"Hey Impmon! Impmoooon!"
"Hm? What is it, Kapurimon? You don't have to yell."

　Cross Connectia, in a town inhabited by Machine Digimon. Against the backdrop of the cool evening breeze, carrying with it the pungent scent of machine oil, I—the Evil-type Digimon, Impmon—irritably raised my head.

"What's all the ruckus? I really want to get some sleep before the rock concert tomorrow."
"Yeah! Let's rock, baby!"
"Can you just calm down and talk normally, please?"
"I heard all about it!! Impmon, you're gonna be performing, aren't you?!"
"What?"

　With a blank expression, I looked at Kapurimon, who was clearly quite excited.

"Huh? I got no clue what you're talking about."
"Really? The rumor has spread all over! They're saying that you're gonna crash tomorrow's concert!"
"No way, I'm not doing anything like that."
"Huh? But that's what I heard. Oh that's right! Hagurumon said it heard that too!"

　It didn't matter how emphatically I shook my head. Kapurimon looked on in a sort of wonder, and called to a nearby Machine Digimon, Hagurumon.

"Oh, you mean the whole thing about Impmon at the concert? Yeah, I heard the same."
"I told you guys, I got no clue."
"If I had to guess, maybe it's a different Impmon from you..."
"A different one...?"

　I tilted my head. Well, I guess that would explain it.

"Even if that were the case... Almost all the Digimon in this town are Machines, right? I've never seen another Impmon here."
"I know a thing or two about that. Seems like this Impmon came from somewhere else."
"Somewhere...else? Wow! Must be from another town!"
"You ain't heard the wildest part... Come close for a sec."

　Hagurumon deliberately lowered its voice while Kapurimon and I leaned in, full of curiosity.

"Now, keep this between the three of us... [whispers] ...and that's what I heard."
"Whoa! This Impmon's gonna go on stage with a HUMAN?!"
"Hey! Kapurimon! Keep it down, would ya?!"
"Well, way to ruin it. But to be honest, everyone here already knows, so it's probably fine."
"Then what was the point of all that then..."

　I let out an exasperated sigh, then recomposed myself.

"A human, huh?"
"Aren't humans kinda scary? I heard that they're fighting with Mistymon and the others in the forest."
"Well, I heard from my boss at the workshop, Clockmon, that it once knew a human who was nice. Cool Kid, I think it was."
"That's a weird name."

　Humans are different creatures from those Digimon living in other worlds. As young as we are, we can only imagine what they're like.
　Maybe the forest Guardians are right that we should fear them though... Or maybe they're like this "Cool Kid," and they're actually nice?

"...Well, we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"
"Impmon?"
"Because tomorrow, this human is going to perform, right? They say rock doesn't lie. We should get a sense for humans if we go to the concert tomorrow, for sure."
"I see, makes sense."
"I can't wait! I wonder what this human will get up to!"
"Yeah, yeah Kapurimon. Now you gotta get to bed or you're gonna oversleep."

　I shrugged my shoulders at the wound-up Kapurimon and went back to my sleeping spot. All the while thinking of the music to come.

"Hey everyone!! You havin' a good time?!"

　A girl's voice rang out through the air.
　After several Digimon groups had put on their performances, the human took the stage along with an Impmon.
　Only a few Digimon responded to the girl's call. Rather than a resounding cheer from the audience, she was met with whispered murmurs. And no wonder. The rumor that there would be a human at the concert had spread throughout the town.
　There were more than a few Digimon who believed the words of the Guardians about humans, and feared or even hated them. Even those who didn't were unable to conceal their bewilderment towards the small stature of this human who had taken the stage.

"Wait, is that really what a human looks like?"
"They're kinda small. They can't be very strong, can they?"
"Can they even perform like that?"
"This might take a while, maybe now's a good time for a bathroom break..."

　These were some of the conversations around me. Any performer might have their spirit broken in the face of such a crowd.
　But the human on stage was undeterred, and whipped the mic up to her mouth.

