Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

A/N: I thought I should do Kari's story.

Chapter 1

My best wishes came true. Some of them I didn't even realize until later. I met someone. He's such a special someone. I've known him for a long time but I never realized how much he meant to me until high school.

But I met him in the eighth grade. It was after the darkness was vanquished and peace returned. More and more people owned Digimon. It was like my dream world. Too bad I had to wake up from it so early for school. It was the first day so it was so hard to get out of bed. But that's not important. What was important was when I got to class.

Davis was there again for the fourth year in a row. I wonder how. Anyway, Davis sat down next to me with enthusiasm written all over his face. "Nice to see you again!" He said.

I smiled back. Honestly, I thought his optimism was cute. It's something he had a lot of. More than anyone I knew. "Welcome back to school." I told him.

"Isn't it a coincidence that we're in the same class again?"

I shrugged. "Something has to explain four years in a row."

As Davis sat down, a boy passed by. He was looking at me with small gentle green eyes. I got a weird vibe from him that was unexplainable. He had buzz cut brown hair and he dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans. He gave me a small half smile before sitting down in the back of the room, in the corner across from me. He was mysterious.

"What are you looking at?" Davis barked and nearly gave me a heart attack.

"The new kid." I told him. "Have you seen him before?"

He turned around with squinted eyes, looking at him. "He doesn't look so hot." He said when he saw enough.

"I never said he was hot." I laughed. "Is he going to be another guy on your jealousy list?"

He smiled. "Only if you like him."

"I don't even know him. It would be nice to know his name."

"Allow me." Davis sprang out of his chair and happily marched to the boy's desk. The two were talking, Davis with a smile and the other guy without. A while later, he came back, still smiling.

"Well...?"

"His name is Michio. He used to be homeschooled so he doesn't know anyone. He's probably a goth kid. You know, emo. You should stay away from him. I'll protect you."

"No need." I said. "He probably just needs someone to talk to."

Our teacher entered the room moments later and class started. Here we go again!

Lately I haven't seen much of Michio. He kind of came and went whenever he wanted. It was weird. It's been years since he spoke to me for the first time.

I was working as hard as I could to get into a good college with a good education program. It wasn't easy with all of the chaos going on. I sighed, thinking about it. Tai left for college along with Izzy and Matt, Joe is off to one of the best medical schools, Mimi went back to America, Sora's modelling in Milan, Cody's too busy trying to get to high school, and Davis is just gone. He had to drop out to support his new family. There went a ray of sunshine. I missed his enthusiasm so much.

Even my best friend, T.K. was barely around. He was just as busy as I was and he had an insane schedule. I had lunch with him every now and again but it wasn't enough. All there were left were Ken and Yolei. But they were busy with grades and being in love.

So today I was alone. The both of them had a lunch date and I was too busy studying for a science test. So I was off to the library with a cup of coffee in one hand and a few books in the other. I sighed as I opened my chemistry book. Oh how I hated chemistry.

As I quietly began working, someone passed by. Distracted, I looked up and saw a frustrated Michio. He was looking at the books with his fists clenched and his breath huffing and puffing. Then he sighed a depressing sigh and sat down at the table in front of me. I felt bad for him. "Are you okay?" I whispered.

He shot up, looking at me with those intense green eyes that made me wish I never said anything. It shook me in a way that made me fear yet admire him. Then, he came over to my table with a fast paced walk. "Can I sit down?" He asked me.

I nodded and gestured towards the chair in front of me. "Sure." I'm sure chemistry won't mind waiting a minute…or five.

He sat down with his fists still clenched on the table. He was still huffing and puffing for a while. Once he stopped, he finally said "I think my life is messed up."

"What do you mean?"

Michio looked around at the many shelves of books and back at me with tears in his eyes threatening to fall. "I can't do this."

"Do what, Michio?"

He exploded with a huge gesture towards everything around us. "This! I can't do this! I'm not a good student. School's too hard."

I looked into those narrow green eyes. "I know classes can be rough but it will all be worth it when you go to your favorite university."

"I can't go to college. I barely got to high school. And with my grades, I might get kicked out." He sighed. "It just makes me so mad that I just go work out for hours." That's when I noticed how lean he was. So many muscles. He really lived up to his name. "How do you get good grades?"

I just looked at him for a second. That question doesn't come up that often. "I just study real hard everyday."

"Everyday?" I asked as if I told him I ran six miles everyday. I nodded. "Wow."

"Don't you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I only study before a test."

I smiled. It reminded me of Davis's study habits! "That's where you're wrong. You could forget everything right after the test."

He stared at me for a while with those intimidating eyes. Then he sighed. "I can't do that."

That's when I made my first bold move. I put one of my little hands on his giant one. "Yes you can. Because I can help you."

He lit up and gave me a half smile that he gave me those years back. "Really?"

I nodded. "Really."

And that's how it started.

That next day after school I was at the library with him. That's where we studied history. He cracked open his book and began reading his book. His eyes moved vigorously across the page as he constantly bit at his thumbnail. Then he stopped and closed the book. I was about to ask what the problem was but he opened the book again and started over. It fascinated me in a way. He just stopped and started over and over. Then he finally stopped with another huff. "I can't do this."

"You can." I took my chair and sat next to him. "What you need is a good study strategy." I opened his book to the right page. Then I looked at what was on it: a huge thing of words just waiting to confuse anyone. "This is how I do it. First, I underline the important things like dates and special events and stuff. Then I create flashcards to remember it."

"Really? Does it work?"

