DISCLAIMER | I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON ADVENTURE OR 02, NOR DO I OWN THIS FANFICTION. THIS FANFICTION WAS ADOPTED FROM eatenalivebyboredom. SHE OWNS THE ORIGINAL IDEA, PLOT, AND TIMELINE FOR THIS FANFICTION! I DO NOT OWN IT. PERMISSION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME BY THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR TO POST AND CONTINUE WRITING THIS. SHE HAS ALL CREDITS TO THIS STORY.

Some things in this story have been changed for the original idea, with the author's permission, and the English dub names have been changed to their original Japanese versions.

All that being said, please enjoy the re-post of "Bulletproof."

Friday, January 3, 2003. 3:15 p.m. Ice Cream Palace.

Takeru was upset. Everyone knew it. None of them knew why. He just seemed upset. He hadn't muttered a word since the group arrived and claimed the biggest table there—despite the other Chosen's attempts to make him. He hadn't smiled, or even laughed, either—despite Daisuke's many, many tries at getting him to. He stared at the table almost the entire time they were there—only looking up long enough to see what was being said about him. He was constantly checking his phone, texting his mother at least three time in the last ten minutes—even after Yamato told him to put it away. And worst of all, he hadn't touched his bowl of ice cream—so unlike his usual self, normally he would have scarfed the delicious frozen treat down without any hesitation. But this time was different, he hadn't even taken a single bite of it.

This was a celebration; Takeru shouldn't be sad. After all, they had just beaten BeliaVamdemon.

"Takeru, is everything alright?" Yamato's words pulled the younger blond from his trance, causing him to look his brother in the eye. Yamato noted how his usually cheerful cerulean-hued eyes seemed dull and saddened. He noted the frown on his little brother's face. He also noted how he looked back down at his bowl of untouched sweets almost as quickly as he looked up at Yamato.

"Yeah, m'fine..." Takeru's eyes followed the swirls he'd been creating with his spoon in the bowl of frozen treat, flickering up at the group long enough to see them still staring at him before looking back down. "Could you guys quit staring at me? It's kinda creepy."

"Takeru, just tell us what's going on." The said blond's eyes looked up at Yamato pleadingly. It was obvious he didn't want to say it.

Patamon—jumping off his human's bucket hat-covered head and landing on the table next to the bowl of ice cream—decided to speak up for the first time since they had arrived. "You're gonna have to tell them sooner or later Takeru. The sooner, the better."

"Tell us what, Takeru?" Miyako's smile began to fade as she realized how serious Patamon's tone of voice was. Now she was starting to worry.

The bearer of Hope averted his gaze from his digi-friend to his lap as he pulled his phone out, checking it for the hundredth time today. He slowly looked back up his friends, forcing a smile on his face. "Don't worry about it." The fake smile wasn't very believable considering the boy looked back down as he finished speaking.

"Takeru—"

"It's nothing, okay?" he snapped, glaring up at the speaker who, in response, ended up cowering behind Hikari.

Takeru looked back down yet again. "I'm sorry Taichi, I didn't mean to snap." He paused to release the sigh he was unknowingly holding in. "It's just—I—I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"It's okay Takeru, I'm sure you meant no harm." Taichi sent him a reassuring smile, hiding his current thoughts of how scary said blonde can get when he snaps.

Yamato placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, causing the younger boy to look him right in the eye. "Please, just tell us what's wrong." Though both blonds knew he wasn't referring to the whole group; he'd most likely would've said "please, just tell me what's wrong" if there weren't so many Chosen crowded around them.

Takeru opened his mouth to speak, feeling obligated to answer, but no words came out, so he ended up closing it instead as he looked away from Yamato again.

He felt Patamon's tiny paw set itself on his arm, as if the guinea pig-like creature was offering his support to the troubled human. He big blue eyes met Takeru's as the small digimon gave him a reassuring nod.

Takeru released another sigh; he had to do this. He had to tell them before it was too late.

"I-I'm m-move—" He cut himself off and looked back down at his lap. He swallowed, taking in a deep breath before looking back up again. He wanted to tell them. He needed to tell them. But he just couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You're what, Takeru?" Ken questioned, leaning forward as he propped his chin on his hands—not out of boredom; but rather out of interest. The ebony-haired boy was curious to what the blond was trying to say, as was everyone else present.

