Girl Talk
(The Illustrious Crackpot)
It took a lot to upset Hikari. She was such a passive, patient, gentle person that getting under her skin usually required an act of unspeakable evil.
Well, what she was presently enduring wasn't exactly evil, but it was getting dangerously close.
Aside from the rare circumstance of spending one-on-one time with Miyako, the afternoon had started out deceptively simple. The girls had dropped their backpacks in Hikari's room and begun chatting—ordinary topics, like teachers and homework assignments, with the occasional foray into popular TV shows and the doings of their mutual friends in the Digital World. Tailmon and Poromon had been amusing themselves all the while playing "chicken", playfully circling each other and lunging or dodging at unexpected moments, each trying to catch the other off guard.
Then it happened.
Hikari hadn't even finished her sentence about the new Photography Club mentor when Miyako suddenly leaned in close to her, a sly look on the older girl's face that instantly made Hikari's heart plummet into her stomach.
"Soooooo, Hikari-chan...how's it going with Takeru-kun?"
"He seems well," Hikari replied tentatively, hoping against all reason that the conversation wasn't heading in the direction it seemed.
Hikari liked Miyako well enough. They weren't just comrades-in-arms, they were friends.
But there was a reason Hikari rarely spent any time alone with her.
"Oh, you know what I mean." Miyako drawled, her grin stretching to the corners of her face. She leaned in even closer to Hikari, who almost fell over backwards in her attempt to regain her personal space. "You two are dating, aren't you?"
The two Digimon had halted their game and were watching the proceedings with concern. "Please be polite, Miyako-san," admonished Poromon, but the defeated tone already in his voice told Hikari that he would be no help.
Hikari struggled to keep a stern face against Miyako's ever-more-devilish smile. "As I've told you and the others many times, Takeru-kun and I aren't going out," she insisted. "We're just friends."
Miyako wiggled her eyebrows as Poromon sighed in the background. "Very close friends."
"Yes." Hikari's gaze was unwavering, though her lip was wobbling from the pressure. "We've known each other for a long time, and we've been through a lot. We're very close."
The girls remained locked in place, eye contact unbroken, noses barely an inch apart. Then Miyako reared back so suddenly that Hikari finally did fall onto her back out of surprise. "Oh, come on, Hikari-chaaaaaaaan!" Miyako squealed with teasing delight as Tailmon scrambled over to help her partner up. "Have you even seen the way you two look at each other? Well, I guess not, because you're looking at him at the time, but it's SO OBVIOUS! You always look out for each other, you always agree with each other, and both of you definitely spend more time with each other than either of you does with any of us other Chosen Children! Just admit that you two are in loooooooooove!"
"Please, Miyako-chan, I care about Takeru-kun, but not in that way!" Hikari was nearly wailing at this point. "He's more like a brother to m—"
Suddenly and unexpectedly, as Miyako watched in astonishment, Hikari's eyes widened and her face turned a bright red. "I—" she fumbled, choking on her words, "I—no, Takeru-kun's not—b-brother—"
Perceiving a victory, Miyako came back in full force, nearly tackling Hikari in her enthusiasm. "So you do, don't you?" she gushed, ignoring the frozen look of horror on her friend's face. "I knew it, I knew it, I kneeeeeeew—"
"Miyako-san?"
Both girls jumped at the new voice. Taichi was standing in the doorway, looking a bit confused. "Is everything all right?" he asked.
"Just fine, Taichi-sempai!" Miyako trilled, letting go of Hikari's shoulders as inconspicuously as possible. Hikari remained motionless, cheeks still glowing.
Taichi blinked, opened his mouth, thought better of it, and started again. "Miyako-san, your mother just called. She said you were supposed to help out at the convenience store this afternoon?"
"Oh no, I forgot!" Miyako scrambled to her feet, hopping awkwardly on one foot as she retrieved her backpack from the floor and slung it over her shoulders. In a bounding leap she was at the door, partly elbowing Taichi aside, Poromon fluttering in her wake.
Spinning back on her heel to face the inside of the room, Miyako struck a dramatic pose, jabbing a finger accusingly in Hikari's direction. "Yagami Hikari-chan!" she declared loudly, though still with a smile on her face. "This conversation isn't over!"
And with a giggle, she was gone.
Taichi lingered in the doorway a moment. "Are you sure everything's okay?" he asked quietly, concern in his voice. "I know Miyako-san has good intentions, but...if you need me to scold her or anything—"
"N-no, it's all right, oniichan," Hikari responded quickly, her voice cracking a little. She avoided his gaze, and turned to root through her backpack as if looking for something, though what she really sought was an excuse to turn her back to him. "It's nothing."
He hesitated, but soon enough there was a click as the door shut behind him. With a groan, Hikari dropped the backpack and sat heavily back on the floor.
"If Hikari were to fall in love with someone," Tailmon began suddenly, her face carefully impassive despite the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth, "it would be someone courageous and caring, who would protect her at all costs, wouldn't it?"
Hikari remained silent, but that was enough.
"And he'd probably be a boy with spiky brown hair who liked soccer and wore goggles, right? And have the Digimental of Courage."
The smirk finally managed to escape, splitting Tailmon's face from ear to ear.
"I guess Daisuke has more of a chance than he thought."
Hikari merely grimaced, dropping her still-burning face into her hands. "Can we please just pretend this never happened?"