Of Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

A/N: Last but DEFINITELY not least, T.K.'s story!

Chapter 1

The sand was hot under my feet as the ocean waves tried to cool them down. The sun's rays kissed me gently as my skin started to turn a golden brown. I couldn't say the same for Matt who was getting eaten alive! He should've listened to Mom when she told him to put on sunscreen. Now, he was as red as a lobster.

We were on a family vacation. Well, sort of. Mom took Matt and me to the beach that was farther than the one we usually go to. Our house was literally an hour and forty-five minutes away, but Mom counted it as a vacation. Matt and I saw it more as a stay-cation: a vacation without really leaving home. But as long as we're staying at a hotel, we're spending family time, and Mom's in charge, this is our vacation.

"Hey, T.K.!" Matt called as I was too busy staring out in the horizon. There wasn't much. Not a cloud in the sky. The sun didn't shimmer much on the water because it was too high. "Catch!"

I turned around only to get a piece of seaweed in my face! "Hey!" I said, peeling it off the slimy thing. "Yuck! What's the big idea?"

"Come on, T.K., we're on vacation!" He said in between laughs. "We're supposed to have fun on vacation!"

"Oh, is that so?" I asked, walking towards him. He was too busy laughing with his eyes sewn shut to notice me standing just inches away. Then as soon as he opened his eyes, I gave him a tap on his shoulder: the reddest part on him.

"Ow! Okay! You win!" He screamed as he fought his urges to nurse his wound. Now, it was my turn to laugh. "That's not funny!"

"Hey, we're supposed to have fun on vacation!"

Matt frowned, but then he turned his attention towards the sky. "Look out!" He shouted pointing over my head.

I, on the other hand, was too smart for him. Or so I thought. "I'm not going to fall for that!" Suddenly, I felt something hard hit the back of my head, knocking my hat right off and making me lunge forward. Is anything broken? Am I still alive? "Ow…" I rubbed the back of my neck as put my hat back on. "What was that?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" A girl shouted (at least that's what I heard). I turned around and saw this incredibly gorgeous female standing there in a yellow one-piece bathing suit with a volley ball on her hip. She flipped her long blonde hair, smiling at me with her big blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am." I told her with a goofy smile sprouting on my face. The instant infatuation of her beauty reminded me of Caroline in France. Small, but there.

"Some of my friends and I were playing a game of volleyball." She said, nodding towards the net with three other kids (two girls and one guy) hanging around and looking this way. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to play." She said sort of shyly. "You know, as an apology for your almost concussion."

I looked over at Matt with a pleading look on my face. Please, please, please! Matt, on the other hand, was not convinced. "Are you kidding me?" He asked me firmly. "The sun is eating my skin alive. You have fun on your own. Tell me about it later. I'm going to the hotel room." He slowly and awkwardly walked away from the scene. It's kind of interesting how his skin burned so easily. I swear we weren't out here long at all.

I turned back towards the beautiful young lady with the same awkward smile. "That's my big brother, Matt." I explained. "You know how fifteen-year-olds are."

She giggled. I'm so in there! "Yeah, my cousin's the same way." Then she held out her hand. "I'm Yoko."

I gladly accepted her hand. "My friends call me T.K."

"It's nice to meet you, T.K." We shook hands. Her grip was a bit firmer than I expected. Maybe she was nervous. "Would you like to play?"

"Sure!" Then I looked at the kids and counted them again. "But with me, you get an uneven number of players."

"Oh, it's okay." She said. "We'll work something out." Yoko took me by the hand and guided me to the net. "Hey, guys, this is T.K.!" She said. "T.K., this is Kimiko, Kiyoko, and Yuudai."

"Hi!" Kiyoko greeted. It just hit me that she and Kimiko were twins. They both were kind of on the short side (like Davis's height) with weirdly styled hair –Kimiko had two small pigtails right above her ears and Kiyoko had the same stubby pigtails with an extra stubby ponytail on top of her head – and blue and pink bikinis.

Yuudai, on the other hand, wasn't so ecstatic to see me. He rolled his eyes. "Yoko, why do you always have to bring new players? We already have an even number."

"He can take my place." Kimiko said. "I'm exhausted."

"But we haven't even played a full game!" Kiyoko said.

