Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. The first step to recovery is acceptance.

Author's Note: I am on a roll! Not only is this the third chapter that I'm putting out for this story, but I now already have two chapters written for my new story. And since this new story has longer chapters by default, and those chapters will get longer as the story progresses, I consider this a good thing. Let's see... I want to give you guys a preview, so that hopefully some of you will stick around when this story comes to its (sad) conclusion.

Here is the working summary: "After a basketball game ends with a trip to the hospital for TK, the digidestined end up with more than they could have ever bargained for." I know what you're thinking. Another Hurt/Comfort fic about TK from me. Nope! This story is going to be Action, Adventure, and have an epic big bad with lots of battles along the way. And, okay, yes. There will be some Hurt/Comfort. I can't help it! I hope you liked my sneak peak. But as for now...

Enjoy!

Day 2 – Part 11

Kari watched the clock on the wall slowly ticking down toward the end of the school day. Next to her, she could hear Davis doodling away on the back of his homework worksheet that he probably would not complete over the weekend. Her pen was twirling in her hand as she watched the time, and she gave a small sigh as her eyes drifted over to the empty seat in front of her.

She hoped TK was okay. She knew that he wasn't usually one to miss school, so if he was willing to takeoff, especially on days when he usually had basketball practice, she knew he had to be feeling bad. She briefly toyed with the idea of bringing something over for him – maybe some soup? – before realizing that neither she, her mother, her father, or Tai could exactly cook very well. Maybe it was a family trait.

The bell finally rang, and Kari rushed to stuff her books into her backpack. Her eyes drifted to Davis's desk as she caught sight of his drawing and she gave a small exasperated sigh.

"Davis," she said, giving him a look.

The burgundy-haired boy blinked at her innocently as he quickly grabbed the worksheet. The back of his homework now sported a cartoon picture of their teacher, Mrs Hamada, being eaten by what appeared to be a Tyrannomon.

"She gave me a D- on my test," he said in response as he stuffed his own stuff into his backpack. "I even studied for hours with Ken on it! I think she just saw my name and marked it with a grade without even checking it. That woman's evil."

Kari shook her head at him but a smile still found its way onto her face. "A D- is an improvement for you," she half-teased.

"Well, yeah," he said, not at all offended as he tossed his backpack onto his shoulder. "But it's not going to stop my dad from grounding me until the end of the century for it."

Unable to stop herself, Kari gave a small giggle at the statement, which earned her a slight smile from Davis. They walked out of the classroom together and stopped at their lockers before meeting up with Yolei and Cody inside of the computer room. Yolei had already dropped a bag of snacks that the Digimon were in the process of eating up quickly.

"I don't think we should go to the Digital World today," Yolei announced immediately.

"What?" Poromon squeaked sadly.

"I agree," Cody said with a nod. "TK's still sick, and it just doesn't seem fair."

"Well, I guess if Patamon can't come…" Upamon said giving Poromon, who still looked dejected, a look. Poromon huffed at the look and skirted around to hide behind Yolei's ankles.

Kari found herself studying Davis as the other two made this announcement, but unlike the day before, he didn't seem at all perturbed by this news. Instead, he just pulled out his D-Terminal and startled to fiddle around with it. Leaning toward him, she was able to see that he was composing an email to Ken.

"Davish?" DemiVeemon said curiously, trying to gauge his partner's reaction.

"Fine," he finally said aloud as he stuffed his D-Terminal back into his pocket. He turned to look at Kari. "Do you want to go get some ice cream?" he asked eagerly.

She hesitated for a moment before adopting an apologetic expression. She really hated turning him down when he looked so innocently happy about the idea of spending time with her. "Actually, Davis," she started as she scooped Gatomon up into her arms, "I promised TK that I'd come by to see him after school."

"Oh," was his only response for a moment, and for a second, he looked like a deflated puppy. Then, he was adopting a careless grin again and the look was gone. "Well, tell TB to stop being such a wuss and get better already!"

"Davis!" Yolei snapped, looking ready to smack him as she reared her hand back.

Kari put a calming hand on her DNA Digivolving partner's arm before smiling at Davis. "I'll tell him," she said sincerely. He may have put it in a way that sounded slightly like an insult, but Kari knew that he honestly was hoping that their blonde friend would be feeling better and soon.

