Sub- so I'm using both versions to write this fic. Probably gonna lean more to the Japanese Sub portrayal of Mimi and Joe tbh.

This is my first Digimon fic so please be constructive with your criticism.


Chapter 1: Bravery in the Face of Adversity.

- To know her, one would have to understand her beginning.

(~)-(~)- *DIGIMON ADVENTURE*-(~)-(~)

[11th May 1998. USA]

A girl of 10 years sits stiffly on a stool. The ache of her back matters little as she concentrates on the instrument before her. She's been practising for more than five hours but the mere idea of stopping is wishful thinking. Perhaps it would be more likely to happen if she was not being so closely monitored.

"Ichika!" the stern woman above her snaps

"Yes, mother." She quickly answers

The child doesn't dare raise her gaze to the woman above her. She keeps them trained on the black and white keys beneath her fingers. She presses and manoeuvres her fingers according to the composed arrangement on the paper. The stiffness in them begs her to stop and allow them some reprieve. She can't and so she does her best to ignore it. She feels a migraine growing at her temple but she must ignore that too. She can't stop til she perfects the piece. She won't stop until she masters it to utter perfection.

The final note rings softly; fading into a haunting drift to the ears senses. She's panting and feeling the ache but above all, she's simply relieved. She's done it, played the entire thing and performed it with no falters.

*SLAM*

She's quick to jolt and pull away from the instrument at the violent action. She swallows the rising panic in her throat and looks at the woman above her. The disappointment and anger in those steely grey eyes shake her to the core. She barely manages to keep herself from trembling in tears. She can't afford to cry, not in front of this woman.

"DO it again! This time do it properly. I want you to learn it and be the best. Perform it until you can play it in your sleep. Am I clear!?"

She knows she should speak, but the risk she'll cry is too much. Instead, she chokes on the word; feels it clogging her throat. A silent response must have been worse as the woman grabs her chin tightly.

"Ichika! Am I clear!?"

"Y-yes mother."

She rubs at her chin after the rough release. She hides the way her fingers tremble as they position themselves above the keys once more. She starts again, doing her best to recall the exact keys, pace and pressure to apply. She closes her eyes and hopes that by doing so she could forget those ever watching steely grey eyes.

It doesn't work….. but it never hurts to hope one day it might.

Only when the jiggling of keys and the door opening sounds, does the woman look elsewhere. She doesn't stop playing. She can't stop until the woman says so. So she plays on as they're joined by a man.

"I'm home." The man greets with a timid smile.

"You're late."

"Sorry. There was a lot of traffic today. Wednesdays can get real busy you know."

The tension in the room increases, so much so it's almost suffocating. Other than the sounds of the instrument beneath her fingers, nothing is said. She should be used to this. It's normal, but still, she can't breathe. Not when she knows what is bound to follow such pressuring silence. It's what happens after that she can never ignore.

"What is that!?"

The man grins but it sits weakly on his lips. He offers the plastic bag of containers up as if it's a gift. The woman doesn't soften at all- in fact, her glare intensifies. The child wants to stop playing but she's afraid of what might happen if she does.

"I wasn't sure if you'd both had eaten. So I bought dinner on my way home."

*SLAP*

The sound echoes throughout the room as she stops playing. She's frozen at seeing the red print across the man's cheek. The fear grows as she watches the woman grow angrier each passing second. Without warning, she grabs the take away food and throws it at the nearby wall. The child ducks and stifles a yelp.

"You think-"

"Please don't!... Not here." The man interrupts softly

The woman stops and looks to where the child sits. With the barest of nods, she glowers and snaps at the man.

"Hurry up."

She doesn't wait to watch him approach the wide-eyed child regarding them. Though she still manages to hear him speak. As the man approaches he grins. It's small and not very reassuring but the child knows that it's filled with sincerity.

"Mom and I are going to talk in the kitchen. Here, put this on. I read it'll help you focus if you practice alongside the actual music."

She looks from the headphones in his hands to the red print on his cheek. Instead of reaching for the headpiece, she grips at the sleeves of his shirt. She doesn't say anything and she doesn't have to. This is routine by now, common and normal for the three of them. She hates it but can do nothing as she is only a kid.

She knows that but still, she hopes today will be the day.

She hopes today the man she calls father will stop the woman.

"It's okay. We're only going to talk Sarai. I promise that's all."

