Yesterday Has Gone Away
"What should we do for summer?"
"Let's go fishing!"
"Ugh! I hate the smell of fish…"
"R-right. I mean, why don't we go skiing?"
"Yeah! There's a beautiful lake nearby my family's cabin!"
"I don't know how to water ski though…"
"You can learn! It's not so hard."
"I'd rather do actual skiing. In the snow. When it's cold."
"Einstein, it's summer. You can't go skiing."
"So?"
"So you can't go skiing."
"He can go skiing if he wants."
"But it's impossible!"
"Nothing's impossible when you put your mind to it."
"Then let's put our mind into doing something for summer!"
"I don't see why you're making such a big fuss over summer. It comes every year."
"Iori! C'mon! We're trying to do something fun."
"We've done a lot of things that are fun."
"Like what?"
"Well, we crept into school last summer when it was closed, just to go to the Digital World. Might I add we are a part of the Digidestined group? We camped in the Digiworld and made new friends. We were--"
"You're a genius, Iori!"
"Hikari… Ken's a genius, Iori's a kid."
"Hey!"
"Jeez, Daisuke! You're nice!"
"Shut up, TD!"
"Guys, guys, guys! Let Hikari talk."
"Let's go to the Digital World! One last time before…"
"Great idea, Hikari. Better than fishing!"
"It's settled. We're going to the Digital World before we actually do say goodbye."
"Right, Ken. We'll get the whole gang…"
"So we'll all be together. Before Jyou goes into college and has no time for us."
"Oh, Iori, we'll always have time for each other. Including Jyou."
"I've got to get home, my mom fixed her fried chicken tonight and I want some."
"Bye, Takeru. Ask Yamato!"
"Righty-o."
"I should be going, too. Taichi's expecting me home so he can give me the 'so you're entering eighth grade' speech. He's more excited than I am about it."
"I'll walk you home, Kari."
"Okay, TK."
"Pet names! Since when did you give each other pet names!"
"They're not really pet names, Daisuke…"
"Our brothers called us these names and--"
"I'll walk you home, too, Kari!"
"Daisuke, why don't you walk me home instead?"
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Let's go before we see Daisuke fly out the window."
"By Ken, Iori, Daisuke, and Miyako."
Takeru and Hikari exited the Motomiya residence and walked down to the elevator. They whispered to each other quietly, for it was late at night, almost eleven. To adults, that was late; to kids, it was just the beginning. Pressing the main floor button, Takeru slipped his hands in his pockets and rocked from heel to toe. His blond hair was grown out a bit, a little longer than it was when the second mission in the Digital World was passed out. And his eyes were only more cerulean and brighter than ever. His shoulders were broad, like his brothers, and his stance was never perfectly straight; he had a casual lean.
He wore khaki jeans that fell over his shoes; that was also different from when he was beginning in the seventh grade. His white shirt was hidden beneath a dark blue over-shirt and an off-white baseball cap hung off one of his belt loops on his right side. When Hikari didn't say anything, he glanced over to find her scuffing the elevator floor with the tip of her black, closed-toe sandals.
"Is something wrong?" he questioned, still in an accidental whisper.
She jerked her head, her brown hair curling under her chin; she had grown it out a little bit. "Not at all," she smiled brightly, "I'm just looking forward to our little rendezvous with the Digital World."
He raised his eyebrow, looking more like his brother as he tilted his head. "We've been there only what, two weeks ago? You make it seem so distant."
"Because it is, Takeru," she murmured, folding her arms behind her back. The elevator doors opened and they stepped out.
"Why are you taking this to the heart so much?" Takeru opened the main doors and let Hikari through.
She sighed, letting the gentle breeze blow on her bare arms. The girl was wearing a pink tank top with a purple flower border on the bottom. Her blue jeans wrapped itself around her legs then fell onto her feet loosely. "I suppose it's the memories. What happened, what could have happened, and how many of these memories would be lost when we grow old," she finally answered.
Takeru walked along side of his friend and nodded. She didn't notice his nod, but he didn't even notice that she didn't notice.
"But making memories is all a part of life," he tried to sound like he chose his words carefully.
"But they're also there to remember, not to forget."
