Still cleaning, and as of now I have just finished fixing up this chapter. This whole revising a 50k+ words ongoing story thing has been a hassle to be honest, but there was a certain part of me that didn't feel right keeping a story up when it wasn't up to it's potential. Or, up to par if potential is the incorrect word to use. Anyways, as per my schedule, I shall move on with the cleaning/revising to the next piece of this puzzling story. Puzzling, since I still have no idea where I'm going to go with it ending wise.

Anyways, in this chapter, and whole story really, I thought I would portray Daisuke in a positive light. I've come to notice that on this site, particularly stories that involve Takeru and Hikari being together, that Daisuke tends to be one of the characters that is bashed the most. Thankfully, this has started to become less of a case more and more, but you still see it every once in a while. It's a shame really.

When I first uploaded this chapter I did mention that I had a doctor's appointment. It was nerve wracking, but everything came out 100 percent fine.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Not that big of a surprise.

Edit: 7/2/12 Came and revised a bit. Will continue to do so for later chapters. Cleaning up grammar mistakes, and certain wording or phrasing that I've come to not really like all that much. Just minor changes, nothing too serious. Just trying to improve the writing style, and experience for the reader.


It was Thursday, four days after Takeru had left her crying in a park, but to Hikari the incident still seemed like it had just happened; crying becoming a normal thing for her in the span of those four days. She was in class now, the class she shared with the boy who had told her that he loved her, and Hikari couldn't help but to keep looking over her right shoulder to the spot that he was seated in. She wondered if he was watching her when she wasn't looking at him herself, and she missed the days when she didn't even have to ask that question, already knowing it to be true. She looked over her shoulder yet another time to see him just once more before the teacher came back from the restroom, and before he started class back up. Hikari knew that Takeru had at least loved her at one recent point in his life, and she knew that she wanted him to love her once again, but what she wasn't sure about was if she herself ever wanted to love Takeru in return. She sighed, also knowing how selfish she was being.

"Just go talk to him."

Hikari turned away from the blonde boy that she was looking at, though her thoughts never quite left him, and she then gave her attention to her newest desk mate; her previous one being Takeru. Her desk mate was a chubby girl named Ume who had always lovingly described herself as plump, always enthusiastically so as well, and now there Ume was encouraging her to go and speak with the boy that she had already hurt so much. It's not like she didn't want to, in the course of new found revelations it became something that was paramount to her, but Hikari had no way of figuring out how or when it was appropriate to do so. Takeru had never talked to her the way that he had at the park before, and frankly it was a bit frightening to see him that way.

"I can't."

Ume grinned at what Hikari said, taking her to be overly melodramatic, and as she rested her chubby face in her hands she gave Hikari a look that showed joking affection. Watching her new pal's interactions with Takeru was better than anything any soap opera could give her.

"But he's in love with you."

Hikari's almost blank face immediately became an angry one, and her eyes narrowed as she glared at the chubby girl beside her. There was no way in hell that she was going to let someone make fun of Takeru. Never.

"Don't you dare mock him."

Ume straightened back up in her chair, and gave Hikari an inquisitive look. She was curious to why Hikari was being so defensive over Takeru, it wasn't like playful joking around was anything new, and she quietly wondered while secretly knew that he was the reason that Hikari had been so different and moody all week. Ume grunted; pretty girls were always the most convoluted. Sure, the dramatic antics of Hikari were entertaining to watch for the most part, but there was a certain point where things just got annoying.

"I was only joking around, Hikari-chan. The same way you were joking around about him last week."

Hikari gave a tired sigh as she felt the shame that, along with the crying and regret, had become normal for her in recent times. She remembered how during the previous week before Sunday, the pier, or Ayano, how she made jokes about Takeru's feelings for her. She didn't say any of them to his face, because she knew how earnest he was about who he gave his heart to, and Hikari wisely thought that he might have taken her joking to be cruel. She never meant her joking to be hurtful, she mostly used it just to make things seem a bit less serious between the two of them, but she was starting to wish that she hadn't gone that route when she remembered how one of the jokes that she told had made light to the girls in class about how Takeru's feelings for her were only puppy love, and how it suited him seeing as he cute like a little puppy.

