Once Mimi had finished handing out her latest snack obsession to everyone, the short-haired woman who had brought her there guided them all to a large truck with wrap-around seats in the back.

Takeru found himself next to Mimi as they walked toward the vehicle, chatting and catching up. It had been a while since they had all (minus Jou) gotten together like this. At most, it was usually two or three of them at a time. Sora spent quite a bit of time with Yamato, though they were still trying to be discreet about it, so Takeru saw her whenever he visited his brother. Takeru and Hikari, of course, remained close and saw each other on the daily, making it a point to hangout every once in a while. At times, Yamato and Takeru would even convene at the Yagami household to have study (or video game) sessions. Koushirou was slightly more elusive; Taichi, Sora, and Yamato would see Koushirou at school, but Hikari and Takeru didn't see him very often. Jou was practically missing in action, though they did manage to keep in touch every once in a while. And now, Mimi, who had been in America for all these years, had finally returned to Japan. Here they all were—different, grown up—but somehow still the same.

"How have you been, Mimi-san?" Takeru asked good-naturedly.

She gave him a thumbs up and a jolly tap on the back. "I'm fantastic! I really missed you all!"

She then glanced around furtively, and seeing that a certain brown-haired angel was a safe distance away, trying to appease her brother's overprotectiveness—

"Oniichan, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time.."

—she lowered her voice a tad. "How are things with Hikari-chan?"

His smile was unwavering. "The usual. Things are good, and things are the same."

Of course, Mimi knew about the budding relationship (and pent up feelings) between the two youngest chosen. The trip they had taken to New York three years prior was the opportune time to become aware of each other in a context where there were no older brothers to depend on. Mimi was sharp; she knew that while Hikari's feelings remained unchangingly platonic, the hat-loving lady killer that now was had developed a romantic interest in his childhood best friend. She had managed to get it out of him too, while Hikari was running around taking pictures of Central Park.

"The same, huh?" Mimi sighed.

Takeru let out a fond chuckle. He had long become accustomed to their lack of progress. "Well, this is Hikari-chan we're talking about."

She narrowed her eyes. "Takeru-kun, are you taking this seriously?" Something about her tone screamed 'You better be, or you'll be hearing from me.'

Koushirou and Yamato walked by, helping load the sleepy Digimon into the back of the truck. Takeru waited until they were past to speak up. "Of course! I'm serious. You know me."

"Hmm…" she hummed, long and nasally, as if to say 'We'll see about that.' Mimi had a way of getting a lot across despite saying very little.

Takeru gave her a sheepish, playful sort of grin that did little to quell her suspicions. Then, he murmured, "You know she's the only one I'm always watching. I think that's how it'll always be."

She blinked then, surprised. She watched Takeru masterfully slip himself into the truck right beside the object of his affections and smiled. The littlest one was growing up.

The truck was clunky and stocky with blocked out windows, almost military in appearance. As it rolled down the freeway there was little room to even breathe what with seven teenagers and eight Digimon in the back. Shoulders overlapped and forearms brushed.

Hikari sat beside Takeru and felt comforted, despite flashes of their previous battle amongst other questions and worries regarding the Digital World fighting for her attention. She and Takeru especially had slipped quite naturally back into their positions as the youngest members. Though they were equally as capable and insightful, especially now that their youth did not handicap them, there was a sense of peace in knowing that the older members were watching out for them. And Takeru was, in turn, watching out for her. Everything came to her in dull, soothing vibrations—the jostling of the truck, everyone's voices as they discussed things like the men in suits and Jou's whereabouts. Everyone was there with her. She was not alone. She listened calmly and drowsily.

"None of us know where Jou-san is," Takeru was saying.

"He probably couldn't make it for some reason or another," Taichi commented. His voice seemed a bit sharp, almost defensive, to Hikari as she listened. No one else seemed to notice.

"Probably," Sora agreed. "He is studying for exams, after all."

Mimi sighed loudly. "Exams, huh?"

Koushirou had been uncannily silent for most of the trip, sparing a few questions about Joe in an effort to seem involved in the conversation. The entity beside him—muted pink hair and all—was literally one of the biggest distractions he had ever seen. She was a spectacle, sparkling and effervescent and speaking a foreign language for what sense he could make of what she was saying.

And now, she spoke, voice larger than life, and his eyes peered at her from the side as if staring full on would be too much for his system.

She's cute. His cheeks pinkened. Hormones.

