Day 2 - Writing/Storytelling: The Reading Group
Takeru was making his way to the train station to meet Yamato and Sora, as they were going to spend the weekend in Kyoto. A few meters away from the station, a group of people caught his attention. He looked towards them and saw it was a reading group. Before he knew it, he was completely hypnotized by it. As he got closer, he noticed a fairy-tale was being told to a few children and sat down to hear it. Only about fifteen minutes later he remembered he was supposed to meet his brother and his future sister-in-law, so he stood up and left.

"Hi!" Takeru ran towards the entrance of the train station after he spotted them in the sidewalk. "I'm sorry for taking so long to come."
"Did something happen?"
"No, I just came across a group of people reading stories for children and it caught my attention."
"Story telling?"
"That's right. I didn't mean to keep you waiting so long."
"Don't worry about it, it's totally okay." Sora assured him.
"In fact, if I remember it correctly, you've always loved when dad told you bedtime stories. One was never enough for you." Yamato reminisced with a smile. "So it doesn't surprise me at all."
"I think these kinds of things are amazing."
"I'm sensing you want to stop by and see how it's like as well, am I right?"
"Maybe." She giggled.
"Well, I guess it won't hurt to check it out. Let's go."

.

Takeru simply couldn't stop thinking about that reading group as the days went by. He caught himself wanting to see them again and watching them for a long time, but he had no idea where they could be or what days they did that. Maybe they weren't even from Kyoto and were only there that weekend.

He was making his way to his college building on a Monday morning when he saw what seemed to be the same reading group again. Well, they weren't exactly reading at that time, but Takeru recognized some of their faces even though almost two weeks had passed since then. He knew he probably would be late for his class, but he turned in the opposite direction and walked to them.
"Hello, good morning."
"Good morning." One of the boys in the group looked up and greeted him. "Are you lost?"
"No." Takeru shook his head and smiled. "Actually, I wanted to say I think your project is amazing. I saw you doing a reading session near the train station the other day and was absolutely mesmerized."
"I think I saw you there." A girl said. "I remember your hat."
He couldn't help but smile "Yeah, it's hard to go unnoticed with this hat."
"Well, thank you for this compliment." The boy spoke again. "We're just trying to spread some happiness around and assure kids it's okay to like this kind of story."
"That's amazing."
"We'll be having another meeting next Saturday at the same place. You're invited to go see it again if wish."
"Absolutely!" Takeru exclaimed, grinning. "I'd be happy to."
"Great." The boy smiled back at him. "See you then."
"See you." He turned towards his building and left.

.

Takeru spent the following weeks participating in as many group reading sessions as he could, and it didn't take him long to be officially part of the group. He couldn't put into words how much he enjoyed doing that. It became so important to him that he often missed not participating when he was in Odaiba for the weekend.
"Hi, mom!" He exclaimed after accepting her video call.
"My little boy, I miss you so much."
"I miss you too." He felt a little embarrassed with her calling him little boy, though he was almost nineteen.
"How are you? How are things in Kyoto?"
"I'm good, a little tired from college. Things here are great. Kyoto is so beautiful, you should really come here."
"So I was told. Now I have a good reason to go."
"What about in Odaiba? Have you talked to Yamato recently?"
"Everything is good over here. I haven't talked to him lately, but your father told he's really busy with college too."
"I bet he is."
"So when are you going to come to Odaiba?"
"I don't know, mom. Exams will start soon and I have tons of things to read for class."
"Oh, I was hoping to see you."
"I'm sorry. I wanted to see you too, but you can come here."
"I've been swamped at work lately."
"I see. But you're getting enough sleep, aren't you?"
"Of course." She lied, completely ignoring the fact he could easily tell when she did.
"Mom."
"Fine. I'm trying, but I'm working overtime almost everyday."
"That's not good."
"Well, I needed something to keep myself busy with." Natsuko took a deep breath. "Anyway, what's new with you in there? Have you made any new friends yet?"
"A few ones in my class. A few weeks ago I found about a reading group when I was making my way to class."
"Really? That must be very cool."
"It is. They get together every weekend to read a fairy tale for children somewhere here."
"Are you following it? You seem to know so much about it."
"At first, yes. Eventually they invited me to join the group and here I am."
"You said yes?"
"I did." Takeru nodded with a large smile on his face.
"Takeru, isn't it going to harm you at school?"
"No, mom. Everything will be fine, trust me."
"Fine. I get worried with you being so far from me."
"You don't have to worry with me, mom. I'm doing great here."
"I'm sure you are." She gave a warm smile. "Well, I'm afraid I have to go. People are calling me from work."
"Are you working tonight?"
"The job of a journalist never stops. Besides, I need to keep busy. This house is too quiet now."
"Okay, just don't push yourself too hard."
"I won't, I promise."
"I have to go too. There's a meeting soon and I'll get to do the reading tonight."
"Alright. Have fun. I'll talk to you later."
"Sure. Take care, mom. Bye."
"You too. Bye, sweetheart."

