Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Song of the Setting Sun

Chapter: 4

Hanami. The traditional Japanese custom for enjoying flowers, mostly used as a reference for enjoying the blooming of Sakura trees, an event that lasts only one week all over Japan, from late March to early April. Centuries old, and still practiced to the enjoyment of all the citizens of Japan, no longer limited to such restraints like social class. It mostly consists of an outdoor party atmosphere for people, be it day or night, though the latter activity is referred to as Yozakura, literally translating as Night Sakura. During this part of the cherry blossom season paper lanterns are made and hung for the purpose of providing light during that time. All around the park people lounged about, some spread across the ground, others leaning against trees, and still more sitting upon picnic blankets, handing out various foods and, of course, the all important rice wine. It wasn't just couples who came here at this time, but family too. The park could be filled to the brim during the course of the week and it was important to find a pretty good spot to provide a picnic. Competition could be surprisingly fierce over such things, and people will be people after all. It is not at all uncommon to see people from companies standing guard at certain spots to discourage any would be 'spot stealers'.

Which was why the Wongs showed up early.

Henry removed a container of food from the families cooler and passed it to his older sister, who set it down in the middle of the blanket while their mother separated plates and chopsticks for everyone to use. Nearby, Suzie ran around with Lopmon, both of them apparently playing what looked like a game of Airplane. Lopmon had been steadily getting used to the girl's hyperactive energy (and crushing hugs that Terriermon kept claiming could crush the shell of a Tortomon), and was getting a rhythm for the type of games that she played, as it allowed her to get an idea of how the human mind worked. Though, given that it's Suzie Wong that we're talking about here, that might not necessarily be a good thing.

Nonetheless, Lopmon had come to act a little bit more childish lately in the company of the young girl. How it was that she never lost her respectful way of speaking in the process was still something to be marveled at.

"Ohhh…" moaned Terriermon from his spot on the blanket. "I don't know how Lopmon can act so carefree with Suzie. You'd think that the Princess Pretty pants treatment would have traumatized her by now."

Henry's sister, Jaarin, looked at Terriermon with a bemused expression on her face.

"You mean like you've been? I'm surprised that you didn't reveal your true nature earlier after the treatment that I've seen you get put through."

Terriermon chuckled.

"At least I know that I can last. No torture rack has got anything on Suzie once she gets her hands on you."

Henry frowned, though he couldn't help but have a small smile curve on his face. Like an old tradition, a familiar name came out of his mouth, so common now that it might as well have be a proverb or something by now.

"Terriermon…"

"Sheesh Henry. I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, Henry," teased Jaarin. "Momentai."

"Great. Now look at what you've done, Terriermon. You've corrupted my older sister."

"It's just so that your life stays interesting Henry," said Terriermon as he used his long ears to climb up onto his partner's shoulders.

"As if it isn't interesting enough already," grumbled Henry as he handed another container of food to Jaarin. Terriermon giggled and spread his ears outward, catching bits and pieces of conversation from the people around him and getting more than a few odd looks. No one around the Wongs freaked out though, as the citizens of Shinjuku was now used to the idea of digimon being among them. Well, the ones that stayed that is but there's no need to recap the reasons behind that again. Scanning the crowd, Terriermon kept an eye out for Henry's dad and older brother Rinchei, as old man Janyu had yet to show up from his duties at Hypnos and Rinchei was currently socializing with some friends of his that were in the crowd. Swinging his head around, the dog-bunnies eyes lighted on three familiar faces in the area, and he froze.

"Wha…?"

Henry looked up at his partner.

"What now?"

Terriermon narrowed his eyes, hopped up onto his partner's head and leaned forward to get a better view. Was that…? Could it be…? It was! Jeri… Rika… and… Takato. All three of them together beneath a Sakura tree. A little bit odd that this should be happening but then Terriermon had seen stranger things in his life, this least of all. Terriermon was about to say that it was nothing when he spotted something… shall we say… interesting?

