Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Sadly for me. Happily for the rest of the world.

For a Piece of Your Heart (alt. For a Pizza Your Heart)

Summary: Takuya spends his summer working in a pizzeria with the other guys. Izumi stops by, and the usual Takuya-induced-chaos ensues as he tries to create a masterpiece to impress her.

A bit of background: Usually, I write Takumi fics where Izumi's the one who isn't really doing anything and Takuya makes pathetic multiple efforts to, well, get the date with her. I'll have you know, this one is no different. Please don't hate me.

Rated:K+ for funny-like dance movement with knife in hand. Don't do that at home or anywhere else, kids.

It's your third week of summer, and what do you do? Your options are to either baby-sit your younger brother, now in middle school, or get a part-time job to stave off the boredom that comes with the heat of June.

You picked the part-time job, right? It's good to know that I'm not alone.

My third week of summer, and I'm already hard at work, suffering a tenth degree burn working in a pizzeria in 80 degree Fahrenheit weather. I shall now describe to you the life of a high school student whose freedom is only but a year away.

Earlier, sometime in May, the twins approached me. To be specific, Kouji, the shady guy who still wears bandanas even though it's been five years and they're clearly out of style, because come on, everyone, goggles are in, and have always been in, am I right, or am I right?

Sorry. Let's get back to the point.

I, Kanbara Takuya, was hard at work setting my younger brother, Shinya, straight after he decided to eat the last pudding cup in the fridge. It was a ferocious fight, and just before I could deliver the final strike, someone rang the doorbell.

That someone was Kouji. He looked serious, the type of serious that is normally reserved only for the most drastic of situations. The type of serious look that you only wear on your face if someone's fallen off the top of a bell tower and crashed through a plethora of tree branches only to fall to an almost untimely paralyzation. I'm sure that's happened before.

"I need help," he told me, coming in without an invitation. "More specifically, Takuya, I need you to lend me your body."

No matter the reason you need help, there's no reason to state it like that, right? Obviously, I'd refuse, right?

"Sure, what's up?" I asked, tossing my controller off the couch so that Kouji could take a seat. If you're curious as to why I didn't refuse, it's because I only listen to every other word Kouji says now if he speaks more than three words. So it sounded more like, "I need help…more. Takuya, you lend your." It makes sense when you think about it. If you think about it.

I just don't.

Shinya began to sulk and whine when I tossed Kouji a bottle of soda. "Wait a minute! There are only two bottles left, right?" He ran towards the fridge, but I shut it after grabbing the last bottle.

"Too bad, pudding thief."

"JERK! I'm eating all your pudding for a month!"

"Then I'll just eat all your pudding," I muttered. I sat down beside Kouji and opened my bottle before telling him, "Anyway, Kouji, chug the soda slower, or you'll choke and –" Go figure, at that moment, the fizz got to him and he coughed up a bit of the drink on the floor and coffee table.

"Sorry," he apologized, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "But this sort of thing will be prevented if you come with me."

"Hah? Where?"

Kouji turned to me with that dead serious look of his. I think he meant to look intimidating, but there was still a bit of soda splashed on his face. Just as I was about to point to the spot and tell him, he grabbed my hand and dragged me off my feet and out of the door.

The next thing I knew, I was standing behind a register and taking orders at the pizzeria.

Today was my third week of summer vacation, and I was once more standing behind the register and taking orders at this same pizzeria.

Let me tell you, if I had somehow ended up here by some other trick of fate, I don't think I would have minded as much.

"Thanks for helping out, Takuya."

I turned to the source of the voice and grinned. "Anytime, Ryuuji!" Ryuuji is the son of the owners of the store, Mr. and Mrs. Hayase. When his father collapsed from exhaustion, Kouji dragged me over to help. Thinking about it now, it made perfect sense. Ryuuji is the captain of the Kendo club at our school, so of course Kouji would want to be on his good side.

But it was an unexpected miracle that happened to swim my way, too. Here, simply by standing in one spot and flaunting my good-looking face, I earned an hourly minimum wage, and got to flirt as I pleased. Kouji will lie to you, and say that there's nothing special about my face, but don't listen to him! I've gotten this place more regulars than they ever had before! And if he tells you that they've always been regular customers, don't listen to him!

"Welcome!" I called out over the conversations of the customers as the door opened.

Kouji, who had been clearing plates up from on of the booths, turned to look at the door and said, "Oh, Izumi! How've you been?"

Everything went blank.

