Finding Strength Within | Digimon Savers/Data Squad |

Neon Hanamura. It's a name that Tohru had been hearing a lot of for the past month. All she knew about him was that he'd become a hit pop sensation overnight one day. His songs were being downloaded and listened to across the country. His songs had thousands of views on video sharing websites and his pictures were popping up in newspapers everywhere. At school, Tohru would hear almost every female student talking about him. Squealing over how handsome he was and how he's an amazing singer. So Tohru used one of the school lab computers to look him up, maybe listen to one of his songs.

She didn't understand what all the hype was about. Sure he was...good looking and was a good singer, but...he just didn't appeal to her. He wasn't the type of guy she'd go for. Her type was...well...

"I'm ready to dig in!" Masaru exclaimed with much excitement as he split his chopsticks. His mouth watering as he stared at the delicious looking bowl of ramen right in front of him. The street fighter began to wolf down the slippery noodles, while Tohru watched him eagerly enjoy his meal.

She split her own chopsticks and quietly slurped up her own ramen noodles. The broth warmed her body immediately, the chicken flavor on her taste buds. The brunette glanced over at Masaru, who was solely focused on his own bowl of ramen. He seemed to notice and stopped mid-slurp to meet her gaze. Some noodles hanging from his lips as he blinked.

"U-Um...e-enjoying your ramen?" She stuttered, a blush on her cheeks. Tohru realized he must have caught her staring at him. Masaru finished slurping up his noodles and grinned at her.

"Yup! They're great! How about yours?" He asked before shoveling more noodles down his throat. Tohru did the same, smiling with delight.

"Mine's good too. T-Thanks for treating me." She avoided looking at him so he wouldn't see her blushing. Masaru kept grinning and ruffled her head before going back to eating.

"No problem, shorty." His affectionate nickname for her never ceased to make her smile uncontrollably. She fixed her beanie and glanced up at the tv, and of course Neon was being talked about in the news. While her eyes were glued to the tv, Masaru's attention was stolen by a girl wearing a hat running past the place they were eating in. She was being pursued by a bunch of guys with cameras. He shrugged, thinking nothing of it before going back to his ramen. He too ended up setting his forest green eyes on the tv screen.

What both teenagers saw shocked them enough they spit out their ramen. Their magenta haired coworker was walking out of a building next to Neon Hanamura, appearing as though the two were...on a date?

"Y-Yoshino?!" The pair exclaimed in utter surprise, mouths agape. Just what the heck was Yoshino doing with this Neon guy?? Were they dating?! Tohru and Masaru slowly looked at each other, both wearing shocked expressions. They quickly finished their bowls up and rushed over to DATS, more than a little bit curious to know why she was on TV.

***

Exhausted from all the running she just did, Yoshino walked into the surveillance room completely and utterly annoyed. When she decided to take on this mission, she had no clue what she was really getting herself into. The paparazzi were absolutely relentless in their pursuit to get a photo of her for their tabloids. Didn't they have better things to do than harass celebrities and anyone involved with them?! As much as she hated being chased around by a dozen cameramen, she had to endure it. The success of this mission was riding on her.

She would make sure she was the one to successfully complete it. Yoshino refused to let Masaru and the others do all the fighting while she remained on the sidelines. She wouldn't feel completely useless this time. That's what she kept repeating to herself as a way to motivate her. Plus, this mission was personal for her, so she felt she was the one who should do it.