He's lying and they both know it. She can see it in his eyes that he's sad but also accepting. She hates it but can do nothing as her own fear keeps her from doing so. He leans forward and kisses her softly on her cheek. It feels like nothing but hollow assurance. She hates that he does this, pretends as if what will undoubtedly happen next is a one-time thing. However, she cannot think of another way to stop him from leaving and going back to that woman.

"Don't go….please." She begs though she knows it is useless.

The man stares at the child, his heart warms but his mind does not change. Instead, he gently preys her tight grip off his sleeves and fakes another hollow smile. Though the love in his eyes is obvious the child is spellbound with despair at the acceptance she sees within its depth.

"I promise you Sarai, Nothing bad will happen. Mommy and Daddy just need to talk."

He pushes play, and her ears are assaulted by the opening to Carpe diem. She stares after him with wide eyes of desperation but he doesn't look back at her. She can't hear them but when she turns back to the instrument she sees their reflection in the glass of the painting above her. She positions her fingers and begins to follow along to the music in her ears. The stretch of her fingers on the keys barely registering as she watches them.

It doesn't fit.

The music she plays doesn't fit what she sees and she misses a few notes, playing them wrong. She knows it is but the woman doesn't come to tell the child off. The reflection of the grown-ups shows them yelling- the intensity and aggression between them obvious in the glass. The child plays louder hoping that if she continues to play more notes wrong the woman would stop arguing and come to yell at her.

It doesn't work.

Instead, the woman strikes out and the man's head snaps to the left. The child stops playing as her eyes tear in horror. She is afraid for the man as well as herself. She changes the song and instead hopes that playing a complicated piece such as 'Fires of a Revolution' would garner the woman's attention.

She's never practised this one before, but she's heard it plenty of times. She plays it with all the desperation in her small body. The stabbing of her fingers on the keys is harsh and violent, and each time she does so matches when the woman strikes the man. The ache of the child's arms is painful and she can barely stop them from seizing but she pushes herself. The rough way she plays bruises her fingers a blistering purple much like the woman has done to the man.

The child's heart races alongside the musical piece and her head shake side to side to the throes of the composition. So much so it slips the headphones off her head and the yelling of the woman is no longer drowned out by the musical keys.

"- YOU'RE A WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!"

*WHACK*

The child stops playing abruptly and screams out for the woman to stop. Her cry is ignored and she runs to try and stop the assault on the man. The woman doesn't stop- her arm lifts and swings over and over- the object in her hand bruising and possibly breaking his bone and flesh.

"PLEASE! STOP IT!" The child cries but the woman shoves her aside.

As the child falls back with a thud, the woman finally drags her attention away from the male. She looks at the wet-faced child and moves to loom over the little girl.

"Do you know why you're father deserves this!? Well!?" The woman sneers

The child is too afraid to respond.

"ANSWER ME ICHICKA!"

"N-no M-Mother." She whimpers

"Because he is a coward. Look at me Ichika! Listen to me and never forget this lesson."

The child reluctantly obeys and the woman looks down at her without any warmth or care. In the background, they both hear the man whimpering in pain.

"Only the best survive and become great in this world. The weak and cowardly are the ones who die."

The child is frozen as the woman stares directly into her eyes- intent on ensuring her words will never be forgotten. Once satisfied she then adjusts her grip on the object in her hand and turns to the man once more.

"I'm doing this for your own good."

It's unclear who the woman is directing her words too. However, her next bout of actions is obvious with their intent…..and this time she has no intentions of stopping.

The child is horrified with terror and fear. She can't bring herself to move and watches the woman beat down the man over and over again. She is so afraid, but just when the man can take no more. Just when the man is so close to falling unconscious, the child feels something of a trickling warmth awaken. It bursts open like a crack in a dam and floods her being. It overwhelms her so much so that she lashes out with it thrumming in her veins.

She attacks the woman with a crying scream, tackles her into the corner of the table and fights to knock the woman unconscious. When she finally succeeds, she is sobbing and blinking in shock. She feels blank and numb but crawls quickly to the nearest phone. She doesn't know how she does it or understands the true miracle of what she'd just managed. She doesn't even realise she's dialled a number until the call is answered.

"911 What's the standing emergency?"

The child is crying and all the operator can hear is her sobs and gulping breaths. She should speak but the shock has her frozen and staring at the unconscious woman.

"Hello? What's the standing emergency?"

