Hi again all. I'm sorry I took such a while to update this chapter. I was a bit busy with this new job of mine. That aside, I hope you enjoy this chapter. As you can see, it's about the crest bearers of light and hope, but our young light bearer senses something is off...

Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with this series. Toei and Bandai have that honor.

Chapter 04: "ヒカリちゃんは大輔くんが苦労です..."
"Hikari-chan wa Daisuke-kun ga kurou desu..."
"Hikari's Predicament with Daisuke..." Takeru and Hikari's Relaxing Dinner!

It was a nice, sunny day in Odaiba, and both Takeru and Hikari were taking full advantage of what remained left of that fall day. Both were currently at a new restaurant; an outside pizza parlour. The two were celebrating their latest victory, getting through all of their exams.

"I thought we were going to never finish with all of that testing," Hikari exclaimed happily.

Takeru, who was holding two drinks, sat down at the table, which had a big umbrella overhead. "I'm glad too. Junior high is a lot tougher than I realized, but we don't usually get exams at this time of the year either, do we?"

"No, we don't. Oniichan was going on about how weird it was for us to be having them."

"I hope Iori-kun spends his last couple of years in elementary school wisely." The boy began to set the drinks down. He had a cola, while Hikari had lemonade. "I hope they hurry with that pizza. It's supposed to be a traditional style from America, or something like that."

"What kind did we get again?"

"Shikago Diipu Dishu Sutairu (Chicago Deep Dish Style)," he answered slowly while looking over the menu.

"I was actually in the mood for *okonomiyaki (お好み焼き), but that's not something you can prepare here and I prefer Osaka style anyway."

"You always suggest going to okonomiyaki shops whenever trying to decide on a place to eat."

"Well, okonomiyaki is the best to me," she said with a smile.

"Well, unlike okonomiyaki, this is going to cook a bit longer. It's pretty big too. I ordered the biggest they had, and asked for 'extra cheese', too. We should have a lot left over. That type is supposed to be extra filling."

"Oh, thank you for my drink. Junk food is something we definitely need after all that testing we just finished up with, but you don't think we're over doing it, do you?"

Takeru took a sip of his soda. "What do you mean? Overdoing what?"

"There are probably enough fat calories in that pizza to turn someone really slim, like your brother, into a sumo!"

"No way," Takeru heartily laughed. "I hardly ever eat a lot of junk food; my mother won't let me." He gave her a grin. "I bet if this was okonomiyaki or cake, you wouldn't be complaining." Hikari couldn't help but blush slightly. The girl practically loved the delicacy. "It's time to live a little, and we don't have too much to worry about."

"We don't?"

"Daisuke-kun eats a lot, and he'll probably eat the most of it!"

Both Takaishi Takeru and Yagami Hikari were 13 years old, and in their first year at Odaiba Junior High. Just like when he was in Odaiba Elementary school, and his last year at Kawada Elementary before transferring, Takeru was the star basketball player. The boy had also grown a bit taller, as well as a bit more handsome. He was almost as big as his older brother, Yamato; the heartthrob of Odaiba High. How his brother could ever manage to get into a relationship, and keep one, was beyond him. Girls seemed to always tag after him. Even in elementary school, Yamato always had a problem with girls trying to pursue him; Takeru was having this particular problem now amongst his schoolmates, even though he never really seemed to notice them much. He did have female friends he'd occasionally hang out with.

Hikari was a member of her school's photography club. She really enjoyed it, and was the photographer of their school's newspaper. The shoulder-lengthened haired girl was still kind and polite, and was still cute, small, and petite. Something else that hadn't changed about her was her sixth sense ability. The main difference was that it wasn't as strong as it once was.

"You know, I wonder why Daisuke-kun isn't here yet," Hikari mentioned randomly. "He promised that he would come with us. I hope nothing's happened. I'm actually starting to worry about him." The girl heaved out a long, sad sigh as she thought of her once cheery friend. 'He just hasn't been himself lately. Normally when I ask him to join me for something, he's the first to run by my side.' She looked to her right, the chair empty. She slightly frowned, as she just wasn't used of Daisuke's not being around. 'He hasn't talked to me much lately, either. I'm starting to really miss his attention.'

"Ken-kun-kun was supposed to have been here by now, too. We all studied hard thanks to his idea of having a study group. I'm sure that's the reason we probably did okay on our exams. He said that he was coming after he spoke with his soccer coach about something."

