The Senior Year Chapter 2: Part II, a digimon fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon!

Second part. Yes, finally. It took me, what, six months? But I've finally gotten it out, and am prepared to see how many people actually don't care…hmm…this might leave you saying 'A plot? I don't remember a plot in this story! What's going on! Who's this girl? WHERE AM I?! AHHHHH!' but don't worry, I'm sure by the middle you'll come to see that it's not severely complicated. ::cough:: Anyway, read on!

The Senior Year

Daisuke Motomiya slurped down his slushy green smoothie in silence while the two other teenagers discussed the last coming events for the last week of High School. He'd become accustom to the stares of the customers around him; what was so wrong about a strawberry banana avocado chocolate blend anyway?

"Like I was saying before, the prom is going to be HOT this year!" Hikari squealed excitedly, swirling her smoothie around in the clear plastic cup. Takeru rolled his eyes drolly.

"Hmm…could it be because SOMEONE we all know and love will be singing that night?" Poor Take-kun choked on his mocha latte frapachino (fancy college Starbucks talk for chocolate milk with ice and coffee. P.S. I don't own Starbucks either.) when she whacked the back of his head.

Hard.

"For your information Takeru, the prom is going to be wicked because of where the committee planned it; the La La Port Ski Slope."

"Really? That's awesome!" The blonde senior student exclaimed brightly, his eyes sparkled with his smile. Hikari grinned back.

"But I thought you said it was going to be HOT..." Daisuke muttered, when his eyes caught sight of a figure at the door.

"I know! They're renting a section of the place out, snowdrift included! It'll be just like the theme; 'Snowflake Kisses'. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah!" said Takeru. Hikari smiled at him momentarily before turning towards Daisuke with equal excitement.

"Isn't it Dai? Dai?" Daisuke had just passed Orion's belt and was zooming out towards Sirius the dog star.

Takeru waved his hand in front of Daisuke's face.

"Hello? Dai? Daisuke? Dai-kun? Hoop-mister? Goggle boy? Dead-head? Mr. Motomiya? Daisuke Motomiya? Calling Dai. Earth to Dai!" Hikari quickly nudged his arm, calling his attention towards…whatever Dai's attention was at. When he caught sight of it, his jaw literally hit the floor.

Hard.

A curvaceous blonde haired, blue eyed teenager about Takeru's age, a little taller than Hikari though. Her hair, though long, was curly; in place of the headband Takeru could still remember her wearing when they'd first met were a stylish pair of American movie-star sunglasses. In place of the conservative dress was a…not so conservative dress; basically, it was loose (and low cut), flowing mainly around her thighs with no sleeves and a very light, sheer over-shirt on top. It seemed as though both would come slipping off any second. The pure maroon color of it contrasted with her light, perfect skin, and of course matched perfectly to her high, click heels.

The whole place had their eyes on her as she marched right over to where the popular trio was sitting, needless to say, everyone saw it when she stopped in front of Takeru with model stance.

Shocked, the blonde stood to meet her; he was still about a head taller.

"Takeru." She purred out, the slight French accent clouding her Japanese. Takeru blinked once…twice…and his worse conformations were confirmed. Still he stuttered.

"C-catherine?" Then, in one fluid (obviously practiced) motion, she coiled her arms (tentacles, thought Hikari) around poor Takeru-kun's neck and in an instant they were lip-locked. The restaurant stared with wide eyes at the sudden movement; Catherine was obviously putting something into that kiss but it was easy to see that Takeru was as stiff as a board, his pale blue eyes wide open and his lightly tanned face so pale that it looked like he'd been splashed with white paint.

After five seconds or so, she took one hand and pushed him backwards (Takeru himself was far too shocked to move); the blonde flopped back in the booth were he was sitting while she leaned on the table, her face close and in front of his. If Takeru had been anything but a gentleman he would have looked right down her shirt.

"That is how we say 'hello' in France, now a days." With a spin of her heels she turned, gracefully, and sat down next to Daisuke, leaned her elbows on the table, grabbed his drink, took a sip (and actually didn't wince), closed her eyes, opened them, and smiled.

"So. What's new?"

Hikari felt blind with this unknown emotion; something she'd never experienced before, or at least she could never remember feeling. She took her pineapple orange strawberry smoothie in her hand and 'accidentally' knocked it over, right onto herself and Takeru.

"Excuse us." She slipped past him, pulling his lanky arm along with her, and dragged him into the Girls' Restroom. Catherine stared for a moment at the flapping door, before turning towards a VERY speechless Daisuke with a flirtatious smile.

"Hi."

Hikari went straight towards the sink and grabbed a paper towel, wiping off her khaki capris. Takeru tried to brush off his shirt. Turning off the sink with a smile, trying to hide this new feeling, she stared at him.

"You've met?"

"Yeah…we…uh, her name is Catherine."

"I noticed." There was silence, except for the running sink water now that Takeru was wiping off his shirt. The brunette leaned back onto the cool tile walls, crossing her arms. "I don't like her."

"I noticed." She glared at him momentarily, before continuing.

"I haven't seen anything THAT…that-"

"Slutty?"

"Thank you. Slutty since that one chic from Grease."

"Grease?"

"Remember that night we stayed up all night trying to memorize that dance steps for the Fifties Day dance?"

