Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon.

This is a really random one-shot told in Kari's point of view about the death of Tk's white bucket hat. Enjoy!

Death of the Bucket Hat

I don't think that stupid thing has ever left his head, honestly. Ever since I can remember, my best friend in the world, Tk, has been wearing this really ugly, white bucket hat that I absolutely hate. For some reason I think it gives him a sense of wholeness; like his life wouldn't be complete without it or something. I really don't understand what's so special about it? It's just a dumb hat, right?

If I remember correctly he got that hat back in the sixth grade. His mother gave it to him for his birthday that year along with a new jacket and a couple pairs of jeans. She was into giving gifts that were more practical than fun. But who honestly gives clothes to a ten year old for his or her birthday? Honestly?

Anyways, that's beyond the point. The point is I hate Tk's bucket hat. If I could snatch it from him I would. Oh the things I would do to get rid of that hat…

Here's my list of ideas so far:

1.) Burn it

2.) Bury it

3.) Sell it

4.) Shred it

5.) Run over it

6.) Rip it

7.) Throw it on the subway tracks and watch it get run over a hundred times while Tk cries like a baby on the sidelines.

That's about it so far. My ultimate dream would be to take it off his head, throw it on the ground, stomp it into the dirt right in front of his face, and then burn the damn thing until there was nothing left. But that would just be mean…

I've asked him a countless number of times why he adores the hat so much. He never gives me a solid answer it's usually just something along the lines of "because I do" or "it has sentimental value" but I think he's hiding something. I've come up with a number of things he could be hiding under that hat but none of them are realistic.

I don't think he's ever washed the hat either. He's a basketball player and he always has that hat on during practice and games so you know it's got to be drenched in sweat when he's done. He has also gotten food on it and the stain still remains to this day. The food stain was mostly Davis' fault though. He and Tk were arguing over something stupid one day, like they always do, and just to get even Davis "accidentally" dropped his rice/soy sauce filled bowl right on Tk's head. Fortunately it didn't get in his hair; we all know how Ishida men react when someone messes with their hair. It's basically hell on Earth and then they don't talk to anyone until their stylist can fix whatever was damaged (which usually takes a couple hours and sometimes even days).

I remember this one situation Sora told me about with Matt. Apparently Sora was cutting out pictures for a school project and Matt, being the idiot he is, snuck up behind her and scared the crap out of her. Long story short: amidst all the chaos, she somehow managed to snip off a teeny tiny piece of Matt's hair; and I'm talking like maybe two or three strands at the most. Well, needless to say, Matt didn't speak to her for a week after that. I think he even had a ceremony to honor the fallen hair. The men in that family are insane, I swear.

(I secretly hope they all go bald one day.)

So anyways this all leads me to where I am now. Tk and I are in our senior year of high school and we are currently on winter break, which usually lasts about two and a half weeks. Tk is currently staying at my house because his mother is out of town on business, as is his dad, and Matt is… well; we actually don't know where Matt is. Last time we heard he, Sora, Tai, and some of their friends were in the mountains skiing. They didn't have cell phone reception so we assumed they were either still there having the time of their lives or they fell off the mountain. Just kidding on that last one.

Tk's mom is really weird about Tk being home by himself. It's not that she doesn't trust him I think it's more of the fact that she thinks something bad will happen to him when she's not around. So that's why he has to find somewhere to stay whenever she's not in town. She literally locks the door to the apartment and he can't even get in until she comes back because she takes all of the keys with her. So in the end it came down to either staying with me or Davis. I would've chosen me too.

Tk is currently residing in Tai's room. Tai's away at college ninety percent of the time anyways so it's not like he minds at all. Even when he is home from college he usually finds other places to sleep; not because he doesn't like being home just because he usually drinks a little bit and ends up passing out. Oh well.

So anyways, Tk is staying at my house and Yolie and I have developed a plan. Luckily for me she hates that stupid hat as much as I do so she was happy to help when it came to terminating it. Our plan is absolutely full proof; it has to work.

"I drew out a guide," Yolie said as she opened a large piece of paper on my bedroom floor.

It was a Friday night and it was snowing so my family and I decided to stay in. Tk was out to dinner with some of his basketball buddies so I invited Yolie over while we had a moment alone to go over the plan.

"It starts out like this…" Yolie said pointing to a very noticeable red X, "We secretly slip some sleeping pills into Tk's hot coco and wait for him to fall asleep. You and I both know he can't resist a cup of your homemade hot chocolate. So then once he falls asleep-"

"Wait," I cut in, "These sleeping pills won't hurt him will they?"

"Oh, no. They'll just make him sleep like a baby for twenty-four hours. Most people use them for insomnia."

"Where did you get sleeping pills though?"

"Ah ha, you forget my family owns a drug store. I have access to everything."

"Oh lovely."

"So anyways, once Tk falls asleep we sneak into his room, silently take the hat, and pretty much make it disappear. He'll have no idea where the hat could have gone and since he was asleep the whole time he'll probably just assume it got misplaced. The plan is going to work perfectly."

"What are we going to do with the hat once we get it?"

"Burn it in the sink, duh."

