Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

The Dreamer

Chapter: 4

The sun dipped a little closer towards the horizon as the day wore on. The sound of buttons being pressed rang quietly through the air as Takato Matsuki opened the cash register with a ding. Money exchanged hands as well as a bag filled with that delectable delicacy known as Guilmon Bread and soon enough another satisfied customer left the Matsuki Bakery.

"Thanks," called out Takato cheerfully as he waved goodbye. "Come again."

Once the customer was gone Takato took a moment to stretch, knuckling his back as he did so, faintly wondering how it was that his parents could stand to do this sort of thing for an entire day and not complain about it once. All that standing around, pressing buttons on the cash register, counting of Yen to make sure that someone wasn't trying to shortchange him…

Years of practice I guess, thought Takato with a dry chuckle as he felt something in his back make a popping noise and he relaxed. Of course, if my parents let me handle the cash register more often I'd probably be as used to it as they are, but they're more experienced with stuff like this anyway.

Well, he was young anyway, and still had some time to go before his parents had him assuming more of the Bakery's duties (provided that he didn't find a part time job somewhere else first). Plenty of time to get used to this job, right?

Provided that I don't put a hole in the floor for standing on it for too long, thought the brunette Tamer as he took a look outside the Bakery's window, watching Guilmon wave a piece of the bakery's famous bread modeled after him and prancing around excitedly. Through the window Takato heard the crimson dino singing what everyone now called the Guilmon Bread Song, going on and on about the loaf of bread that was shaped like his head. A cute sight to be sure (Takato laughed underneath his breath at the word cute, remembering the time when he had first introduced Jeri to Guilmon), and Guilmon certainly did a good enough job at attracting customers as a fair number of them thought that he was just a kid wearing a costume, and those who knew better had gotten used to the presence of the digital dinosaur. As he didn't cause any trouble beyond acting goofy (or smashing buildings in a fight with a wild digimon) and got along superbly with children, adults had found themselves capable of treating him like he was a normal, regular part of everyday life in Shinjuku. Good thing too. Otherwise business would have been really bad if people reacted to Guilmon the way that Takato's mother had when she first met him.

Shifting his gaze over to the clock that sat on the wall adjacent to the cash register Takato sighed and rubbed a hand over the bandana that held his hair back. It was now a little bit past one O'clock in the afternoon, approximately two hours after he had left Henry's apartment to help his parents around the Bakery, and about five hours since his historic moment in the park where he had accidentally beat his friend Rika, the Digimon Queen at a game that she had shown herself time and time again to be his superior at. A little surprising to be sure, but then everyone got lucky sooner or later. Of course, this luck didn't translate very well when Henry allowed him to try out his new digimon computer game. Three levels in, only recently evolved to Champion and his Greymon got pulverized by a rampaging herd of Mammothmon.

"I knew that your luck was just too good to last Takatomon," he remembered Terriermon quipping to him as his Greymon died a rather oddly cute death before dispersing in an explosion of data shards. "I'm just glad that it ran out here and not on the actual battlefield. I'd hate to think what would happen then."

"Terriermon…"

Takato smiled at the memory as he rung up yet another customer and bid them good day.

Of course after that he wouldn't stop talking about that game I had with Rika…

"Hey Takato!"

Blinking, Takato looked over to his left and saw his father entering the shop section of the bakery and smiled at him.

"What's up?"

Takahiro grinned at his son.

"Nothing much. Just thought that I'd relieve you so that you could get yourself something to eat. Afterwards your mom wants you in the kitchen to help out with the bread dough."

"Sure," said Takato as a relieved look crossed his face. "I could use a break…"

"Yeah, well, don't let your mother hear that from you when you go back there, otherwise she'll just put you back to work."

Though Takahiro sounded serious, the smirk on his face told the boy that he was joking about what he said. Well, mostly. They both knew Mei Matsuki well enough to believe that she just might very well do something of that sort.

"I'll try not to," said Takato with a light laugh as he made his way through the entrance to the back of the bakery and into the kitchen, taking off his hairnet as he did so and breathing a sigh of relief. Upon entering the kitchen, his mother greeted Takato with a cheerful smile and directed him to the lunch that she had fixed for him and had placed on the table counter, reminding him to eat it in the dining room and to not get any food on the floor.

"Yes Mom," said Takato as he took his meal and exited the Bakery section of his home and headed for the dining area. Upon entering the dining room Takato pulled back a chair and sat down, picking up his chopsticks and digging into the rice portion of his food and began chewing it over thoughtfully, letting his mind drift through the day's events and casting his eyes about the room. Eventually his gaze settled on his parent's calendar, marking the month and day of the year, and he remembered that today was when Jeri had gone off with her parents to visit some relatives. He couldn't remember the name of the city, just that he had been there before with Guilmon and Calumon to drop off Jeri, or rather her D-Reaper clone after their return from the digital world.

Had he been remembering that particular scene Takato would have involuntarily shuddered.

