Welcome back everyone. I'm glad that some liked the first chapter and I'm sorry it took me such a while to update this story as a whole. Took a while to get through this chapter and the chapters for my Koushirou's Search fic as well as working of course, doing lesson plans and all that.
Now, for this chapter, you get to see Hikari's side of things. As you can see, both Takeru and Hikari are going to have romantic feelings towards other people, but since they are "destined to be together", they're sticking with each other, completely oblivious and blind to the fact that both feel the same way about their relationship. That aside, I truly hope that Hikari doesn't come across as completely out of character for this chapter (or fic in general). I personally felt she was a little out of character for this chapter, but I'll let you all be the judge of that. Either way, the main lesson learned for the pair will be that there is no such thing as the "perfect couple", even if people constantly view them as one.
Now, as always, I do not own any of the characters or places in this story. Bandai and Toei have that honor.
Chapter 02: The Crush…
"Okay, bye!...I love you!" Hikari said as she pushed the button to hang up the cordless phone. 'There, I did it. I guess that's what he wanted to hear...'
The girl was in the living room on the couch as opposed to her room since her 19-year-old brother was home from Odaiba University for a visit. She always disliked talking to Takeru whenever he was around, even more so than her parents, who also thought in the same way Taichi did whenever it came to her relationship with Takeru, only Taichi was worse to her, especially since he literally glorified their relationship.
He would usually go on, with a toothy grin, about how she and Takeru made the perfect couple and how he wouldn't want to, nor could he, see any other boy with his "baby sister", since Takeru was, apparently, "the one" for her.
She truly abhorred that stress. The main reason she had allowed herself to start up with Takeru was because of the urging of everyone else to, especially those like Miyako or Mimi. Both would always talk about how she and "Takeru-kun" were, "the angelic couple of light and hope", and how they were obviously fated to be together, and then Mimi would maybe say, "I knew they would get together someday," and usually her basis was from their first Digital World adventure. "They were so cute! I always wondered how they would look together when older."
The only ones who never really insisted on she and Takeru's relationship, or even tried to initiate or hint that they should be together, or even made a big fuss over the two, other than the obvious Daisuke or their Digimon partners, was Iori, Jou, and Koushirou. She was very grateful for this, though. At least they didn't cause her any stress with these so-called expectations of her. Either way, Taichi was still the main culprit, surprisingly. Due to Taichi's influence and praise, she figured, "oniichan would know best" as to whom she should date and eventually marry someday. Hikari had a very high respect for her brother still to this day, and usually took his words and praise of her at face value. In her naïve eyes, Taichi could say or do no wrong.
She didn't want to disappoint her brother or anyone else, Takeru included, if she spoke up and saying how she truly felt. Here she was in the "perfect relationship" with the "perfect boy", and yet, she wasn't truly happy. She wasn't romantically happy with Takeru at all, and was worried as to what would happen when Takeru may want to go further in their relationship or take it to the next level.
Hikari shook off those thoughts, hoping that that day would never come. She hanged up the phone, and headed to her room, which she was currently sharing with her brother since he'd returned home for his summer break just the day before.
'Why can't I tell Takeru how I really feel? I would hate to disappoint everyone, but I just don't like him in that way...I never have. The only reason I agreed to go out with him was because it was expected of me to. We're destined to be together; it's our fate, and one cannot change fate...but what does it mean if I like somebody else in the way that I should like Takeru...'
When she came to her room, she heard her brother's loud, boisterous voice and a lighter, slightly annoyed and exasperated one. She wondered who it was in her room with her brother. She was so busy on the phone, that she hadn't even taken notice to anyone coming in.
She opened the door, and saw her brother standing by the desk which held her rarely used computer, and a smaller person lying underneath the computer desk, messing with some wires.
"Oh, can't you hurry up?" Taichi argued impatiently while tapping his foot and folding his arms. "I want to send out some messages! I can't use my phone and no one uses D-Terminals anymore."
"You shouldn't have tried connecting this new printer yourself! You also shouldn't have disconnected everything else and tried reconnecting them by putting the random wires into various ports! They are color-coded for a reason!" the person from underneath the desk shot back in slight irritation. "Let professionals, or those who know a thing or two about computers do it, not those who don't know the power button from the reset button!"
