Chapter 5

Distance

"Hey TK!" Hikari greeted her friend with a big smile on her face. She got nothing back but silence. It didn't surprise her though; she had been the first one to notice TK's sudden quietness. She had also noticed that not only was her friend quiet, he was unhappy. Another child her age would've used the word 'sad', but Hikari was a smart girl. She knew that TK had something big inside that he couldn't, or simply didn't want to share with anyone. And it was slowly eating him up. Even though she couldn't communicate with the boy (she weren't even sure if he actually listened to her) she was still going to help him in any way she could. If nothing else, then just being there. For what it was worth.

The two children walked towards school, none of them saying a word. Hikari spent every second of the walk thinking of how she could possibly help her friend. She knew that a lot of things were affected by his behaviour. His wouldn't work in school; he just drew weird pictures on sheets of paper that Mrs Suzuki kept on giving to him. He didn't want anyone around, and he never joined the others. Sometimes he even avoided Hikari to be alone. Of course this affected the way TK's classmates thought about him. Since he didn't talk, always sat alone and never smiled, the others just assumed that he had become mean. And weird.

TK's teacher was always around him, almost ignoring the other children. She watched him drawing his pictures over his shoulder, watched him from her desk during class, asked him questions to see if he'd answer, and studied his every move. Hikari didn't like it. She understood that the teacher wanted to help, but it was getting annoying. The way she always had her full attention towards TK made the other boys and girls dislike him even more.

The two friends entered the schoolyard, making their way towards the school- entrance, not stopping on their way to play with the other children before class. They walked through the hallway, and their footsteps were echoing. It was a beautiful day; perhaps the last one before autumn would start. The sun was shining and you didn't even have to wear your summer jacket since it was almost calm. Everyone was outside. Everyone except for the two digidestined. Hikari wanted to be around TK, and if that meant sitting indoors on such a perfect day then so be it. They sat down on a bench placed beside the door to their classroom. Hikari looked at her watch. She had got that watch along with a magazine she'd bought on the summer break. It was pink. Although she wasn't that fond of pink, she was still happy to get a new watch. Now she didn't have to walk around with Tai's old one –which was too big for her tiny wrist, and had a broken glass. She looked up at the wall again, listening to the faint noises from the others playing outside. Mrs Suzuki would soon be here. Just three or two minutes left. The brown-eyed girl sighed quietly, missing her friend's endless chattering about everything he could think of. She missed talking to him, laughing with him or just simply feeling that connection and understanding you feel with your best friend. For now, all of that was gone. Now they were just two kids who were sitting beside each other in an empty hallway, staring at the wall and listening to the echoing footsteps coming towards them. Through unknowing eyes, they could be two strangers never met before, missing that bond that two best friends share.

-'-

In Mr Yagami's office.

"Uh-huh… no, no it's fine. M-hm… sure thing. Yeah. Of course. Oh? Uh-huh… yepp. Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it! Mm, hold on a sec," Mr Yagami pressed the phone against his shoulder, leaning out from his chair. "Boys!"

Taichi and his friend stopped laughing –merely- and looked his way. "Yeah dad?"

"Will you quiet down a little, I'm talking to my boss here!"

Tai shot him an apologising look, knowing that his dad's boss could be a real pain in the ass if you didn't behave correctly. "Sorry!"

Mr Yagami sat up straight, shaking his head. He put the phone to his ear again. "Sorry about that."

He became silent, starting to listen to the serious sounding voice. Soon he didn't even need to fill out with an occasional 'hm' or 'yes' every now and then; his boss was doing the talking just fine by himself. All that was left for Mr Yagami to do was listen. He glanced at the two boys in the kitchen, smirking at their typical teenage behaviour. Sometimes he really missed that. Being aloud to act all stupid without people looking strangely at him. Still it was just a phase in life that everyone grew out of sooner or later. It was probably just the fact that he didn't have it anymore. Wanting something he couldn't get had always been a bad habit, even though that something wasn't always that great. But as long as it was out of his reach it always seemed so appealing.

"Uh-uh." He muttered into the phone, letting his mind drift away to when he was a teenager, his eyes still caught on his son. He knew Taichi would be a ladies-man, just like himself. The boy had his dad's charm, his mother's looks, and his own special personality that indeed seemed to impress the girls. The fact that Tai was (probably) popular made him proud, though it was a whole other thing with his young daughter Hikari, whom would most likely grow up to be a very beautiful young woman. And most likely the guys would chase after her, trying to win her heart. That he wasn't too fond of. But, he thought, that wouldn't be a problem for at least five years or so. No need to worry.

