Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine. It's late and I'm tired, insert disclaimer here please.
Silver Lights
by Shimegami-chan
http://www.shimegami.com/ichijouji
Theme: Takari, angst, and mentionings of various couples of all types. And I do mean ALL types. A Valentine's mini-series of stories in the same setting.
-------------------------------------
Hikari sighed in frustration as she opened her locker, eager to get as far away from school as possible. It had been a long, long day...
The sixteen-year-old Chosen of Light know better than anyone how great it was that her friends were happy, but unfortunately everything was not working out in her favour. Daisuke had very recently--thanks to her and Miyako--given up his pursuit of her affections in favour of a certain blue-haired Chosen of Kindess, and they had disappeared from school early that morning.
This was, Hikari thought, a good thing--after all, she had been one of the people Daisuke told when he decided he liked Ken. And yet, perhaps for his image's sake, he continued to flirt with her in public. Now that he was attached, Hikari hoped, that would come to an end.
The bigger problem was now Takeru. He seemed to continue to view Daisuke as a threat even after the mahogany-haired boy admitted that he was gay. But as soon as Takeru found out that Daisuke and Ken had finally gotten together, he had been following Hikari around like a lost puppy dog. Hikari knew that Takeru still had a crush on her, but he'd never gotten up the courage to ask her out. Which was perfectly fine with Hikari, since she wasn't interested in dating him anyway.
It wasn't because she had anything against him; he was her childhood friend after all--but he wasn't what she was looking for in a boyfriend. At age sixteen Hikari felt herself to be much more mature than her blonde-haired counterpart, even though they were the same age. Takeru simply hadn't grown up as fast.
Hikari slammed the locker shut, scanning the hallways for any sign of her friend-slash-stalker. Nothing.
"Yagami-san."
Hikari turned to face the person who had addressed her. He was tall, dark-haired and green-eyed, a color that matched his school uniform. "You're...Asuka-san, right? From my homeroom?"
The boy smiled. "That's right. I wanted to ask if you were going to the formal dance tomorrow night."
"I hadn't planned to..." She hadn't given the option any thought, knowing Daisuke and Takeru would both want to ask. But now Daisuke was taken, and Takeru was...
What Takeru is is none of my concern, the brunette told herself.
"Well, would you be interested in going with me, Yagami-san?"
So forward! And he is kind of cute...I don't see why not. "Please, call me Hikari." she smiled. "And I'd love to go."
*~s~*~i~*~l~*~v~*~e~*~r~*
Valentine's Day should be renamed "Singles Awareness Day," in the humble opinions of the single Chosen in the group. Out of those, Takeru was the only one present when the Tamachi-Odaiba indoor soccer league game came to an end. It had been close competition, but Tamachi had won by one point, and Ken was not letting Daisuke forget it.
Miyako clamoured down from the stands, clutching Poromon, Chibimon and Minomon. The latter had regressed to his child form even though he had enough energy to stay as Wormmon even in the Real World, devolving to a less-noticable form with his insistance to go with Miyako to "Ken-chan's game!" Chibimon had of course followed suit even as both Daisuke and Ken tried to bribe him with food and the PS2, and eventually Miyako had agreed to take them and Poromon to the game.
"Ken-chan!" Takeru watched from the doorway as the green Digimon attached himself to his partner's shirt. "You were wonderful! I want to watch all your soccer games!"
"Yatta, Daisuke!" Chibimon squealed, hugging Dai's ankle.
Takeru approached the group, waving in greeting. "Hey everyone."
Ken smiled. "Hello."
Miyako and Daisuke chorused, "Hey, Takeru!" Daisuke added, "Did you see the game?"
"Most of it."
"Where's Hikari?" Miyako stared at the blonde Chosen. "I thought she would have come to watch Daisuke."
It's always about Daisuke, isn't it? Although Dai certainly wasn't standing between him and Hikari, it still seemed that she was drifting further away from him and towards the brown-eyed leader. "I thought she was with you."
