Hallelujah, Part 1
Summer was quickly coming to an end. It was easy to tell, and not just because of all the back-to-school sales being advertised. The air was changing, cooling, giving a sense that autumn was much closer than everyone thought it was. TK especially loved the times just as the seasons were changing, as it gave him some of the best inspiration for his writing. He was seated on his usual, favorite bench, scribbling feverishly in his composition book, jotting down ideas for stories, small, quick poems.anything that came to mind.
"You sure get into that stuff, don'tcha PJ?" Davis asked as he approached him in the park. TK finished his last sentence and looked up at his friend, blinking his eyes a few times.
"Heh, hey Davis. How long you been there?" he asked, rubbing his eyes a bit.
"A couple of minutes. I was beginning to hope that some of Cody's ninja skills were beginning to rub off on me."
"I resent that comment." Cody said as he poked his head up from behind TK's bench. Both TK and Davis jumped at the sudden appearance of the younger Digidestined.
"So it's true then? You really are a ninja??" TK asked as he picked himself up off the ground.
"No."
"Then why did you say you resented my comment?" Davis asked.
"I resent any time I get compared to you, Davis." Cody said, smirking at him.
"Aren't you a riot." Davis said flatly. TK and Cody chuckled a bit.
"As much as I'd love to stick around and abuse you some more, Davis, I'm on an errand for grandpa."
"More ice cream money?" TK asked.
"Only 5 flavors left, and I'm running out of time. Please let your mom know that if she has any odd jobs she wants done I'll be happy to do them for a nominal fee."
"Will do, Cody." TK said, laughing.
"Same goes for you too, Davis. Let your folks know I'm available for hire."
"I'd pay you just to stop cracking on me." Davis commented.
"That's acceptable."
"Don't tempt me."
"Then the beatings will continue, my begoggled companion."
"Don't you have an errand to get back to?"
"Yeah, you'd better go Cody. Before I turn watching you abuse Davis into a spectator sport." TK added, continuing to chuckle at the two.
Cody snickered a bit and waved to his two friends as he jogged off to continue his errand. Davis sighed and sat down next to TK with a grunt.
"So is this why I had to miss my Saturday morning cartoons, man? Just so you could have Cody abuse me some more?" he asked.
"I swear I didn't even know he was there, Davis. No, I had a much more serious reason for meeting you this morning."
"It must be serious, since I don't see Yolei anywhere either. Unless she's taking ninja courses too?" Davis looked around nervously after his last comment.
"She's not here today, Davis. Remember? She went with Sora and Kari on that day trip to the hot springs."
"So you're a free man for the day, then?"
"Just today."
"And you wanted to spend it with me? I'm touched!" Davis said melodramatically, batting his eyes at TK.
"Do you want me to call Cody back here to abuse you more?" TK replied, unamused.
"You're no fun at all."
"That's not what."
"I don't even want you to finish that sentence." Davis said, cutting TK off. "So are you going to get to the point of this all?"
"What I want to know is how did you manage to pull it off?" TK asked, turning serious.
"Pull what off?" Davis asked, curious as to what TK meant.
"How did you get back together with Kari?"
"That's what this is all about?"
"Davis, I hurt her bad. I know I did. The last time I talked with her for a good length of time was before the dance, and we all remember what happened back then. After that, the next time I saw her she was with you at the dance and she seemed genuinely happy again. I just want to know to satisfy my own curiosity. I am still her friend after all, even if I hardly see her anymore."
"I getcha." Davis said, sitting forward a bit now on the bench. "I hope you like long stories, then, because this one will take a while."
"I've got nothing else going on today, Davis, so let's hear it."
Davis took a long, deep breath and turned to face TK, slinging one arm over the back of the bench.
"Things started to pick back up about a week after you'd dropped the bomb on Kari."
_ _ _ _ _
"No way, Tai!"
"Davis, c'mon, you've got to help me out here!"
"Trust me, Tai, I'm not the one for this. I'm about the last person for this for that matter."
"You're the only person for something like this, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. Not when it comes to my little sister."
"You can keep this up until you lose your voice, Tai, you're not changing my mind. I'm sorry."
