Believe in Magic
By Kara
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, and I'm broke so don't try to sue me. All you'd get is… some string and an empty Coca Cola can.
Well, hello y'all! So… Uh, please review! Yeah, and to the story! – Yeah, I know, today's chapter is unusually boring, but it'll pay off. Next chapter has more action – and sorry for being gone so long. Laptop crashed, and now I'm back. I'll try to update soon. :)
Hikari sat up straight, her sheets half-drenched in an invisible sweat. "Was it…? No, it couldn't be," she thought aloud. She got out of the bed, but the after effects of the dream were still on her. She could feel the darkness following her with every step she took, the same familiar and eerie scent, the same breeze……yet, she wasn't at the World of Darkness, was she? She had her doubts. Still, she could feel the dark shadows follow her into the day, the dark call at her feet…but she was still in the Real World.
"Hikari?" Taichi called, peeking into the room, wondering if his sister was just talking to herself for the fun of it, or if she was going crazy… Unlikely, he thought with half of a snort. "Kari? Is there anything wrong?" he asked suspiciously, because lately, he felt as if she were hiding something from him; it wasn't quite an obvious feeling, but it was there nonetheless. Though she said everything was fine, he didn't trust her words completely.
Hikari mildly panicked, but if she had managed to stay strong against Takeru, she felt that she could do so with Taichi. She could still remember the boy's angry words when she had last gone to the World of Darkness. He had told her she needed to be her own person, that she didn't have to be like her brother. "Nandemo nai," she replied, "It's nothing." She grasped her sheets into a tight fist, hoping that he would believe her.
Taichi frowned, but shrugged his doubts away. How could he be a good brother if he didn't trust her…? She was, after all, growing up and he couldn't stop her from being her own person, not needing any more protection. She was in the middle of the strong light; she was the light – she was strong.
*
It was quite a warm day for autumn-winter. The autumn breeze was still in air, but the winter rain and snow and gusty winds were coming. That much could be told, since the past few days, winter weather had been coming on and off. Yet, the colour of the trees were still like autumn, of bright oranges, reds, browns, and yellows, falling gently to the ground.
Inoue Miyako had decided that she would walk to school that morning. She was determined to find out what was happening between Takeru and Hikari. As far as she could tell, there was something wrong.
Miyako had long lavender hair and hazel-coloured eyes, framed by large glasses. She was a sincere, and caring person. Often she depended on first impressions, and appearance. The fourteen-year-old was smart, and kept her ear to the ground, hearing all the rumours. That's who she was, honest and caring.
Miyako went down the building's hall to Hida Iori's apartment. She knocked on the door, waiting patiently.
Hida Iori answered the door. "Hi, Miyako."
"Hey, Iori! I was wondering if you were going to walk," she explained unnecessarily.
Iori was taller than he had been about a year ago. He still had the straight buzz-cut brown hair, and the serious jade-green eyes. He was serious, curious, sensible, and responsible ten-year-old. Wise beyond his years, he was a smart and honest kid.
"Okay," Iori replied, pulling his shoes on. "Let's go," he agreed, closing and locking the door behind him with a soft thud and click, and a jingle of his keys. –1-
They took the elevator down to Takaishi Takeru's level on the building.
"Hey, you guys!" Takeru greeted cheerily, entering the elevator. "It's been a long time since we've all walked to school together, eh?"
"Yeah," Miyako and Iori replied, exchanging glances. Somehow, between the both of them, it seemed as if Takeru wasn't truly cheery. It was false. Extraordinarily false.
"Okay, Takaishi, spill," Miyako finally said sharply, ending the silence, "what's going on?"
Takeru froze on the inside. He knew that he was terrible at lying, but he tried anyways. "What do you mean? There's nothing wrong," he informed Miyako, panic rising in his throat. He hoped that he would get lucky for once and his lying would work.