Takato's face became a little crestfallen as instead his mind turned to the time of the Hanami celebration, remembering how strange Jeri had been at the end of the day that they had gone there and met up with Rika and the rest of the gang. She seemed to have a lot on her mind at the time. Of course she had seemed to be nervous at the start of things and then afterwards distant, and he could sort of understand it. He had been pretty nervous about the whole ordeal too (and with plenty of reason to be as young love is not an easy thing to experience) but after that day…

Takato sighed inwardly. He had hung out with Jeri since then of course, twice at the Hanami celebration and while the puppet loving girl seemed to appreciate the time that they shared during the week of Cherry Blossom watching Takato couldn't help but feel as though she were thinking about something else every time that they were together, or was made uncomfortable in some manner, as though his presence was reminding her of something. A few times she had made as if she had wanted to ask him something but decided against it and then tried to distract him from the issue immediately afterwards. He didn't know what it was that was bothering her, but for some reason he felt, or rather feared, that he had something to do with it and was afraid to confront him about it. He wished that she would just tell him and get it over with so that he wasn't just standing around second guessing himself. He wanted to help her but he couldn't do that if she didn't talk to him about whatever was bothering her and took every opportunity that came up to avoid the issue.

Maybe I should talk to her when she gets back… say something to her, thought Takato as he washed down some of his meal with a quick sip of some milk. I hate to see her like this. I should have caught on to it sooner. I didn't think too much of it then and she told me that everything was all right but… I don't know. I can't help but wonder if things are the same between us. It feels likes something's changed and I can't put my finger on what it is or how it happened. I wish that I had some answers. I don't want to lose our friendship.

Takato frowned at the thought, part of him wanting to berate himself for even entertaining such thoughts but he couldn't help but worry about it. It was just how he was. He never liked to see someone he cared about hurting in some fashion and he had the habit of taking their pain as a personal failure on his part even when it wasn't necessary or even his fault to begin with. He cared about his friends a great deal, all of them and there were plenty of times where he felt inadequate to do something for them, like how Rika had helped him last week when he was feeling down…

"You promised the sunset we'd always, always be together…"

Takato turned his gaze back down to his food, picking at it with his chopsticks as the memory from the park came back to him once more for what had to be the tenth time since waking up this morning as a small, slightly embarrassed smile curved on his lips. He still wasn't all too sure what to make of that day. There was so much about it that seemed weird to him, and Rika's singing to him only served to drive the point home. Not that he didn't appreciate the gesture; far from it in fact, but it just seemed a little bit odd from his standpoint. Rika singing to him… it wasn't something that he was used to, though he had to admit that it was rather nice. She had shown him a part of herself that didn't get to come out often.

I sure wish that she would be like that more, thought Takato, thinking on all the times that he had seen that warm, kind, and friendly aspect that seemed almost foreign to the tough personality that he was used to seeing from the red haired girl, like the concern that she had shown Jeri after she had lost Leomon, or the depth of friendship that she showed to Renamon. She had a way of surprising him that way, and he guessed that it was one of the traits that he admired about her. Her heart had grown quite a lot during the course of their digimon adventures and had become a much more caring person, a far cry from the cold and vicious Tamer who had tried to delete Guilmon almost a year ago. The change of the heart on her shirt almost seemed to serve as an example of just how much she had changed…

Okay, maybe it's best that I don't go down that line of thought, thought Takato as a small blush began to heat up his cheeks as a memory from a time down in the tunnels flitted through his mind. Forcing the memory to the side with an effort (and an increasing blush at it to go with the nervous smile that twitched on his face) Takato tried to think of something else, his thoughts beginning to go in a circular motion as they chased after his worries over Jeri and then settling once more on the fiery Tamer who had shown him such a high degree of friendship last week, and he faintly wondered at how Rika seemed to be acting different towards him now since the day that he and the rest had gone Cherry Blossom Watching and played Frisbee in the park. Nicer seeming, but then that could probably just be his overactive imagination. She still acted the same way around him, as he was accustomed to prior to last week…

So why was it that every time he saw her there seemed to be some extra light in her eyes? Her smile just that much wider and her tone that much more welcoming when greeting him?

All these questions Takato felt more as an emotion tickling the back of his mind rather than an actual thought, and for the most part he brushed them off, and as a consequence overlooking the odd timing in Rika and Jeri's change in attitude towards him and the possibility that they were more than just coincidence. As Takato continued to eat his lunch, the notes of Rika's song played through his mind once more and with them came images of the strange dream that he had about Rika this morning. His fingers fumbling with the chopsticks in his hand Takato's face flushed a deep crimson.

Maybe Rika's right, thought Takato as he desperately tried to shoo the memory away. Maybe my goggles are cutting off the circulation to my brain…wait, I'm not wearing my goggles right now…

"TAKATO!" Called out the boy's mother from the interior of the bakery, causing the goggleheaded Tamer to jump in surprise, all but losing his chopsticks right then and there. "NOT TO RUSH YOU OR ANYTHING BUT I DO NEED YOUR HELP WITH THE BREAD DOUGH SOMETIME TODAY!"

"I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!" Called back Takato as he quickly got himself a good grip on his chopsticks and proceeded to imitate his digimon's eating habits, downing the remainder of his food in one quick gulp before picking up his plate and rushing back to the bakery section of his home.