Davis turned and began to walk away from Tai, shaking his head.
"So that's it?! You're just going to give up and walk away? I thought you cared about Kari, Davis! I thought you really felt something for her."
"Damn it, Tai, don't make this any harder than it already is on me."
"So if you do feel something for her why won't you help me?"
"Because she doesn't like me, Tai!" Davis snapped back at him, looking at his friend angrily now. "She doesn't care if I live or die! I've pined after her for as long as I can remember! I've gone out of my way to be nice to her! I've done everything possible to show her how much I cared about her, and she throws it all back in my face because she loves TK!
"She still does, for that matter! I know she does! Even though he's with Yolei, I know she'd like nothing better than to get him back from her. And even after everything I've tried to be to her, she doesn't even like me a little. So if I'm nothing to her then why should she mean anything to me?
"So yeah, Tai. I'm giving up and walking away. You don't like it? I don't care anymore. I don't care about anything anymore. What's the.what's the damn point in caring at all anymore? If I can't be with her."
Davis choked back the tears that were welling up again and managed to look Tai in the eye again. Tai looked back at him just as sternly as he'd been, obviously with something to say back to him.
"You sound just like me, you know?" Tai told him.
"I've heard that one before."
"You sound just as pissed off as I was when I lost Sora to Matt. Hell, I remember saying those exact same words to Joe. 'What's the damn point in caring anymore?' So tell me, then, how long are you going to take to get over yourself Davis?"
"Shut up, Tai."
"You shut up and listen!" Tai snapped, stepping up to just inches from Davis. "Quit feeling so damn sorry for yourself and do what you know is right! You're different from me in that you've actually got a second chance here. I'll never be the one for Sora. I've.I've accepted that now."
Davis looked at his mentor, seeing that his expression had already begun to soften as he talked about the girl he'd lost out on, and listened a bit more closely to what Tai had to say.
"Just like you, I thought I was doing everything right. I thought for sure it'd be me. Then Sora told me she'd been seeing Yamato for about a month when I finally asked her out. It crushed me at the time. It still does a little whenever I see them together. When I talked to Joe about it, he set me straight. When I asked him, 'What's the damn point in caring anymore?' he told me this: you can never really stop loving someone. Once you've started, they will always hold a special place inside of you, no matter what happens. Maybe the kind of love you feel changes, but it never goes away.
"I will always love Sora, no matter what happens. But I love her too much to destroy our friendship over my petty jealousy. Even if sometimes I want to just grab Matt and shake him after hearing about some of the fights he has with her, and make him realize how lucky he is to have her.I just couldn't do that to her."
Tai finally looked back at Davis, who looked like he was grasping what he was trying to tell him.
"You, on the other hand, have a rare second chance Davis. Kari needs someone right now more than ever, and you're the only one I can think of who could fill that void. Now can you honestly tell me you still don't have feelings for her?"
"Like you said, Tai.how could I ever not care about her?" Davis said, a hint of defeat in his voice.
"Then go to her. Help lift her spirits however you can. If anything does come of it, you have my blessing. If not, then maybe it's not meant to be, but don't stop being her friend."
Davis lifted his head at Tai, looking at him for a long, silent moment. Part of him resented the elder Digidestined for putting him in such a situation. Moreover, though, he knew Tai was right.
'Kari needs someone.no, she needs a friend. If that's all I'll ever be, then that's at least more than being nothing to her.' He thought. 'I have to help her.'
"I won't. I promise, Tai. I'll always be there for her, no matter what."
Tai smiled again at Davis and clapped his hand on his shoulder. He departed after that, leaving Davis to his thoughts so he could figure out just how to face the girl he cared for, and help her rejoin the world.
_ _ _ _ _
"I visited Kari the same day that I had that talk with Tai." Davis said, after recanting his confrontation with Tai. "She was in pretty bad shape, almost like she hadn't left her home since you and she talked a week earlier. After a lot of coaxing, I got her to clean herself up and we went out for a late lunch. We talked while we ate, and then we just kept talking. We'd walk around and just talk about things on our minds"
"So you worked everything out right then and there?" TK asked.
