Two silhouettes walked side by side down the house's walkway, away from the loud tempo beats and laughing crowds. The chirping of crickets and the cooing of doves drowned out the upbeat music with each step the two took away from their friend's house. Koushiro's hands were shoved in his pockets and his eyes were locked on the ground beneath him. Hikari, on the other hand, was light on her feet and humming a soft tune.

"Aww, you two are leaving so soon? But the party just started!" A voice shouted from the balcony of the house, causing the two to stop in their tracks and turn around.

"Yeah, Mimi! I have something to do in the morning and asked Koushiro to walk me home!" Hikari shouted back. "Thank you for inviting us! Tell Taichi that I will meet him at home!"

"Will dooo~! Thanks for coming!" And with that, Mimi skipped back into the party.

As soon as the balcony door slid shut behind her, Koushiro let out a long, unknowingly held breath and the two continued walking. "For only being back from America for this short of time-,"

"She sure does know a lot of people," Hikari finished his sentence. She glanced over at the boy next to her. His hands still in his pockets and eyes still on the ground. He looked so tense from where he was.

Koushiro mumbled under his breath, "What did she mean 'the party just started?' It's almost three in the morning." A tiny giggle escaped Hikari's lips from his statement, causing him to look up at her and slow his pace. She skipped along the path in front of him, still humming to herself.

After a couple minutes quietly observing the optimistic girl, he managed to ask, "So, what do you have in the morning?"

Hikari stopped humming and slowed down a bit. "I'm, uh, meeting a friend for pancakes in the morning. Haven't seen them in a while."

Koushiro squinted his eyes at the sound of her wavering voice, but decided best to ignore it. He let out another uneasy breath and trudged along.

As the two walked side by side, Hikari could sense the tenseness slowly radiating from the boy. She could hear the overthinking gears in his head. Every thought. Every calculation. Every probability. It needs to stop.

"Hey, Koushiro?" Hikari asked, looking up at him.

"Hmm?"

"What's your favorite childhood memory?"

His head quickly turned to meet her gaze. Flustered, he responded, "What? Why would you want to know that?"

"Just trying to make some conversation, silly. We still have a while until we're back at the good old Yagami residence."

"Huh? Favorite childhood memory..." he repeated the question, bringing his hands finally out out of his pockets to run through his hair. "Let's see..."

Even with his mind digging through his memories and thoughts overtaking his steps, she could see his shoulders loosened a bit and his hands were not ready go back home to his pockets just yet. She chuckled, "Take your time."

When her eyes rested upon the boy's face, they widened. A soft smile she had rarely seen before landed on his face. "I think my favorite childhood memory would have to be baking with my mom."

His contagious smile found its way to her face. After admiring the unique sight for a moment, she said, "Now your turn, Koushiro. Ask me anything."

"Okay..." He put a pondering hand under his chin. "What is something you've wanted to do for a while, but haven't done it yet?"

Hikari copied his gesture and puffed out her cheeks in thought. "Hmm... Well, they're many things. Write a poem. Bake a cake. Oh, I know! I've always wanted to see the sun rise above the ocean. All the pinks and purples and oranges mixing in the water below would be an amazing sight to see."

Koushiro was a little shocked by her answer. "You mean to tell me you haven't-,"

"Nope! Not yet. It's on the tippy top of my list of things to do though." She said, making a stacking gesture with her hand as she spoke.

"I would have thought that you have seen it at least once..." He was still stunned by her remark.

Hikari shook her head and exhaled a laugh. "Just haven't had the time to, I guess."

Their conversation was stopped abruptly as they reached a fork in the path. One lead straight back to the Yagami residence, the other had a couple detours but did just the same. Koushiro started taking the first path, but Hikari stopped in her place, looking at her hands in front of her. When he realized she wasn't following, he turned around.

"Hey, Hikari, is everything okay?" Koushiro said with a concerned look on his face. "I know I'm going the right way, so it couldn't be that…" he mumbled, thinking of any possibility as to why she's not following him.

"Everything's fine. It's just…" she inhaled deeply.

Koushiro gave a puzzled look, "Don't you have something tomorrow? Let's get you home safely."

"About that…"

"What?" He asked, walking back toward her.

She responded, looking at her feet. "I might have…kind of made that up."

