Chapter Text
Ugh… Makino Rumiko was not having a good day.
The last thing she remembered, she’d been getting ready for the morning when this… man-sized squid-like thing floated outside her window, breaking it with a tentacle so it could tap her on the chest - and knock her out.
At least she was off work today… she had to go out of the country for work, after all. Such was the life of a model. It did impact Ruki, but. Her daughter understood, surely.
As she stood up, Rumiko couldn’t help but blink. Was it her, or did the room seem a bit… smaller than before?
And her body felt…different. Barring the shift in her measurements, she was standing on her tiptoes naturally, and something was attached to her rear end.
Turning around to look, she couldn’t help but blink. Was… that a tail?
Reaching back to feel, the model froze upon seeing the three-fingered, gloved paws that had replaced her hand. Bringing both hands up to look, she gaped as she realized that yes, both hands were now paws.
Whirling about in a frantic look for the mirror, Rumiko gawked upon seeing her very much inhuman reflection - that of a bipedal yellow fox with a white stomach, pointed ears, and three feather-like “tufts” at each shoulder. The only remaining feature she had was her hairstyle! What the heck happened here!? What did that squid-thing do to her with that Beautiful Wish?
Before she could think about what happened (or the odd mental emphasis) any more, her ears twitched as she heard footsteps. Eyes darting to the clock, the now-fox paled - Ruki was home from school by now.
“D-don’t come in, honey! Mommy’s busy!”
Some murmuring outside made the mother sigh. Well, it wasn’t like the two of them saw eye to eye; she was probably just happy she didn’t have to put on a dress (why didn’t she like them, anyway? She looked so cute in-)
Thoughts froze as her bedroom door creaked open, a jolt of tension rushing through Rumiko as she heard her daughter enter the room. She wasn’t even decent, even with all this…fur…and Ruki didn’t need to see her like this! Turning to look, her eyes fell upon her daughter, little whispers of “was she changed too” quashed as Rumiko saw her still-human daughter wearing her broken-heart t-shirt, spiky hairdo in place (she didn’t want to call it a pineapple, that would be rude). “I...Sorry about this, I don’t know what-”
“Trying to impersonate my mother? Cute.”
“…wha?” The new fox blinked, trying to understand where Ruki was coming from.
“Not sure how you’re doing it, but next time? Maybe try imitating someone I care about more. Like my grandma.” The words were like daggers of ice flung into Rukino’s heart - but it made sense if she thought about it. She was away so much; maybe Ruki didn’t understand the way Rumiko thought she did -
“Diamond Storm!”
That was the only warning she had before several small projectiles peppered her back, causing her to stumble. Where did they-
Looking back brought an utter shock. Another fox like herself was in the rafters, nearly identical except for the lack of any sort of hairdo. But more annoyingly, the newcomer wasn’t even trying to be decent - although the sheer shock of being attacked drowned out any annoyance from a lack of decency. “Ruki, this one seems…oddly incompetent. She didn’t even pick up on me.”
“Hmph. Well, data’s data.” What? The elder Makino turned to look at her daughter, who was…actually conversing with the other fox. “And once you get theirs, I can actually have some peace.”
“…Very well.” The fox leapt down, her paws lighting what seemed to be foxfire as she descended. Wait, was she-
“Power Paw!”
Nope! Quickly rolling to the side, Rukino dodged the other fox’s attack, using a nearby dresser to pull herself up (odd, how good she felt despite being peppered in the back with sharp…things. She didn’t even feel any blood!).
“W-what are you doing?!”
“I thought it’d be obvious. We need to beat you to get your data.” Ruki’s words sent a chill down her mother’s spine. “That’s how it works. Digimon absorb each other’s data to grow stronger.” Digimon? Like that card game? She’d not really been following it, but knew her daughter liked it… since when was it real?
Since when was it so…dangerous?
“Swift Strike!”