Miyako looked away, looking almost guilty at bringing up the subject. "Oh. Hey Takeru, you don't happen to be going to the dance tonight, do you?"
"The Valentine's Dance? Sure, I guess so. Aren't we all going?"
Daisuke and Ken looked at each other. "I don't see why not," the Child of Kindness said.
"Oh. Okay. I think I have to go, I've got some homework and...stuff. Great game, you two." Miyako turned and hurried off, leaving the three boys staring after her.
Something's wrong. About the dance? Takeru didn't dare speculate.
Daisuke sighed softly. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
*~l~*~i~*~g~*~h~*~t~*~s~*
Hikari hurriedly styled her hair, pulling it back with red heart clips. She wore a knee-length pink dress and white shoes, trying to get as much into the 'valentine's day' theme while still being formal. Downstairs, Taichi was interrogating her date.
Her brother appeared a moment later in the doorway. "Are you ready?"
"Nearly." She gritted her teeth.
"He seems like an okay guy. If he tries anything, though, I'll kill him."
"Uh-huh."
"I'm going out with Mimi, but you can call me on my cell phone."
"Right."
"Why aren't you going with Takeru?"
Hikari fell silent. "Why, did Yamato-kun ask?"
Taichi looked surprised. "No, I just wondered. I always thought you two liked each other."
"He likes me. I don't like him." The words fell out before she could stop them.
Her brother's brown eyes darkened. "Fine." He left the room without another word.
*~d~*~e~*~v~*~o~*~t~*~i~*o~*n~*
Takeru and Daisuke sat at the corner table, sipping punch and watching Ken and Miyako dance. The two purple-haired Chosen were doing something akin to a slow waltz as they talked with serious faces, leading Daisuke to beleive that there was something going on that he didn't know about. And he didn't like it one bit.
Takeru seemed to be waiting for something; probably Hikari, Daisuke mused. Koushirou would be coming late, but once he showed up Takeru would be the only one here without a date. Unless Hikari came.
The song ended and Ken and Miya stepped off the dance floor, Ken offering his hand to Daisuke. Dai accepted and they twined their arms around each other in a slow dance as the music played. Daisuke laid his head on his partner's shoulder. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Ken sighed. "Something's very wrong."
Out of the coner of his eye, Daisuke caught a flash of pink and white appearing amidst the soft lavender lights. Hikari...on the arm of one of her classmates, a boy named Asuka that was popular in their grade.
"Never mind." Daisuke held Ken tighter.
*~c~*~h~*~o~*~s~*~e~*~n~*
Takeru's heart fell into his shoes as Hikari entered, talking and laughing with another boy. He waved to her as she passed, but they proceeded to the dance floor and settled into the music.
Takeru prayed that he wouldn't cry as he watched the only girl he had ever loved snuggle closer to the stranger. "Hikari..."
Ken and Daisuke had left the floor and disappeared into the bathroom. Takeru knew this had to be about Hikari; as Ken had been looking between him and her for most of the song, until an impatient Daisuke started to whisper into his ear. At Ken's reply the mahogany-haired Chosen looked shocked, wrested his boyfriend off the floor and dragged him into the boys' bathroom.
The song ended and Hikari and Asuka sat down at a nearby table, not even noticing Takeru until Miyako called her name and motioned her and her date over. The two moved and sat in Ken and Daisuke's seats.
"You guys, this is Asuka," Hikari introduced, avoiding looking in Takeru's eyes. "Asuka, my friends, Miyako and Takeru." The dark-haired boy smiled warmly at each in turn, ignoring Takeru's half-glares.
Miyako seemed to be torn between defending Takeru and ripping Asuka apart, or supporting Hikari and being nice to her date, who had not been unkind to her during the school year. She eventually settled for watching the door, seemingly hoping that Ken or Daisuke would rescue her. The two boys appeared a moment later, Daisuke looking fiercely determined, Ken slighty calmer but a strange expression on his face. The former approached Asuka and planted his hands firmly on the table. "Okay, buddy, what's the deal?"
Ken and Hikari looked horrified. "Dai!"
