Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or any of the characters presented in this story :(

A/N Thanks again reviewers. Always making my day. :)

I hope it excited you as much as it excited me that the word count of this story doubled after posting this chapter. :)

Whenever the past shows up, Kari is either daydreaming or actually dreaming about it. But you probably figured that out already.


Present ~ July 2012

"How's the ice cream?" TK asked as he watched Kari conquer her large bowl of strawberry ice cream. After such a depressing start to the day at the cemetery, ice cream felt like the perfect solution to lighten the dreary mood.

"It's amazing! Did you know this is like my most favorite thing in the world?" she murmured while she continued to blast through her ice cream. She promised herself not to eat dinner later that day.

"I guess I didn't," he chuckled and smiled at her child-like excitement. "Wow, Kari! I guess you're not one to diet. You've only got like two bites left!"

"Nope! Only one!" she proudly stated as she stuffed the remaining ice cream into her mouth and dropped the spoon into the bowl feeling like a champion. "Mmmm. That was so good. This place is seriously the best. Been going here since I was a kid."

"Glad you liked it, Kari. I just wanted to thank you for going to the gravesite with me today. Your support helped me out a lot. I'm usually pretty depressed on this day," he thanked her sincerely. She would never realize it, but everything that she had said and done for him in the past hour had helped to heal the wounds much more than time itself had done for the past three years.

"It was no problem! I mean, I'd be a huge jerk if I didn't give you my support," she stated with a light laugh.

Kari would never admit it to him, but things were quickly changing between her and TK. She couldn't put her finger on it but the way she looked at him before and the way she looked at him now—it had become, well, different. However, she was still very unsure of what it was and why. Yes, he had matured a lot over the years. Anyone forced to go through as much as he did would have to grow up very quickly—but one thing she knew for certain, it was something much more than growing up. After all, he still made fun of her all the time.

They had fought so much and hated each other's guts back in high school that it was still a wonder how fate had caused her to end up in the situation she was in now. Who would have known that just a month ago, she was about to marry a man that she thought would become her world and now, she was living at another man's house.

'Davis…' she thought to herself with a sad expression. The past month had been nothing short of difficult for her. Her confidence had hit an all-time low after being cheated on, dumped, and left with nothing. Sex. It was a powerful thing. It had the power to create life and the power to destroy plans of new marriages and starting families.

And then there was problem with everyone else. Because of what had happened to her, she became ashamed of herself. She had been hiding at TK's house for a month and still hadn't contacted anyone except for Sora. She knew she had to face the world soon—especially her parents who were still in the hospital after so many years.

"What's wrong?" Kari jumped in her seat as she was brought back to reality. She looked up and met TK's concerned eyes. "Something's bothering you, right?"

"Um…well…" Kari began to speak with hesitation.

TK placed his hand over Kari's and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, you can tell me."

"Oh, I'm just worried about my own parents, you know? After paying my respects to yours, I realized I haven't seen mine since the day of the wedding," she half lied. She didn't want to tell him everything concerning Davis and especially not her thoughts about him.

"Did you want to go visit them soon? We can go together if you need any support," TK suggested.

"Maybe," she said pretending to contemplate the idea. However, she knew that she was still not ready to face her family just yet. She wasn't exactly sure why but she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "Hey. Wanna head out now since I'm finished eating?" she asked, trying to get out of the conversation.

"Sure," TK responded as he got up and followed her out the door. He sighed quietly knowing she was still very broken from what had happened to her but decided to let it go. She would confide in him more when she was ready.


As they began to drive back home, TK turned to look at Kari who seemed to be doing better—or she was doing a good job of acting like it. "Are you sure you're going to be okay, Kari?" he asked her just to make sure.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she responded with a sweet smile. "Don't worry, TK."

"If you say so," he said, accepting her request.

"So, TK. There's something I've been curious about. Did you get any inheritance money? Or did it all go to your brother?" she asked him.

"Well, since my brother completely disappeared for a long time and there was no way to find him, my dad had no choice but to give me all his belongings."

Kari frowned at this. Her older brother, Tai, was working in the States so she wasn't able to see him much either; however, he still came back to visit her during the holidays. In TK's situation, his brother had completely disappeared for years. She knew the pain of missing an older brother and knowing that TK had not only lost both of his parents but had his brother disappear broke her heart.

"Nobody could find a way to contact your brother at all?"

"Not yet. I think my dad's lawyer is still trying to find him because he has to find out about my father's death somehow. I don't know. We'll see what happens when he's found," he said as he turned to look at her with a smile. "Don't worry, Kari. I've been alright. Life is a lot less lonely with you around."

Kari smiled back at him after hearing this as she sighed in relief. She didn't have to feel too guilty about living at his house either. "So does this mean you're pretty rich then?" she asked curiously.

"Wrong. I gave almost all the money away. I didn't feel right living off of his dirty money," he responded. Kari nodded with slight admiration. It was noble of him and she could see how he would feel guilty about it. "I always promised myself that I would break free from my dad and learn to support myself on my own. I lived a comfortable lifestyle as a child through easy, but illegal ways. I guess starting the business was a way for me to prove to myself and the world that I could survive the right way of doing it."

"What did you mean by almost all the money? So you kept some of it?"

TK rose his eyebrow and looked at her with an amused expression. "You sound like a gold digger."

Kari laughed at this. "No, I'm just really curious, I swear! But I really do admire you for what you did. I'm glad you didn't keep the money for yourself," she encouraged him.

"Thanks, Kari," he said while laughing at her flustered reaction. "I decided to still keep 10% of the money. I figured I needed some money to help get me on my feet and my mom did work a job too so the money I inherited wasn't all bad. My mother made money through honest means and I decided to honor that."

"I'm glad," she responded genuinely. "Good thing you did too! Or else I wouldn't have a job."

TK chuckled, "I guess you can see it that way.

"So boss," she began to laugh and joke around cheerfully causing an amused expression from TK. It was good to see her smiling again. Either that or the ice cream was getting to her. "What's on the agenda for work today?"

The past month had largely been spent on introducing Kari to the company and getting her trained for her position. Besides training, Kari began to work on the new logo and company image with the advertising and design team and, not to TK's surprise, everyone from all the departments fell in love with Kari's ideas. Because the project was soon wrapping up, TK decided it was time to introduce the next project for the team to work on.

"We'll be working on the new shoe line. It's a really important project because basketball shoes is the largest line that our company has to offer. You're going to be working with the research team for this project so—"

"Wait, I'm sorry," Kari cut him off as she stiffened in her seat. Horrible memories began to flood into her mind as she felt her mood quickly go down the drain. "Did you say shoes? Like I have to work with athletic shoes and stuff? At your company?"

TK sighed. He should have seen this coming. "Look, I know it'll probably bring up bad memories from high school, but I really need your help on this. It's important," he pleaded with her.

"Yeah, I know. It's been over seven years. I know I should get over it. I'm sorry," she responded in a monotone voice.

TK looked over to Kari who was now completely bummed out as she looked out the window in silence. He could tell he was going to have a hard time at today's meeting. "You don't have to say sorry, Kari."

"Yeah," she responded. Kari felt bad. She knew how important this was to TK but she couldn't help but dwell on the past and what had happened way back in high school.


Past ~ March 2005

The sound of Kari's racing could be heard through the halls as she blasted past numerous teachers and faculty member telling her to slow down. She was forced to shrug off the voices of various students yelling at her for knocking down their books due to her bumping into them in the hallways. 'Eh, they'll get over it,' she thought to herself as she looked down at her watch and realized there was only one minute left. "One more hallway, lezgo!" she cheered herself on as she picked up the pace and turned the corner.

Sora was enjoying her morning reading a novel at her desk until she heard a slam from the doorway. She immediately turned her head to see the cause of the noise and dropper her jaw aghast as she witnessed Kari leaning against the door frame trying to catch her breath. "Omigosh, Kari!" Sora called out, running over to her best friend. "Why are you so exhausted? Did you get chased by a dinosaur on the way to school or something?" she asked with sincere concern for her friend who looked like she was about to pass out.

"Even worse…" Kari began to speak while trying to catch her breath. "Monster…moto…had to make it to class on time or I'd…have to see him again," she spoke with a look of intense fear written all over her face. "I'm not late, am I?"

Sora checked her phone for the time, "Actually, there's still ten minutes left before class starts…"

Kari facepalmed for being stupid as she suddenly remembered something. "Dang it! I totally forgot I set my watch ten minutes ahead. I feel so dumb right now," she sighed as she regained her composure.

