Author's note: So I'm kind of taking the American custom of doing school dances and applying it to the setting of Japan. I don't know if they do school dances or not. I wasn't exactly striving for cultural accuracy. I prefer using the Japanese names for the characters, so for those who aren't familiar: Hikari = Kari, Takeru = T.K., Taichi = Tai, Yamato = Matt, Tailmon = Gatomon. Also, the italicized portion symbolizes a flashback. And of course, I do not own any of these characters... Except for Yumiko, the one I made up.

Chapter 1 Heartbreak

Hikari groaned as her alarm went off for a fifth time. With her head still buried firmly in her pillow, she shot out her left arm and violently jabbed at her cell phone until the obnoxious beeping ceased. As she had done four times already that morning, she rolled over and stared at the ceiling, knowing full well that she needed to get herself out of bed.

As she had also done four times already that morning, she rolled back over and buried herself in her pillow and sheets, which had become a prison cell more than anything the past two days.

She knew she shouldn't be acting like this; she was furious at herself for acting like this. But her body simply wouldn't allow her to do anything but lie in bed. Against her better judgment, she closed her eyes and reenacted the same scene she had played in her mind a thousand times since Wednesday evening.

. . . . .

She nervously checked her watch for the fifth time; quarter past eight, like they had agreed. She nervously wrapped her knuckles on the bridge that went over the stream that ran through the middle of Shinjuku Park.

"Hikari?" came a voice from behind her. She hadn't been expecting her boyfriend to approach from the same side she did, and therefore shrieked while quickly turning around.

"Takeru," she exhaled, knowing it was him but still relieved to see it wasn't a stranger. "Totally thought you'd come from the other side."

"I had to run some errands on your side of town." He gave that warm smile Hikari was usually so delighted to see before briskly closing the gap between them and clasping her left hand with his right. "So," he said after a brief moment of silence, "it sounded like you had something urgent to talk about."

Hikari found herself wildly trying to piece her words together in her head. Just that morning she had been rehearsing her lines to Tailmon, but now with Takeru standing in front of her holding her hand, everything she had memorized flew out of her brain like paper in the wind.

"I… I wouldn't say that it's urgent." It was merely meant to stall for time so she could recollect her thoughts.

Takeru gave a slight frown in response. "Come on, Hikari. I think I've known you long enough to tell when something's urgent from your tone."

"I think we should break up!" She hadn't meant to blurt it out to the world, but it was the only way to dislodge the words from her throat. It was like removing a Band-Aid; she had to just rip it off in one motion. "I-I'm sorry, Takeru, I didn't mean to, I just…." Again the words fell into a great chasm and she found herself searching for the right things to say.

"It's okay," Takeru said warmly, gripping her hand tighter. She was happy to see he hadn't stormed off in anger or sadness. "You don't need to feel nervous; just take a deep breath."

Hikari lightly nodded her head and followed his instruction, taking in three deep breaths before finally feeling comfortable for the first time since arriving at the park. She turned back to Takeru, now with a clear mind, ready to give him the explanation he deserved.

"I started thinking about it a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure what made me start thinking about it, but the thought crept into my head nonetheless. Takeru, you've been my friend since I was eight years old. For seven years, you've been my closest friend, and nothing in the world will ever change that." She paused briefly to organize the next part of her speech.

"Everyone was expecting it when we announced we were dating eight months ago. After all the adventures we had been through, and all the time we'd spent together. How could there possibly be anyone else out there for me? And of course everyone in our group was telling us how it was always meant to be, and how we were the perfect couple."

"The same things they were saying about my brother and Sora," Takeru chimed in, starting to piece together what Hikari was saying.

"Exactly," Hikari exclaimed, happy that Takeru was following along, since she wouldn't blame him if he wasn't. "And then that ended a couple months ago. It's like, you know how it feels when we're together? Did that feeling ever change when we started dating?"

Takeru gave a slight smile in response. Not a smile of happiness, but one that signified he understood the message. "No, I can't say it ever did."

