~By Kara Kasai
Disclaimer: Never will I own Digimon! So the song doesn't belong to me either . . from the dub . . :D
Prologue – The Bicycle Ride . . .
All she could hear in the classroom was the scribbling of pencils, the occasional screech of an eraser, and the monotonous tapping of somebody's foot to go with the clicking of the clock. There was a slight pause before she continued solving the math problems; she looked out the window. The rain kept coming down hard to the point you could only hear but couldn't see. The rain was mixing into the scenery, as if it were supposed to be there and not anywhere else. It only made the exam scene duller for her. She wanted to give up, but she kept going despite the fact that mathematics was her least favourite subject at Odaiba Jr. High.
With her last problem finished, she only dared to look up and then down again. Twiddling with her pencil, she sighed and got up; she was done, wasn't she? The only problem was how she would get home. (1) She didn't have any money for the subway or the bus, but she did have her phone calling card. What was she supposed to do with that? High doubts in mind, she turned her test in and gathered her things. At least she could wait in the other room and finish her homework before she left; she could hope for the rain clouds to pass by the time school was ready to close but she had her doubts. Besides, she was supposed to be home by six. The clock on the wall told her 2:52.
She still wondered why the teachers gave homework when they knew that they had an exam in the other subject, but let her thoughts drift to the gloomy rain. Half-paying attention to her homework, half-daydreaming, time flew past her. Hikari gasped as she listened to the school's public announcement system.
::THE SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSING IN A HALF HOUR. PLEASE GATHER YOUR BOOKS AND LEAVE THE BUILDING. THANK YOU.::
Glancing at the clock, she read aloud, "Five thirty?" She scrambled onto her feet, stuffing her books down her worn and weary case, and rushed out the door. Walking home was at least a good thirty minutes if she was lucky; but, unluckily, she had no umbrella. Her steps splashed into the big puddles of rain, the rain plastering her hair onto her face. She could barely see where she was going. No doubt she was wet and cold, but who was she to complain when her only goal was to get home in one piece? The automobiles swerved the corners, splashing water onto the few pedestrians. She was losing her way around the city.
"Hikari-chan," a familiar voice called out gently, the person grabbing her hand tightly.
Hikari looked up to find the familiar face, Atlantic blue eyes and blond hair falling over his forehead. Takeru. Takaishi Takeru, her ex-boyfriend. Still, the blue eyes made her spin in a dream; just staring into them made her blush and fill with the familiar love. But they weren't a couple anymore. What was he holding her hand for? Slowly, she took his hand; despite her distinct command to take her hand out of his. She couldn't control herself.
He grinned sweetly, "You looked so small out there, Hikari-chan, but your light never fails to shine. Aa, what are you doing without an umbrella?" He smiled uneasily, trying to hide his discomfort. He still couldn't figure out why they had broken up, but maybe it was just something that he wasn't supposed to know. He didn't know, but he did want to know everything about her, to keep her safe.
Hikari looked down with a half smile, loosening her tight grip on his hand. She groaned and admitted, "I… I guess I just forgot, Takeru-kun." Her broken words didn't make sense to herself in her head, but Takeru seemed to have understood her.
"Need a ride?"
Hikari's attention was captured. Then she noticed that Takeru was leaning on his green bicycle. She stifled a small laugh; it was painful. She could remember that she used to always ride on the handles of Takeru's bike, half-risking her life; but Takeru was pretty good with the bike. "Sure, why not?" she said emptily, "Just like old times, eh Takeru?" Her words were forced. They sounded like dense stones plopping down in water, empty and shaky.
"Sure, why not?" Takeru echoed, cocking his head to one side curiously, "Just like old times . . ." His eyes fell to the ground, concentrating on the greyish pools of water on the grey day. "So . . how are you? I mean, are you how . . ? Er, how you doing?" His words came out in a jumble, jittery and stiff. He smiled shakily, daring to look up into the girl's loving and gentle eyes. It had been hard for him to accept the rejection, so why was he talking to her again? ". .Love . ." he whispered softly to himself that it was inaudible.
Hikari saw his lips move but no words coming out. She tightened her grasp on the case, her fingers tracing the clasped cover. "I'm fine. A-and you?" she whispered gently, her words trembling with a small fright. The rain kept pouring around them, soaking them to the skin, but they seemed to have their own world, frozen in time. The world outside kept moving, but they had come to a halt. He's a boy, she's a girl . . . figure it out. Wouldn't it end in that way? It was only like a simple chemistry problem.
You've got a boy, you've got a girl . . . sitting underneath a tree. They sit there everyday. And even though you may think this is the way things should be, it may not always be that way. You can't take nothing for granted – you gotta live life today! I turn around, I can see what's behind me; I turn back around, I can see what's ahead. And if you don't believe I've been here all along, just turn around . . just turn around.
Takeru smiled sorely, "I'm fine." But to the truth, he had been depressed lately. He could only stare at the ceiling and wonder with teary eyes. He couldn't talk to anybody. He had had so much trouble talking to people lately; he felt so out of place. "I'm fine." With a broken-heart, he continued, "Uh, Hikari, don't you want to get home . . . uh, soon?" He felt his legs weakening as he kept staring into her pretty brown eyes. She was still a shining jewel to him. He felt an attraction to her, a strong pull, just like when they had first met in the Digital World.
