Disclaimer. Not. Mine.
Note. Sequel. One year later. New narrator. Enjoy. Thanks for all the reviews, friends!
Warnings. Canon-shoutouts galore. Pre-02. Slight and .
Dedication: Those who asked for a sequel cali-chan and nodirection. And Inconnu: I'm working on that email to you. That's been sitting in my inbox. Since September. *sobs*

Chapter 2 Photographic Evidence

Sports really weren't her thing.

At all.

Don't get her wrong. She loved dancing and swimming and the occasional peaceful jog; staying active was usually pretty fun. But organized sports had never appealed to her. Which was a shame due to her brother's intense love of them, particularly football. And the very reason she found herself sitting on the bleachers, parents a few rows down and across from her, observing her big brother's most recent match.

She supposed it wasn't that bad. She loved her big brother. She was happy when he was happy, and he was most decisively happy when on the football pitch. Watching the game could be kind of fun, especially when Taichi's team was winning, and she had fun cheering along with the others supporting his team.

Plus, it was a chance to take pictures with her brand new digital camera.

And she loved taking pictures.

Click!

"Hey!"

"Oops…say cheese?"

"Too late for that."

She smiled apologetically at her friend. He huffed, feigning anger, but she knew as well as he did that it was all pretend. Takaishi Takeru stuck his tongue out at her, and she responded with a similar face. Gone was the crybaby (the brave crybaby, not that she'd admit either description to his face!) of the digital world. Two years later, Takeru was as cheerful as ever but had certainly grown up a lot from his eight year old self. He was a little more mature than most ten year olds she knew, particularly her lively friend Motomiya Daisuke, but still the same old Takeru she knew and…appreciated since she'd met him.

"It was a good picture, if it makes you feel better."

"Loads," he grumbled, turning to face the game that she knew, quite honestly, wasn't really entertaining him. He always was more of a basketball fan, especially since he grew taller.

Yagami Hikari turned her attention back to the game. She adjusted the settings on her camera as she zoomed in to snap a picture of her brother, hair flying behind him as he trapped a ball near midfield and dribbled it up the sideline. Glancing down at the picture, she sighed; if only she could get him to stay in one place. Her picture taking would go much better. She'd have to keep working on that.

Practice does make perfect.

Click!

"Hikari, how many pictures of me are you going to take?"

"I never get to see you, Takeru, so I need some pictures to remember what you look like."

It had been a long time since she'd last seen him, come to think of it. With Takeru and his mother living outside of Odaiba, get-togethers didn't happen with much frequency. The former digidestined tried, particularly in light of the whole 'forced get together to surrender their crests to save the digital world again thing', but it was a bit difficult with the various residences and increasingly busy schedules.

She was happy when her brother mentioned he'd invited Sora and Yamato to come to his game, knowing there was a good chance Takeru would accompany them. The two brothers had certainly come a long way since leaving the digital world, and she was happy (and knew Takeru was happy too) that Yamato spent increasing time with his younger brother. And his mother, though he never really came out and said that.

Yagami Hikari, however, was a perceptive ten year old girl (you have to have a good eye to be a good photographer, after all). This was one of the many things she observed but found better not to mention. Plus, what was that saying…a picture is worth one thousand words? Yes, pictures of the two brothers together—whether or not they're willing subjects—definitely helped with her observations.

"Still…you can take a picture of someone else," Takeru whined half-heartedly, crossing his arms. "There. Yamato's on his way back from the concession stand. Take a picture of him."

"How'd he end up agreeing to go to the concession stand for you, anyway?" she asked, camera poised to take a picture of the approaching blond.

Takeru offered an evil smirk, flipping a silver coin in the air. "Coin toss. Double sided coin. My luck has increased tons since I found this in a store!"

Hikari gaped at her friend in surprise—that's perfect! I should use one on Taichi when he tries to make me do the dishes—distracted only at the sound of nearby laughter. The pleased look on Takeru's face quickly melted away, and Hikari had to stop herself from giggling at the expression of horror that crept upon it.

"And here we thought you were the innocent one, Takeru. Looks like Puppetmon did teach you a thing or two when he invited you to play games with him."

Takenouchi Sora moved to sit behind the two younger children, fixing them both with a sunny smile. "Um…I…you see." Takeru had managed to gain a bit more confidence and boldness over the past two years, but if there was one person he consistently had a hard time attempting to evade (other than herself, Hikari thought proudly) it was Sora. But that was a trait the younger girl had quietly observed among all three of the digidestined boys who were here at today's football match.

Sora laughed again. "Don't worry. I won't tell your brother. It's kinda funny he hasn't figured it out."

Takeru grinned guiltily, taking a deep breath upon realizing he wasn't going to be ratted out this time, "I have two double-sided coins: one has 'heads' on both sides, the other 'tails'. I switch them anytime I think he's getting suspicious."

"Remind me never to agree to a coin toss with you," Hikari heard herself mumble dryly, deciding now was a good time to capture a picture of Yamato, being that she knew why he was coming back from the concession stand. With hands full. Attempting not to drop anything. Oh yes, she had to take a picture.

Click!

She giggled. Probably best not to show Yamato that picture.

