To My Heart, RSVP

by Mina3

Jun knows. Taichi and Yamato know. But what about everyone else? And why do Miyako and Daisuke act so much alike?

2. Part Two

FF.net was being silly…it wouldn't let me upload the whole thing at once. So, here's the rest! ^_^

*****

"Plans still on for tomorrow?" Daisuke asked as they reached the ebon-haired boy's apartment.

"Unless you plan on not showing up," Ken said with a laugh, unlocking the door. "Tadaima!"

"Is that you, Ken-chan?" Ichijouji Kaori came bustling around the corner, a dishtowel in her hands. "Oh, and Daisuke-kun too! Come in, come in. I take it Ken-chan's tutoring you in math again tonight?"

Daisuke flushed faintly but nodded, toe drawing patterns on the floor. "Anou…Ken-kun was nice enough to offer after he found out how bad I did on my last algebra test."

Kaori frowned and made a small clucking noise. "Don't be so down about it, Daisuke. Math isn't a very easy subject to master, but if you have patience, it will come to you. Now why don't you two go wash for dinner, and then you can study afterwards."

"Hai, Mama. Come on, Daisuke." The two boys slipped on house slippers and headed towards Ken's bedroom to deposit they bags.

Once the door was shut, Daisuke unzipped the bag, and their digimon popped up with a sigh of relief. "Daishuke, you need to clean out your backpack!" Chibimon whined.

"Oh, quit complaining!" Daisuke said, ticking the little guy's belly.

"Heh, poor Chibimon; he was just being honest," Minomon said with a giggle.

"Poor Chibimon? What about you, huh?" Daisuke asked, reaching for Minomon next. The two digimon dissolved into helpless giggles as he continued his relentless tickling. "Teach you two to insult my backpack!"

Ken shook his head, smiling fondly at the sight: three of the most important people in his life, laughing happily together.

Daisuke looked over his shoulder, grinning at the boy leaning against the door. He didn't say anything; he just looked at him with completely open smoky-brown eyes.

"Heh, here it comes," Minomon whispered as he and Chibimon snuck away to their hiding place underneath the desk.

The Keeper of Kindness pushed away from the wall and swayed forward, eyes never leaving Daisuke's. He leaned over and put his arms around the boy's neck, hair brushing over the boy's face. "Are you really that sore from practice?"

"Not really—at least, not anymore." Daisuke smiled impishly, leaning back within the embrace. "You?"

"Oh, one or two spots," Ken admitted with a rueful laugh. "I missed a lot of games this season, so I'm not in quite as good shape as you."

"I beg to differ."

"You would; stubborn Chosen Child."

"Hai, hai!"

There was a slight pause, and then Ken found his position abruptly changed, practically seated in Daisuke's lap as the boy tugged him around. He wondered at the light he saw in his boyfriend's eyes, wondered what had caused it. Daisuke was always open to him, and for as long as they'd known one another, even when he'd been the Kaiser, there had been a somber shadow to the boy's eyes. It wasn't completely gone, but it was faded slightly.

He reached up with slender fingers, gently touching one dark cheek. "It was Miyako, wasn't it? She made you happy."

Daisuke leaned into the touch, closing his eyes as the response left his lips in a sigh. "Hai."

"I'm glad," Ken said, smiling.

"But you know what makes me even happier?" Daisuke asked, opening his eyes. His fingers tracked up the length of Ken's arm to his hand, lacing the digits together.

"Eh?" Ken's eyes fixed on their hands, light and dark, just like the two of them were in so many ways.

"You," the auburn haired boy replied simply, and then closed the distance between them, catching the slightly parted lips that met him halfway.

Light and dark, but complements nonetheless, Ken reminded himself as he closed his eyes and tried to put as much of himself into the simple contact of mouth on mouth as he could.

Chibimon and Minomon giggled from their position, not really watching their Chosen Children anymore. "And they kissed all the pain away!" Chibimon snickered.

"But not the happiness," Minomon added.

Chibimon had to agree, turning his head slightly to catch the expressions on the two boys' faces before they stood and headed out to eat. "Hai, but not the happiness."