Daisuke had confronted her that day, telling her off, saying that Takeru wasn't her lap dog that she could just play with whenever she wanted. She remembered being defensive to that, and telling him that he had no right to talk to her about her business with Takeru, and Daisuke had just looked at her with slight disgust telling her in return that she had no right to play with Takeru's heart. She responded by telling him that her relationship with Takeru was their own private business seeing as they were best friends, and Daisuke simply scoffed when he walked away and told her that if she truly was Takeru's best friend, that she should act like one. All that was the previous week, happening the previous Thursday, and when Takeru hadn't shown up for school the next day, Hikari knew that Daisuke had told him about what she had said. That was the reason that she went to the pier with him on Saturday, thinking that it might have done them good to clear things up and not give him the wrong idea, though she was glad that he hadn't brought it up, considering how the week had gone.

"He doesn't want to talk to me," Hikari gave a long pause while she glanced around the room, her eyes subconsciously resting on Ayano. "I think he likes someone else."

Ume didn't have to follow Hikari's eyes for what she said next.

"You mean, Ayano-chan?"

An angry look came across Hikari's face once again upon hearing the name of the girl she had quickly grown to hate, and once more gave another glare to Ume.

"How did you know?"

Ume, annoyed at the way Hikari was angry over a boy that she had rejected, publicly no less, frowned. In her opinion, Hikari could be such a drama queen. At least when things concerned Takeru, anyways.

"You know how big of a gossip Goro-kun is. He's been telling everyone about how Ayano-chan and Takeru-kun went to the pier for a romantic first date."

Hikari's eyes once again found Ayano, this time on purpose, and she shot daggers at the pretty artist girl. Hikari hated how elegant, and ironically angelic, Ayano looked as she was seated beside a window as the light, again ironically, shone brightly on her. Knowing that people were under the assumption that Takeru had been at the pier on Saturday for a romantic date with the artist left Hikari feeling bitter, because Takeru had been at the pier confessing his love to her again, not confessing his love to some random girl who didn't deserve him. Looking at where the girl who was stealing Takeru was sitting, Hikari's hatred now spread to the boy Goro, who was seated by Ayano's side, because it was his fault that people thought that Takeru was involved with the artist. Hikari closed her eyes at the previous thing to cross her mind, because it wasn't Goro's fault that people thought that Takeru was involved with Ayano, but instead it was Goro's fault that people knew that Takeru was involved with Ayano.

Hikari stood up to her own, and Ume's surprise, and picked up her belongings as she began to walk towards Takeru. She heard some girls whispering, signs of future gossip, and Hikari inwardly sighed knowing that many eyes were now watching her. It was embarrassing the way that she was being ogled at like some kind of strange creature, like a character in some teen drama television show, and Hikari was especially embarrassed at the way that her classmates were able to watch as she basically crawled back to Takeru after publicly casting him away from her in a grand spectacle.

As she was now standing at Takeru's desk, she felt the shame and embarrassment in a much more miniscule scale than he did, and Hikari hated herself knowing that she had made Takeru go through so much more. He looked at her warily with cautious eyes, and with that Hikari missed the times when all he had to look at her with were eyes that only contained a carefree affection; eyes that loved her.

"Can I sit with you today?"

Takeru's face held an odd look of surprise, the way that Hikari was holding herself seemed to imply that she felt very self-conscious at the moment, and he took a glance at the empty seat beside him, before once again looking at the brunette who had seemed to lose the quiet confidence that she had always seemed to have; the confidence that had always illuminated from her.

"That's Daisuke's seat."

Nervously grabbing on tighter to her bag and her books, Hikari looked to her feet. She knew that Daisuke had skipped school to try a new ramen shop that was opening in Tokyo, and she figured that Takeru was aware of this fact as well seeing as he now spent most of his time with their brave and bold leader. In a move that surprised all the Chosen Children, Daisuke was the one who came to Takeru's aid when he was crestfallen about the rejections from Hikari; standing firm as a true companion when he felt like he couldn't take the pain anymore. Hikari kept looking at her feet knowing that Takeru didn't want her to be by his side, and her eyes were tearing up since Daisuke had been a truer friend to his rival by helping to ease the wounds that she had caused. Wounds that nobody around them, friends or brothers, ever thought that she would give to Takeru.

"Please, Keru."

