Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or have any association with those who do.
Please enjoy.
T.K. rolled over in bed, staring angrily at his clock. Waking up an hour before he set his alarm for. Running his hands through his hair he rested his arm over his eyes, moaning slightly at the mixture of exhaustion and inability to sleep. Finally he tossed his covers off and slipped out of bed, dressing quickly in jeans and a red long sleeve tee. Slipping out of his room he clicked the thermostat up, hearing the burst of air coming up through the vents. Walking quietly into the kitchen he started a pot of coffee—not 100% it would help—more out of a habit than anything now.
Matt's bedroom door opened. T.K. turned around to greet his brother, surprised to hear him up this early. "Hey Maaa…" T.K. stopped as he saw Sora slowly closing Matt's door.
"Shhh." She motioned for him to keep quiet.
T.K. laughed quietly. "I knew he couldn't have possibly been getting up this early on a Saturday." Sora walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, T.K. followed suit. "You guys are pretty serious then."
Sora blushed. "Yeah, I guess so."
T.K. wasn't sure what to say. He'd been so out of touch with everyone and while things were the same, everything seemed to have changed. "Sorry."
Sora frowned. "Sorry?"
T.K. shrugged. "I'm kind of out of the loop."
Sora leaned back in her chair. "You know we all tried to stay in contact with you."
T.K. gave her a single nod. "Yeah."
Sora glanced back towards Matt's door. "Matt mentioned something to me last night." T.K. cringed, looking up at Sora timidly. "You and Kari?"
T.K. laughed. "Yeah, no." he pushed himself up, the coffee maker beeping to indicate it was done. Pouring two cups of coffee he remained silent.
Sora placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palms. "I assume she turned you down then."
T.K. sighed giving her a look. "Persistent." He set the sugar and creamer on the table before handing Sora her cup with a spoon.
"Matt's worried about you." She added a couple spoonful's of sugar and began stirring her coffee.
T.K. shrugged. "Nothing to worry about. It'll be alright with time."
"You don't have to act so adult about it, you know." Sora smiled sadly at T.K.
He laughed. "I'm avoiding all my friends because of it. I don't think that's being very adult about it."
Sora's expression grew with concern. "So you are avoiding everyone. Is that why you never really responded to our emails or phone calls?"
T.K. narrowed his eyes. "I have a weeks' worth of homework to do before Sunday night. It was good talking to you."
Sora sighed. "Yeah. I need to head out too. But I'm always available if you need someone to talk to." She smiled at him encouragingly.
He nodded. "Thanks Sora."
#
T.K. glared at the papers strewn across his desk. Glancing at the clock on his nightstand every few minutes with irritation. He glanced up at his computer screen, several tabs open of research, music playing on his phone which was plugged in by his bed.
Leaning back in his chair he glanced around the room, still a few boxes with his belongings piled against the far wall. He'd unpacked all the essentials already. Letting out a deep breath T.K. went back to his homework. "Focus…" he grumbled under his breath.
Suddenly his phone rang—almost too quickly he bounded from his homework—he half expected it be Matt, who had left earlier for band practice, but was surprised to see Ken's name on the screen. "Hello?"
"Hey." Ken seemed surprised T.K. answered. "I have the afternoon free if you were interested in hanging out today."
T.K. hesitated, looking at the desk drowning in papers and books. "Eh…"
"What's the matter?" Ken heard the reluctance in his voice.
T.K. sat down on his bed. "I have mounds, literal mounds, of homework to do before Monday."
Ken laughed. "Well I can help you with that if you want. It'll be easier than when I helped you with your homework over skype before."
"I can do it myself. I don't want to make you spend your free time doing highschool homework."
"It's really no big deal. Davis was asking for help too earlier, I can just help you both." Ken chuckled. "Want to meet at my place or could we come to your new apartment?"
T.K. looked at the clock. "It doesn't really matter. Matt's gone though so I'll have to walk—"
"We'll come by your place. No worries. Text me your address." Ken chimed. "See you in about an hour?"
