Edited 4/15/2021
I don't own Digimon or the song "Something Just Like This," by The Chainsmokers
"But she said, where'd you wanna go? How much you wanna risk?
I'm not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts.
Some superhero, Some fairytale bliss just something I can turn to,
somebody I can kiss. I want something just like this"
The sound of laughter floated through the air. The sun was high, beating down onto my unprotected shoulders, but the breeze kept it comfortable.
"Catch!" Sora tossed the bottle of sunscreen over to me and I started to generously apply it. It was a change, that the biggest worry I had that day was a sunburn. We decided to take advantage of a nice day for once, and headed to the beach. They had their last show before we would head to Miami, later that night.
Kari told everyone she would talk to Mimi about Michael when we got there. It brought some feeling of relief to everyone, not because we were sure if, or how, Mimi would be able to help but because Kari was finally letting people in to help her.
She seemed lighter today, at the moment she was swimming with John and Colin, smiles plastered on their faces. Matt and Trevor were throwing a frisbee around, each becoming more competitive as time went on. Matt would throw it further to the side, and then Trevor would throw it way over his head. Matt always needed someone to compete with. I'm not sure he knew how to do anything without there being a winner or a loser. Trevor seemed to fill the gap I'm sure moving away from Tai created, none of the other guys really fell into that trap. John was so happy-go-lucky he would just forfeit the situation to make the other person happy, and Colin was just another story entirely. He was a huge cheater, always looking for a way to change the rules, and it drove everyone insane. We tried playing cards a few weeks ago, but it was a disaster, and we only got five hands in before it fell apart.
As if on cue, Colin came running between the two of them catching the frisbee mid-air and running off with it, creating a new game, without asking anyone if they minded. Sora came to sit by me, laughing at the ridiculous group of grown men, bickering like children, in front of us.
"It's nice," She said, between her laughter.
"Hmm?" I questioned, glancing at her.
"It's almost like this is all there is, ya know? Everyone is so relaxed today, and the last few shows have gone so well," She looked out to Kari and John, he was throwing her further into the water as she exploded into another fit of giggles.
"It's nice to let our guard down a bit, yea," I looked up at the sun and let it shine onto my face. Its simple warmth was a comfort I hadn't taken the time to enjoy in a while.
"Your brother is out of control," She said, with a snicker. I looked up and he was still trying to get the frisbee back from Colin, who had recruited Trevor to play keep away.
"He's you're boyfriend," I retorted.
"You raised him!" She shouted, playfully.
I looked at her flatly, "I'm younger."
"I stand by what I said," She said, trying to keep a straight face, but the two of us dissolved into laughter once again.
We saw John coming up from the ocean. A group of girls near the water watched him go by, each trying to stand out in their own way, and him totally oblivious. He took a seat on his towel and started digging through his backpack.
"John, those girls over there are eyeing you up," I nodded in the direction he came from.
He pulled a bottle of water out and took a large swig, "What?" He looked in their direction and they all quickly looked away. They were a bit younger than us, but probably in their early twenties. "No way," he scoffed. "They aren't looking over here."
"You're clueless," Sora joked.
"Who's clueless?" Colin interrupted, coming up from behind us. I turned back and saw that Matt and Trevor had their game back.
"Group of girls over there was checking out John," Sora said, with a glint in her eye.
"Where? There?" Colin said, pointing directly to the group of girls. Smooth, I thought to myself.
Sora and I nodded, as he dragged John to his feet and headed over to the group. "He's gonna ruin it," Sora said.
"Probably," I agreed.
"Hey," Kari came running over. "Come swimming?" She asked, sweetly.
"But the sun's so nice right here," I said, teasingly back to her. I closed my eyes, and looked up dramatically, but was shocked by cold water tricking across my chest.
"Hey!" I shouted, in mock horror, as she continued to wring her hair out over me.
I got up and started chasing her towards the water, leaving a dust trail of sand behind me, her mission was accomplished. The wind carried the sound of her laughter back to me. I could have caught up before we hit the water, but she looked so happy, and I didn't want to end the game too soon. When I finally got to her we were a few feet into the water. I picked her up as John had before, tossing her a little further into the ocean. When she came back to the surface she responded by splashing me, completely soaking whatever had been left dry. I dove into the water and swam around behind her, quietly coming up so she wouldn't notice me. I saw her looking around, I went under again before she could spot me and grabbed her waist under the water, tossing her once again, and watching happily as she exploded into another fit of giggles.
She swam over holding up her hands, "Truce?" I eyed her suspiciously. She chuckled a bit before responding, "I promise. I'm tired, and my stomach hurts from laughing."