Sora awkwardly laughed at Kari unsure of what to say as her best friend began to limp her way to her seat. "Kari? Are you okay? Do you need help walking or something?"

As Kari was limping, she turned her head over her shoulder and flashed a smile at Sora to let her know she was okay. However, as her head was facing the other way, Kari began to lose her footing. Her ankle rolled over slightly, causing her to trip over and fall forward as her head bounced against someone's chest. The next thing Kari knew, she was falling backwards with her eyes shut, terrified. Instead of hitting the ground, however, a pair of hands caught her own.

"Idiot," came a voice she knew far too well. Kari's eyes shot open in a glare as she looked at the face of whom the voice belonged to as he helped her regain her footing. Once her feet were firmly planted to the ground, Kari quickly jerked her hands out of his.

"What did you say, TK?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself? I'm sure you know how much of an idiot and klutz you are," he teased with his tongue sticking out.

Worried the two would cause a scene, Sora immediately ran over and cut into their conversation. "Wow, Kari! Your shoes are really cute. I rarely see you wear running shoes but they sure are adorable."

"Really? You think so?" Kari said while blushing. "I put these on so I could run to class and not be late. I got them super cheap at that boutique downtown! I wanted to get the ones in yellow but they didn't have my size so I got these pink ones instead but they're still cute regardless!" Kari giggled as the two girls continued to gush over the topic of cute shoes. They were in girl mode.

"You should toss them," came TK's voice from down low. He was squatting down while taking a look at Kari's shoes.

"What did you say, TK?" Kari asked with an annoyed expression.

"I'm just saying—OW!" TK cried out in pain after being nudged in the face by Kari's shoe. "What was that for?" he asked as he got up from the floor and saw Kari's irritated expression. "But seriously, Kari, think about the way you were limping your way into class just now. One look at those shoes, and I can tell they were not made for running. You could injure yourself, Kari."

"Wow, you think you know so much about shoes?" Kari said rudely. Typically, she would be thankful for someone's concern, but because it was TK, she was utterly annoyed.

"I do. It's sort of a hobby. I like to research them," TK stated as he walked away to his seat.

"You could injure yourself, Kari. I don't actually care, I just think you're an idiot and klutz, meh, meh, blehhhh!" Kari mocked TK's voice as she glared at his back.

Sora laughed at the two from the side. She always thought TK and Kari's exchanges were amusing.

"Kari! Sora!" called a girl's voice from the doorway. Sora and Kari turned around to see Yolei walk into the classroom with Mimi following behind her. The four girls united together around Kari's desk like they did most mornings when Kari wasn't late.

"Wow, Kari. You're pretty early. You're usually the last one here," said Yolei.

"Yeah, I set my watch ten minutes early. It totally worked," Kari replied with a sheepish grin as the rest of the girls laughed at Kari's great achievement.

"So did you guys hear about what happened to the little boy Tsuyoshi that we all used to play with when we were younger?" Mimi began to speak. "Remember? He was the little guy with big glasses that used to live down the block from all of us."

"Oh yeah! And then he moved a few years ago. I was so sad. He was adorable," Sora said as she began to reminisce about the good old days when the four of them played with Tsuyoshi together during neighborhood block parties. Sora was thankful that after many years, the four of them were still together.

However, Kari was off in her own world. Without even realizing it, she was watching TK from afar. Nothing in the world made her more confused than the way her emotions went wild whenever she watched him from far away. It would always start with an intense combination of annoyance and anger but then she would see the way he distanced himself from the rest of the world and her frustrations would melt away in a sense of sadness that would take over her heart. However, she could never pinpoint the reason behind her sadness. Was it because she knew he was lonely and felt pity for him or was it because somewhere deep inside, she always believed they were meant to be friends and yet that kind of reality seemed so far away? Everything about him was a mystery to her; it made her head spin uncomfortably but yet the mystery intrigued her and she was unable to let it go.

"Hello? Earth to Kari. You're spacing out, girl," Mimi said while waving a hand in front of Kari's face to try to bring her back.

"Huh? What?" Kari snapped back but was unable to give a proper response as Mr. Watanabe walked in.

"Alright class. Let's get this over with," their teacher began. "We need volunteers for a pep rally. Dean Matsumoto has one of these crazy ideas to get the classes more unified and whatnot," he muttered while awkwardly trying to fix his pants.

While Mr. Watanabe was giving his announcement, he grinned evilly as he noticed a group of girls not paying attention and talking amongst themselves. "Perfect. Sora, Kari, Mimi, Yolei?" After hearing their names, their attention was finally caught. "Thank you for volunteering to dance during the basketball team pep rally. Since you girls weren't paying attention earlier, I'll tell you four what's going on…again. Gosh, I'm so generous."

Kari rolled her eyes at the teacher. He had one of the worst personalities she had ever seen and wondered if he lashed out on his students because he didn't have any friends outside of work.

"Dean Matsumoto wants to celebrate a successful basketball season this year by having a school wide assembly. Every class has to send four representatives to do a cheer during the pep rally. Sound good? Thanks for volunteering."

Kari groaned silently in her seat and cried inwardly at what had just happened. At least there would be a lot of other students doing it with her. As long as she didn't cause a huge scene, she would be able to get by unnoticed.


He was at it again. Kari lightly smacked herself on the face to force herself to stay awake during Mr. Watanabe's lecture about the novel they were supposed to read last night, Queen Sophia. It was amazing, really, how much one could go on and on about some make believe monarch in a story. Kari's head slipped from the support of her hand, immediately waking herself up from almost passing out in class. As Kari shook her head to regain full consciousness, she heard Mr. Watanabe clear his throat and call out her name. Wonderful.

"Miss Kamiya."

"Yes, Mr. Watanabe?" Kari said with a sweet voice. Maybe sucking up would do the trick.

"Please tell us what you think about chapter four." It didn't work. "Since you seem to be giving me your utmost attention, I'm sure you have quite a few interesting things to say."

Kari wanted to roll her eyes at him. Oh, she definitely had some interesting things to say about his unzipped fly—oh wait—was she supposed to talk about the book?

"Yes, of course! I definitely have a lot of profound things to share," she continued with her fake, sweet, sugary, glucosey, tone. Good thing she actually did her reading last night.

"Great! Let's hear it!" he pretended to cheer her on. Kari wasn't the only one acting fake in the conversation. Mr. Watanabe was prepared to bring her down.

"Well let's see, chapter four. That's when the Duke was rewarded for how well his province was thriving right?" she said while trying to remember what happened. It was something like that…

"Yes, yes. Good to know you read Cliff Notes at least. Now tell me. What was the importance of the chapter? What was the author trying to say?"

Kari was furious. She truly felt that Cliff Notes was a respectable resource of information. "Well," she began nervously, "I think that the importance of this chapter lies not in the celebration of the Duke's achievements, but what the servants of the Queen had done to even allow the Duke to be as successful as he was."

Mr. Watanabe looked at her with his eyebrows raised. His displeased expression did not do much to encourage Kari but she kept on going anyways.

"I know that it seems like the Duke was really awesome and all but I think there's a reason why the author had the Queen go around and talk to all the servants. I mean they did some pretty special stuff. They just don't get noticed because they don't have the title of a Duke or anything."

"Really now. Interesting. And what would be the author's intentions for that?"

"To make the point that the world would be a better place if we thought less about the people with status and gave more attention to the smaller people who work twice as hard and deserve it? I guess…uh…" Kari began to shrink awkwardly in her seat as Mr. Watanabe shook his head at her. He looked over and smiled at the boy sitting by the window with his hand raised.

"Ahh, yes. Takeru Takaishi. Let us all hear what you have to say," he said with eagerness. He loved it when TK talked in class because he was always right on the money.

"I completely disagree with Kari." At his comment, Kari quickly jerked her head over to TK's direction and met his eyes with a glare. "The scenes where the Queen talks to the servants were only meant to show the Queen's good nature as a monarch. It was definitely not meant to take credit away from what the Duke had done for his province. This is shown through the symbols the author used to portray this idea of…"

The rest of TK's long speech went through one ear and out the other as Kari raged at him in her seat. That gasbag. Did he really have to embarrass her and shut her down like that in front of the whole class?

Mr. Watanabe beamed with excitement from what TK had just shared and praised him for being a genius. Of course he liked what TK said. He only liked to hear whatever was agreeable to his ideas and interpretations.

Kari slouched in her seat and groaned inwardly. At least she wouldn't have to talk for the rest of the class. The thought of a nap sounded perfect to her as she rested her head against her hand once again and let the rest of the class period slip away before her.


