Hikari and Takeru were waiting outside of Daisuke's apartment, hoping Taichi could cheer him up when they couldn't.
They had tried to get him to come outside, but he pushed them away. They may not be as close as they used to be. But they hoped they could cheer him up anyway.
Taichi came out with goggles in hand, head hanging.
"No luck?" Hikari gave her brother a sad look.
Taichi shook his head.
"I thought maybe the person he looked up to the most could cheer him up. But it seems that's not the case anymore." Takeru crossed his arms, letting out a sigh.
"I know we aren't tight knit as we all used to be, but…" Hikari sulked. "I guess things really do change over the years."
"Can't be helped. It was like that with us too. We got busy and just drifted apart." Taichi let the goggles hang at his side. "He even threw the goggles to me."
Takeru gazed at the goggles. "He really held on to them for that long?"
"He said he wasn't what I saw him as a kid anymore." He looked down at the goggles. "He blames himself for what happened."
"There's no way he could have known all of that was going to happen." Hikari stared longingly at the door. "He can't blame himself for that."
"I tried to tell him that. But he shut me out."
Takeru put a hand to his face, thinking. "Daisuke may need time to heal. But we may need to pull him out of his slump by force…"
Hikari and Taichi blinked at him in curiosity.
The next day Takeru arrived at Daisuke's apartment with a few friends from his basketball club. "Since talking to you to get your butt out of bed doesn't help… We'll just have to do it by force." He smiled suspiciously.
"Oh, Takeru. Nice to see you again." Mrs. Motomiya answered the door with a smile. "You brought friends too. Shall I get refreshments ready?"
"That won't be needed, Mrs. Motomiya. We aren't here to stay." Takeru, with his friends barged into the apartment with one goal in mind. They were going to drag Daisuke outside no matter what.
"Hey! What are you doing-?!" Daisuke protested hiding under his covers.
"You have sulked enough, friend." Takeru and his two other friends grabbed Daisuke and jerked him out of bed.
"Hey-!" He protested struggling, but the three boys were too powerful for him.
They sat Daisuke on the bench outside their complex. "If you don't want to do anything, fine. You can just sit your moping ass there and watch us play."
Daisuke scowled, jerking his unkempt clothes into place.
He watched the three attempting to play soccer. He snorted at the bad attempt, he could tell their form was way off. "You know, for someone who spent a lot of time with Taichi, you sure don't know how to play!" Daisuke shouted from the bench.
"Yeah? You haven't played in so long, so who's to say you are any better?" Takeru shot back with a grin, trying to juggle the ball on his knees.
Daisuke rolled his eyes, he pushed himself up walking over to Takeru. "Look, if you keep juggling with that posture, you are going to fall on your ass."
Daisuke took the ball and showed them how it was really done. "See? Easy, now you try."
From a distance Hikari and Ken watched from a far.
Hikari smiled. "I'm glad it seems to have worked."
Ken snorted. "I knew once we got him outside. It wouldn't take long for his usual self to come out."
Hikari nodded in agreement. "This is the Daisuke I know." Her smile fell. "But he probably is still hurting."
"We're all hurting, Hikari. I think just like when we were younger, you guys gave me the time I needed and I was able to come to terms with what I did. "
"Yeah. One day I hope he'll forgive himself too. "
Taichi stood on his balcony, watching Daisuke and the others play from above. "Daisuke, what happened was not your fault. One day, I hope you'll realize that." He held the goggles to his chest. "Until then, I'll hold on to these for you."