Unless he missed his guess, and he could considering the distance he was at, it looked like Takato and Rika were… blushing!

"Man," chuckled Terriermon. "I never thought Takatomon could be such a lady-killer."

Henry looked at his digimon as though he had just lost his marbles.

"What are you getting at, Terriermon?"

Using his ears to grip Henry's head, Terriermon steered the boys face in the direction of Takato, Rika, and Jeri. Jaarin, curious as to what they were talking about, followed their gaze.

Henry raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so Takato's with Rika and Jeri. I don't think that means anything."

"Actually," began Jaarin. "I can kind of see what he's getting at. I don't know your friends the way you know them Henry but the way that those two are acting…"

Henry really couldn't tell which two that they were referring to. By the sounds of things though, he was starting to think that Terriermon had corrupted his sister to his way of thinking.

"I'm not sure what you or Jaarin's talking about though knowing you it probably isn't that hard to guess. Takato and Jeri don't seem to be doing anything that would suggest what you might be thinking about," said Henry, reaching up to take the dog-bunny off his head. His hands froze when Terriermon spoke up once again.

"Then let me refresh your memory," said the rabbit digimon as though he were a teacher talking to a slow student. He cleared his throat a couple of times and paused for dramatic effect.

"Renamon and Guilmon sittin' in a tree…"

Henry's eyes widened as the strangely familiar tune brought home a memory, while next to them, Jaarin burst out laughing.

A few minutes earlier…

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay… thought Takato as he repeated the words over and over like a mantra. Except, there was a problem. It wasn't okay.

Takato breathed a sigh of exasperation as he felt his face heat up ever so slightly, grateful that no one was able to see it. He couldn't believe that Jeri had invited Rika to join them! Not that it was really a bad thing mind you but… well, it kind of put a hole in his sails. He wanted to spend time with Jeri and now it looked like he wasn't going to get that chance. He wondered if in some way, Jeri inviting Rika to join them said that he was failing the girl he liked.

She had been so excited and happy when I asked her if she wanted to come with me to watch the Cherry blossoms. Did I do something wrong?

That was just the thing. He couldn't think of anything that he might have done wrong. They were walking through the park, he had told her about some incidents involving Guilmon and the bakery, like how one time Guilmon bowled his dad over to get at a freshly baked batch of Guilmon bread, or another time when he had stuck his nose into some flower that his mom had just poured in, and sneezed! That, he recalled, was the first time he had ever heard his mother threaten the poor dinosaur with banning him from the kitchen, a possibility that apparently carried more weight than a Sovereign's command, and the crimison saurian had agreed to be good after that. He recalled that one especially had gotten Jeri giggling.

So what was the deal?

Takato thought back to all the other times that they had hung out, and the few times that he had walked her home, how they both seemed to dance around each other. Takato knew that he often felt more than a little fumble footed when he was around Jeri, and there were times where he thought that she was just a little bit nervous around him too, though to him it seemed as though she concealed it better. Maybe… maybe she was just a little nervous about being on a date with him. But… if they liked each other then why should they be nervous about it? An interesting thought. Takato silently wondered if there might be something to it.

Ahhh… who am I kidding? Thought Takato. I'd still be a nervous wreck even if I knew that Jeri liked me. Well, maybe not as bad as I am now but…

Takato sighed. Life, he had decided, could be very confusing at times.

Well, it's not like Jeri has gotten to see much of Rika during the past few days. Her family's restaurant has been kind of busy lately, and since she no longer has… Leomon… Takato's face fell a little at the memory of the proud lion warrior who had given his life in defense of their lives. … Since she no longer has Leomon with her she can't join us in our Taming duties when we have to defeat a 'Wild One'. Heck, I see Rika more than she does, and she's usually busy… Yeah, that must be it. She just wanted to see Rika again and hang out with her. Besides, Jeri sees me almost all the time anyway and I didn't really 'ask her out' on a date or anything…

Takato's smile returned to his face, still a little troubled, but worry was now departing his heart. He did wonder if he was just fooling himself, and perhaps he was, but a little hope was better to fall back on then none at all. And it's not like she just dumped him or anything. She just saw a friend that she hadn't seen in a while and wanted to hang out with her for a little while, and Rika's not a bad sort of person to hang out with, even if she could be a little bit scary at times.