To understand, we'll have to backtrack a bit.

As you all have probably watched and researched my life story thoroughly, I believe that when I mention that Izumi promised me a date when we beat Cherubimon, you know what I'm talking about.

The actual reality is that it never happened. Not the way I envisioned it.

No, a date must be carried out artfully, skillfully! And there can be no extra wheels! But every time any one of us has hung out with Izumi, the rest of us were present as well. Even when the others took pity on me and tried to arrange it so that it would be just the two of us, Izumi canceled.

Fate, I weep at your feet. What have I done to invoke your anger?

Ever since Izumi canceled on me, I've been too afraid to see her again. Because you see, I promised that the next time I saw her, we'd go on the date she promised me.

Now, with that in mind, you'll understand then, why I chose to duck behind the counter, right? Tell me you will, because Kouji tells me he didn't.

The customer whose order I had been taking was incredibly confused. She peered over the counter, craning her head to try to meet my eyes. "Excuse me, what are you doing?"

"Eh? Ah, sorry, some change fell on the floor," I said with an apologetic smile. With my face, who could resist?

"Sir, it's been five minutes since you ducked behind the counter."

I stared at the ground for a moment, racking my brain for an excuse. "It's…it's a very, very small coin."

"We're in Japan. No such coin is minted here."

Normally, I don't get too shaken up, but even I wasn't stupid enough to not notice that my hand was trembling visibly. "Isn't it a bit cold?" I stuttered, rising to my feet quickly and rubbing my shoulders, as if I were cold. What with the shiver that was running up and down my spine, the weather didn't seem to make a difference. "What will your order be, Miss?"

The girl clicked her tongue and shook her head. "About time," she said, looking over her shoulder. "Hey, Izumi! Do you have a preference?"

I ducked behind the counter again, and the customer let out a sigh of exasperation. "What crappy service."

Ryuuji has ears of a God. Before Izumi's friend could even finish her sentence, he was at the register with a smile that screamed "CUSTOMER SERVICE," and kicked me several times, subtly so that no one would notice.

"I'm sorry, it seems he's got a stomachache, right, Takuya?" I didn't bother to look up, because I felt those eyes piercing through my soul as if it were located on my back. "How can I help you today, Miss? If you have no preferences, I recommend the House Special."

As expected of someone my senior! If anyone should be sucking up to Ryuuji, I realized at that moment, it was me, not Kouji. Surely he would understand my troubles.

"Then we'll go with that. That's alright, right, Izumi?" I cringed again. Was this girl a spy sent by some new arch nemesis of mine that I didn't know about yet? She inflicted torture worse than any blow Lucemon could deliver.

The register shut, and Ryuuji kicked me again with the smile maintained on his face perfectly. "Thank you, Miss. It should take 30 minutes. All our pizzas are baked fresh after you put in your order, after all." He handed her the receipt, and she left, mumbling to herself and whispering loudly when she sat down in the booth that her friends were at. Probably about Ryuuji.

"Sorry, Sir, please wait a moment. Kouji!"

"Yes!"

"Take over the register. This kid's going to the kitchen."

I heard choking sounds and a garbled affirmative, but I did not have time to look at Kouji and understand exactly what I was getting into. Ryuuji mercilessly dragged me past the whitewashed door of seemingly no return into what seemed to be a…

…well, it was the kitchen.

It was also burning.

If I hadn't been sweating before, I was now. Ryuuji pulled me to my feet and shoved me forward.

"Tomoki. Kouichi. He's all yours." Once that had been decided, Ryuuji returned to the front of the shop that was air-conditioned and happy.

Tomoki had finished middle school as of this summer, and was just another person that Kouji had recruited to help Ryuuji in his family's time of distress. It was a smart move, considering Tomoki's knack for cooking. No one has forgotten the burgers. No one can forget the burgers.

Kouichi never looked up as he chopped the onions. No tears escaped his eyes. Isn't that inhuman? "Takuya, it'd help if you decided to not just stand there. But, I don't know. If you really don't feel like helping, we could use you in the pizzas, too," he said, pushing the onions away and working on the bell peppers. "Pull the pizza out of oven 3, would you? It should be ready."

My feet dragged me over to oven 3. Ryuuji's family used a wood-fired brick oven to cook their pizzas. This was my second time coming face to face with it. The first time was when I had been first dragged to this pizzeria, and Ryuuji had given me a minute tour.

I timed it, I assure you. It took no longer than a minute.