"Were you taking a picture of me?"

Uh oh.

She smiled at the older boy as he climbed onto the bleachers, taking a seat next to Sora as he handed out the appropriate snacks. "Maybe?"

He rolled his eyes. "It was probably this one," insert a point to his brother, "who suggested it."

"Guilty," the younger boy admitted, taking a bite of his treat. "Thanks for the snacks, Yamato. Very nice of you to buy them for us all."

"Only because I lost the coin toss, Takeru." The three who knew why this occurred burst into laughter again. Yamato gave them a funny look before accepting his fate of not knowing, probably for the best Hikari thought, and taking a bite of pocky.

"Well," Sora said as she munched on her candy bar, "you did a good job, if it's worth any consolation. Can't believe you remembered this is my favorite candy! Anything would've been fine, though."

He smirked at her, though Hikari noticed—is he blushing?—some pink creeping up along Yamato's neck. "If you wouldn't talk about it anytime Taichi brings up snack food…which is anytime he's hungry. . ."

Quite often then, Hikari held in a giggle.

"…I probably wouldn't have remembered," he finished off, "But shouldn't you jocks be more mindful of this stuff? After all, you probably don't want it affecting your…jockness?"

If there was one person who disliked sports more than her, it was Yamato. It had been their bonding point, Hikari had found, from the times Yamato had been dragged along to games with her. He really wasn't that bad at any of the sports Taichi and Takeru had forced them to play. Nowhere near their caliber, or Sora's, but still commendable. He, like the younger girl, was more into the arts, though it was music for him while she found comfort in photography.

It was funny, really, how close she now found herself to both of the blond boys currently in her company. Granted, she was much better friends with Takeru than his older brother. It happened slowly at first—and after a bit of a rough start, what with kidnapping and evil, megalomaniac vampire digital monsters after them, though she chose to overlook that incident—usually when they were at these dreadfully boring (don't tell her brother!) football matches. He didn't come with the greatest frequency, but when his schedule allowed for it, or Takeru forced him to join him, Yamato would join along.

Yamato had always come off as a bit of a loner, fitting in but not really comfortable being around people. Knowing the complex Ishida-Takaishi history, she supposed it wasn't really that surprising, but it still struck Hikari a bit odd that people brushed him off as standoffish and disagreeable. He'd honestly been nothing but nice to her in the entire time she'd known him, and she always found his company entertaining. There was never a dull moment when Yamato was around, normally due to Taichi or Takeru being around too; yet, she found him intriguing to talk to, especially about subjects the others avoided, and personally thought he could give Gatomon a run for knowledge on the human species—in a non-scientific way, of course, because clearly Koushirou or Jyou would win that contest.

And it was thoroughly amusing when she found herself in the company of Yamato, Takeru, and Sora at the same time, which when she stopped to think about it, was happening a lot more frequently. It felt natural, normal almost. She was at first afraid it might be a bit awkward, being that she was on very good terms with Sora and Takeru but not Yamato. But that never happened; both Takeru and Sora had unintentionally assured that.

If there was a friendship that surprised her more than her own with Yamato, it was Yamato's friendship with Sora. She supposed it wasn't too out of the ordinary, the whole digiworld adventure uniting them and them sharing the same homeroom now and being an attentive audience for Taichi's football matches. She seemed to see them together all the time, usually quietly conversing or sitting in comfortable silence as they worked on homework together whenever she ran into them. But the more Hikari considered it, their attuned behavior towards one another and their level-headed calmness (with some obvious exceptions) yet willingness to call the other out if they disagreed on some matter dated back to the time in the digiworld.

The two of them had been the best among the digidestined at staying in touch and becoming closer since their time ended. Unintentionally, probably due to being in the exact same homeroom, but Hikari was certain the two of them were closer than most people, with maybe the exception of Takeru, knew. Even her brother was oblivious to it. She, however, was not. Thanks to Gatomon. Her digimon had told her all about signs of boys and girls growing up and starting to see each other differently. I'm just not going to mention that talk to Taichi. He might try to break into the digital world to lecture Gatomon about teaching me things!

Looking back toward the game, Hikari began mentally looking over photos from past events and softly smiled as she realized the three people currently in her company were in her pictures the most—not to mention the times she snuck into the pictures when Takeru stole her camera. Probably due to football matches, but also due to their tendency to gravitate together when everyone got together.

It's not like they ignored the others or anything; it just usually happened that after a few hours together, they would all naturally clump back together. They were a little more reserved than the others in the group, though not shy or overly quiet like Koushirou or Jyou, but rather content with observing instead of talking all the time, waiting instead to jump in when they were needed as opposed to forcing themselves into conversation or action. They were a bit more guarded than the others, maybe that was it, more in tune with their time in the digital world and feeling the loss of connectivity and friendships that, while bearable, were also hard to grasp.

But it was never gloomy around the three of them. It was always cheerful and optimistic and friendly and hopeful and seemed like a manifestation of their respective crests engulfed the entire group, though she knew that to be impossible thanks to recent events. It just felt...right...maybe it was as simple as that.

Click!

"And you should title this one self portrait. Or space cadet. We've been calling your name for awhile."