And this was apparently not the time to philosophize! Rushing to her feet, the ex-human barreled past her daughter, rushing towards the back door and away from those glowing claws. As the door grew closer, a sense of relief began to wash over her. She was almost there; she could taste freedom -
“Kohenkyo.”
Only for that sensation to be ripped away in a whirlwind of leaves, which dispersed to reveal her in the bedroom again and her daughter in front of her. She…she couldn’t even run away…
Despair gripped Rumiko’s heart as she slumped down, watching Ruki step aside to let the other fox in. Watching her assailant advance, Rumiko’s life flashed before her eyes. School, career, marriage, family, loss…
And she found the worst part was how her daughter was looking at her right now - not as a mother, but a simple obstacle in her way.
Was this truly how it was going to end? Closing her eyes, she prepared for the worst -
“STOP.”
Only for her own mother’s voice to cut through like a knife, carrying a power and authority that caused her to relax. She was safe…for real this time…
———
“STOP.”
Both Renamon jolted when they heard the new voice, one tensing in shock and the other slumping in relief.
Ruki would have voiced her annoyance at the battle halting if she hadn’t been stuck numb herself. Her grandmother rarely got mad, so when she was? It was far more impactful.
Seeing a Kyubimon coming from the direction her grandmother’s voice came from lessened the blow, but she took a moment to think. The odds of two Digimon impersonating her family were lower than just one. Not to mention the opposing Renamon’s complete… ineptitude in combat. The odds of these actually being her family were going up, no matter how utterly ridiculous it sounded. People didn’t just… turn into Digimon! Flesh couldn’t turn into data! And if it was, then…
Then…
L-later, worry about that later! More importantly. “Renamon, why’d you stop?”
“…apologies, Ruki. Back home, if a village elder spoke…you listened.” …village elder? Renamon was in a village? Something to ask about.
“…Ruki. Would you explain why your friend was trying to commit matricide… with your assistance?”
A gulp, instinctual concern over making Grandma upset overriding logic. “I…I mean…”
Renamon to the rescue. “She doesn’t seem to believe this is her mother, ma’am.” She even gave a small bow - definitely had to ask questions later. “In her defense, a human turning into a digimon is simply…preposterous.”
“Well…I’m afraid it’s happened. To both of us.” Of course. Of course. Using her respect for her grandmother, the one family member she had respect for… grrr. She’d play along for now. Somewhat.
…even if they were fake, she didn’t want to lie too much to Granny, ok? It’d be best to play along somewhat (even if just to ignore certain impossibilities).
“Fine. I’ll go with it.”
A huff. “But I’m going to find out what happened to my actual family.”
She ignored the worried looks on the new vulpines’ muzzles, instead wondering why she was concerned about her mother… before just grumbling. It was her mom, dangit, and as much as she disliked her, it’d be wrong to leave her in some Digimon’s clutches.
———
A week or so later, Rumiko sighed from her branch before she hopped to the next tree in a blur. Renamon - her daughter’s apparent Digimon partner, as well as the name of her current species (that was…confusing, to say the least) had roped the ex-human into training. Something about being so bad at combat it was an embarrassment to her?
She was fine with being bad at fighting; she was a model, not a warrior! But the natural-born fox insisted… at least some of these things weren’t directly combat-related. Such as the flash step and stealth… annoyingly, the flash step seemed to leave behind anything she was wearing other than her new gloves, forcing the new Renamon to go au natural for the time being. At least it was something that her teacher seemed to feel she was doing well at.
As it stood, they were currently tailing Ruki as she was coming home from school. It was weird knowing her daughter had been followed like this, and weirder to realize that Ruki knew it was happening. Why, her daughter’s biggest problem was that Rumiko was getting involved herself! Even if Renamon was confident in their ability to stay hidden, Ruki still thought her mom wasn’t, well…
Her.