T.K. sighed. "Sure."
"See ya!" Ken hung up abruptly.
T.K. stared at his phone slightly dismayed. "Right…" Ken was one thing—the only person he kept in touch with aside from his brother. But Davis as well? T.K. walked over to his dresser and pulled out a black tee, putting it on over his red sweater.
#
Right on time the doorbell rang. Matt answered the door haphazardly, just barely opening the door enough for them to see him. "Come in!" he hollered as he hopped back up the hall trying to get his shoes on.
"I thought T.K. said you weren't home." Ken asked slightly confused.
Matt grabbed his jacket and phone off the kitchen table. "Just got out of my band practice a bit ago, came back real quick to change so I can go meet with Sora for lunch."
Ken and Davis walked in, both in casual jeans and tees. Davis slumped his heavy backpack off his shoulder and started dragging it. "Why can't they invent lighter books?"
Matt laughed. "Wait til you get to college!" Ken only nodded with an exasperated look on his face.
Davis shuddered. "No thank you."
Matt pulled his jacket on and walked past the boys. "T.K.'s in his room." He pointed across the living room. "Have fun guys."
Ken shrugged and they made their way to the closed door. Ken knocked lightly before grabbing the handle. "We're coming in."
"Yeah." T.K. yelled as they slipped inside. T.K. was lying on his bed now, having tired of the desk. "Hey." His expression was dark.
Davis eyed the mountain of papers and books T.K. had towering around him. "Dude…"
T.K. eyed Davis for a few seconds. He seemed mostly the same and judging by his greeting the day before Kari must not have told him that he'd confessed to her. It made it a bit easier having Davis around knowing he wouldn't have to deal with his animosity—not yet anyway.
Ken moved some papers to the side and sat down next to T.K. "They gave you this much to go over in two days?"
T.K. nodded. "It's not that I can't do it, it's just the overwhelming feeling it's giving me is making me feel kind of like I'm drowning."
Davis plopped on the floor. "I bet we have some of the same stuff to go over. Let's find that first!"
T.K. shrugged. "That'll work."
#
Two Hours Later
They had all migrated to the floor, encasing it in both Davis' and T.K.'s homework, books and scratch paper. T.K. was pleased by the amount of work they'd accomplished, however Ken's attention ended up being more focused on Davis rather than himself, but going over things in a more organized manner created a faster pace for him to work.
"Thanks…" he spoke softly. Both boys looked up from Davis' textbook.
"No problem." Ken smiled encouragingly.
Davis gave T.K. a thoughtful look before turning back to his book. "So what about this one." He pointed at the formula.
Ken was about to answer him when his cell vibrated from its perched spot on T.K.'s bed. Reaching up he grabbed the phone, glancing at the name on the front he stood and excused himself from the room, closing the door behind him.
T.K. looked away from the door and noticed Davis' staring at him. "What?"
Davis leaned back. "So."
T.K. suddenly felt awkward. They'd never been very close before. At times T.K. was pretty certain Davis didn't consider him a friend. "What Davis?"
"Okay, so I guess I just want to get this out of the way." He gave T.K. an apologetic look before shifting his eyes to the floor. "We both know I'm a pretty terrible friend, but that's no excuse. I mean…"
T.K. looked baffled. "What are you…?"
"I'm just trying to apologize for not keeping in touch." He could tell Davis was uncomfortable.
T.K. laughed. "It's not really a big deal…"
Davis looked at T.K. with frustration. "Why? Because I wasn't the only one?"
T.K. frowned. "Huh?"
Davis shrugged. "Cody and Yolie said they got busy and didn't really keep in touch either. I thought it was kind of weird…"
T.K. pursed his lips and closed his eyes, a look of guilt crossing his expression. Finally he looked back up at the quizzical Davis. "They said that?"
He nodded. "Yeah. But that's no excuse for me. I should have at least dropped an email or two. What I'm trying to say is I hope I didn't screw up our friendship."
T.K. smiled lightly. "Davis, don't worry about it. We're good."