"What about Daisuke-kun?"

"He said earlier today at lunch that he had to get in some practice today when reminding him, and that he'd meet up with us later. He also told me that if he's late, to just go on and order without him."

"Practice? Practice what? There's no soccer club meet today."

"I'm not sure; he didn't say."

"I just really hope he gets here soon." Hikari, to Takeru, was starting to seem a bit uneasy over the goggle-boy's not being there. He couldn't help but wonder why. "I just have this feeling that something's wrong."

"You're worrying too much over nothing." He gave her his signature smile, which all the girls loved, and that all of his friends were quite used to. "You know how he is when he gets wrapped up in something."

"I guess so," she slowly replied. She wasn't very content with his answer. Hikari still wasn't convinced that Daisuke was all right, but she didn't feel like burdening Takeru with how she felt on the matter, and decided to get off of the subject. "I think it's really nice that Ken-kun-kun goes to school with us now."

"Definitely! I couldn't imagine going to that school. It seems perfect for a person like Jou-san, though."

"To be honest, I really feel that he switched schools to be with us...and Miyako-san."

"Why do you say that? Why did you single out Miyako-san?"

"I really feel that he really...um...likes her company."

"Sounds like there's more to that, but maybe you're right. He started to warm up to everyone, unless you mean you think he likes her in…that way." She nodded to him and sipped some more of her lemonade. "I'm not so sure about now. Those two don't even talk to each other much anymore, unless it's by phone or e-mail. Since she's usually busy with Koushirou-san doing Computer Club stuff or helping out my brother with his band and Ken-kun-kun is usually busy with soccer. It's surprising that those two can talk to each other at all outside of school functions. I'm a bit surprised that he didn't join the Computer Club."

"I'm surprised too, thinking about it now. I always thought he liked computers."

"Maybe he didn't join because of soccer. The Soccer Club here trains very hard, and their coach works both him and Daisuke-kun hard. I bet he makes those two practice the most because they're two of the best players in the entire club since Taichi-san was a student. Too bad Sora-san didn't continue to play soccer, but she became very serious with tennis."

"I think oniichan tried getting her to play soccer, but she'd lost interest and stuck with tennis, but she did help him practice plays."

"I guess that makes sense, but still surprising about what you were insinuating about Ken-kun-kun."

"Well, if Ichijijouji-kun didn't like Miyako-san in the beginning, I feel that it's obvious that he does now. He seems to always talk or ask about her. I've noticed him doing that a lot, lately; besides, she was the first girl to believe in him after he finally came to his senses, and stopped being the Digimon Kaiser."

"Actually, that was Mimi-san..."

"Aww, Takeru-kun, you know what I mean."

He laughed.

"You know something else I've noticed lately?"

"What?"

"Oniichan."

"What about him?"

"He's been a bit moody lately, and I can't figure out why. Oniichan has never been like this before."

"I-it's probably nothing," Takeru answered quickly, growing a bit uneasy. "It's probably a guy thing."

"You and your, 'it's a guy thing'. I'm sure I'd understand if he explained it to me." The girl frowned as she played with the straw of her drink. "I hate it when he gets like this and snaps at me for no reason. He's been like this for a little over a week now."

"Maybe he's stressed out from soccer. High school is probably a lot tougher than junior high, since they train harder there," the blonde said, hoping Hikari would drop the subject. 'I feel really bad for Taichi-san right now. I just wish I would've never told him about it, but it's not like I knew I wasn't supposed to.

'He goes around acting like the happiest person alive, especially when he's out on the field. He's just wearing a mask to hide how hurt and down he really is, and I'm not supposed to even mention it to anyone.'

"I doubt it. He's had tough captains over the years, and he's never acted like this before! He usually welcomes the challenge."

"Maybe you shouldn't bother him about it."

"Takeru-kun," she gave the blonde a suspicious look, "you almost sound like you know more than you're telling. Do you know something about oniichan that I don't?"

"Me? Know something?" He nervously laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do know something about my brother! I can tell by that uneasy look you get and that nervous laugh you usually give off whenever you're trying to hide something! You're also pulling on the collar of your shirt!" Takeru looked down, and realized that he was, indeed, tugging the collar of his uniform shirt, and stopped. "You may be an excellent basketball player, Takaishi Takeru, but you're a terrible liar!"