Koushiro stopped walking and took a second to process what she said. "Then why did you ask me to walk you home?"

"To be completely honest with you," she slowly replied, still avoiding his gaze,but walking toward him. "You looked a little uncomfortable being there. Sooo, I thought I could help with that."

Koushiro's eyes instantly grew wide and blood rushed to his cheeks. "You didn't have to do that, Hikari. Now you're missing the party." Because of me. "Let's go back-," He started to turn back around.

"No, no!" She shouted, grabbing his arm and looking straight into his dark eyes. He looked upset with himself, something she did not want to see at all. "It is perfectly alright, Koushiro! I know that you love your friends and are willing to do anything for them, even when it puts you out of your comfort zone, but everyone's 'social battery' runs out eventually."

The two stood there in silence, her delicate hand still resting on his stiff arm. Koushiro let out an embarrassed sigh and looked into her eyes. "Are you positive?"

She smiled back at him. "I promise. It is completely okay with me. You don't have to fight battles by yourself." He tried to smile back at the girl in front of him, but his eyes darted downward to the hand still resting on his forearm. Hikari's eyes followed his gaze and she moved her arm back to her side. "Besides, I don't mind talking to you. I like your company."

Koushiro brought a hand to the back of his head and scratched. Letting out another uneasy breath, he gathered enough courage, stuttering, "Hey, um... Do you want to take the longer way home? Since you apparently don't have anything in the morning..."

Hikari smiled. "The more scenic route? I would love to."

Silence fell between the two of them, but neither of them wanted it to stay. Hikari knew she had to think of something quick before he retaliated back to his old overthinking habits.

"New question," she started.

"Ready when you are."

"What's your biggest regret?" She asked, keeping her eyes locked on his face to see any kind of expression. Sure enough, he was surprised by her choice of question.

He scrunched his eyebrows and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "You are really bringing up deep questions."

Hikari waved her hands in front of her. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No, no! It is quite alright," he replied as he placed his hands back in his pockets.

A moment of silence allowed the cicadas to echo in the night sky and dance with the sound of the pair's footsteps on the concrete. Hikari hopped onto the wooden outline of the path and started walking the line like a balance beam. Koushiro was still lost in thought until realization hit him.

"I think my biggest regret as of right now would have to be not hanging out with the other digidestined as much as I should." He looked at his feet and started counting his steps to himself. It's a trick he did to help his mind from wandering off. He wanted to leave it at that, but something urged him to keep talking. "I want to get to know each of you more and make that effort, it's just been… difficult for me."

Hikari slowly nodded her head and jumped back down to his side. She lightly nudged him with her elbow. "Well, you're doing great right now."

"Because it's you." He said before his thoughts got the best of him. He felt his face get hot from his words and brought his hands to his cheeks. "I mean… you're easy to talk to. You don't judge me. You understand, if that makes sense." He paused for a second to think his way out of this. "Did I really look that uncomfortable at the party?"

She giggled before saying, "Just a tad."

He grumbled in defeat. "Why am I like this?"

"Is that your next question for me?"

"Pardon?"

She laughed again. "It's your turn to ask me a question. Was that it?"

Koushiro looked at the girl next to him and slowly shook his head. He saw what she was doing and smirked. Thanks to her, it was time to change the subject.

"Okay, Hikari…. What is your biggest joy in life?"

"Oh, look at you with your deep questions now." She giggled, causing a blush to form on Koushiro's cheeks.

"I'm just making my observations." He defended himself.

She looked up to the night sky and subconsciously started counting the stars. It didn't take her long to count all of them since there was too much light pollution from the city. "I guess my biggest joy in life is… I don't know, I can't pick just one."

Koushiro cocked his head to the side. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, there's my family-my biggest support system. There's being with my friends, like Takeru, you, Sora… but I also find joy in helping others," she sighed and glanced over at him, who was already staring at her.

When they made eye contact, his eyes darted away and looked back at the ground. "You can have many joys in life. I don't want to make you choose just one."

When he said that, Hikari stopped walking and looked up again. "What time is it?"

He pulled out his hand out of his pocket and looked at his watch. "It is 4:17am to be exact."

"Golly, time is flying by," she responded.

Koushiro hummed in agreement and turned his head to the left. He saw a path winding around the corner and the light bulb went off in his head. "Let's go this way," he pointed the different direction. "There's something I want to show you."