Hikari gave a slight nod in agreement. "It didn't change for me, either." She paused again because not even she knew exactly what she wanted to say next. "And I'm pretty sure that's not right. I can't really explain it, but I feel like being with someone you love should feel different than being with your childhood best friend."

And then it happened. The tears she was trying so hard to choke back came pouring out, first in sprinkles, and then in a constant stream. "I'm sorry! At this point it just sounds like I'm making excuses."

Her sudden outburst was quickly subdued, however, as she found herself enveloped by Takeru's embrace. "Calm down," he gently whispered. "Stop blaming yourself." She stared at him dumbfounded; he had every reason in the world to be upset at her and yet he was trying to soothe her.

"You're not spouting nonsense," Takeru said, once Hikari's tears had mostly stopped flowing. "I understand what you're saying because, well honestly, I've felt it too." He backed away from her until he was arm's length away, and took a deep breath before continuing. "I also started contemplating that something in our relationship didn't quite feel right. But every time that thought snuck into my head, I pushed it aside cause I didn't want to admit that maybe it just wasn't meant to be."

"But why not?" she cried out, furiously wiping away the returning tears. "You've been my best friend for seven years. You know me better than anyone. I don't understand why something doesn't feel right."

"No matter what your brain thinks, Hikari, it can't tell your heart how to feel. Whatever it is that we feel is missing, it's a feeling that comes from within that I don't think either of us can really explain."

Hikari finally finished wiping away the last of her tears as she attempted to fully grasp what Takeru was saying. "I guess you're right… thanks," she said, smiling as she leaned in to give him a hug. Before she got too comfortable, however, she remembered that there was one final hurdle to get over.

"By the way," she spoke timidly, "I'm sorry about the rotten timing."

For the first time that evening, Takeru truly looked perplexed. "Rotten timing?"

"You know, with the Valentine's Day dance this weekend," she said, still feeling awkward about having to bring up the predicament. "I just… I was afraid if I didn't get this out now, I was never really going to have a chance to say it before things got out of hand. Unfortunately that entailed telling you three days before the dance."

Takeru let out what a sort of nervous chuckle. "Gosh, this conversation made me completely forget about that." He took a couple steps back and looked down at her. "I guess now it'd be a bit awkward to go together as friends."

"Kinda what I was thinking… Besides, that girl Yumiko in the back of our math class is always talking about you. You'd make her dreams come true if you asked her to the dance."

He met her with a curious glance. "You sure you're okay with that? What about you?"

She responded with a playful push to the shoulder. "Don't worry about me; I'll find someone to go with."

A genuine smile appeared on Takeru's face, the first time that happened to either person since the conversation began. "Good, cause I'm gonna give you hell if I show up to that dance with Yumiko and you're not there."

Now it was Hikari's turn to have a genuine smile on her face. "Oh, already confident she's gonna say 'yes,' are you?"

"Hey, you're the one who said she's crazy about me. I just assumed it was a done deal."

The pair of Digidestined laughed for what felt like years; they needed it after what they had just put themselves through. They embraced once more, looked each other in the eyes, and kissed each other briefly for the last time. "Just remember," Hikari said, after pulling her lips away, "this doesn't change anything. You're still my best friend… and you always will be."

"Forever," Takeru responded, as he stuck out his pinky. Hikari intertwined her pinky with his as they sealed their pact of friendship.

. . . . .

Even though she knew in her heart it was the right thing to do, Hikari was still reeling from the breakup. If her best friend of seven years wasn't the right match for her, who out there in the world was? And what exactly was the special feeling that her relationship with Takeru was missing? How would she know it when that feeling actually hit her? These were the questions that had been driving her mad the past two days.

Her attention quickly turned to the door when she heard three hard knocks. "Yeah?" she croaked, her voice coming out much weaker than she expected.

"Gosh, you sound awful," came the voice of her older brother, Taichi. "I've got some hot soup for you. Can I come in?"

Hikari nodded in response to avoid having to speak again, but then realized that there was no way her brother could see her physical gesture. "Yeah, sure," she merely groaned.