"Well, I, um..."

"Come on, please tell me what's wrong."

"Okay, okay, you're right." He figured that lying wouldn't help much since the girl had pretty much pointed out that he was obviously fibbing. "I do know what's going on with Taichi-san, but I'm not supposed to discuss it with anyone."

"Why, because my brother said so?"

"No, because my brother said so."

"Yamato-san? What does he have to do with my brother?"

"A lot," Takeru muttered.

"I don't really understand, but you can still tell me," Hikari told him sweetly. Her concern for Taichi was pretty strong, and she hated to see her brother unhappy. "I promise that I won't share the information with your brother or mine. I just want to help oniichan. He's always taken care of me, now it's my turn."

"I'm sorry, but I can't betray my brother's trust again."

"Again?"

"I already messed up when I told Taichi-san." Hikari stared at the boy, a look of perplexity on her young face. Takeru noticed the girl's inquisitive look, and continued. "I didn't know at the time that I wasn't supposed to have shared this with him, but I brought it up in conversation with him one day.

"Later on that day, when I went to visit my father for the weekend, my brother told me not to tell anyone about what was going on. He also mentioned that he, as well as the third person involved, wasn't ready for everyone to know yet and I can't let that person know that I know either."

'What's with all of these secrets?'

"I felt awful after he told me this, but I never revealed that I told your brother what he told me not to tell. I did promise him, though, that I wouldn't tell either. After that, I told Taichi-san about what happened and how he wasn't supposed to have known. The secret that I revealed to him is probably bothering him a little, which is causing him to be a bit moody. I think he wants my brother, and the other person involved, to just tell him this secret directly and feels bad because he heard it through a third-party. I really think he feels betrayed right now," Takeru finished up. He'd said all that he'd wanted to, but wouldn't allow himself to go any further. It was difficult enough to say what he had without giving too much away. He also didn't want to make his brother look bad.

'Taichi-san is feeling betrayed by both of his friends right now; one he's always trusted, and another he's always confided in. I hate keeping this from Hikari-chan, since she probably could try helping him to cope with this, even if in reality she probably couldn't, but a promise is a promise. I didn't see his face when giving this information to Taichi-san, but the way he sounded after I did...his entire demeanor seemed to just change…'

"Oniichan feels betrayed?"

"Yeah, probably, but I really shouldn't get into that either. I promised my brother I wouldn't. It's just a bond that we brothers have. I'm sure you'd understand it better if you and Taichi-san were brothers."

"This just isn't fair! I want to know what's going on with oniichan!"

"As obvious as he seems to be lately, according to you, I'm sure he'll let it slip out. I doubt he can keep it in for too much longer. Besides, it's something that you really can't fully help him with."

Hikari stopped trying to pursue the matter and went quiet, her mind wandering once again.

"Hikari-chan, what's wrong?" asked Takeru, breaking the silence. "If it's about the secret, I already explained that I ca-"

"N-no, it's not that," she interrupted vaguely. "I was just thinking about Tailmon, and wondering how she and the other Digimon are doing."

Takeru stared up at the bright, clear-blue sky and nodded. "I really do miss Patamon."

"I miss them too, but right now...I'm a bit worried."

"I wish there was some way we could go see them all again. It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since we've seen them last. No random gates have opened up or anything since that final one back then. I wonder what they've been up t-wait, what do you mean you're worried?"

"I have this feeling that we're going to see them all again pretty soon, only now I feel that it's going to be because of something bad."

"What happened to your optimism?"

"I'm not sure." She stared down at the table, a forlorn look upon her face. "I've had this feeling for a long while now, but today, it seems to be intensified and right now, it's stronger than ever. I really can't explain it. I've been trying to brush it off for the past week or so now, but right at this moment, it's...it's just overwhelming. I also feel that if we do see our Digimon friends again, that we're going to be different in some way."

"Different?" She nodded. "Different how?"

"I'm not too sure; I don't even know how, I just know that we will be if we see them again."

"Well, we are older now. Maybe that's it."

"No, no…I don't think so. It could be…I don't know," she sighed.

Takeru could only stare at the girl curiously. "I'm really starting to wonder about you."

"What do you mean?"

"When we left our Digimon the first time, you just knew we'd end up seeing them again, and we did. Random gates opened and we were able to spend a lot of time with them during our adventure two years ago.

