(another author's note—dated Dec. 22, 2003: Well, I'm rereading this story and finding lots of things I don't like now that I'm revisiting it again. So I'm making a few adjustments. This chapter is just the first.)
AN: A shoutout to DanielsGirl4eva! That's so cool how you reviewed my story! Yay, thank you, you moved the count up to an even 60. =D You know, I only started reading HP fanfic like, two days ago, after seeing the movie (the first one) for the first time. I'd read the books before but wasn't that interested. Now I am! So, what kind of fanfic writer am I (or hope to become)? Let's see… there's original fiction/Digimon/Passions/Days of our Lives/Phantom of the Opera/Baby-Sitters Club/Harry Potter… is that all? Oh yeah… I forgot about Star Wars. And Spiderman (the movie). AND O-Town/Vanessa Carlton/Michelle Branch/Avril Lavigne. Cool stuff. I have diverse interests! How cool is that?
You guys, I just thought of something as I was writing this. You know how in "His Master's Voice" (season 02—the TAKARI episode! hehe), when T.K. tells Kari something along the lines of, "Don't worry me like that. I thought I'd almost lost you," and the way he says it to her, it reminds me of this one guy that I like and how he always talks to me like that. He's so sweet! (It may not have been in "His Master's Voice" but I know it was in one of the eps somewhere.) Yeah just thought I'd share with y'all.
So here's what you've all been waiting for… Chapter Two! It's a bit short, but I have to get to the good stuff somehow, right? Forgive me. (Oh, and there's minor Davis bashing, but not much. =D) You know they're not mine, so don't harass me about it! (j/p =D)
One Light, One Hope
Chapter Two: Friendship
For three years after my great adventures in the Digital World, I was a hermit. Really. You'd think that I'd learn to live with my mother moving around so much, but I didn't. I think it could have been the fact that the neighborhood wasn't so great, and that there was no one around who was my age (is this some kind of problem for me or something?), other than my classmates, and they all lived pretty far away… the only thing that got me out of the house was basketball. I had discovered my passion for it one day when one of the few decent guys was out and challenged me to a game. Even though I'd never played in my life, I was always up for a challenge, and therefore took him up. I ended up tying him. And this was no ordinary guy, he was the self-proclaimed (with enough skill to back it up) reigning basketball champ of the neighborhood. So I wasn't a total hermit.
I still kept in touch with Matt. He is my brother, after all. I went to visit him very occasionally, like at Christmas and Thanksgiving and Easter and his birthday and fun stuff like that. Every time I went and saw all my old friends, I was sad. I missed them, and I didn't want to have to leave every time I saw them again. So I didn't get too friendly with the people in my new neighborhood. Knowing my mother, we would probably have to move around again.
My prediction eventually came true. My mother announced, right after the end of sixth grade, that we were moving again. But not just anywhere—back to Odaiba. "Seriously?" I exclaimed. I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of starting junior high where I was. I was contemplating whether or not to ask her if I could live with Dad and Matt and go to school there, but I didn't want to push it. But now, I wouldn't have to. I was thrilled, to say the least.
On my first day of school, I waited not so patiently for the elevator door to open. My foot tapped rapidly as I mumbled, "Come on, elevator, hurry up!" Okay, so maybe I was a little eager about getting to school. Mainly because I wanted to see people that I knew.
Just then the door opened, and inside were two kids—a girl with long, lavender hair and big brown eyes. Well, they looked big because of her big glasses. Next to her was a small, shy looking boy with brown hair and green eyes. "Hi!" the girl said, as I stepped into the elevator car. "Are you new here?"
"Um… yeah," I said, not wanting to elaborate on the long and complicated story. "I'm Takeru Takaishi. But you can call me T.K. if you want."
The girl smiled. "I'm Yolei Inoue, and this is my friend Cody Hida."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Takaishi," Cody said very softly.
I smiled. "You can call me T.K., Cody."
"Okay, T.K."
As the elevator descended, Yolei asked me, "So, where are you heading?"
"I'm going to the local junior high. I'm going into seventh grade."
"Really? We're going there too! Cody's in sixth grade and I'm in eighth."
"Cool!" My first day of school and I already had made new friends! I was excited.
We got out of the elevator car and walked the two blocks to the school. Once we were there, Yolei directed me to my homeroom and I walked in. I took a seat in the back and waited patiently until the teacher noticed me and called me to the front. "Class, we have a new student today. His name is Takeru Takaishi and has just moved here from…" She squinted at the paper she had been given, presumably with my information on it. "It doesn't say where you moved from," she whispered to me. I shrugged. "That doesn't matter. All that matters is that I'm back in Odaiba… I used to live here."
The teacher smiled. "Oh, good. Hopefully you'll know some people in here." Then she turned to the class again. "I hope you give Mr. Takaishi a good welcome, class." The class applauded politely and the teacher assigned me a seat. I sat down, looking at the people around me, and felt a poke in my shoulder. I turned to my right and then… I saw her.