Takeru sighed as he looked at how nervous Hikari was just asking to sit with him, and his eyes softened seeing that she just wanted to be friends with him again. She had put him through an emotional roller coaster already, and Takeru knew that if he allowed Hikari to sit beside him, that she would put him through another one. If he gave her even an inch she would take a foot, that being the weakness of their relationship, and Takeru knew that he couldn't let her get that much control over him; not again.

"Just go sit with Ume-chan. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Hikari lifted her eyes to Takeru's when he told her to leave, and as she was about to leave, she couldn't because if she did she knew she would lose even more of Takeru then she had already. She looked at him, seeing how uncertain he was, and decided that she would stand her ground. What she was about to say made her feel almost silly, it wasn't something that normal people would ever utter in a school setting with talkative gays and teenage girls watching, but it was something that she went through with regardless.

"What I want is to be with you."

Truth be told, Takeru wasn't sure how to react to that. For a second he almost thought that Hikari had meant that she wanted to be with him in the romantic sense, and it wasn't until he reminded himself that all she wanted from him was friendship, on account of all the times that she had made that very clear in no uncertain terms. He knew she felt guilty about breaking his heart, bruising his pride and ego, and that she was only trying to appease him to hang out with him again. Hikari had never taken his emotions seriously, he could live with that, though he was hurt at the way she pretended things were different than they really were; and it was a realization that the emotions he had were just something that Hikari liked to poke fun at in order to amuse herself. Taking a glance to the left of the room he saw Ayano sitting with her best friend Goro, whispering about and being too obvious in the fact that they weren't looking back at him, and he felt kind of glad that maybe there might be at least one person who actually respected his feelings. Takeru took another glance, except this one focused on Hikari, and as he saw that she looked like she was about to cry, he nodded his head to her and watched as she placed her belongings on Daisuke's desk and sat down.

As Hikari was about to say something to the blonde she was now seated next to, the teacher came into the room apologizing for being late. As he began to take roll he noticed, as the rest of the class had as well, that Hikari was now seated with Takeru once again. The teacher was about to say something, as was his duty, but stopped and decided to let it go for the day seeing as the Hikari seemed to be on the brink of tears. He sighed as he began class; relationships were not so difficult back in his day.

They spent the class period in silence, because Hikari was too scared to start the conversation with Takeru, and Takeru was being too cautious to begin it himself. It seemed like a waste of a day to Hikari when the bell signaling lunch rang, and when the students in class began packing up their things and heading out the door, some of the girls she had never really been friends with whispering things about her as they went, and she watched as Takeru packed his own belongings slowly. Making sure to pack her things at the same pace, she looked up at the door, and frowned upon seeing Ayano waiting just outside of the classroom.

Takeru stood up and began to move towards the classroom door, with Hikari walking shyly behind him, and greeted Ayano when he reached it. He smiled at the girl that he, according to certain things that were being whispered around, had apparently gone on a romantic date with. It wasn't as if he minded, Ayano being cute and nice enough for him to maybe be interested in, and he felt like it might do him so good to possibly consider that option. Though, he decided that if he was going to do anything that it would have to wait until later, for Hikari's sake who was just behind him, and thinking about her made him feel guilty, because even though he could see himself liking Ayano, he was still in love with the girl who kept breaking his heart. Takeru turned to Hikari and sighed feeling himself pathetic for still clinging onto the hope that she might fall for him as much as he had for her, especially since things would be so much easier that way. He shook the foolish thoughts out of his mind; he would always belong to Hikari, but she would never belong to him.

"Do you want to talk in private?"

For the first time in days Hikari genuinely smiled.

"Yeah."

Seeing Takeru nod at her, Hikari continued to smile, but stopped when she saw him turn back to Ayano as if he was silently asking permission if he could go. She began to frown, because she too turned to Ayano, only to see the artist girl smiling beautifully at her Takeru. Ayano was a polite girl smiling at everyone she greeted, but Hikari noticed the smile she gave Takeru was a different smile than the daily ones that she gave to anyone else, save for Goro of course. It was a smile of truth that she Ayano giving to Takeru, and began wondering if this kind of smile was one that could only be shared with a lover, or future one at that. She had seen that smile before, it was a smile she had seen Sora give Yamato, it was a smile that her own brother had on his face whenever he watched Sora and Yamato from afar, it was the secret type of smile she had noticed Ken and Miyako beginning to share with each other, it was a smile she had seen Mimi quietly give Koushiro at get-togethers regardless of the fact that she had a boyfriend at the time, it was a smile she had seen Takeru give herself on more than occasion even after she had rejected him, it was a smile she refused to acknowledge when it came from him, and it was a smile that broke her heart when it disappeared from his face.