"I'm Yuuki. And I'm here with Impmon! We're from another world!"

　The crowd's murmurs grew at the mention of another world, yet this human who had called herself Yuuki continued on.

"I have a dream! To make friends with every single Digimon!"
"(Hmph... What's she talking about?)"

　Amidst the audience who were bemused by Yuuki's outlandish dream, I too, shook my head, disbelief. Are all humans hopeless idealists like this person?

"I mean it! That's why I came here today, to make friends with all of you! I'm gonna sing you a song, so that all of you can learn about me, and about humans! Impmon, hit it!"
"You got it, Yuuki! I'm gonna blow 'em away!"
"Let's get things pumpin' with a killer rock tune!"

　As soon as she said this, the square box she was holding began to let out a brilliant light.

"Impmon, digivolve into—Punkmon!"

　Once the light cleared, a purple dragon stood there, wearing a spiked jacket. The dragon started beating the ground with its guitar pick-like tail, creating a rhythm.

"Whoa, that's crazy! It digivolved?!"

　After making sure that the audience's attention had been drawn by the digivolving light, Yuuki grinned wildly and held up her device even higher.

"We're not done yet! Digivolve into—Loudmon!"
"Roger that!"

　What came out was a mechanical dragon with gigantic speakers on its shoulders, which were pulsing out a bass beat that was getting amplified by the humongous speakers of the venue, shaking the bodies of every Digimon in attendance.

"(Heeey, that's pretty cool.)"

　The Digimon around the Loudmon all seemed to be of the same mind, and started rocking to the bass beat, watching the stage with bated breath.

"That's not all! Go! HeavyMetaldramon!"

　The chugging of a distorted guitar riff rang out. A purple fire surrounded Loudmon, and then the massive dragon HeavyMetaldramon rose from the flames.

"Let's hit it, Yuuki! Sing it!"
"Yep! Maneuvermon, that's your cue!"

　As soon as she said this, a half-beast, half-fighter jet Digimon—Maneuvermon—swooped down through the air. Yuuki grabbed on and flew up into the air, soaring over the attendees. Then she started singing.

　There was nothing pretty about it, it was grungy, it was loud, and it rocked.

　...And it won over the Digimon who were gathered there.

　One by one, they all raised their fists. Unwilling to be drowned out by the dragon's roar, someone let out a cheer.
　I stood in awe, watching this all play out. The sound ran through me and didn't leave. I could feel something welling up inside me.
　
"Everyone! You can do better than that!!!"

　As soon as I heard this, I felt my fist shoot up into the air.

　In a dense forested area, somewhere in Cross Connectia, Winr hears a booming sound echoing through the air, and raises his head.

"FunBeemon, was that..."
"Yeah. Sounds like Yuuki."
"What the... What is she doing..."
"I'm not sure, but it sounds like it's coming from over there."
"Sure does. Shall we investigate?"
"Yeah!"
"...At least she's safe."

　Breathing a sigh of relief, Winr and FunBeemon nodded to each other and started heading towards the source of the sound.

　Within the dungeon of the Guardians' Fortress, the Mistymon who was interrogating the imprisoned Altea shook its head in disgust at the raucous noise from outside, and shouted at the Betsumon waiting nearby.

"Betsumon! What's all the ruckus?"
"Master Mistymon, today is the day when those Machine morons from the nearby town blast their noise."
"Urgh... How many times do I have to tell them to cut it out..."
"Actually..."
"What is it?"
"I kind of like this song..."
"What a ridiculous thing to say. Hey, wipe that grin off your face. We're in front of a prisoner."

　Betsumon, taken aback by Mistymon's reproach, recomposed itself, but Altea let out a laugh.

"Don't worry about it. I think it's a good song, too."
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Altea! Now stay quiet like a good prisoner."
"Much better, I can hear the performance clearly."
"Hmph."

　Just as he watched his captors leaving, Altea received a secret message from Espimon.