Miyako couldn't exactly decide if Takeru was lying or not. If Takeru is lying, he lied very well. If he isn't lying, his voice changing, Miyako decided. "Okay," Miyako replied, not completely believing it. However, she let him off this time.
They walked to school, small talk forming. They talked about the weather, classes, sports, and things like that. But they knew that their conversation was just stiff.
"Hey you guys!" Daisuke greeted them, rounding a corner with Hikari.
"Hey you two!" Takeru replied, like normal, with a bright, false smile.
Miyako watched the behaviours of Takeru and Hikari. She couldn't exactly touch up on it, but something was wrong between them. They were both stiff and formal, but still acted as their normal selves. Does that make sense, anyways? she thought. "Okay you two! There's something wrong, and I'll figure it out!" Miyako burst at Takeru and Hikari.
Takeru and Hikari exchanged glances of knowingness and fear. "Nothing's wrong, Miyako," they told the lavender-haired girl.
Miyako raised an eyebrow dubiously. "Uh-huh? Well, I've got to class unlike you all. Got to go! See you later!" she said, breaking the almost-argument.
Iori watched Miyako run off, with a confused expression on his face. "I've got to go, too," he said and left in a hurry.
Daisuke glanced at Takeru and Hikari. He observed that their expressions were neutral and cool. They didn't talk much, either. Why are those two spending so much time together lately? They aren't dating, are they? he thought. "Miyako's right. Something's going on between you two," Daisuke decided, raising an eyebrow slowly.
"Oh no, you don't have suspicions too, do you?" Hikari groaned. "Yesterday Miyako called me and confronted me. She asked if I was going out with Takeru—yeah, right!" Hikari said, choking the words out of her. I wish, at least, she thought shamefully, lowering her head.
"Nothing's going on between us," Takeru replied simply, with an edge of iciness barely heard, but heard plenty by Hikari. Although I wish there was, Takeru thought wistfully. On second thought, remembering Hikari's telepathy, he added, God, I was such an idiot last night… I shouldn't have been so cold. If I hadn't been, I would probably still be her friend…
Hikari mentally winced when she heard the iciness. "What did Miyako ask you?" she asked, trying to continue the conversation. "That's probably the reason why she had decided to walk to school—ask you about it too."
Takeru looked up, blue eyes meeting with russet eyes. "Uh, she was just suspicious… I… I… I've got to go," Takeru announced and left at a swift pace.
Hikari blinked a few times sadly. "Uh… I've got to go, too. See you at lunch Daisuke," she told him. She ran from Daisuke, trying to catch up with Takeru. "Takeru, wait up!"
Daisuke watched her catch up with Takeru, the iciness still not melted. Something's wrong between them. It's as if there's a wall between them. Should I take it to my advantage, or should I make things right between them? he thought. A thought hit him, If I don't fix what's wrong between them, everything would be… strange and isolated. Nothing would be right, even if I were dating Hikari.
Daisuke sighed. He couldn't believe it, but his decision had come to fixing up the relationship between Hikari and Takeru. He stood there for a moment, then ran to catch up with Hikari and Takeru.
*
Daisuke couldn't believe that he was actually going to try to fix Takeru and Hikari's relationship up.
Daisuke held his breath as he picked up his phone. He was going to call Miyako to ask her to call Hikari and keep Hikari busy for about… thirty minutes. Daisuke had a quite brilliant and simple plan. He would call and tell Takeru that there was going to be a meeting at Hikari's house in thirty minutes…
"Hello? Is Miyako there?" Daisuke asked.
"You're talking to her!" Miyako replied sharply. "What?"
"Well, I need you to call Hikari and keep on the phone for thirty minutes, while I call Takeru and say that everybody's going to meet at Hikari's house at four-thirty. Nobody's going to be home at that time because Taichi has soccer practice, and their parents are doing something else, probably, and…" Daisuke paused for a breath. "Then Takeru will have to go to Hikari's house and they'll have to fix their relationship up!"