She snapped back, ignoring the snickers around her as she grabbed the camera from Takeru, clicking the review button to see a flattering picture of herself lost in thought. "Thank goodness for a delete button."

"I thought it was a good picture," Takeru shrugged, resting his hands behind his head as he turned back to the conversation with the other two and conveniently missed the rosy red hue that was forming—stop it! —on her cheeks. "Why aren't you out there, though, Sora? You're way better than most of the guys out there."

"Didn't want to play 'one of these things is not like the other,'" the girl sarcastically mumbled.

Takeru fixed her with an intrigued look, and Hikari too was slightly baffled by Sora's tone. And her statement. Yamato, though, seemed to understand. "Notice how it's all guys out there?"

"You've always played with the guys before, Sora. Why should this be any different?"

"Not everyone is so keen on having a girl on the guys' squad, Hikari." Sora shook her auburn hair out of her eyes. "It didn't matter so much when I was younger. Co-ed teams at a younger age aren't always viewed the way they are when you're older. The last team I was on…the coach was particularly upset I played a bit better than his son. . ."

"…much better is what she really means."

Sora glared at Yamato. "A bit better than his son and didn't play me much. Complaints didn't do much. I tried, but it seemed to make them complain more. And look for ways to get rid of you." Seeing their confused looks, she quickly added, "Injuries are a good start."

"Wait a minute. Did one of them injure you?" Takeru asked, with Yamato angrily echoing a similar question.

Sora waved her hands back and forth. "No! No! No! Nothing like that. It just seemed like they were really pushing for any minor injury to be blown out of proportion. Mind you, of course I come down with a real injury—a dislocated knee cap and sprained knee—just then, so it kind of sat well for their case."

"So you're done? Moving on?"

Sora glanced at Yamato. "There's a part of me that will always love football. And maybe I'll take it up when we get into high school, play on the all-girls team. I have some friends there, and I'm sure it'll be fun again. But at this point, it's just lost its excitement. And truthfully, that last injury with some lingering sore ankles doesn't help. My mother was very much against me finishing out the last few matches."

Hikari nodded, knowing Sora well enough to be sure the older girl had considered all her options very well. And, from what Yamato had casually mentioned in a past conversation, Sora was much more likely to take her mother's opinion into account, understanding her logic, than two years ago. She picked up her camera again, focusing it on the older girl, and wanting to lighten the somewhat dampened atmosphere. "Well, if nothing else, you can always take up a new hobby! Something else that excites you."

Click!

"You could be a model for Hikari's crazy picture taking."

Click!

"Stop taking pictures of me!" Takeru crossed his arms again.

"I think I'll pass on the model. I am thinking about giving tennis a go."

"Tennis?" three voices echoed.

Sora laughed. "Yes, tennis. My mother played when she was younger and offered to teach me. And I made friends with a girl who just moved here from the States. Gwen. She grew up playing tennis and is looking for a partner." Sora giggled suddenly. "It'll at least give me a chance to take out some frustration!"

Hikari slowly moved the camera up as Yamato studied the girl next to him. Yamato makes the best facial expressions. This will make a great real-life shot.

"Well," he began, "if nothing else, tennis outfits are much nicer to look at than football kits!"

Click!

Hikari giggled as she studied the picture. A re- cheeked, gasping Sora and laughing Yamato reflected back at her. I guess Sora makes some nice facial expressions too.

Takeru leaned over her shoulder to look at the picture, smirking at the two older teens. "This one's a keeper."

Doing her best to avoid Sora's arm attempting to reach for the camera and delete said picture, Hikari smiled to herself, enjoying the sunshine and peace all around her. The idea to start a photo album of her friends and their adventures had been in her head for awhile. Today will give me lots more pictures. Glancing back down at the last photograph she had taken, she couldn't help but think to all the "talks" about humans that Gatomon had given her in the past.

If I ever see Gatomon again, I could give her photographic evidence of some of her theories about teenagers. She could make them into presentations and be a traveling advice cat. Hikari giggled again. If anyone would take a talking digital cat seriously, that is!

She turned back to the game, content to enjoy the rest of the day with her friends and brother. As Taichi ran by once again, this time charging for the goal, she made one last attempt for the perfect picture.

Click!

FIN

*Looks sheepishly at fandom* Ummm…hi? Remember me?

There were some calls for a sequel to this once upon a time. So I did my best. It took a mind of its own one year ago. Then changed multiple, multiple times (and narrators) in the past few months. I hope I pulled Hikari off. Easier than Takeru, but it's been quite some time since I was a ten year old girl…..

Anyway—it's nice to do some creative writing instead of schoolwork for once.

…speaking of which…

Why yes, in case you've noticed, I've been a bit…preoccupied?...for the last two years. Academia has been calling; come September, I'll have a Bachelors and a Masters degree—not bad for 5 years of study, if I do say so!—and hoping someone hires me. Did I mention I moved countries? And continents? Yeah…so I apologize for any garbled English. I'm having a dreadful time keeping my American and British spellings straight these days. And football = soccer.

I'm sorry for being a pathetic authoress. I shall do my best to right that wrong.

Reviews = love.

30 July 2011