"I should probably get going," Daisuke said, punctuating the sentence with a yawn.

Ken glanced at the clock on his desk, frowning at the digital display. Sometimes he wished that he had the ability to hold time still, just so that he wouldn't have to lose the moments of closeness he shared with Daisuke.

Something of his thoughts shown his expression, and Daisuke smiled fondly as he leaned over and kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "You'll have me to yourself tomorrow afternoon."

"I know." Ken reached for him; wrapping him in his arms, chin resting atop unruly auburn hair. "But some days I wish that you didn't have to leave. Things feel…dimmer when you're gone, as if something bright were had left."

"What if I gave you this?" Daisuke asked the question softly, hesitantly removing an object from around his wrist and placing it in Ken's fingers. "Jun taught me how to make them the other day and I sat down and made this last night. I picked light blue because of Chibimon's fur, green for Minomon, dark blue for my D-3, black for your D-3, white for our friendship, and violet…" He blushed, flashing a slightly embarrassed smile. "I chose violet for your eyes."

Ken was touched by the gift, as simple as it was, and by the thought Daisuke had put into it. "Thank you, Daisuke." He closed his fingers around the bracelet, the threads soft between his fingers, the colours vibrant to his eyes. "I didn't notice this on your wrist earlier, though."

"Heh, hid them under my wrist bands," Daisuke said, grinning cheekily. He held his wrist up, an exact match to the bracelet Ken held encircling the limb. "I can be sneaky too, ya know, Ichijouji."

"Hai." The violet-eyed boy smiled, eyes brimming with happiness as he hugged the boy in his arms tighter. "Thank you, Daisuke, very much." I don't know why you chose to give me this gift, this mix of the two of us, but it means so much to me.

Daisuke startled him with his next words, and Ken briefly wondered if his boyfriend had a talent in telepathy. "I made it for you, Ken, because you're special to me. Because you were the one who responded to my heart."

*****

Takaishi Takeru was on Cloud Nine. It had taken a severe amount of begging and pleading with both his brother and Taichi, but he'd managed to work his way out of a Yagami/Ishida-Takaishi picnic with the promise of holding the get together the next day. Why had he gone to all the trouble?

Why, to take Yagami Hikari on a date, of course.

Not that they'd called it a "date." As much as he disliked the fact that he couldn't officially ask Hikari out because of her fear of hurting Daisuke, he'd found enough ways around it in the last month to help make up for it.

Taking lessons from Taichi had really helped in that area.

They'd grabbed lunch from a little corner grill in their neighbourhood before heading out to catch a movie. After that, they'd gone to the mall to get a head start on Christmas shopping. But after nearly two hours of running around the numerous stores, their feet were getting quite tired.

"Look, there's a bench!" Hikari pointed, the bags adorning her arm rattling with the movement.

"Ah, at last, relief!" Takeru practically threw himself down on the bench, discarding his bags at his feet. "I was beginning to wonder if we'd ever find a place to sit."

"I know," she said with a laugh, setting her own bags down before sitting beside him. "My feet were hurting so bad! And when we couldn't find any benches, I began to wonder if there was a bench-stealing digimon in the mall."

"A bench-stealing digimon? Is there such a thing?"

Hikari shrugged, laughing as Takeru poked her gently on the tip of the nose. "What was that for?"

"Just for being you." Takeru smiled and shook his head. "You're one in a million, Hikari-chan."

Smiling shyly in return, she touched the back of his hand where it rested on his thigh. "Thank you, Takeru."

Takeru blushed, mumbling, "You're welcome." He then made the mistake of looking up, and found himself lost in a sea of warm brown eyes.

"Whoa, hey, imagine running into you guys here!"

Both Hikari and Takeru jumped at the sound of the familiar voice, scooting apart almost on instinct. "D-Daisuke," Takeru stuttered, trying to act nonchalant and failing. "What brings you down here?"

Daisuke winked, surprising both of the other Chosen Children. "Now I don't ask you to divulge all your secret rendezvous', do I?" He laughed as Hikari blushed. "Actually, I made plans to come here about a week ago. Heard that there was going to be a special playing of Kurosawa's works at Azuma-san's bookshop."