As if his side-eyed stare was tangible, she turned. "Huh? What is it, Koushirou-kun?"

Caught, he quickly averted his eyes, aware of everyone's attention turning to him as well. "No, it's nothing…"

Takeru made the connection immediately, but refrained from speaking. Mimi was already saying what he was thinking (well, something like it, at least).

"Did I get so cute you're getting all nervous being around me?" she teased, the picture of self-confidence.

"I-it's nothing like that!" Koushirou almost rose to a standing position, he was so flustered.

Mimi let out a half-apologetic laugh at his reaction. "I'm just kidding!"

Takeru found himself relating deeply to Koushirou as he watched this exchange. How many times had he been caught by Hikari staring? Actually, it was likely that there were more times that she knew but just didn't mention. Just smiled that sweet, knowing smile.

If only Hikari would give him a one-liner of Mimi calibre! He would shoot something suave, casually—"Yeah, you were so cute that I couldn't keep my eyes off of you."

And she would—would she? Blush and squeak and give him that little slap on the arm that girls did at his boldness. But she never invited any of this. She never left any openings, in many ways as sterile and platonic as an older sister. He had always had a sinking feeling he was brother-zoned at the age of seven.

And then again, she was the girl with the whistle. His to watch over and protect, because she never bothered to protect herself. That was his choice, and no one could take that away from him. She didn't fall prey to his charm because she knew everything that he was. His trauma. His proclivities. His values. His hopes. He he'd fallen and how he'd prevailed. With her, there was a place where he could be seen and known and accepted. Not just for being cool basketball star. Not just for being popular and handsome. But for being uncertain, naive, searching—the boy with the green hat.

With her, he was a little eager, a little unsure, still growing up. She carried all of his dreams.

And yet, he would not mind terribly seeing some forward progress. Koushirou and Mimi had created more obvious romantic tension in three minutes than Hikari and Takeru had in seven years.

So, he sat there, feeling equal parts empathy, pity, and jealousy—all while maintaining a neutrally interested face—as Koushirou floundered and quickly switched topics.

Hikari had fallen asleep halfway through the trip. The feeling of her cheek pressed against his shoulder stayed with Takeru as he arrived at school the next morning.

He had acquired a tiny cut on his chin—possibly from flying debris?—that Kikuchi and company (minus Yamanaka, Suzuki, and Fujioka, of course) fawned over. That was how he spent most of lunch. It was raining, so they had given up on the roof.

"Ugh, I hate the rain, don't you?" Andou said glumly. She sat on Yamanaka's desk, letting her feet dangle over the back of her own chair.

"Not a fan," Kikuchi chirped.

Kikuchi, Fujioka, and Suzuki were all in different classes, but the seven of them usually gathered in Takeru's class (2-B) on rainy days.

"It's not like our practice gets cancelled either," Suzuki drawled. "Cheer and bball both use the gym... So practice, rain or shine…"

Ogawa slurped loudly at her juice box. "Least we can do cardio indoors instead of on the field."

"Feh, cardio is cardio."

Yamanaka cracked open an eye. He had been snoozing, feet propped up beside Andou. "Quit whining, Suzuki. You could use all the cardio you can get, what with your stamina the way it is lately."

Takeru gave a snigger of laughter.

"Shut it, Yamanaka. And I heard that, Takaishi, don't think you don't have to run today like the rest of us."

"Actually, I probably can't make it to practice today," Takeru replied.

Yamanaka sat up, accidentally kicking Andou, who frowned. "Uh, sorry. That isn't like you, Takaishi. Something goin' on?"

Kikuchi glanced at Takeru. He had been awfully sweet to her today, commenting on how cute her new haircut was, but now here was this distraction. Was it that family stuff again?

Takeru nodded, his expression unreadable. "Yeah.. there's a lot going on. I already told captain I wouldn't be there today."

"What's going on, Takaishi-kun?" Ogawa peeped up. "Anything we can do? Is it Yamato-san?"

"Yamato-san! Is that why the concert was cancelled yesterday?" Andou cried.

"Nah, that was just because of the power outage," he reassured them. "And it's not that big of a deal. Thanks for your concern, though."

His smile was blinding, and Kikuchi could feel her heart melt into a puddle on the ground as Ogawa squeed, "Of course, anything for Takaishi-kun!" which earned double eye-rolls from Yamanaka and Suzuki.

