Enjoy! Read and Review! This chapter is extra long because I have boring classes. Boring classes time to write! Lol
The next morning came excruciatingly slow for T.K. He hadn't gotten a single wink of sleep the whole night because of his anxiety over his girlfriend. Wracking his fingers through his hair, he stood from his bed and rushed into the bathroom to hurriedly brush his teeth and groom himself. He then went back to his room and dressed in a pair of jeans and long sleeve green polo.
All the while, his mind kept filling itself with worst-case scenarios. He couldn't help thinking that something completely awful was going to happen to Kari; something he couldn't help her with.
What if the enemy was too strong? What if it already gotten to her and she was slowly dying? What if the enemy attacked and he couldn't save her in time? What if he never saw her again...?
Those were the questions swimming through T.K.'s head.
He forced himself to stop thinking such morbid thoughts as he stood from his bed. Matt was right; it didn't help anyone if he worried himself over the situation before he knew anything about it. He made a promise to himself that he would not worry until he knew there was something to worry about.
But...didn't this constitute as something to worry about?
He shook his head, willing the negative thoughts to leave. School would distract him. He would be so swamped with work that he wouldn't have the energy to think, much less worry.
Good, he told himself. And then once school is out, I'll go early to see her and get the whole story so I can come up with solutions to the problem. Everything will be alright.
With one last look in the mirror, he put his hat on, said goodbye to his mother, and headed to school.
T.K. walked into homeroom and his gaze immediately drifted to his girlfriend's empty seat. Even though there were ten minutes left until homeroom officially started, he knew she would not be coming to school today.
His spirits fell and his heart ached at this realization. Now, this was cause to worry. The rational side of his mind knew she was sick. She left school early yesterday because she wasn't feeling well. It was only safe to assume that she still hadn't recovered. But Tai's phone call last night shed light on things he never knew. Now he was wondering whether her being sick had to do with whatever was after her.
Just thinking about someone hurting his love made his blood boil and he felt rage he'd never experience before. He didn't realize his hands were balled into fists until he felt the pressure of his nails dig into his palms. He reluctantly un-balled his fists and instead calmly—or, as calmly as he could—walked to his desk and sat down.
Davis saw him come in from his place on the other side of the room, and he too saw the tension T.K. radiated. He thought about calling over to ask what was bothering him, but reality kicked in and he remembered the events from yesterday.
T.K. had been sent to run errands for the teacher when Kari got sick. Davis remembered that her symptoms showed themselves in their entirety as soon as his presence was gone. He couldn't decide whether her sickness intensified because she didn't want T.K. to notice just how bad she was, or if him leaving was the cause. Either way, she was gone before T.K. returned, and when he found out what happened he stayed quiet and didn't speak for the rest of the day.
That worried Davis. T.K. was usually the optimist of the group, and through all the time they all knew each other, Davis had never seen him look so...useless. Matt's call last night shed some much needed light on the situation, and he found himself extremely anxious. He was also angry, but his anger stemmed from reasons he knew weren't relevant to the situation they were faced with.
His anger stemmed from jealousy.
He knew T.K. and Kari were together now. It was no big secret to anyone, considering they told everyone after it happened. No matter how long ago it happened, it still hurt Davis to think about the girl he'd had feelings for since the fourth grade being with another guy. And no matter how much time goes by, he won't ever get used to it. The good that came out of their relationship was their happiness. As long as she was genuinely happy, he could be too, right?
He didn't know.
Davis lost his train of though when the bell rang and homeroom began. He wanted to know if T.K. knew more than the rest of them and decided he'd wait until lunch to ask.
T.K. had never been happier to hear the lunch bell ring in his entire life. He'd been so antsy that he couldn't focus on or retain any of the information the teacher gave on English. All through class his thoughts were plagued with worry and he didn't think he could take much more of it.
Davis saw him leave the class and went after him.
T.K. noticed Davis's presence when he heard an odd variation of his name leave the boy's mouth.
"T.J."! He yelled as he fell into step with the other digidestined.
T.K. heaved a heavy sigh at the nickname. It was bad enough that he still had another 3 hours left to be there. Why couldn't Davis just leave him alone? But he replied, nonetheless, if not out of interest, then out of courtesy.
"Not now, Davis. I'm really not in the mood to fool around".
"Neither am I." The other boy said seriously. "Matt called me last night about the meeting. I just wanted to see if you knew anything."
T.K. stopped walking when he reached the courtyard and sat on one of the benches. Davis followed suit, sitting on the opposite side with his hands behind his head and his legs stretched out in front of him. He suspected T.K. didn't really want to talk about this right now, but he really didn't care to be perfectly honest.