"Yolie, I can't start a fire in my house outside of the fireplace because the smoke alarms will go off and they'll evacuate the whole building."

"Well then we'll throw it off the balcony into the streets. It'll get run over so many times people will just assume its road kill after a while."

"I don't think that'll work either. What if it gets caught in a tree or something? If I know how Tk's going to react, and I think I do, he's going to put up reward posters everywhere and as soon as someone sees it sitting in a tree it's going to be right back in his plans."

"Fine. We can flush it down the toilet?"

"It won't fit."

"I'm running out of options here, Kari. We have to get rid of it before he wakes up or we're screwed and you know you're parents won't let us leave the apartment at random hours of the night."

"Actually we probably could leave if we wanted too. My mom wears ear plugs because my dad snores so loud so nothing wakes them up. I mean we couldn't be gone very long but I'm just saying they wouldn't wake up if we did leave."

"Perfecto!"

"What? Did you think of what to do with the hat?"

"No, but the fact that we can leave helps a lot!"

"We'll figure out what to do with it when Tk falls asleep."

"Good idea."

Yolie and I thought for a little bit about what in the world we could do with Tk's hat once he fell asleep. It turned out to be a lot harder than we thought. Who knew getting rid of a hat could be so complicated?

"Hey Tk, Kari made some of her awesome hot chocolate do you want some?" Yolie shouted from the kitchen after my parent's went to bed.

Tk smiled, "How can I resist?"

Yolie smirked and quietly pulled a small prescription bottle out of her pocket. She glanced over her shoulder and made sure Tk wasn't paying attention. Luckily, his attention was focused on whatever he and I were watching on the TV.

She slipped the sleeping pill into his hot chocolate and watched as it dissolved. She then smiled, "Here it is! Nice and hot!"

Yolie handed Tk the cup only to watch him put it on the coffee table. She took a seat next to me and we waited for Tk to start drinking it. When he didn't we started to become a little antsy.

"Tk, aren't you going to drink your hot coco? It's going to get cold and you know it's not the same if you have to heat it back up!" Yolie said.

"You're being too obvious," I said pinching her.

"Oh, yeah, sorry I forgot!" Tk said picking up the cup and taking a big gulp. He smiled, "Yum!"

Soon enough the hot coco was completely gone but Tk didn't seem to be getting sleepy at all. In fact, he started to act as though someone had just fed him crack.

"Yolie are you sure those sleeping pills work?" I whispered to her as we watched Tk jump up and down like a monkey.

She pulled the bottle out of her pocket and examined it, "Yeah, they're not outdated they should be just…" she stopped speaking and her eyes widened, "Oh, crap."

"Oh, crap what? What's wrong?"

Yolie laughed nervously, "I may or may not have accidentally grabbed the wrong bottle?"

I became infuriated, "What do mean you may have grabbed the wrong bottle?"

"I think I may have accidentally given Tk Ritalin."

"Ritalin? What is that?"

"It's a drug used for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, A.D.H.D, to calm them down when they basically go crazy."

"So why is that a big deal that you gave it to Tk? It should calm him down right?"

"Tk doesn't have A.D.H.D."

"So…?"

"So for people without it, it basically works as speed."

"Crap."

Tk definitely didn't have A.D.H.D. and therefore he was experiencing the reverse affects of the Ritalin. There was nothing Yolie and I could do but sit and watch him freak out. I questioned how we were going to get the hat now that there was no hope for Tk falling asleep at all.

"Why did you even have Ritalin in the first place?" I asked Yolie.

"It's Davis'. My mom refilled the prescription and I was supposed to bring it to him. I can't believe I forgot! I hope he's not freaking out…"

"Davis! Get off the refrigerator! The guinea pigs are not trying to eat you!" Jun shouted at her brother who was currently hiding on top of the fridge because he believed the families two pet guinea pigs were out to get him. He was wearing a pot on his head and was holding a fork for protection.

"You're lying! You're on their side you want them to eat me!" Davis shouted back.

"They're not trying to eat you and I'll prove it!"

Jun walked to ball the guinea pigs were running around in on the floor and took them out. She started walking toward Davis only for him to freak out more.

"STAY AWAY! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Davis screamed waving the fork at her.

"He's your favorite Davis, remember?" Jun shouted as she tossed one of the guinea pigs up on the fridge and it landed on Davis. He screamed like a little girl and toppled off the fridge with the guinea pig in hand. When they both hit the ground Davis tried to crawl away only to have the guinea pigs bite onto his pant leg and pull him out of the kitchen and into another room. Jun watched in horror, "Maybe they are out to get him!"

Davis continued to scream in the background while Jun watched in disbelief.

"So what do we do now? How do we make Tk calm down?" I asked because I was getting rather annoyed with the fact that Tk was running around the house like he just drank six cups of coffee.

"Well, there's not really anything we can do. We just have to wait until the medicine wears off," Yolie replied.

"Wonderful…"

"Hey guys, hey guys guess what, guess what!?" Tk said suddenly.

"What, Tk?" I replied. I have never seen Tk like this. He was acting like a five year old on a sugar high! I'm so glad Tk is calm regularly because I don't think we'd be friends if he acted like this all the time.