Before the girls could start fawning over some new scar they discovered on him (not that he minded, he just had more important things to do), he stood up. There were about twenty minutes left before lunch ended, and there was something he had decided to do. It was something he'd never done before, but he was doing it now because now the Digital World was looming before them, and there was a lot more at stake than just his nervousness and his pride.

"Takaishi-kun, are you going somewhere?" Kikuchi, looking anxious, was the first to notice him walking towards the door.

"Just going a couple doors down to 2-D." He said it like it was nothing.

"Oh? I'll go back with you then." Fujioka looked up from the book he had been reading. His class was 2-D, which incidentally also happened to be the same as…

"Is it Yagami-san?" Kikuchi spoke up suddenly, nearly cutting Fujioka off. There was an emotional tremor in her voice.

"Ki-chan?" Ogawa asked in concern. Even Yamanaka and Suzuki had the sense to keep quiet.

It was strange, the way Takeru's expression hardened for a moment. Hardened as if to say, don't go there. As if to say, she's mine and you can't keep me from her. But it quickly passed, and he gave Kikuchi a non-committal smile. "Yeah."

And then, he was out the door. Fujioka followed him without a word.

Kikuchi slumped over on the desk she was sitting at and the other girls frantically surrounded her.

"Ki-chan, are you okay? It's okay, that doesn't mean anything!"

"Kikuchi-chan, hang in there!"

She peeked an eye open. "I kind of blew it…"

"You didn't!" Andou insisted.

"Kinda," muttered Yamanaka, before Ogawa jabbed him in the ribs. "OW!"

Suzuki, who had been watching all of this with a bemused look on his face, cleared his throat to call attention to himself. They all turned to him. Andou and Ogawa were smoldering, daring him to say something stupid and insensitive.

He shrugged. "Well, Kikuchi, think about it this way—he's known her for all these years, but they haven't dated. They haven't even expressed romantic interest in each other."

Kikuchi had her head up now, listening. Andou and Ogawa watched in disbelief. Was the lazy, good-looking, but otherwise good-for-nothing Suzuki saying something decent?

"So what have you got to worry about?" he continued. "If he liked her, he would have made her his by now. I mean, it's Takaishi. You know how straightforward he is with girls."

"I… I guess so…" Kikuchi seemed to brighten a bit, and this encouraged Suzuki, who wasn't used to having such an effect on his friends.

"So that means something, you know? Like… she isn't his type."

"He would have to be blind," Yamanaka cut in. He promptly received another jab. "OW!"

Suzuki ignored them and proceeded with his spiel. "Or… she's like a little sister to him. I mean, for as long as they've known each other, that's what makes the most sense, right?"

"Y-yeah! Wow, that's so true!" Kikuchi sat up. "Thanks, Suzu-kun. I think I needed that."

Andou and Ogawa exchanged relieved looks.

"Woooow, Suzu-kun, I didn't know you had it in you." Andou smirked.

"Way to go do something decent."

He gave the two a thumbs up. "That's how I keep my own hopes up about still having a chance with Yagami-chan."

Hearing this, Yamanaka choked on his milk trying to stifle laughter. Cue double jabs from Andou and Ogawa.

"OW!"

Luckily, Kikuchi was too busy sighing and nodding to herself to notice.

Fujioka could walk with his nose in a book. Takeru had known him since elementary, so he knew this. He was also something of an enigma—extremely intelligent and at the top of their class, but also a strong member of the basketball team. For a jock, and despite his popularity, he was somewhat anti-social. People often questioned why he hung out with Takeru's friends; it seemed he would fit in more with Hikari's social circle—he was actually fairly close with some of them. Still, he chose to hang out with Takeru's group. It probably helped that he was childhood friends with Andou.

Takeru also knew that Fujioka often preferred books to interacting with people, so the fact that he now walked with the book dangling at his side meant that there was something he wanted to talk about.

"What's up?" he asked.

Fujioka paused. It wasn't a long walk. They were already by the door of 2-D.

"Are you worried about Yagami-san?"

"...Is something wrong with her?" It was like they were sparring with questions suddenly. The topic of Hikari made Takeru a bit tense.

Fujioka grinned to dispel the tension. "She seems fine today."

"Don't scare me," Takeru groaned.

"Sorry, sorry. But in all seriousness, is that happening again?"

"That?"

Fujioka's glasses glinted briefly in the sunlight. "Yesterday's news. Those monsters, all the power outages we've been having lately. And now you're busy and worried about Yagami-san, enough to come to our class. And don't play dumb—you know I was there three years ago."