Kari affected all of them, not just T.K., and he wanted to make that known. It was bad enough that they were together, but he felt T.K. was rubbing that fact in his face with his silent 'I'm-the-only-one-who-can-help-her' act.
He knew they had history; years of history. They went through things he probably couldn't imagine in his wildest dreams. And he was so jealous that he could scream. He wanted to know about Kari, but he couldn't help the bitterness that came out at his question.
"Why are you so worried about her, dude?" He asked as he turned halfway and put his leg under the other so he was facing the blond boy.
What little tension that had disappeared within him came rushing back as he heard Davis's question.
"What kind of question is that? Don't ask about things you don't understand."
"What don't I understand?" Davis's voice began elevating and T.K. hadn't the slightest clue as to why.
"Why don't you explain it, T.S.! You're walking around here acting like no one in this world can help her but you!"
"You want me to explain it, Davis?!" His voice rose as well. He didn't know what Davis's problem was, nor did he care at this point in conversation.
"This isn't the first time Kari's been sick!"
"No crap, T.J.! Last time she was really sick was a few years ago when we were eleven! I've seen her sick before, and I helped take care of her. What makes you so special?"
Both boys' anger was fueled by each word the other said. If things kept up, it would be bad.
"I don't care what kind of flu she had in the 5th grade! You've never seen her as sick as she was when she was eight. She hasn't been that sick since she was eight!" T.K. was getting red in the face as the memories came flooding into his mind as a wave would crash onto the sand on a shore.
"Back when we were eight, she passed out in the middle of a ghost town in the digital world. And when we took her to some random house and put her in bed, Tai went out to find her medicine. He told me to take care of her and that I was the protector. He trusted me with his little sister, a privilege he never truly gave to anyone, not even Matt or Sora.
Davis listened intently; still not completely understanding what that had to do with what was going on now.
"And when everyone was gone, I sat there and I watched her. She was so helpless! Her eyes had no life in them. She was so pale and was so miserable. And through all her pain, she still had the strength and made the effort to let me know she would be okay. And she told me she trusted me with her. I was so scared, but she made me feel like I was doing some good."
T.K., who stood in the middle of his speech, sat back on the bench and put his head in his hands.
"She would have said the same thing, no matter who was watching over her. She's always been the grateful type!"
T.K. chose not to reply to that.
While T.K. was just tired of arguing, Davis felt he was just getting started. He knew he should just leave it alone, but part of his anger stemmed from him feeling left out of the loop. That and he subconsciously couldn't grasp the fact that she said that to him. He wanted to do all he could to make his point known.
"You did some good, but you weren't the only one who was helping her and was there for her."
"I know that!" Davis was taken aback at how loud he yelled that.
"You don't understand, Davis. Yes, others were helping her. Yes, she appreciated everything they did for her. But what you don't understand is that she doesn't feel comfortable asking for help. She hates being a burden on anyone. Except for me and Tai, she'd rather keep a problem secret than tell anyone else.
"I just want to be there for her, because aside from Tai, I know her better than anyone ever could. And I'm too in love with her to just sit here idly, knowing she is in pain."
Davis sat there, completely shocked at what he'd just said. Had he heard him correctly? Davis shook his head as he let the phrase take control of his mind.
'I'm too in love with her to just sit here idly...'
'I'm too in love with her...'
This hit Davis like a ton of bricks. He'd never heard T.K. say that he loved her before.
"Dude." Davis began, having no idea what he was going to say. He didn't know whether he should drop the conversation or keep arguing.
"Dude, go to her." Was all Davis could say. Looking at T.K., he could see how sorry he was for acting so selfish. And what could Davis do? If T.K. stayed, they would just keep arguing, going in circles, and absolutely nothing would be resolved. With him gone, he could think about things.
He would talk to T.K. at the meeting, when he was more rational about the situation. He wasn't wrong; he knew that. He was so confused. He was torn between his feelings for Kari and his friendship with T.K.
Davis's comment caused T.K. to lift his head.
"Your not doing anybody any good just sitting here sulking. Go to her and talk to her yourself. From what you said, I'm sure it would make you both feel better."
T.K. heard the bitter jealousy in his voice, but decided to say nothing. Kari was more important to him than his and Davis's rivalry. He would confront Davis at another time, but right now he just needed her. No one else.
"You're right, Davis. I'm not doing any good here. I'm really sorry for the way I've been acting."
T.K. stood and began making his way past Davis to the side entrance of the building. Davis remained seated.