"As campaign publicity?"

"Yeah." He turned off the sink and dried his hands, pushing one through his short, blonde hair.

"Was that the year that you were president and Dai was vice...or maybe Dai was president and I was vice...no, that was last year..."

"I think it was the year that YOU were president and I was vice." Hikari stated, shortly forgetting about that strange French girl outside the door. "Freshman year, right?"

"Mm hmm."

"I think it worked." He said with a slight smile, remembering back when he was but a prince in the shadow of his brother's rule of high school as a Senior before leaving for college. Those were the days…

"Hey Kari." She looked up from the tiled floor and onto the hand on her shoulder. "I hope that you're not…jealous…because me and Catherine…we're not good friends or anything."

"Seriously?"

"No...er, yeah I'm serious about us not really being friends but I meant...you know what I mean..."

Hikari flushed red with color before it quickly faded and brushed his hand off.

"Well…I'm not jealous." She stated, modestly, with a small grin. "I was just…let's just say I was shocked."

"Right. Shocked." Silence was engulfed in the bathroom again before she started out, looking back towards her best friend with beckoning eyes. He smiled that genuine smile of his and, with an innocent color in his eyes, did the hand jive.

The brown-haired girl had a little trouble trying to open the door; upon stepping out she realized that eight or nine people had been pressed against the postern trying to listen in. Casting them all strange looks, she and Takeru returned to the table and sat down where Catherine and Daisuke were engulfed in conversation. Well, more like…Catherine was engulfed in conversation and Daisuke was engulfed in thoughts about what their kids would look like -.-'''.

"And then I told him 'No, no Mr. Tinkles! That's for the little birds!' Isn't that just hilarious?" Daisuke sighed.

"Yeah…beautiful…" Both Takeru and Hikari raised their eyebrows but shook their heads. The blonde French girl took no notice of this, yawned, stood and leisurely stretched her perfect body.

"Well, it's been lovely reminiscing with you all (reminiscing what? Hikari thought sourly) but I really must be off to my Five-Star (is that French for 'roach', Hikari thought again) hotel in Tokyo. Perhaps I shall see around. It is a small world after all." Her blue eyes flickered across Dai-kun's lost face. "D'adieu, Daisuke."

"Yeah…beautiful…"

She leaned on the table towards Takeru again, fluttering her eyelashes and pursing her cherry red lips.

"And…you too, Takeru." Kissing her fingertips gently, she pushed it towards his mouth and smiled, before strolling out in the same slow motion, hip-swinging, fog and glitter as her entrance, the doors shifting close like a drawbridge guarded castle after the exit of the royal family.

Hikari mulled over what was left of her smoothie silently. Daisuke was still lost. Takeru glanced between their faces worriedly.

"Well, I have to go." The female of the group stated, sliding right past Takeru and tossing her empty cup. Takeru stood up after her and tossed his drink.

"It's only seven-thirty."

"I forgot; my mom wants me to wash the dishes tonight."

"I'll walk you home."

"I need to stop at the store, too."

"I'll go with you."

"To buy some pads."

She took off for the door. Takeru didn't wait two seconds before he took off after her; in two gigantic strides he was skidded to a stop and was right behind her. She blushed just slightly when his fingertips brushed along the side of her bare arm.

"Kari I-" She turned, her dark eyes flickered; she wasn't hearing him. He stopped mid-sentence, confused. He looked so much like the old Takeru, the little eight-year-old boy when his brother left the team. She looked so different, neutral but poutty but obviously upset. He didn't know how to change it. He didn't change it. With that glance she threw open the door and left, the bell ringing signaling her exit.

The blonde boy stared at the door for a moment before slowly walking back, not sure what he was feeling, not sure what exactly happened but three seconds ago, sneakers squeaking slightly on the tile. The entire shop was still. People were staring. He glanced at them. They turned away. He stood over the table where Daisuke was still in the dream land, and banged on it three quick times.

"Later, Dai."

"yeah...beautiful..." Takeru sweatdropped.

Her fingers curled around the doorknob as she stepped into the dark room, flipping on the black-light overhead. She emptied her film role and let her hands work, like second nature, to an invisible clock. Tai's old room still smelt like him faintly; it made her relax each time she came in.

Soon, pictures were hanging to dry while she examined each of them. A few for the Yearbook as a personal courtesy, one of Rika for Tom; the usual, she thought blandly, going over a few more while she washed her hands. Her eyes fell upon the sneak shot she gotten of Takeru while he redressed himself in the dressing room. What bewitched her to take that she'd never know; he did look fairly attractive shirtless.

But for the moment...

"Hmph...this would fetch a nice price on the black market." She muttered to herself and deposited the picture directly into the trashcan. No need to have unnecessary pictures around the house. She glanced over the others and finding nothing overly interesting she took them down, labeled and filed them, shoved them away and turned off the black light.

::ring:: ::ring:: It's probably him, she thought.

::ring:: ::ring:: I'm not going to answer it.

::ring:: "Moshi-moshi you have reached Hikari Yagami. I'm not in at the moment so please leave a short message and I'll get back to you! Arigato! Byee! ...okay that was a little stupid...haha..."

::beep::

"Hikari, I know you're home, please pick up the phone."