Sora caught up to her best friend who was clearly drooping in defeat in the hallway. She figured she would need someone to talk to. "I'm sorry, Kari. It wasn't very nice of TK to humiliate you in class. I mean Watanabe did it too but I guess it's sort of his job…"

Kari sighed. "It's okay, Sora. I should get used to it by now."

"Yeah, I don't really understand what his deal is though. Always bothering you like that…"

"Seriously. He does some crazy rude things," Kari began as the thought of TK made her angry, once again. "Remember that one time after school on Valentine's day? He asked me out at the front of the school with a bouquet of flowers because he knew I would reject him and make myself look like a massive douche to the public eye. I'm pretty sure that half the girls at school hated me for a solid few weeks. Actually, half the girls still hate me for it," she cringed at the thought of the many glares she had received lately.

"Yeah! I remember that. Not cool," Sora said as she shook her head at the thought of how horrible TK was. "There was also that one time in PE when he kept hitting you with the dodge ball even when you were in jail. Remember that?"

"Omigosh. I almost forgot. And then he was like, 'Blehhh. Not my fault you were standing in the way of someone else every time I threw the ball!' Sorry my nonexistent butt was always in your way, moron!"

Sora started to crack up at Kari's comment. She was always so funny whenever she was pissed off at that boy.

"OH! Speaking of butts. I can never forget that one time when I tripped and fell off the stairs."

Despite the pain from collapsing on the ground, Kari had to regain her cool as soon as possible. As she quickly began to pick up her books, she heard a familiar laugh from behind her before she was able to make her escape.

"Wow, Kar! I didn't know you strolled in hot pink panties. Maybe you should rethink wearing skirts to school if you're gonna be that clumsy all the time," came TK's taunting voice.

Kari's face turned bright red as she turned around and came face-to-face with the boy she hated the most. "TK, you pervert! And don't you EVER stare at my badonkadonk again!" she yelled at him before giving TK a nice, hard kick in the shin.

Kari promptly turned around and stomped away from him as she heard him fake a cry from behind her. Of course, of all the times she walked down the stairs, he had to be there to witness the one time she took a fall. That was also the beginning of the nickname, Kar.

Sora began to laugh even harder at Kari's story. "Kari, I'm pretty sure you embarrassed yourself more than he embarrassed you," she admitted.

"Sora!" Kari exclaimed in disbelief. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Alright, alright, sorry!" Sora apologized as the two best friends continued to laugh about their lives as they made their ways down the hall.


One Week Later

Kari made her way out of the school ready to collapse after practicing the cheer she had to do at the pep rally tomorrow. It was awful to say the least and it was a relief that it was finally over. Before she was able to make it a few feet out of the school, she heard TK's voice, much to her displeasure, calling out to her.

"Kari!" TK called as he caught up to her. Kari looked at him strangely as she noticed signs discomfort written all over his face. It almost seemed like he actually had something important to tell her.

"Don't you have basketball practice or something right now?" Kari asked him.

"We finished a little while ago. I have something to tell you. I think that…that…" he began to speak with an intense amount of concern in his eyes.

"Yes, what is it, TK?" All of a sudden, TK's face changed from concerned to mischievous in an instant. Kari braced herself knowing that that very look on his face never meant anything good for her.

"I think that tomorrow will be a lot of fun, don't you think, Kar? You get to do a cheer in front of the entire school! And knowing the kind of klutz you are, you're definitely bound to do something embarrassing."

Kari's blood began to boil for a quick second before she calmed down again with a sigh. "Sorry, TK. I'd love to, but I'm not in the mood to fight right now. Next time you talk to me, make sure it's actually important and not something stupid," she said as she brushed him off and walked away from him. 'And to think he might have actually had something urgent to tell me,' she thought to herself while shaking her head.


Kari began to feel sick to her stomach as she walked into the gymnasium filled with hundreds of students. What if she really did end up embarrassing herself? She tried to forget about the thought—it was unlikely anyways. Kari turned her attention to the basketball team as she saw Davis passing out water to everyone on the team. She saw him turn around as their eyes made contact and to her surprise, a huge grin appeared on his face as he made his way towards her.

"Hi, Kari! I heard you're participating in the cheer today! Would you like some water to keep you hydrated?" he asked as he handed her some water.

"Sure, Davis! Thank you so much," she thanked him sweetly as she took the water from him.

Davis' face began to grow a slight hint of red as he tried to speak again, "Kari, you look really—" but before he could finish, Willis pushed Davis aside and cut into their conversation.

"Hi, Kari!" Willis greeted as he put his arm around her.

Kari blushed at his action as he walked her towards the bleachers leaving Davis to walk alone behind them. "Wanna sit with me during the pep rally? Only special girls get to sit with the starting line-up!"

"Sorry, I can't Willis," Kari apologized as she slipped from under his arm. "I'm participating in the cheer so I have to go meet up with everyone else who's doing it right now. I'll talk to you later, okay?" she reassured him politely before running off.

"I'll see you later, Kari!" he called out to her.

As Kari made her way towards the other side of the gymnasium, she was relieved to see Sora, Mimi, and Yolei together chatting amongst themselves.

"Hey, guys!" Kari greeted as Sora ran up to give her best friend a hug. However, Mimi and Yolei remained seated and awkwardly waved to her. Kari decided to brush off their strange behavior—they were probably having a bad day, anyways.

"Ready to cheer in front of the whole school, Kari?" Sora said sarcastically.

"Aw yeah, you know it! The cheer is really good too! I can't wait for everyone to see what a star I am!" Kari replied with the same tone of sarcasm as the two girls burst out laughing. They both knew that it was the worst cheer ever and it was an absolute pain for them to learn it the other day.

Kari leaned against her chair with her arms crossed as she pretended to be intrigued by what her favorite dean, Monstermoto, had to say.

"Thank you all for volunteering and representing your classes for the pep rally tomorrow. It's a privilege to be a part of such a school-wide unified activity! Aya, would you like to step forward?" Dean Matsumoto stepped aside as Aya, the varsity cheerleading captain walked up and shook hands with the dean. "Everyone, many of you may know Aya. She graciously volunteered her services to create a cheer and teach it to everyone here! How about we give Aya a hand?"

A sluggish applause could be heard by the group of students who all seemed as though they were forced to volunteer for such an embarrassing activity. Kari had heard rumors that teachers were offering extra credit to students in exchange.

"Thank you, everybody! I'm like, so very excited to do this with you all!" Aya began with her annoying prep voice that drove Kari crazy every time. "I'm going to show you the cheer now. It's very simple but still, pay attention, okay?"

Aya walked away from the microphone and closer to the area where everyone was sitting. "One, two, three, four! Who's the best in all the world? We are! We are! Five, six, seven, eight! Which team do they love to hate? Our team! Our team!"

An intense silence could be heard throughout the gym as every student was speechless to what they had seen and heard. However, Dean Matsumoto had a completely different response as he began to clap with rage. He walked up to Aya and patted her on the back.

"That was wonderful, Aya!" he praised her.

"Thank you, sir," Aya winked at the dean.

Kari practically puked in her mouth as she watched their borderline flirtatious exchange. That man truly was a monster. Kari and Sora turned to look at each other with depressed expressions on their faces. It was going to be a very long practice.


"And it's his seventh three-pointer! Everyone give a hand to Davis for doing a splendid job. Seven three-pointers in one minute! Wow! This three-point shooting contest is turning out to be a wild one!" announced Matsumoto as Davis walked toward the bleachers and received high-fives from his teammates. However, Willis, who had made six three-pointers right before him, allowed his jealousy to take over and refused to give Davis a high-five. This caused Davis to frown as he took Willis' hand and shook it against his will.

"Don't worry, Willis. I just got lucky. I'm sure you'll beat me next time," Davis encouraged Willis.

"Whatever," Willis huffed as he turned his head away.

"The last one to shoot is our school's very own star point guard, Takeru!" Cheers from half the school's population of girls could be heard as TK made his way onto the court.

As Kari stood along the court with the rest of the volunteers, she saw the sight of TK coming her way and immediately became annoyed. "Hey, TK! Like my shoes?" Kari said to pester and distract TK. TK shook his head and rolled his eyes as he dribbled the ball and ran past her. Kari stuck her tongue in his direction to taunt him.

Within the first thirty seconds, TK had already made his first four three-pointers. The whole crowd of students got on their feet in excitement as they began to cheer loudly as the fifth three pointer sunk into the hoop.

