I'm not going to lie, I was nervous to publish this story, because I'm a little worried about upsetting people. If you do have problems with it, at least read the note at the end so I can try to explain myself.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy!

Davis stared over the water, feeling more drained than he ever thought would be possible.

He had played in more soccer games than he could count. He had travelled between two worlds so many times, the transitions had become routine. There had been enough life and death situations to last him a thousand lifetimes.

But nothing had prepared Davis for the emotional turmoil that had left him feeling like an empty shell.

He knew that in some ways, he only had himself to blame for how he felt. He had pressed his friend for answers that could only cause pain. She had tried to be as gentle as possible, but Davis wanted the truth. And the truth ended up punching him right where he was most sensitive.

The teenager sighed as he relived the events from earlier in the day for the dozenth time.

Davis knocked on the door rapidly, his nerves getting the better of him. He wanted to appear calm and collected, but with each second that passed he became more anxious and jittery.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. However instead his nerves being soothed, he suddenly had an urge to vomit. He gazed over at the stairwell, wondering if he had time to run to the garbage can he had seen on his way up.

Before he could move a muscle though, the door opened.

"Hey Davis, what's up?"

Davis wasn't sure if he felt relief or not as he looked at the boy in front of him. He had always admired Tai, and would do anything to please him. He was always a little afraid to get on Tai's bad side however. Davis had seen that go poorly for others. And while Tai answering the door gave him more time to prepare mentally, Davis didn't take comfort in the knowledge that Tai would be nearby for what was about to happen.

"Hi Tai," the boy said, his voice cracking slightly, "Is uh, is Kari here?"

Davis thought he was going to die from embarrassment as a giant smirk spread across Tai's face.

Okay, definitely wish Tai wasn't here now. He thought to himself.

"Yeah she's here. One sec." Tai turned around and yelled, "KARI! Davis wants to talk!"

Tai gave Davis a quick wink as he retreated into his apartment. The maroon haired boy had a brief feeling of serenity before a new figure approached him from the depths of the apartment.

Davis felt his heart flutter as he gazed at the girl approaching him. Her curvy body, her sweet smile, and those kind eyes that could light up the night sky.

She was beautiful.

"Hi Davis!" Kari greeted happily as she reached the threshold Davis was at.

"Hey Kari," he answered, somewhat softly.

"How are you?"

"I'm alright. I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Absolutely," the girl smiled, "What's on your mind?"

"I- uh…" Davis mumbled. He looked nervously at the hallway behind Kari.

"Do you want me to close the door?" the girl asked, noticing Davis' gaze. He nodded his head and Kari obliged her friend, gently shutting the door.

"So, what's going on?" She asked again after a quiet moment.

"Well, uh, I was wondering if you had any plans this weekend," the boy explained.

"Hmm, no not that I can think of," Kari told him after a moment, scratching her chin.

"Good," Davis smiled, "Cause I was wondering if you would wanna have dinner."

Kari bit her lip nervously. "Like, with the rest of the group?"

"No. Just with me." Davis answered. "Like a date."

The girl's head dropped slightly and she looked at the ground awkwardly. Her right hand crossed her body and grabbed her elbow while she shuffled her feet.

"Davis I… no. I don't think we should."

The boy grimaced slightly, but his gaze didn't falter. He had been expecting a negative response from the girl standing before him, and was ready with his retort.

"Can I ask why?"

Kari continued to avoid looking at Davis and didn't answer.

"I mean, we're great friends. We get along well. We're both DigiDestined, which is a connection most people don't get to experience. I know you think I'm relatively attractive, because Yolei has loose lips," Davis smiled.

Kari still remained silent as Davis took a breath.

"Plus now… Well, seeing as TK is dating Mika… I figured you might be more open to the idea of, well, me."

Kari finally raised her head again to meet Davis' eyes. She gave him a look of sadness and pity. It was an expression the boy had never seen on her face before. And it stung him. Because there was so much sincerity in it that Davis knew his initial reasoning had failed to move her heart.

"Davis," Kari whispered gently, "It's not- This isn't about- TK has nothing to do with this."

She took a deep breath and answered a question that Davis had always wanted to ask her.

"TK's not the reason I don't want to be with you."