Hikari hated what was happening before her eyes, and knew that every second that her Takeru spent in the presence of this girl, that he would begin to drift away from her; slowly but painfully. The tears that she had been holding began to shed when she saw the way that Takeru was looking at the pretty artist. He had a smile on his face that seemed to scream and yet be silent at the same time, and his eyes held what could only be affection as he was looking at Ayano, and Hikari whimpered when she thought she saw love in them.

Hearing his best friend's whimper Takeru waved his goodbye to Ayano, and grabbed Hikari by the hand as he took to the staircase in the middle of the hall so they could speak in private. Seeing as they were alone, Takeru began to wipe the tears from her face, and held her hand tenderly, surprising the both of them with how gentle he was acting. His breathing slowed as he contemplated kissing her hand, it was dorky but something that might have cheered her up, but Takeru shook the foolish thought out of his mind; she didn't want him.

"What's wrong, Hikari-chan?"

When this was said Takeru sighed and Hikari sniffled, both tired of asking each other that question that had become so common between them. Hikari tired of the way that Takeru now addressed her as well.

"Are you still in love with me?"

Takeru, letting his hand fall away from Hikari's, leaned on a wall in the staircase and slid down to sit on the floor; Hikari followed his lead.

"Please don't ask me that."

They were silent for a moment, with Hikari wishing that Takeru would hold her hand again, and said blonde wishing that the brunette would stop yanking his heart in different directions.

"Please just tell me."

More silence passed between the two friends, and Takeru silently wished that he knew what to say, or what Yamato would, in his current situation. Yamato had always been so closed off letting few within his barriers of caring, always scared of getting hurt, and it was at this moment that Takeru wished that he had done the same to Hikari before he started caring about her the way that he did. It was a foolish mistake that his brother would have never made, and Takeru just thought that things would have been easier had he been more like the Ishida side of his family.

"You can't just fall out of love with someone."

Satisfied with his answer the way Takeru had hoped, Hikari positioned herself closer to the blonde, and leaned into him, laying her head on his shoulder. She felt him grab her hand again and she smiled. It was the kind of smile that only lovers share.

"And Ayano-chan?"

Feeling her being so close to him after being so far away from her for so long, four whole days in fact which must have been a record for them, Takeru's heart rate raced faster than ever before, the whole time him falling deeper and deeper in love with the girl who kept rejecting him.

"She's a sweet girl, but," Takeru stopped himself and considered putting it all on the line again for a fourth time. He knew that she didn't want him, that she didn't love him, but when she acted in the way she currently was, Takeru could throw away his better intuition and let his hope take over. He closed his eyes and tightened his hand around Hikari's wishing that he was as strong as his brother. "but she's not you Hikari."

Takeru felt reassured feeling Hikari squeeze his hand, and with that they sat quietly for twenty minutes, letting their lunch just pass them by, simply enjoying being with the other. One thing that was tugging at the back of his mind though, was that Hikari only started acting strangely about everything when Ayano came into the picture. His face was a stern one while thinking about if she truly wanted him or only wanted him to be in love with her. He feared it was the latter, and felt that it wasn't fair that Hikari would have someone to love her, while he in return would have nothing.

"When I asked you if there was even a chance of you ever loving me you didn't answer me. I want an answer, Hikari."

She wished that Takeru wouldn't ruin the moment like he just did, but it was too late for that since he wanted to know how she felt about the possibility of love between them. She knew that if she did get involved with him, that he would always be faithful and never let her down; Takeru having only done that after she had done worse to him. The way Takeru spoke with her, and looked at her, was like if she was this perfect person, and it made Hikari wish that she saw him in the same light. She knew that she wasn't perfect, if she was then she wouldn't have wounded the boy that loved her so badly, but she in turn had no idea what perfection was, and until she knew, she couldn't love Takeru.

"I don't know."

Her eyes were about to well up with tears as she felt Takeru loosen his grip, but stopped when she felt him tighten it once more. His grip was fluctuating, like the sound one hears in a cave, or the light that draws in the insects, and she didn't know what to think. She did feel something though, and like that cave or light, or Takeru's grip, what she felt was fluctuating; nervousness, and broken pride.

