Hello people! Thanks for everyone who reviewed last chapter. Hopefully you'll like this one. I was planning on updating it a few days ago, but couldn't finish writing it on time. Anyway, don't forget to review, please.
Chapter 9: Relationships
The chilling spring breeze hit Yamato as he stood outside the school building, staring at the tennis court. He couldn't help but smile and then looked down as his foot played around with a small rock. When he looked up again, he noticed Sora was getting ready for the practice match. Suddenly he realized he's never seen her this pretty, and found himself blushing at that single thought. He wasn't sure if it was because of Takeru's insistence or he actually began to acknowledge her as a girl. Yamato was about to walk towards the court when someone called his name. He looked over his shoulder and saw his brother coming to his direction.
"What are you doing here?" Takeru asked as though he already knew the answer. It was too obvious. "I thought you had band practice today."
"I do. I do." The boy turned his back to the tennis court and tried to clear his mind. "I was just getting some fresh air."
"Sure. Right by the tennis court." The younger blonde emphasized the last two words.
"Ah, well…" He shrugged. "I was closer to this exit, I guess."
"Why don't you stop fighting your feelings and just admit you like Sora?"
"Because I don't." Yamato refused to look at his brother.
"Right. I want you to look me in the eye and say this again."
The rock star continued to play with the small rock and didn't lift his head up.
"You're such an idiot, Yamato." Takeru proceeded and Yamato looked up after hearing his brother swearing. "I've told you several times to go confess to her."
"Okay, maybe I do like her. Maybe I do see us together, but because you're so insistent about it."
"What do you have to lose? The worst thing she might say is no."
"Exactly. And how am I gonna face her after being turned down? It's not like I can avoid her, you know?"
"You're worrying way too much." Takeru said lightly. "You can think about it after you confess. You don't even know how she will react."
"I don't know."
"Come on, brother." He tapped Yamato on the shoulder. "Where's your courage?"
"That's Taichi's thing." Yamato replied with a smile. "Sora is my best female friend, Takeru."
"Isn't that supposed to help you?"
"I guess so." He said unsurely. "But what happens if we don't work out in the end and can't be near each other anymore? That seems to be a high price to pay."
"What if you do work out? You keep thinking about the negative outcome, but what about the positive one?"
"I guess it's easier to consider the negative one only. But you're right, we could work out."
"So what's stopping you from going ahead with it?"
"I don't know, Takeru. I just said it's a high price to pay. You have to admit it will be way too awkward for everyone."
"So what? That would be bound to happen. It could happen with Mimi and Jyou, who knows? All I know is that you two are free to do it."
"Maybe."
"Promise me you will at least think about it."
"Fine." Yamato looked over his shoulder and saw his band mates waiting for him. "I have to go. I'll see you later."
"Sure."
Sora stepped out of the tennis court when her practice match was over. She wasn't too happy with her last game, as she forgot some basic moves. She sat on the bench and opened her water bottle.
"Don't worry, Sora." Natsuko tapped her on the shoulder softly. "You still have time to fix eventual mistakes."
"The tournament is in two weeks, Natsuko." She replied rather desperate. "I shouldn't be making the mistakes someone who just got into tennis would."
"You're being too hard on yourself."
"Well, of course. I'll face the best players of the world on Wimbledon. You'd probably freak out if you were in my shoes."
"I think you're ready." She brought her knees closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Besides, it's your first time in such an important competition. It's okay if you lose. The experience you'll obtain is what really counts."
"I know. I don't mind losing. It's just…" Sora looked at the bottle in her hands. "I need to excel at this if I were to pursue a career as a tennis player."
"Are you planning on going for it?"
"Maybe. It wasn't something I planned, but I started considering it recently. My mother used to play tennis."
"So this is what it's all about."
"What?"
"You are living up your mother's expectations."
"Natsuko, I…"
"Please, let me finish." She raised her hand to cut her friend off. "You won't be happy if you follow your mother's dreams. You need to live your own life."
"I don't think she will let me do what I want for living."