Daisuke cast a let-me-handle-this look at his boyfriend and turned back to Asuka. "Well?"
Asuka looked slightly uncomfortable, fidgeting. "I'm Hikari's date."
"We're not blind," Ken said dryly. Miyako had begun to shoot Daisuke approving looks.
"And we're Hikari's friends," Daisuke continued. "So if you hurt her, or try anything, I'll kill you."
"Daisuke. Ken coughed.
"What? Oh, sorry, love. I probably shouldn't have threatened him." Daisuke gave Ken a long, chaste kiss on the lips before turning, wearing a wide grin, back to Asuka. "Also, Hikari's friends are our friends, right?"
If Daisuke was expecting Asuka to run in terror from the gay couple, he was wrong. The dark-haired boy smiled and said, "I understand. You're just looking out for Hikari."
Chastised, Daisuke backed into Ken's arms and shut up abruptly. The bluenette smoothly continued, "Our group is very close, so it's a bit of a shock to see someone dating outside of our circle of friends, Asuka-san. Please forgive our rudeness."
"Yeah," Daisuke piped up, "we always thought Hikari would end up with me or Ta--" Ken clamped a hand over his mouth and smiled innocently.
"Oh, so you've only recently come out?" Asuka looked completely sincere.
"Well, yeah."
"That's cool, how long have you all been friends then?"
Horrified at the turn the conversation was taking, Takeru slunk away into the darkness. This guy--was perfect! Izumi-level genius, good looks, popular, athletic...and non-Chosen. Ken's comment had struck home--was Hikari trying to move furthur away from the group?
Even worse was the knowledge that she had kept the date a secret from him--supposedly her best friend for so many years. Maybe she really wasn't interested; she had been treating him rather condecendingly since the beginning of the school year...
Takeru watched as the couple stood up for a dance, leaving Miyako, Ken and Daisuke in a heated arguement at the table. They knew what he felt for the brunette...it was almost humiliating. It was because of him that Hikari was dating outside the Chosen, and because of him that his friends had to make an enemy out of Asuka.
Damn. Maybe I should just leave. The depression had begun to eat at him; a combination of feelings and regrets. He had spent his first high-school years devoted to this girl, who seemed to have no interest in him whatsoever. It was certainly enough to knock his self-esteem down a few notches, as though it had been high at all in the wake of his teenage years; the rise to stardom of his older brother Yamato, the absence of Digital battles he hated to fight but still yearned for, the drop in his grades and troubles with his divorced parents.
He sat in the dark corner, lost in thought, throughout most of the dance. Koushirou had arrived and was dancing shyly with Miyako, while Daisuke and Ken had disappeared. Asuka and Hikari continued to slow dance for every song.
A quicker song was played and Asuka disappeared into the bathroom while Hikari waited at the table. Daisuke hurried over and exclaimed something to the brunette, who looked puzzled. Takeru couldn't hear them over the music, but Daisuke turned on his heel and ran away just as fast and a worried-looking Hikari followed.
They can't be looking for me, can they? Takeru realized that he should have left when he had the chance. I don't want to talk to her.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated his friends' persistance. All five of them appeared mere seconds later, crowding his corner. Ken smiled smugly and shut off the 'detection' feature on his D-3, slipping the object into his pocket. "Takeru! Where have you been?" Miyako asked.
"Right here, the whole time." Takeru replied dully.
Miyako and Koushirou backed off, leaving Hikari, Ken and Daisuke. Daisuke gave him a hard look. "Takaishi, tell her what's wrong. She really doesn't know."
Takeru glared. "There's nothing wrong." The holders of Kindness, Friendship and Courage didn't reply, following Miyako away from the two angels' Chosen.
"Takeru..." Hikari slid to her knees, ignoring the dusty floor. "I don't understand. What's wrong?"
"You understand perfectly."
She sighed. "Maybe I have some idea. You can't run my life anymore, old friend. Why do you keep trying?"
"I'm not trying to run your life. I'm trying to be in your life. You've been ignoring me these past months."