"(Master, did you hear?!)"
"I did, Espimon. It even reached underground. It looks like Yuuki cooked up something."
"(The town holding the concert is near the fortress.)"
"Yes. Everyone must be gathered close by. We will keep gathering information, providing support from the inside. All right?"
"(Roger that, master!)"

　As the transmission cut out, Altea turned up his audio sensors and listened to the music coming from above ground.

"Wow! We tore it up!"
"A successful gig, I'd say."

　After the performance was over, Yuuki withdrew from the deafening cheers of the audience to the wings of the stage. There, her partner Impmon was sitting, already de-digivolved. In contrast to his normal hard-to-please demeanor, Impmon seemed unusually hyped up, perhaps due to the excitement of the stage.

"Impmooon, nice moves out there!"
"Of course. Hey, you're not half bad as a singer, Yuuki. Maybe you could do something with that back in Lacuna."
"Huh? No way! You can flatter me all you want, I'm not giving out autographs!"
"H-Hey, quit it, let go!"

　And just like that Yuuki and Impmon were back to normal, as Turbomon, Maneuvermon, and Rebellimon approached.

"Hey, that was great, guys!"
"Hehe, thanks Rebellimon!"
"I couldn't believe it when you grabbed onto Maneuvermon to fly over the crowd."
"Yuuki suggested it right at the last minute."
"Yeah, it was just that the stage was way bigger than I thought. I just wanted to get a little closer to everyone who came to see us, you know? So I was grateful for the help!"

　After Yuuki said her thanks to Maneuvermon, it gave a somewhat proud snort.

"You really think the sound managed to reach the others?"
"No clue! But we shot our shot, right? Now whatever happens, happens."
"You're of course welcome to stay in the town until you're ready to head to the fortress. I know everyone's dying to meet the rock star!"

　Yuuki sheepishly rubbed her cheek in response to Rebellimon's praise.

"For real? What do we do, Impmon? We're stars now. We'll be so popular."
"No thanks, I'll pass."
"Uh-uh, you're not going aaanywhere!"
"Hey, what the—!"

　As Yuuki held Impmon firmly to her chest, it protested with a squeak.

"Lemme go!"
"You can't just scram after giving a performance like that! Let's go!"

　Yuuki dragged a stubbornly resisting Impmon. Rebellimon, Turbomon, and Maneuvermon all exchanged glances, grinning at Impmon's total 180 from yesterday.

"Oh, it's Impmon!"
"The Impmon from the concert!"
"This could be complicated... Oh, the human came with them."

　Yuuki and her partner were at the edge of the stage. Kapurimon, Hagurumon, and I all rushed to go see them.

"Whoa! Hey guys, what's up! Oh, Impmon! Hey Impmon, look, there's an Impmon!"
"Would you pipe down! You're always like this!"

　Gone is the cool stage presence. Instead, the duo is now embroiled in a childish quarrel.

"You guys put on a heck of a show."
"Oh, for real? I'm super glad you liked it!"
"Hey, Impmon, you were super cool too! You were all like 'BOOM' and 'KA-BANG!'"
"He-he, y-you saw that, huh?"

　Impmon averted his gaze shyly. Meanwhile, Yuuki was excitedly petting the head of Hagurumon and the others. They were definitely a bit different off-stage.
　But the feeling that came over me was not one of disappointment, but rather a desire to get to know them.

"U-Um, Yuuki..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Y-You said that you wanted to make friends with every single Digimon, right?"
"That's right!"
"Did you mean us too?"
"Yep, yep!"

　Yuuki looked straight at me, as I continued to speak.

"W-Well then...talk with us more! I want to know more about you."
"...Oh! Sure thang!"
"...Sure thang?"
"She means, 'sure thing.' I keep telling you that this happens when you speak like that!"
"Y-Yeah, right."

　That threw me off a little bit, but then I began to well up with joy.

"Then let's all go get something to eat!"
"That doesn't sound half bad."

　Looking up at my new friend, I smiled, and took her hand.

To be continued.