Davis felt his heart sink, but his eyes didn't falter. He was determined to continue to look into the beautiful brown orbs before him.

"Really?" He asked, trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice. "It's not because of TK?"

"It's not Davis I swear. Even if I did have feelings for TK, it wouldn't be because of him."

Davis openly scoffed at this, throwing up his arms in disbelief.

"Okay Kari, don't even TRY to tell me you don't have feelings for TK! I mean, everyone sees that there's SOMETHING between you two! It's so obvious that-"

The boy stopped suddenly, closing his eyes and biting his tongue. He was losing sight of why he had come. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Then why? Tell me straight. Why won't you date me?"

"No Davis. You don't really want an answer to that."

"Yes I do! If it's not TK, then tell my why!"

Kari stared at Davis, clearly trying to decide if she should tell him the truth. After a few moments, she sighed and relented.

"Honestly Davis, it's stuff like this. You're a sweet guy, but you can be so forceful and demanding at times. You often don't recognise when you should back off and calm down. You leap without looking, and then so often, you wind up in a precarious position because of it."

Davis gaped in shock, as Kari continued in an uneven but determined voice.

"You always want to be the centre of attention, which is fine, but that's just not for me. And it often makes me wonder if you even really do have deep feelings for me, or just like me for my looks, or because you want to be close me like Tai is. Plus, in so many ways you remind me of Tai! Which I find just way too weird. I'd feel like I was dating my own brother."

"And even though you have grown up a lot, you're still too jealous of a person for me. You instantly disliked TK when you met him, just because he knew me. Any time a guy gets close to me, you STILL over react and almost treat me as though I'm your property, not someone you care for! And even today, you act as though TK is the reason I don't have feelings for you. It's always more about someone else. And I just don't like that."

"You're such a sweetheart Davis, and you mean a great deal to me. But… I am just not attracted to you. I don't think I ever really could be. I'm sorry."

The two friends stared at one another in complete silence. Davis had no idea how to handle everything that had just been thrown at him. After almost five minutes of silence, he finally spoke.

"Oh. Well okay," He croaked out. "Thanks. Now I know."

Kari's mouth trembled, "Davis…"

"Bye Kari." He sighed, turning and walking away.

"I did not handle that well." Davis muttered to himself.

He kicked the railing slightly before turning away. Jamming his hands in his pockets, he began to walk away, though with no destination in mind.

The boy had always known that Kari had never taken his feelings very seriously. And if he was honest with himself, he couldn't blame her. He had always been quite vocal about his feelings for the girl. And since he started to express his feelings at such a young age, it was easy to assume it was just a silly, childhood crush.

But it was serious, and Davis thought that once Kari truly understood that, then he would finally have a chance at the girl of his dreams. He never thought that he would end up having his worst fears about himself confirmed instead.

"I shouldn't have pushed her for an answer so much," he spat. Seeing a bench nearby, Davis walked over to it and collapsed.

He stuck his palms in his eyes and scratched his forehead, as though his hairline was where his pain was being stored. After a few minutes of scratching and getting nowhere, Davis just let his hands fall down and his head sink down into his chest.

After several minutes of silence, Davis heard footsteps approaching. There were many people in the area, but there were something about these steps that stood out to him. He knew they were coming towards him.

Sure enough, a shadow soon entered his lowered gaze. After a brief moment of silence, the person that had approached him spoke.

"I never thought I'd see you look like this."

Davis gave the ground a slight smirk, shaking his head. A pair of legs passed through his field of vision as the new arrival sat down next to him.

"You're not exactly the person I wanted to see right now," Davis sighed after a moment.

"I know."

"I mean, no offense, but that was something rough. And you just make it hurt a lot more TK."

Davis raised his head to look at his friend.

The blonde was giving Davis a sad look of condolence. Raising his arm, he clasped the depressed boy's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I know. And I wasn't trying to find you. I just did."

Davis gave his friend a small smile and nodded his head. They were silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"How's she doing?"

"She's incredibly upset," TK told him sadly. "She was crying the whole time. She hates that she's hurt you like this. She's worried that you're going to hate her now."

Davis bit his lip and looked away in guilt. "Of course I don't hate her. I could never hate Kari. She's too important of a friend to me. I just wish I meant more to her."