"Five! Six! Seven!" the crowd chanted and began to go wild as the next two baskets followed suit. However, Kari stood there and rolled her eyes.

"Just one more three! Can he do it?" Matsumoto exclaimed on the microphone.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!" the students shouted as the clock ran down. TK made another shot and missed. The next shot was his last chance. "Five! Four! Three! Two!" the crowd roared as the last shot landed in a nice, clean, swoosh.

"Amazing! And Takeru Takaishi takes the title for this year's three-point contest! Congratulations, Takeru," Matsumoto spoke with excitement. "And now, if everyone could please place your attention to the volunteers on the sidelines as they present a cheer for the basketball team's successful season!"

Kari sighed as she watched the eyes of every student on her. Good thing she was in the front row too. Even better. Aya began to count off as the volunteers started to do the chant. "One, two, three, four! Who's the best in all the world? We are! We are!"

"Forget this," she sighed to herself, unable to stomach the horrible situation. She decided that there was no way she was going to say such an awful chant so she began to make up one on her own. "One, two, three, four! They screw bimbos, sluts, and whores! Dick-lords! Dick-lords!" Kari cheered as she cracked up. 'Haha. I'm so funny!' she praised herself. Kari felt that it was a pretty good chant—and best of all, it actually rhymed. She made sure she spoke quietly while pretending to look like she was shouting in order to not stick out too much from the other one hundred students cheering with her.

As Kari went for the final jump of the cheer, she landed on the wrong part of her foot as she lost her balance and fell over. The whole school was in silence as Kari suddenly remembered what TK had said to her the day before.

"I think that tomorrow will be a lot of fun, don't you think, Kar? You get to do a cheer in front of the entire school! And knowing the kind of klutz you are, you're definitely bound to do something embarrassing."

Kari cursed TK under her breath for being right, "Darn you, TK." Suddenly, she heard two voices calling out her name. She looked up to see Willis and Davis running towards her.

"Oh no, it looks like you rolled your ankle," Davis spoke with worry as he took a look at her foot.

"Here, get on my back. I'll take you to the nurse's office," Willis said as he kneeled before her. Kari agreed as she climbed on and left the gym on Willis' back with Davis walking next to them.

As the scene was unfolding, Sora looked over with concern at Mimi who appeared to be greatly angered as she shook in place with her fists clenched.


"How are you feeling, Kari?" Willis asked as he and Davis helped to gently take Kari's pink shoes off her feet. She winced in slight pain but decided to hide it. She was thankful for their help and didn't want them to worry for her any further.

"I'm alright," she responded politely just as a ringtone went off. Willis got up and walked a few feet away to answer his phone.

"Hey. Yeah I'm helping someone out right now. My friend hurt herself and we're waiting for her turn outside the nurse's office," he answered and then paused. "Yeah, I can come now. Davis is here too so it's okay. Cool, see you soon," he said as he hung up his phone. "Sorry, guys. I gotta go. Make sure you text me and tell me how you're doing later okay, Kari?" he apologized as Kari nodded.

As Willis walked away, Davis took Kari's shoes and placed them underneath his seat. "Think you'll be okay?" he asked with an encouraging smile as he took the seat next to her.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied sweetly while dangling her legs from the chair to show him she was still somewhat agile.

"That's good to hear. By the way, you were really cute out there," Davis complimented her nervously. "It was a lot of fun to watch you guys cheer us on. Thanks, Kari!"

Kari laughed awkwardly knowing that in reality, she was cheering something far from encouraging. "Yeah, of course. Any time…"

Their attention was averted to the door of the nurse's office as a freshman boy walked out. "Now remember," said the nurse, "you can't go ditching assemblies anymore by faking a sickness. You hear me?"

"Yes, Nurse Joy," said the boy as he sulked away from the office. Nurse Joy turned her head over to Kari and Davis and smiled. "Come on in!" she said as Davis helped Kari hop into the nurse's office.


"Well, you got pretty lucky, Kari," the nurse began. "If you rolled your ankle over just a little bit, you wouldn't be able to walk for about two weeks. Still, make sure you walk carefully. I'll give you a wrap for your ankle too, okay? And make sure you don't do any physical activities anymore with whichever pair of shoes you were using."

Kari sighed. TK was right about her shoes after all. "Wait, Davis. Where are my shoes?"

"Oh, I think I left them outside. I'll be right back," he said as he ran out the door. After a second, Davis walked back in with a nervous look.

Kari looked at his hands and noticed they were empty. "Davis, where are my shoes?"

"Uh…sorry, Kari. I put them under the chair and I guess somebody stole them…"

Kari bit her lip in annoyance. They were one of her favorite pairs and even if she couldn't run in them anymore, she still planned to use them for casual wear. "Oh. It's okay, Davis. Don't worry about it!" she lied to him in order to keep him from feeling bad. Davis was a nice guy and she knew he didn't mean to lose them.

"Oh!" Davis exclaimed. "Here! Use my shoes!" Davis took off his sneakers and offered them to Kari in hopes that somehow, it would work out as a proper solution.

Kari laughed at Davis' naïve, but genuine concern. It was pretty adorable. "I don't think I can fit those, Davis, but thank you. And plus, you wouldn't have any shoes to wear either."

"It's okay, Kari! I'm a man! I can walk around in my socks—it aint no thang!" he declared proudly.

A knock was heard at the door. As Nurse Joy walked over to open the door, Sora rushed in with a pair of shoes in her hands.

"Kari! Are you okay? I had an extra pair of sandals in my locker for me to wear so I figured you could use my gym shoes for the rest of the day. The support is really good, too!" Sora said as she helped Kari put on the shoes.

"Thanks, Sora. You're a life saver," Kari said as she gave her best friend a hug.

"Well, I guess you won't need me anymore then?" Davis asked.

"I'll be fine! Thanks for all your help, Davis. I owe you!" Kari thanked him as she watched him leave the office.

"C'mon, let's get you to class," Sora said as she helped Kari stand back on her feet. Kari was so thankful that she had the best friend in the world.

"See you later, Nurse Joy! Thanks for the ankle wrap, too!" Kari said as she left the office with Sora.

"Thank you for coming! I hope that you will soon be restored to full health. We hope to see you again!" Nurse Joy said, bowing to them.


After school, Sora accompanied Kari to her locker to grab a few things before heading home. Once they arrived, they found Mimi and Yolei standing around with nervous looks on their faces.

"Hey, guys! How's it going?" Kari asked her two friends.

"Oh, nothing much!" Yolei spoke with hesitation in her voice. Mimi however, didn't say anything and stared at the ground with a guilty expression on her face.

"Is everything alright, Mimi?" Kari asked as she began to twist the combination on her lock.

"It's nothing," Mimi replied curtly as she looked off distantly.

As Kari opened the door to her locker, Kari's jaw immediately dropped as she stared at what was waiting for her inside her locker. Inside was her pair of pink shoes completely trashed and destroyed. White paint was splotched in various places with the words, "WHORE" and "SLUT" written all over. Kari turned around with watery eyes as she questioned them with a broken voice, "Who did this?"

There was a moment of silence as none of her friends said anything. However, a male voice was heard as none other than TK walked over.

"It was me," he said as he looked at her with distant eyes.

"What?" Kari asked in disbelief.

"I told you not to wear those and you didn't listen to me," TK responded with a shrug.

Kari was furious as she trembled in place. If she hadn't injured herself earlier that day, she would have attacked him with all that she had. "Seriously, TK? Can't you go one day without making my life hell? If that's your way of caring for me, I've got news for you, buddy, you're doing it wrong!" she screamed as she threw the shoes at him and walked away as fast as she could with Sora trailing behind her.

As they left, Sora turned around and watched with concern as she saw TK talk to Mimi and Yolei.


Present ~ July 2012

"Kari? We're here," TK said trying to nudge Kari out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," she responded as she unbuckled her seatbelt and slipped out of his car.

TK sighed as he watched her take her exit and head toward the office building. Ever since he had told her about the new project, she had been ignoring him minus the occasional, "Yeah", "Okay", and "Sure", which was practically ignoring him as well. He knew that what had happened in high school had troubled her a lot but he didn't know it would affect her years down the road. He wanted to do something about it but he wasn't sure what to do. He prayed and hoped it wouldn't cause too much trouble for the meeting that day.


TK tightened up the neck of his tie to ensure he was clean and sharp before clearing his throat and beginning the meeting. "Thank you everybody for coming. We will now begin today's meeting," he said as he stood before the table of representatives from each team. "Could you please pull up the PowerPoint Presentation please, Kana?"