"Kinda. We decided to give things another try, but we'd try to do it right this time. I promised I wouldn't be so overbearing and overprotective, and she promised to not be so coy about her feelings. We went out a couple of times during the week, and things were going good. I was starting to feel close to her again.
"Then I asked her about the Summer Festival, and at first she wanted to go. Later that day, though, she called me up again and said she'd changed her mind and didn't want to go. I could tell she was upset on the phone, but at the time I didn't know why."
"My turn to fill in, I guess." TK said, sitting up a bit now. "I think I remember that particular day. I met Yolei at the department store that morning."
_ _ _ _ _
"Are you sure your folks are okay with you spending this much money?" TK asked as he looked at the prices of the dresses Yolei was looking at.
"My mom is so ecstatic to see me having a social life, I'm surprised she didn't just hand me her credit card." Yolei joked as she draped another dress over TK's outstretched arms. He was now holding 8 dresses. "Seriously, though, she only gave me half of the money I'm working with. The rest is from a combination of work and money saved from Christmas and my birthday."
"I thought you spent most of your money on computer parts?"
"That's not to say I spend all of it on computer parts, silly." She winked playfully at him.
"So how many dresses are you going to look at?"
"Oh, about 10 to start."
"To start?!"
"Yeah! Well, that's what Mimi recommended. Of course I'll probably go back and pick some others out, so probably 20 or so by the end."
"Hence why you told me to dress comfortably for this and make sure to get plenty of sleep last night."
"Yup. We're here for the long haul."
TK sighed and hung his head a bit, disappointed that his day with Yolei was going to be caught up in something that, to him, seemed to mundane. Yolei sensed the disappointment in him and stepped alongside him, smiling.
"I want to look just right for you for the Festival, Takeru. I know you'd rather be doing something more fun, but the fact that you're here means the world to me." She told him.
"After everything I put you through, this is the least I can do for the one I hold most dear to me." TK responded, smiling back.
"That's my Takeru."
Yolei leaned over the pile of clothing in TK's arms, kissing him briefly before heading back to the racks. TK smiled and straightened up, doing his best to hold up the pile of clothing for his girlfriend.
A couple of hours, and a couple dozen dresses later, Yolei was making her final choices in secret as TK waited. She insisted that he not see what her final choice was, because she wanted to surprise him. TK had his own guess as to which dress she picked, but decided to keep it to himself until the Festival. He strolled along, looking at a few things idly as he went.
"TK?" a voice called to him. He turned to see Kari standing not too far away, her purse slung over one shoulder.
"Kari.hey, how's it going?" he asked, quickly trying to be upbeat.
"Good! I'm fine. You?" Kari asked, her response a bit delayed.
"Oh, same as always. Writing my hands off."
"Heh, I guess some things never change."
"I guess. So, what brings you here?"
"Me? I'm, uh.just browsing. I need new.shoes."
"Aren't shoes on the second floor?"
"Right! I was just looking for the escalator is all."
"Kari, the escalator is on the way in."
"Well.I just.I mean, I saw you and I wanted to."
"Kari, what's going on? Are you alright?"
TK could see that there was something in her eyes and voice that made her look distressed. She seemed to want to say something, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Her gaze never quite met his as she seemed to search for the courage to say what she wanted.
"I.I just need to.TK, can't we."
Before Kari could finish, Yolei hopped up behind TK, her bag in hand.
"All set! I think I picked a good one for the Summer Festival, Takeru. You'll be really." She then looked up and saw Kari standing across from them. ".surprised."
Seeing the two together was the last straw. Before she broke down into an emotional mess yet again, Kari closed her eyes and cursed herself for thinking she could go back to life as usual.
"I-I'm sorry. I need to leave." she said, quickly turning away from the couple and walking quickly towards the exit.
"Kari, wait! We really need to talk!" TK called after her. She didn't even so much as look back as she left the store. TK cursed quietly at himself.
"She's still upset, isn't she?" Yolei said after a moment.
"I can't blame her. I hurt her pretty badly when I talked to her last."