I nodded. "Of course. It also helps to dumb everything down to normal everyday stuff. You know, put them in your own words."

He looked at me then the book. "That's pretty cool." He underlined a few things then closed the book. "Now can you help me with math?" He pulled out his math book.

"Well, math is a bit tricky. The only thing you could do is show it whose boss." He raised an eyebrow. "I know it sounds crazy but that's how I do it. Math likes to trick you with a bunch of numbers. But you have to learn their language. You know, memorize the formula."

"That's cool." He closed the book. "Do you want to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

I nodded. "Okay." Tomorrow was the day I wouldn't be able to sit with T.K. for some unknown reason and Yolei and Ken had something to do. It sucked being alone.

()()

That night, I was in the middle of studying for chemistry but I was still nervous about lunch tomorrow. I sighed, looking at the phone. Maybe I should call Tai. It would be nice to here from him again.

"Hello?" He answered. "This is Taichi."

"You answer with your full name?" I laughed.

"Hey, Kari! About that, there are like four other Tai's in my building. I had to be specific. So what's up? Is everything okay?"

I sighed for like the billionth time. "I guess. I really miss you."

There was a pause on the other line. I could hear him typing something. Or it could have been Izzy. "I miss you too…so much. And Mom and Dad." There was a bit more typing. "I wish I can come home already."

There was another pause followed by Izzy saying "A majority of college freshmen suffer from homesickness and drop right out."

I missed his Izzy-ness. "Tell Izzy I said hi."

"He said hi back." Tai chuckled.

"So where's Matt?"

"Matt?" Tai paused. Then off line, he said "Hey, Izzy, where's Matt?"

"Library." He said something else but I couldn't hear.

"You don't say... Is he okay?" There was a brief pause. "Matt's fine." He said to me. "He went to the library."

"I wish I could hear from him. I miss everyone. Did you know Davis dropped out?"

"Davis did what?" He exclaimed loud enough for Izzy to hear.

"What did he do?" He asked.

"He dropped out." My brother told him.

"What? Put it on speaker phone!"

Tai pressed a button and I was instantly able to hear more. "What happened?"

"Remember Sandra?"

"Who's that?" Izzy asked.

"Davis's girlfriend." I explained. "They're going to have a baby together."

"I thought that was a secret." Tai said. "How did you find out?"

"I heard from Ken. Anyway, he started building his noodle cart so he could support the family. I haven't seen him in over a month." I sighed. "This stinks. It's like I'm alone all of the time."

"What happened to T.K.?" Izzy asked.

I rolled my eyes thinking of how T.K. never has time for anyone. "He's so busy. It's crazy. Ken and Yolei aren't around as much because of grades and I have to study for this test."

"Don't worry, Kari. We'll all get together as soon as we can." Tai said. "In the meantime, get as much studying done as you can."

"I wanted to tell you something else. Do you remember that guy, Michio?"

"The weird nomad that just roams around where ever he pleases?" Izzy asked. "I think I can recall you mentioning him once or twice."

"Oh, the background guy." Tai said. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, he asked me to sit with him at lunch and I'm kind of nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about?" Tai asked.

"I don't really know him."

"Well use that time tomorrow to get to know him. Then call me that afternoon and tell me all about it. I have to go now. Dinner's almost ready and I'm about to burn the dorm down."

"Okay, Tai." I laughed. Then I seriously said "I love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

"Bye." We both hung up.

()()

The next day, I tried my best to dress to impress, but we have a uniform to wear. So I put on eyeshadow with my usual face makeup and a fancy bracelet that matched. When I was finally ready, I grabbed my book bag and headed out the door.

I was walking about a block when a huge black SUV pulled up beside me. The driver rolled down the window to reveal who it was: Michio? "You have a car?" I should really ask: you know where I live?

"I got it for my eighteenth birthday." He said. "Hop in. I'll give you a ride."

I looked around, thinking if it was a good idea or not. What's the worst that can happen? I hopped into the passenger seat. "Thanks."

"No problem. Anything for the pretty girl who helped me pass my first online test!"

"You did?" I asked, matching his excitement. "That's amazing! Way to go!"

"I can't thank you enough. How can I repay you?"

"Oh, you don't have to..."

"Kari, I know we don't talk much, but you don't know how big this is to me. I was one failing grade away from getting me academically expelled. Thanks to you, I might actually have a shot at graduating."

"Really?" I blushed.

"I feel kind of silly asking this but can you help me after school? You know, just like yesterday? I'll pay you."

"That's not necessary." I said. "I'll just be glad to have someone to talk to."

He pulled to a red light and looked at me. "What do you mean?"

I shook my head and looked out the window. "It's nothing." I can't believe I said what I said.

He didn't say anything at first. He kept his eyes on the road as the light turned green. "If you're saying that you don't have many friends, join the club."

I was sort of in shock to hear it. I looked over at him. His green eyes told me he wasn't lying. "You don't have any friends?"

"I never said I didn't have any. It's just that..." He sighed. "They moved on to college while I'm reliving junior year."

I looked down at my hands. "Well, my closest friends are scattered."

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I sighed. "I'm tired of being alone."

He pulled the car into a parking spot. "Me too."

We both looked at each other, just gazing. I felt my heart fluttering. What was I feeling? More importantly, what was he feeling? Finally, I slid out of the car. "Thanks for the ride." I said.

"See you at lunch." He said back as I was leaving. Now I can save myself from further embarrassment.

Okay, it's time to review! I hope you like it as much as I did writing it. Tell me how I did even if I messed up big time! Just click review and leave your comment!