I held out my hand accepting her truce, pulling her a bit closer to me, where I knew she could stand without going under the water, "I'm glad you're having fun today," I said, pushing some stray wet hair out of her face.
"It's nice, we should have done this at the last stop too," She looked up at me for a moment, before glancing back at everyone. I could tell she was mulling something over.
"What's on your mind, Kamiya?" I questioned playfully.
She smiled up at me, but there was pain reflected in her eyes, "I just wish I knew it would stay like this, ya know?"
I nodded in understanding. I looked back and saw Colin and John still talking with the group of girls. John looked like he was fairing better than Colin, who appeared to be striking out. Matt had joined Sora near our things, quietly lounging together. Trevor had disappeared for the moment.
"I'm glad you came," I turned back and she had a slight blush creeping into her cheeks, it could have been the sun, but the way she avoided my eyes made me think otherwise.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, prodding for something more specific.
"On tour, I just – I can't imagine going through the last few weeks without you. I didn't realize how much of a space you took up in my life until I left Japan." She reached out, and grabbed one of my hands in her own, "It's not just everything bad either, I'm happy you're here for days like today, for dinner, for all of it," She looked up shyly when she was finished speaking.
Little water droplets sat on her lashes, and the sun brightened up her eyes so they were more of a chestnut color than their typical deep brown hue. She furrowed her brow, and I realized I'd been staring too long without responding, lost in a moment I didn't know I'd have with her again.
I laced my fingers between hers, and closed a bit of the space between us, "Don't you think I'm glad I'm here," I tilted her chin so she could see my face, see that there was no hesitation, or question, about the decision I'd made.
"I just know how bad the bad days have been," She replied.
"Hika, the bad days can't ruin a day like today, or anything else good that happens. Did you forget about the good days we had when we were kids, even though we had some absolutely insane ones? Do you regret those?" I questioned.
The corners of her mouth twitched, and her eyes held a bit more ease, "I never thought about it like that, but no, never. I wouldn't trade any of it."
"Me either, so how could I trade a day like today," I said.
Neither of us spoke for a bit, we just waded in the shallow water, she leaned further into me and buried her head into my chest. She said something but it was muffled.
"What was that?" I said, grazing my hands across her shoulders, pulling her back so I could look at her. She bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath before she met my eyes again.
"I just." She paused again. I looked down at her and tried not to laugh, it was adorable the way she was trying to gather herself. She looked up at me, and huffed as if to say, 'you know what I'm trying to say.' She started again, "I mean. I still have ... I still."
She stopped stumbling over her words, as I moved my hands from her shoulders to her face. I caressed her cheek, "Me too," I said before I bent down and kissed her softly, saving her from the struggle of saying what we both felt. It only took her a moment before she kissed me back.
She tasted like the sea, her mouth was salty, and cold from the ocean water. It was choppy for a moment and the water pushed us back but I stayed steady on my feet, we didn't part, not yet. My hand was tangled in her hair, while the white noise of the ocean made me almost dizzy. I felt one of her hands move from my chest to the back of my neck, the trail she left was as cold as her mouth had been. When we parted her eyes fluttered, the little water droplets traveling down her face.
Years I'd spent away from her, years I'd spent not touching her, not kissing her. I remembered every second of our first kiss, it was burned into my memory. It was slow and gentle, both of us so afraid and unsure, but this was different. The moment she reacted and kissed me back there was no question anymore. I played with the ends of her hair between my fingers, slowly moving my hand back to her face. She leaned into my touch and shivered, from me or the water, I wasn't sure. My thumb grazed her bottom lip and she pulled me back to her, our mouths crashed together, she buried her hands into my hair, my own moved to her waist, holding her close. A wave crashed into us again, this time breaking us apart, and we were suddenly hyper-aware of where we were, on a public beach surrounded by people. She brought her hand to her mouth and smiled, before looking around and laughing. It was the most beautiful sound to me, my favorite song. I pulled her close to me in the water for a bit, before we headed back into what I was sure would be a slue of teasing, but I didn't care.
The rest of the day was a blur, the show went off without any issues and by the time we got back to the bus, we were all exhausted. We wanted to spend an extra day in Miami so we ended up driving straight through the night. We got in at about three in the morning. When we got to our room we collapsed into our beds and fell right asleep.
It was our best day on the tour, and it's not that there weren't other good ones, but the good was littered with what was to come. We never expected what would happen next, it made no sense for a while, and it sent everything into an agonizing tailspin.
That one day though, that one day was perfect.