The door swung open slowly and she was greeted by her brother's face, which she hadn't seen in two days. "Well, it's good to know you're at least not dead," he said wryly, taking a seat at the chair placed a couple feet away from her bed.

"Hard to tell sometimes, actually." Hikari's Digimon, Tailmon, hopped up on to the bed and laid down next to her partner. "She moves so little I have to check every now and then just to make sure she's breathing."

Taichi couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm surprised you let her get away with it."

"My coercing can only go so far." She meowed, stretched her legs, spun in a circle and reclaimed her position next to Hikari. "I've never dealt with her when she's this stubborn."

Taichi scratched his head nervously, worried about how Tailmon described his sister's mood. "That bad, huh? Well, why don't we settle this the old-fashioned way: by talking about it?"

Hikari groaned in response. She had a feeling this was the ultimate goal of her brother.

"Come on, Hikari, you can't stay cooped up in this bed forever. I know it stings, but you're gonna have to move on with life at some point. Takeru hasn't been missing school and staying in bed for two days."

Some life finally sprang back into Hikari as she quickly turned and looked up at her brother in shock. She hadn't mentioned to anyone what had occurred two nights ago; she had convinced her parents that she was simply ill.

"Come on, sis, don't insult me like that," he chuckled. "I'm your brother; it's my job to know these things. And even if Yamato hadn't told me what happened, I still would've figured it out."

Hikari was now sitting up straight and stretching her arms in an attempt to get life back into them. "How so?" she asked curiously.

"I know what heartache feels like, sis," he said, tousling her hair in a loving manner. "And I know how someone acts in response to it."

Hikari nodded her head in agreement as she thought back to how devastated Taichi was when he first found out Yamato and Sora were dating. "Guess it was foolish of me to try and hide it from you."

"Damn right, it was," he chuckled, standing up.

"It's just… I'm mad at myself for not being happy. How could I not be happy with Takeru? We were practically meant for each other." She paused, thinking Taichi was going to chime in, but continued when he remained silent. "But I just couldn't shake that nagging feeling in my heart. That feeling that we were meant to be best friends for life… but not lovers. And eventually that feeling just took over."

Taichi sat back down in the chair so he could look his sister in the eyes. "So? You trusted your heart, Hikari. That's nothing to be ashamed of. And I'm not gonna pretend like I'm some expert on love just because I got a girlfriend three weeks ago. But you will know when you find that someone out there for you. It may be someone you have everything in common with. It may be someone you have nothing in common with. But you'll know it's the right person when you're with them. You just gotta have hope."

For the first time since the breakup, Hikari allowed a smile to make its way on to her visage. "Well, you're no Shakespeare, but you still know how to cheer me up. You'll always be the best at that." She leaned forward and gave him a loving kiss on the cheek.

"Ugh, gross," he joked, wiping furiously at his face. He left the bowl of soup on her night stand and headed for the door, delighted to hear her laughing behind him. "Oh, one last thing," he said, stopping in the doorway. "Takeru has upheld his end of the bargain, and will be at the dance this Saturday with Yumiko. So I suggest you leave the room if you wanna go with someone other than Tailmon."

Hikari turned to look at her Digimon companion, who was smiling in response to the quip from Taichi. She had completely forgotten about her pact with Takeru to show up to the dance with a date.

"Why don't you start your adventure with a run down to the supermarket? We could use some milk, and your legs could use some stretching. I'm certain they're stiffer than boards at this point." And with that, he made a waving gesture with his hand as he disappeared around the corner.

To be continued...

This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but my first draft was pushing 12 pages with plenty of story still left (way too long for a one-shot in my opinion). Couldn't find a good way to cut it down, so I scrapped it, and am now rewriting it with multiple chapters. Unlike my other stories, where my motivation fluctuates, I am very committed to completing this one. I have the blueprint in my head for what I want, now I just have to put it to paper. Anyway, enough babbling... Hope you enjoyed it; please R&R. I heavily encourage criticism, as long as it's constructive. And for those wondering where the hell Daisuke is, patience... he'll enter the story eventually.