"I don't care. I'm starting to sweat." Kimiko sat on her blue beach towel that matched with her bikini. She was shaded by an old, green umbrella.

"I don't get her sometimes." Kiyoko rolled her eyes. I guessed that, like peanut butter and jelly, they were two different sides of the same sandwich.

"Well, let's play." Yoko said, tossing the ball to Yuudai.

He caught it with force, as if he could pop it with his sharp fingers. I had no idea who this guy was, but he seemed very angry at my presence. He gave a smile with his hands firmly touching the ball. "My serve." He said as everyone started to spread out.

"You'll be on my team." Yoko said.

"Great!" I said as I took my position. But that's as far into the game as I could get when Mom called.

"Hey, T.K.! It's time to go, sweetie." She yelled.

I just stood there, blushing tomato red. Not in front of the girl, Mom. I thought.

"Mommy says it's time to go." Yuudai said in a very sarcastic manner, stifling a laugh. The twins giggled in response.

"Sorry guys." I said with a huge and weird apologetic smile that was full of embarrassment. "We're on a family vacation, and Mom likes to emphasize the family."

"It's okay." Yoko said. "I understand. If you're going to be on the beach again, we could finish our game."

"That would be awesome." I said with an actual genuine smile. "I'll see you around!" I waved goodbye to her and all of her friends then scurried off.

At the time, Mom was packing up her and Matt's things. She threw a towel into the basket without folding it followed by her sunglasses, left over bags of chips, and unopened soda cans. "Who were all of those kids?" She asked.

"This girl hit me with a volleyball and she offered to play with her friends." I said as I helped her put away some things in the picnic basket. I snuck a pack of cookies into my pocket. "That's all."

"Oh, well…" She trailed off, grabbing the last of her things. "I'm heading to the store to get some aloe cream for your brother. Do you want to come?"

I looked at Yoko and her friends and back to my mom. There's no way she would let me stay on the beach by myself. Plus, going to the store would be a lot more exciting than sitting in the hotel room, listening to Matt complain about his burnt skin. "Sure." I said.

()()

On the way back from the grocery store, I didn't expect to come back with a book. Let me rephrase that. On my summer vacation, after all of the school and homework was done, I didn't expect to get a book. I know it's weird but it wasn't my idea. As we were headed towards the checkout line, Mom saw the book section. She dragged me with her as she began to look at various titles.

"I should definitely get back into reading again." She said. "You know, I used to read all the time." I nodded, vaguely remembering. She would get so attached to a book that she would barely pay attention to us unless we were crying. And not just any crying either. We'd have to be either "bleeding, sick, or dying." Those were the requirements to being an emergency.

"I remember how you'd get too." I said.

She smiled, looking into another book. "Right. I could probably get into that habit again, but I bet I could read this book and still make some family time."

I nodded. Come to think about it, it has been a while since I've willingly read anything without a grade behind it. As I started looking at books more my taste, I saw one that caught my eye. "Hearing Me." What an abnormal title. I wonder what it means.

"You shouldn't go without a good book." Mom said. "Go ahead and throw it in the basket."

But I didn't. Well, at least not right away. I took a while to study and examine the cover art to kind of predict what the book was about. But so far I was confused. On the cover was a guy, possibly a teenager by the clothes. He was facing the back and the focus was more on the music player in his left back pocket. It was interesting.

But as the hours went by, I never really opened it. I mean, how could I? I was too busy thinking about Yoko. She was the first one in a long time to show interest in me. I think it was obvious how focused I was on that brief memory with her when Matt saw me looking out the window at the beach.

"Dude, the beach isn't going anywhere." He said, strumming his bass.

It was getting dark and people were clearing the beach. Finally, I spotted Yoko who was alone with Yuudai. They were packing up the volleyball equipment and rolled out a few towels. Before my mind started to wonder and jump to conclusions, Kimiko and Kiyoko came back with their rolled out beach towels. They all just lied there, watching the waves and the moon come up. I wished I was with them.

"What are you looking at?" Matt asked, standing next to me. He squinted his eyes, scanning the dunes of the beach. "Oh, I see." He said with a small chuckle. "T.K. likes a girl!"

"Matt, come on!" I said as I started to blush. "Don't make a big deal about it."