"Kurosawa?" Hikari blinked in astonishment, the blush fading from her cheeks. "I didn't know you were interested in Kurosawa."

"There's a lot about me you don't know," Daisuke said softly, smiling ruefully. "But that's as much my fault as it is anyone else's. As a matter of fact, I'd never really seen any of Kurosawa-sensei's stuff before, but I started getting into it recently. I find a lot of deep, hidden meaning in some of the screenplays, and the interaction between people's neat too."

"Daisuke, is everything all right?" Takeru asked with a frown. Miyako had been right with her statement earlier in the week: the auburn haired boy hardly seemed like his usual self. True, they'd been learning that Daisuke had been a different person before, but there was a happiness about the boy that seemed…unusual, almost as if it were something brand new, still with its shiny coat of paint and ribbon-wrapped packaging.

"Un!" Daisuke shoved his hands into his pockets, flashing his familiar grin though it lacked the smirking quality it used to have. He glanced up at the giant clock in the middle of the mall, frowning slightly. "Now if my date would show up, we could get there early and get good seats."

Date? Hikari and Takeru shared a bewildered look. Daisuke was dating someone and he hadn't said anything?

Hikari was terribly curious, especially since she had thought that Daisuke had a crush on her. It was flattering, to say the least; no matter what anyone else said, Daisuke was kind and honest, and he was cute in the same rough-and-tumble fashion that her brother was. And she had thought that, maybe, if she subtly played 'the game' with him, it would be gentler way of letting him know that she wasn't interested in anything more than friendship than just telling him flat out. She hadn't realized, though, that he'd already moved on. "Daisuke-kun…"

Daisuke cocked his head to the side. "Nani, Hikari-chan?"

He said it so innocently that Hikari began to wonder if it was an act. "So who's this mysterious girl you're seeing and when do we get to meet her?"

"Yeah." Takeru grinned rakishly at his friend. "She needs to earn the Chosen Children's seal of approval, you know."

Smoky-brown eyes widened briefly before Daisuke began to laugh. "Suman," he said after a moment, shaking his head. He then looked at the pair with a perfectly sober, honest expression. "Hikari-chan, no other girl could ever hope to compete with the place you have in my heart."

She worried then, worried that she'd been wrong in her guess. But then she saw something in his eyes, something that was a little sad, a little resigned…

"Daisuke!"

…and then she saw utter euphoria. Hikari watched the whole process in awe, churning it over in her mind as Daisuke turned and waved to the boy slowly approaching.

To her surprise, he was dressed casually, a long maroon t-shirt hanging off his frame and half-tucked into his jeans. There was a watch on his left wrist and a small multi-hued bracelet on his right. She frowned, glancing from his wrist to Daisuke's, noticing the exact same bracelet.

"Have you been waiting long?" Ken asked as he reached Daisuke, not even noticing Hikari and Takeru. "I'm sorry I'm late. I missed the first train." He looked up, smiling shyly.

"Not that long," Daisuke said reassuringly, hand reaching out unconsciously to communicate the sentiment by briefly touching Ken's arm. "I ran into Takeru and Hikari while I was waiting, though."

Ken's pale violet eyes widened in surprise as he turned to the pair, a faint blush staining his cheeks. "Oh, my. I can't believe I didn't even notice you there." He glanced guiltily down at his feet, feeling a little unsure of himself in the company of the other Chosen Children. "Konnichiwa, Takeru-san, Hikari-san."

Hikari saw the small, unconscious movements, the way Ken gravitated towards Daisuke, the way Daisuke gently clasped Ken's hand. She saw the strength of trust, of friendship that bound them together much deeper than even she and Takeru—and Takeru had saved her life. But what she saw in Ken's pale eyes as he looked over at Daisuke and murmured something with a faint smile on his lips surprised her. She couldn't call it anything other than love, because it was so strong and so pure.