A little startled by his change of mood and curious by what he meant by that, Hikari gave a slight nod. "Okay." The birds in the trees started singing their early morning tune as the two walked. "My turn then…" she started. "Where is the one place where you feel most like yourself?"

"Uh…" For the first time in a long time, Koushiro's mind went blank. He continued to look anywhere but at her. "I honestly don't know."

"Really?" She smiled softly at him, trying to figure out an answer for him.

He gathered enough courage to glance back at her and his face flushed. "Hey, quit smiling at me! I can't focus when you look at me like that."

"Like what?" She teased, smiling even wider.

"Like that!" He says, throwing his hands in the air and gesturing to her face like she was supposed to know what he meant. "I don't know, Hikari… I guess when I'm not worried about what others think." Like when I'm with you.

"Hmm," she hummed in response.

Distant waves from the approaching shoreline echoed in the dimly lit sky. Koushiro's hand slightly brushed Hikari's, causing him to pull hiss hand immediately back. He fumbled and fidgeted

"Do you believe in true love?" He mustered before he realized, shoving his hands back in his pockets and keeping his eyes to the ground.

"What? Why would you want to know that?" She teased again, crossing her hands behind her back and leaning forward to look at his face. His flustered face always made her smile.

"It's my turn to ask a question," he objected. "To be completely honest with you, I'm not entirely sure. Just… curious."

After some thought, she said, "Well, true love could mean many things and could be between any two people. Mom, dad, sisters, brothers, friends, digimon partners, couples. It's about unconditionally caring about someone. Putting their well-being before your own. Taking time to make them smile or doing things for them without asking. Surprising them. Talking to them about anything. Helping them achieve their goals. Respecting and accepting each other. Being a team."

As she went on and on about this topic, Koushiro couldn't help but admire her enthusiasm. The way her face lit up when she thought of something else to tie in. The way she made huge gestures with her arms. The way her voice picked up speed. He just smiled as they continued to walk side by side, taking in the sight of the passionate girl beside him.

When Hikari realized what she was doing, she laughed. "I'm sorry, Koushiro. What was the question?"

Koushiro stopped walking and sat down on a bench next to the shoreline. "I asked if you believed in true love."

Hikari breathed out and sat next to him. She closed her eyes and listened to the waves crashing against the rocky shore. "Well, what do you think?"

He chuckled and looked out at the shore. "Well, from your passionate monologue, I would assume yes," he responded quietly.

"Yeah," she exhaled. "Yeah, then I guess so," she replied softly, looking out for a brief second and then turning her head to meet his gaze.

The two sat there for a while, not breaking away eye contact. Koushiro unknowingly held his breath until Hikari broke the silence.

"So, what did you want to show me?"

"Well, in about two minutes and 39 seconds, you're going to find out."

Hikari raised an eyebrow and looked out toward the sea. Her heart fluttered when she realized what he meant by that. Right on cue, the pinks and purples and oranges mixed together in the sky. The rays of lights sent a beautiful radiant glitter on the water below. The glow glistened in her eyes as she sat there in complete awe.

Instead of witnessing the glorious sun rise from the horizon, Koushiro had his sights set on the girl next to him. He was completely mesmerized by the way the sunlight kissed her face.

"Wow… it's so beautiful," she whispered.

Still looking at her, he smiled softly and replied, "Yeah… pretty prodigious."

Hikari took a deep breath and placed her hand on top of Koushiro's hand. He did not tense up from her touch. "Thank you," she said, meeting his eye contact.

"It was my pleasure," he replied, his heart beating a little too fast. He hoped the sound of the crashing waves covered that.

The two sat there next to each other in the morning sun. Words left unspoken about the night we're about to make way to this moment, when all of a sudden, a buzzing sound came from Hikari's phone and her eyes widened from the caller ID.

"Taichi, hi! No, yeah! I'm so sorry for not telling you where I am! Where am I? I'm still out with Koushiro. Yeah, we are taking the more scenic route back." She stood up from the bench, indicating for Koushiro to stand up as well. "I'm sorry for worrying you. I'll be home in a bit. Okay, bye."

Koushiro cleared his throat. "Let's get you home then."

Hikari smiled at him, hoping to have more times like this. "Okay."