On the other line, Miyako blinked a few times, and then spit out her coke she was drinking. She couldn't believe that Daisuke was trying to help Hikari and Takeru. She was… amazed. "That's a great plan, Daisuke. That's awfully nice for you—what's the catch?" Miyako asked, still not believing that he was going to set them up. She just couldn't believe it; it wasn't the Daisuke that would have done something this nice that she had met a long time ago. No, he had grown up.
"There's no catch, Miyako," Daisuke said, "Just call her!"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh," Miyako muttered, "Bye, and talk to you later."
They both hung up.
Daisuke sighed. "One more call to go…" He picked up the phone and dialled Takeru's phone number. Somebody picked up.
"Hello?" the person on the other line said. "Takaishi residence."
"Eh, is Takeru home?" Daisuke asked. After pausing, he added, "Is that you, Yamato?"
On the other line, Ishida Yamato raised an eyebrow. "And why are you calling, Daisuke?"
"Well, uh, because!" Daisuke replied shortly.
Yamato could hear uncertainty in the younger boy's voice. "Okay, Daisuke, there's something going on: tell," he commanded powerfully. Not only was he the friendly open-hearted guy, now, but the sensible one; and anybody with sense could tell that Daisuke was lying, anybody.
"Well… uh, Hikari just wanted to have a… a buddy group study, thingy," Daisuke explained with a lie. "Now, can I speak with Takeru?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you better call somebody else after this. I don't want Jun to call here or even know about here," muttered Yamato sourly. "TA-KE-RU!"
Daisuke waited patiently, or as far as his patience went.
"Hello?" Takeru said into the phone. "Daisuke?"
"Yeah," Daisuke answered. "Uh, everybody's meeting at Hikari's, okay? In thirty minutes, so be there, okay???? Bye!" And he hung up, not waiting for an answer. If it happened that Takeru refused, he wouldn't show up, but if he didn't get a chance to answer, he would show up. I know Takeru too well . . . . .
*
The blond youth blinked in confusion. "At Hikari's??? In thirty minutes—four-thirty? Might as well go," he muttered.
"Go where?" Yamato asked.
"Eh, Hikari's," Takeru said. "I'll have to leave in about ten minutes," he estimated.
Yamato hid a grin. He doubted that there was going to be a "Study Group". He thought, however, it was a set up. So his friends noticed a change, too? he mused. "Yeah, whatever. I have to go and meet Taichi and Sora, okay? See you," Yamato said.
Takeru was alone now.
"Might as well go to Hikari's early," Takeru muttered, and made his way to the coat closet. "Mom! I'm going to go to Hikari's house! I'll be back!" he said, and left.
Soon enough, Takeru was at Hikari's apartment—exactly at four-twenty, ten minutes early. He knocked on the door, waiting patiently.
*
Hikari jumped at the phone. Silently she wished that it wasn't Takeru. She had done a good job of avoiding Takeru for the day, and wanted it to stay that way.
"Hello? Yagami residence," Hikari murmured.
"Hey, Hikari!" It was Miyako, ready to spill gossip onto Hikari.
"Oh, hi, Miyako! Uh… what's going on?" she asked uncertainly. She was afraid that Miyako would ask again if anything was wrong with her. She knew she couldn't keep lying to the ones she cared for in her life. She couldn't keep going like this.
"Nothing much…" and Miyako babbled on…
It was four-twenty. "Yeah, yeah," Hikari agreed, half-awake. She was very tired from the lack of sleep she had gotten. She yawned, "Yeah, yeah…uh-hm."
Out of nowhere, the doorbell rang. Hikari smiled. "Eh, got to go, Miyako. Somebody's at the door, and duty calls. I'm the only one home, anyways…" she muttered. "Well, talk to you later."
"Yeah, bye!" Miyako said, and hung up.
Hikari sighed. She hung up, and placed the cordless phone back in its place. Lazily she got up and opened the door, but she wasn't ready for the surprise that was coming………………
*
The door opened on Takeru.