Takeru was quiet for a moment. Three years ago, when they were still in elementary school, Hikari had fallen under the influence of the dark ocean. Takeru had been there, a few rows behind her during math class, and saw her turning into fragmented patches of data. The rest of their classmates had only seen her faint. Come to think of it, Fujioka had been in the same class as them that year.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah… something like that."

A group of first year girls went giggling past them. A few of them waved shyly.

"And Yagami-san has something to do with it," Fujioka assessed as Takeru gave his trademark good-guy smile, returning a wave to the excited girls. "Does… does it always make her sick like that?"

Takeru's eyes narrowed. In fear? Frustration? "It does… it depends." He paused. "Why do you want to know?" His lips were still cemented into a smile, but his eyes had hardened.

"You know Kikuchi likes you," Fujioka stated plainly.

"Yeah, I figured. Why are you telling me this instead of her?"

He shrugged. "I feel sorry for her. Maybe you could give her a chance. I know all girls are pretty much the same to you, but…"

Takeru sighed. "I don't really have the right mind to consider this now, to be honest." Because all that matters is that she's okay. What I need to do. To keep her here, to drown out those dark voices that lie to her and might pull her away to somewhere far, where my hand can no longer reach her.

"Because of Yagami-san?"

"Yeah," he answered honestly.

"That's good to know," Fujioka said.

By now, Fujioka's strange line of questioning had Takeru confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, now I know how you see Yagami-san, and why other girls can never get anywhere with you," he explained, as if that clarified things.

"This isn't about 'getting anywhere…'" Takeru started to say. He stopped when Fujioka turned towards him abruptly, his face completely serious.

"Takaishi, I like her."

Absolute stillness, for a moment. He blinked, processing his friend's sudden confession. I like. Her. Like her. Like? The words seemed disconnected, blurry. He felt momentarily angry, momentarily stricken, then quickly came to terms with it.

Once he understood and knew what to do with this new information, he regained control of himself and smiled an easy sort of smile. "Really? I had no idea."

"I'm not kidding," Fujioka insisted.

"I know," Takeru said. He couldn't remember when Fujioka had last shown interest in a member of the opposite sex. He had to be serious.

Fujioka regarded Takeru guardedly. "And that doesn't bother you?"

Takeru grinned sharply, as if daring his friend to try and find something that would bother him. "You're not the first. I had to get used to the idea of her being popular pretty quickly." He fixed his gaze outside the nearby window. "Besides… all that matters to me right now is that she's okay."

Fujioka gave a small smile in return. He put his hand on the sliding door of 2-D, signaling both the end of their conversation and his silent understanding. "Takaishi, it seems like you're the only one who knows what's going on and how to protect her. So do it well. For my sake too."

With that parting shot, he slid the door open and all but vanished into the raucous group of middle schoolers enjoying the final minutes of their lunch hour.

"Oh, Takaishi-kun." A slender, pretty looking girl with upturned eyes and neatly tied hair noticed him in the doorway as she came to write something on the chalkboard. "What brings you here?"

Takeda Mami was the student council president and one of Hikari's closest friends. She, too had been to the same elementary school as them.

"Hey. Is Hikari-chan here?" He got straight to the point.

Mami laughed gently at her own foolishness. "Of course, I should have known. Wait here for a moment."

Not one to be shy, Takeru stepped into the classroom after her, sliding the door partially shut. Several girls began pointing and whispering excitedly at the appearance of the basketball team's star, but he paid them no mind. Oddly enough, he had never been to Hikari's class before, so he only figured out where her seat was by watching Mami make her way to the middle of the left-most row near the windows. He found himself slightly relieved that Fujioka's seat was at the other side of the room.

A group of good-looking girls and guys surrounded Hikari's desk, chatting amiably and laughing about something. He knew all of them, particularly Sano, who was in the tennis club and passed by him often in the club rooms when they got changed for practice. Kawashima Ran and Aren Smith were in his class, so he saw them frequently, and the rest of them occupied fairly prominent positions in the school, be it in student government or in well-known cultural clubs. Mami reached them and leaned in to whisper something to Hikari, gesturing towards where Takeru stood by the door. The entire group looked up with varying degrees of interest. It seemed to Takeru that Ran, one of Hikari's best friends since kindergarten, had a somewhat triumphant smirk on her face.

