Hot springs?

"Mimi, Tai, what are you doing?" Seeing that everything was over, Zhou Zhu stepped out from the side with Candlemon in his arms.

"Huh? Zhou Zhu?"

Seeing that Zhou Zhu was all right lifted Tai's spirits considerably.

"Zhou Zhu, come over here! Monzaemon, sorry for the trouble!" Unlike the other children, Mimi was quite fond of Zhou Zhu.

"All right, Love Serenade!"

Seeing how familiar Mimi was with this boy who had suddenly appeared, Monzaemon readily used his special move.

"Huh? Is... is this Monzaemon's special move?"

What was this inexplicable feeling of joy? He clearly had nothing to be happy about, yet he felt so much more at ease.

Lying in the heart, Zhou Zhu felt as though all the exhaustion and tension from his nearly year-long stay in the Digital World had become insignificant in that instant.

The next day~

Everyone said goodbye to Monzaemon and resumed their original plan to head toward the highest point on File Island.

With Zhou Zhu joining them, Tai also explained their original plan to him in detail again.

Although Zhou Zhu knew File Island was an island, he chose not to say anything, unwilling to interfere with the plot and ruin Candlemon's chances of digivolving.

"It's so cold!"

"Yeah, we're not even that far from Toy Town. How can the temperature be so different?"

As they kept moving, the air around them grew colder and colder.

That was no problem for Zhou Zhu, though. After all, he had Candlemon in his arms.

"Zhou Zhu, aren't you tired of carrying Candlemon all the time? How about I help you?"

Watching Zhou Zhu act as though nothing was wrong, Mimi, who had been hunching her shoulders and shivering, suddenly came up with a little scheme.

"Hmm? I am a little tired, actually. Sorry for the trouble, Mimi." As an adult, how could Zhou Zhu not see what Mimi was up to? But seeing how cold she was, he didn't mind letting her warm up. After all, she was wearing summer clothes.

Unlike her, he was wearing autumn clothes. They had originally been adult-sized, but even after he altered them, they still kept him reasonably warm.

"Zhou Zhu, how could you do that? Mimi's a girl! Besides, even if Candlemon doesn't have legs, he should still be able to walk on his own, right?" Seeing Zhou Zhu hand Candlemon straight into Mimi's arms without the slightest hesitation, Sora, unaware of the reason, immediately started guilt-tripping him.

"I-it's fine. Zhou Zhu's helped me so much, so it's only right that I help him too." Though she said that, the look in Zhou Zhu's eyes made Mimi feel as if he had already seen right through her little scheme.

"Hmph, Mimi, why are you defending someone like him?" Seeing how spineless Mimi was left Sora utterly speechless.

"Sora, give it a rest. I don't think there's anything wrong with this." Looking at Candlemon in Mimi's arms, Tai seemed to have figured something out. But rather than Mimi, he wanted Candlemon to help T.K., the youngest of them.

Remembering Zhou Zhu's relationship with Matt, however, Tai promptly chose to keep his mouth shut.

"Uh, is it because Candlemon can keep Mimi warm? Zhou Zhu, could you lend me Candlemon for a bit later?" Watching the color gradually return to Mimi's face, Izzy seemed to realize something and turned straight to Zhou Zhu with his suggestion.

"Huh? So that's why? You guys are so sneaky! Mimi, you've gone bad!" Only after hearing Izzy say that did Joe finally catch on.

"That's got nothing to do with me. Candlemon's with Mimi now, so you'll have to ask her." Faced with everyone's expectant gazes, Zhou Zhu passed the responsibility straight to Mimi. Her slightly willful streak was the best way to turn them down at a time like this.

"Th-then give me a little longer. We can all take turns." With all her friends staring so hungrily, Mimi couldn't bring herself to refuse, but she couldn't bear to let go of Candlemon either.

"Hmph, who needs his Candlemon? It's only a little cold." Watching everyone flock around Candlemon, Matt turned away with a disgruntled look.

Little did he know that his behavior left his younger brother, T.K., at a complete loss.

I'm already freezing to death, and just when there's finally a Candlemon to keep me warm, my own brother goes and does this...

"That's just how Matt is. Don't take it too personally, Zhou Zhu. You too, Mimi." Looking at Matt's stubborn, sour face and his disregard for his little brother, Tai truly didn't know what to say.

T.K.'s shivering this badly, and you haven't even noticed!

Seeing T.K. tremble, Tai couldn't help worrying about his little sister Kari, who was back home with a cold and fever.

"Huh? What's that smell?"

Just then, the food-loving Agumon seemed to catch a scent.

"Huh? There really is a smell coming from somewhere!" Biyomon and the others seemed to smell it too.

"It's that way! There's steam over there!" Sharp-eyed Izzy spotted hot steam rising in the distance.

"What could it be?"

"Is it food?"

"Probably not. There's nobody here."

"It's probably a hot spring!"

"A hot spring? Great, we can take a soak!"

The children and Digimon ran in that direction, all chattering at once.

Bubble, bubble, bubble!

"How could... this hot spring... be boiling?!" Tai, who arrived first, was completely dismayed by the sight before him.

"Can we really soak in this?"

Looking at the bubbling, boiling spring, Tentomon timidly voiced his doubts.

"Of course not..." Izzy looked embarrassed too.

"It's so hot we can't possibly bathe in it."

Mimi stared fixedly at the hot spring, her disappointment written all over her face.

"But it's really warm here."

Palmon didn't dwell on it. Whatever the case, it was much better than the freezing snow and ice they had just left behind.

"Whatever. At least we won't be cold now."

Feeling the warmth all around him, Matt chimed in from the side.

"Ah, now isn't the time to worry about that! What are we going to do about food? There's nothing in this lousy place..." Unlike his carefree companions, Joe seemed rather anxious.

"Look!"

Just then, T.K. pointed off to the side.

"Huh? What's that? No way! How could something like that be here?" Following T.K.'s finger, Joe saw something that left him utterly stunned.

There, all alone in the mountain wilderness, stood a refrigerator...

"What? Huh? Talk about lucky!"

Hearing the commotion, Tai came over too. The moment he spotted the refrigerator in the distance, his eyes lit up.

"This is unbelievable. How could there possibly be a refrigerator here...?"

Joe simply couldn't fathom why a refrigerator would be sitting out in such a wilderness.