"You do mean a lot to her," TK assured him. "If you didn't she wouldn't have spent the last two hours crying on my shoulder. She wouldn't have asked numerous times if she should change her answer, just to make you happy. She wouldn't be worried about seeing you at school once summer break is over."

"Did she really ask you if she should change her mind?" Davis asked in shock.

"Yes. And I told her she shouldn't. Because you'd know it wouldn't be genuine, and that would hurt you even more."

Davis opened his mouth to respond, but his voice got caught in his throat. He surprised himself by not being angry at TK for how he advised Kari.

"Thanks." The maroon haired boy eventually said. "You're right. I'd be happy for a second, but then I'd think about what a date like that would actually mean. It would tear me up even worse than this."

"I really did hate saying it," TK said in a guilty tone. "I felt like I was trying to sabotage my friend's potential happiness."

"We both know that's not what you were doing," Davis replied, trying to comfort TK. "You're trying to do what's best for everyone."

TK smiled and nodded, patting Davis' back. The two friends were quiet for a few minutes, Davis not having anything to say at the moment, and TK not knowing what to say.

As Davis looked around he saw a couple, probably five years older than he and TK, enjoying a romantic moment. It made his heart ache and his stomach churn simultaneously. He heaved another sigh.

"I just wish I knew what to do. How to handle this."

TK surveyed his friend, trying to decide something. After a several seconds of thought, he made up his mind and spoke.

"I know what you mean Davis. It's tough."

Davis chuckled slightly and shook his head. "No offense TB, but you don't know what I'm going through."

"Yes I do" TK said firmly.

Davis gave TK a quizzical look and was met with a determined gaze.

"I asked Kari out."

Davis' eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"About a month ago," TK continued. "I confessed my feelings for her, and she turned me down."

Davis continued to stare. "But, you guys have been acting like you always do! Best friends and all that time together! And now you're with Mika!"

"We act like that because that's the only way we can act around one another," TK admitted. "We don't know any other way. Maybe it's because our friendship has always been so strong. But I don't think we could change if we wanted to."

"As for Mika, she asked me out," TK confided. "About a week after Kari rejected me. I honestly wasn't sure if I should say yes. Even now, my feelings for Kari are stronger than for Mika. But she's helping me move on. I think."

"You think?" Davis asked.

"I don't think anyone ever knows for sure about this sort of thing," TK answered simply.

The two friends looked each other silently for a brief moment before Davis opened his mouth again.

"Did you ask her why?"

TK chuckled darkly, "Oh god no. Way too terrified of the answer. I'm not nearly as brave as you."

"You mean stupid?"

"I mean brave."

Davis looked at his friend thoughtfully before looking straight ahead. He thought about how both he and his friend had been turned down. About how both of them were handling their respective heartbreaks. Then he realised why TK agreed to date Mika, even though he still cared for Kari.

"We've just got to do whatever we can to try and mend our hearts, right? No matter what it is, or how crazy and odd it seems to everyone else."

"Yup," TK nodded.

Davis smiled for a minute, then rose back to his feet, TK joining him. The boy jerked his head towards the nearby shopping district. TK nodded and started walking along with Davis. The friends wrapped an arm around one another's shoulders as they made their way away from the bench.

"You know, I'm supposed to meet Mika at the movies tonight. I could ask her to bring a friend," TK suggested after they had walked a couple hundred metres.

Davis smiled, but shook his head. "Nah, I think tonight I need to be alone. Veg out and try and sort out how I feel."

TK nodded in understanding.

The boys were silent for a few feet before Davis spoke again.

"Maybe tomorrow night though."

TK just laughed.

I've had this idea for a while, and I was really worried it would come across as Davis bashing, and it is NOT supposed to be that.

It's supposed to be me explaining why I'm not a personal fan of Daikari, through a story, while still showing the Davis is an awesome guy.

That was part of the reason why I had Kari reject TK (something I never thought I would do), to try and show I wasn't being biased towards Takari. But also, I thought it would be a great bonding moment for Davis and TK. Plus, at the moment, neither of them get Kari canonically. So unless something changes this in Tri, this could be a more accurate story. :P

Whether you liked it or not, thanks for reading!