"Yes, Takeru," Kana replied with a wink. Kari rolled her eyes at her. Kana was TK's secretary who flirted with him every chance she got.

"Thanks, Kana!" he said as he pulled up a picture of three basketball players. "Since we are an athletic company that focuses on basketball and it's our job to know what goes on in the basketball world, I'd like to test you all on your knowledge of the NBA. Who here can name the three players up here on the screen?"

"Oh! I know this!" Kana said with excitement. "Isn't it Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, and Dwight Howard?"

"Yes, very good, Kana," TK praised her. He was surprised that she actually knew who they were. Then again, she always did her job well. "Now, can anyone tell me, what do these three basketball players have in common?"

"Didn't they all experience serious injuries during this year's NBA season? Derrick Rose and Iman Shumpert both tore their ACLs and Dwight Howard had a back injury," said Joe, the marketing manager of the company.

"That is correct Joe. And here is the most important question of all," TK began with an intense stare. "What shoe brand did each of these three players wear?"

The room was silent as no one was sure what the correct answer was.

"Don't worry guys, there's only three choices here," TK said to try to encourage them. He smiled as he saw Joe slowly raise his hand. "Yes, Joe?"

"Didn't they all wear Adidas?" he responded hesitantly.

"Exactly," TK replied with an approving nod towards Joe. "Remind me to give you a bonus for your paycheck this month."

Joe adjusted his glasses as he blushed at TK's offer. "It's nothing, boss! It's my job since I'm the marketing manager."

"Anyways," TK began again, "All around the world, the rumor of this 'Adidas Curse' has caused sales for Adidas basketball shoes to greatly decline. As a small company, I believe this is a great chance for us to use this opportunity to make it big in the industry. What do you guys think?"

The workers situated around the table began to turn to one another and nod their heads. To most people, it seemed like a great idea. However, for Kari, things were not so great. Even though she knew TK was not directing the presentation at her, the fact that they were discussing injuries due to bad shoes began to rub Kari the wrong way.

After seeing that most people were on board with him, TK continued with his presentation. "Last year, our sales of basketball shoes within Japan were decent for a small company. However, if we want to make it big and expand to the United States, we're going to have to make some changes.

"Earlier this year, we surveyed consumers from across the nation and came to the conclusion that even though our shoes do an excellent job in providing support, protection, and flexibility to maneuver up and down the court, they simply don't look good. That is why I decided to hire Kari who will be in charge of designing the look of the new shoes. What do you think Kari?" he asked while putting her on the spot.

"I…uh…" Kari stammered uncomfortably.

"Kari? Is everything alright?" TK asked with concern.

"No," she replied. "I'm not feeling well. Do you think I could leave early?" she asked, knowing it was completely idiotic of her to even ask something like that at such an important meeting.

TK sighed, not sure what he was supposed to do. In normal situations, he definitely wouldn't have let someone go but because it was a personal issue between the two, he felt conflicted. "Alright Kari. I'll see you later."

"Thanks," she said as she awkwardly got up, gathered her things, and quietly closed the door behind her. She knew she was going to be in a lot of trouble.


Kari pouted as she messed around on her computer. She felt awful, to say the least. She hit herself on the head for being unable to produce a proper answer to TK and could tell he was frustrated by her. She knew she was being immature, but the emotions that were taking over were keeping her from producing a single productive thought whatsoever.

"Hey, Kari." She turned around to see who it was that was talking to her. It was Izzy, the leader of the research team. "Takeru just wanted me to let you know that he wants to see you at his office right now."

Kari bit her lip in nervousness. She was so going to get demoted from her position—or even worse—fired. "And what if I don't want to see him?" she asked. She knew she had to see him eventually. She lived with him after all, but at the moment, she was not ready for such harsh news.

"He told me that if you refused to abide by his orders, he would be forced to cut your pay," he responded.

Kari sighed in relief. At least he wasn't thinking about firing her. But still, if she could avoid a pay cut, she was all for it. Hospital bills didn't pay themselves. "Alright, I'm coming," she said as she got out of her seat.


As Kari made her way to the door of TK's office, Kana got up from her desk and glared at Kari.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked in a jealous tone. Kari knew Kana saw her as a threat. Though she knew she herself didn't have feelings for TK, she hated Kana and enjoyed seeing her squirm at the thought of how close she was with TK.

"I gotta go see TK, okay? Scram," Kari said as she proceeded to try and open the door. However, Kana refused to back down like a fat kid trying to save the last piece of cake for herself.

"First of all, his name is Takeru. Get it right! Second of all, you're not going in without an appointment," Kana demanded as she blocked the front door with her arms crossed.

"Dude, I freaking work here. Why would I need an appointment?" Kari was beginning to grow impatient. TK, after all, had forced her to come against her will and she was being forced to deal with this twit.

"Well, too bad. He's busy," she spat. Suddenly, the door behind her opened as she fell backwards into TK's arms. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Takeru," she apologized as she turned around to fix his tie. "I was trying to make her go away since I know you're so busy!" she said with a fake, sugary voice as she continued to flirt with him and wipe off the "dust" from his shirt as an excuse to touch him.

"It's okay, Kana. I actually have to talk to Kari about something," TK apologized to her with an understanding smile. He knew that she wanted him, however, he had to keep her around because she was not only excellent at her job, she had also been with him since the start of the company. "I hope you'll understand."

"Oh! I totally understand, Takeru. I'm so sorry if I caused you any trouble," Kana replied as she walked away and quickly glared at Kari when TK wasn't looking. Kari stuck her tongue out at her in response as she followed TK into his office.


Kari took a seat in front of TK's desk as she looked around at everything in the office except for his face. As usual, his office was completely organized and clean—just like his house—with everything filed properly and books arranged in alphabetical order. He was a neat freak. Kari smiled as she noticed there was a copy of The Boy and the Little Light next to a picture of his mother at the top of a bookshelf. She found it sweet knowing how much he loved his mother. At least there was one person in his life that he knew how to be good to.

"Kari, we need to talk," he sighed, getting to the point. "This problem is seven years old and I think we're going to have to put an end to it as soon as possible."

"Yeah," Kari replied lifelessly.

"Look, Kari," TK began again as he folded his hands together on his desk. "I'm sorry about what happened and I really hope that—"

"I don't want to do it," Kari decided.

TK's eyes widened in surprise at her thoughtless decision. "What…?" he spoke in disbelief.

"This project. I don't want to do it, I'm sorry. That's all," she said with a monotone voice as she got out of her seat and made her way towards the door.

"Wait, Kari! I'm really sorry about what happened seven years ago, but don't you think you're being rash right now?

Kari quickly turned around and glared at him, her eyes lit with fury. "You know, I'm really surprised with you, Takeru. What's up with your secretary, Kana? I thought you hated sluts and whores."

"Kari…" TK lightly said her name, unsure of what else to say. Standing up for Kana was definitely not the best idea at the moment.

"Got nothing to say? Good. I'll be going now," she spoke coldly as she tried to make her way to the door again.

"Wait! Kari. I…have something to ask you," he pleaded with her.

"What?" she asked with a harsh tone, refusing to turn around to look at his face. She was scared that if she looked at him, she would be unable to leave.

"Mimi and Yolei…how are they? Have you been in contact with them lately?"

"No, I haven't," Kari responded without losing her coldness. "I haven't seen them in a few summers. I invited them to be my bridesmaids for my wedding but they ended up canceling because something came up." All of a sudden, her fury began to build again. "Don't try to change the subject, TK! I'm not going to work on this project for you!" she spoke with agitation. "I'm going now. I'll see you later tonight and don't try to stop me again," she commanded him while slamming the door behind her.

TK sighed as he winced at the sound of the door being shut. It was no surprise to him that she had lost contact with her two friends and knew she only became angrier because he had brought them up. He could tell that she was secretly very hurt by the loss of contact but refused to admit it herself. She was always that kind of friend—one that wanted to believe in the good of her friends and refused to doubt their loyalty. However, this only made things more difficult for him. TK hoped that somehow, things would be able to fix themselves without him needing to tell her the truth.


Kari ate her dinner in silence as TK walked into the kitchen surprised that she had actually made him food. As TK sat down and took the first bite, TK nearly choked as he immediately spat out the food. Kari laughed at him as TK downed a glass of water while he stared at the food before him. He figured she must have dumped a tablespoon of salt on his food because it was absolutely disgusting.

"Awww, TK. I thought you liked my food!" she mocked him with a fake smile. He could tell she was seething with anger on the inside.