"I won't." He lied. I could tell by the way he smiled and the huge silence that came after it. This was also followed by "Little T.K.'s growing up!"

"Matt, please!" I begged.

"Okay, I'm done." He said, plopping onto his bed. "Do you think you'll ever talk to her again?"

I smiled. "I probably will. She said that we'll finish up our game the next time we're on the beach."

Matt shrugged. "There's always tomorrow."

"You're right. Hopefully Mom won't ruin it like she did today." I joked. "Right when we were getting ready to play, Mom called me in like a little kid."

He chuckled. "How embarrassing!"

"I know. Hopefully, they would forget about it when I see them tomorrow."

"Yeah, hopefully." Matt picked up his bass again and started strumming it again. It wasn't plugged in so I kept on hearing annoying little pluck sounds coming from the instrument.

Hopefully. Hopeful. That's how I feel right about now. I'll see Yoko again and everything will be amazing!

I sat down at the desk and took out my journal. It was one of Mom's throwaways when she went through a notebook loving phase. Luckily, this journal didn't have a girly cover. It was just a solid light blue. Okay, so the color's a little girly, but who cares? I flipped to the next available page and took out a pencil that was probably Matt's or someone else's that was just sitting on the table. "Ticonderoga:" it said, "the best pencil in the world."

I'll be the judge of that, I thought and began to write.

Hopeful. It's in my blood, it's in the air, it's my crest. It will lead me anywhere I need to go.

And it was the best pencil ever. It was smooth and dark. The eraser was the best part. Nice and soft and didn't leave a smudge. Ticonderoga pencils are the best in the world! So I continued using it by drawing the word hopeful at the bottom of the page, sketching in shadows and dark outlines and accompanying it with a few sophisticated patterns and a bird in the corner. It wasn't bad actually, but it wasn't hang-in-a-hallway good either.

My trait was so good to me. I had the opportunity to write about it that night. Hope is alive and it's as free as the white bird. And it takes me where I need to go. It'll take me high into the open blue sky. By then, I was flying, moved even. I was hoping to have her hand in mine, grasping at her soft skin and staring into her eyes.

But then, the night caught up to me. I put my pencil into the spine of the journal and closed it. By this point, Matt was already asleep. And it was time for me to do the same.

()()

"Matt, make sure you put on sunscreen this time." Mom decided that she wanted to read with the ocean nearby. She randomly told us the thought when we were out for breakfast. I noticed something strange about it. It was something familiar like when we were little. Like, Mom was trying to hold on…

"I am." He said, snapping me out of my thoughts and doing what he was told in the privacy of the bathroom. I also wondered why he had to go in there. It's just sunscreen.

I, at the time, was sitting on the armchair in our room, waiting for the others to get ready. I was so anxious to go, sitting here was almost impossible. I sighed and looked outside again. We were mostly waiting on Mom, who was packing the whole hotel room with her. Just great. As I was rushing her in my mind, someone knocked on the door, making me jump almost fifty feet.

Seeing as Matt was too busy putting on sunscreen and Mom was too busy packing in her conjoined room, I decided to get the door. When I looked into the peephole, all I could see were two girls, one with short hair and the other with long. They looked sort of familiar, but I couldn't see past the wobbly features. Once I opened the door, the answer was obvious: Sora and Mimi.

"Hi, T.K.!" Mimi greeted, lifting up her sunglasses.

"Hi, Mimi." I greeted. "Hi, Sora."

"Hey, where's Matt?" Sora asked. "I wanted to surprise him."

I stepped back to let them in and pointed to the bathroom. Once they were inside, I knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey, Matt, are you done yet? I need to go!" I forced myself not to laugh behind gritted teeth.

"Give me a minute." He said. Mimi and I moved out of the way so that Sora would be the only person he saw when he opened the door. Once he did in his large T-shirt and baggy swim trunks, his face began to glow. "Sora!"

"Hi, Matt!" They both kissed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to surprise you." She explained. "Mimi's here too."

Matt looked over as Mimi waved. "So are we going to the beach or what?" She asked. I was so surprised by her and Sora's presence that I didn't noticed the pink bikini top and matching cover up bottom. She was obviously ready to have some beach fun!