"Takeru-kun!" He was pleased to note that Hikari looked caught off-guard but a little happy to see him. Her cheeks flushed faintly pink.

"Hey," he said, raising a nonchalant hand in greeting. "Wanna talk for a sec?"

As she stood, her brow creased ever so slightly. Having him come all the way to her class must mean something regarding the Digital World.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen Takaishi here," Aren commented.

"Yeah, this is a first," Arisa, his twin sister, chimed in, taking a slow sip from her box of soy milk. Both were strikingly beautiful, half-Japanese and half-British. "He's in top form, as usual. He makes the school uniform look good."

Sano waved at Takeru as he and Hikari left to speak in the hallway. "What does this mean, Professor Ran?" he said jokingly, turning to Hikari's closest friend, who was also somewhat of a Takeru and Hikari shipper.

Ran was still smiling rather winningly. "It's a development, that's what it is! I've been watching them since fifth grade! I have a good feeling about this."

"You should be glad Hika-chan can't hear you, Ran," Mami teased. "You know how she dodges the subject. I mean, none of us know what's between them because she hardly talks about him."

"Hi-chan has a way of keeping things to herself if she thinks other things are more important," Ran analyzed. "I have to push her a little bit to think about herself more."

"Herself, or just your own twisted fantasies?" Aren inputted sardonically. "I agree with you about wanting her to think about herself a little more, though."

Ran gave a little huff. "I appreciate you agreeing with me on that one point, though I vehemently object to your disparaging comment about my eternally undying support for my best friend."

"Yes, yes," Mami, ever the mother of the group, tutted indulgently. "Your heroics are much appreciated. I'm going to go finish putting the cleaning rotations on the board."

"Hmm… do you think Hikari-chan is okay?" Miyashita, who had been quietly watching these events transpire with a thoughtful smile, spoke up.

Arisa perched herself on the edge of a nearby desk. "Was something wrong with Hika-chan? She seemed fine to me."

"She always seems fine, and then it kind of all catches up to her," Aren said softly. He rested his chin on his sister's shoulder, eyes sad. "Takaishi probably knows better than the rest of us."

"I guess we'll find out," Ran said. "If I can't get it out of Hi-chan, I'll get it out of Takeru-kun after class." She smiled again. "It could just be that he finally realized his feelings for her and knows he has to ask her out before all the other boys get to her." She stared at Aren pointedly.

Arisa tried to hold back a giggle.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Aren said coolly. "If there are developments, so be it. As long as she's happy."

"Awww," Arisa cooed, earning a playful swat from her older twin.

"You watch yourself," he told her. "I think one of the girls in our class, one of his closer friends, has a thing for him though."

"Oh, yeah. One of the girls in cheer, right? I see them sometimes during club practice, and she seems pretty intent on staying right by him wherever he goes," Sano added.

"Developments, developments," Ran crowed, eyes twinkling. "It's okay, that won't change a thing. I've seen the way he looks at her, and its different. It always has been."

"It's Takaishi-senpai."

"Look, isn't that Yagami-san with him?"

"Oh, Takaishi and Yagami."

A lot of the students were returning to their classes as lunch drew to a close, but it was so quiet in the hallway that even their hushed whispers of surprise carried well. For once Hikari was slightly unhinged by their stares as they walked by.

She was well aware that there were theories floating around about her relationship with Takeru, but she rarely paid them any mind—in her head, she knew where she stood with Takeru, and that was what mattered. Takeru was always kind and smiling to just about everyone, but she knew that his attitude towards her was different. That smiling demeanor both neatly hid and safely carried years of precious connectedness and loving protectiveness.

In many ways they pulled each other forward; as the two youngest chosen, they had developed that kind of dependency early on. What he had lacked for courage and resilience she had given him just by her presence—he picked himself up and found his place and purpose in being beside her and protecting her. What she had lacked for hope, he willingly gave her, proving that she was not alone in carrying the burden of fighting the darkness that existed around them.

Holding hands in this way, he grew to be a confident, assured young man, and she grew to be a determined, strong young woman.

Even now, Hikari was aware that they silently and subtly continued to influence each other, lean on each other, look to each other. She also knew that she was special to him in a way that no one else could be. Likewise, he was irreplaceable to her.

All of this, she knew well. That was fine; that, she was accustomed to. What she was not accustomed to was this new feeling of satisfaction she found in having him come seek her out like this. To seek her in a place and time where he had not sought her before, and to have everyone see it happening—this filled her with an odd happiness, and it bothered her.