"Then you need to step up and confront her about it." Natsuko grabbed the red haired girl's hands. "I'm serious, Sora. It's the only way."
"Well, I'll have plenty of time to do that later."
"If you happen not to be a professional tennis player, do you have something else in mind?"
"So far only ikebana art. I'm not thinking about it that much. I have three years ahead, so I'll consider my options when I go to high school."
"Okay, but promise me you'll think about it."
"I promise." Sora smiled and turned her head when she heard someone calling her. "Koushiro, what are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you." He said uneasily.
"Did something happen to… you know?"
"What? Ah, no. Everything's fine."
She raised her eyebrow when she noticed his head was lowered. She couldn't help but wonder why he was acting this way, but she stood up and collected her belongings anyway.
"Okay, let's go somewhere else." She looked over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, Natsuko."
"You bet." She grinned. "Bye, Koushiro."
The boy immediately turned bright red and Sora finally understood what they were going to talk about.
Mimi was returning home after going out with her mother when she got a text from Taichi asking her to get on skype. She smiled as she turned her notebook on and couldn't help but wonder if Sora talked to him about their situation.
"Hello, Taichi." Mimi smiled kindly as she saw her friend on the screen.
"Hi, Mimi." Taichi returned the smile. "Aren't you supposed to be at school this time?"
"Oh, I skipped it for the day. It's my parents' wedding anniversary so I went shopping with my mother. I can't stay on that much, though. I'm sleeping at a friend's, because you know…"
"Right. I see." He nodded in affirmative.
"What about you, though? Aren't you supposed to be at soccer class right now?"
"It is. But this is more important."
"So I assume Sora talked to you."
"Yes, she did." He took a deep breath. "Look, Mimi. I don't want to upset you, but maybe I pushed things too far."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think this is gonna work out. We're living in different countries, you're across the planet. Besides, we're too young to be dating, don't you think?"
"Yeah. I guess you're right." The girl tried to hide her disappointment.
"But I don't want us to act weird around each other, now that it seems that the Digital World is facing evil powers once again."
"Of course not." Mimi said in a reassuring tone, more to convince herself she was okay than anything else. "I totally understand it."
"You're not upset with me, are you?"
"No, no." She said quickly. "So we flirted, it's not a big deal. It's not like I was hoping we would become a couple."
"You're upset."
"No, I'm not."
"The tone of your voice says it all, Mimi."
"Alright, I need to…" She looked away as if she heard someone calling her. "I need to go now. My mom is calling me."
"Mimi, please. I don't want you to be sad with me."
"I said I'm not, Taichi. I just can't really talk right now. We can do it another time."
Before he got a chance to convince her to stay, she had already signed off. Taichi sighed. He stood from his chair and walked to the bed, where he lie down and stared at the ceiling. I really upset her. What am I supposed to do now?
My ballet classes had just ended and me and my friends decided to watch the boys play basketball. They were having basketball classes in the court next to our room. I sat on one of the upper benches and noticed Takeru and Daisuke were playing on different teams. I couldn't help but wonder how things would be from now on. How did Takeru know something was going to happen in the Digital World? Is the new enemy so strong that we need help from another child? And what is up with that armor evolution? I have never seen such thing.
"Hikari, are you alright?"
"What?" I wake up from my thoughts when I see Kae waving her hand in front of my face. "I'm fine, Kae."
"So how come you haven't seen Takeru calling out for you? He's standing there for about five minutes."
"Huh?" I looked at where Kae pointed and stood up. "I will catch up with you later."
"Bye, Hikari."
"I'm sorry, Takeru. I didn't notice you were calling me." I apologized with a smile when I approached him.
"It's okay, Hikari." He returned the smile. "I just thought we could talk a little about… you know." He looked over his shoulder to see if someone was listening to us. "The Digital World."
"Right. I think we should call a meeting. No one besides us and Taichi know there's a new Destined Child."
"I'm worried we will have to face an enemy strong enough to defeat the eight of us."