"The peel is to your left." Kouichi spoke up again when it was apparent that all I could do was stare down the oven. "Hurry up, it'll burn."

I grabbed the paddle-shaped tool and gently pulled the pizza out of the oven and onto a pan on a cooling rack. "Done!" I announced, turning to salute Kouichi.

"Good, I'll bring it out. In the meantime, you cut these," he ordered, moving to the sink. "If you don't know how to cut them, just ask Tomoki."

Kouichi vanished through the black door that led to the front shop. I still have no idea why it's painted black on the kitchen's side.

"Yo, Tomoki!" I grinned and assumed Kouichi's position, taking the knife in hand.

"Stop."

I blinked. "What?"

"Don't cut." Tomoki looked up and stared me in the eyes. "You're holding the knife the wrong way."

I looked at my hands. Sure enough, the blade was facing upward.

"We have someone who ordered a vegetarian pizza with jalapenos, but no mushrooms or olives. I'm going to need you to cut the onions, Takuya. Do you know how?"

"Um…" I fixed the knife in my hand and adjusted my grip. "…small, right? Are there even onions on pizza?"

I missed the days when Tomoki adored me. But those days could not be re-enacted in the kitchen, which was Tomoki's domain. I realized then that it was more dangerous than I ever might have imagined, to make Tomoki angry. Maybe it was just everyone who worked in the pizzeria. They just had eyes that would pierce your soul.

"Slice them lengthwise," Tomoki instructed, quickly showing me an example. "Don't make them too thick, either, otherwise they won't cook properly. Same goes with any other vegetables you cut until Kouichi returns!"

"Roger!" I saluted, and quickly got to work.

The problem people usually have with onions is that they usually end up crying due to something or another. I think we might have learned about it in Biology. But I've never had that problem, because I've always had my goggles.

The operative word here is 'had,' of course. Ryuuji, when I first came here, tore off my goggles before I was stationed at the register, telling me that it took away from the shape of my face. And of course, the store's reason for success is my face, after all, so I always leave my goggles at home before I come to work.

My hands met air as I tried to pull down my missing goggles. But I shrugged it off and began to cut the onion half that Tomoki had left unfinished.

"With the grain…not too thick…" One cut. "Again!" Another cut. I felt victorious. Yes, so victorious that tears of joy began to gather in the corners of my eyes.

Then came the unexpected sting.

I jerked back, knife still in hand, and dropped to my knees, eyes watering uncontrollably. "Ah," I gasped, dabbing my eyes on my sleeves. "It BURRRRRNS!"

Tomoki, who had been working on pizza dough and the pizza sauce looked up to see how I was doing. "Takuya! What's wrong with you?"

Somehow, I managed to pull myself to my feet. "Burns," I muttered, blinking away the tears only to experience the stinging sensation once more. "The onion BUUUUUURRRRNNSSSS!" Tomoki will tell you that I did some sort of funny dance-like movement with the knife in my hand and my eyes cradled in the crook of my arm. I swear to you, that didn't happen.

My feet don't do any funny dancing.

"What's going on?" I couldn't see because of all the tears, but I knew Kouichi's voice when I heard it.

Tomoki spoke next. "The onions got to his eyes, so he's doing a funny dance. Do you think you can stop him, Kouichi? He looks dangerous."

I stopped of my own accord and dropped the knife. "I'm not cut out for the kitchen, Kouichi, you gotta get me out of here!" I yelled, dropped to my feet. By now, the stinging sensation had vanished and the tears began to subside. "Kouichi…why don't you cry when you cut onions? Teach me, please! I can't go back out there, Izumi's there!"

Both Kouichi and Tomoki exchanged looks that I could only barely see through blurry eyes.

"Why don't you just…do what you promised, then?" Kouichi picked the knife up from the floor as he made the suggestion. "You're in a pizzeria. She's out there. Best way to start the date is…?"

"Escape through the back and come through the front as a customer with flowers and a box of chocolates?"

"Wrong!" Tomoki and Kouichi chorused. "While you're still useless, put this pizza in oven 3," Tomoki said, gesturing towards the teriyaki chicken pizza he had been working on.

With a sigh, I obliged. "Well, if not that, then what should I do? I don't want to see her yet, I'm not prepared!"

Tomoki laughed at this, and asked, "Then what do you do if you see her randomly on the street? She's been in Shibuya more often these days."

I mumbled my answer as I lifted the pizza with the peel and eased it into the oven.

"What?" Kouichi asked, looking up from cutting the onions. "Say that again?"