Renamon had come around to the idea somewhat, but the resultant discussions had revealed information Rumiko would rather not have known. Apparently, in the “Digital World” that Digimon hailed from, it was kill or be killed, a constant race to become ever stronger. Renamon herself had left not to escape the cycle, but to partner with her daughter due to her skills at the game - which, going off one spar between her and Seiko, actually did apply.
(Her daughter was quite the tactician, apparently… her father would’ve been so proud.)
…She missed her husband. After the divorce, she’d thrown herself into her work to drown the pain, and… this transformation had forced her to see how her daughter had thrown herself into the Digimon game in turn, striving to be the strongest - and now that she was partnered with Renamon, to be the strongest Tamer and Digimon pair. No matter the cost.
Did Ruki know what she was doing? That she was taking lives? Renamon was… fine with it, even if Seiko was helping her question the Darwinian mentality she’d grown up with. Progress was sadly stymied by hearing how some Digimon they’d defeated were in positions to harm humans, alongside something Renamon was reluctant to discuss (even with Ruki, apparently).
A sigh escaped Rumiko’s muzzle. Why did this whole thing have to be so complicated? Modeling was so much simpler…
…but staying there was hurting her daughter, who felt like her mother was barely there. If she ever went back to normal, she’d need to sort something out with her agency-
A flicker of white caught her attention. Stopping the tree-leaping in her tracks, the trainee turned to look at the street, where Ruki was walking alone on the sidewalk.
“Rumiko, we’re not done yet.”
“I know that, Rena, but I saw something. And if it’s what I think it is…”
“…what do you mean?” Renamon’s gaze drifted to the street, looking for whatever her trainee spotted...and the fox tensed when she found her target. “That’s a Digimon. How did I not sense it?”
Following her trainer’s gaze, Rumiko stiffened as she recognized the squid that transformed her to begin with, its gaze locked on Ruki. Oh no, she was NOT letting this happen.
As the white Digimon reeled a tentacle back, Rumiko acted, flashing out with a vigor and ease she’d never felt before. “GET DOWN!”
———
“GET DOWN!”
Ruki gasped as her fake-mom flash-stepped in and shoved her over, words of complaint stuck in her throat as she watched a white tentacle whizz by above them.
“…I’m surprised. Wouldn’t you want her to understand your situation?” Tracing the voice (and the tentacle) back to its source, the Tamer drew a sharp breath. Floating there was a Digimon she hadn’t seen before, some kind of…inverted squid with two tentacles and a bulbous, ovoid head.
As the Renamon got off of her, her actual partner preparing to launch into battle from behind the squid, Ruki got out her D-Arc to analyze the new Digimon. “GrantUkkomon. Champion level. In exchange for some of its power to manipulate others, its wish-granting power has grown stronger. His special move, Beautiful Wish, allows the granting of wishes as he sees fit.”
Wish-granting? A rogue thought bubbled to the surface as she went for her deck - could this be why Digimon were claiming to be her family? Why there were - no, that was impossible! It had to be!
“No! I don’t care about that, I just want her to stay safe! Human!” …wow, her “mom” was getting riled up. It seemed…familiar?
“Even after she tried to kill you? Have her partner consume you simply for power?”
The fox in front of her tensed - that meeting…wasn’t something they talked about much these days. How did this thing know-
“Diamond Storm!” Renamon to the rescue again. GrantUkkomon was peppered by the sharp blades, wincing as it fell. “Get away from my Tamer…”
The squid rose, turning to glare at Renamon. Good, it gave her a chance to get her cards-
“Liar’s Gaze.”
Renamon screamed as soon as she locked eyes with her foe, a cry of shock escaping Ruki as she made to go over - only to be held back by “mom”. The pain didn’t last, however, as Renamon stood slowly, grunting as GrantUkkomon drifted out of the way.
Ignoring the imposter’s (familiar) pleas to stay put, Ruki squirmed out of its grasp and ran towards her partner.