Takeru eyed the way Hikari was fidgeting slightly, an uncomfortable look on her face. He grinned. This was different.

"Sorry for calling you out like this when you're with your friends," he said, rather enjoying having the upperhand (for once).

She quickly caught herself and her frown smoothed itself into a smile. "It sure is rare, Takeru-kun. What is it?"

"Did you get the message about where we're meeting with the others today? Niisan texted me earlier. During class. Luckily I had my phone on silent." He chuckled.

Hikari giggled with him, picturing the cool Yamato awkwardly trying to text during class without getting caught. "So we're meeting up? I know we were talking about that on the way back from…" she glanced around and let her words trail off. They weren't completely alone, after all.

"Apparently Taichi-san, Sora-san, and aniki decided to meet at the underpass. You know, under the bridge at the river we always walk by on the way home. Taichi-san didn't text you?"

"I normally keep my phone turned off during class. And oniichan's surprisingly not so good with technology. He's still trying to get a hang of texting…" she laughed again. "I guess he figured it would get to me through you."

Takeru smiled wryly imagining Taichi making his excuses—"My bad, but Takeru, I knew you would tell Hikari about it anyways, and you guys are always together, right?"

He could never tell whether Taichi was being supportive or sulking over their closeness.

"Good judgment on his part. Anyways," he said, stepping slightly closer to her in an effort to keep their conversation as private as possible. "How are you doing?"

She looked up at him in surprise. Whether it was his words that moved her, or his closeness or his stature, he wasn't sure, but she blurted out exactly what she was thinking at that moment instead of answering his question. "Takeru-kun, you've gotten tall."

He was momentarily thrown off, and then the seriousness on his face wore off as he laughed. "You know you said the exact same thing to me three years ago when I moved to Odaiba. On the first day of school."

"Did I?" Her eyes remained wide, but there was a shy twinkle to them. "I'm okay. I'm actually pretty well-rested too, especially since I slept in the car on the way back."

He gave her a playful nudge. "Was I a good pillow?"

"No way, I didn't…" She recoiled, mortified at what his words implied.

His famous grin was as broad as ever. "You did. It's okay."

"Quit teasing…" she said with a little pout. Ah, Takeru always found that quite rewarding. He wasn't ready to let up quite yet.

"I was okay with it, but Taichi-san seemed a little upset. I think he thinks he's losing you," he continued.

She tried not to laugh, but couldn't quite hold it back. It came out as a cute spurt of a giggle before she resumed her sulking. "Stop trying to read so much into it."

"You mean I shouldn't?" He feigned sadness, though his eyes sparkled.

Suddenly the door of 2-D slid open with impeccable timing. "Hi-chan, Takeru-kun, I hate to interrupt but lunch is almost over!" Ran announced.

"Hey Takaishi. Odd seeing you here." Aren came up behind her, presumably to return to 2-B. There was an intense but not unfriendly half-smile on his face as he greeted his classmate. His sharp gray eyes softened as they turned to Hikari. "See you later, Yagami."

He walked away, tall and stately like a model, and girls fangirled as he went past. Ran gave a small sigh of exasperation.

Takeru was not oblivious to the slight tension but rolled with the punches, retaining his warm demeanor. "Thanks," he said to Ran. "See you after school, Hikari-chan."

"Uhuh, see you then," she answered cheerily.

Takeru suspected he ought to be thankful for the apologetic look she offered him at her friend's strange comment, but for some reason it irked him. She wasn't responsible for Aren, so he didn't want that from her. Besides, that kind of territoriality didn't bother him. Hikari was his in a way that she could never be to anyone else, so Aren's boundary-marking was mere posturing.

It didn't bother him in the slightest. At least, he was pretty sure.

Digiegg 4: Moments, the first movie

The very first Japanese movie (just called Digimon Adventure) is directed by Hosoda Mamoru and is stylistically one of my favorites. Little Taichi and baby Hikari are too cute for words, but Hosoda makes their every little action downright magical.

You can catch glimpses of all of the other chosen throughout the movie—you see Jou talking on the phone about the battle, Mimi sitting on her bed, a few shots of Koushirou, Sora saying, "That boy..." about Taichi, and Yamato leaning out the window with a very tiny Takeru, who points to Hikari and Taichi and yells, "Look at that!"