She glanced at the phone with a measured amount of nonchalance before returning to changing her night clothes.

"Kari...come on, please pick up. Your darkroom light was on, I could see it. Please, I just want to talk really quick."

Resist...resist...she shut her eyes tightly and told herself.

"Then...I guess you really aren't home then...must have been a plane or something...I'll talk to you later then...by-"

"Takeru! Takeru, are you still there?" She cursed herself for her lack of self-control silently while she listened. Nothing. He'd already hung up. She slammed it back down, upset for an unknown reason, probably at Takeru for not talking longer, she thought. More than likely herself for not picking up sooner. In any case, her bed was calling and she could not refuse. Her parents had probably gone to play bridge or poker downstairs with that American couple who just moved in, the Philips. The room was dark; she pulled the covers over her head and sighed.

*What's wrong with me...?*

It was around 4:00 am the next morning, a Tuesday, when Takeru woke up. The room was cold. Correction: It was freezing. He crawled out of bed and looked outside. His balcony was open. His lungs seemed to be full of icicles. He scratched his wrinkled flannel pajamas and stretched slightly, yawning, unsticking his white tee-shirt from his body before crawling into bed, next to the girl again, and closing his eyes.

Girl? What girl?

He rolled over. Hikari was sitting up on his bed fully dressed, staring at him. Her arms were folded around her knees and her legs were stretched out over his covers; she smiled at him.

"Morning." He blinked. He sat up and brushed a hand through his hair, letting his arms flop down as he stared at her with those big blue eyes.

"Morning." He yawned lazily and lopped onto her shoulder. She promptly pushed him off.

"Oh no. Get up. We still have to get Daisuke." A puppy-like whine and he was out of bed, heading towards his closet.

"You know," he said, pulling out various shirts, "if my mom came in here about five seconds ago, she would have freaked." The girl shrugged, throwing her hair over one shoulder with a quick push of her hand.

"Sure. But she didn't. Besides, she doesn't get up until after you leave for school." There was a moment of silence, then "The blue one. It'll match your eyes."

It wouldn't have been such a strange occurrence had Takeru not been a milla-second away from asking her that same question. She grinned, pink-patches clustering on her cheeks.

"Just a funny feeling."

"You and your funny feelings..."

"Hehe..."

::snooze::

"Dai…"

::snore::

"Dai...Dai wake up." She slapped his cheeks. His brown eyes fluttered slightly.

"Is that you, Grandma?"

"GRANDMA?! WHY I OUTTA-" Takeru eased her furious rants and shushed her.

"Let me handle this. You know. Man to man." Hikari seethed but she nodded and stepped back. Takeru crouched down and whispered something into Daisuke's ear. And instantly, the maroon-haired teenager flew out of bed and dove to the nearest window, pressing his face up against the glass and letting the steam rise. The brunette girl seemed impressed.

"Wow, that was fast. What did you tell him?"

"That Carmen Electra was running around in the sprinklers." Hikari blinked. She whacked Takeru's shoulder.

"Alright...let's go...come on..." Daisuke mumbled and fumbled for the balcony door knob, fighting it open and with his eyes half closed felt around for the tree he used to scale down. Not finding it (and not knowing he had been reaching into the closet), he gave a lazy yawn and before heading in the other direction.

"Come on...let's go out the front door." He walked past them. Hikari held up a shirt. Takeru held up a pair of shorts. Daisuke scratched his bare legs.

"Is it cold in here or is it just me?" The girl pointed to his scantly clad form; nothing but boxers, baby. (that one's for you, Molly! ^-~)

"Hearts?" Her feminine voice asked with a giggle she couldn't keep down.

"I'm a loveable guy."

He muttered something about Carmen Electra and pancakes, pulled the clothing out of their hands, dragging himself into the shower. Takeru sighed.

"Every year for the past four years. Next time we're coming to your house."

"You...you can't..." She trailed off, turning a faint hint of pink.

"And why not? Are your night clothes that goofy?" She blushed further and turned away. Takeru suddenly got the idea and looked down.

"Alright, alright. Let's go while I'm still beautiful..." Still the maroon-haired teenager muttered and walked towards the front door. His shirt was on backwards. Hikari was still blushing as she walked towards the door.

"Hikari you don't really...sleep...with no...clothes, do you?" She innocently grinned, but the blush in her cheeks never faded. Takeru gulped.

"Smile!"

Hikari snapped the photo with a wide smile as the boys pulled out of their headlocks. Takeru peeked over her shoulder at the very...erm...interesting picture of he and Daisuke looking like they were going to rip each others' heads off. The blonde senior gently pried the camera away from her.

"My turn!" Daisuke swooped in and took the camera from him.

"Nope. My turn. Go pose." The blonde sighed and dragged Hikari over to the scenic school scene where they stood looking somewhat between lost and bored. Daisuke let the camera lop in his hand.

"Ah come on. Do something cute." He thought abut what he was saying...and shrugged. Sisters have this effect on you. "Put your arms around her."

Hikari blushed.

"Dai..."

"HUMOR ME!" They gave a defeated sigh, Takeru uncomfortably placing his arm in a loose hold around her. Again, the camera lowered from his eye. He sighed, she leaned back onto him more while he very slightly moved. Daisuke beckoned them to sit on the bench.