"Mom got a promotion," Takeru managed to blurt out, his eyes trained on his lap.

"Well that's great!" Yamato offered a warm smile, patting his brother on the back.

The younger Takaishida shook his head, letting his soft blond hair fall in his forehead as it just fell shy from covering his eyes. He couldn't look at them. "S-she got transferred..." His voice trailed off on its own.

Sora raised an eyebrow at his weakened tone. "Where to?"

Takeru buried his head in his hands as his eyes sealed themselves shut. He couldn't even look at them. This was an easy task to perform, but he was making it so hard.

Once again, Patamon's paw was resting on Takeru's arm and Yamato rubbed circles on the younger blond's back.

He could do this!

…

No he couldn't!

He knew he should've just stayed home today.

"It's okay Takeru, just tell us."

It's okay, just tell us...

Just tell us...

Tell us!

Their voices rang in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to say those simple words he needed to say to them.

His eyes sealed shut yet again as he covered his face with his hands. He knew they were starting to water. But he wasn't crying. Nope! He wasn't going to cry in front of them. There was just something in his eye. Yeah! He wasn't going to cry, his eye was just being irritated by something.

"We're moving back to France." His voice finally cracked.

A shock-driven silence fell upon the group of Chosen.

Did they even hear him right?

He was moving to France?

Or at least back to France...

Daisuke swore the world was against him today. One of his best friends was now leaving to go to a foreign country on a completely different continent. That just wasn't fair! And they had just beaten BeliaVamdemon too! Sure, he and Takeru had their disagreements at times, but he wasn't ready to part with him yet. He still had to beat him at a game of basketball. He still had to win Hikari over.

The unsettling silence made matters worse for the blond, he was trying so hard to cry—from the "something in his eye"—but the sound of him sniffling made it very evident that he was fighting that urge to.

He felt like such a crybaby...

Yamato pulled the younger Takaishida into an awkward side hug, offering his reassurance.

"When do you leave?" Jou asked, concerned for his younger friend.

"N-next week." Takeru choked back the tears—from the "something is in eye"—as he looked back down at his lap once again.

"That close, huh?" Miyako said her thoughts aloud. "That barely gives us any time to do anything."

Takeru didn't respond; he knew that if he spoke, he'd only end up losing it and just start crying...

He thought he was acting like a crybaby right now.

He knew he'd come back someday. He always did. So why was he getting so worked up over it?

But it seemed like he couldn't live in Japan for a full year without moving back to France.

Why couldn't he just stay with Yamato and their father? Then he wouldn't have to move, he'd still go to the same school, and he'd still be with his friends.

Who was he kidding? That would never happen...

He'd just have to leave again; he'd just have to leave everything behind and start back over again.

Takeru blink back tears, he wasn't going to win this fight...

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," The younger blond excused himself, standing up and pushing in his chair before walking towards the door for the restroom.

Who knew how long the boy was in there for; ten minutes, maybe twenty. But he didn't seem to be coming back soon.

The Chosen sat in silence until Yamato finally gained their attention by clearing his throat and speaking as he stood up from his seat.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." Not another word was said as they stared at the older blond before he, too, disappeared behind the restroom door.

"Keru?" Yamato slowly closed the door behind him, trying not to make any loud sounds. His eyes scanned over the room before settling on the boy sitting on the dusty floor next to the sink; his knees were pulled to his chest as he rested his forehead against his folded arms. The older blonde slowly stumbled across the presumably empty room and took a seat on the floor next to his brother was he put an arm around him and pulled the boy close to his chest, allowing the last of his tears to soak Yamato's shirt.

Seconds turned to minutes.

Those minutes soon turned to half an hour.

For that half hour, the two boys sat in near silence, only the sound of Takeru's occasional sniffle was heard.

God, how Takeru felt like such a crybaby right about now...

"It's truly hard to believe that after all this, you're moving back to France..." Takeru's eyes found his lap as Yamato trailed off from his statement.

"I know." The younger Takaishida's voice sounded hoarse, it was still adjusting back to normal after the last half hour of crying. "You'd think that we'd get to stay for at least a year before going back this time."

"Apparently not. I mean, you only transferred in towards the beginning of the school year. You didn't even get to finish the second term."