Takato frowned again, as his thoughts settled on the red haired girl that he counted as one of his closest of friends. He hadn't really expected to see her around here, and hadn't expected to run into her so soon after yesterday. Well, maybe not. She wasn't the type of person to let a little something like his catching her singing keep her from going out into the world. He had to wonder about it though. Yesterday he had seen a side of her that rarely came out. Usually when that happened, she was upset about something in particular and when she was like that she tended to not be around anyone else, which brought to mind that age old question, if a tree falls and no one's around, does it make a sound?

Of course, Takato always knew that Rika had that side of her. Heck, everyone did. Well, maybe with the possible exception of Kazu and Kenta, especially Kazu since they found it difficult to believe that the fiery Tamer even had emotions, but Takato knew that wasn't the case. He had seen her show those emotions on numerous occasions, mostly during the occasions when she was confronted with the possibility of losing her partner, like in the battle against Harpymon, or their fights with Beelzemon, D-Reaper… Right up until Locomon the list seemed to be endless.

And the song…

Takato snapped out of his daze as he realized that he had arrived at his destination. Fishing into his pockets for what money he did have, Takato took a quick look over his shoulder. Things may not have gone the way that he had expected them to, but that didn't mean that he couldn't try and make everybody involved happy.

Takato had temporarily taken a leave of absence from the two girls to go get something to eat, so Jeri and Rika stood underneath a Sakura tree and waited. To say that Rika was not very happy about this was an understatement. Well, not exactly. She wasn't fuming, but she certainly was a long way from comfortable. She didn't know why she was here really. The way Takato was acting it was pretty obvious that he shared her disposition. She couldn't blame him. From what little she could gather, which wasn't much at all when you got down to it, this was supposed to be an outing for Jeri and Takato. Jeri's inviting her to tag along made the red haired girl feel as though she was a fifth wheel around them, and that was not something that she enjoyed at all. Looking over at the puppet-loving girl, Rika pondered her reasons for inviting her to tag along. To be honest, Jeri looked a little bit nervous, and she rubbed her right hand every now and then as though it bothered her in some way.

Oh, right. The sock puppet.

Jeri had taken to not wearing her old sock puppet for a while now. It still made its regular appearances, but those appearances had been becoming fewer and fewer as time went on. Rika had come to understand that the puppet was often her way of dealing with a situation that made her uncomfortable. A little strange she thought, but everyone had their vices and crosses to bear, and Rika was no different. Jeri's sock puppet was just one of them, and old habits are difficult to break.

"All right, Jeri," said Rika. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Jeri looked a little bit startled. "W-what do you mean?"

"It's pretty obvious that you're nervous about something," said Rika. "And then there's the fact that you invited me to tag along when you and Gogglehead are on a date. Not that I don't want to hang around you guys, but I've gotta admit, it does seem a little suspicious."

Jeri looked at the ground shyly, not wanting to meet Rika's eyes.

"Sorry," said Jeri, finally looking up at Rika and meeting her gaze. "It's just that… sometimes I feel a little… funny around Takato, you know?"

"No, I... can't really say at all that I know."

Rika prayed that her expression didn't change at all when she said that. Jeri continued.

"I… I know that you're not into this sort of thing, but I was kind of hoping that you could help me around him."

"What's there to help? You've known him longer, and unless I miss my guess he likes you. I don't think that you have anything to worry about with that Gogglehead. Unless it came to tripping over himself."

Jeri seemed to perk up some at this.

"Yeah. Takato's a good guy isn't he?"

For some reason, Rika began to feel a little uncomfortable and a small trickle of heat warmed her cheeks.

"Er… yeah…"

Jeri gave Rika a strange look. Something was up with the fiery haired Tamer. But what?