"I'm going to pretend that I didn't hear that."
"Sorry," the boy apologized hastily as he connected the last wire. "There, I'm done, Taichi-san."
"Ahh great, thanks buddy!"
Taichi helped the figure from off of the floor, who stood upright. "No problem," the redheaded 18-year-old, Odaiba Senior High School third-year smiled. "It's been quiet around here without you. I'm sure you surprised a lot of people with your return a couple of days ago. I thought you were going to take a trip with your Soccer Club."
"I was, but I decided to come back home and check up on everyone here, especially since Sora and Jou were planning on coming back for summer break, and of course Yamato's performing right here in Odaiba! I couldn't miss out on his group's biggest performance ever! I'm also back because we're coming up on August 1, and that's why Sora and Jou are back too."
"True, it's a tradition that'll never seem to fade, eh?"
"Definitely," Taichi nodded.
Back at the door, Hikari stared dreamily, and in slight surprise, at the person talking with her brother. Her romantic interest was right in her room. For years, Hikari had always had a slight thing for this smart redhead. She liked everything about him, his politeness and manners, his courteous nature, his computer skills, despite not being too interested in it herself, the way he would explain a theory, etc. She had also known him for a long time, just like she had Sora, so that was a plus as well.
"Oh, hey, look."
Taichi looked in the direction that Koushirou had and waved. "Hey sis."
"Hi there, Hikari-san. I would have greeted you earlier when I got here, but you were on the phone when Taichi-san let me in. I didn't want to disturb or distract you from your call."
She grew slightly flustered. "Oh, th-that's okay."
Izumi Koushirou, Taichi's best friend of many years. How the two had met as young children was unknown to the girl. They did know one another when in the Odaiba Elementary Soccer Club, and wondered if they'd known one another prior to that, just like how her brother had known Sora for as long as she could remember. Taichi and Sora had been friends since before they even started Odaiba Elementary School together, and before the two had even moved from Hikarigaoka (Heighton View Terrace) years earlier. Either way, Hikari had always been somewhat drawn to Koushirou's intellect and levelheadedness, but always hated that fact that he always saw and treated her as a younger sibling.
Lately, the 16-year-old girl had been fantasizing about him, and couldn't get him off of her mind, and the more and more time she spent with Takeru, the stronger her feelings would seem to grow for Koushirou, which, in part, would cause her mood to be down, and she would pour out her sour thoughts and feelings in the form of words in her diary, especially since she truly felt that was falling in love with the redhead.
It was the only feeling she figured it had to have been since the feelings she had were none she'd ever felt towards anyone else. Her longing and admiration for him couldn't be feelings of friendship, especially since they'd grown so much stronger as the years passed by.
Koushirou was her first crush, and in a way, still was. Ever since she was about eight, she'd had a fondness for the boy, but it was at the age of about eleven where she started to have these inexplicable feelings towards him. He was the greatest boy in the world to her...well, maybe only second greatest, as her brother will always rank higher than pretty much everyone to her.
"So, Hikari, I hear you have a date for this afternoon," Taichi smirked as he ruffled his sister's hair.
"Um, yes, I do, oniichan," she answered him plainly while absentmindedly putting some of her now shoulder-lengthened hair back into place.
Taichi turned to his slightly shorter friend. "Isn't it great how she and Takeru are still together?"
"Yeah, I guess," Koushirou shrugged, not truly caring one way or the other. "Taichi-san, you did say you're going to the concert, right?"
"I wouldn't miss it. Still hard to believe that we're best buds with a local celebrity."
"Yeah, it is a bit surprising," he laughed lightly. "I never pictured myself being friends with someone so popular." Koushirou walked towards Hikari and smiled to the younger girl. "Are you and Takeru-kun going to the concert too?"
"Um, er, I ugh..." Having the older boy that close to her caused her to feel a bit nervous and uneasy. Her palms grew sweaty and her heart started to race. Lately, she couldn't control herself whenever she was near him unexpectedly. She then felt her calf muscles turn to jelly as she felt her legs give way.
"Hikari-san!" Koushirou called out as he instinctively caught her before she could fall to the floor. He looked down at her in concern. "Are you okay?"