Takeru let out a hoarse laugh, somehow finding humor in not staying in Japan for a full six months before moving back again. "Yeah, and I was just getting used to the schools here. The year levels in France are way different than the Japanese ones."

"At least you'll be in an actual house." Yamato laughed along with his brother. "No more crummy apartment."

"No more crummy apartment," Takeru repeated.

"Unlike me..."

"Unlike you," Takeru mocked Yamato's fake sadness before adding: "It sucks to be you."

"Yeah." The elder sighed. "Welcome to my life."

"Will you quit quoting Canadian bands already?" Takeru laughed once again. Even though the songs Yamato had a habit of quoting were in English, the bands themselves weren't half bad. And after a long and hard effort, the older blond managed to translate most of their lyrics into Japanese (courtesy of Google translate and a few Japanese to English dictionaries). Takeru had to admit, it was fun watching Yamato attempt it and then give up and use Google. After all, Google was a man's best friend.

"What can I say? I'm one of those melodramatic fools." Takeru shot his brother a look as he laughed and spoke again. "What? You said quit quoting Canadian bands, you said nothing about American bands."

"Whatever, they both speak English; last time I checked, that wasn't Japanese."

"When did language become a factor in determining whether the band is decent or not?"

"It isn't, I was just saying." Takeru laughed, for some reason he wasn't that upset anymore. Maybe it was joking about English-speaking bands that brought up the mood, or maybe it was spending a bit of time with Yamato again. Yeah, that was it. They hadn't spent any together since the first time the went to the Digital World (Mainly because after that saga was over, Takeru moved to France.).

Wow, four years, huh?

That's a long time...

"Hey Keru," Yamato spoke up after a long, comfortable moment of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Be sure to tell Grandma and Grandpa I say hi when you go. I don't know when I'll be able to visit you guys."

"So you're going to come and visit?" Hope shined in Takeru's cerulean eyes as the excitement showed in his voice.

The older blond nodded. "I will."

"Do you promise?"

"Of course."

"Do you pinky promise?"

"What are you, twelve?"

Takeru shot him a glare.

"Oh yeah, you are..."

Takeru still glared at him. "You forgot my age?"

"Your birthday's in, like, a month, does it really matter? You'll be thirteen then." Yamato attempted to reason, he only "forgot" his age; in reality, he was only picking on his younger brother.

Takeru huffed in reply, obviously not amused.

Yamato quickly changed the subject, avoiding Takeru's wrath as he stood. "We should probably head back to the table. I'm sure the other's are getting worried or something."

"Yeah, you're right." Takeru too pushed himself off the dusty bathroom tile, dusting the dirt from his jeans. He began his way towards the exit, but Yamato stopped him, grabbing a hold of his wrist. Takeru looked at the older blond questioning as the boy reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled something out. He held it tightly in his hand, before placing it on Takeru's now open palm and closing the younger's hand round it.

"Just so you'll have something to remember me by," Yamato explained.

Takeru slowly reopened his palm and examined the small thing object his brother put there. He looked back up at the older blond. "But, isn't this your luck guitar pick?"

Yamato nodded. "I want you to have it, so if you ever get lonely, you can think of me."

"But I don't have anything to give to you."

"It's alright." Yamato started for the door, pulling Takeru along with him. He smirked and looked down at him. "Your skateboard is still at my apartment."

Takeru stopped enough to glare, but still continued walking with him. "You better not break it." He grumbled, indirectly telling Yamato he could have it.

"You have such little faith in me Keru." Yamato pulled his little brother close to him as the walked back towards the table of digidestined, who just happened to all be in their own individual conversations.

"So," Yamato started as he slid into his claimed chair at the over-sized table, Takeru taking the seat next to him. "What'd we miss?"

"A lot." Mimi laughed as she wanted to explain, but failed to as she continued to laugh some more.

"For starters," Iori began explaining for the incapable bearer of Sincerity. "Daisuke and Miyako decided to have an ice cream eating contest. Which would explain why they're both in the corner complaining about a double brain freeze."

"What? And I missed it?" Takeru laughed, finally about to enjoy himself for the first time since they all arrived.

But even though things seemed fine; from that day on, Takeru just wasn't the same anymore…