If a great wave should fall

It would fall upon us all

Well I hope there's someone out there

Who can bring me back to you…

Months passed, and still Takeru and Akira were a couple. Hikari was getting fed up with hiding her feelings, and pretending to be happy for Takeru; when in fact she was ready to sit down and cry.

Takeru's regular calls decreased until she was lucky to get a call from him once a week. There was a time when he called her two times a day, but those days were apparently over. Whenever Hikari called him, he was busy with Akira.

Usually, when a person was under these circumstances, they would seek refuge in another friend, and become closer to them. Not Hikari though, she shut herself out…her best friend since the age of eight had almost completely given up on her.

They were both 18 years old now, and every one of the Chosen Children thought that they would end up together. Yamato was distraught over Takeru and Akira, and even more so when Taichi told him how hard his sister was taking it. One thing was for sure: Takeru and Akira were lasting longer than anyone thought possible.

Hikari got up from her bed, and decided to go for a walk to ease her boredom. She grabbed her coat and scarf, and headed out towards the park. It was windy, and she bowed her head to shelter herself from the wind and snow.

She suddenly collided with a solid object.

"Oh, my – I'm so sorry!" She rambled, helping the person up. The girl's dark spirals spilled out of the complicated pattern she had done her hair up in. "Akira?!"

Akira looked down on her, desperately trying to rearrange her hair. "Look what you've done!"

Hikari cocked an eyebrow, clearly not impressed. "I'm sure you can fix it."

"It took me so long to do – Takeru will be so upset!" Akira whined, still trying to tackle her locks against the raging wind.

"Akira, I really don't think he'll mind all that much." Hikari said, trying not to burst out laughing.

"How would you know?" She sneered, "Oh wait, that's right – Takeru was your best friend."

Hikari looked as though she had been slapped across the face. "I am Takeru's best friend."

Akira laughed a hollow laugh, and said, "That's right. I'm not sure how Takeru could have been your friend for as long as he says. He talks about you all the time – he's just nervous around me, that's all."

"You're awful." Hikari said, "I can't wait for Takeru-kun to come around, and see the horrible girl he has been dating for the last three months."

She laughed that hollow laugh again, and waved her hand slightly. "Later."

Hikari looked after her for a long time, now wishing even more that she had Takeru, and Akira didn't.

~*~

Hikari wiped her hands on her apron when she heard a knock at the door the next afternoon. She was making shortbread cookies and she was absolutely covered in flour.

"Takeru?" She exclaimed, once she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

"Hikari, I have the greatest idea. Me, Akira, Miyako, Koushiro, Taichi and Sora are all going to a movie tonight. Why don't you come with us? I haven't seen you forever!"

She looked at him, clearly in disbelief. "Are you serious? Look, Takeru, is having Akira hang out with all of – well, us, such a good idea?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

She shook her head, and offered him a shortbread cookie that had just come out of the oven. "Thanks, but no thanks, Takeru."

His jaw dropped. "Really? I thought you would have had fun."

"I'm not sure – going out with three couples isn't really my idea of fun."

"Fine." He said. "Thanks for the cookies."

She was about to close the door when he suddenly swept her up into a hug. "Hikari-chan, I've missed you."

She stumbled with her next words. "I've missed you too, Takeru-kun."

"Call me tomorrow, or something." She nodded, he let go of her and offered a smile as his farewell.

Should I have gone? She asked herself, moments after he had left. No, that would be stupid. I probably wouldn't even be able to see Takeru, as Akira would hog him all to herself. Takeru deserves so much more…

~*~

That night, Hikari was unfortunately doing her math homework, thinking that maybe she would have had fun if she had gone with Takeru. Well, at least more fun than she was having doing her homework.

Her parents were out for the night, gone dancing or something that her mother had dragged her father too. She didn't mind though, she had the apartment to herself.

"Hikari-chan?" She heard a person say through the door. She got up, quite puzzled, because the person had sounded exactly like Takeru.

"Who is there?"

She opened the door to find a slightly out of breath Takeru leaning on the doorframe. "Hi," he said between gasps for breath.

"Hi, Takeru," Hikari responded, still not understanding his presence. She followed him as he came in, kicked off his shoes and flopped back onto the couch. "What are you doing here?"

"You know what I don't understand, Hikari?"

She shook her head. "No."

"I don't understand, really, why I'm going out with Akira." He said, looking at her. Every now and then she was startled as to how blue his eyes were, and this was one of those times.

"What happened?" she said exasperatedly, sitting next to him on the couch.

"First, she warms up to Koushiro, Miyako was steaming mad at her, and Koushiro didn't appreciate it either. Then, after Miyako had given THE lecture of her life; she moves over to Taichi. At first he was really polite about it and everything, but eventually, he had to mention the engagement band on his hand; and introduce her to Sora."

Hikari wasn't really surprised by what she had done; but said anyway, "You're kidding? That's low, Takeru."

He nodded. "Then she has the nerve to crawl back to me."

Actually, the whole story kind of reminded her of the boy sitting next to her, but she said nothing. "So what happened after that?"

"I took her outside, and told her that she was acting stupid."

"Oh – that probably didn't go over too well." Hikari said, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"It didn't. She got all mad and everything. Whenever she gets mad; she brings up your name. She says that I like you more than I like her." He laughed. "I have to deny it though, for her sake."

She smiled. "So she left?"

He laughed again. "I left."

"Oh."

"It was really embarrassing."

She gave him a hug, before saying, "So you guys are over?"

"Yeah, I think so."

If I could, then I would

I'll go wherever you will go

Way up high or down low

I'll go wherever you will go…

END OF CHAPTER THREE. Wow, this is getting quite lengthy, isn't it? I don't own it! Read and review, please.