"Yeah, I couldn't really hear you either. Actually, I might have heard you, but I need to make sure I heard right," Tomoki said with a frown.

Oh, they were worried. I sniffed, then repeated, "I run in the other direction."

Silence.

More silence.

Pure, unadulterated, ridiculous laughter.

"You're getting your saliva everywhere," I muttered, sulking and wondering why I had even bothered to open my mouth. "That's gross."

"Sorry," Kouichi mumbled, covering his mouth with his sleeve. "But that's just…"

Tomoki finished his sentence for him. "Hilarious."

They continued to giggle and snicker as they worked, and I examined the kitchen. For your information, there's no oven 1 or 2. Oven 3 is named so because it can fit three pizzas max in there, but that rarely happens. Usually, it's a max of two.

When the petty giggling finally died, Kouichi cleared his throat and finally suggested, "Make her pizza, then."

"Am I Tomoki?" I asked immediately.

"Well…"

"Did you not hear about the burgers?"

"But –"

"Has Kouji not told you about the burgers, Kouichi?"

"Shouldn't you be glad if he didn't?" the older twin wondered aloud.

"Kouichi, the burgers were a sign. They're a sign that you shouldn't tamper with things that you're not supposed to tamper with. That sort of thing is important to take note of. It was a sign from the DigiGods that I cannot become a chef," I informed him, with the same dead serious face that Kouji had when he got me into this mess. "There's no way I can make her a pizza."

Tomoki began to work on the dough for the next pizza. "Then just cook it. She won't know the difference."

"…she won't?" I stopped to think about it. She wouldn't. Even though she knew that all of us worked here (Junpei did deliveries, but he wouldn't be in until afternoon, when the delivery orders started), she couldn't know exactly who cut what and made what, right?

"She won't," Tomoki insisted. "Go for it."

I threw my fist in the air. "Then it's settled! Kouichi, cut the prettiest vegetables for Izumi's pizza! Tomoki, make the best sauce! And I'll…I'll take it out when it's supposed to!"

The pizza was made. All the vegetables were cut beautifully. The toppings were arranged most neatly over the red sauce, Tomoki's special recipe, and I let it cook until the crust was a crisp, golden brown that made your mouth water. The toppings sizzled in the cheese.

It was perfect.

I placed it in the pan, and with the support of my friends, I passed through the door and walked to the booth that had ordered the pizza.

"One Extra Large House Special!" I announced, placing the pan on the table. "I'll be back shortly with your plates and utensils!"

"Huh," one of them – the girl that had ordered – muttered as I walked away. "It's the loser who kept hiding behind the counter. Hey, hey, Izumi, don't you think the second guy looked better?"

I glanced over my shoulder in anticipation, and my stomach sunk.

It wasn't because Izumi agreed with the first girl. I wasn't bothered by that at all.

It was because that wasn't Izumi. Not my Izumi. This girl didn't have her gorgeous seagreen eyes, or her long, straight hair.

"He knew," I groaned silently, placing the plates and utensils on their table and then slinking to the back. "Kouichi," I roared, stomping as soon as the door closed. "You knew!"

"Hm? What, you didn't call Izumi here for a date?" He faked a look of innocence. "Takuya, what's the point in making a pizza, then?"

"I thought that was – you – I mean…!" Exasperated, I slammed a hand down on the counter. "That's not fair! I really thought Izumi was out there!"

"Well if you had bothered to check before jumping to assumptions upon hearing her name, you'd know," Tomoki told me.

I slumped against the wall. "I can't help it. It's Izumi."

Suddenly, the door slammed open, and yet another familiar face walked in. "Junpei's ready to roll. Any delivery calls yet?"

"We haven't plugged in the phone yet. I'm leaving that to you," Kouichi replied. "By the way, Takuya, this might be a good opportunity for you, now that Junpei's here."

Silently, I tried to figure out what Kouichi meant, and then guessed, "…he can bring Izumi and I can make her a pizza?"

"Wrong," the other three chorused. Junpei groaned and scratched the back of his neck before plugging the phone. "How is it that you guys still haven't had a proper date? It's been years, Takuya. I always thought you were the proactive type."

I lifted my neck, causing the back of my head to hit the wall behind me. "What can I do?" I whined. "I really, really want to see Izumi…"

"Like Kouichi said," Tomoki began.

"I'm here," Junpei finished.

That made no sense to me. Did it make sense to you?