"M-my…My mom and d-dad had an f-fight."

"Is he hitting her?" the operator questions.

The child stares at the two unconscious adults and tries to answer the operator's question.

"Um, n-no. It- I-, She stopped."

"I need you to tell me what happened so I can get you some help. Are your parents still fighting? Where's your mom. Is he still hitting her?"

The child takes a breath and seeks out the warmth she'd felt- she clings to it and takes several deep breaths- staving off a panic attack. She stops sobbing enough to properly speak.

"S-She wouldn't stop t-this time. I-I had to- No. T-they aren't fighting anymore."

"Can you tell me where they are?" The operator prompts having already notified the police the address of the call.

"They're r-right here."

"Are they in the room with you?"

"Y-yes."

"What are they doing? What happened?"

"S-she wasn't stopping this t-time. I- I pushed her to make her stop. My Dad he wasn't- wasn't moving much anymore I- I had to-"

The child breaks off into tears and she sobs again. The operator assumes the worst has happened and hurries to speak to the child.

"The police are on their way. Don't hang up until they come okay. When they come you'll have to open the door. I need you to tell me what happened."

The child doesn't know how long it took the police to come. She barely remembers the operator instructing her to open the door for them. When they enter and see the two adults unconscious and a sobbing child, they try not to jump to conclusions. One of them takes the phone from the child while another tries to comfort her.

"It's okay sweetheart. He won't hurt you or your mother anymore okay." The officer comforts.

They'd not managed to get a word from the child, not until they say that. She clenches the sleeve of the officer so tightly- so desperately with eyes wide in fear that the officer startles.

"NO! You got it wrong."

"What did we do wrong?"

The child shakes in the officers hold and points at the woman- not the man.

"It's her. She- She was the one."

Neither officer shows their surprise, but they know better than to dismiss the child's words. After her correction, the scene starts to make a lot more sense. Though rare- sometimes they got cases like these. It doesn't matter in the end as it is still domestic violence. The officers get help for the man and arrest the woman temporarily. They take the child back to the station and begin their investigation.

On the 30th of June 1998, Maria J. Garcia- Kobayashi was charged with felony domestic violence towards her husband Satoru Kobayashi. She was sentenced to incarceration, fined and lost any and all custody rights towards their daughter Ichika Sarai Kobayashi.

(~)-(~)- *DIGIMON ADVENTURE*-(~)-(~)

[19th July 1999, Japan]

In a small two bedroom apartment, a young girl awoke with slow opening eyes. She lay still for a minute, adjusting to her waking senses until finally, she began to count the seconds. Four minutes later the blaring of her alarm sounded and she finally moved. As she did every morning, she followed her routine. By five am she's completed her room maintenance and dressed. She then leaves her room to finish her six o'clock self-appointed chores. It doesn't take her long to vacuum, dust and arrange the sparse objects in the apartment. As such she sits and watches the clock, counting the ticks until her next task can begin.

By seven o'clock she begins breakfast. It's a hearty meal of eggs, toast, bacon and whatever else she finds in the fridge. She cooks enough for two- her portion estimation concise and accurate. Once dished up and placed on the table, she starts on her lunch. Again it is an easy and simple meal of rice, tuna and tomato. The actual consumption of her breakfast is done in 15 minutes and she packs and washes her dishes away. Once again she has only 30 minutes to get to school and another morning routine is completed on time.

Before leaving she heads to the only other bedroom in the apartment. She knocks softly and slowly opens the door. She stares at the lump curled on the bed and gives a soft smile.

"I'm leaving now Dad." She announces.

She tries not to giggle at how her father scrambles up with disorientation.

"Wha-Already? What about breakfast?" the man sleepily questions as he tries to force himself awake.

"I ate. I made you some too! It's in the microwave as usual."

"You should have woken me to cook it for you!" He sighed with a tight smile.

"It's okay. I also did all the vacuuming and dusting so you don't need to. The dishes are cleaned too." She shrugs.

The man can only muster up another smile at his daughter. She is only 11 but he finds it hard to remember such a fact. When she smiles at him so brightly, he can only return the expression.

"What a lucky father I am to have someone as reliable as you." He softly praises.

"Not as lucky as me. I have to go now, but I'll see you after school. Love you!" She grins with a wave.