"How could you forget something so big as the Digital World, Hikari?" He watched her bite her bottom lip. This caused him to chew the inside of his mouth as well.
She looked up at him, "What would have happened if one of us would have died in the Digital World?"
"Why would you think about--"
"Because if the Chosen Children are there to keep that world on track, what would happen if one of them died?"
"W-well…"
"Would they be deleted from the Digiworld and then downloaded again? Or would they be replaced? And what would happen if--"
"Hikari!" Takeru set his hand on her shoulder. "Nothing like that has happened. And I don't think the Chosen Children are… chosen just randomly. I think we were you know, picked because we could survive in the Digiworld. You don't have to worry about that, either, Hikari. With Gatomon on your side and people like me---and your brother, you'll never get hurt."
Hikari faintly smiled. "You're right, Takeru."
"That's the first. I never get anything right."
"Oh jeez!" she huffed, "you insult yourself too much!"
"It's true!" he exclaimed, his voice slightly cracking from talking so much for the past week.
The girl felt around in her pocket before pulling her hand out with her lip-gloss. She fiddled with the lid before applying some to her lips. "This is where we part, Takeru."
"For tonight. I'll be back around… tomorrow."
Hikari smiled. "With Yamato as well. And Miyako, Daisuke, Ken, Iori, Taichi, Koushiro--"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll be back tomorrow, with recruits."
"Funny, Takeru." She turned to look down her street. "Hey, TK?"
"Yeah?" he also turned around.
"U-um," she shoved her strawberry lip-gloss into her pocket and looked down. "Never mind."
"Okay," he shrugged and started to walk again.
She mentally kicked herself, "No wait, I'm sorry."
Takeru reversed in his steps and turned around again. "What is it?"
"I--" she blinked, "I-I forgot."
"Jeez, the way you're acting, I could swear that you're trying to tell me some deep dark secret."
She glared at the ground. "Well I was trying to…"
"Really now?" Takeru smirked, stepping towards his friends with his hands still in his pockets. He leaned towards her and questioned, "Is it about someone you like? Perhaps?"
Hikari blushed madly and raised her hand to slap him. He laughed and shielded his head with his arms. She then tugged hard on his ear, causing him to lean further down.
"Relax! Relax!" Takeru chuckled, "I'm just joshing you."
"I'm in no mood to be teased."
"Well if it's just that time of the--"
"Since when did you become so immature!" she hissed.
"Exactly the same time you became so serious."
Hikari bit her lip and smiled. "You just love to make me feel stupid, don't you?"
Takeru shrugged helplessly, "It's something that entertains me. So what did you want to talk about?"
"Nothing…" she rubbed her arms and turned to walk away.
"Hey, Kari?"
"Now what?" She turned around, ready for a three-foot distance between her and Takeru. Instead, he was a mere two inches away. Her eyes searched for an answer inside of Takeru's eyes, but she came up empty handed as she stood there, dumbfounded. "Takeru?" she whispered, waiting for the reason he called her back.
Takeru blinked several times before stepping back. "Nothing. I forgot."
"Um… right," she let her eyes trail away.
"Goodnight, Hikari," Takeru waved and shifted on his heels. Before she could say her own farewell, he took off in a sprint down the darkened road.
"Um, so long," she kicked a pebble into the street then walked herself home.
"Taichi! Come on already," Hikari shifted from foot to foot. She pounded her fist against the bathroom door, still in her white pajamas with pink angel rabbits. "I have to go, Tai!"
"How bad!" he called from within the bathroom.
"Bad! Taichi! Don't do this to me!" she started to jump within the hallway, pulling on her fingers to keep her mind off of water.
Taichi laughed and turned on the faucet. The sound of running water filled the silence. Then there was a knock on the door.
"TAICHI!" she screamed and hopped her way into the living room. She threw open the door and immediately blushed. "Hi! TK… Yamato…"
"Hi, uh, Kari," Takeru sheepishly looked away.
"Hey, kid, where's Taichi?" Yamato let himself in and his little brother followed.
"He is IN THE BATHROOM!" she increased her volume as she neared the door again. "Come on! Tai! You've been in there since… I woke up!"