"Don't worry about telling the teacher. I'll have my dad call and explain it."
With that, he disappeared into the building, most likely going to his locker.
Calling his father was the obvious thing to do. His mother, after the most dangerous of missions would eventually be in complete denial that her sons were off in some foreign world where they were likely to end up hurt, or sometimes worst. Telling his mom about a new threat wouldn't set well with the older woman, and he couldn't afford to be punished at a time like this.
Yes...she would punish him. Anything to keep her baby from harm, is what she would say when she tried it once. One call to Matt and that was easily squashed. His father was a lot more open-minded about the digital world. He knew the dangers well, better than his mother ever could. The difference is that Mr. Ishida trusted his sons to be alright. Their mother was just very overprotective.
What she didn't understand that everyone else did was that Matt would never let anything happen to them. Even now, as a teenager, he still felt safest when Matt was around. Like Tai with Kari, Matt was always his protector. Though this new enemy is a threat to Kari, Matt would still be around for him. The bond both brothers had with one another was so strong that neither could believe it. There were times when T.K. even thought he could hear what Matt was thinking. It was scary at first, but as time went on, it became normal. Matt never told him, but he suspected he could hear his thoughts sometimes too. Only in particularly emotional moments, however.
He reached the Kamiya residence in less than 20 minutes. Though lost in thought, his anxiousness drove him further than his rational side. He all but sprinted from school to get to her.
He was so nervous; he didn't know what to expect when he saw her.
Would she tell him what was going on? Or would it be so horrible that she didn't have the strength to talk about it?
T.K. stood outside the door for five minutes before finally gathering himself enough to knock. The sight that met him was one that always had the ability to make him smile.
Kari stood in the doorway, a surprised look gracing her face. She wore a pair of lavender sweatpants and white tank top. Her hair was slightly disheveled, but some of the color had returned to her face, which T.K. was very grateful for. Though he didn't know the extent of her illness yesterday, he did notice that she was ghostly pale.
This was a sign she was getting better. T.K. and Kari seemed to have the same mentality; Tai could make everything better.
It took Kari a few seconds to get over her shock before she invited him in. T.K. took off his shoes and put his backpack down before enveloping her in a hug. Kari wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. She inhaled deeply, loving the smell of him.
She missed being in his arms so badly it almost hurt. It had only been 2 days since she felt him, and already she felt herself going through withdrawal.
All tension left her body as he held her tighter to him. No words were spoken during this exchange, nor did there need to be. Both were just relieved to know that they had one another. As much as he wanted to keep holding her though, he knew they had to break apart. He really wanted to talk to her.
She pulled away from him reluctantly and led him to her room. Once there, she held her hand up as a silent plea for him to stop outside the door. He didn't realize why until he heard a slight snore come from the top bunk bed.
He peered around the corner to see Taichi Kamiya completely knocked out. T.K. suspected that the older boy wouldn't wake up for anything, no matter how much noise anyone made.
T.K. had seen that kind of sleep before. His first time seeing it was in the digiworld, right after he, Matt and Joe found Sora in that black hole and got her out. That night, Matt's snores were so loud that even patamon's ears over his own didn't stop the piercing sound. The worst part was that Matt didn't wake up until the next morning, no matter how hard T.K. shook him.
T.K. asked Sora about it the next morning, because Matt was normally a light sleeper, and last night scared him. She told him that Gabumon said he hadn't slept at all since he left everyone after the puppetmon battle. She then explained that the reason he slept so well now was because Matt was with him again and knew he was safe, so he let his guard down.
Looking at Tai, T.K. instantly knew those two situations were similar. Another particularly loud snore broke T.K. out of his reverie and he left the doorway to sit on the couch in the living room.
"I'm sorry about the noise. I know it is probably annoying."
Kari said as she came back and sat next to him on the couch. After she made herself comfortable, she put the diary on the cushion that separated the two of them.
"It's no problem. I have to deal with Matt's snoring sometimes, too."
He looked at her pink diary and raised an eyebrow. She opened it to the same passage she showed Tai and let him read it. As soon as his eyes fell on someone trying to take her, he slammed the book shut and put it down.
He didn't want to read anymore He wasn't strong enough to. He didn't need to read about the pain she was feeling when he could clearly see it on her face.
Kari studied his features and put her hand in his open palm, which he squeezed firmly. Their eyes met and no words were exchanged.
When Tai woke up, they had a lot to discuss before the others arrived. Matt would most likely come straight from school, having already cancelled practice because of the situation. The four of them were all they needed. Even though they trusted their friends and wanted their help, part of Tai and T.K. knew they were going to take care of her together.