.

Takeru was making his way to a morning group reading session when he noticed a woman staring at them, just like he had done a few weeks ago. He knew he had to walk to them, but his feet didn't obey him and he found himself heading towards the woman.
"They're pretty good, aren't they?" He said with a smile and the woman was startled by his sudden arrival.
"Y-Yes, I think so." She managed to say after a minute or so.
"I'm Takeru Takaishi." His tone was friendly and the grin was still on his face.
"Kimi Shincai." She said eventually, and couldn't help but smile back at him. "Nice to meet you, Takeru. You have a pretty name."
"Thank you." Takeru felt his cheeks burn. "Nice to meet you too. Are you from Kyoto?"
"No, I'm actually from Odaiba. I came to Kyoto last year to study."
"What a coincidence! I'm also from Odaiba."
"Are you serious?"
"I am." He nodded. "I came here to study as well."
"That's great. How are you liking the city so far?"
"It's amazing. I didn't have enough time to see everything because college is taking up pretty much all my time."
"Tell me about it. It's very frustrating. It's great to find someone else from Odaiba, though."
"I know."
"So… do you know this reading group?" Kimi motioned with her head the group across the street.
"Indeed I do." Takeru confirmed. "The members attend to Kyoto University too."
"Really?" She asked surprised. "I haven't seen any of them there."
"That's because they are very discreet about their reunions to decide what to do for the weekly group reading."
"You seem to know a lot about them."
"I think I'm supposed to…" The tone of his voice was very lightly and there was a small smile on his lips. "I'm part of the group."
"What?"
"Do you want to see what it's like?"
"Can I? I mean, it's only for children, apparently."
"Of course you can!" Takeru impulsively grabbed her hand and they crossed the street together. "Fairy tales aren't only for them, you know?"
"Fairy tales? Is that what you read for them?"
"That's right. And then we have some activities afterwards."
"That seems so cool!"
"Maybe you'll consider joining us after watching it tonight." He stopped suddenly, realizing only then that he was holding her hand, which he quickly released. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"That's okay." Kimi assured him with a smile.
"I didn't even ask you if you had something else to do."
"I didn't. Now I do."
"Great." He couldn't help but smile back at her. "Let's go then."
She watched him 1 walk away for a while, thinking how crazy these past few minutes had been and how life works in unexpected ways sometimes.

.