“Renamon! You-“
Cut her off as she tried to grab her Tamer, eyes glowing a deep red. Ruki ducked out of the way, rolling under her partner as she tried to work out what happened.. What in the-
‘Wait, the Analyzer said that GrantUkkomon lost some of its powers of manipulation…’ the realization struck as she stood back up, ready to run. ‘Apparently what’s left is still pretty strong! Dangit, I need to call the others…’ reaching for her phone, she made to run-
Only to halt as she felt something sharp in her pocket. Gently removing it, she gasped - her phone was broken. She wasn’t sure when - either when she got knocked down or when she rolled to safety- but she had no way to contact the others.
“…why do you resist? This is for your own good.”
There’s squid-face again. Turning to face him and her assumedly controlled partner, Ruki scowled. “What did you do to Renamon…”
“Nothing much. I simply convinced her of the reality of the situation for the time being.”
“So you brainwashed her.”
“…such a strong word… but unfortunately too accurate. She’ll understand more once I’m done.” Renamon charged again, claws out as Ruki made to run. But she couldn’t outrun her partner at this distance, couldn’t outrun a Digimon; why was she-
“NO!”
Turning around at the sound of her mother’s voice, she saw the imposter and her partner caught in a grapple. There was no way to get across this fast without a flash step; the imposter hadn’t done that before- how did she-
“You will not. Lay a hand. On. My. Daughter!!!” With a cry, the imposter pushed back, paws sparking with fire as she pushed her partner off, Ruki just staring in shock.
Why would an imposter go this far? She couldn’t fight well; she knew that from watching her try to train… but she willingly threw herself in the path of a Digimon that almost deleted her once!
The shock, thankfully, didn’t keep her from seeing the tentacle whizzing towards her. Thankfully, it was easy enough to avoid - just get moving again! Yeesh, this guy had bad aim…
But her attention was on the foxfight - specifically the fox yelling at GrantUkkomon while holding Renamon back. “I don’t know who or what you are, or how you did this to me.
But I’m not letting you get my daughter, you hear me!” Something was in the air, a tense energy. “I couldn’t care less if she doesn’t know who I am. She is my child, and I need to make up for being such a crummy parent!”
…could…could she actually be…
“So stay the ever-loving heck away from her!”
Ruki fell to the ground in shock, mouth gaping as she watched the imposter - no, her mother - push her partner off and to the ground. Before the Tamer could process anything else, the bushes nearby rustled before a red glow came through the leaves.
A familiar white head poked out, the red gem in Culumon’s forehead shining brighter and brighter as the small ‘mon gazed at the scene, bathing the area in light -
“Renamon SHINKA!!!”
…that wasn’t her partner’s voice. That…there was no way…
———
(Red pixels of light fly from Calumon’s forehead gem, swirling around Rumiko as she kneels.)
What was happening? What did she just say?
(The pixels of light form an egg around her, fur and fabric pulling away to reveal a wireframe underneath.)
What was this…this power swelling inside her? These odd sensations of growth?
(The wireframe grows taller and more womanly, three tails fanning out from behind it.)
Is it because of her decision to protect Ruki? At the risk of her own life?
(Yellow pixels fill the wireframe in, fluffing out into fur.)
…She’d take it. If it meant keeping that… thing from her daughter.
(The wireframe of an elegant kimono forms and fills itself in.)
If it meant getting her daughter’s friend out of that monster’s grasp.
(Long, flowing hair cascades down her back as the egg pulses.)
She’d been outside of her daughter’s life enough. Even if they didn’t see eye-to-eye…
(The egg shatters, exposing the evolved fox to the world.)
She’d take anything on to keep Ruki safe.
———
“Sashikomon!”
As the red light faded, only one Renamon was left standing. The other vulpine was slightly taller with long, flowing hair, garbed in a traditional red kimono with three tails waving in the wind.
Ruki’s jaw hung there as she tried to understand what just happened. Her mom just…digivoved? Did Culumon do that? Why? How?
