Chapter 3

            Kari rushed through the halls of the high school towards the nurse's office.  Her last two periods had gone by at a crawl and it was finally lunch time.  She was on her way to check on TK and hoped that he would be alright to come eat lunch.  Still, the nurse's words from earlier had haunted her mind.

            "It looks to me like your leg was shattered a few years ago."  She kept trying to wonder how it had happened.  They had been best friends for years, yet he had never mentioned breaking his leg.  She slowed as she neared the office and quietly walked in.  She was startled to hear the TK already had a visitor and was even more surprised when she realized it was Ken.  The two were partially hidden behind the white curtain that separated the beds from the rest of the room.  Kari was about to go over but stopped when she heard Ken speak.

            "I'm sorry."

            "What for?" TK wondered.

            "Your leg would be fine and you'd still be playing basketball if it wasn't for me," Ken replied, the bitterness in his voice obvious.

            "Maybe," TK admitted.  "Of course, by taking all the blame, you completely overlook the fact that I did what I did of my own free will.  You didn't force me and you didn't coerce me.  I did what I did because I thought it was the right thing to do and you didn't force me into it.  And it's rude to listen to private conversations, Kari."  Kari blushed as she heard Ken's chair screech against the floor as he turned in surprise.

            "I didn't mean to listen in, I just came by to see if you could leave yet and if you wanted to get some lunch."  The look on TK's face told her that he didn't believe a word she said, but he chose not to call her on it.  He got up and gently got to his feet.

            "The nurse said that I could go by lunch, so let's go.  I'm starved."  The three made their way out and towards the lunch room.  They got their food and headed for the doors so they could eat outside.  Once out there, they quickly found Yolei and Davis already sitting on a park bench under a tree with a younger boy.

            "TK, this is Cody Hida.  He finishes out our little group.  Cody, this is Takeru Takeshi, my best and oldest friend."

            "Call me TK," TK grinned as he held out his hand to the younger boy.

            "It's nice to meet you," Cody replied, taking TK's hand in a firm grip.  They all sat down and ate quickly.

            "So what happened in PE, TK?" Yolei asked after finishing her food.  TK shrugged as he finished swallowing his food.

            "Nothing.  An old injury flared up."

            "For some reason, I wouldn't think of a shattered leg as nothing," Davis commented.

            "It was a long time ago," TK countered, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore.  Davis pressed on.

            "I heard about you on the sports circuit.  TK Takeshi, the basketball God.  You were the best player at Imperial.  Then you just dropped out of sight for a few months a couple years ago and didn't play after that.  I guess that a shattered leg will kind of put a damper on your jump shot, huh?"  TK slammed his hands down on the table with such force that the cups rattled.  His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and even, but everyone could still tell that he was angry.

            "I don't want to talk about it."  Davis shrugged and leaned back, taking a drink from his pop.

            "Sure, whatever.  So why did you come back to Odiba?  I mean, from what Kari's told us of you, you left a while ago.  Why come back now?"

            "What's it to you?" TK asked in a cold voice.

            "Just trying to be friendly," Davis answered.

            "Well, it's none of your business," TK replied, standing.  "I'll see you in class, Kari."  With that he moved away and swiftly vanished into the crowd.  Kari looked after him and then glared as Davis.

            "My best friend comes back after eight years, and you have to chase him off on the first day?"

            "What, all I did was ask some friendly questions," Davis defended.  "Not my fault that he has a chip on his shoulder."

            "I'm with Davis on this one," Cody spoke up.  "All TK had to do was say that he didn't want to talk about it.  Instead, he stormed off."  Kari sighed and rose.

            "Well, I'm going back in.  I'll see you all after school."  The group all nodded in reply and she headed off for the library.  Davis rose a minute later.

            "Got to go check in with the couch about the next game," he explained.

            "Let me know if he's decided on the openers yet," Ken called as Davis walked away.  Davis headed for the school at a leisurely pace, but quickened his step after he got out of sight of the table.  He headed for the open field and quickly saw TK in a meditative state underneath a tree in front of the school.  He walked up and sat down next to him.

            "I don't think you like me," TK spoke up after a moment.

            "Not really," Davis replied.

            "Mind telling me why?" TK asked.

            "Your past history with Kari," Davis replied.  "Kari is my girl.  Stay away from her."

            "Kari is a person like you or me.  It's up to her who she likes and who she doesn't.  The very fact that you claim her like some kind of possession sickens me and makes me want to get her away from you even more."

            "I have her brother on my side," Davis countered.

            "I've known Tai longer than I've known Kari," TK replied, still in his lotus position with his eyes closed.  "Tai wants whatever will make Kari happy.  For some reason, I don't think you going around and telling everyone that Kari belongs to you will sit too well with him."

            "See, that's the problem," Davis said as he began to rise.  "Everyone else here already knows that Kari is my girl, so I don't usually have to say anything.  You're new, so you just don't understand yet.  But you will; eventually."  With that, Davis went inside while TK remained where he was.

            School finally ended and the group got together at their lockers, planning for the up coming weekend.  They laughed and joked, but Davis and TK never said a word to each other.  Finally, they were ready and made their way outside and down the street.  Davis was in the lead and led them to the corner and then stopped.