Takeru scratched the back of his neck while he watched Hikari shift from sitting on the floor, to leaning against the wall, to jiggling the doorknob, and back to hopping back and forth. He kept watching her and the funny movements she made until Yamato gave a sharp jab to his gut. Coughing to hide his yelp, he looked up at Yamato.
"What?" he asked almost silently.
"It's not polite to stare."
"I wasn't staring!"
"You were nearly drooling!"
"I was not!"
"It could be seen a mile away, your drool that is."
Takeru glared hard at his brother and turned away to hide the light blush. "Why would I be staring at Hikari in her pajamas?"
"Do I need to answer that?" Yamato teased. Finally, the bathroom door opened and Hikari threw her brother out. A few minutes later, the sound of the shower water came from the bathroom.
"Hey, Taichi," Yamato ran his fingers through his hair, "you better watch out, Takeru's checking out your sister--in her pajamas."
Takeru dropped his apple and glared again. "I was not!"
Taichi gave the younger blond a look and raised his eyebrow. Then he turned to Yamato, "Shimmering drool and shining eyes and all that jazz?"
"And heart thumping loudly," he replied.
"I was not staring at Hikari!" Takeru snatched his apple. "I wouldn't do such a thing to a friend."
"I dunno," Taichi scratched his chin, "you've been getting rather chummy with her lately."
"I am not!"
"And you know, puberty hits kind of hard," Yamato added.
"Matt!" he wailed and turned bright red. Both of the older teenagers laughed while he bit into his apple stubbornly. "
"When did Hikari get her white pajamas with blue devil bunnies?" Yamato asked Taichi.
"Uh, blue bunnies? I don't remember blue bunnies…"
"Takeru, do you know what I'm talking about?"
Takeru shifted in his seat, red-faced. "They were pink, okay?"
"Ah! Yes, pink, pink," Yamato inched into the teasing mode again. His voice screamed out 'A-ha! So you were staring!'
"Anyone can tell pink from blue!" Takeru turned away, again biting into the fruit. "Besides, they were angel bunnies. Pink angel bunnies." He stood up and walked to the refrigerator to look at the pictures the two Yagamis drew in their childhood. Before long, the running water stopped and the door opened.
Hikari appeared in the kitchen with a cream-colored towel around herself and chucked a toothbrush at her brother. "That's the THIRD time you 'accidentally' threw my toothbrush in the toilet, Taichi!"
Takeru turned around, expecting to see her fully dressed… He blinked.
"Hikari! This time it was in accident! It was stuck on the toothpaste and I was shaking the tube to get rid of the toothbrush and it just went…" Taichi made a motion with his hands that stood for the toothbrush landing in the toilet.
"That's why you put the toilet seat DOWN after you're done!" she stormed back into the hallway and into her room. Takeru blinked again.
"Since when did Hikari get that green towel, Taichi?" Yamato asked, teasing his brother once again.
Takeru glared at him for the seventeenth time and warned, "Don't start it, Yamato."
"No, really, is that green towel new?" Yamato chuckled.
"It's an off-white kind of color, Yamato!" Takeru threw his apple core at the older blond. "They're pink angel rabbits and an off-white towel!"
"Actually it's cream," Hikari's voice broke in through the 'guy talk'. Yamato and Taichi started to laugh, all Takeru did was look down and blush.
"What'd you guys talk about?" she crossed her arms. She was wearing her blue jeans and a white T-shirt.
"Nothing. Can we go now? We need to pick up Daisuke and Ken." Takeru opened the door. Four pairs of eyes met his gaze.
Hikari smiled brightly, "Hey, they beat us to it. And with Iori and Miyako, too."
Miyako pushed her way in. "Can we go? I mean, Mimi's supposed to meet us there and--"
"Oh! We mustn't forget Mimi!" Koushiro popped into the picture. "But it's okay to forget me!"
"Ugh, relax, Koushiro," Miyako reached into her bag and pulled out a box of brownies. "I didn't forget about your brownies."
"Ooh, brownies," Koushiro gladly took it. "Thanks, Miyako."
"No problem."
"Now that the food exchange is all over, can we get going?" Daisuke asked.
Taichi tossed a sweatshirt to Hikari and nodded. "We can go get Sora and Jyou now."