Is it just because Daisuke was the first to trust you, the first to forgive you? she thought worriedly. Ichijouji-kun, I don't want you to be hurt anymore.

Not that she thought Daisuke would hurt Ken…not intentionally anyway. But was Daisuke even aware of Ken's feelings? She glanced over at Takeru, saw his slightly stunned expression, and looked back to Ken and Daisuke—receiving the shock of her young life.

Ken was holding a small slip of paper with both hands, reading something off of it to Daisuke. Daisuke had his arm around Ken's shoulders, leaning over to read along with the black haired boy. With their cheeks touching, it was even more visible the difference between them, but the feeling they seemed to share at that moment was the same. Hikari watched Daisuke gently brush hair back from Ken's face, laughing as it immediately slipped back into place.

"Daisuke-kun!" Ken half growled, half laughed, glaring at the grinning boy.

"Nani?" Daisuke asked innocently.

Ken rolled his eyes, stuffing the piece of paper into his pants pocket. "Never mind. Let's get going to the bookshop." He smiled politely at Takeru and Hikari. "It was nice to see you, Takeru-kun, Hikari."

"What time does the movie presentation end?" Hikari asked, startling everyone.

"About six. Why?" Daisuke arched an eyebrow.

She smiled benignly, giving them both her most innocent expression. "I just thought it would be nice if we could all meet for dinner, seeing as how we're all in the same place."

"We could meet at Miroko-bachan's robatayaki grill," Takeru suggested, wondering what exactly it was Hikari had planned. "It's just outside the mall anyway."

"Sounds fine by me," Daisuke said after glancing at Ken. "We should be able to get there by six-thirty."

"Sugei!" Hikari smiled, swinging her feet. "Then we'll see you later, Daisuke-kun, Ken-kun."

Both boys nodded and turned, heading off towards the bookshop.

"Now what was that all about?" Takeru asked with a frown.

"Look." Hikari pointed to the two boys who were slowly dwindling in size. Even though they were moving farther away, she could still see that their hands were joined, fingers laced together.

"What the…!" Takeru did a double take and then glanced at Hikari. "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"

"I think so, since I'm seeing it too," she said with an impish laugh. "But I thought if we met for dinner we could find out for sure."

Takeru grinned after a moment. "Does this mean I can openly ask you out, Hikari-chan?"

Blushing, Hikari reached out and pulled Takeru's hat down over his eyes. "Baka."

Daisuke and Ken had managed to make it to the grill before six-thirty, and found Hikari and Takeru waiting for them at a table. The four Chosen Children spent the next hour and a half doing nothing more than gossiping like ordinary teens about such topics as who was going to win the World Cup in soccer, the new film from Taiwan that Hikari and Takeru had seen, what Mimi's next hairstyle would be, and whether or not Yamato would be wearing makeup at his next concert.

"Oh, wow. I didn't realize how late it was getting! I just need to go and tell my mom that I'll be late," Ken said, pushing back from the table.

"Don't get lost," Daisuke teased. "And tell your mom I say hi."

"Ack!" Takeru jumped up from his seat with a rueful expression, motioning for Ken to wait. "That reminds me. I forgot to call Niichan and tell him that we'd be late. You two stay here while Ken and I use the phone."

Alone at last, Hikari thought, rubbing her mental hands together. She looked across the table intently at her remaining companion, feeling a bit like Miko with a new ball of yarn. "How long, Daisuke-kun?"

Daisuke arched an eyebrow, playing with his straw. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play coy, Daisuke. You and Ken, of course."

"Oh, that!" Daisuke laughed ruefully, a hand behind his head. He then put his hands in his lap, looking down at the table. "Nearly two months now."

Hikari drew in a breath sharply. Nearly two months meant that Daisuke had been seeing Ken before the rest of the Chosen Children had resolved the Digimon Kaiser and Ichijouji Ken into being the same person. If she had found out before, she would have been angry, but now… "Daisuke, what did you mean earlier? In the mall, you said…"

"I said that no other girl could take your place in my heart." Daisuke looked up with a grin, a sparkle in his eyes. "And I meant it, because you were the one who reminded me that it's okay to care for other people. You'll always be special to me because of that, Hikari-chan."