"Hey, T.K., long time no see!" Kari exclaimed, smiling brightly. I smiled back. I had missed Kari… things were different without her. "Hey, Kari! We're together again, like old times!"
Kari nodded and then we proceeded to catch up on the last three years—quietly, since classes had already started. Every time I looked at her, I noticed something different. She had grown taller in the last three years, but her eyes retained that sparkle that made her special. She had also grown just a tiny bit in the way girls do when they grow—but not that much. However, there was one thing that was bothering me when I was talking to her. It was the fact that a bushy red-headed guy with goggles—almost a mini-me version of Tai—was positively glowering at me. "Um, Kari… who's that guy who's looking at me wishing I was dead?" I asked innocently.
She rolled her eyes, and spoke without even turning around. "That's Davis. He seems to think that I'm his girl," she said weakly. "Which I'm not. I just like him as a friend."
I nodded. Did he think I was some sort of competition or something? Well, Kari was just a friend—my best friend—and I wasn't planning on making a move on her anytime soon.
Class let out and during passing period the Davis guy approached me. "Who do you think you are, making a move on my girl… er…" He looked frantically around, as if the locker behind him would magically make my name appear.
"My name's T.K.," I said calmly. "And don't call Kari your girl. She doesn't like to be called that."
"Jealous, are we, T.P.?" Davis countered.
"No… I'm just saying, you should respect what she wants, if you claim to like her so much," I replied coolly. But something he said struck a nerve in me, and I didn't know what exactly.
"And his name's T.K.!" Yolei cried out, from nowhere. "He just told you that two seconds ago!" (AN: Typical Davis!)
"Thanks so much for all your help, Yolei," Davis replied sarcastically, as Yolei joined us. "I could have handled it on my own."
"Yeah, right," Yolei scoffed. Then she turned to me. "Sorry about that, T.K. I suppose you were trying to have a normal conversation with Kari?"
"Yeah, I've known her for a while now. I didn't know she was going to be in my class."
"Really?" Yolei's wide eyes were sparkling with curiosity. "How do you know her?"
"Long story. I used to live here, but I had to move away. We shared some good times before I moved. My brother is best friends with her brother."
At the mention of Tai, Davis's ears perked up. "Her brother is so awesome!" he yelled.
"Is that why you're trying to look like him?" I asked casually, then started to walk away towards my next class.
"Shove it, T.S.!" Davis yelled after me. "And I'm warning you, stay away from my girl!"
I rolled my eyes as I walked away. Seventh graders can be SO immature sometimes.
Finally, after the last class of the day, I was on my way home when suddenly, I ran in to someone who looked strikingly familiar. "Izzy?" I asked, carefully.
He studied my face for a split second before breaking into a smile. "T.K.! Look at you, you're all grown up now! What brings you here?"
"I live here now, Izzy… again."
Izzy grinned. "That's prodigious! It's glad to have you back."
"I'm glad to be back. So what are you doing here anyway?" I asked, curiously.
"My friend Yolei wanted me to help her with some computer stuff," Izzy explained. "So I'm off to the computer lab. You want to come?"
"Sure… I guess. I just met Yolei today, anyway."
"Prodigious!" Izzy continued his walk to the computer lab. "It's great to see you again, T.K."
"Likewise," I replied. "So you're at the secondary school now?"
"Yeah. I'm a first year."
"Ah." We walked into the doorway of the room and I saw Kari, the click-click of her fingers hitting the keyboard echoing loudly and her face contorted into a weird expression.
"Hey, Kari," I greeted her, putting my hands on the table next to her and looking over her shoulder. "Whatcha doing?"
"Oh, hey, T.K.," Kari replied, looking up at me. "I'm trying to figure out what happened to this computer."
Izzy peered over her other shoulder and gasped. "Um… I think I know what that is."
Kari shifted her gaze over to the older boy. "You do?"
"I think…" He blanched. "I think it's a Digiport."
"What?" Kari and I exclaimed, together. "But how…?" Kari asked.
Izzy shook his head. "I have no idea."
As the three of us pondered this, three lights suddenly jumped out of the computer, all heading for the door. One—a blue one—hit Davis right as he came into the room, and apparently contained something tangible, because it hit him square in the head. "Ow," he said, rubbing his head as the object clattered to the floor. "What's the big idea, T.E.?" Davis asked. "You trying to kill me or something because you want my girl?"
Kari rolled her eyes. "Davis, I'm not your girl, his name's T.K., and he didn't throw it at you. It came out of the computer."
"Really?" Davis scrambled to pick the offending object up. "Wow… that's cool! What is it?"
The thing was whirring and beeping like crazy. "Let me see it," Izzy asked, and Davis handed it to him. Izzy hit a few buttons and then exclaimed, "Prodigious!"
"What is it?" I asked him.