Hikari gathered fabric nervously into her fingers, stretching it and squeezing it. "I don't mean to. It's just that...I'm growing up, and I don't think you're following fast enough."
"If you considered me a friend, you'd wait."
"I am waiting!"
"You are not. You're trying to move away from your friends."
She fell silent. "I just want to be happy, can't you understand that?"
"Can't you make us both happy?"
"Would it involve dating you?"
Takeru didn't respond, and Hikari's anger grew. "See, I knew what this was about. I'll date who I want, Takeru Takaishi."
"I didn't say you couldn't." He met her eyes.
Hikari was suddenly struck with the weight of what she was doing. One of her oldest friends; one who she would coach through romance if he were interested in anyone else, was expressing interest in her. And she was treating him like a child. "I'm not interested in a boyfriend right now, Takeru. I just wanted a date to the dance."
"Would you have gone if I'd asked you?"
She hesitated.
"I'm sorry." His eyes dropped again. "That's none of my business."
Maybe he really has been maturing, and I just haven't noticed. Hikari smiled sadly. "Is that the problem? It is, isn't it. I'm sorry, but I've got enough going on in my life without needing a boyfriend."
"I understand."
"However, I would accept a dance--if you were interested." She hoped she wasn't damaging his pride by making him play second fiddle, but the sparkle returned to his blue eyes as he looked up. "I am. But..." The deejay had just announced the last dance of the night. "...shouldn't you be with Asuka?" The dark-haired boy was chatting with Koushirou at the table.
"We'll go over there," Hikari pointed near the front of the gym, where a machine above the basketball net was blowing bubbles over the dancers. "Asuka and I aren't anything more than friends. He won't mind."
Waves of euphoria rushing through him, Takeru led Hikari out onto the floor and placed his hands on her hips as she twined her arms around his neck. The music was slow but speedy, of an almost mournful quality. Bubbles popped against their skin as they moved in a slow circle, never drawing too close, and too shy to meet the other's eyes.
Takeru felt as though he were in heaven, smelling Hikari's sweet perfume, feeling the satin of her dress slide against his fingers. It was a dream come true. Even if Hikari never spoke to him again he could die a happy man.
The girl in his arms sighed wistfully, seemingly somewhere between happiness and regret. "Maybe someday, Takeru."
The enigmatic comment gave Takeru the hope he was looking for, despite it all. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry, Takeru," she whispered.
"It's okay," he replied.
//Won't be the last heart that you break
Won't be the last beautiful girl, in the world.//
And they danced under the bubbles.
~owari
OMAKE:
(first time I've done one of these!)
Asuka Daiki tapped his fingers on the table as Koushirou's laptop booted up. "I seem to have lost Hikari. Wonder where she went?"
"I couldn't imagine," Miyako commented dryly, slightly angry that the Keeper of Knowledge had brought his laptop to the Valentine's dance.
He smiled serenly, oblivious. "Ah well, you win some, you lose some. Do you know the incredible benefits you can get from being asexual, by the way?"
"Why, are you?"
"Scientifically, no. However, there's no real term that can be applied here. But humans can function--"
Miyako tuned out the conversation between her boyfriend and Hikari's date, watching Ken and Daisuke dance instead. "Why do I put up with this? I should have just listened to Daisuke and turned gay when he did."
"Miya, you know perfectly well that you can't just 'turn gay'--"
"Miyako, that's positively foolish--"
The violet-haired girl groaned aloud. I wonder what Sora's doing tonight?
After a moment of thought, though, she decided that she really didn't want to know.
~owari...
(that was a subtle hint that Sora's chapter will be coming soon, as will Miyako's. anybody recognize Asuka?)
Shi-chan: It may not be the happy Takari ending you (or I) were expecting, but there's another good chunk of the fic to come...Takari and Kouyako (not to mention a healthy dose of Kensuke!) for all! BTW, this fic didn't make it to the final edit. I was waaaaay too tired and just wanted it uploaded; any gaping mistakes will be fixed soon. The lyrics inset were borrowed from Matchbox 20's Last Beautiful Girl.
