Disclaimer: I am making no profit for this little fan endeavor. Motomiya Daisuke, Catherine, and any other Digimon character appearing in this are the sole property of Toei Animation. I promise to return them in mint to near mint condition.

Author's Notes: This story is being based (And originally posted) in a LiveJournal community called 52 Flavours. Fifty-Two themes, one for every week of the year. I decided to put my bid in for Daisuke and Catherine. If you don't think you can handle the idea of the pairing, that's okay. Just, don't go flipping out over my fic. Go find something that you'll actually like to read.

Fifty-Two Flavors

Theme 43. Eyes Meeting Over the Noise

The day of the Sakura Festival arrived quicker than anyone expected. To just about everyone Daisuke knew, it was a hectic day filled with frantic, last minute things to do and general stressing over how it would all turn out. To Daisuke himself, it was just a day his sister forced him into a blue yukata and shoved him out the door.

"You look cute, Daisuke!" said the visiting Jun, herself dressed up in a yellow yukata.

"Yeah, I'm sure..." his voice trailed, as he looked behind for something he wasn't sure of.

Jun frowned for a moment at her brother's odd behavior, then shrugged it off. Sometimes Daisuke got into ruts like this, but he'd eventually get himself out of it, too. Best to let it run its course. "If you're looking for Catherine-chan, she already left with Takeru-kun."

"Eh?" Daisuke turned back, and huffed a bit. "I wasn't looking for anyone!"

"Well, okay then. When we get to the Sakura Festival, just go find your friends... Or something," Jun waved her hands about. "All right?"

He raised a brow. "Why?"

"Because it's not cool to bring your little brother on a date."

Daisuke stopped short. "...You have a date?"

"Sure. What?" Jun spun around, hands on her hips. "You don't think your sister can get a date?"

He couldn't help it. "...No."

The auburn haired girl turned red for a minute with fury, then cooled off with an arrogant laugh. "The only dateless loser I see here is you, dear brother!"

"I didn't want a date!" Daisuke said, stubbornly.

"Infamous last words from the desperate and hopeless!" Jun cried, laughing all the way to the elevator, as her brother chased after her with a geta sandal in his hands.

---

The festival itself was beautiful, as was expected. The breeze was cool, but the sun was bright and warm enough to keep it from being chilly. The initial crowd had eventually dispersed itself into three large groups; enjoying the dancers and musicians, eating the offered food, or lying about underneath the sakura trees.

Daisuke had situated himself underneath one tree, and tried not to look too miserable. On the bright side of things, V-mon had somehow escaped the apartment and followed his begoggled partner all the way to the festival. As such, he was resting beside him, and nearly half asleep. Daisuke appreciated his company all the same. Out of everyone he knew, V-mon always knew when Daisuke needed him most.

"Daisuke," slurred the groggy digimon. "I'm hungry."

The boy grinned. "You said that twenty minutes ago. After you ate two helpings of shrimp tempura."

"I'm a growing digimon!"

"Yeah, you're just not growing vertically."

The barb was rewarded with a half hearted elbow to Daisuke's ribs. However, V-mon's protest was drowned in his yawn. It was far too peaceful a setting to be considered a 'festival,' as far as the blue dragon was concerned. It needed more excitement. And food. While Daisuke himself was rather fine in the hunger department, he too yawned at the lack of anything interesting. Without his friends around --V-mon excluded, of course-- the whole thing seemed rather pointless.

The music began to swell, as the Sankyoku was reaching its climax. As much as Daisuke wouldn't admit it to anyone, he rather liked the sound of a koto, and leaned his head back to better hear the band behind him. It had been a very upbeat song, and between the dancers and people in general conversation, it seemed as if the whole festival was showing its spark of life in those last few moments of the music.

With so many people talking at once, Daisuke heard nothing but human buzzing and the sound of the koto somehow rising above it all. It made a surprisingly pleasant white noise, that made him feel rather sleepy. He lazily watched the crowd around him walk about, the colors of the yukatas beginning to blur in front of his slowly closing eyes.

And then, something red caught his attention, and Daisuke's brown eyes opened wide. About twenty feet away, amidst the crowd and noise, stood a familiar French girl, her blonde curls held back by a red band. She was wearing a white and red yukata, and looking about rather perplexed. She must've lost Takeru somehow. She was calling out what Daisuke could only assume to be Takeru's name, but with all the conversations around him, he couldn't be sure.

She looked stunning, Daisuke realized. She always looked pretty, but the yukata seemed to flatter Catherine's lithe figure in a way that left the boy somewhat breatheless. She seemed so much more a lady, and he found himself wondering why he had never noticed just how beautiful his house guest was.

Daisuke leaned forward, debating on walking over, when Catherine turned to him and their eyes locked. Brown met blue, and for a moment the whole world seemed to go silent.

The noise suddenly rushed back into Daisuke's ears when Takeru came from behind Catherine, and tapped her on the shoulder. The girl spun around, and smiled brightly at the tall boy. Something about that didn't seem to sit completely right with Daisuke, but he couldn't figure out why. When Catherine pointed to him through the crowd and Takeru waved happily, the goggle boy could only wave with half his energy. Still, he put up the best front he could, and flashed his trademarked grin. That seemed to satisfy Takeru, and he began to lead Catherine back to where they were probably sitting.

Before she completely disappeared in the crowd, Catherine turned to him one last time and waved sadly. And then she was gone.

"She wanted you to join her, you know," murmured V-mon, surprising his partner.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Daisuke said, sourly. "She's with Takeru."

"So?" V-mon challenged, looking up for only a moment. "She wanted to be with you."

"Oh, really? When did you become psychic?" the boy asked.

"I'm not."

"Exactly."

"But," V-mon yawned one more time, before settling in for a good nap, "you don't have to be psychic to speak to Floramon. You just have to know Digicode."

Something jumped in Daisuke's chest, and he turned to his friend. "What does that mean? Hey!"

However, V-mon was as heavy a sleeper as his partner, and Daisuke realized that he would be fighting a losing battle. As it was, that cryptic line was enough to keep the boy from truly enjoying the rest of the days festivities. He couldn't help but somewhat wish his friend had never said it at all, and yet could not wait to figure out its meaning.