"And Ken-kun? You know…" She hesitated, unsure if she should share her guess. "He loves you, you know."

"Aa." He looked over towards the phone booth were Takeru and Ken were, an unconscious smile on his face. "Ken is what I was really looking for, all the times I was pretending that you were the person I needed. But you weren't, because you didn't need me—at least not the way Ken does. And I don't need you, not the way I need him. Even before I really knew him he was special, and every day we spend together, he only becomes more so.

"I sound silly, don't I?" he said with a laugh.

"Iie." Hikari shook her head with a gentle smile. "You don't sound silly at all. I'm glad for you, though. You deserve someone who can respond to your heart. Who else knows?"

Daisuke smiled ruefully. "Aneki, of course. It wasn't something that you can hide from someone like Jun. I swear she probably spotted it a mile away, and she takes every available opportunity to tease Ken. And Taichi-sempai and Yamato-sempai know."

"Well that doesn't surprise me!" she said, giggling behind her hand.

"And now you and Takeru know, I guess."

"What about Miyako?" She leaned across the table, expression concerned. "From the sounds of it, you two were very close."

He bit his lip, eyes troubled. "We were really close. I'd always considered Miyako kind of like a second big sister, you know? But the thing is, I know she has a crush on Ken, and I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"Daisuke-kun, think about how she'll feel if she finds out from someone else. She may be a little upset when you tell her, but I don't think she'll be really angry." Then she smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Besides, you know our Miyako. Boys are like eye-candy and she falls in love at least once a week."

"Yeah, you're right," he said with a small laugh. "She's a lot like her sister Misao and my sister in that respect."

Ken and Takeru returned the table, laughing over some shared joke. "So, what'd your mom say?" Daisuke asked.

Ken slid back into his seat, rolling his eyes. "Mama was worried that I'd disappeared again. I promised her that you'd escort me to the door, so now she's certain that I'll be coming home."

"Of course, I had to convince her that you really were with him," Takeru added with a laugh, grinning at Daisuke.

"I really wish Mama would quit worrying," Ken said with a sigh, pillowing his chin in his hands. "I mean, it's been two months and I haven't disappeared once without a valid explanation."

Hikari smiled at him. "Things like that take awhile to heal, Ken-kun. Your mother is just afraid of losing you after already having lost one son."

"I guess your right," Ken said with a weak smile. "I just find it funny that she expects Mr. Irresponsibility, of all people, to bring me home safe and sound."

Daisuke pretended to be offended. "Just what are you implying? Is this because I like to detour through the park on the way to your house and sing 'Groovy Blue' really loud? Or is this because of the time I made you jump in the fountain with me at nine o'clock at night? Wait a minute, I know: this is because of the time we were sitting on the swings and I kissed you when that little girl was walking by, isn't it?"

Ken blushed heatedly. "Daisuke!"

"What? She thought it was sweet. She even brought you one of the flowers she'd been picking and told me that I had a pretty girlfriend."

The ebon haired boy buried his face in his hands. "You just had to mention that in front of Hikari and Takeru, didn't you?"

The pair in question were nearly doubled over in laughter. "That little girl did have a point though, Ken," Takeru said with an evil grin once his laughter was under control. "You would make a pretty girl."

"I could loan you one of my dresses," Hikari added. She almost managed a deadpan, but Ken's horrified expression had her giggling all over again.

"Dresses aren't all that bad," Daisuke said breezily, brown eyes wide. "I wouldn't know anything about mini-skirts, but Miyako's skirts weren't any worse than wearing my kimono on New Year's."

"Do I even want to know?" Ken asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I promise to tell you later." Daisuke looked over at Hikari and Takeru with a grin. "It was nice having dinner with you guys, but Ken and I'd better get going if I'm going to walk him to the door and get back to my place before ten."

"Don't forget we're having a Chosen Child meeting on Monday. And Daisuke?" She smiled when he looked at her questioningly. "Think about what I said, please?"

He smiled softly in return. "I will." Then, turning to his boyfriend, he held out his hand. "Shall we?"