Hikari nodded, "Mmm, unnnnm. Ne, ne!" (2) She smiled brightly, hiding herself from the honest Takeru. Still, she had the strangest feeling that Takeru was not all right. There was something about him that was changed. Sighing, she climbed onto the bicycle handles, gripping tightly onto the metal bars. "Taaaaaakeeeeruuuuu-chaaaaaaaan, be caaa-aaareful!" she cried as he began to pedal slowly. She was bumping on the metal bars as they flew over the sidewalk cracks. Her eyes widened as she realised she had just referred to him as 'Takeru-chan' but shrugged it away. (3)
Takeru sped up, rain flying through his lime-scented hair. "Hold on," he whispered into her ear. They were going to go over the hill, and it wasn't going to be easy, as small as the hill was. There were crowds just staring after the twosome. Other pedestrians moved out of their way. Nobody wanted to be flattened by the couple on the bike. Couples laughed at the twosome and imagined them as a couple as well. Whispers . . . "You know, Hikari," Takeru said with a catch of breath, "I . . I'm still your buddy, right?" He stopped himself from asking the other question floating in his mind. He only wanted to keep, at the least, what they had had before: their friendship. At least he had the friendship. It was the only hope in his mind that kept him together.
"O-of course, Takeru," Hikari replied quietly, blinking with some confusion, "Of course Takeru! W-why wouldn't you be? I've known you for so long, it would be a shame to throw our friendship out! Takeru, we'll be friends forever, no matter what happens between us. We'll always come back to the day we met for the first time and we'll remember and smile, Takeru, yes, we will. And we'll still be friends after our deaths. We'll never stop being friends, but we can only stop acknowledging that fact." Hikari caught her breath, smiling weakly, not knowing her words meant or expressed. The words had only sounded right to her, and had come out of her mouth upon the question. Truth to be, she was afraid of losing something within the hearts of the two. She sounded strong-willed even though her speech didn't quite make sense.
"That's good," Takeru replied simply with his special, half-lopsided, toothy, sly grin that he had inherited from his brother Ishida Yamato; it was the trait passed through the Ishidas: the blond hair, blue eyes, the same grin, the nasal accent, and the handsome voice. He continued to pedal the bicycle across the flat sidewalks, cruising in and out of small crowds of pedestrians and booths, increasing speed. Upon arriving at Heighten View Terrace apartments, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Hikari.
They were silent for a few moments before Hikari swung herself off of the plain bike and grabbed her book bag. She bowed slightly with stiff formality, "Arigato, Takeru-kun," she murmured. She ran off towards the apartment doors, forcing her other words into the cave they had been in before. Her green skirt billowed around her slightly, as if she wore a ball gown and not a stiffly ironed school uniform. Her shoes tapped against the ground loudly, creating a musical sound. She paused at the doors before she yelled, "Konban wa Takeru-kun! O-oyasumi-nasai!" Then she ran inwards without waiting for the boy's reply, into her apartment. She half-whispered, half-cried, "Tadaima 'kaa-san, onii-chan…" and stalked off into her room while clumsily pulling her shoes off, where she cried herself to sleep. There was something wrong with her if she felt this way.
Takeru stared at the doors, his heart aching for a feeling in his heart. He felt . . neutral and calm about it, though. He ran his fingers through his rather wet hair and began to pedal home. It was a long way to home. He missed home, but most of all, he missed the old Hikari he had known. He could recollect that the old Hikari . . No, the old Hikari was the same still. Everything else was different though. The relationship, him, the day . . it was all different, but Hikari had remained true to herself. Takeru rode into the warming sunshine with a deep regret, a darkness and depression. He could not suppress the feeling by the time he arrived home, so with tears streaming down his cheeks, he slept restlessly and angrily, angry with himself. He had thrown everything away, everything was his fault . . . . . .
12.14.2002 – Well, this might be a one-shot, or a long fan-fiction, but I'm not so sure yet. (The prologue title applies to if it is a long story and not a one-shot . .) I'm very iffy on this story so far, so . . this might be a one-shot. What I like if it were to be a one-shot is that it would leave the ending to you . . and it would be a bittersweet story. Still, I have a tiny idea if it were to continue . . hmm . . Well, give me all the criticism you got! Do not ignore the grammar or anything – criticize me please!!! That only makes one a better writer. (See that button down there? Clicky, clicky, clicky!!! Make me wishes come true!)
(1) – Well, uh, I remember that in one Digimon episode, the kids can leave when they're finished with their tests. I'm really confused on that part, so I'll have to do some research.
(2) – Uh, this is really hard to describe. In an episode, they have Tomoki going: "Mmm, unnnnm," as a yes while nodding his head. It's a real hard-to-pass expression. Especially Hikari to Takeru. ;D
(3) – Well, '-chan' is a very . . intimate ending. :)