He only just manages to say the words before she's turned and left. Only after he is sure she is undoubtedly gone, does he manage to crawl out of bed. He slinks into the bathroom and stares at the mirror. He stares at his reflection as he does every day and hates what he sees. He forces himself to freshen up then makes his way to the kitchen. Just as she'd promised, breakfast is in the microwave.

The man's hands tremble as they pull out the plate. Again, like every other morning, he forces himself to eat the food and tastes nothing but the salt of his own tears. With every bite he swallows, he hates himself a little more. He doesn't stop eating until the plate is clean. Instead of washing the dirty dish, he sinks to the floor and stares at the block holding cutlery.

He stares at it and lets his mind wander.

Before he knows it, he hears the beeping of his alarm and he startles. He hastily makes his way back to his room and dresses. 45 minutes later he hears the door opening and the happy greeting of his daughter.

"DAD! I'M HOME!"

"Mmh in here!" He responds whilst tugging at the tie around his neck- pulling it tighter.

When she turns the corner he smiles widely at her.

"You still working!?" She questions

"Yep, just finishing. How was school?"

She beams at him and launches into a long retelling. Not once does he loosen the tie or stop smiling and laughing. She tells him about how much she loves her class and the topics they learn. She talks about how she loves exploring the school over and over again. She talks and talks, but not once does she say anything about making friends. It's only when they finish dinner and are washing up together that he leads a conversation.

"Do you like it here Sarai?"

She stops and looks at him with a soft but honest smile. One he'd not seen her wear in a very long time. It is hard for him to find anything but happiness and joy on her face.

"I love it here."

"Do you think we made the right choice moving here?" He questions.

He must have slipped as her face grows cautious, hesitant. Despite it, he needs to hear her answer.

"Um yeah… I think so."

"Hm…"

The silence builds between them until finally, she breaks it.

"Don't you think so too Dad?"

She is looking at him so anxiously, and he finds he cannot tell the truth. So he lies to her with a smile and says yes. She stares at him for a second longer before she relaxes and begins to speak on something else. When the next day brings about the same routine- he stumbles upon a solution.

He waits until the 25th of July to tell her. When he does, she reacts as he expects.

"Summer Camp?"

He laughs nervously but doesn't look away from her questioning gaze.

"I know you love it here but I noticed you never talk about any of your friends."

She looks down at the pamphlet on the table. He tries to hide how nervous he is about her reaction.

"It's only for a few weeks, and look! There are a lot of fun things for you to do too."

"But….But what about you? What are you going to do without me?"

He loves her so much, his sweet and caring daughter. He doesn't deserve her, not at all. It doesn't stop him from urging her to agree to go to the camp.

"I'll be fine. I promise you, I'll be waiting right here for you to get back."

He's not sure he can keep the promise but its too late to take it back now. He sees her relax and decides the possible lie is worth it if she is put at ease by it. Only then does he decide to let some truth be revealed and he stares at his hands out of guilt.

"There are some things I need to sort out on my own."

She wilts and the silence is heavy between them. Neither father or daughter want to specifically state what their both thinking about. For her, it hurts because she knows the truth her father is not outright saying- she can read the guilt in his frame easily. For him, it is shame because this is only further proof as to how he is a terrible father and a cowardly man.

Five days later he drops her off to where the camp bus waits. She is nervous but she tries to hide it from her father. It doesn't matter as he is barely paying her any attention.

"You have everything you need Sarai?" He prompts with a jittery smile.

"Yep. I double checked my bag and made sure to pack all my gear this morning."

As the children are called so they could leave, she grips at his sleeve like she did a year ago. There is something desperate in her wide eyes and he struggles to meet them.

"I'll see you when I get back right?"

He covers her small hands with his own and smiles at her with all the love he holds.

"Of course you will. I love you."

"I love you too daddy." She mumbles before diving into his arms for a tight hug.

He holds her and memorises the moment as best he can. When they can no longer cling to each other he starts to wave until she is out of sight and the bus is long gone. Without her by his side, he feels free- weightless and it stays with him until he arrives back home.

The small two bedroom apartment is still and silent. Nothing moves and only the ticking clock is heard. He heads to the kitchen, sinks to the floor and resumes his staring at the block holding the cutlery. This time….he doesn't set an alarm to alert him of the time that passes.

(~)-(~)- *DIGIMON ADVENTURE*-(~)-(~)

The Adventure begins on August 1st 1999 when eight young kids go to camp for the summer.