Ice Cream Syndrome
Tian sat down on the bench, leaning back and enjoying the warm summer breeze. Behind her, invisible though she was, Tian could sense Renamon’s presence, sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, deep in meditation.
It was a rarity to be able to sit back and relax and not have to deal with anything unpleasant, whether it be Digimon attacks, lost kids, or Akira and Seita’s routine spats. There was only one other thing that would make the moment perfect…
“Here you go.”
Tian looked up to see Ryou hand her a large waffle cone topped with ice cream. She took the cone from him, smiling gratefully. “Thanks.”
Ryou nodded. “No problem.”
“How did you know I liked mint chocolate chip?” Tian asked, as Ryou sat down next to her on the bench, holding his own ice cream cone.
Ryou suddenly turned red. “I… uh… asked around,” he murmured.
Probably asked Akira, Tian thought, and giggled. “More like, how did you ask without bringing an inquisition down on you?” She immediately looked to the left and the right.
“What are you doing?” Ryou asked, confused.
“Looking for anyone spying on us,” Tian said.
“There’s no need to worry,” Renamon’s voice spoke out of the blue, as she remained invisible. “There’s no one around but us.”
Tian sighed in relief. “Good.” She turned her attention to the ice cream cone in her hand and licked the top scoop. She closed her eyes, savoring the cold mint and the sweet chocolate chips. “Mmm…”
Ryou stared at her thoughtfully. “You look like you’re really enjoying that,” he said, “It almost makes me wish I was the ice cream…”
Tian looked up sharply. “What?”
“Uh… I mean…” Ryou suddenly stammered, “Sorry… that came out completely wrong.”
Tian laughed a little. “Okay. But yes, it does taste delicious.”
They spent a quiet moment just sitting and enjoying their ice cream, until Ryou spoke up again.
“Not much of a first date, is it?” he said, “Ice cream at the park.”
Tian shook her head. “It’s wonderful! Anything involving ice cream is a good memory.” She licked the ice cream again and took a small bite of the cone.
“What was your first good ice cream memory?” Ryou asked, as Tian looked up at him questioningly. “Just curious.”
Tian was silent for a moment, thinking. “Hmm… It was when I first came to Japan. We had a really hard time getting out of China, with the civil war and all. My father had just died, and my mother had retreated into herself. We were both hurting, and I was so, so lonely.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryou said softly.
Tian nodded and continued. “On my first day at school, I met Akira. She was the kid sitting next to me, and she never left me alone. She introduced me to the other kids, took me around the neighborhood after school, everything. That afternoon, we went to get ice cream. And sitting there, with a delicious ice cream scoop, with the girl who would be my closest friend – it changed my life.” She laughed. “It might sound totally sappy, but there it is.”
“It’s not sappy at all,” Ryou said, “It’s a good memory.”
“Just like today,” Tian replied, “Ice cream with you… on our first official date!” Her face reddened, and she smiled shyly.
Ryou returned the smile and squeezed her hand.
Notes:
One of the few things I regret when I wrote the main story was that I didn’t get a chance to develop Tian and Ryou’s relationship very much. But after completing the main story, I’ve given myself an opportunity to write more about this pair in side stories! The title of this scene is from the song “Ice Cream Syndrome” by Sukima Switch.