For the Kensuke prequel to this story, please see Silver Hearts. Enjoy!
Based on a true story and dedicated to my koibito. Happy Singles' Awareness Day, kareshi.
Silver Lights
by Shimegami-chan
http://www.shimegami.com/ichijouji
Theme: Takari, angst, and mentionings of various couples of all types. And I do mean ALL types. A Valentine's mini-series of stories in the same setting.
Hikari sighed in frustration as she opened her locker, eager to get as far away from school as possible. It had been a long, long day...
The sixteen-year-old Chosen of Light know better than anyone how great it was that her friends were happy, but unfortunately everything was not working out in her favour. Daisuke had very recently--thanks to her and Miyako--given up his pursuit of her affections in favour of a certain blue-haired Chosen of Kindess, and they had disappeared from school early that morning.
This was, Hikari thought, a good thing--after all, she had been one of the people Daisuke told when he decided he liked Ken. And yet, perhaps for his image's sake, he continued to flirt with her in public. Now that he was attached, Hikari hoped, that would come to an end.
The bigger problem was now Takeru. He seemed to continue to view Daisuke as a threat even after the mahogany-haired boy admitted that he was gay. But as soon as Takeru found out that Daisuke and Ken had finally gotten together, he had been following Hikari around like a lost puppy dog. Hikari knew that Takeru still had a crush on her, but he'd never gotten up the courage to ask her out. Which was perfectly fine with Hikari, since she wasn't interested in dating him anyway.
It wasn't because she had anything against him; he was her childhood friend after all--but he wasn't what she was looking for in a boyfriend. At age sixteen Hikari felt herself to be much more mature than her blonde-haired counterpart, even though they were the same age. Takeru simply hadn't grown up as fast.
Hikari slammed the locker shut, scanning the hallways for any sign of her friend-slash-stalker. Nothing.
"Yagami-san."
Hikari turned to face the person who had addressed her. He was tall, dark-haired and green-eyed, a color that matched his school uniform. "You're...Asuka-san, right? From my homeroom?"
The boy smiled. "That's right. I wanted to ask if you were going to the formal dance tomorrow night."
"I hadn't planned to..." She hadn't given the option any thought, knowing Daisuke and Takeru would both want to ask. But now Daisuke was taken, and Takeru was...
What Takeru is is none of my concern, the brunette told herself.
"Well, would you be interested in going with me, Yagami-san?"
So forward! And he is kind of cute...I don't see why not. "Please, call me Hikari." she smiled. "And I'd love to go."
Valentine's Day should be renamed "Singles Awareness Day," in the humble opinions of the single Chosen in the group. Out of those, Takeru was the only one present when the Tamachi-Odaiba indoor soccer league game came to an end. It had been close competition, but Tamachi had won by one point, and Ken was not letting Daisuke forget it.
Miyako clamoured down from the stands, clutching Poromon, Chibimon and Minomon. The latter had regressed to his child form even though he had enough energy to stay as Wormmon even in the Real World, devolving to a less-noticable form with his insistance to go with Miyako to "Ken-chan's game!" Chibimon had of course followed suit even as both Daisuke and Ken tried to bribe him with food and the PS2, and eventually Miyako had agreed to take them and Poromon to the game.
"Ken-chan!" Takeru watched from the doorway as the green Digimon attached himself to his partner's shirt. "You were wonderful! I want to watch all your soccer games!"
"Yatta, Daisuke!" Chibimon squealed, hugging Dai's ankle.
Takeru approached the group, waving in greeting. "Hey everyone."
Ken smiled. "Hello."
Miyako and Daisuke chorused, "Hey, Takeru!" Daisuke added, "Did you see the game?"
"Most of it."
"Where's Hikari?" Miyako stared at the blonde Chosen. "I thought she would have come to watch Daisuke."
It's always about Daisuke, isn't it? Although Dai certainly wasn't standing between him and Hikari, it still seemed that she was drifting further away from him and towards the brown-eyed leader. "I thought she was with you."