"Try this." He happily arranged their arms around each other and gave an oddly pleased, somewhat evil, smile.

"Say cheese." They gave pathetic smiles.

"Cheese..." He would have yelled at them again had they suddenly perked up to avoid just that, their faces looking almost natural. He moved to take the photo when he suddenly realized that the film had run out.

"Hold on a sec..."

"UGH!" They both moaned, Takeru dropping his arms that were draped around her shoulders while Dai fidgeted with the camera.

"This could take a while..." The blonde grunted and leaned back, sighing heavily as he let her lean back onto him with an equally heavy sigh.

Daisuke saw his chance.

"SAY CHEESE!!!!"
"WHA?!"

::snap::

"Well what do you know! There was one picture left!" He gave a cheeky smile. Takeru twitched angrily; Hikari clenched her fist.

Dai sweatdropped.

Their eyes flashed open, burning with fire.

"WE'RE GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"

The next few pictures were pretty much shoes and sidewalk in motion...

Well, the rest of the day was fairly uneventful, at least for Hikari and Takeru. Aside from the accident in the chemistry lab involving sodium peroxide and carbon-based organisms it was over all easy-going. The two seniors sat on the bench at the front of the school finishing up the last bits of their Calculus homework when Daisuke dragged himself out of the front doors, looking extremely displeased.

"Hey Daisuke...Dai, what's wrong?" Hikari asked, setting her worksheets on the table. He plopped down next to her, pulling out a slip of yellow paper. Scrawled on it was an feminine handwriting.

Kita Itogazaii - 295-5832

Takeru took a peek over at the writing (cursive with hearts) and submitted a confused smile.

"Geez, Dai. Never thought you'd be upset to get a girl's phone number..."

Daisuke gave a very heavy sigh.

"It's not a normal phone number...it's for...a...a..." His eyes welled up in fat, salty tears, "study buddy..."

Takeru and Hikari gave him an odd look before cracking a pair of wide smiles.

"Daisuke, I'm surprised at you. If you needed help you could have just asked one of us!"

"Mr. Tanako thinks that I need the help of someone who won't jabber with me all night...more of a business relationship than a friendship." He sniffled dramatically. The blonde teenager shook his head.

"Dai, it couldn't possibly be that bad."

At those seven words the crocodile tears he'd been sobbing with ceased; he craned his head over to Takeru with wide eyes.

"Not that bad? Not that bad?!" He sprang to his feet and motioned them to rise as well. "Come on, I'll show you what's 'Not that bad'!"

The three had ran across the entire school campus until Daisuke finally remembered where she'd said she would be. They arrived at the school gymnasium, went through the left doors to the school pool. Daisuke, with trembling fingers, pointed to a tall, slender brunette on the diving board with deep, sienna colored hair. Her sharp, fox-like eyes glistened in their emerald color as she, in a dark blue swimsuit, dived from the high board.

"That..." Daisuke whispered in a certain tone of fright, "is my study buddy."

Hikari looked somewhat confused, but Takeru gave the girl a lingering stare. Suddenly, it clicked, and he smiled again.

"Is that Kita Itogazaii?"

"The same one." trembled Daisuke. Hikari still looked rightly confused. Takeru laughed.

"I remember her! She was that one girl you had a crush on Freshman year!" Hikari broke into a broad grin.

"So THAT'S what this is all about? You're afraid because your hiding from your feelings of true love! That's so romantic!"

Turning in similar color to his hair, Daisuke fervently shook his head.

"That's NOT why!"

Hikari laid a hand on his shoulder with a motherly touch.

"Daisuke, just tell her how you feel and I'm sure-"

"I did do that! In ninth grade!" Puzzlement replaced that sparkly look in her chestnut orbs.

"Oh...what did she say?" Daisuke winced slightly before continuing.

"She didn't SAY anything."
"Then what happened?"

"I know exactly what happened." Takeru said, trying to mask the up and coming laughter that was quickly rising. Of course he was failing miserably. "He went home from the hospital that afternoon with two black eyes and a fractured shin."

Hikari looked at the pool, where the girl had rising out of the water and was climbing the diving board without noticing them, back at Daisuke, who was trembling, to Takeru, who's face had turned a slight purple color from trying not to laugh at the memory, and repeated the motion.

"Oh."

"I'm afraid..." Daisuke whimpered, watching her climb from the depths of the pool to the start of the high dive again. "What if she tries to punch me? Or kick me? Or head-butt me?"
"Don't sweat it, Daisuke." Takeru finally released a short laugh and sighed. "I'm sure she's forgotten all about it. Hey! Kita!"

She glanced up from her dive to the opposite end of the pool and smiled, waving before plunging into the water in a graceful triple somersault dive. She surfaced and swam towards them, resting her arms on the pool side.

"Takeru? Takeru Takaishi?"

"Yeah, that's me. Kita Itogazaii, it's been a long time." Her long, dark hair was loosely braided behind her back; she pulled herself out and rung out the rich brown plait with a smile.

"I haven't talked to you since we entered high school! And here we are in the last nine days! How have you been?"

"Very well. Oh, this is Hikari Yagami. She's in a different homeroom class."

"Oh yeah...you were voted most popular weren't you? I remember! My brother has the biggest crush on you..." Kita laughed fondly at the memory. Hikari smiled modestly.