"Uh, hi, sorry if I'm early," Takeru said, glancing into the empty apartment and at Hikari's loose dress and apron.
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.
Takeru gave Hikari a confused glance. "Don't you remember? Everybody's meeting here?"
Hikari blinked a few times. "I'm not sure if I remember," she mumbled. "Blame it on bad short-term memory!" she said jokingly.
Takeru and Hikari laughed hoarsely and stiffly, staring at their seemingly interesting socked feet.
"Come on in, Takeru-…" Hikari trailed off, pausing to glanced up into Takeru's face bravely. She could see his fine handsome features easily: his hair was slightly smocked with a light damp mist, casually falling onto his face; his blue eyes seemed so blue and irresistible, like the sky's intensely blue eyes, or the Atlantic Ocean's rocky blue ocean; his jaw was strongly defined, not in a brutish manner, but in a handsome and simple way; his golden eyebrows were poised in a joyful expression; his lips were barely parted and signified by the cute, gentle dimples crowning his small smile. She was caught by his eyes, though.
"Guess I'm early," Takeru remarked, looking up at the clock, breaking his gaze with her. "It's four-twenty. Said we were all supposed to meet at four-thirty."
Hikari looked to the couch. "Well, sit down," she said hospitably, her voice shaking with inner fear. "D-do you want anything?" She gave a shaky smile, catching her weakness by holding onto the counter with great fear of something inescapable of her mind and heart: love?
"Uh, no thank you," Takeru replied, watching her carefully. Her every graceful move counted to him.
There was silence. Neither of them knew what to say…
Takeru thought about the scene from the day before. And he knew what he was going to say…
"Hikari, in honesty, I… I'm sorry," Takeru said. "And… you know why I didn't really want you to hang around while I was searching for something? Well… okay, I was searching to see if telepathy and dreams are connected. And they often are. It said that most likely if you have dreams—telepathic dreams—the dreams will be prophetic or show an event of the past. And…"
Takeru was out of words and of breath. He didn't know what else to say without prying. He deeply wanted to pry, but he knew it just wasn't right. Of course, he'd be bothered if she didn't tell him.
"So you mean that the dreams tell the future?" Hikari demanded. No, please, please, let that not be true! her mind screamed. "Does that mean it will happen?"
Takeru watched Hikari's face become tense. "Yes, exactly," he said quite calmly. He knew that everything was just wrong about it all, from him supposed to be killing twice, to the mirror incident, to the strange dreams thrice. Nothing was right about it all.
"Well… I'm sorry too, Takeru," Hikari said. But I still won't tell, even if it's that important… "And…"
Again, there was silence. They were both wordless, and planning in their heads.
Takeru walked across the room to the patio. He watched the rain come down hard, in pitter-patters and distant rumbling thunder. He perked his ears and squinted. "Is that hail?" he asked in disbelief. He could hear the pounding of the hail, and could see it, but he just couldn't believe it. "I guess we're going to have an early winter, eh, Hikari?"
Hikari watched a sly grin cross his face. "Yeah, I guess," Hikari answered.
"I don't think if Miyako or Iori would want to come in this weather," mused Takeru. "I certainly wouldn't want to either. Hail." He gave a small reassuring smile to Hikari; he had to stay strong for her. He was the only light that could lead her out of the dark tunnel, into her safe cave. -2-
Hikari frowned. Hadn't she just been on the phone with Miyako? "Wait. Takeru, I bet you nobody else is coming. It's a set-up," Hikari finally said.
Takeru turned to Hikari. "They set us up? Go figure. Too much suspicion," Takeru said. "Well, nothing to do about it, then. I think I ought to leave."
Hikari glanced at Takeru sceptically. "Yeah? I don't think you should. It takes twenty minutes to get to your house, and twenty minutes in that kind of weather? No. You'll just stay here and keep my company until Taichi gets home," Hikari informed the blond boy. "Besides," she added, "I hate thunder."