"If I'm remembering right, the first time we had to leave our Digimon, you weren't crying or anything. You didn't even look sad. You just seemed to feel bad for Mimi-san, since Palmon couldn't face having to say goodbye to her."

"That's because I sensed that we would see them again, so I didn't have any reason to be sad and I didn't have any reason to cry."

"You have to be the most mysterious person I've ever met! You are always sensing things and not being able to explain them."

"I don't know why I'm like this," Hikari answered, her head hanging.

"Don't worry about it, and what's with that apologetic tone? That's just what makes you special, and that's something I really like about you..."

"I guess..." she murmured depressingly.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure everything is fine in the Digital World. No gate has opened to allow us back to help them, so everything must be okay on their end."

She gave him a halfhearted smile. "There you go again, always being hopeful. No wonder you have the crest attribute of hope."

Right at that moment, their huge pizza was brought to their table. Takeru was ready to eat, but Hikari refused.

"Takeru-kun, you know we can't eat without the others; it would be rude."

"I say we make an exception! We'll just leave them some."

She shook her head. "I refuse to; besides, I'm still a bit worried about Daisuke-kun."

"I've never seen you this worried over anyone, aside from Taichi-san, before. If you want, we can wait for both Ken-kun-kun and Daisuke-kun."

"I'm just getting a weird feeling about him, and Ken-kun-kun. I really do hope those two are okay."

'That sixth sense of hers is working in overdrive. I'm surprised she could concentrate enough to take her tests today. The fact that she's been feeling this way for so long and how she kept it to herself had to have been tough for her.' Takeru got an idea. "I could call to see if those two are still around."

"I would really appreciate that."

"I'm pretty sure Ken-kun-kun has his mobile with him."

The once feared Digimon Kaiser, Ichijouji Ken, attended school with Hikari and the others now. He still had his "pretty boy" looks, and was much taller now. He was a bit taller than Takeru, but slightly shorter than Yamato, Taichi, and Jou (who still towered everyone). No one knew exactly why in his final year of elementary, Ken transferred from the prestigious Tamachi Elementary to Odaiba Elementary. *It was said that Tamachi Elementary was one of the best schools of the area, and how it was an honor to even be accepted into the school.

It wasn't quite like a private school, but with the expectations and standards, one could've mistaken it for one, though. His switching from a school like that, to a "typical public school", boggled the minds of many, especially given the distance between Tamachi and Odaiba. Ken had to wake up very early just to get to school on time. Rumors circulated, some saying that the time when he was "missing", had something to do with it, or either he had somehow lost his noteworthy intelligence that he was most known for, or either he couldn't take the pressure of the school, and had no desire to go to Tamachi Junior High or Tamachi Senior High. Hikari pretty much figured that he enjoyed their company, and just wanted to be with them. For whatever the reason, Ken was genuinely happy now; something he hadn't been for many years up to that point.

Ken, who was also a first-year student, and age 13, was one of the best players of Odaiba Junior High's Soccer Club. The only other person, who could even rival his extreme talent and skill, was Daisuke, who made just as many saves, great plays, and goals as he did. Out of the other members of the Soccer Club, their captain worked both Ken and Daisuke the hardest by allowing them to do early practice drills more. How Ken had the energy for this, given his commute time, was beyond his friends.

He was still smart, just not as smart as he was with the Dark Spore's powers while he was the Digimon Kaiser. He had other things on his mind anyway, like friends for one. Either way, Ken still made satisfactory to above average marks all on his very own.

Takeru went through his list, and chose "Ichijouji". The phone rang for a moment, when a voice on the other end finally answered.

"Moshi-moshi..." the owner of the voice routinely, and cautiously, answered.

"It's me, Takeru."

"Oh, Takeru-san. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong; just wondering if you and Daisuke-kun were on the way here. Hikari-chan is growing concerned over you two."

"Sorry, I'm still at school. I was looking for Miyako-san. I was going to ask if she wanted to join us, but no one's seen her around; Koushirou-san either. I figured that she'd be with him someplace and could invite him too, but no one's seen either of them."

"Did you try the Faculty Computer Lab or the Student one? How about the library?"

"I checked the library and most of the computer labs. I haven't gotten around to checking the one in the West Wing since it's so far out of my way. I was thinking about checking there next."

