"Yaa! Yaa!"
Watching the data around him rapidly dissipating, Chen Ze felt a pang of pain even as he fell into deeper contemplation.
He wasn't some clueless newborn Digimon, so naturally he understood how precious this remaining data was.
Even if these leftover fragments contained only one percent of Agumon's peak data, and were fragmented and incomplete, they were still enough to help a newborn Digimon overcome its initial difficulties.
"Yaa! Yaa!"
As he thought about it, Chen Ze suddenly recalled another "main character" Digimon from his previous life—Gabumon.
Gabumon possessed similar strength and build to Agumon, yet wore a coat of Garurumon's fur, which opened a pathway for evolution into Garurumon.
Given his current YukimiBotamon-like appearance, Chen Ze decided he similarly needed something extra—an item—to escape potentially evolving into Angewomon in the future.
"Yaa! Yaa!"
Before the remaining data could fully vanish, Chen Ze decisively followed his Digimon instincts, reprogramming and restructuring it in a new way.
Bzzt—!
From afar, it looked like YukimiBotamon was surrounded by some strange digital interference; pixelated mosaics surged forth from nowhere.
And in the next instant, these insufficient bits of data, too incomplete to reconstruct a Digital Core, reappeared in a different physical form.
Plop!
It was a white leather strap, a color similar to YukimiBotamon's fur yet noticeably duller and paler.
At first glance, it seemed like Agumon's fur had undergone an uncontrollable mishap during the leather-making process, resulting in this sickly, faded white.
Still, Chen Ze didn't mind. Compared to the completely lost data, the fact that these fragments had survived at all was already an incredible stroke of luck.
"Yaa! Yaa!"
Yet more than the odd coloration, what troubled Chen Ze right now was figuring out how to actually handle this leather strap, considering he currently had neither arms nor legs—just a fluffy round head.
Should he wrap it around himself?
Balance it on his head?
Or perhaps use some mysterious psychic powers to control it?
In this moment, Chen Ze deeply missed having actual limbs. Back when he still had hands and feet, he never would've faced such ridiculous dilemmas.
...
"Mimi, Daddy's heading out now."
After finishing breakfast, Mr. Tachikawa picked up his briefcase, waving at Mimi—who was still eating—under the gentle gaze of his wife.
"Okay, Daddy! Take care!"
Very politely putting down her chopsticks, Mimi waved back at her father, who was already stepping out the door.
Although she was the little princess of the house, Mimi—though occasionally spoiled—was far from being a wild, unruly child.
Nicknames like "little devil" or "little witch" were just affectionate terms Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa used for their daughter.
"See you tonight, dear."
After giving his wife a warm embrace at the door, Mr. Tachikawa finally left the house.
"Be careful on your way."
Smiling softly as she watched her husband leave, Mrs. Tachikawa's expression suddenly changed the moment she turned around.
"Now, Mimi, let's have a little talk about you secretly watching TV last night—"
Seeing her mother's sudden shift in expression, Mimi decisively interrupted, raising her plate and loudly declaring before Mrs. Tachikawa could finish her sentence:
"Mommy, the eggs today were delicious! I want another serving!"
Faced with Mimi's overly earnest expression, Mrs. Tachikawa could only helplessly shake her head with a faint smile.
"Next time, don't stay up that late again."
Watching her mother turn back toward the kitchen, Mimi secretly sighed in relief, looking like someone who had narrowly escaped a disaster.
Though Mimi could easily wrap her father around her little finger, everyone knew that the true authority figure in this house was undoubtedly Mrs. Tachikawa.
"Oh, right! Mimi, come with Mommy to the flower shop today and learn some flower arranging!"
As though she had eyes in the back of her head, Mrs. Tachikawa suddenly spoke again from the kitchen, making Mimi's heart instantly leap back into her throat.
"No way! I don't wanna learn flower arranging!"
Shaking her head vigorously, Mimi firmly rejected her mother's proposed schedule. She'd rather stay home alone than go to the flower shop for more boring lessons.
"You promised Daddy! This summer vacation, I wouldn't have to learn any more random things!"
Mimi hadn't realized her mother's good intentions; she simply disliked the dullness of those classes.
"Sigh… Keisuke spoils you far too much, that's why your personality is becoming so unruly."
Seeing no need to push further, Mrs. Tachikawa merely brought it up casually. She hadn't really expected Mimi would actually accompany her to the shop.
"Fine, fine. If you don't want to go, we'll do our usual three rules again."
"Don't open the door to strangers, don't sneak out alone—"
"And if anything happens…"
Before Mrs. Tachikawa could even finish, Mimi confidently recited the remainder of her mother's rules like a little adult:
"If anything happens, immediately call Daddy or Mommy."
"I'm already grown up. I know how to take care of myself."
Faced with Mimi finishing her sentences, Mrs. Tachikawa walked slowly out from the kitchen, reaching out to gently poke Mimi's forehead as she reminded her once more.
"As long as you know. Mommy will come home around noon to check. If I find out you broke any rules, you'll spend the afternoon helping me in the shop."
Mimi obediently nodded, already well-accustomed to her mother's standard speech.
As an only child whose parents had financial resources far exceeding the average family, Mimi's willfulness was built on privileges most of her peers couldn't imagine.
Of course, part of this stemmed from Mr. Tachikawa's extremely indulgent, hands-off parenting style.
As long as Mimi didn't want to do something, her parents rarely forced her; instead, they mainly encouraged her own interests and hobbies.
"If you get hungry, there's bread and fruit in the fridge."
After confirming that everything was in order, Mrs. Tachikawa didn't linger. She swiftly donned her oversized white coat and headed toward the door.
Unlike her husband, Mrs. Tachikawa wasn't employed by any company. Instead, she'd opened a flower shop purely out of personal interest, her hours depending solely on her own whims.
In a way, Mimi's princess-like temperament and occasional stubbornness were inherited directly from her mother.