"Heh..."

The swimmer's laughter stopped as she noticed the shivering figure behind Hikari; a person who shall not be named but did wear sunglasses in his maroon hair, was tall and on the basketball team, whose name starts with a D and ends in an E but doesn't necessarily have to be named Daisuke, much less Daisuke Motomiya...

"Daisuke? Is that you?" He peeked out from behind Hikari with a petty wave and nervous laughter.

"Hi...Kita..."
"It is you! Your my study buddy, aren't you? Well, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. How about we meet at my house Thursday afternoon? I bet we could get a lot of work done." She stretched leisurely in her navy Speedo swimsuit; while a normal guy would notice her slim physique and excellent body condition, Daisuke noticed her amazing upper-body strength and the muscles exhibited in her arms…

"Er...that sounds…" He searched for the right word, "interesting…"

"Awesome! I have to keep on practicing now. Its been really great talking to you all. Bye!" She waved and walked off to the high dive. Daisuke wasted no time in getting as far away as possible.

"Let's go before she decides to demonstrate karate..."

Hikari developed the pictures later the next afternoon; hanging them to dry, she saw the one that Daisuke had taken of her and Takeru before they caught him and beat him to a pulp on the way to school the day before. He had held his arm all the way until lunch where he moaned and groaned about the casualties he suffered from until they finally threatened him with off-colored beets and runny mashed potatoes.

The boys were sitting in two chairs in the room; Dai had returned to muttering something about his last wishes, and Takeru leaned back, nearly asleep.

::ring:: ::ring::

"Not me. My cell-phone plays Beethoven's Fifth Symphony." Hikari stated without looking up from her work.

"Mine is on vibration." Daisuke mumbled with a sigh, rubbing his arm gently.

::ring::

"Moshi-moshi, this is Takeru..." Daisuke saw his face suddenly pale out.

"Oh...er...hi...Catherine..." Hikari ripped one of the pictures. Dai gave a love-sick sigh at the mention of her name.

"No...well actually....reservations?" The girl growled silently under her breath, roughly hanging the pictures to dry.

"Eh...but...they can...I'll...sure, but...er...ano...al...alright...if you have reservations... Yeah....sure....sayonara..." He clicked the phone off and gave a heavy sigh.

"Catherine wants us to come to dinner..." The brunette girl turned around after she finished hanging the pictures and crossed her arms with a smirk.

"Let me guess...I wasn't invited?" He shook his head.

"She probably just forgot. You're going to come too, right?"

"::sigh:: Catherine..."

"I'm not going to go if I wasn't invited." She turned around again and started roughly to label the pictures with a black marker.

"Come on, Hikari...don't be like that..."

"::sigh:: she's so...beautiful..."

"Even if I wanted to go, I couldn't; Tai's coming home and we're all going out to dinner." He gave a soft sigh.

"I guess then...I'll see you later..." He stood stiffly.

"Sure." She involuntarily snapped, ripping a file folder from its holding place.

"Dai, coming?" He seemed to float up and out of his chair, waving whimsically to Hikari before floating right out the door. Takeru sweatdropped again.

"Ja."

"Bye."

The boys walked slowly down the hall, Daisuke having finally gotten over his love-sickness and stared at Takeru worriedly.

"She seems...upset."

"Gee, whatever gave you that idea..." Dai gave him a 'there's no need to be sarcastic' look.

"I've seen it with my older sister Jun before. You've never had to deal with it because you don't have any sisters but...she would act really off and aloof and break stuff more than usual. You know, slam doors and not let me in the bathroom...no wait, she did that already. And then she would-"

"Dai..."

"Yeah, er....anyway, it wouldn't seem important except Hikari is acting the same way." The elevator door opened and the boys stepped inside.

"What does that have to do with anything?" For once in the time that Takeru had known him, Daisuke Motomiya looked genuinely serious.

"Jun started acting like that when Matt started dating Mimi."

"So...wait, are you telling me that-"

"Yup. Me thinks Hikari is jealous."

::ding::

Takeru and Daisuke stepped out of the elevator and headed for Takeru's place across the center court yard.

"Why would she be jealous?" Daisuke sighed. Takeru could be so naive at times. Nothing a good whack on the head would cure, though.

"Think! Chic gallivanting on her territory."

"I'm not her territory. I could start dating any time I wanted."

"But you never do, do you?"

"....no..."

"She's come to adjust to this schedule. She's been used to having you all to herself."
"What about you?" Dai sighed and leaned on the wall while the blonde opened the door.

"I'm not the shoulder-to-cry-on type." Takeru gave him a wryly glance.

"Yeah, a real love um and leave um, aren't you Dai." Daisuke shrugged modestly while they walked inside.

"Hi Mrs. Takaishi!"

"She's not home." Takeru muttered and headed straight for his room. Daisuke followed. "Is your mom ever home?"

"All the time...when I'm not here. Work is really hard on her."
"Oh..."

Takeru fell on his bed while Daisuke resided in the bean bag chair.

"So, are we going to take the bus to the restaurant or what?" Dai asked casually.

"Catherine is coming to pick us up."

"When?" Takeru casually checked his watch.

"In about...five minutes." The maroon-haired teenager flew out of his bean-bag chair like the speed of light.