"We just have to wait for Mom." I told them.

"T.K., Matt, who's there?" Mom asked.

"It's just Sora and Mimi." Matt told her.

"Oh, great! Are they coming to the beach too?"

"Yes, we are!" Mimi cheered like the cheerleader she was all those years back.

"Fantastic! Let me make a few more sandwiches and I'll be ready."

I rolled my eyes and sat back down at the armchair. One step forward towards Yoko then two steps back. I thought as I looked outside the window. After looking out for about three minutes, I finally found her and her friends at the exact same spot they played volleyball before.

"What are you looking at?" Mimi asked, standing next to me. I didn't even hear her coming so the sound of her voice startled me.

"I was just…" I decided to reconsider telling her. The last thing I needed was for her to make fun of me like Matt! "I was just looking at the beach. You could see it through the window." I really should have considered a better lie seeing as all you can see is beach.

Mimi looked at me then at the beach and back at me. Then she looked back at the beach and exclaimed "You're checking out a girl!"

"No, I'm not!" I blushed. "And if I was, how would you know?"

"I see you looking right at her." Mimi looked out again and squinted her eyes. "Wow! She's pretty! Long blonde hair and everything!" How does she even see that? Yoko is a dot from here! Maybe I need glasses.

Her voice was loud enough to catch Matt and Sora's attention, but not enough to catch Mom. Thank goodness. "Are you still checking out that chick?" Matt asked. "If you like her, go for it."

"What chick?" Sora asked.

"Some girl we met at the beach." He answered. "She hit him on the back of the head with a volleyball and now they kind of like each other."

"Matt, please!" I exclaimed, feeling my face get flushed.

I knew me begging wasn't going to stop him when he shot me a very mischievous smile. It was a smile of pleasure and lies. There's no telling what he would do next. I especially couldn't tell when he got up from his sitting position and maneuvered around Sora. Then he called to Mom "We'll meet you on the beach, Mom! We're going to get a good spot!"

"Good idea!" She called back. "Meet you there!"

As soon as she said that, Matt turned around with that same smile. "There. Now, let's go meet that mystery girl."

I didn't know whether to thank him or to yell at him, so I kind of did both. "Thanks, Matt! You're a big help!"

"I know!" He yelled back. "Let's go!" Matt held Sora's hand and left the room with her followed by Mimi and me.

()()

It was a lovely afternoon on the beach. Everything was so quiet and calm. I could barely hear the water. The sun blazed down as everything was nice and warm save for the little tuffs of air the sea breathed to us. Grains of sand sifted between my toes, warming them. What a beautiful sight. It felt good to just take that in for a minute. A life is wonderful just by existing, you know.

"It's about time you showed up." I turned around as soon as I felt someone touch my shoulder. It was Yoko in a different swimsuit than yesterday. It was a pink and orange striped halter top with a black bikini bottom. It was a two-piece suit but it covered her like a one-piece. "Ready for our game?"

"Sure!" I followed her to the net that was set up in the same spot as yesterday. And, again like yesterday, Yuudai was there to watch me like a hawk.

"Well, if it isn't Momma's Boy." He said, getting up from his sitting position. He was also wearing a different pair of swim trunks – purple with a blue lightning bolt on the sides instead of blue with green stripes on the sides – and his shoulder length black hair was tied into a small low ponytail. "Does your mom know you're playing with the big kids?"

As he said this from the other side of the net, he had his fingers laced into the holes. He looked like a prisoner waiting to bust out like in the movies. Sure he looked tough, but I kept smiling. "Of course! It was her idea to come to the beach." I answered.

"Oh great! T.K.'s here!" Kiyoko cheered, running up to me with a can of soda in hand. She and Kimiko also had different swimsuits on – orange and yellow respectively – and their hair was down (except for Kiyoko who had an additional tiny, stubby ponytail on the very top of her head). "Are you going to play another game with us?"

"Yep!"

"Great!" Kiyoko tossed the can to Kimiko who was sitting on her beach towel. "Let's go!"

Yoko nodded. "Okay, so the teams are going to be the same as yesterday. T.K. and me versus Yuudai and Kiyoko. Got it?"