"Uh, okay," Takeru said, taking the offer.
Hikari walked over to Takeru and joined him at watching the hail. "Well, things could be worse," she murmured dryly, "than hail."
Suddenly, thunder struck and the lights went out. Takeru froze. "You had to say that?" he questioned wryly.
Hikari made a retorting face, and said, "Yes. Now, enough of the jokes. We might get some flashlights and candles—and you should call your mom while you can. I don't think it would be right for me to send you out in this kind of weather."
"Okay, just where is the phone?" he asked. "It's where it normally is, right?"
"Yeah," Hikari answered, finding her way to the cabinet where the emergency flashlights were. "Got them!" she yelled, flipping the flashlight on. She beamed the light at the phone so Takeru could find his way.
Takeru dialled, and said, "Hello? Mom, I don't think I'll be able to get home in this weather… so don't expect me until it's cleared up. Yeah, I'm ok… uh-huh, yeah, yeah… okay, yeah—" Takeru stopped. "Hello? Hello?" To Hikari he said, "The phone's dead…"
"Well, looks like we're stranded here. Winter's here—look, Takeru. I think the hail and rain is turning to snow. A lot of snow."
Takeru looked out the patio window. "It's snowing!" he cried with excitement. He smiled slowly, looking into the flurry of snow.
Hikari grinned. "The first snow of the year. We'll always remember this for a whole year, I reckon. Especially since we're stuck in one place," she said. "Anyways…"
"At least it isn't thundering anymore," Takeru muttered. He turned around towards Hikari. "Please, please, could you tell? I have a bad feeling about all this. It's all wrong, and if the voice is right…" he trailed off.
Hikari ignored Takeru, and went to the patio. She tried to ignore Takeru's voice in her head, but it was useless. She walked out onto the patio, and put her hand out. Snowflakes drifted gently onto her palm, and shrank to nothingness in an instant.
Takeru neared Hikari slowly and sighed. "Sorry, but remember, I'm always here," he said uncertainly, placing his hand on her shoulder in assurance, although he wasn't sure if he could reassure himself.
Doubt filled Hikari's mind. What if this isn't the right thing to do? Should I tell? she thought. She weighed the matter in her mind. She turned around and gazed into the blonde's eyes. Her russet eyes locked onto Takeru's blue, blue eyes. Hikari saw something in his eyes. She saw… fear, concern, and… something else unidentifiable. Was it love, or just sibling-like affection?
Hikari couldn't stand it anymore. It was neither fair for her nor Takeru to keep secrets from another. They never had, and it just didn't work out when they did.
She walked into the house, Takeru following her. "Takeru… well, I… I had another dream. It wasn't the dream that was completely terrifying but…" she trailed off. Trembling, she curled onto the couch. Is it the right thing to do? What if, what if something worse happens? she asked herself. Nervously she drew a breath and continued. "Well, my dream. Yes, I was frightened…" she said in short blocks, not sure of herself.
Takeru took a seat next to Hikari and nodded. "If you don't want to tell, you don't have to," he said. However, he said this not for Hikari's sake but for his. He was afraid of what he was going to hear, but didn't show his fear. He had to be strong for her, like he had been when they were younger . . . .
"No, I'm going to tell. I finish what I start," Hikari said, determined. She took his hand in her hand and squeezed it. "Promise not to tell?" she asked.
"I promise, Hikari," Takeru said, squeezing her hand in return. He had to smile inside: the main trait that both Taichi and Hikari carried was determination.
Hikari felt reassured, now that she would tell just one other person that she could trust with her life about the scene. "Well, I had a dream and…" Hikari was losing confidence already. "I was going to be killed," she said shortly and oddly. Her voice was stiff upon her lips; she couldn't think straight anymore, in remembering her dream.
"H-how?" Takeru stammered.