"WHAT?! I HAVE TO GET READY! WHAT SHOULD I WEAR!!!" Takeru gave a sigh.

"How about...a black and blue tee-shirt that says 'Sakka Datesha' on the front and black shorts."

"Perfect! Now where can I get it?"
"Look in the mirror." Too busy to think he rushed to the mirror to see, surprise, a black and blue tee-shirt that said 'Sakka Datesha' on the front and black shorts.

"Very funny."

Hikari finished in the dark room, slamming the door behind her and any other door worth slamming. She looked out the window at the center courtyard. A red convertible rental car pulled up, top down, and honked. She would recognize that curly blonde hair anywhere. She watched as Takeru and Daisuke walked out of the building next to hers. They had changed into something more formal. She saw as Takeru sat in the front seat with Catherine while Daisuke sat in the back. She watched as she leaned over and whispered something in his ear that made Takeru turn his head. She snorted, disgusted, and spun away from the window.

Daisuke and Takeru had been upstairs still when Catherine honked from outside. They rushed downstairs to greet her.

Actually, Daisuke rushed downstairs to greet her and Takeru had to run to catch up.

Of course, Dai was a little too star-struck to mumble any objection when she beckoned him to sit in the back seat. Takeru uncomfortably sat in the front. Catherine smiled and leaned over.

"Hey Takeru." She whispered. "Your friend is looking at you." Instantly he turned his head up towards the building, where he caught the brief sight of Hikari as she left the window. He gave a defeated sigh.

"Don't feel bad, Takeru. Hikari is suffering from what we French call 'l'envie', what the Americans call 'The Green-eyed Monster' and what I believe you call a case of good old fashioned okayaki."

He sighed.

"All the good information in the world won't tell me what's wrong with her. What does she have to be jealous about?" Catherine turned out onto the main road.

"I don't mean to brag but..." She gestured over her body. Daisuke nearly passed out. "If I were Hikari, I would be jealous too."

Daisuke finally came around and was talking fairly good sense.

"Think of it this way. Imagine if those one guys...The Poi Brothers, I think...came to town looking mighty fine. Wouldn't you get jealous?"

Takeru really had to think about it. Would he have gotten jealous? He could see if he'd been constantly talking about Catherine; she wasn't bad looking in the least but...

"This is too confusing...I don't really want to talk about it." Takeru mumbled finally, leaning back into the leather seats. The blonde girl beside him shrugged.

"You should sort out your problems for yourself." She sighed stiffly but stared ahead. "I want to apologize. I should not have caused such a fuss in that Smoothie Shop the other night. I wanted to see the reaction of your friend. I had no right to do so, thought it was my kind of fun."

"Forget about it."

She smiled. He smiled. Dai had a smitten look plastered to his face.

"So, where are we going to dinner?"

"Only the best French restaurant in all of Tokyo..."

"The Paris Chateau. Doesn't it sound heavenly?" Mrs. Yagami gave a girlish sigh. Hikari nodded indifferently.

"Yeah mom, sounds great."

"Oh Taichi, you'll really like this place! They have those little pancake thingies you like so much...creeps...crates..."

"Crepes, okaa-san. Crepes."

"Right! Oh, this evening will be positively perfect! The girls in my book club will be so jealous!" Taichi and Hikari sweatdropped as their mother skipped into her room to get ready. Tai brushed through his hair.

"Wow, Tai. Your hair...it's short." Her nii-san pushed his hand through his fresh-cropped hair.

"Yup. Feels weird too; not heavy anymore." He suddenly gave a pathetic sniff. "The coach...made me cut it because...it was slowing me down...and he said I couldn't play if I didn't..." Taichi burst into tears. Hikari could have sworn she heard violins in the background as she patted his back.

"There, there..." She sweatdropped.

"Welcome to the Paris Chateau. Your name, madam?"

"Alexandre. Party of three." She smiled casually as the waiter, entranced by her classic foreign beauty, rushed to receive them. Another waiter walked up to them with a refined sort of smile.

"Right this way, madammoise and monsieurs." The garçon was an esoteric yet very good-looking Japanese boy of about nineteen or so; he led them to the elegant table near the chandelier. He pulled out Catherine's chair for her. Daisuke wondered if he did that to everyone.

            "I will give you time to prepare. Your chef tonight will be Jacques; I believe you know him, Mademoiselle?" He nodded and went off on his way.

            Takeru cocked his head one way.

            "Who is Jacques?"

            "My uncle, Jacques. He is the chef here." The garcon returned to greet them.

            "Good evening, madammoises et monsieurs. I am your host, Monsieur Yuy. Here are the menus for all. Order anything you wish; it is on the house, courtesy of Kai Francois and Jacques." Takeru and Daisuke gapped. Catherine smiled.

            "Merci, Monsieur Yuy. For an entree, we will have the Soufflé au Fromage and...how is Chef Jacques's Carppacio de Beouf? Bien, no?"

            "Very nice as usual, Mademoiselle."

            "Oui...then the Carppacio de Beouf. We will need a few more moments to decide for the main course."

            "Yes, miss. I will be back with your entrees shortly." The dark-haired garcon rushed off. Daisuke was still speechless. Takeru nodded approvingly.

            "Nice..."

            "Welcome to The Paris Chateau. Your name, madam?"