"Got it!" Kiyoko cheered. She reminded me of an overexcited Mimi. Well, Mimi's bubbly side. Her twin would be Mimi's uncooperative, spoiled side. She hasn't really spoken to me. It's almost a wonder how they're twins!

"Got it." Yuudai took the ball from the ground. "I hope you're ready, Momma's Boy, because my serves are like fireballs!"

"His name's T.K." Yoko told him. Haven't I been through this before?

"Whatever. Serve's up!" He said before serving the ball with the hardest hit I've ever heard.

The ball came fast. So fast that I didn't get enough time to process that the ball was coming towards me. So fast that I didn't get a chance to dodge. So fast it caused a lot of pain. So fast it knocked me over. Sure, I could've gotten angry, but it was okay. Everything was okay. I heard that smiling at your opponents will tear them up inside until they smile back.

"Yuudai!" Yoko scolded. "Why do you have to be such a pain? You could've killed him!"

"Is he okay?" Kimiko asked. "Do I have to play for him?" She really didn't want to play, telling by the tone in her voice.

"Kimiko, this is serious!" Yoko yelled as I propped myself up with my elbows.

"Yoko, I'm okay." I told her. No teeth or blood came out, but there was a lump forming on my forehead. "It was just a mistake, right?"

As surprising as it was, Yuudai was the one person I saw as soon as I looked up. He had a very stern face as he held out a hand. I was confused at first, but once I accepted it, he smiled. "You're pretty tough, Momma's Boy." I guess smiling worked.

"Thanks, Yuudai." I said once I was on both feet. "Let's continue with our game. I believe it's our serve."

"What are you talking about, Momma's Boy?" Yuudai asked. "You only serve when you get a point."

"He did." Kiyoko spoke up with a little voice. "When Yuudai's fast ball hit T.K., the ball went over the net and landed on our side."

"Just great." Yuudai kicked the sand and returned to his post. "Let's just get back to the game."

One game later, the sun was starting to set and Yoko and I won ten to nine. "That was a good game." She said.

"Yeah, I guess…" Yuudai mumbled.

"Oh, don't be that way." Yoko laughed, poking his stomach. Then to me, she asked "So how long are you on vacation?"

"For the rest of the week." I said.

"That's cool." She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Do you want to hang out tonight?"

"Yoko, no." Yuudai said firmly as if it was illegal.

"It'll be fun. It'll be just a night hanging out. Surely, your mom doesn't have any family stuff planned." She raised an eyebrow.

I looked over at Mom who was packing things up. A night with Yoko... I can't pass that up! "I'll try to convince her."

She clapped her hands as Yuudai sighed in exasperation. "Shut up!" Yoko spat at him.

"No."

Yoko frowned before rummaging in her beach bag. She took out a pen. "Give me your hand." I did and she started writing. "Here's my number and my address."

"Okay." I smiled.

"But don't worry about finding me. I'll come to your room." She handed me the pen. "Which room is it?"

I wrote down 505. Can I count this as holding her hand?

"Try calling around eight. If you get permission, we'll meet a half hour later."

I nodded as Mom called "T.K.! Time to go, honey bear!"

I blushed like mad and gasped like an asteroid fell on her before I said to my new friends "You know how moms are. I'll see you later." I waved and left.

Mom finished packing up everything, wrapped an arm around me and gave me a squeeze. "How was your beach time?"

"It was fun." I said.

She looked at me for a second. "Honey, your face is red. Did you put on sunscreen?"

I looked at my friends who were looking back and laughing. "Well, it's just..."

"Oh, did I embarrass you in front of your new friends?"

"Oh, no!" I said. "It's very cool to be called honey bear in front of a cute girl."

"Where did you get that sarcasm from?" She looked at Yoko who waved back. "She is cute. Wait. There are three of them. Which one are you talking about? Anyway, grab the cooler and let's go."

I looked back at Yoko one more time as I did what I was told. She was looking back at me with just her eyes instead of her whole face. It was mysterious. I wonder what she was thinking. I just have to leave tonight. But how?

Trivia: I started writing this story around this time last year because I was excited for summer break to start!

Now, it's time to review! Tell me what you think so far. I haven't worked harder on any other story, so please tell me what you think! There's a lot more foreshadowing and other literary techniques which WASN'T easy! (well at least not yet) So please give me some feedback!