"It's a Digivice!"
"A Digivice? But that means…" Kari and I looked over at Davis. "Please don't tell me we have to work with him," Kari groaned.
"What's a Digivice?" Davis questioned. "And how do you know all this stuff, T.A.?"
"A Digivice is something that is used to help a Digimon Digivolve. Most likely, the Digimon should be your partner. And I know all this because I'm a Digidestined and I have a Digivice too. So does Kari."
"Does that mean he's a Digidestined, Izzy?" Kari asked him.
Izzy was still messing with Davis's Digivice. I snuck a peek at it and noticed that it looked a lot different than mine and Kari's. It had a more ergodynamic shape to it, instead of the hard, angular box that Kari and I had. It was also two-toned. "I think so. This looks like a different model, but it's definitely a Digivice. Now… the only way Davis can truly be a Digidestined is if he gets a Digimon to work with him."
Davis, who was utterly confused by this, suddenly jumped as a burst of light came from his Digivice and a small, blue Digimon appeared. "Hiya! I'm Demiveemon and I think you're my partner," it said.
"Whoa!" Davis's eyes bugged out and the three of us looked at each other in disbelief. "So it's true," I slowly said. Then I looked at Davis, who was still freaked out by the little Demiveemon, and told him, "Well don't just stand there, say hi to your Digimon!"
"Uh… hi," Davis stammered.
"What's your name?" Demiveemon asked.
"Davis."
Demiveemon jumped giddily. "Hi, Davish! I've been waiting to meet you for a long time."
As I lay in my bed, recounting the events of my first day of school, I knew it was a day I'd never forget. Not only was my duty as a Digidestined called upon, but I had made new friends (and maybe even an enemy) and reconnected with old ones. My mind drifted away from my initial thought at the memory of Kari. She had really grown up in these last three years. We both had… and now we were going to have to lead the way for our new friends and newly discovered Digidestined, to restore the balance of the Digital World once again. But what could the threat be this time? The thought troubled me as I drifted into sleep.
~*~
As the year progressed, so did the knowledge of our problems. There was a new evil in the Digiworld—the Digimon Emperor, as he liked to call himself—and he was taking over the Digital World with these things called Black Rings, which were basically binding, granite-colored collars. They had, basically, the same effect as brainwashing did.
In our first visit to the Digiworld, Kari and I found our Digi-eggs together. Our familiar crests of Light and Hope shone out and magically, our Digivices morphed right in our hands. They changed into ones identical to Davis's, Yolei's, and Cody's. With these Digi-eggs, our Digimon could now Armor Digivolve to these great flying wonders. And as we got more involved, we realized that the problem was much bigger than just Black Rings and a boy (later, we found out that his real life persona was Ken Ichijouji and that Yolei had had the biggest crush on him until she found out he was the Digimon Emperor) trying to play "I'm the king of the world"; it later escalated to the fact that two Digimon were planting what were known as Dark Spores into innocent children… much like Black Rings, only it took years for the effects to truly be seen. Eventually, we defeated the evil—the return of MaloMyotismon—with the help of children all over the world. And the Digital World became peaceful once again.
I remember a lot of things from that time. But three events stick out at me in my memory. The trip around the world, one of my fondest memories, was fun. I went to France with Tai and met this girl named Catherine. She was really nice, and really pretty, and I remember thinking to myself that I might actually like her if she and I lived closer to each other. But my mind always drifted away from that. I don't know why. In retrospect, I know exactly why, but I didn't know then. The two other things I remember have to do with Kari, my best friend. Throughout this whole battle, Kari and I had been getting closer. We were making up for three years of lost time, and I guess she felt that I was the only person who could really understand everything she went through. The Dark Ocean tried to call her back once. Before it took her to that dimension, I remember telling her that she couldn't go, because I cared too much for her to do so. Where that came from, I had no idea. But somewhere deep in my heart I knew I didn't mean that in just a friendly way. Maybe I was in denial at the time and believed that she was like my sister. I don't know. But the prospect of losing Kari hurt me so much that I had to get her back. When I finally reclaimed her, she told me she cared for me too. What that meant, I had no idea. I barely had any idea of what my own words meant.
The last thing that sticks out in my mind isn't just one set thing. It's more like a compilation of things. Ever since that first day when Kari and I found our Digi-eggs, I knew that somehow, we were connected for life. Our Digimon had a joint attack, something no two other people shared. We were both original Digi-destined. Azulongmon told us that the bearers of Hope and Light (if you didn't know already, that's Kari and me) were the most important in maintaining the balance of good and evil in the Digital World, and that for it to thrive, we needed each other. I turned to Kari and smiled at her, and she smiled back. But it was a different kind of smile. I couldn't put my finger on what, exactly, but it was different, and very special. To this day that brilliant smile has never left my memory. It lit the way for something even more special.
You know what I'm asking for! *sees button; presses button* Now you do it too!