Miyako looked away, looking almost guilty at bringing up the subject. "Oh. Hey Takeru, you don't happen to be going to the dance tonight, do you?"
"The Valentine's Dance? Sure, I guess so. Aren't we all going?"
Daisuke and Ken looked at each other. "I don't see why not," the Child of Kindness said.
"Oh. Okay. I think I have to go, I've got some homework and...stuff. Great game, you two." Miyako turned and hurried off, leaving the three boys staring after her.
Something's wrong. About the dance? Takeru didn't dare speculate.
Daisuke sighed softly. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Hikari hurriedly styled her hair, pulling it back with red heart clips. She wore a knee-length pink dress and white shoes, trying to get as much into the 'valentine's day' theme while still being formal. Downstairs, Taichi was interrogating her date.
Her brother appeared a moment later in the doorway. "Are you ready?"
"Nearly." She gritted her teeth.
"He seems like an okay guy. If he tries anything, though, I'll kill him."
"Uh-huh."
"I'm going out with Mimi, but you can call me on my cell phone."
"Right."
"Why aren't you going with Takeru?"
Hikari fell silent. "Why, did Yamato-kun ask?"
Taichi looked surprised. "No, I just wondered. I always thought you two liked each other."
"He likes me. I don't like him." The words fell out before she could stop them.
Her brother's brown eyes darkened. "Fine." He left the room without another word.
Takeru and Daisuke sat at the corner table, sipping punch and watching Ken and Miyako dance. The two purple-haired Chosen were doing something akin to a slow waltz as they talked with serious faces, leading Daisuke to beleive that there was something going on that he didn't know about. And he didn't like it one bit.
Takeru seemed to be waiting for something; probably Hikari, Daisuke mused. Koushirou would be coming late, but once he showed up Takeru would be the only one here without a date. Unless Hikari came.
The song ended and Ken and Miya stepped off the dance floor, Ken offering his hand to Daisuke. Dai accepted and they twined their arms around each other in a slow dance as the music played. Daisuke laid his head on his partner's shoulder. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Ken sighed. "Something's very wrong."
Out of the coner of his eye, Daisuke caught a flash of pink and white appearing amidst the soft lavender lights. Hikari...on the arm of one of her classmates, a boy named Asuka that was popular in their grade.
"Never mind." Daisuke held Ken tighter.
Takeru's heart fell into his shoes as Hikari entered, talking and laughing with another boy. He waved to her as she passed, but they proceeded to the dance floor and settled into the music.
Takeru prayed that he wouldn't cry as he watched the only girl he had ever loved snuggle closer to the stranger. "Hikari..."
Ken and Daisuke had left the floor and disappeared into the bathroom. Takeru knew this had to be about Hikari; as Ken had been looking between him and her for most of the song, until an impatient Daisuke started to whisper into his ear. At Ken's reply the mahogany-haired Chosen looked shocked, wrested his boyfriend off the floor and dragged him into the boys' bathroom.
The song ended and Hikari and Asuka sat down at a nearby table, not even noticing Takeru until Miyako called her name and motioned her and her date over. The two moved and sat in Ken and Daisuke's seats.
"You guys, this is Asuka," Hikari introduced, avoiding looking in Takeru's eyes. "Asuka, my friends, Miyako and Takeru." The dark-haired boy smiled warmly at each in turn, ignoring Takeru's half-glares.
Miyako seemed to be torn between defending Takeru and ripping Asuka apart, or supporting Hikari and being nice to her date, who had not been unkind to her during the school year. She eventually settled for watching the door, seemingly hoping that Ken or Daisuke would rescue her. The two boys appeared a moment later, Daisuke looking fiercely determined, Ken slighty calmer but a strange expression on his face. The former approached Asuka and planted his hands firmly on the table. "Okay, buddy, what's the deal?"
Ken and Hikari looked horrified. "Dai!"
Daisuke cast a let-me-handle-this look at his boyfriend and turned back to Asuka. "Well?"
Asuka looked slightly uncomfortable, fidgeting. "I'm Hikari's date."