"Hey, Goggle-brain. Why don't we make the pizza and you can think about the answer while we do. On the house. I'm sure Ryuuji won't mind," Kouichi added the last part rather hastily. 'On the house' was another way to say 'it'll come out of your paycheck,' when it was said by anyone other than Ryuuji.

But I didn't mind.

"Sure. Let's make something Italian," I decided, pushing myself off the wall and walking towards Kouichi. "But let me cut stuff, too! …anything but the onions."

Kouichi grinned. "Want to work on the bell peppers, then?"

"You're going to have to show me how to cut them."

"Geez, Takuya, don't you ever help out in the kitchen?"

"That's what Shinya's for!"

Tomoki stifled his laughter. "When you're done with the vegetables, you can help me with the dough.

"Tell me when you've figured it all out," Junpei said aloud, taking a seat beside the phone. "I'll be napping until the calls come."

"IT'S DONE!" I pulled the pizza out with the peel and set it on the cooling rack briefly before putting it in the box. "Junpei, it's time!"

"Huh? Oh, okay. Put the box in the hotbag," Junpei instructed. "We have two other deliveries to make before we can get to Izumi, but don't despair! They're on the way."

I glared at him. "Do you see tears in my eyes?"

"Yeah. Did you end up trying to cut the onions again?"

"Shut up!"

"What happened to your professional attitude, Takuya!" I hadn't noticed the door open at all. Ryuuji walked in, frowning. "You didn't even ask me if you could accompany Junpei."

I had forgotten about that.

"We didn't think of that!" Kouichi realized aloud. He turned to Ryuuji with a grin. "For the sake of Takuya's lack of a love life?"

The older boy rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I guess…but you owe me, and not just for the pizza! When you're done with your date, you're going to be helping me with closing!"

I saluted in my acknowledgement of the punishment. "Of course!"

"Let's get going, then. We don't want the deliveries to get cold," Junpei said, grabbing the hotbag and shoving it at me. "Let's go, let's go!"

"Hey Takuya, she's home, right?" Junpei asked, eyes on the road. I could barely hear him over the noise of the cars around us. Rush hour was about to start, but we were on our way to Izumi's now.

Another thing I hadn't thought about. My stomach felt empty at the thought, the sort of empty with the butterfly feeling of nervousness and nausea. I didn't want to think about it, now that I had realized.

"It'll be okay," I decided, looking at the box. It would be okay, hopefully.

Junpei laughed over the roars of the engines that rolled past us. "If you say so!" After a few minutes of silence, he turned at the corner and pulled up in front of Izumi's house. "Here you are. Want me to wait for you?"

"Nah, I'll make it back in time for closing on my own. Promise." Grinning, I hopped down from the scooter and removed the pizza box from the hotbag. "Thanks for the ride, Junpei."

He gave me a thumbs-up. "Don't screw up," Junpei warned jokingly. "I won't forgive you for wasting this chance."

"Yeah, yeah, get going!"

I actually didn't know what I was thinking the moment I walked towards the door and raised my fist to knock on the door. I don't know why I tried to knock, instead of ring the doorbell. It made more sense, didn't it, to ring the doorbell? But for some reason, I insisted on knocking.

There was nothing wrong with knocking, it turned out. The door still opened. I forced myself to grin.

You know what to say, you've practiced it all along, I told myself. Hey Izumi. I brought some pizza. Let's hang out. Just like that, if I could say it just like that…

I held the pizza box forward and gazed at the puzzled seagreen eyes before croaking a barely audible greeting.

"Hey! Can I have a pizza your heart?"

A/N – This fic is the result of a challenge issued by The Light's Refrain (who has written Digimon fics that are definitely worth checking out)! I've been in a slump these past few years, so it was hard to get to this point. The first version I wrote of this challenge intended to go a completely different direction. I gave up halfway and decided to come back to it in a week, but I had developed a good Takumi idea I wanted to write instead. Summer classes came up, so I ended up forgetting the idea before I could realize it.

Depressed at the loss of the idea, I wrote this instead. I wrote this in one sitting, and it's not edited, so I hope you'll forgive me and point out any errors that you find! I know that the tenses aren't consistent throughout the story (a bad habit of mine). Kindly, lay all your constructive criticism on me! I will happily take it into consideration!

Sorry for the lame ending. But while I was thinking of a title, I liked the "Piece of"/"Pizza" pun idea, so I went with it. Takuya'd use it, he's...well, he's Takuya enough.

I thank you for reading, and appreciate any opinions you may have!