"Do you want to walk with us, Kari?" Cody offered politely.

The amber-eyed girl smiled and nodded. "Sure!"

Gatomon begrudgingly hid back into her pink backpack while the other two collected their own partners. She threw one last wave at the soccer player before she, Yolei, and Cody headed off in the opposite direction.

"Davish, what are we gonna do instead?" she heard DemiVeemon ask innocently.

"I don't know," his partner said thoughtfully. "Let's go bug Ken…"

And then he was out of her hearing range for the young girl. The trio had barely reached the sidewalk when Yolei finally exploded.

"I can't believe Davis would say something like that!" she snapped.

Kari just gave her a small smile. "Yolei… You know he didn't mean it. That's just typical Davis."

"Typical Davis needs to learn some tact!" she yelled, aiming her anger somewhere in front of her beyond her clenched fist.

Cody looked amused. "I'm sure TK wouldn't have even been upset if he had heard him, Yolei. You shouldn't let it get to you."

"Ugh!" she cried. "Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest before letting out a huff. "Why would he say something like that anyway?"

"You know Davis," Cody said coolly. "He has to pretend to dislike TK on principle alone even though we all know that they're really good friends."

"Just like Tai and Matt," Kari said affectionately. "You should hear some of the things that Tai says about Matt from time to time… But I know he doesn't mean it."

"Boys are so weird!" Yolei announced. "Girls are so much simpler."

Kari laughed, not sure if she even agreed with that statement but finding it amusing nonetheless. From her left, she heard Cody mutter something like, "I'm not so sure about that…" but he wisely kept it quiet enough that the lavender haired girl had not heard.

"Do you want to come in and grab something, Kari?" Yolei asked suddenly. They had arrived outside of Yolei's family's convenience store. She and Cody were already standing outside the entrance, obviously planning on heading inside. "We have a special on tuna salad today."

The brunette smiled. "No thanks, Yolei. I think I'm going to go on ahead so that I can check on TK."

"Alright," Yolei said brightly. "See you later then!"

"Tell TK that we hope he feels better," Cody added before following the older girl into the store.

"I will," Kari responded before she headed off herself.

The walk to TK's apartment complex didn't take too long after that. She walked in relative silence, feeling Gatomon shift restlessly in her backpack every so often, before she finally reached the door of the Takaishi apartment. She knocked on the door and waited quietly for several moments, but there was no response.

"Is he not home?" Gatomon asked curiously from her backpack.

"I don't know…" Kari said uncertainly.

She thought about how Tai had said that he was going to take TK to the clinic; she wondered if they were still there. She was about to walk off and perhaps wait with Yolei at her place until they returned when she heard movement from within. She hesitated before knocking again.

"Tai?" she called out through the door, thinking that maybe he didn't want to answer immediately because he hadn't wanted to disturb TK. She smiled to herself when she heard someone start to mess with the door, but then blinked in surprise when she saw who it was. "Izzy?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hey, Kari," Izzy said with a smile. "I'm doing Tai a favor." From the tone of his voice, it was obvious that the favor had not exactly been his choice. "What's going on?"

"I came by to see TK," she answered with a smile. "Is he here?"

"He, Tai, and Joe are at the clinic at the moment," he responded.

"Oh," she answered, disappointed. "Do you mind if I just wait then?"

"Not at all," he responded, opening the door wider so that she could come inside.

He closed the door behind her before walking into the kitchen. Kari followed him and smiled as she saw Patamon watching whatever it was that Izzy was working on.

"Hey, Patamon," she said, bringing her backpack around so that she could let Gatomon out.

"Free at last!" the kitten Digimon cried as she leapt out onto the table.

"Hi!" Patamon chirped to both of them, "Izzy's trying to fix Tai's mess again."

Kari smiled, amused, as she looked closer at what he was working on. "What did he do this time?"

"Spilled soda on his laptop," Izzy said with a shake of his head as he delicately held each removed key in his hand and wiped them off with a damp washcloth.

"I told him not to leave drinks out by his computer," Kari said, somewhere between amused at her brother's mishap and sympathy for Izzy having to clean up after him.

"He never listens," Patamon said.

"That's just who Tai is," Gatomon said, her tail high in the air. "It's when he starts listening that I think we might need to start worrying."