            "Yagami. Party of five. You know, like the American TV show?" The garcon smiled uneasily. Riona Yagami gave a bright, hyper grin. Hikari, Taichi, Sora and Nobusuke sweatdropped.

            "Ah, Madam Yagami...right this way, please?"

            The Yagami family and Taichi's long time girlfriend Sora Takenouchi made their way to the elegant table setting near the kitchen, Riona giggling like a school girl when Nobusuke pulled out her chair for her. Taichi pulled out Sora's chair and she blushed; Hikari pulled her own seat from the table before the garçon had the slightest chance and huffed irritably before plastering a nice smile over her face.

"Good evening, mademoiselles et monsieurs (Riona Yagami splurged into a fit of giggles). I am your garçon, Monsieur Yuy. Your chef tonight will be Jacques, the finest chef of French food in all of Japan. I will be with you shortly to receive your drinks."

            "This restaurant is beautiful, Mrs. Yagami." Sora complimented, taking Taichi's hand gently and smiling at him though she talked to his mother. Tai was busy though, sniveling still over his hair. Nobusuke complained slightly about the prices, but was very pleased with his eldest son and didn't mind. Hikari gave a rather frustrated sigh and, with a seeming fit of (unnoticed) difficultly, pushed her napkin onto her lap.

            It really was a beautiful restaurant though. There was a sparkling crystal chandelier overhead, people were laughing joyously from all corners of the room, and the brilliant music flowed from the farthest corner near a dance floor, where several couples swung casually to the rhythm. Hikari sighed.

            *I wonder what Takeru is…NO! I will NOT waste this evening on him! Hmm…what a lovely rose on the table.* But upon noticing the rose was the same shade of yellow as Takeru's hair, she snatched it by the petals and ripped it up onto pieces. The other inhabitants of the table stared.

            "Er…Hikari-chan…" Nobusuke asked from his seat beside the still giggling Riona, "Are you feeling alright?" Sora also appeared concerned, though Tai was still crying over his hair. She gave a cheeky smile.

            "Fine. Why do you ask?" She tossed the shredded flower behind her, likely into someone's soup. Sora and Nobusuke sweatdropped.

            "No reason dear…"

            There was no more speech from either table concerning Hikari's condition or Catherine's order selection until after both the appetizers, dinner and desert, when someone had a brilliant idea to dance. The band had just started up a saucy Latin beat, which was odd as the restaurant was French, but the song was fair enough and Catherine, wanting to work off the three grams of fat she gained, was ready to swing.

            "Come on Takeru, let's dance." Takeru, who had been glancing around the room observing the beautiful craftsmanship of the area, shrugged casually. Of course, neither worried about Dai, as he had yet to finish his third Bon Bon Basket. For really, the only thing Daisuke found more interesting than Catherine was food. The two of them stepped up and headed towards the dance floor.

            On the second table, much of the same was happening. Taichi was very interested in the éclairs so graciously offered in the center of the table, but Sora knew very well how to handle her man, and in an instant had him up and was towing him to the dance floor. Nobusuke, who was very good natured at the moment from the discount he'd acquired for having a party of six and ordering over 8,000 yen (think that's about $80 dollars in American money. French food is expensive you know), asked his wife to dance.

"Riona, would you like to-"

But Mrs. Yagami couldn't hear a word he said, for she was no longer giggling over the pure excitement of the night, but for the extra glass of champagne she'd drank just ten minutes before. Even her laughter was starting to sound more like 'he-he-he-he ::hiccup:: he-he' rather than its double repetitive rhythm.

Nobusuke sighed and turned towards his daughter instead.

"Hikari? Would you like to dance with your old man?" Hikari hadn't really been listening either. She was busy trying to not think of Takeru by thinking of all the weight she would lose the next day instead. Absent-mindedly she nodded, and stood while her father took her arm with a laugh and led her to the dance floor, leaving the giggling mother behind.

            Dancing was great fun for them all; it was five songs later, the floor was starting to get very crowded, and while the seventeen-year-old brunette smiled weakly as her father spun her around, she crashed into a familiar face.

            "Takeru?" Takeru blinked widely.

            "Hikari?"

            "Hikari!" asked Catherine, equally surprised.

            "Catherine?" Asked Hikari, her face turning an interesting shade of pink. Nobusuke blinked.

            "Takeru?"

            "Mr. Yagami?"

Bump!

            Taichi and Sora blinked.

            "Takeru?" Said Sora.

            "Catherine?" said Taichi.

            "Taichi?" asked Catherine.

            "Catherine?!" Sora exclaimed shortly, more to Tai than anyone else.

            "Taichi!" Takeru exclaimed, "Your hair! You cut it!" Tai's eyes welled up in tears. Sora was too busy to care.

            "Who's Catherine?!" she demanded. But Tai had already gone off into a sobbing fit.

Hikari watched sourly, turning towards her father only to realize he'd disappeared. But she soon caught sight of him, kissing Catherine's manicured hand.

            "What a sweet young lady!" Catherine was blushing and laughing.

            "Why thank you!" The brunette scowled in her father's general direction, and it was then that she caught eyes with Takeru. He was staring intently at her.

            "Hikari…" She frowned deeper and spun on her heel, stomping away. Takeru took off after her.