Those thoughts vanished as Renamon leapt back, readying another Diamond Storm. In response, the newly-evolved ‘Mon just raised a paw.
“Silken Shield!”
Out of nowhere, rolls of fabric unravelled, creating a barrier in front of Sashikomon that deflected all the Diamond Storm projectiles. The Tamer just stared… Mom was a total mess at fighting! Did the digivolution do something?
…speaking of, what was a “Sashikomon” anyway? There was a hint of familiarity, but…
Pulling up her Arc, she ran a quick scan. “Sashikomon. Champion level. A masterful seamstress who would rather sew than fight, she’s nevertheless quite adept at defense. Her special move, Silken Shield, creates a reinforced fabric barrier that's far tougher than it looks.”
…oh. “Sashiko” was a type of stitching, wasn’t it… A dry laugh. Makes sense that her mom ended up with an evolution related to fashion. Only reason she knows the thing…
Without warning, another Silken Shield erupted around her, this one dome-like in shape. Given the noise of something colliding with it, Ruki was soon very thankful for the barrier. She just wished she could see…
———
Rumiko jumped aside from Renamon’s strike. She wasn’t sure why, but this body, while still vulpine - still inhuman - felt…better than her previous one. Almost like it was drawn out from inside her?
“Silken Bind!” With the flick of a tail, more reams of fabric spooled forth from nowhere, wrapping around the smaller (wait, she’d grown?) fox and holding her firmly in place.
Those moves she struggled with as a Renamon felt so…natural in this form. Different moves, yes, but… it was like this was a thing she’d done many times before…
Best not to think about it too much. Don’t want to jinx it.
Come to think of it, did she have anything in terms of offense? That could be a problem.
“Fox Tail Inferno!”
9 ghost lights bombarded the bound fox, Rumiko turning to the side to see her mother loping over. “Mom, how did you-”
“I heard the commotion; you’re not that far from home.” A sharp, barking laugh. “Now, I take it Renamon’s not doing this willingly?”
A nod. “Yeah, that squid who changed us can apparently brainwash too. Although…” A pause. “Why hasn’t he tried it with me?” She turned to look at GrantUkkomon, who was busy trying to hammer into her remaining Silken Shield with his tentacles. “…Ruki’s device said that they’d lost some of their manipulation ability for greater wish-granting…come to think of it, why’d he change us? I definitely didn’t wish for this, but-”
Riiiip
Both vulpine Champions paused, turning to look at the more experienced Rookie starting to tear from her bindings. “… The Silken Bind isn’t permanent. Good to know.”
“That means your shield probably isn’t either…but if the squid is the one controlling Renamon, then-”
A smirk played across the kimono-wearer’s muzzle. “Good idea…I’ll line it up; you take the hit?”
“Sure thing.” Seiko tensed, taking a ready position as Rumiko reached out a hand before grabbing the air.
“Silken Bind!”
The fabric reams once again lashed out, catching the squid-like Champion in its grip. Watching how the fabric tensed, Rumiko tilted her head in thought. “…Huh, he’s kinda squishy… Be careful, Mom, we don’t want to hurt him too much! He might be our best chance to get back to normal!”
“Don’t worry, he won’t be hurt too much…” An expression of fear flashed across GrantUkkomon’s face as the quadruped leapt into the air, the squid blinking rapidly as the grandmother spun around, foxfire surrounding her to create a blue fireball - from which a dragon shape soon emerged. “Dragon Wheel!”
The dragon launched forwards, shooting towards GrantUkkomon and scorching him, the silks holding him burning away as visible burns rested there.
The Silken Shield defending Ruki fell away, the fabric fading as she watched the scene, Renamon rushing over - not to Ruki or GrantUkkomon, but to the other foxes to give the wish-granter a death glare.
“…You tried to use me to have your way with Ruki… I will-HEY!” Renamon looked over at the bipedal Champ, who was giving her a bit of a stink eye after elbowing her in the side.