"Oh yeah, of course. Love it," he said with a sheepish smile. "It's great, can't get enough," he lied as he struggled to take another bite of it. It was even worse.

TK took his fork and stole some of Kari's food and as he suspected, it was absolutely perfect.

"Hey! Don't steal my food!" she yelled at him and raised her fork as if threatening to attack him with it.

"Glad to see you're talking to me," he teased her happily as he continued to chew the delicious food he had taken from her plate.

As he was about to steal a bit more from her, the doorbell rang. TK looked towards the door confused. "I guess we have an unexpected visitor today," he said as he walked over to open the door. TK's eyes opened in shock as he saw who it was waiting for him at his doorstep. He could recognize that hairstyle and those eyes anywhere. "Matt…"

The man gave him a tired smile with an intense sigh of relief. "TK…it's really you…"


"So who's the girl?" Matt teased, quickly making things awkward as he made himself comfortable on the couch.

TK raised his eyebrow as he sat himself down as well. "After not seeing each other for nine or so years, this is the first thing you ask me?" TK asked with an amused expression on his face.

"Wow. Has it really been that long, TK? And of course! I'm your older brother. Even though it's been that long, that's one thing that hasn't changed. However, I'm pretty surprised to see that you're married already. You've even beaten me to it, you little punk!" he joked as he gave TK a light punch on the arm.

TK's face turned slightly red at Matt's comment. "Whoa there, Matt! Kari and I are not married, okay?" he stammered while trying to convince his brother.

"Oh, so Kari's her name?" Matt said as he chuckled at how uncomfortable his brother was becoming.

"It's not what you think, Matt. Really! It's complicated but I promise I'll explain later—"

"Does anybody need anything to drink?" Kari cut in, trying to be polite to the guest.

Matt smirked at TK as he saw her walk into the room. "No, I'm good. You must be Kari, right? Why don't you join us?" he asked as he shot TK an evil grin. However, this grin went unnoticed by TK as he kept his eyes preoccupied by the girl in the room.

TK frowned as he watched Kari accept Matt's request and sat in the one person couch across from the both of them. He felt awful knowing that she was already having a rough time with the work situation and now she would be put in an awkward position with his older brother who had the complete wrong idea of what was going on between them.

This however, did not go unnoticed by Matt as he looked at TK with an interested expression. Yes, it was true that he had been out of TK's life for a significant amount of time, but for all the years that he had known him, he had never seen TK look at anyone the way he looked at Kari.

"So, Matt," TK began, trying to make things much less awkward. "How did you find me?"

Matt lightly laughed, noticing his younger brother's desperate attempt to save the situation. "Well, dad's lawyer finally found me. I've been in the United States for a few years now so I guess it took them a while to hunt me down. He told me about our father's death and everything and so I decided to visit Tokyo to make sure you were doing alright. I'm sorry though, TK. If I had known three years before, I would have tried to make it back to see you as soon as possible."

"It's alright, Matt. I understand," TK assured his older brother. "I mean as you can see, I'm doing well and living peacefully under this roof."

"Yeah? Living peacefully under this roof with a girl? Sounds like a great life you've been living, TK," Matt teased and laughed as he noticed both of their faces had turned bright red at his comment.

As if to save the moment, TK's phone went off. "Oh shoot. Important business call, gotta take it," TK said as he sighed with relief. "I might be gone for a while so you two be nice to each other, okay?" he commanded them while giving Matt a look before picking up his phone and walking upstairs to his room.

After TK was out of sight, Matt crossed his legs and arms and leaned against the couch almost in a condescending manner. "So why are you messing around with my little brother's feelings and making life hard for him?" Forget being almost condescending. He was definitely being condescending.

"Excuse me?" Kari asked, shocked at his upfront behavior.

"I'm really curious actually," he began again while leaning forward and resting his arms against his knees. "Do you like TK?"

"Wow, you're not frank at all," she retorted sarcastically.

"Just answer the question please, miss." He was right. Stalling her answer only made her more suspicious.

"No, I don't," she answered curtly.

"Then you can leave this home, please," he said as he pointed to the door.

"What?" she asked in an insulted manner. Matt was so different from TK that it made her head spin. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to be so rude with her.

"Look," he said to her with an intense expression, "I'm TK's big brother and I really care about him. I don't want to see him get hurt and so it really troubles me seeing my brother open up his house to a girl that one, is not his girlfriend, two, claims to not have any feelings for him whatsoever, and three, is freeloading off his food and property."

Kari's blood began to boil. She knew he was his older brother, but she still couldn't believe he was being so blunt with her. "Whoa there, buddy, I do not freeload. In case you haven't heard, I work for TK." She swore, she was ready to jump up from her seat and attack.

"Doesn't matter. You could work for him at a value well beyond the food he buys and the taxes he has to pay to live here, but no money can ever replace the time and effort it takes for him to have to take care of you. I don't even have to know the history between the two of you to know that a girl like you needs a lot of caring for."

Kari was speechless. She wanted to yell at him for being rude but at the same time, she knew that part of it was true. She did take up a lot of his time and space. Kari began to feel guilty as she realized how much TK had to babysit her—especially for her emotional needs. Not only was he dealing with a heartbroken girl who was dumped on her wedding day, but he was also dealing with an emotional girl who was unable to let go of things from the past. Maybe she really was being too rash at work today.

Matt sighed as he noticed her hurt expression and relaxed his body a bit on the couch. "I'm sorry. It's a habit for me to lose my cool when it comes to TK," he admitted.

"It's okay. I have an older brother too and he's kinda like that also," she replied with an awkward smile. It was a bit difficult to save the atmosphere but she decided to give it a try.

"I don't know, it's just hard for me. I've been out of his life for such a long time now and feel like I should have taken care of him more. Now that I get to see him again, I see this guy who's all grown up and able to take care of himself. And then there's you, this girl that I've never seen before that he treats so well. It's just crazy, you know what I mean?"

"It's okay, Matt. Trust me. I went through high school with him and he was sort of troublesome- especially to me. He loved to give me a hard time," she reminisced.

"Really? I'm surprised. By the way I've seen him look at you, it would seem like hurting you was the last thing he would ever want to do," Matt replied with a confused expression.

Kari wasn't exactly sure what to say to this and decided to smile awkwardly instead. Lucky for her, TK walked in from his business call. Perfect timing once again.

"Hey, guys! I'm back!" TK greeted, noticing the tense atmosphere. "You guys get along while I was gone?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Kari lied with an uncomfortable smile.

"Great! So what did I miss?"

"Nothing much," Matt replied as he began to stare off into space. It was clear that he was deep in thought about something.

"Yeah. We pretty much talked about nothing," Kari laughed awkwardly. "Actually, I think I'm gonna go now. It's kinda late-ish so I'll be going to bed soon. It was nice to meet you, Matt," Kari said politely before waving goodnight to TK.

"Goodnight, Kari. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Once he heard the sound of her door shut, TK turned to look at his brother who was smirking at him. "So did the two of you really not talk about anything?" TK asked, giving Matt a skeptical look. TK knew Kari too well to not know she was lying to him earlier.

"Nothing that would interest you I guess," he lied as he looked into TK's unbelieving eyes. "Anyways, I have something important to tell you," Matt said, changing the topic. "I actually just got engaged and will be getting married next summer. That was part of why I came back too. The reason why dad's lawyer was able to find me was because I had to use my name to find out where you were living so I could tell you about my engagement."

"Wow! Really, Matt? That's great to hear!" he congratulated his older brother. "What's she like?"

"She's wonderful. The day I met her, I knew life would never be the same if I ever lost her. I'm sure you've known the feeling for a while now, am I right, TK?" Matt asked with a knowing smile.

"I…" TK responded, unsure of what to say.

"So when are you going to tell her?" Matt questioned him further. He was really enjoying the reaction he was getting from his little brother.

"Wait…what?" TK asked as he continued to struggle to find words to speak.

"Judging from the conversation I had with her, she has no clue how you feel about her. And by the looks of it, she's the kind of girl that will never figure it out unless she's told. Man, those girls are always so much trouble," Matt chuckled to himself.

"Matt…I…"

"Wow, maybe I really shouldn't have left home for so long," Matt sighed as he stretched out his body and smiled at the ceiling. "Boy, the money I would pay to have seen the day Takeru Takaishi fell in love with Kari."


Kari made her way into her room and shut the door behind her. She slid down with her back against the door as she tried to fully comprehend her intense conversation with Matt. However, after failed attempts to understand and accept Matt's observations, she decided that she really was tired and turned off the lights. Maybe her head would work better the next morning.