"We're not blind," Ken said dryly. Miyako had begun to shoot Daisuke approving looks.
"And we're Hikari's friends," Daisuke continued. "So if you hurt her, or try anything, I'll kill you."
"Daisuke. Ken coughed.
"What? Oh, sorry, love. I probably shouldn't have threatened him." Daisuke gave Ken a long, chaste kiss on the lips before turning, wearing a wide grin, back to Asuka. "Also, Hikari's friends are our friends, right?"
If Daisuke was expecting Asuka to run in terror from the gay couple, he was wrong. The dark-haired boy smiled and said, "I understand. You're just looking out for Hikari."
Chastised, Daisuke backed into Ken's arms and shut up abruptly. The bluenette smoothly continued, "Our group is very close, so it's a bit of a shock to see someone dating outside of our circle of friends, Asuka-san. Please forgive our rudeness."
"Yeah," Daisuke piped up, "we always thought Hikari would end up with me or Ta--" Ken clamped a hand over his mouth and smiled innocently.
"Oh, so you've only recently come out?" Asuka looked completely sincere.
"Well, yeah."
"That's cool, how long have you all been friends then?"
Horrified at the turn the conversation was taking, Takeru slunk away into the darkness. This guy--was perfect! Izumi-level genius, good looks, popular, athletic...and non-Chosen. Ken's comment had struck home--was Hikari trying to move furthur away from the group?
Even worse was the knowledge that she had kept the date a secret from him--supposedly her best friend for so many years. Maybe she really wasn't interested; she had been treating him rather condecendingly since the beginning of the school year...
Takeru watched as the couple stood up for a dance, leaving Miyako, Ken and Daisuke in a heated arguement at the table. They knew what he felt for the brunette...it was almost humiliating. It was because of him that Hikari was dating outside the Chosen, and because of him that his friends had to make an enemy out of Asuka.
Damn. Maybe I should just leave. The depression had begun to eat at him; a combination of feelings and regrets. He had spent his first high-school years devoted to this girl, who seemed to have no interest in him whatsoever. It was certainly enough to knock his self-esteem down a few notches, as though it had been high at all in the wake of his teenage years; the rise to stardom of his older brother Yamato, the absence of Digital battles he hated to fight but still yearned for, the drop in his grades and troubles with his divorced parents.
He sat in the dark corner, lost in thought, throughout most of the dance. Koushirou had arrived and was dancing shyly with Miyako, while Daisuke and Ken had disappeared. Asuka and Hikari continued to slow dance for every song.
A quicker song was played and Asuka disappeared into the bathroom while Hikari waited at the table. Daisuke hurried over and exclaimed something to the brunette, who looked puzzled. Takeru couldn't hear them over the music, but Daisuke turned on his heel and ran away just as fast and a worried-looking Hikari followed.
They can't be looking for me, can they? Takeru realized that he should have left when he had the chance. I don't want to talk to her.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated his friends' persistance. All five of them appeared mere seconds later, crowding his corner. Ken smiled smugly and shut off the 'detection' feature on his D-3, slipping the object into his pocket. "Takeru! Where have you been?" Miyako asked.
"Right here, the whole time." Takeru replied dully.
Miyako and Koushirou backed off, leaving Hikari, Ken and Daisuke. Daisuke gave him a hard look. "Takaishi, tell her what's wrong. She really doesn't know."
Takeru glared. "There's nothing wrong." The holders of Kindness, Friendship and Courage didn't reply, following Miyako away from the two angels' Chosen.
"Takeru..." Hikari slid to her knees, ignoring the dusty floor. "I don't understand. What's wrong?"
"You understand perfectly."
She sighed. "Maybe I have some idea. You can't run my life anymore, old friend. Why do you keep trying?"
"I'm not trying to run your life. I'm trying to be in your life. You've been ignoring me these past months."
Hikari gathered fabric nervously into her fingers, stretching it and squeezing it. "I don't mean to. It's just that...I'm growing up, and I don't think you're following fast enough."
"If you considered me a friend, you'd wait."