"We both hurt her, Takeru. You're not solely to blame."
"I'm still not completely convinced of that, Yolei. I could've done it better, even sooner! I could've let her down more easily."
"Hindsight is 20/20. You handled things as best as you could at the time. Don't beat yourself up over what might have been."
"I guess."
"Do you remember what you said to me before you made your decision, Takeru?" Yolei asked, turning him to face her. "You said you wanted to make sure that you made the right decision and end up hurting only one person, not two. You did just what you set out to do, and no one can fault you for that. No one could've handled such an awkward situation any better."
"Even so, I just hope I haven't damaged our friendship as well."
"Kari will come around when she's ready. I know I have some talking to do with her too. Like I said, you're not the only one who's hurt her."
TK nodded in agreement, managing to smile at Yolei once again.
"You don't.regret your decision, do you Takeru?" she asked, half-coyly, half-worriedly. TK smiled a bit more and shook his head as he touched her cheek gently.
"How could I? I picked the girl I love, after all." He said, smiling at her reassuringly.
Yolei smiled brightly again and stepped up to him, sharing a longer kiss with her boyfriend this time. Resisting the urge to make a real scene in the store, she broke off the kiss after a few moments and took him by the hand as they continued the rest of their day together, intent on having a bit more fun.
_ _ _ _ _
"I still don't know if running into Kari was purely accidental, or if she ended up following us into the store. One thing's for sure, deep down she was still upset about what happened between her and me." TK said, wrapping up his part of the story.
"That sure explains a lot. Kari never told me what happened that day, just that she didn't want to go to the Festival. I figured it had something to do with you guys, though."
"So how did you convince her to go?"
"Heh, that's yet another story. But I think we've done enough sitting around for now. I say we stretch our legs, get some lunch, and we'll continue this story later on."
"Sounds like a plan to me. Hey, let's grab Ken while we're at it. He's spent way too much time this summer with his face stuck in books."
"I couldn't agree more."
TK gathered up his things and the two friends went off in search of their braniac companion, eager to try and get him to enjoy what was left of the summer outside of his studies.
Summer was quickly coming to an end. It was easy to tell, and not just because of all the back-to-school sales being advertised. The air was changing, cooling, giving a sense that autumn was much closer than everyone thought it was. TK especially loved the times just as the seasons were changing, as it gave him some of the best inspiration for his writing. He was seated on his usual, favorite bench, scribbling feverishly in his composition book, jotting down ideas for stories, small, quick poems.anything that came to mind.
"You sure get into that stuff, don'tcha PJ?" Davis asked as he approached him in the park. TK finished his last sentence and looked up at his friend, blinking his eyes a few times.
"Heh, hey Davis. How long you been there?" he asked, rubbing his eyes a bit.
"A couple of minutes. I was beginning to hope that some of Cody's ninja skills were beginning to rub off on me."
"I resent that comment." Cody said as he poked his head up from behind TK's bench. Both TK and Davis jumped at the sudden appearance of the younger Digidestined.
"So it's true then? You really are a ninja??" TK asked as he picked himself up off the ground.
"No."
"Then why did you say you resented my comment?" Davis asked.
"I resent any time I get compared to you, Davis." Cody said, smirking at him.
"Aren't you a riot." Davis said flatly. TK and Cody chuckled a bit.
"As much as I'd love to stick around and abuse you some more, Davis, I'm on an errand for grandpa."
"More ice cream money?" TK asked.
"Only 5 flavors left, and I'm running out of time. Please let your mom know that if she has any odd jobs she wants done I'll be happy to do them for a nominal fee."
"Will do, Cody." TK said, laughing.
"Same goes for you too, Davis. Let your folks know I'm available for hire."
"I'd pay you just to stop cracking on me." Davis commented.
"That's acceptable."
"Don't tempt me."
"Then the beatings will continue, my begoggled companion."
"Don't you have an errand to get back to?"
"Yeah, you'd better go Cody. Before I turn watching you abuse Davis into a spectator sport." TK added, continuing to chuckle at the two.
Cody snickered a bit and waved to his two friends as he jogged off to continue his errand. Davis sighed and sat down next to TK with a grunt.