Kari tossed and turned in bed for half an hour before being able to fall asleep. Once she finally began to doze off, a blurry image of two angels, one male and one female, appeared in her head.

'Whoa this is trippy,' Kari thought to herself though she was certain no one had slipped her any acid recently.


Past ~ March 2005

TK watched from his desk by the window as he saw Kari sprinting towards the school once again. Having a classroom that faced the front of the school served as a form of entertainment as he was able to see everything that went on near the school's front gate every morning. He chuckled as he saw Kari's frantic figure making her way into the school. 'Silly girl,' he thought to himself, 'she probably doesn't know she's not actually late.'

A few minutes later, the door slammed open and Kari burst into the classroom panting. As if by instinct, TK got out of his seat and took a couple steps towards the door. Halfway there, he stopped as he remembered he had to keep a distance away from her. He watched her with concern as she talked to Sora about her morning and realized she had set her watch ahead by ten minutes. He laughed silently as he realized he was right after all.

The next thing he knew, Kari was walking towards him without looking. He heard her squeal as she ran into him and TK reached out his hands to keep her from falling.


One Week Later

TK walked towards his locker after basketball practice. It was the day before the pep rally and the team was instructed by the dean on what they had to do to prepare for the next day. As he passed through the lockers, he heard the sound of two girls talking and decided to hide behind the lockers to eavesdrop. Normally, this wasn't his kind of thing but their current topic of discussion was something he always took interest to. It was about Kari.

"Seriously, Yolei. I don't think I can stand Kari any longer," came the first voice. TK's jaw dropped as he realized that it was Mimi.

"But Mimi, Kari's been our friend forever. We grew up together and everything," Yolei responded while trying to be sympathetic.

"I know, but things have changed. She's been getting the attention of half the basketball team and it's driving me crazy."

"I don't know…I mean she's a pretty girl…"

"So what? Look at me! I'm pretty too! And you too of course," Mimi added to make Yolei feel better. "But seriously. Haven't you noticed that she has TK, Willis, and Davis tied around her finger? It drives me nuts!"

"Well, Willis and Davis, I can see. They're both sort of tools in their own ways…But TK? They just fight all the time."

"That's not true. It's so obvious that TK is in love with her. He doesn't talk to anybody. I tried talking to him the first month he moved here and he ignored me every single time. That jerk is so cold! But yet Kari gets every ounce of his attention." TK smirked at her comment. Was it really that obvious?

"You know, Mimi. I never thought about it that way, but it is true. It's kind of strange that TK makes fun of her all the time and ignores everyone else," Yolei pondered.

"It's okay. You're not the only dense one. She clearly has no clue what TK feels about her," Mimi said with a sigh. Kari had always been clueless when it came to boys since boys were capable of liking girls back in the junior high. "Say, Yolei. Don't you like that Ken boy? Isn't he on the basketball team too?"

Yolei's face brightened at the thought of him, "Shhh! You know it's a secret, Mimi!" Yolei whispered while trying to silence her best friend.

"Just think about it. Kari has the attention of half the basketball team. That means they talk about her, and the more they talk about her, the more likely Ken will take notice of her. This means we have to stop her. Make her lose her confidence or something," Mimi suggested as she pulled out a mirror to try to fix her hair.

Yolei sighed. Mimi was right. She didn't want to lose her chances with Ken. "Alright, Mimi. You've got me. How should we do it?"

TK had had enough of their conversation as his blood began to boil at the thought of it. He had no idea girls could be so evil as to turn against their childhood friend. TK walked over to his locker to pack up his stuff. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kari walking home from school. After quickly putting away his things, he decided to chase after her.

"Kari!" TK said as he caught up to her.

Kari looked at him with a confused face. "Don't you have basketball practice or something right now?" she asked him.

"We finished a little while ago. I have something to tell you. I think that…that…" he started but ended up pausing to think it over quickly.

"Yes, what is it, TK?" TK sighed and decided to drop it. He couldn't tell her that her best friends actually hated her. It just didn't feel right. He knew how much Kari loved Mimi and Yolei and he couldn't find it in him to be the one to say it. He decided to make fun of her instead to cover it up.

"I think that tomorrow will be a lot of fun, don't you think, Kar? You get to do a cheer in front of the entire school! And knowing the kind of klutz you are, you're definitely bound to do something embarrassing," he teased hoping that would be enough to convince her.

"Sorry, TK. I'd love to, but I'm not in the mood to fight right now. Next time you talk to me, make sure it's actually important and not something stupid," she responded with a glare and walked away from him.

TK watched her walk away from a distance as he began to think about what Mimi and Yolei had said at the lockers. Hopefully nothing bad would actually happen.


The day of the pep rally came as TK leaned against his seat in the first row of the bleachers and watched Davis pass out water to everyone on the team. One of the boys on the team patted Davis on the back as he received water from him.

"Thanks man. Remember that you're our starting small forward, not our water boy. You really don't have to do this," he thanked him as he took a sip of his water.

"Don't worry about it! I figured everyone needs some water before we have to play," Davis said with the same foolish grin he always carried. Davis' grin grew even larger as he saw Kari walk into the gymnasium and ran up to her to greet her. Soon after, Willis followed suit and joined the two.

TK watched the three with distant eyes as he saw Willis put his arm around Kari, much to her discomfort. TK sighed, it was a relief she wasn't smart enough to figure out that they both had crushes on her. As Kari made her way past TK, he turned his head away to avoid making eye contact with her and quickly began to watch her again as soon as her back was facing him.

As Kari began to walk away from Willis and Davis, TK noticed that she was wearing the pink shoes again. Hopefully she wouldn't actually hurt herself like he had joked with her yesterday. But no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to let the worry slip from his mind.


TK watched the volunteers cheer with an amused look on his face. It was pretty much the worst cheer he had ever heard in his life and it was even funnier as he watched Kari struggle through it. She was clearly not having a good time. As the volunteers jumped up at the end, the whole entire gym was silenced as Kari fell to the ground.

A part of TK's heart broke as he watched Kari lay on the ground in pain. It was during these moments that keeping a distance was most difficult—he wanted nothing more than to be the one at her side helping her out. Instead, he watched as Willis carried her out of gym with Davis.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Mimi and Yolei walk out of the gym to follow them. 'This can't be good,' TK thought as he cursed under his breath and decided to follow them as well. If he couldn't be there to help Kari out in her physical pain, he could at least be the one to save her from any emotional pain.


"I can't believe Kari would be dumb enough to leave her shoes outside of the nurse's office," Mimi scoffed as she tossed the shoes onto a table.

"Wait, so why did we have to sneak into this art classroom?" Yolei asked as she watched Mimi take something out of a cabinet.

"Because we need this," Mimi replied with an evil grin as she held up a can of white paint and a couple of brushes.


TK raced through the halls as he checked every room for signs of Mimi and Yolei. While trying to follow the two girls earlier, he was stopped by Dean Matsumoto who wanted to congratulate him and give him his prize for winning the three-point contest. Unfortunately, once he made it out of the gym, Mimi and Yolei were nowhere to be found.

As he turned the corner, the voices of two girls could be heard. It had to be them.

"Do you think writing down 'WHORE' on her shoes is okay, Mimi?" Yolei asked as she looked at the harsh word written multiple times over Kari's shoes.

"You're right. We should add 'SLUT' too," Mimi responded as she began to destroy the pair of shoes even further. Yolei sighed as she watched her friend do the dirty work. She was still slightly uncomfortable with the situation but she wasn't sure how to stop her friend.

All of a sudden, the sound of the door slamming open caused Mimi and Yolei to drop their brushes and turn their eyes over to TK who was panting at the doorway.

"What the heck do you guys think you're doing?" he spoke harshly as he walked toward them.

"TK…it's not what you think," Yolei stammered as she tried to find the right words to say.

TK took one look at the shoes and scoffed at them. He stared at the two with an intense glare as he felt his fists clench. "And you girls dare to look at Kari in the face and call her your friend? You two disgust me."

"Go away, TK. You wouldn't understand," Mimi spat at him and matched his glare.

TK kicked the leg of table, causing the two girls to freak out. "What's there to understand about this?" he asked as he pointed to the destroyed pair of shoes. "When did Kari ever deserve the title of a slut or a whore? Tell me. I'm on the basketball team and I have never seen her play around with a single guy."

Yolei began to cry as TK yelled at her. She knew he was right and the guilt was taking over her. Not even Mimi could say anything back to him.