"I have to know Hikari, I can't not know."

She wanted him to be in love with her and her alone, but she knew that he wanted more than that, more then she was willing to give him.

"There's no chance, Takeru."

With this Takeru sadly knew that he was correct when he thought that she wanted him to want her, but didn't want him in return. He cursed in French, or at least he thought it was a French curse word anyways, as he slowly let his grip from Hikari's hand fall, and turned to her when he felt her lift her head off his shoulder. He met her eyes that were almost crying, and was surprised that he himself was not in the same state. Takeru genuinely smiled knowing that he had run out of tears to shed for the brunette, his comrade in arms, and promised himself that he would never cry over her again. He almost laughed with joy knowing that his days as a fool controlled by feelings just as foolish were over, and his broken heart was finally going to begin mending knowing that there was another girl who quite possibly wanted his love, or for a more casual way of saying it, his attention, for reasons that were unselfish. Takeru was proud of himself because at last he wasn't the fool, at last Hikari did not own him.

"Maybe someday."

Takeru shook his head slightly as Hikari now made a grab for his hand after hearing her say that there was no chance she would ever be in love with him, and then immediately afterward saying that maybe someday she could have that sort of affection for him in her heart. It had taken her a few seconds of Takeru not being her emotional slave for her to contradict herself, and Takeru felt a tiny hope light up inside him almost believing her words until he consciously snuffed out the thought; she only wanted to be his master, he being her toy and nothing more.

He stood up, lifting Hikari up with him, and even though he had just swore to himself that he would finally give her up, he couldn't help but still feel a fondness for the girl. He had risked and almost lost his life for her so many times, one could ever forget that, and he hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"No matter what Hikari-chan, you will always be my favorite."

As he stood there holding her, lying to her, his mind drifted to old memories of her hurting him so that he wouldn't feel as guilty about the way Hikari was now crying on him, wetting his shirt instead of it being the other way around. He knew why she was crying, and she knew that he was lying when he said she would always be his favorite. Hikari could tell when he wasn't telling the truth, and she had a feeling that maybe Takeru was moving on for real.

Hikari cried on him until the bell signaling the end of lunch rang, and Takeru still held onto her soothing her, and wiping away her tears. After everything she had put him through he was still by her side, after stomping on his heart so many times he was still there for her trying to make her happy. She hated that she couldn't return the favor of making him happy, and she hated the way that she felt as if she had somehow lost Takeru's heart.

Hearing the door to the stairwell open the two teens left the hug they were in to see an Ayano, with Goro standing just behind, give a polite yet intruding smile. Hikari despised the way Takeru stood up and left her to make his way to the artist who didn't deserve him, and she couldn't help but also despise the way they were now smiling at each other; they were smiles that she recognized.

Hikari saw Takeru focus his attention on her before nodding his goodbye, and before he gently grabbed Ayano by the arm and led her out the door. Hikari stood there not knowing what to do as she watched Ayano, her enemy, leave with the boy that had now four times let her know that he was in love with her. Hikari let out a frustrated grunt accompanied by fast tears that would be the last she shed in school that day, and while wiping off said tears she decided that she would simply ditch school without finishing the day; she couldn't be in the same room with Takeru, let alone the person who was trying to steal him away from her.

She saw the way that Ayano looked at Takeru like if he was some perfect person, and Hikari knew that even though he wasn't, that he was as close to perfection as a person could get. Hikari wanted Takeru to love her again, and she knew that slowly she was loving him in return, but she wondered if it was too late for that. She had said no so many times, played with his heart so many times, she had not taken the chance she wanted to the many times it presented itself, and now there was quite possibly somebody else.

She hated Ayano, and she hated the way Takeru seemed to be quite fond of the girl. She hated that Ayano had caught his eye at the pier, and she hated that they now seemed to be in some sort of whirlwind romance. She hated herself for turning down Takeru's many advances, and she hated the fact that barely at the moment of all this hatred that she realized that she was in love with the boy she had just told she could never return his feelings. She hated Ayano, the girl who had ruined her life.


As I said earlier, I did have a doctor's appointment and I did wish for luck. Everything came out fine and dandy, but regardless I would still like to thank everyone who wished me huzzah.