Ken didn't smile but his pale eyes seemed to light up as he placed his hand in Daisuke's, fingers lacing together. "Let's."

"What do you think?" Takeru asked, watching Daisuke's and Ken's backs disappear through the doorway.

"They're tight," Hikari said, absently leaning against him. "Maybe even tighter than Niichan and your brother. More than that, I think they're good for each other. You've seen the way they've both changed since meeting."

Takeru nodded. "Yeah. What was it you were telling Daisuke to think about?"

Her expression turned troubled. "I told him to think about telling Miyako."

"It's probably a good idea. It might not go over well at first, but better to get it over with now then have it become a problem that causes friction with the team when we least need it."

"I just hope that I read Miyako right," she murmured.

*****

Daisuke hesitated, hand over the phone for the fourth time that hour. Should I or shouldn't I? Should I or shouldn't I? He'd talked it over with Ken the night before and his boyfriend had thought he should go for it, but he still wasn't sure. He knew Miyako's temper, and sometimes it wasn't pretty. At the same time, though, she had always been really understanding before their little fall-out…

I just don't know! Ken, why can't you be here while I do this? I don't know what to say, what to do…I just know I'll put my foot in my mouth—I just know it!

Jun sighed from her lounging position on the couch, watching her little brother with a dismayed expression. "Daisuke, just what is it you're trying to avoid doing?"

He yelped in startlement, jumping back away from the phone. Damn; I forgot she was here. "I, anou…eeto…"

She arched an eyebrow, one hand unconsciously drifting to settle on her hip. "I can't help if I don't know what the problem is, you know."

"Kaasan and Tousan are still gone, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled conspiratorially. "Is this about you're sweet boyfriend, Dai-chan?"

"Kind of," he muttered, flushing at her choice of words. "Ya see, Takeru and Hikari-chan figured it out yesterday. We ran into them at the mall and had dinner afterwards. And Hikari thinks that I should tell Miyako, 'cause Miyako kind of has a crush on Ken and she doesn't think that Miyako should have to find it out from someone else."

"Well, Hikari does have a point." Jun put a finger to her lips, frowning in thought. "Come to think of it, Misao called me yesterday, all excited. She said that you and Miyako had finally made up."

Daisuke nodded. "Yeah. She went with me over to Tamachi Friday afternoon when Ken and I were practicing soccer."

Jun tipped her head to the side and grinned, pointing a finger at her brother's nose. "Then I would most definitely say you should tell her. The Inoues are a lot like us Motomiyas, ya know. We get angry pretty fast, but we get over it just as quickly."

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Of course I'm sure!" she scoffed. "Not only am I female, I'm a Motomiya. We're always sure of what we do."

He snickered and shook his head. "If you knew how often that last part fails as an excuse…"

"Oh, get on with it," she said with a scowl. "You need to figure out what you're doing this morning so I can figure out what I'm doing this morning."

"Hai, hai." Without further preamble, Daisuke picked up the phone and dialled Miyako's number. "Moshi moshi. Is Miyako there?"

"Moshi moshi! This is Miyako!"

"Miyako, it's Daisuke. Could you meet me at the park in half an hour?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"I just wanted ta talk, that's all. Where do you want to meet?"

"Anou…how about the bench next to the koi pond?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you in a bit, then."

"See ya!"

Jun grinned when he hung up the phone. "See, was that really so bad?"

"I'll let you know when I can talk around my heart beating in my throat!" Daisuke groaned, slumping down to the floor.

Miyako waited patiently on the bench, watching the koi slowly swim back and forth through the water. I wonder what Daisuke-kun wanted to talk about. He sounded kind of apprehensive.

"Naa, Miyako!"

She looked up at the hail, smiling as Daisuke came trotting over and slid onto the bench beside her. "Phew! I wasn't expecting you to beat me here."

Miyako shrugged. "I didn't have anything to do, so I headed over as soon as I got off the phone with you. What's up?"

Daisuke forced a smile, glancing at the pond as well. "I just thought it would be nice to spend some time together, you know?"