"Well… the—something. I was in the dark shadowy place, again. I still don't think it was the World of Darkness, but I might be wrong. Something was off. I was walking nearer to the cave, and then… I heard a crazy psycho maniac laugh. It was evil and dark… I was running to the cave—I don't know why!" Hikari cried, frustrated with herself. Her heartbeat accelerated, and she rushed her words. "I was running to the cave—something was wrong…" She recalled the dream. She could still see it freshly in her mind…
Hikari closed her eyes, frightful. "Something was wrong," she echoed her words, "I couldn't see anything but shadows. There were a few figures, and…" She took a breath, hoping to calm her quavering and rushed voice, but was unsuccessful. "Something came from behind me. I could feel something behind me, cold and dark. It reached me, and clutched me tightly around the wrists." Reminded of it, Hikari held her hands up. There were scratch scars there, for some reason. Did it really happen in life? she asked herself, pausing.
She continued: "Then something choked me. I felt suffocated, not only physically but… I felt enveloped by the dark and cold aura… and then the thing—you know that voice? Well, that voice… was about to kill me with a long and gleaming sword… I woke up, and… the voice told me that I should have died because of some chemical reactions set off when you're about to die in a dream. The voice said that I should have died. Shock releases chemicals…" she murmured, confused. "But I couldn't see the face… I couldn't see the faces, or the people… It was all… shadows…" she whispered. The World of Darkness, she thought. She was sure of it by now, no wonder. It was all too familiar, the scenery and the scent, but something was different… "And, well, I could feel the darkness everywhere I went today," she confessed.
"Waking dreams," he commented with a nod. Takeru sat stiffly. He couldn't understand it, but he could in another sense. He didn't know what he was supposed to do next. Am I supposed to comfort her, or should I just keep silent? He wasn't the best comforter in the world, not anymore. When he had been younger and so unknowing, he had comforted everybody, but now………
Muffled thunder rumbled in the distance… so faraway, but loud.
Hikari jumped nervously. "I'm a nervous wreck," she admitted, "I'm just a rack of nerves. I guess the dream has really gotten to me, eh?" she told herself. She sat down once again. However, sleep leaned on her heavily despite her fear of thunderstorms. She yawned, her eyelids heavy. "Do you think…" she trailed off, the words lost in the sudden sleepiness. She relaxed and gently slumped onto Takeru's shoulder.
Takeru tensed up for a moment, but then relaxed. "She must be sleepy. I bet that she avoided sleep for the past few days in fear of the dream," he told himself aloud. "What did you want to say?" he asked Hikari in a whisper of confusion. He glanced at her, with a small contemplating frown, and he fell into a deep restless sleep…full of dreams.
And I'm ending there, for now. Wow, that must be the longest chapter I have ever written. Six whole pages!!! (Yeah, I know, not very looong…) I know that there are longer chapters out there, but I was worried it was going to be too long. And besides, that was a good place to end. Basically, you can say that hereon, it'll be… more action and adventure than talk and romance. Hey, I'm still planning the final event. It's just dancing in my head, waiting to be written. Get ready, and gear up for some action. :P :D
Actually, next chapter will be his dreams, and will explain some stuff – then, the action kicks in. Don't worry, I'll have the next chapter up in two weeks or so…^.^
~Kara Kasai: please review by clicking on that cool little rectangular box if you have any questions, comments, feedback, or else I'll think it's all fine and stuff. But please review anyways. =^-^= Please??? Thank you. ^_^
Notes:
-1-: In Asian homes, they do not wear shoes inside. It is custom to take off shoes and walk around the house barefooted. Thus, Iori is pulling his shoes on.
-2-: Argh, indefinitely inspired by John Steinbeck's work – in my eighth grade English class, we've been talking about "Of Mice and Men" – very interesting work, and recommendable because it has a very small revelation to Digimon: Am I my sister's keeper?—better known as, "Am I my brother's keeper?" from the Bible. But it's inspired by Steinbeck because it says that Lennie volunteers to go away, into a cave – think, what's a cave symbolic for? ^.~ *A cave is safe, or foreboding, or a home………*