'Kou-chan is holding me! Kou-chan is holding me! Oh my gosh, he's holding me in his arms' Hikari inwardly panicked as she tried her best to put aside her feelings for him and to also try her best to avoid getting lost and unfocused from gazing into his dark, mysterious eyes.
Taichi rushed over to the two. "Hikari! Are you okay?"
She regrettably got out of Koushirou's arms. "Oniichan, Koushirou-san, I'm okay."
"Are you sure you're okay? You shouldn't be going out if you're getting sick!"
"Yes, I'm sure I'm fine." She bowed to Koushirou. "Thank you for catching me. I don't know what happened. I guess I'm just excited about the concert tonight." She finished up with a nervous laugh.
"I guess planning to attend such an event would be rather exciting," he noted thoughtfully. He then turned back to the soccer player. "Taichi-san, I have to get going."
"Why do you have to leave so soon? You just got here. I haven't been able to hang out with you or Yamato or any of the others since I got back."
"Well, I sorta had plans before going to the concert tonight," he nervously grinned, while scratching the back of his head. Even after all of these years, he was still somewhat hesitant on giving off too much information regarding himself, despite being friends with Taichi and the others for so long.
The grin Koushirou was now wearing, was one that made Hikari's heart absolutely melt, but at the same time, it caused her to feel slightly envious. She had an idea as to what he was going to say next, and how it was probably the reason for his smile.
"I promised to spend the afternoon with Mimi-san. Coming over here wasn't even on my agenda. I just wish I'd known you were back sooner, I would've changed my plans. Either way, when you called, you sounded so desperate for help, that I couldn't say no and just had to at least say hi to my best friend."
Mimi and Koushirou had been going out for a long while now, even slightly longer Hikari and Takeru – almost an entire year that upcoming fall. The two dating one another was not only a surprise to all of their friends and fellow classmates, but a surprise to both Koushirou and Mimi as well. Whenever asked how the two started up with another, both would always say, "It just happened."
Sometimes Mimi would say, with a perky smile, "Fate allowed us to get together." She was very happy with Koushirou, happier than she'd ever been when it came to boys who would approach her in the past. Boys seemed to be interested in her because of her looks or her body, so to speak, but with Koushirou, he seemed to genuinely be interested in her. She also liked the fact that she could hold an adequate or significant conversation with him.
Koushirou was just as happy about his relationship with the "Karaoke Princess" as Mimi was. He considered himself to be the luckiest boy in the world to be dating such a nice girl as Mimi. He didn't have too much experience in the romance department, as this was his first true and real relationship, then again, it was Mimi's first real relationship too, but she did have experience with being sought after by other boys. He'd never been particularly sought after by other girls much...not that he knew of, anyway. Either way, he was content with the relationship he had with Mimi, and hoped that nothing about it would ever change which would break the two of them up.
Hikari's subconscious blamed Mimi for her disastrous relationship with Takeru ever since the two started dating, even though consciously, she knew it wasn't her fault. She was still upset over Koushirou's no longer being single, and had always secretly hoped that he was waiting around for her. After that fateful day, her hopes and dreams of ever becoming "Izumi Hikari" was shattered, and her heart ached terribly.
She was an emotional wreck after that, and figured that she should just go on and date her "destined partner" to get over Koushirou, but the feelings never went away and just grew stronger. It was getting to the point where it was growing more and more difficult for her to hide the fact that she truly like Koushirou and had no feelings for Takeru what-so-ever.
Most of her diary entries had been about the redheaded computer genius, and how the one thing she had always wanted, was now unattainable due to her "predestined fate". The one that haunted her and affected her ever since she was eight years old...when she first became one of the "Erabareshi Kodomotachi (Chosen Children)".
Taichi booted up the computer. "Where are you and Mimi-chan going today?"
The redhead rejoined the soccer player at the computer. "Well, since the concert tonight is being held at Zepp Tokyo, we both decided to spend the afternoon in Palette Town."
Taichi laughed. "If you're going to Palette Town, that means you can't avoid going to West Mall."
"I know, but it's just a small sacrifice. I can handle a shopping trip...now her karaoke...it's fun, but I'll never be able to get into it too much."
"Only because you can't sing!" he teased.