"Fine! Whatever, let's just get going!" Miyako pulled the group out by a handful. They all crowded into the elevator and talked noisily about their oncoming plans. Just as the doors opened, Sora and Jyou were seen entering the apartment building. Another short introduction scene came through the group and soon, they were on their way---back to the Yagami residence.
"You know, we could have just met someplace else," Koushiro said, slightly impatient from the hopping on elevators all day. "Can we just find a place and go?"
"Fine, use the elevator. No one can see you there."
"Pardon me?" an old woman blinked behind the kids. All of them turned around. "If you want to use the bathroom, there's some over there. There's no need to use the elevator!"
Koushiro blinked, then laughed falsely. "You're right. In fact… why don't we all go to the bathroom?"
"Great idea, Koushiro!" Taichi followed his laugh and the group of teenagers inched their way into the woman's restroom. All… of the kids.
The old woman arranged her purse and mumbled to herself, "Kids these days. They want co-ed everything."
"Hey, how come the girl's bathroom actually has paint?" Taichi blinked. "I mean, our landlord at least put in public bathrooms… but she only painted the girls' bathroom! How--"
"Oh, shut up, Taichi," Sora shook her head.
"Is this what I think it is?" Daisuke pointed to a metal box, hooked to the wall.
Miyako blinked, "No! It's just a quarter machine!"
"…" Daisuke glared.
"Put a quarter in it, Daisuke! You get a prize!" Miyako said.
"Come on!" Koushiro opened his pineapple laptop and waited. "We're trying to have a picnic of fun here."
"In the girls' bathroom?" a girl's voice came from the stall at the far end. Everyone drooped their shoulders and bowed their heads.
"You're right, we should have it in the men's bathroom." Taichi pushed everyone out of the bathroom and back towards the elevator. "My mom should be gone by now. Let's just do it there."
"Then can we get something to eat?" Daisuke held his stomach. "All this walking around made me hungry."
Only a few minutes later, the Digidestined fell through the Yagamis' front door and piled into the living room. Koushiro set the laptop on the coffee table and opened it. He then looked up at the faces of each teenager.
"Anyone need to use the restroom be for we go?" he asked.
"No, but I'm sure Takeru would love to see the blue bunny pajamas again." Yamato gave Takeru a look.
Takeru gave one straight back, except a mean look. "Shut up, Yamato…"
"They were purple rabbits, Yamato," Taichi interrupted.
Hikari and Miyako whispered to each other and giggled.
"For the love of basketball!" Takeru exclaimed, nearly ripping his hair out, "they were pink angel rabbits and it was a white towel! Pink, angel, bunny, white, towel. Just leave me alone!"
"…I thought Hikari said it was cream," Yamato replied.
"Let's just go," he hung his head in defeat.
Daisuke had the last words before the group disappeared: "Hikari has pink bunny pajamas?"
"It's about time!" Mimi's voice was the first to speak when they arrived.
"We had a couple difficulties," Koushiro folded his arms behind his back and looked at Takeru.
"What?" the blond looked back.
There wasn't a reply.
"What!" he said, nearly falling to the ground.
Hikari smiled gently. "Let's just get this picnic started."
Sora agreed and pulled her bag off her shoulders. As the group laid out a soft quilt, the basket, and the radio, their digimon partners arrived on the scene. Mimi and Sora sat beside their stereo and pulled out some of their favorite CDs. Koushiro, Taichi, and Yamato sat amongst the trees, each of them leaning on it in an angle. They shared small talk while Koushiro typed away on his computer. Tentomon and Gabumon had placed themselves on the tree limbs; Agumon decided to sit by Taichi.
Daisuke, Takeru, Iori and Ken were trying to play a game of checkers, but Wormmon and V-mon didn't really get the point of moving the checkers over each other and the game ended with the board turned over. Hikari and Miyako sat with the other two girls and began to talk nonstop. Jyou eventually pulled himself away from his book, long enough to tell Sora to put in his favorite music. He then joined the mediocre group of Taichi, Koushiro, and Yamato.
The children then gathered to sit on the quilt, more or less lay, and talk to each other. Takeru stared at the sky while the others spoke about school, summer, and memories. He watched clouds pass his eyesight and waited for more to come by. But in midst of their little chat, something caught his eye and he squinted. Soon, he sat up and stared into the sky.