"My hat," he said pulling the bucket hat off his head, "This hat… has special powers."

Yolie and I looked at each other with a "what the hell?" look. Tk had officially lost it.

"I'm serious!" Tk said noticing the looks on our faces, "Why do you think I'm so good at basketball? Why do you think my hair is so awesome? Oh, and what do you think is the reason for my outstandingly good grades?"

"He's starting to sound like Matt," Yolie whispered to me.

"Tell me about it," I replied.

"This hat, duh!" Tk said spinning the hat around on one finger. I think this was the longest amount of time we'd ever seen Tk without the hat on.

"Why do you always have to wear that hat?" I asked Tk.

"It's lucky Kari. If it wasn't lucky I wouldn't wear it all the time," Tk replied.

"How is it lucky?"

Tk rolled his eyes and smiled, "Didn't you hear anything I just said? My hair, my grades, my awesome b-ball skills… without this hat, I'm nothing; just an average person."

"Tk, a hat doesn't make you all of those things you do," Yolie said.

"Oh, no. I was a loser before this hat. This hat has made me who I am today. Without this hat, I don't know who I'd be!"

"Tk, it's just a hat."

Tk appeared as though he just been offended, "It is not just a hat! How dare you say that?"

I was starting to get infuriated, "Tk! It's a stupid hat!"

"That hurt, Kari. I thought of all people you would understand."

I wanted to scream, "Understand what!? It's a stupid hat! It doesn't bring you good luck it just makes you look stupid!"

"It does not this hat completes me!"

At that point something inside of me snapped. I completely lost it. I snatched the stupid hat right off of Tk's head, opened up the glass doors to the fire place, and threw the damn thing right into the fire. I watched Yolie and Tk's mouths drop as the hat went up in flames and quickly turn into ash.

"NO!" Tk shouted falling to the floor next to the fire, "Noooo!"

"Kari, that wasn't the plan!" Yolie scolded, "He wasn't supposed to see us destroy it!"

"You two planned this!?" Tk asked over hearing our conversation.

"Yes, Tk, yes!" I shouted, "I've hated that hat since the day your mother gave it to you! You never take the stupid thing off and personally I'm glad it's finally gone! I can't stand that hat and now that it's gone I've never felt better!"

Tk huffed, "I don't even know who you are anymore!"

He then dashed into Tai's room and slammed the door behind him. We didn't see him for the rest of the night.

"He crashed," Yolie said entering my room later that night.

"Finally," I replied with a sigh of relief.

"Got to love that Ritalin… it speeds you up, and then you completely crash. Well, only if it's the first time using it. I still can't believe you threw his hat in the fire right in front of his face. Do you think he'll ever speak to us again?"

"I think he'll get over it. I mean, it was just a hat..."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get some sleep it's late."

I cuddled up in my bed with a teddy bear and Yolie did the same on a sleeping bag on the floor. She fell asleep quickly but I stayed awake and stared at the ceiling for a while. I thought about the look on Tk's face when I threw the hat in the fire. I've never seen that look before. It was as though his best friend had just died or something. It was horrible.

Okay, fine so I feel a little bit guilty. But he asked for it! Maybe if he didn't brag about the stupid hat all the time or if he only wore it every once in a while I wouldn't have cared. Oh, who am I kidding I'm a horrible person. I just basically killed my best friends pride and joy in a matter of seconds.

I sighed, "I guess I should go apologize…"

I threw my legs over the bed, put my slippers on and quickly scooted out of the room. Yolie was fast asleep so she didn't even notice me leave.

The apartment was very peaceful. My parents leave the Christmas tree on at night so the beautiful colors light up the living room. It really is a beautiful thing to see. I glanced out the window and noticed fresh snow falling from the sky. It made the smile. The colors from the tree reflecting against the white snow were incredible. My moment was interrupted by a voice.

"It's beautiful, huh?"

I looked over and saw Tk sitting on the couch wrapped up in a blanket.

"I thought you fell asleep?" I asked.

"Naw, I just pretended to so Yolie would leave me alone," Tk replied.

"Oh."

Tk patted the cushion next to him indicating he wanted me to sit with him. I slowly walked over and sat down. He offered me some of his blanket and I took it. After all, the house was freezing.

I decided to get straight to the point, "Tk, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like I did. It was immature and just plain mean of me."

Tk just smiled as placed an arm over my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, "Its fine. I overreacted."

"No, really I shouldn't have burned your hat. It was yours and I had no right to do it."

"It's okay, really. Besides, I think I look a lot better without it."

I laughed, "Well, that's not too conceded or anything."

"I know, I'm joking."

We sat there and watched the snow fall onto the city. It was amazing how quiet the city got when the snow fell. It was the one thing that slowed this city down and made people finally start to appreciate each other. Call me crazy, but cold weather brings people together in strange ways.

Tk suddenly broke the silence and stated, "After all, it was just a hat, right?"

I smiled, "Right."

I placed my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

"Besides, I have another hat just like it at home."

My eyes shot open and I pulled my head off his shoulder, "Son of a-"

The end!

Ha, ha. I hope you all enjoyed my random rambling. Review!