Davis looked a little relieved. "Cool." He smiled. "So you joined the basketball team?"
T.K. nodded. "I only got in because my coach from my school in Hokkaido gave me high recommendations. May not be too late for a scholarship or two if I do well enough." He paused. "I didn't see your name on the roster…"
Davis shrugged. "I dropped it when I started getting scholarship offers from my soccer games. I decided to focus on that instead—besides I like soccer way more."
Ken walked back in suddenly. "I just got a text from Yolie while I was on the phone."
T.K. shook his head. "I don't think she has my number." He said honestly.
Davis reached into his pocket. "Mines been on silent. Oh jeez." He stood. "I guess your place is closet Ken."
Ken nodded. "Yeah."
T.K. stood, slightly alarmed. "What's wrong?"
"Hawkmon and Gatomon sent out an S.O.S." Ken finally addressed him, realizing he didn't know what they were talking about.
T.K. reached over and took his computer out of sleep mode, quickly closing all his windows and clicking on a familiar icon. "Did the text say what sector?"
Davis narrowed his eyes at T.K.. "You had that on your computer this whole time?"
T.K. hesitated. "Yeah."
Ken saved T.K. by interrupting their conversation. "This is what Yolie sent me. They want to meet us here."
"They?" Davis asked, seemingly forgetting his previous inquiry.
Ken looked at Davis. "Kari and Yolie were already together. They're already in the digital world."
T.K. hadn't used the gate program in a long time, over a year it seemed. "I think I got it." He glanced back at Ken looking for confirmation.
Ken eyed the location he'd clicked on and nodded. "That's it. Let's go."
Davis and Ken pulled out their digivices, looking to see T.K. had remained still. "I think it's still in a box." He gestured towards Ken's digivice.
Davis and Ken glanced at each other. Ken stepped back. "I'll help T.K. find it, go back them up." Davis didn't hesitate and lifted his digivice, fading into T.K.'s computer.
Ken turned and stared at the boxes against the far end of the room. "Any idea which—"
"Just go." T.K. shrugged.
"T.K." Ken shook his head. "Talk to me."
T.K. almost laughed. "Can we not?"
Ken placed his digivice back into his pocket and leaned against the wall, folding his arms he glared at T.K. "What's going on with you? When you said you were coming back you made it sound like you wanted to be a part of the group again."
T.K. took a step backwards, sitting on the edge of his bed. "I do. I just need things to be normal a little longer before I jump back in."
Ken sighed. "You can't avoid Kari forever. It's awkward, but you knew that was a chance."
T.K. pursed his lips and nodded. Slightly regretful he'd confided in Ken through their various emails. "You've all been fine without me so far."
Ken closed his eyes with frustration, biting back a snide remark. "Are you even listening to yourself?"
T.K. pushed himself up and walked over to his nightstand, pulling out his digivice. "If you need me, I'll come." He set the digivice down on the desk.
Ken glared at T.K. "That's how it's going to be then?"
T.K. shifted his gaze to the floor. "For now."
Ken let out a frustrated laugh. "How are things ever going to get back to normal if you refuse to let them be normal?"
T.K. exhaled deeply, looking up at Ken. "Fine."
Ken smiled lightly. "I can't know what you're going through, T.K., but you can't lock yourself away like you were doing in Hokkaido. You can't avoid us. You can't run away from us. You chose to come back, so man up."
T.K. stood and grabbed his digivice. "I know that."
"Davis is going to tell the others you had a digiport available all this time. You know that, right?"
T.K. glared at Ken with irritation. "Maybe he'll forget about it."
Ken laughed. "Davis has probably changed the least out of all of us, but he's not as airheaded as he used to be."
"Great…" T.K. grumbled under his breath. Holding up his digivice he felt that immersive feeling he'd almost forgot. Feeling himself flying through the digital rift into a world he both loved and hated.
As usual, thank you for reading. I appreciate any feedback.
If you're interested in my original work, please feel free to google The Silent Ballad Series to learn more.