She wasn't fooled for a minute. He was nervous about something—probably afraid to tell her something—but past experience had taught her that trying to force it out of him would get her nowhere. She could be patient, though.

And she didn't have to wait long. She had counted to twenty, watching the breeze ripple on the pond, when Daisuke spoke again.

"Hey, Miyako?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember that silly little poem I used to say all the time when we were little? The one your sister Midori taught us?"

She laughed. "Of course! It was that cute little rhyme her American pen pal sent. From life to life/Unchanged, flying free/Will you, to my/Heart, RSVP." She sighed, remembering how Daisuke used to spout the little poem quite frequently. It had become a favourite of hers as well, though. It seems so romantic.

"Yeah." Daisuke looked away somewhat uncomfortably.

Miyako gently touched his shoulder, giving him a small smile. "What is it you want to tell me, Daisuke-kun? It sounded pretty important."

"It is…to me, anyway. And since we used to be best friends—you were like my big sister, but nicer, you know? And I thought it was a secret, but Aneki knows, and Takeru and Hikari-chan figured it out, and I thought I should tell you before some stranger did, but I was worried you'd be mad, so I kept trying to put it off, and—"

"Daisuke!"

He looked up in surprise when she snapped at him, brown eyes blinking in confusion. "Huh?"

She couldn't help but laugh at his bewilderment. "You were babbling."

Daisuke flushed. "Oh."

"Oh, Daisuke-kun." Miyako sighed and shook her head. "This is obviously important to you, so why don't you just get it out."

He took in a deep breath and then nodded. All right, here goes. "You know the last part of the poem: 'To my heart, RSVP'? Well, I've always wanted someone that I could ask that of, who would respond back. And I finally found someone."

"Really? Who?" she asked excitedly. She knew it wasn't Hikari-chan, so who could it be? Maybe someone from his class… But, no, that didn't seem right. It would have to be a Chosen Child—she felt that for certain—and that didn't leave many options.

Then she felt a cold, sinking feeling in her stomach as a thought came to her, one that nearly made her gasp. Then what I saw that day…it was real. The hand in hand, head on shoulder scene she had thought she was imagining had been real. She felt an ache bloom in her chest at that realization, but it was a tiny ache in comparison to the happiness that followed moments later.

Daisuke stared down at his feet, swinging idly under the bench. "It's Ken." Then he looked up and smiled at her, and Miyako felt the pain diminish even further.

And she was able to smile sincerely in return, sure of what she read in his expression, sure of what she had seen when the two had been together. "I'm happy for you, Daisuke-kun."

"Are you sure?" He watched her uncertainly, expression caught between happiness and disbelief. "I know you had a crush on him…"

"Yeah…yeah, I did," she said with a sigh and a rueful smile. "He's cute and polite, as well as smart and athletic. But I didn't really know him—not the way you do." Then she laughed, looking off into the horizon. "It's funny, though. Just the other day I was thinking about how he'd break all the girls' hearts, mine included. I never even thought about the boys whose hearts he'd be breaking as well."

"I, well, anou…that is…eeto…" Daisuke blushed hotly, stuttering over his words.

"Daisuke no baka!" She laughed good-naturedly, jumping to her feet. "Well, I'm glad that that's settled. Come on, then."

"Wh-where are we going?" he asked as she tugged him to his feet.

"To celebrate! It's not every day that your almost-little brother gets a boyfriend, after all." Miyako laughed again as he blushed in embarrassment, trying to stutter a denial. "How about we grab pastries from my parents store, and then we'll go and pig out till dinner time? It'll be just like when we were little."

"Does your sister still have all those old Unico tapes? That would make it like when we were little."

"I won't tell if you won't tell," she said with a wink. "Midori-neesan still keeps them under her bed."

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on, Miya-chan, hayaku!" Daisuke said with a grin, racing down the sidewalk.

"Daisuke! Don't call me Miya-chan!" Miyako half growled, half laughed, racing after the boy. Some day, Daisuke, I hope I can find someone like you did. Someone who can respond to my heart and make me as free as you.