"Other than your hunt for Miyako-san and Koushirou-san, what else is going on?"

"Oh, I just got out of a meeting with my captain. I noticed the time, and was about to head on over to join you, but I'm not sure what's wrong with Motomiya. I saw him heading towards the gym when I was on my way to speak with my soccer club captain. I figured he would've just gone ahead. I'm standing in front of the gym now, and it sounds like he's still in there."

"He's still there?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea why. I guess he lost track of the time."

"I just got an idea; why don't we just bring the food there to celebrate?"

"I guess that's okay, and if we need to heat anything, or get ice for drinks, we could just sneak to the kitchen the Cooking Club uses. I'll go tell Daisuke about it right now!"

"You do know that you guys owe me, right?"

"I know, I know. We were going to split the bill three-way since Hikari-san, somehow, managed to get out of paying," Ken said with a sweat drop. "You pay for the entire meal, and both Motomiya and I pay you back whenever we meet up."

"Okay then. We'll leave here in a bit. It shouldn't take us too long to get there."

"Alright, bye."
x x x x
Ken hanged up his phone, and stared at the closed, gym doors. 'What is wrong with Motomiya? He'd never purposely keep Hikari-san waiting.' The boy slipped his phone back into his green uniform jacket pocket. 'I guess I should go in and talk to him now...'
x x x x
"Well?" Hikari questioned eagerly.

"Change of plans," he put his phone away, "I'm paying, and we're taking everything back to school."

"Huh? Back to school?"

"Ken-kun-kun just got out of a conference, and he said that before he went to that, he saw Daisuke-kun heading towards the gym."

"Why would he go there?"

"Who knows," Takeru answered plainly. "He's been acting strange lately, anyway. He really hasn't been his usual, overly-confident, cheery self." After he made his statement, he noticed Hikari's look growing somber once again. He inwardly smacked himself, as he'd meant to think it, not echo the girl's worries from earlier. "Hikari-chan?" She remained quiet for a short moment, and looked up at Takeru. To the boy of hope, she looked like she could've started crying at any moment. "Hikari-chan, what's wrong?"

"Do you think that he...hates me?" the girl asked in a voice barely above that of a whisper. As much as she didn't want to talk about it, she realized that she couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Hate you?"

She nodded slowly as she stared down at her lap, her eyes stinging due to her trying her best to hold back tears. "I-I think he hates me."

"You're the last person he would hate!" he assured her confidently. 'Daisuke-kun has a big crush on her; how could she possibly think that he hates her? Hikari-chan is a wonderful person...'

"Well, it's like he's been ignoring me lately, and I just sense coldness from him."

"He's been cold and ignoring everyone. It's not just you, but me too, and even Ken-kun-kun. Something is bothering him that he doesn't want to talk to us about."

"Well I intend on finding out!" Hikari said with determination. At the moment, the girl was reminding him of Taichi. The Yagami look of determination between the two siblings was uncanny. "I hate to see him upset, or any of my good friends sad."

"That's the spirit. I'm sure he's just having a problem with his parents, or maybe he's annoyed that he's in his sister's shadow, as surprising as that sounds. She always made decent grades, even if she did spend most of her time chasing after my brother. As far as Daisuke-kun is concerned, he feels that she's the favorite between the both of them."

"How do you know?"

"Well, it's just an observation. I do hang out at his place a lot. He's also pretty much said as much whenever he complains about his sister, even though you know he wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her. He never directly says it, but that's the impression I get. Jun-san was pretty good in school, so maybe his parents are expecting too much out of him, sort of like the situation with Ken-kun-kun used to be."

"Oh yeah, that's right. Miyako-san told us about that, and how his parents were seeing him as his older brother, especially after his death. Ken-kun seems to really trust Miyako-san to share something so personal with her."

"I'm almost positive that's the problem, but, seems he would've gotten over it by now..."

"Takeru-kun," Hikari rose from her seat, "what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

"Okay, okay." Takeru paid for the pizza and carried the box. .

The two, with their book-bags in hand, made their way back towards school. Takeru took in a big breath of fresh air. "It's so nice out here. It's supposed to be sunny and clear all weekend. We should all do something tomorrow afternoon after the tennis match Sora-san is having and before my brother's concert."

"That's not a bad idea, but," she looked up towards the now darkening sky, "I think you're wrong about the weather."