"You mean stronger than Apocalymon? This guy who claims to be the Digimon Kaiser doesn't seem to be, as he's always controlling a Digimon to defeat us."
"I think there'll be something more powerful in the end. Our new journey is just beginning." He looked down through the glass window and I stared at him with concern. "But we should discuss this when everyone's around."
"Takeru, our partners aren't able to evolve further than Tailmon and Angemon. If you are actually right, how are we going to destroy this enemy?"
"I don't know, Hikari." He sighed deeply. "Maybe there are other digimentals somewhere in the Digital World, just waiting for us."
"You could be right. But it's gonna be a long path until we find them all. Until then, Daisuke is all alone."
"I hate not being able to do something to help him!" Takeru punched the wall and startled me. "His partner can't defeat our enemy alone."
"Takeru, I don't like being useless either." I held his arm is though I was shaking. "Maybe there's a way to get around it. Let's not worry before talking to the others."
"You're right." He relaxed and then smiled at me. "Koushiro will probably come up with a solution, right?"
"Right." I released his arm and looked up at the sky. "It's getting late. We should go home."
"Is Taichi waiting for you?"
"No, his soccer class must have ended a couple of hours ago. I'm all alone."
"Well, I'm walking you home then."
"But your house is on the other way. I don't want you to go through such trouble for me."
"It's not trouble at all. I want to do this."
"It's okay, Takeru. Daisuke lives in the same building as me. He's probably leaving now too, but I appreciate your offer."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright. But if you need company, don't hesitate to ask me."
"Sure. Thank you."
"I'll see you tomorrow then."
"See you." I saw him smiling at me and smiled back before he turned around and walked away.
"Hikari, what are you still doing here?"
"I was waiting for you, so we could go home together."
"Are you serious?" His face lit up and I couldn't help but giggle. He was so obvious sometimes.
"Yes, we live in the same building after all."
"Great! So let's get going."
I walked inside the apartment and was immediately greeted by my mother when I was putting on my slippers.
"Hello, Hikari. Dinner is almost ready."
"Okay. I'm going to take a shower and then we can eat." I replied with a smile and headed to my bedroom.
As I was passing by the hall, I saw Taichi's door half open and he was lying on his bed. I gently knocked out of education and popped my head in.
"Is everything okay, big brother?"
"Huh?" He drifted his gaze from the ceiling and looked at me. "How long have you been there?"
"I just got here. Daisuke walked me home."
"Right."
He sat down as I walked in and sat beside him. We remained silent for a while until I decided to break the ice.
"Why are you so serious? Did something happen?"
"No, everything's fine. I think."
"Tell me."
"What?" He looked at me with a puzzled look.
"I know you better than this, Taichi." I looked straight in his eyes. "You are always chatty. You are only quiet when something huge happens."
"Alright." He took a deep breath and proceeded. "I talked to Mimi today."
"I see. And?"
"I told her we wouldn't work out as a couple because we're too young and I think she got upset with me."
"Did you really mean that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Did you really follow your heart or you just said it because she's living in USA?"
"You think this could work?"
"If your feelings are strong enough, why not? I believe anything's possible when there's love."
"Aren't you a hopeless romantic girl?" He teased as he began to tickle me.
"What do I know? I'm just eleven." I said as I tried to get away from him. "Big brother, there's something else I want to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
"I was talking to Takeru earlier and he thinks we should have a meeting to tell everyone about the new situation in the Digital World. We should be prepared for whatever's going to happen now."
"That's a good idea. I will call everyone tonight and tell them to meet us at the park tomorrow night. What are you thinking?"
I looked at him with a worried expression. "I don't know what to expect. I mean, our new enemy must be different than anything we faced so far, for us to need extra help."
"I guess so. But we will find a way to destroy them all. We did it three years ago, and we will do it again."
"I hope you're right. Because right now we can't do anything."
"Stay positive, Hikari. It's the best we can do at this moment. Our partners will be able to evolve again."
"I really hope you're right."
Silence fell on us again until our mother told us dinner was done.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for the next chapter!