"I am waiting!"
"You are not. You're trying to move away from your friends."
She fell silent. "I just want to be happy, can't you understand that?"
"Can't you make us both happy?"
"Would it involve dating you?"
Takeru didn't respond, and Hikari's anger grew. "See, I knew what this was about. I'll date who I want, Takeru Takaishi."
"I didn't say you couldn't." He met her eyes.
Hikari was suddenly struck with the weight of what she was doing. One of her oldest friends; one who she would coach through romance if he were interested in anyone else, was expressing interest in her. And she was treating him like a child. "I'm not interested in a boyfriend right now, Takeru. I just wanted a date to the dance."
"Would you have gone if I'd asked you?"
She hesitated.
"I'm sorry." His eyes dropped again. "That's none of my business."
Maybe he really has been maturing, and I just haven't noticed. Hikari smiled sadly. "Is that the problem? It is, isn't it. I'm sorry, but I've got enough going on in my life without needing a boyfriend."
"I understand."
"However, I would accept a dance--if you were interested." She hoped she wasn't damaging his pride by making him play second fiddle, but the sparkle returned to his blue eyes as he looked up. "I am. But..." The deejay had just announced the last dance of the night. "...shouldn't you be with Asuka?" The dark-haired boy was chatting with Koushirou at the table.
"We'll go over there," Hikari pointed near the front of the gym, where a machine above the basketball net was blowing bubbles over the dancers. "Asuka and I aren't anything more than friends. He won't mind."
Waves of euphoria rushing through him, Takeru led Hikari out onto the floor and placed his hands on her hips as she twined her arms around his neck. The music was slow but speedy, of an almost mournful quality. Bubbles popped against their skin as they moved in a slow circle, never drawing too close, and too shy to meet the other's eyes.
Takeru felt as though he were in heaven, smelling Hikari's sweet perfume, feeling the satin of her dress slide against his fingers. It was a dream come true. Even if Hikari never spoke to him again he could die a happy man.
The girl in his arms sighed wistfully, seemingly somewhere between happiness and regret. "Maybe someday, Takeru."
The enigmatic comment gave Takeru the hope he was looking for, despite it all. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry, Takeru," she whispered.
"It's okay," he replied.
//Won't be the last heart that you break
Won't be the last beautiful girl, in the world.//
And they danced under the bubbles.
~owari
OMAKE:
(first time I've done one of these!)
Asuka Daiki tapped his fingers on the table as Koushirou's laptop booted up. "I seem to have lost Hikari. Wonder where she went?"
"I couldn't imagine," Miyako commented dryly, slightly angry that the Keeper of Knowledge had brought his laptop to the Valentine's dance.
He smiled serenly, oblivious. "Ah well, you win some, you lose some. Do you know the incredible benefits you can get from being asexual, by the way?"
"Why, are you?"
"Scientifically, no. However, there's no real term that can be applied here. But humans can function--"
Miyako tuned out the conversation between her boyfriend and Hikari's date, watching Ken and Daisuke dance instead. "Why do I put up with this? I should have just listened to Daisuke and turned gay when he did."
"Miya, you know perfectly well that you can't just 'turn gay'--"
"Miyako, that's positively foolish--"
The violet-haired girl groaned aloud. I wonder what Sora's doing tonight?
After a moment of thought, though, she decided that she really didn't want to know.
~owari...
(that was a subtle hint that Sora's chapter will be coming soon, as will Miyako's. anybody recognize Asuka?)
Shi-chan: It may not be the happy Takari ending you (or I) were expecting, but there's another good chunk of the fic to come...Takari and Kouyako (not to mention a healthy dose of Kensuke!) for all! BTW, this fic didn't make it to the final edit. I was waaaaay too tired and just wanted it uploaded; any gaping mistakes will be fixed soon. The lyrics inset were borrowed from Matchbox 20's Last Beautiful Girl.
For the Kensuke prequel to this story, please see Silver Hearts. Enjoy!
Based on a true story and dedicated to my koibito. Happy Singles' Awareness Day, kareshi.