“Maybe you shouldn’t use that kind of language?”
“What else would you want me to use?!”
“Oh goodness, you never had the Talk, did you…”
“What kind of talk?”
“Beautiful Wish.”
Vmm!
“He’s gone!”
“WHAT?!”
“WHAT?!”
“WHAT?!”
All three foxes gawked at Ruki’s declaration, gazes snapping over to where the squid was… or rather, had been. He’d just vanished without a trace!
“What in the - where’d he go?!” Renamon dashed over, rushing over to investigate for traces of the Digimon.
“He said Beautiful Wish right before he vanished…” Seiko gave her daughter a solemn look. “And he said that right before he changed us.”
Rumiko nodded. “…Ruki, honey, did he happen to do anything else before vanishing?”
Ruki blinked, then nodded, a small smirk on her face. “Yeah, he tapped himself in the chest with a tentacle… and given how eager he was to touch me, that move must work on contact.”
Another nod from the recently evolved ‘mon. “Well, that…certainly helps. But it seems that ability is very flexible, since he used it to escape it and to change us…”
Her daughter’s mood suddenly turned dour, tears starting to form. “…I…r-right… Mom, I-”
One flash step later and Rumiko was with Ruki, hugging her tightly. “…Renamon told us what it was like in her home. How you’d been…fighting until now. I may not approve of everything you did, but…” The hug tightened. “I can forgive you for not realizing it was me. If I’d thought someone had kidnapped you…”
A dry chuckle from Seiko. “Well, I know I’d be wanting them dead. Rumiko might settle for some broken bones.”
The Sashikomon’s cheeks went flush red. “Moooom!”
“Snrk…”
“Eh?” A blink as she looked back at her daughter, who was…chuckling. “…I…I love you, Mom.”
And she wrapped her arms around and…
…how long had it been since she’d had a hug from Ruki? An actual hug?
At that moment, as she caressed her daughter, Rumiko decided it had been too long. Far too long.
“…I love you too, Ruki. Even if we don’t always see eye-to-eye.”
Daughter and mother just stood there, hugging, ignoring the white puffball hopping onto Seiko’s back. Just enjoying each other-
Grrrrumble
Until the noise of a stomach rumbling caused the pair to pull apart. “Mom? Was that-”
“Y-yeah…I don’t know why, but I’m suddenly very hungry…” As if the words were a cue, the Sashikomon glowed, shrinking down - past Renamon’s height, down to a small vulpine orb.
“…Eh?!” Rumiko whirled around, trying to work out what happened to her - all that power from earlier was gone, leaving an empty stomach in its place (more like a bottomless pit, not that she wanted to admit it…). And she felt…young! What was going-
“HEY!”
She’d been scooped up, so she naturally tried to squirm free from the gloved paws holding her.
“Apologies, Ms. Rumiko, but… I-I haven’t seen a Viximon in ages. It’s only natural that I’d want to protect my younger…well, normally younger kin.”
The small orb-fox gave a death glare as Ruki sighed. “…Just like in the original series, huh? She’ll need to work up to not being knocked back to In-Training… Calumon, you’re going to be helping with practice.”
“Yay!” Tilting her…gaze (since her body was mostly head), Rumiko blinked at the small white…critter on her mother’s back. And why was it so cute?
“…c-can we eat first?” A sweatdrop ran down the Viximon’s back (…She was pretty sure that’s what she was, going off those same sensations that told her she was a Renamon or Sashikomon when she heard the names).
“Of course. In-Trainings can be bottomless pits…” As Renamon flash-stepped away, Rumiko in tow, the small fox felt twin pangs of embarrassment - from knowing she probably was about to throw her diet to the wind…
And hearing her daughter laugh behind them. ‘Well,’ she thought as she was carried along, a small smile forming despite herself, ‘at least Ruki’s happy.’