            "Hikari, wait." The people in the restaurant were starting to stare, but she couldn't care less. She marched right back to the table, grabbing her purse, not bothering with her ever-giggling mother as she did. Takeru gently latched his fingers around her wrist.

            "Hikari-" But speech was impossible after that, because she'd shoved a particularly large éclair into his mouth. By now, most of the restaurant was staring.

            "I-don't-want-to-talk-about it!" She enunciated on each word before she cried 'CHECK' and stomped out of the restaurant, leaving one very befuddled Takeru with a mouth full of chocolate pastry, and one-hundred very perplexed people with open mouths of soup.

            The blonde teenager plopped down in his chair, leaning his arm on the table and his head on his hand, mulling over her words while slowly chewing the éclair still jammed in his mouth. The people who had stopped to stare continued with their dinners, Nobusuke, Catherine, Taichi and Sora continued dancing, and he was quite sure that Daisuke was still eating, as there was a rather large pile of plates ascending in that general direction. But Takeru was silent for a very long time, and very confused indeed, and when he swallowed the last bit of dessert, turned towards the other individual at the table.

"Mrs. Yagami-"
"he-he-he-he ::hiccup:: he-he-he…"

And for the innumerable time that week, Takeru sweatdropped.

            Hikari didn't talk to Takeru the next day.

            The three of them, Kari, TK and Dai spent the day apart, as Daisuke was really too afraid to spend the day with one or the other, for he was now quite sure that Takeru was just as mad at Hikari as she was at him. It happens, he decided, when your best friends get jealous of one another, but Dai decided not to think about it too much, as he was busy writing his will, and completing his life-long dreams (remember, he still had to see Kita after athletic curriculum).

And when the end of the day arrived…

            Miraculously, Hikari and Takeru were both waiting for Daisuke to walk him to Kita's house out in the quad that afternoon. And while this was nearly to good to be true, they were sitting on opposite sides of the sidewalk. They walked on either side of him while he mourned, having finished telling them his will and being nearly two blocks from the girl's house already. Finally Dai stopped crying, thinking he would rather spend his last moments in happiness with his best friends, so he brought up a topic that even Tai would have known to stay away from: the Senior Prom (dun-dun-dun!)

            *Ah, time to repair a broken friendship.* Dai thought, and cleared his throat, to no reaction from either of them.

            "So…I was thinking…you know how we always go to the Proms together, as a big stag group? Well…I was thinking…this girl asked me and…she's really hot and…well maybe you two should just go together."

There was a sudden screech of tennis shoes against pavement. But only for a second, before they all walked 'together' again.

            "Well I'm not sure about me, but Takeru (she spit his name out like old gum) will probably ask Catherine." Dai winced, and the sun rose over his foggy horizon that maybe the dance wasn't such a great topic to bring up. Takeru suddenly exploded.

            "God, I can't believe you're still not over that!" Hikari stopped dead in her tracks, wheeling to face him.

            "Over what? The fact that you're betraying *our* friendship?" She pointed to Daisuke, who dodged her extended finger.

            "All we did was dance. That's it. We weren't caught making out in a shady corner, for god's sake! It was a friendly dance between friends. Do you even understand that concept anymore? Friend? As in friends who don't get jealous of other friends?"

            Daisuke snuck off to a safer corner, namely ten yards away.

            "Jealous?! You're calling me jealous?!"

            "No, I'm calling you peaches."

            "Call yourself a friend? I thought friends didn't accuse other friends of anything! Shows how much you trust me, Takeru Takaishi!" The wave of heated discussion slipped into pure, concentrated anger. Hikari's fist's clenched.

            "But you know what? I'm going to make a truce with you." Daisuke was so surprised he up and shouted, "WHAT?!"   But Takeru didn't flinch at all.

            "Fine." But they didn't hold out their hands. Dai watched with brilliantly wide eyes. Hikari stepped up (Takeru had to bend a bit) until they were eye to eye, noses just barely touching, still glaring, until there seemed to be a simultaneous exchange and they turned away. The air reeked with tension.

            "I'm leaving now. Bye." And she turned on her heel, turned the corner, and was out of the sight. The silence was immense, and by the way Takeru was staring at the corner, Daisuke decided, it looked as though he wanted to open the heavens and blast it into oblivion by lightning.

            "Are you going to go get her?" Dai asked, feeling his bravery surge back and actually daring to approach his scary comrade. Takeru didn't say much. In fact, he didn't say anything. He turned in the opposite direction with a wave of his hand, disappearing down the opposite corner. The maroon-haired teen watched. He hadn't noticed he'd been standing in front of Kita's house the whole time. It took quite a bit of will power to put the entire incident behind him and knock on the door, deciding to concentrate on staying alive long enough to fix the problem he went and instigated.

End of Part II

I'm SO SORRY! But this part was getting too long, and I wouldn't have been able to fit it all in one format so…it looks like there's gonna be a part three. BUT, I swear that it'll be out fairly soon, so long as you all review, and that it'll be the last chapter. Scouts honor! So…I hope you liked this part…::grins sheepishly at the death glares and quietly scoots away…:: Sorry for the cliffhanger…it'll be a happy ending, I can guarantee that! If you've got tips, put them in the reviews…byee? ::runs away, quickly, from all the crazed torches::