Takeru and Kimi quickly became friends. The fact they were both from Odaiba brought them close right away. In a morning, she caught him staring at a tree with his arm over his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun rays.
"Good morning." She placed her hand on his shoulder and couldn't help but blush when he looked over his shoulder with a large and bright grin.
"Good morning, Kimi."
"You remember my name."
"It's quite hard to forget."
"Are you always that charming?" She decided to play along.
"They say I am."
"They?"
"My brother and my friends."
"Oh I see." Kimi looked up for a moment. "Why were you staring at that tree just now?"
"I saw a bird over there, that's all." He lied because he wasn't sure how she would react at the fact he was a Chosen Child and it wasn't something he'd want to share so soon.
"Oh, okay."
"We should get going or we'll be late for class."
"You're right. Let's go." She started walking beside him. "So you have a brother, huh?"
"That's right. He's three years older than me."
"That's sweet. Do you get along with him?"
"I do. We don't see each other that much nowadays because he still lives in Odaiba."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay." Takeru assured her. "What about you?"
"I'm an only child. I've always wanted a brother or a sister, but my mom had some complications when she gave birth to me and couldn't get pregnant anymore."
"I'm sorry."
"Thank you. It was hard seeing most kids having siblings at school sometimes, but now I live perfectly with being an only child."
"I bet it was hard to leave home, wasn't it?"
"It was."
"I know the feeling, my mom still says the house is too quiet without me."
"What about your father and your brother?"
"Our parents got divorced when we were very young. I've lived with my mother until recently."
"That must have been terrible growing up away from your brother and father."
"I remember counting the days for summer vacation, so we could be together. And a few years later my mother and me moved to Odaiba, so we were much nearer each other."
"You didn't live in Odaiba?"
"No, we used to live in Sangejaya. It was near Tokyo, but I still depended on her to visit them."
"Well, I'm glad everything worked out for you." Kimi said sincerely. "I have to go now. See you later?"
"Of course. Have a good day."
"You too." She said over her shoulder and walked away in a hurry.
"Thank you." He said in a low tone, but she didn't hear it.

.

Patamon watched Takeru with curiosity as the young boy dried his blond hair and check himself in the mirror a few times as he got ready.
"Takeru, are we going out?"
"I am." He had a sadness tone in her voice. "I'm sorry, buddy, but I can't take you with me this time."
"We barely go out together anymore."
"I know, I'm sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you soon."
"Where are you going?"
"I have a group reading meeting tonight."
"The one you go every weekend?"
"That's right."
"You keep saying how cool it is and I really want to see it myself."
"I know you do. I will take you one day."
"I can't wait already."
"So how do I look?" Takeru turned to him after he was done getting ready.
"You look great, Takeru!" Patamon exclaimed, grinning. "I really like your new cap."
"Thank you. It's cool, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, I have to go now. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Alright." The Digimon couldn't hide his sadness. "I'll be here the whole time."
"I'm sorry, Patamon. I know I haven't been the best partner lately. I feel bad for leaving you here alone, but unfortunately the rest of the group still lives in Odaiba."
"It's okay, Takeru. Go have fun." He assured his partner.
"Thank you." Takeru tried his best to sound cheerful.

Takeru tried his best not to think about Patamon being alone in his apartment almost the entire night, but he didn't succeed until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned around and a large smile appeared on his lips.
"Hey, Kimi! I wasn't expecting to see you here tonight."
"I know. It's a nice surprise, isn't it?"
"Definitely! I'm so happy to see you here." He was so excited he hugged her in an impulse.
"Thank you." Kimi was surprised at first, but quickly returned his hug. "I wasn't doing anything at home tonight, so I thought why not?"
"That's wonderful! Does that mean I succeeded on convincing you and now you're finally joining our group?"
"Maybe." She said mysteriously. "I'm considering it."
"Well, then maybe tonight you will completely make up your mind."
"Really? Why is that?"
"I'm going to do the reading this time."
"Are you serious? I did choose the best night to come then. What are you reading?"
"Cinderella."
"What a coincidence. This is my favorite fairy tale."
"Is that so? Looks like everything is conspiring for you to be a part of our group."
"I suppose so. Come on, we're going to be late if we stay out here anymore. You don't want to be late on your reading." She linked her arm with his and they walked in together.
"I really don't. Let's go."