Well, maybe she just doesn't like to talk about this kind of thing, thought Jeri. Looking at her though, Jeri began to develop a sneaking feeling that may only have been half the case. True, Rika wasn't comfortable talking about things like feelings. And from what she had heard it had taken her forever just to realize that she cared for Renamon and her family. Jeri shrugged and looked over to see Takato heading towards them.

"Oh, here comes Takato."

Rika nodded a little numbly, lost in her own thoughts, but not enough to miss the fact that Takato was walking towards them with what looked like a couple cones of ice cream. Maybe now she'd be able to get out of here and leave these two alone. Takato came up to the two girls and handed one ice-cream cone to Jeri and then, to Rika's complete and total surprise, handed the other to her with a nervous smile. Rika's cheeks bloomed red and she looked at him, startled. Jeri watched this rare phenomenon occur with more than a little amusement.

"Um… why…?"

Now it was Takato's turn to look a little red in the face.

"Um… well… because I… uh… didn't want you to feel left out and… er… I only had enough money for two anyways…"

Takato coughed and looked down at his feet as his voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. The way that had sounded just seemed so… wrong to him. He was sure that Rika must've felt insulted by that. Well, that was him being his usual, clumsy self as always. He was only trying to make her feel comfortable. After all she did say that she wasn't into looking at Cherry blossoms...

Rika accepted the ice cream, though she was no longer sure if she wanted it now. This was becoming just a little too much for her. She couldn't very well give it back without making Takato feel bad either, so it seemed that the best course of action was to go with the flow.

"Um… well… thanks," said Rika, feeling her cheeks warm up just a little bit more.

Jeri watched the scene with more than a little amusement, and giggled lightly at the pair, causing Takato to blush a little bit more, and Rika to turn to her and give her a glare.

"Thanks for the ice cream Takato," said Jeri between giggles. Rika just rolled her eyes and leaned back against the Sakura tree, frowning and holding her ice cream as though she wasn't sure what to do with it. Takato just rubbed his head sheepishly and mumbled something that sounded like thanks before leaning against the same tree as Rika, causing the girl to give him an odd look before taking her ice cream and giving it a lick, albeit blushing lightly again.

As though the scene were like a flash light in a dark room, it caused a thought to occur to Jeri as she looked back and forth between the two, gauging Rika's reaction to the goggle headed boy.

I wonder…

"So… uh, Jeri?" Asked Takato tentatively. Jeri looked at him and smiled, the strange thought gone as if it had never been.

"Yes, Takato?"

Takato looked a little embarrassed.

"Um… what do you want to do now?"

Terriermon continued to watch the three children with growing interest. Henry took a moment to eye the little dog-bunny in between mouthfuls of rice balls.

"You know, Terriermon," said Henry. "It's not nice to stare."

"I can't help it, Henry," said Terriermon. "This just seems so funny! Out of all the people that we know, Takato's the only one that ever seems to make Rika blush! You haven't done it, I highly doubt Kazu of Kenta have done it, Suzie and Jeri I can't even see doing that, Ryo…"

"We don't know really what went on between those two when they met up in the digital world other than that Kazu got her angry enough to strike out on her own," Henry reminded.

"Okay," said the dog-bunny. "I'll give you that, but still. Unless someone comes forth saying otherwise, Takato's the only one that's pulled it off, and just by being his usual Takato-ish self! You don't see Kazu or Kenta getting that kind of mileage with Rika just by being themselves now do ya?"

Henry chuckled. With that line of reasoning, he found it difficult to argue with his partner.

"Just let them be, Terriermon. I'm sure it's not at all what it looks like. The others were probably busy or something and Rika and Jeri were most likely the only ones around…"

"… Even though Rika doesn't like these kinds of things," said Terriermon with a smirk. Henry sighed.

"You are incorrigible," the Chinese boy said, and before Terriermon could say anything else, Henry stuffed a rice ball into his mouth to shut him up.

"Here, eat this. It tastes good."

"Mmmggmmph!"

7