"So is this why I had to miss my Saturday morning cartoons, man? Just so you could have Cody abuse me some more?" he asked.
"I swear I didn't even know he was there, Davis. No, I had a much more serious reason for meeting you this morning."
"It must be serious, since I don't see Yolei anywhere either. Unless she's taking ninja courses too?" Davis looked around nervously after his last comment.
"She's not here today, Davis. Remember? She went with Sora and Kari on that day trip to the hot springs."
"So you're a free man for the day, then?"
"Just today."
"And you wanted to spend it with me? I'm touched!" Davis said melodramatically, batting his eyes at TK.
"Do you want me to call Cody back here to abuse you more?" TK replied, unamused.
"You're no fun at all."
"That's not what."
"I don't even want you to finish that sentence." Davis said, cutting TK off. "So are you going to get to the point of this all?"
"What I want to know is how did you manage to pull it off?" TK asked, turning serious.
"Pull what off?" Davis asked, curious as to what TK meant.
"How did you get back together with Kari?"
"That's what this is all about?"
"Davis, I hurt her bad. I know I did. The last time I talked with her for a good length of time was before the dance, and we all remember what happened back then. After that, the next time I saw her she was with you at the dance and she seemed genuinely happy again. I just want to know to satisfy my own curiosity. I am still her friend after all, even if I hardly see her anymore."
"I getcha." Davis said, sitting forward a bit now on the bench. "I hope you like long stories, then, because this one will take a while."
"I've got nothing else going on today, Davis, so let's hear it."
Davis took a long, deep breath and turned to face TK, slinging one arm over the back of the bench.
"Things started to pick back up about a week after you'd dropped the bomb on Kari."
_ _ _ _ _
"No way, Tai!"
"Davis, c'mon, you've got to help me out here!"
"Trust me, Tai, I'm not the one for this. I'm about the last person for this for that matter."
"You're the only person for something like this, and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. Not when it comes to my little sister."
"You can keep this up until you lose your voice, Tai, you're not changing my mind. I'm sorry."
Davis turned and began to walk away from Tai, shaking his head.
"So that's it?! You're just going to give up and walk away? I thought you cared about Kari, Davis! I thought you really felt something for her."
"Damn it, Tai, don't make this any harder than it already is on me."
"So if you do feel something for her why won't you help me?"
"Because she doesn't like me, Tai!" Davis snapped back at him, looking at his friend angrily now. "She doesn't care if I live or die! I've pined after her for as long as I can remember! I've gone out of my way to be nice to her! I've done everything possible to show her how much I cared about her, and she throws it all back in my face because she loves TK!
"She still does, for that matter! I know she does! Even though he's with Yolei, I know she'd like nothing better than to get him back from her. And even after everything I've tried to be to her, she doesn't even like me a little. So if I'm nothing to her then why should she mean anything to me?
"So yeah, Tai. I'm giving up and walking away. You don't like it? I don't care anymore. I don't care about anything anymore. What's the.what's the damn point in caring at all anymore? If I can't be with her."
Davis choked back the tears that were welling up again and managed to look Tai in the eye again. Tai looked back at him just as sternly as he'd been, obviously with something to say back to him.
"You sound just like me, you know?" Tai told him.
"I've heard that one before."
"You sound just as pissed off as I was when I lost Sora to Matt. Hell, I remember saying those exact same words to Joe. 'What's the damn point in caring anymore?' So tell me, then, how long are you going to take to get over yourself Davis?"
"Shut up, Tai."
"You shut up and listen!" Tai snapped, stepping up to just inches from Davis. "Quit feeling so damn sorry for yourself and do what you know is right! You're different from me in that you've actually got a second chance here. I'll never be the one for Sora. I've.I've accepted that now."
Davis looked at his mentor, seeing that his expression had already begun to soften as he talked about the girl he'd lost out on, and listened a bit more closely to what Tai had to say.