Sheesh. I'll bet Rika's having more fun than me right now…

Rika stood next to her mother as they both admired a piece of artwork hanging on the wall before them. Upon meeting at the house the two of them had exchanged pleasantries and then together left to hang out somewhere in the city, both taking turns on where to go and what to see as had become part of their regular routine since becoming closer as mother and daughter. This time it had been Rumiko's turn to choose but surprisingly she had left the decision up to her daughter, who had opted to try something that was a little against the norm. Not really wanting to do anything that she deemed to be girly but still wanting to try something that they both could enjoy the red headed girl had chosen a visit to the art museum. While she felt that the slow pace of standing around looking at famous paintings or other forms of artwork wasn't quite suited to her tastes she didn't mind it all that much today, so long as she got to hang out with her mother for a while. Though Rumiko had been negotiating with her modeling company to give her a more manageable schedule so that she could spend more time with her family, there were still some trips that called her complete attention and time away from home, so it was best to enjoy these moments while she could.

At the moment the two of them were gazing at a pretty standard picture of a Sakura tree, medium size and looked to have been done with mostly watercolor. Nothing too special about it Rika thought and she had seen more than enough of the real thing in the past two weeks where she didn't really have to pay much in the way of attention to it, so she let her mind drift back to this morning after her defeat at the hands of a certain Gogglehead, resting on the memory for a moment and smiling at it, focusing on it with a quiet, observing eye in the same way that her mother was focusing on the painting.

"So Rika," said her blond haired mother, snapping the girl out of her reverie. "You didn't tell me yet about what you thought of the Hanami celebration this year. Your grandmother says that you had stayed there for the day."

Rika blinked.

"Huh? Oh. It was… good I guess. I spent some time with my friends. Nothing too big went down. Certainly no Wild Ones showed up, that's for sure."

Rumiko smiled gently as she turned to look at her daughter.

"That's good to know," the elder Nonaka said with a nod. "It's good to know that you get along so well with your friends. Makes me wish that I were here last week. It would have been nice to have gone down to the Sakura trees and just relax for the entire day."

Rika smiled at her mother as they both moved on to another piece of artwork behind them.

"What does Renamon think of Hanami?" Asked Rumiko. "And where is she anyway? I only saw her the one time when I got home…"

"She's around," said Rika shrugging her shoulders. "She just rather prefers to be outside right now. She doesn't want to feel like she's intruding on our time together that' all."

"Hmmm… well, it would have been nice to talk to her, but I can do that afterwards. But I am curious about what she thinks of Hanami…"

"She hasn't said that she dislikes it," said Rika with a small smile. "But I think that she enjoyed her time there."

"That's good to know," said Rumiko. "I enjoyed myself there too when I was younger. It was nice to see so many happy people gathered together in one place and not have a care in the world." Rumiko sighed as her eyes took on a nostalgic glint to them as memories from an earlier time made their way into her mind.

"I haven't really had time for Hanami in quite a while. I've just been too busy with modeling to really care to think about it much." Rumiko then fixed her daughter with a sad look. "Been too busy to think about a lot of things…"

Rika's face softened and she looked away, feeling a little uncomfortable with the topic of conversation now. There were times where she hated herself for how she acted towards her mother about the amount of attention that she devoted to her modeling career, and how often she had tried to get Rika to follow in her footsteps, and there were times where she was reflexively suspicious of her mother's motives whenever they went somewhere together and hated herself for even thinking that way. Old habits died hard it seemed and some died the hardest, but she had changed quite a bit since those early days and she loved her mother a great deal, just like her mother loved her. Rika didn't want the ghosts of her past holding her back from telling people how she felt about them or trying to help them when they were down.

"Mom…" began Rika only to be silenced by the older woman as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"It's okay Rika. That's why we're here now, right? Now come on, let's go and see what else this place has in store for us, okay honey?"

Rika smiled and nodded at her mother, feeling a sense of relief flood through her.

"You bet."

A second later, Rumiko's cell phone broke the moment between them as it began ringing and Rika tensed, guessing that whoever was calling was no doubt going to be her modeling agency. Pulling the annoying object out of her purse, Rumiko glanced at it and frowned, only confirming Rika's suspicions. Almost on instinct, Rika tensed, sensing that this was the moment where she would answer and then have to excuse herself with an apology…

Click!

Rika blinked in surprise as Rumiko hung up her cell phone and promptly turned it off, then placing it back in her purse before looking back at Rika and smiling at her.

"They can wait for a while. We're already busy."

Rika chuckled at that.

"Got that right. C'mon. I want to see the rest of this place."

Rumiko gave a light laugh of her own as the two women began to look for another piece of artwork to look at. After a moment, Rumiko looked at her daughter with an expression that was both curious and sly.

"By the way Rika, seeing as how you went to the Hanami celebration does that mean that you took that boy Takato up on the offer he made back on your birthday?"

Rika immediately tensed again as she felt her face begin to heat up dramatically. Rika frowned at her mother.

"Mom…"

Rumiko laughed at the girl who in one year had seen and experienced more than most people experience in their lifetime now for a brief moment sounded like the youthful child that she really was.

"Just asking…"

Rika groaned in exasperation.

7