Koushirou leaned his back against the bunk that both Taichi and Hikari shared, ignoring the older boy's remark. "Despite what most think, Mimi-san doesn't shop as much as you all would think. I feel she's just as average as any other girl with the shopping thing, unless she's out with her female friends or something. Who knows what they do whenever they get together. I did tell her that if she rarely goes shopping because of me that she shouldn't, but she insists that it isn't. One thing she did mention was that she hated the fact that people unfairly judge her and just automatically assumes she's a shop-a-holic because of her popularity status.
"I've always heard that relationships are based on respect, consideration, and the willingness to compromise, and Mimi-san knows that I don't care for shopping trips, but to be fair, I insisted that we go today since we're going to be in Palette Town anyway. It has many shops." His face went partially red, as if he'd given off some personal secret.
"Wait, you actually insisted on going shopping?" He nodded bashfully. "I don't care what you say about her and the shopping thing. She might not do it much, but shopping with girls is still boring! Even Sora is crazy when it comes to shopping! Why in the world did you agree to something like that?"
"Well, um...she sorta mentioned s-something that she needed."
Koushirou felt his face growing hotter and refused to say anymore than that, as he felt it was too personal. He and Mimi were actually planning on going to the beach the next day, as both were taking a break from their studies, which they had a lot of, due to the fact that they were in their final year, even if it's only temporary. They were also taking a break because of the upcoming reunion. Mimi wanted to go shopping for a new swimsuit for the occasion.
Trying his best to not let his mind wander to seeing Mimi is a nice swimsuit, he tried his best to rid himself of his deep blush. "So, um, I should probably get going."
Hikari, not ready to see her redheaded love interest leave, stopped him. Ever since Taichi had graduated from Odaiba Senior High School, Koushirou hadn't really hung around their home much. The only time Hikari really saw him was in school. She was now a first year at the school, and would see the third year walking around the school with Mimi at times by his side.
"K-Koushirou-san, please wait," she called to him.
"Yes, Hikari-san?"
When he turned to face her, she tried her best to keep her composure, but suddenly grew shy. "Why not stay here? Takeru-kun should be coming over soon. We were planning on going to Palette Town too."
"Oh, you were?"
She nodded as she spoke up more, a nervous quirk to her voice. "Yes, we could all go together, and-and-and go do whatever while there!"
"Aww, isn't that adorable!" mocked Taichi with a toothy grin. "My sister wants to double with you, Koushirou. She's ready to hang out with the big kids."
"So she does. If you really want to spend the day together, I guess I could call and suggest it to Mi-"
"Yes you could!" Hikari piped up excitedly before he could even finish.
"W-well, I'm sure Mimi-san wouldn't mind going to Palette Town with you and Takeru-kun. I don't mind. I'll go call her." He went through the pocket of his long, khaki shorts, and took out his mobile phone. He then wandered out of the room to phone the karaoke princess.
'Wow! Kou-chan is coming along with us! This is going to be great! Even if Mimi-san is there, it won't matter because Kou-chan is going to be there!'
"Yo, Hikari, you there?" the girl heard someone whistle.
She shook off her thoughts of Koushirou as she saw her brother's hand being waved in front of her face. "Oh, oniichan! Hi!"
Before Taichi could comment on his sister's strange, sudden attitude change and unusual behavior, Koushirou walked back into the room.
"Well, is it okay with Mimi-san?" asked Hikari anxiously.
"Affirmative. She said she would love to spend the afternoon with you and Takeru-kun." He laughed shortly. "She then said that maybe we could learn a thing or two from the 'destined couple of perfection'."
"What better couple to probably learn stuff from than my sister and Takeru."
Hikari forced on a small smile and nodded. "Well, I have to change, so if you don't mind..."
"Oh, yes. Let's go, Taichi-san."
"Yeah, sure."
The two boys left the room, talking about the different sports and other various clubs that Odaiba University had to offer. Hikari closed the door behind them as she sat down on the bottom bunk, staring down at her diary, which was sitting on top of her pillow. She wanted tow rite down what she was currently feeling, as she had no one else to talk to at the moment. She just felt incredibly anguished, and it was something she couldn't share with anyone...even Tailmon (Gatomon). She sighed.
'Why couldn't I be in place of Mimi-san? Why was I cursed with having this fate? Why does the one I am destined with have to be Takeru? Why was I the one he was destined to be with? How come my choice of a partner was decided for me when we were all first chosen...'