"Takeru? What's wrong? See pink angel bunnies?" Yamato asked.
"Drop the rabbit thing. What is that?" Takeru pointed up into the sky and towards a small shimmer.
"It looks like…" Koushiro sat up as well and watched it for a minute or so. "A fireball…"
"In the Digital World?" Hikari shot up and looked down at Gatomon. "Has that ever happened?"
"As far as my Digi-kitty life goes," she answered, "no."
"Maybe it's just a nova, or a super nova." Koushiro fell onto his back again.
Takeru blinked. "Well this 'fireball' looks like it's getting closer, Koushiro."
Jyou nearly jumped to his feet. "He's right…"
"Impossible!" Taichi blurted. "It's just digital!"
"It's not impossible," Ken said, standing up, "the Digital World is like a planet all its own. When there's a planet…"
"There's a galaxy full of stars," Koushiro finished. The gleam began to grow.
"What are we waiting here for!" Daisuke scrambled to his feet. "We've got to get home!"
"But what about the digimon?" Hikari asked, watching as the group was grabbing their belongings. "We can't just leave them here!"
"I hate to spoil your little plan, Hikari," Takeru urged her to look at the sky, "but that thing isn't getting any smaller."
The so-called 'fireball' was becoming more clear to the naked eye. It was a brilliant shade of red and it was growing more intense. Each of the Chosen Children gathered their items and started to run to the nearest television set to get back home. Takeru pulled Hikari along while she pulled Iori and Armadillomon with her.
"Digi-port open!" Miyako yelled, nearing the set. Nothing happened. She fell to the side of it and checked every condition. "Koushiro! It won't work!"
"No time to fix it," Taichi pulled her to her feet, "let's just find another!"
They ran together from that set to another. Only they couldn't find the other one. An annoying sound came buzzing through the air; it was the fireball. Hikari stared at the sky and her eyes grew wide. Her grip on Gatomon tightened and she heard someone yelling behind her.
"Everybody move!" Taichi yelled at the top of his lungs. They scattered like cockroaches exposed from light as the object came closer to the earth.
"Takeru!" Hikari cried as the sound came louder behind her back. She only saw the blue-eyed boy for a second before the noise drowned out her scream. The impact of the fireball sent her flying into the air, she saw Patamon and Takeru only briefly.
"Gatomon!" she yelled and gripped her D-3 while the cloud of dust surrounded her body. She clenched her eyes shut and felt a heavy blow to her head. There wasn't even time to respond.
Takeru forced himself to grab a hold of Patamon, but he failed in every attempt. His body was flung into the debris and he was lost from there. He tried to force himself to stay conscious, but he failed to do that as well.
Taichi and Koushiro were tossed into the air like a baseball, hand in hand. Both of them ended up being flung in a tremendous distance and into the ocean of the Digital World.
Iori clung to the nearest person he could find, it was Yamato. Both were a fair distance away from the impact, but they were still hurled a ways and pushed into the woodlands.
Two others, Daisuke and Ken, were delivered to the other side of their little picnic area. Their digimon had enough time to digivolve and they set them down to safety, very far from the disaster area.
Miyako and Mimi were tossed in the direction of the deserts while Jyou and Sora flew like unconscious birds to the mountains.
Smoke, dirt, and other debris filled the air, smothering the blue sky so it could no longer be seen. Silence echoed itself after everything died down and calmed itself. Several minutes later, Hikari opened her eyes to find herself covered with snow. She shivered and pulled her sweatshirt over her body.
"Taichi!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Gatomon! …Takeru!!!"
Her own voice was the only thing that replied.
::blinks:: Is it really THAT bad sounding? I'm sorry. -_- It's only the beginning, though. And about the whole… 'fireball' thing… It is possible to live through that… Just use your imagination to place the DigiD's a good distance away from it; but not too far away or they would go up and fly like a bird. ::falls over:: I'm sorry. I just had to get to the point where they're all separated and I couldn't think of anything else. Flame me. Go ahead. ^-^ I promise it'll get better. I hope… Please review. …Even though this doesn't satisfy your reader's soul, please review.