He looked over at her. "Eh? What do you mean?"

She pointed upwards. "Look at how cloudy it's getting."

"What the..."

"I guess the weather report was wrong. It looks like a storm is coming. We should hurry and find shelter before it starts raining."

The wind began to pick up. Other people were also starting to take notice as the odd looking storm clouds began to form into some type of a long, spinning funnel.

"Takeru-kun, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Whoa, that looks like a tornado!" a bystander pointed out.

"We don't get tornadoes here!" another person panicked.

Takeru began to get the same worried feeling that Hikari had. This just didn't seem natural somehow. "They're right; we don't usually get tornadoes here."

The wind level began to rise more as everyone tried their bests to take cover to avoid the unexpected, oncoming storm. The funnel grew more violent and powerful. It then made its move. It didn't go towards any of the buildings or people around, instead...

"Takeru-kun," she held her uniform skirt down with a bit of difficulty with her barely free hand, "that thing is coming towards us!"

"RUN!"

Hikari, who had been carrying drinks, dropped them, and ran alongside Takeru, who had tossed the pizza box aside. Before getting too far, a bright light seemed to flash, blinding them in the process. It was as if lightening had struck right in front of them.

"Hikari-chan, are you okay?" Takeru questioned, while shielding his eyes.

Before the girl could respond, she turned to face the funnel. She seemed to be drawn to it, and appeared to be in a trance-like manner.

"HIKARI-CHAN!"

Before he knew it, Hikari was sucked into the funnel, and her book-bag fell from her hand, which seemed to wake her up, as she began to call for help. Takeru stared wide-eyed at the sight. He wasn't sure what to do. After Hikari had been taken completely in, the vortex came towards him, but instead of running, he stood his ground. He took off his signature off-white hat (which he'd put on after school let out), and tossed it aside along with his book-bag. He knew that this wasn't normal, nor did he care where he would end up.

"I can't let her down! I have to save her!" Takeru said with determination. "Hikari-chan, I'm coming! Just hang on!"

The tornado engulfed the young teen. The cyclone disappeared and the sky cleared up soon after, leaving behind people staring on in shock, trying to figure out what had just happened...

Author's Notes

Note 1: Okonomiyaki is pretty much a "Japanese pancake" mixed with a pizza…I guess. I honestly don't know how to describe it. There are different styles based on the region you're in. A couple of well-known styles are Osakan style and Hiroshima style. I like both. For more information on okonomiyaki, you can look it up online and places like wikipedia.
x x x
Note 2: The stuff about Tamachi Elementary being a prestigious school, and such, was pretty much made up as I'm not sure. Here in Japan, school uniforms are mandatory for all junior and senior high schools. Elementary schools usually don't have uniforms, unless it's a private school. This is generally the case, but there are some exceptions and there are some public elementary schools that use them, but rare. So, I'm going to still assume that it's a high-ranking public school since I'm pretty sure Ken's school was supposed to have been a public school.

Fic Chapter Changes

I included that Tamachi and Odaiba aren't particularly close. It's doable, though. He can get to one of the main stations in Odaiba in about 30 minutes or so and the Rainbow Bridge (which connects mainland Tokyo to Odaiba) is about 15 or 20 minutes away on foot from Tamachi station, but who knows what route he'd have to take to get to the actual school after the train ride or after crossing the bridge. Also, there is a Tamachi elementary school in Japan, but not where Ken's character lives.

Most of the okonomiyaki conversation was dropped as it was definitely unnecessary.

I changed the way Takeru and Hikari addresses Ken. In the original series, they both refer to him as Ichijouji-kun, but since I have them all as good friends, I felt it would be odd to have them continuing to address him as "Ichijouji-kun". I know for Tri they still do, but...we're going to pretend that doesn't exist. lol

Originally I had that in her first year, Sora still played soccer but switched over to tennis in her second year. Usually, once you choose a club in junior high, you stick with it for the duration that you're there. Besides, in the Original Story drama, which took place between 1999 and 2001 (Sora's took place in 2000), it was referenced how serious she was about tennis and how her mother was helping her.

I cut out some of the more forced shipping stuff and made it a bit more subtle.

Changed up some of the dialogue pertaining to Takeru going on about the secret he's keeping for his brother and Taichi. It felt like klunky exposition…sort of. Actually, it still feels this way, only not as bad as it was originally, imo.