It was a rainy day in the Digital World.

All the DigiDestined have decided to stay home except TK and Kari. Those two couldn't be stopped by any rain when there are Digimon in need of help. Especially at times when the Digital World has suffered such damage from Digimon Emperor's evil actions.

They chose to split up in two teams and search for those in need of help. Patamon went with Gatomon, and TK and Kari went together.

They walked through Digital World with the rain pouring down on their heads for at least half an hour. Ground was all wet and slippery with numerous small pools of water, which the kids had to maneuver around.

"You know what, I'm sick of this", Kari said.

Then she stopped and took off her shoes. TK smiled as she went ahead barefoot right through all the pools of water, carrying her shoes in her hand. They continued walking. The boy still had to maneuver, though, which seemed to irritate Kari, who had to slow down because of him.

"Come on, TK, take yours off too, it'll be so much faster!" she said.

"Well, I don't know if I should," the boy hesitated. He wasn't used to such things and was a little shy over it.

"What are you so embarrassed of?" Kari asked. "Don't be."

"Easy for you to say," TK replied. "It's only natural for a girl to go barefoot, but I'm a boy."

"Drop it, Takeru," she decided to call him by his full first name. "We have known each other for so long and you're still shy?"

The boy sighed. There was nothing left to do.

"Okay, I guess I'll do it," he said and removed his shoes while Kari watched.

"So... how does it feel?" asked the girl, when the boy stood on the ground with his bare feet, holding his shoes in his hand.

"Kinda cold, to be honest... and wet." Takeru replied.

"You'll get used to it soon, don't worry." Kari grabbed his free hand and dragged him along right into another pool of water.

Poor TK shivered slightly, when his feet sank into the cold water. He definitely wasn't used to such things. Come to think of it, it was probably his first time doing such kind of stuff. And it didn't feel very pleasant at first.

But Kari didn't stop for quite a while, and the more they walked, the warmer TK's feet felt. Even the rain started to feel warmer. TK realised he stopped shivering some time ago without even noticing.

"I told you, didn't I?" Kari smiled at him. "It's a healthy thing to do, even improves your cold endurance. Also feels really good, doesn't it?"

"Ah... yes... I guess so..." TK was still shy, but he could not deny it. All the different surfaces they walked on -ground, grass, rocks, water- did feel really good indeed.

"So... do you have such walks often?" TK asked.

"Well, I do it every once in a while... together with Davis." Kari giggled.

TK tried really hard not to show the feelings her words gave him, but his face gave it all away.

Kari giggled again, "It was a joke, I'm just teasing you."

TK sighed.

"You know..." Kari continued, "This is even sort of romantic..."

"Huh?!"

"A boy and a girl... having a walk together... under the rain... while barefoot... Holding hands..."

It was just now when TK realised they were really holding hands this whole time.

They both blushed and said nothing, just continued walking, having occasional patches of wet grass ticke their bare feet.

TK's heart was pounding. He always knew he had feelings towards Hikari, but this situation was the closest to romantic they've ever got before.

TK dropped his shoes on the ground, so did Kari, and they walked a few more steps right into another pool of water, which now felt very warm. They turned to each other and took both of each other's hands.

"Kari, I..." TK tried to say something.

"Don't say anything, silly".

And then Kari tiptoed and kissed the boy right in the lips. TK's heart was thumping even harder now. The kiss lasted only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. And TK wanted it to last even longer, but all good things come to an end, and so did this kiss.

For a couple of seconds they just stood there in silence, looking into each other's eyes. And then they realised that the rain have stopped and the sunlight was able to shine through clouds.

TK opened his mouth to say something, but Kari put her finger over his lips.

"Don't say anything, silly." she said again.

They picked up their shoes and continued their way forward.

"I hope it'll start raining soon..." TK said, grabbing her hand again.

"Silly," Kari smiled, "It doesn't have to be raining for us to have a barefoot walk."