            "Alright, TK, this is where you go home."

            "Why?" TK asked mildly.

            "We have something to do that doesn't involve you," Cody replied.  "It's none of your business, so you might as well go home."

            "Fine," TK shrugged.  "I just need to get something."  He headed for a grove of trees sitting near by.  Davis, Cody and Yolei freaked.

            "Hey, get away from there!" Davis yelled.

            "It's just a tree," TK replied, shrugging.  He then lifted one hand to his mouth and whistled.

            "TK!  You're back!  I missed you.  What did you do?  Did you have fun?  Can we go home now, I'm hungry.  Did you make new friends yet?"  Everyone stared as a small, football shaped being flew down out of the trees.  It was brown with a white under belly.  It roughly resembled a pig, except that it was small and had a pair of bat wings growing out of it's head.

            "Patamon, slow down," TK laughed, hugging the bat-pig.  "I'm fine and I've got someone for you to meet."  Patamon looked up at the group with trepidation, but suddenly his eyes lit up.

            "Kari!"  Patamon flew out of TK's arms and flew to Kari, who gave him a hug.

            "It's good to see you again, Patamon," Kari laughed.  "How have you been?"

            "Okay, but I'm hungry," Patamon complained.  "Hey, if you're here, then Gatomon has to be around!  Hi Ken!"  Ken laughed and opened his arms for the little digimon.

            "It's good to see you again," he smiled.  "I'm sure that Wormmon will be glad to see you too."

            "Wow!  I get to see Gatomon and Wormmon in one day!  Yay!"  By now, Davis was fuming.

            "So, wait, you're a digidestined?" he demanded of TK.

            "Nope," TK replied, putting his hands in his pockets.  "I'm one of the original eight chosen.  I thought for sure that Kari or Ken would have told you."

            "You mean, you knew about them being digidestined?" Ken asked, perplexed.  "How?"

            "The look in their eyes," TK shrugged.  "The look of hopelessness when all of your realities are fairly brutally ripped away from you combined with the fulfillment of first joining with your partner.  It's the same look I and Kari had on our first adventures."

            "So you are a chosen," Cody repeated, like he was testing the words and not liking them.

            "Yep," TK shrugged as he turned to Kari.  "So where are your digimon hiding?  You don't leave them at home, do you?"

            "Of course not," Kari smiled.  "They usually hangout over in that grove of trees.  Come on.  After I pick up Gatomon, I need you to show me the way to your apartment.  Your mom did invite me over, remember?"  TK nodded.

            "Sure, no problem.  Of course, you may end up helping unpack a box or two.  You're welcome as well, Ken."

            "I think I'll take you up on that offer some other time," Ken grinned.  "I know how much catching up you and Kari have to do.  Now, let's go pick up our digimon and get going."  They headed over to the grove of trees Kari had indicated earlier.

            "Gatomon!  Come on down!"  A white cat jumped down and landed on its hind legs.  It wore a pair of yellow gloves with three claws coming out of each glove.  Its tail was longer than normal and had a stone ring on the end.  Four other beings quickly followed Gatomon out of the tree.  The first was a short blue lizard that stood on its hind legs and had huge eyes and a small horn starting to grow out of its snout.  The second was an armadillo of a yellowish color.  The third was a red hawk wearing a headband with a single feather sticking out of the back.  The final one was a green caterpillar, without the fuzz.

            "Davish!" the blue lizard cried as he threw himself into Davis' arms.  "I'm glad you're back!  Did you bring me anything to eat?"

            "Yolei," the red bird began.  "It appears that we have a guest.  Might you introduce us?"

            "Is that you TK?" Gatomon asked, walking up to him.

            "Yup," TK grinned, kneeling down and giving Gatomon a slightly awkward hug.  "It's good to see you again."

            "Hello TK, good of you to drop by," the green caterpillar said as Ken carried it over.

            "Hello, Wormmon," TK greeted.  "Good to see you back on your feet."

            "You two know this guy?" the armadillo asked in a distinctly Texan accent.

            "TK was one of the original Chosen children along with Kari," Gatomon informed him.  "TK, these are the new kids."

            "Hi there.  I'm Veemon," the blue lizard introduced himself.  "I'm Davish's partner.  Nice to meet you."

            "I'm Armadillomon," the armadillo drawled.  "Nice to meet another one of the firsts.  I work with Cody."

            "I am charmed to make your acquaintance," the red bird bowed.  "I am Hawkmon, Yolei's trusted partner.  It is an honor to meet the final Chosen.  It will be a pleasure working beside you in the future."

            "Nice to meet all of you," TK bowed.  "This is my partner, Patamon."

            "Hello," the flying pig greeted.  "It's nice to see you two again," he said to Gatomon and Wormmon.

            "Kari, we need to get going.  Do you need to let Tai know where you're going?"  Kari shook her head.

            "I found him earlier and told him that I'd be going over to your new place and call him from there."

            "Alright," TK nodded.  "In that case, let's get going.  Nice meeting all of you."  With that, TK and Kari left with Gatomon riding in Kari's backpack and Patamon riding in TK's duffel bag.