"This is what you two are going to do. You're going to show these to Kari after school and you're going to confess and apologize. You hear? The worst part is that I know she's going to forgive you two because she's that good of a friend," TK sighed with a depressed expression. "I hope you two will realize some day how much she didn't deserve this," he finished as he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Unknown to the three of them, Sora was secretly watching from afar everything that was going on. As she noticed TK come out of the room, she quickly turned around to escape to her locker. Kari would need a new pair of shoes for the rest of the day.


TK watched from behind the lockers as Kari approached her locker with Sora. Mimi and Yolei were standing uncomfortably waiting for her.

"Hey, guys! How's it going?" he heard Kari ask her friends. He listened as they exchanged their awkward greetings. TK braced himself as he heard sound of Kari's locker opening. There was a gut wrenching silence in the air as he heard Kari's hurt voice speak. It was one of the hardest words he had ever had to listen to. "Who did this?"

As no one said a word, TK stepped forward from behind the lockers. He knew he was being stupid and was sure his decision would haunt him again sometime in the future. But for some reason, he knew that he had to take the hit.

"It was me," he said as he looked at her with distant eyes.

"What?" Kari asked in disbelief.

"I told you not to wear those and you didn't listen to me," TK responded with a shrug.

"Seriously, TK? Can't you go one day without making my life hell? If that's your way of caring for me, I've got news for you buddy, you've got it all wrong!" she screamed as she threw the shoes at him and walked away as fast as she could with Sora trailing behind her.

TK turned around and shot a menacing glare at the two girls, causing them to stiffen in place. "I decided to let you guys get away with it this time. I figured Kari didn't deserve to know what kind of awful friends she had," he said with his arms crossed. "I better not catch you two doing something like this ever again." The two girls gave him guilty nods as they watched TK pick up Kari's shoes on the ground and walk away.


TK put his phone to his ear as he walked through the front door of his house. He listened to the ringer go off while he waited for his father to pick up his phone.

"What's up, Takeru? I'm kinda busy right now so make this quick," his father said on the other line.

"Hey Dad," TK responded as he opened the door to his father's office. "I was just wondering where you keep the extra phones you use for emergencies. I need to borrow one."


"Hello! Welcome to Kacy's Shoes. Were you looking for anything specific?" asked the sales lady near the front of the store. He could tell she was trying to be polite and didn't expect him to actually buy anything. He didn't blame her though. The shoes were quite expensive and it was unlikely that a teenage boy had the money to make a purchase at the store.

"Yes, I was wondering where I could fine running shoes for women," TK said while trying to look around for them himself.

"We have some in the back, if you'd like to follow me. I can show you," she said sweetly as she guided him to the other side of the shop.

TK looked through the collection of shoes trying to find something Kari would like. A certain shoe caught his eye. It looked very similar to the ones Kari had owned except they were in yellow.

"I wanted to get the ones in yellow but they didn't have my size so I got these pink ones instead but they're still cute regardless!"

"I'll buy these," he told the sales lady as he pointed to the yellow shoes. "They're perfect."

"Great!" she said, surprised he was actually going to buy something. "Do you know what size your girlfriend wears?"

TK smirked at her comment before responding. "Umm, I'm actually not entirely sure." Earlier he had tried to find the size on Kari's pink shoes but because there was so much paint, he was unable to find the number. TK took off his right shoe to show the sales lady the bottom where he had traced Kari's own shoe with permanent marker. "Will this work?"

The sales lady laughed at his adorable effort as she took his shoe and brought it to the back of the store.


The next night, Kari sat at her desk doodling in her notebook after many failed attempts to finish her homework. She decided to put off her work for later because after all, AP stood for Advanced Procrastination. Kari rested her head against her arms as she stared off into space. Kari didn't know why it still bothered her after two days and found it difficult to understand why TK had done what he did. She knew he loved to tease her; he did it all the time and she was almost used to it too. Yet, this was a completely different level for TK. Being called a whore and slut was no joke—it was almost unlike him to do such a thing.

All of a sudden, her cell phone went off. She checked her phone and saw there was an incoming message from an unknown number.

"Hi Kari. Check your front door."

She couldn't deny it. It was a bit creepy but she decided to respond. "Who is this?"

"Somebody that cares about you, Kari. Please open the door."

"Why?"

"You're a courageous girl who does crazy things. That's why I know you'll come out to the front door right now."

Whoever was texting her was right. She really was that crazy because before she knew it, she was already downstairs.

"I'm coming out now." she texted back. As she opened the door, Kari saw a box with a letter on top. It was definitely not what she was expecting. She gasped as she opened the box and found a pair of yellow sneakers similar to the ones she had wanted when she was shopping a month ago. However, she could tell the quality was way better by the material making the shoes even cuter than the ones she had seen before. After putting the shoes back in the box, she opened the letter and read it out loud quietly to herself.

"Kari—I heard that you haven't been yourself lately so I hope the shoes and this letter will bring a smile to your face! Please realize that you are a beautiful girl inside and out and you deserve to be treated well. No matter what words people will use against you, know that there are people like me who know that you are truly a person to be admired. Please keep these shoes as a reminder for yourself that there will always be someone out there who cares."

Kari put down the letter and stared up into the night sky with a smile on her face. She breathed in the night air as she replayed the contents of the letter in her head.

TK smiled as he looked down at the phone and saw Kari's last text to him that night. "Thank you. They're very pretty. :) I will treasure them forever."


Present ~ July 2012

Kari sat up on her bed in a daze. After attempting to process everything she had learned from her dream, she was completely clueless on what to think. She never forgot about the night she had the shoes at her front door. In fact, they were still sitting on a shelf at her old house because, after all, it was a special memory that had practically saved her from a very depressing night. Kari always wondered who it was that texted her that night and was always thankful to whoever it was. She just never imagined that it would be TK of all people.

Kari sighed as she realized Matt was right—he was way too good to her. Kari groaned as she curled up in bed. After all the crap she had given TK at work today, she felt terrible. She always believed that TK didn't care about her feelings but the truth was that he was always paying attention to her needs. She couldn't deny it and she felt incredibly selfish.

Kari slipped out of bed and peeked downstairs into the kitchen. Her heart sank as she saw TK up late at 2 AM trying to research shoe designs. Her guilty conscience got the best of her as she watched TK do the job she was supposed to do.

"TK…" she called out to him in a small voice. Her heart dropped even more as TK turned around and she saw his weary eyes look at her with worry.

"Are you okay, Kari?" he asked as he walked up to her. He was incredible. She had scolded him, told him she wouldn't do her job, given him the cold shoulder the whole day, and he was still caring for her.

"You should have told me it wasn't you, you idiot."

TK was surprised as Kari reached out to him and hugged him around his torso with her head buried in his chest.

"I'm so sorry, TK," she apologized to him with a sad voice. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did today. I'll promise to do my job—and I'll do a really good job too." She looked up at him with wide eyes as she saw him smile warmly at her.

TK chuckled as he reached down with one hand to brush her hair away from her face so that he knew that she could see the gentle smile in his eyes. "I know you will."


A/N: I'm basically a writing machine. I'm not really sure how I got this one out so fast but I guess I'm just as caught up in this story as you guys are. I thought this chapter was okay. The idea sounded better in my head, but maybe you guys liked it. :)

Sorry if you guys had no idea what was going on during the basketball rant during the business meeting. Yes, they're all real basketball players and those things actually happened this year. It fit in with the story so I decided to use it. And sorry if I put salt on any wounds by bringing up those injuries. :( I'm a huge Bulls fan so I'm depressed about Drose being out for a year as well, and I really respect Iman Shumpert as a defender. Not Dwight Howard though. I hope he gets sent to the Bobcats.

Oh and Nurse Joy gets a cameo! A shout out to my fellow 90's kids out there! Did anyone catch the "We hope to see you again!" line? xD hehehe

If you ever want to know when the next update will be, I always update my profile when I've hit a milestone in my writing! So be sure to check it out. I also added updates about my writing plans for the future too haha….

Interesting Fact: I play sappy Asian music when I write the romance scenes. It helps so much! Gotta be in the mood to create the mood. heehee. xP

That's all! To my very, very, very few but very awesome reviewers, this one was for you! Hope you liked the chapter even though there wasn't too much fluff.

Please review! :) If you don't know what to say, let me know what you guys think about Davis since we know he's the one Kari was about to marry. And there's Matt too! Do you guys think he's a good big brother to TK or is he just a huge troll? :P Let me know what you guys think! Or you can just say really nice things. ;)