"Just like you, I thought I was doing everything right. I thought for sure it'd be me. Then Sora told me she'd been seeing Yamato for about a month when I finally asked her out. It crushed me at the time. It still does a little whenever I see them together. When I talked to Joe about it, he set me straight. When I asked him, 'What's the damn point in caring anymore?' he told me this: you can never really stop loving someone. Once you've started, they will always hold a special place inside of you, no matter what happens. Maybe the kind of love you feel changes, but it never goes away.
"I will always love Sora, no matter what happens. But I love her too much to destroy our friendship over my petty jealousy. Even if sometimes I want to just grab Matt and shake him after hearing about some of the fights he has with her, and make him realize how lucky he is to have her.I just couldn't do that to her."
Tai finally looked back at Davis, who looked like he was grasping what he was trying to tell him.
"You, on the other hand, have a rare second chance Davis. Kari needs someone right now more than ever, and you're the only one I can think of who could fill that void. Now can you honestly tell me you still don't have feelings for her?"
"Like you said, Tai.how could I ever not care about her?" Davis said, a hint of defeat in his voice.
"Then go to her. Help lift her spirits however you can. If anything does come of it, you have my blessing. If not, then maybe it's not meant to be, but don't stop being her friend."
Davis lifted his head at Tai, looking at him for a long, silent moment. Part of him resented the elder Digidestined for putting him in such a situation. Moreover, though, he knew Tai was right.
'Kari needs someone.no, she needs a friend. If that's all I'll ever be, then that's at least more than being nothing to her.' He thought. 'I have to help her.'
"I won't. I promise, Tai. I'll always be there for her, no matter what."
Tai smiled again at Davis and clapped his hand on his shoulder. He departed after that, leaving Davis to his thoughts so he could figure out just how to face the girl he cared for, and help her rejoin the world.
_ _ _ _ _
"I visited Kari the same day that I had that talk with Tai." Davis said, after recanting his confrontation with Tai. "She was in pretty bad shape, almost like she hadn't left her home since you and she talked a week earlier. After a lot of coaxing, I got her to clean herself up and we went out for a late lunch. We talked while we ate, and then we just kept talking. We'd walk around and just talk about things on our minds"
"So you worked everything out right then and there?" TK asked.
"Kinda. We decided to give things another try, but we'd try to do it right this time. I promised I wouldn't be so overbearing and overprotective, and she promised to not be so coy about her feelings. We went out a couple of times during the week, and things were going good. I was starting to feel close to her again.
"Then I asked her about the Summer Festival, and at first she wanted to go. Later that day, though, she called me up again and said she'd changed her mind and didn't want to go. I could tell she was upset on the phone, but at the time I didn't know why."
"My turn to fill in, I guess." TK said, sitting up a bit now. "I think I remember that particular day. I met Yolei at the department store that morning."
_ _ _ _ _
"Are you sure your folks are okay with you spending this much money?" TK asked as he looked at the prices of the dresses Yolei was looking at.
"My mom is so ecstatic to see me having a social life, I'm surprised she didn't just hand me her credit card." Yolei joked as she draped another dress over TK's outstretched arms. He was now holding 8 dresses. "Seriously, though, she only gave me half of the money I'm working with. The rest is from a combination of work and money saved from Christmas and my birthday."
"I thought you spent most of your money on computer parts?"
"That's not to say I spend all of it on computer parts, silly." She winked playfully at him.
"So how many dresses are you going to look at?"
"Oh, about 10 to start."
"To start?!"
"Yeah! Well, that's what Mimi recommended. Of course I'll probably go back and pick some others out, so probably 20 or so by the end."
"Hence why you told me to dress comfortably for this and make sure to get plenty of sleep last night."
"Yup. We're here for the long haul."
TK sighed and hung his head a bit, disappointed that his day with Yolei was going to be caught up in something that, to him, seemed to mundane. Yolei sensed the disappointment in him and stepped alongside him, smiling.
"I want to look just right for you for the Festival, Takeru. I know you'd rather be doing something more fun, but the fact that you're here means the world to me." She told him.
"After everything I put you through, this is the least I can do for the one I hold most dear to me." TK responded, smiling back.
"That's my Takeru."