"Yes, I absolutely agree" he said to the boss, furring his eyebrows when he noticed his son tuck a strand of hair behind the blond boys ear very carefully.

His boss became silent. Mr Yagami shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Oh yes, I'm sorry. You were saying?"

"Mom, is it dinner yet?"

"Not yet, Kari. But I'd appreciated it you'd set the table."

"Sure" the girl said a little less enthusiastically.

"Thanks honey"

The brown-haired girl walked around the kitchen, fetching plates and forks and knifes, not saying a word.

"How was school today, Kari?"

"Oh. It was alright, I guess." The girl mumbled absently, looking out the window.

Her mom was quiet for a while. She could tell Kari was troubled without turning around to look at her. "You're concerned about TK, huh?"

The girl put the plates on the eating table. "Yes," she admitted. "Shouldn't I be?"

"Of course. But I don't want you to worry too much, that's all. He'll probably get over this."

"Yeah." Kari sighed to herself, slowly placing the forks and knifes out. They always talked to her like that. Like she didn't know anything. But she did. Sometimes she even saw things that others were too busy to notice. Or ignorant. Or whatever they were. Just like she had been noticing Tai acting strange lately. Though she didn't understand what it was, she had seen it. And she had thought about it a lot. Hikari glanced at her mother.

"Mom?"

"Yes Kari?"

"Do you think there's something weird going on between Tai and TK?"

Her mother turned around with a look that startled Kari a little. "W-why do you say that?" she whispered, staring at her.

"I don't know, I just… it's like whenever I talk about Tai, TK seems to… it's like he… I don't really know, but…"

"Kari, if there's anything you've seen you have to tell me."

Kari looked at her hesitatingly. By the way her mother was acting he knew this was important. "Well…. I saw this picture…"

-'-

"Hi Matt, dinner's ready in a few minutes, would you set the table?"

"Can't TK do it?" the blond teen replied, halfway out to go watch TV or something.

Yamato's mother turned around, giving him a warning look. "Leave TK alone. He's not eating anyway."

Matt turned around and stared at her. "What? Why not?"

"He wants to be alone, I'll give him some sandwiches later on."

"But mom you can't…"

"We aren't discussing this!" His mother turned around and continued the cooking. Yamato sighed, looking at her back that was turned against him.

"Mom…"

"Do you have any idea how hard this is for me? I mean he's… like an other person."

"But that's not a reason to give up! You can't just let him act like this, I mean you can at least force him to eat! You're his mom, you can't give up on him like that! No one else can tell him what to do. He won't listen to me and dad doesn't care anyway…"

Mrs Ishida turned to face him. "Don't you say that! Of course he cares about TK"

"Yeah well, he's not helping anyway. I try at least but TK just shuts me out."

Mrs Ishida sighed deeply, pained by the hurt looked that had crossed her son's face for a short moment. "Yamato…" she started, although she wasn't sure of what to say. Her gaze fell to the floor and she became silent, struggling with how she was supposed to make him feel better. It was much easier to comfort her youngest son, TK just needed someone who listened to him for a while and hugged him and let him cry. Yamato was different. First of all, he never let anyone know if there was something wrong. Perhaps Taichi, since they seemed to have really come to trust each other. But to his mother, he never said a word. Everything was always 'fine' or 'okay', he never came to her with problems or something like that. Second of all, Matt didn't want comfort. He absolutely refused to show weaknesses. He would never in his life cry in front of someone. So how was she supposed to comfort him if he constantly pushed her away?

Before Mrs Ishida could even think of anything to say, Matt's brief show of emotion was long-time gone and he had his careless mask back on.

"Fine. I'll set the table. You happy now?" he muttered, walking past her to open a cabinet, fetching glasses.

"Thanks." Mrs Ishida mumbled, her mind drifting. Her oldest son was crying inside and there was nothing she could do. Her youngest son didn't speak and might be carrying some big dark secret that was eating him with no one to help him. And there was nothing she could do. Her husband didn't seem to understand how serious everything was, and he didn't make an effort to help TK. And there was nothing Mrs Ishida could do.

So what do you do when there's nothing you can do to save the situation? If everything is just hopeless and you're just too impotent to make a difference. What do you do? Mrs Ishida did the only thing that seemed right at the moment.

She put all her strength into making a perfect dinner.

Working on the next chapter right now, hopefully it won't take as long as it did for this one. Sorry for keeping you waiting.

Reviews?