Yolei leaned over the pile of clothing in TK's arms, kissing him briefly before heading back to the racks. TK smiled and straightened up, doing his best to hold up the pile of clothing for his girlfriend.
A couple of hours, and a couple dozen dresses later, Yolei was making her final choices in secret as TK waited. She insisted that he not see what her final choice was, because she wanted to surprise him. TK had his own guess as to which dress she picked, but decided to keep it to himself until the Festival. He strolled along, looking at a few things idly as he went.
"TK?" a voice called to him. He turned to see Kari standing not too far away, her purse slung over one shoulder.
"Kari.hey, how's it going?" he asked, quickly trying to be upbeat.
"Good! I'm fine. You?" Kari asked, her response a bit delayed.
"Oh, same as always. Writing my hands off."
"Heh, I guess some things never change."
"I guess. So, what brings you here?"
"Me? I'm, uh.just browsing. I need new.shoes."
"Aren't shoes on the second floor?"
"Right! I was just looking for the escalator is all."
"Kari, the escalator is on the way in."
"Well.I just.I mean, I saw you and I wanted to."
"Kari, what's going on? Are you alright?"
TK could see that there was something in her eyes and voice that made her look distressed. She seemed to want to say something, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Her gaze never quite met his as she seemed to search for the courage to say what she wanted.
"I.I just need to.TK, can't we."
Before Kari could finish, Yolei hopped up behind TK, her bag in hand.
"All set! I think I picked a good one for the Summer Festival, Takeru. You'll be really." She then looked up and saw Kari standing across from them. ".surprised."
Seeing the two together was the last straw. Before she broke down into an emotional mess yet again, Kari closed her eyes and cursed herself for thinking she could go back to life as usual.
"I-I'm sorry. I need to leave." she said, quickly turning away from the couple and walking quickly towards the exit.
"Kari, wait! We really need to talk!" TK called after her. She didn't even so much as look back as she left the store. TK cursed quietly at himself.
"She's still upset, isn't she?" Yolei said after a moment.
"I can't blame her. I hurt her pretty badly when I talked to her last."
"We both hurt her, Takeru. You're not solely to blame."
"I'm still not completely convinced of that, Yolei. I could've done it better, even sooner! I could've let her down more easily."
"Hindsight is 20/20. You handled things as best as you could at the time. Don't beat yourself up over what might have been."
"I guess."
"Do you remember what you said to me before you made your decision, Takeru?" Yolei asked, turning him to face her. "You said you wanted to make sure that you made the right decision and end up hurting only one person, not two. You did just what you set out to do, and no one can fault you for that. No one could've handled such an awkward situation any better."
"Even so, I just hope I haven't damaged our friendship as well."
"Kari will come around when she's ready. I know I have some talking to do with her too. Like I said, you're not the only one who's hurt her."
TK nodded in agreement, managing to smile at Yolei once again.
"You don't.regret your decision, do you Takeru?" she asked, half-coyly, half-worriedly. TK smiled a bit more and shook his head as he touched her cheek gently.
"How could I? I picked the girl I love, after all." He said, smiling at her reassuringly.
Yolei smiled brightly again and stepped up to him, sharing a longer kiss with her boyfriend this time. Resisting the urge to make a real scene in the store, she broke off the kiss after a few moments and took him by the hand as they continued the rest of their day together, intent on having a bit more fun.
_ _ _ _ _
"I still don't know if running into Kari was purely accidental, or if she ended up following us into the store. One thing's for sure, deep down she was still upset about what happened between her and me." TK said, wrapping up his part of the story.
"That sure explains a lot. Kari never told me what happened that day, just that she didn't want to go to the Festival. I figured it had something to do with you guys, though."
"So how did you convince her to go?"
"Heh, that's yet another story. But I think we've done enough sitting around for now. I say we stretch our legs, get some lunch, and we'll continue this story later on."
"Sounds like a plan to me. Hey, let's grab Ken while we're at it. He's spent way too much time this summer with his face stuck in books."
"I couldn't agree more."
TK gathered up his things and the two friends went off in search of their braniac companion, eager to try and get him to enjoy what was left of the summer outside of his studies.