"What's wrong with Tai?" Davis asked, running after Kari. Davis may often be hot headed, but he also knew when to be serious, and this seemed like a serious matter.
The blonde keeping pace beside Davis turned his head quizzically and asked, "You know Tai?"
"We play on the same soccer team." Davis boasted with pride. That was the second reason he took the matter so seriously. Tai was a bit of a hero to him. Davis even adopted a pair of goggles atop his head because Tai had worn some in a game and did exceptionally well.
The corridors were all but empty now, the students had left for home or anywhere else but school. Even with the minimal students, the running group had caused quite a clamor.
Lying back on an infirmary bed, Tai heard squeaks and exchange of voices grow louder and louder until he saw 4 junior students barge into the infirmary. He recognized a worried looking brunette and waved his hand. "Hey Kari, I'm over here."
"Tai!" She quickly ran over to her brother. "Are you ok? What happened?" She asked, as she glanced him over. Tai's left leg was wrapped in white bandages and his face had a few already healing scratches.
Tai raised his hand and scratched the back of his head. TK and Kari inwardly winced. Oh boy… They knew Tai, and when he scratched the back of his head like that with a sheepish look on his face, they knew it would be something silly. He tried to avoid that question by pointing towards Yolei, "Uh well… actually, who are you?"
"Me?" Yolei asked, pointing to herself for a second before regaining composure. "Oh, right. Hi. My name's Yolei, I… uhh… stumbled onto your email and found Kari. You know what? I should actually go fix that. Nice to meet you!" Yolei scrambled out of there. "Bye!"
"Stop changing the subject." Kari commanded. "What happened?" Her tone softened. Tai's hand returned to scratch his head, and his eyes moved to avoid anyone else's gaze, but he began to speak.
"Well, it started with Sora and her skirt and I'd been running the track…" It didn't take long for Tai to entrance the group. "And then she said with this strained tone, Tai…'THAT'S NOT MY BAG'" Laughter broke out as Tai finished the tale and finally stopped scratching his head.
"It seems like you're not that badly hurt then." A relieved Kari wiped away a tear.
"Of course not kiddo." Tai tussled his sister's hair, much to her annoyance. She pushed his hand away and tried to straighten her hair. Tai smirked. "I'll be fine. I just have to stay here until the nurses here finish writing up the report. Davis, do you think you could stay with me for a while?"
This'll be a good chance to score some points. "Sure, Tai!" Davis agreed.
"Great, and TK, can you walk Kari home?" Tai continued.
"WHAT?!" Davis exclaimed, tears streaming down his face.
The friends in green and pink walked in silence for a few minutes. Both felt a little awkward. Kari had insisted she didn't need anyone to walk her home, Tai insisted she did, and Davis just kept exclaiming out in disbelief. Eventually the clamor had attracted the nurses, and they had forced TK and Kari out. "One visitor at a time." Seeing there was nothing to be done about it, they just decided to walk home. When they reached the gate of the school, TK asked "Which way?"
"That's ok TK, I'll be fine." Kari Kamiya was perhaps as stubborn as her brother.
"I know you will, but I just want to catch up." His words slipped past her defenses.
Kari began to lead towards her place. "I hope Tai's going to be alright." She had honesty been lost in thought about her brothers' well being for the first few minutes, but she realized she had forgotten about the boy she was trying to get a hold of all day.
TK's posture grew more relaxed. "Oh, don't worry about him. With that hard head of his, I'm surprised it wasn't the tree that was hurt. Do you remember the cat disaster 5 years ago?" TK's skill had always been to be able to find a way to lighten the mood. It was a skill he picked up because Kari had always gotten down on this or that.
Kari stopped in her tracks. For the second time today, she laughed out quite loudly. She thought of Tai's expression when he got home with cat scratch marks all over him and walked straight past Kari and their parents and into his room. Kari had to hold her sides as her laughter subsided into giggles. TK chuckled alongside, reminiscing, not just about Tai, but Kari's laugh. It was music to his ears and a song he could listen to again and again and again. Kari felt her cheeks stiffen and sought to sooth them by rubbing them with her hands. They were rubbed in small circles, but didn't serve to relieve much tightness.
"Kari, what are you doing?"
"Nothing. I… I just haven't laughed like that in a long time."
"Oh." A look of sadness briefly washed on TK's face. Kari's smiles and laughs were treasures, and the thought that she wasn't happy worried hm. He brightened a smile for her and said, "Well, I'll just have to see what I can do about that."
She laughed again, returning his smile. "Don't." She pouted. "My cheeks hurt."
TK reached out and lightly pinched her cheek. "It's been a long time..."
She nodded. "You've gotten taller." Kari looked slightly up.
"I missed you, Kari." TK softly said.
"I missed you too, TK." Kari returned in the same volume.
The two turned their conversation towards their lives, television, music, and anything else under the sun. There was no end to the things they could talk about. Every so often, smiles and laughter would break out. When they were getting closer to the end of the walk, things started looking more familiar to TK. Kari had noticed TK had grown a little quieter and had been gazing around more often. He was starting to piece it together. There! We used to play hide and seek in that park.
"Do you remember this place?" Kari asked, gently nudging TK, whose face was a mixture of wonder and uncertainty.
"Some of it. We used to play there." He pointed towards a park with a half basketball court and jungle gym set. His mental image of the two as kids overlapped the real children playing. "Hopscotch. Racing. Hide and seek."
Kari nodded. "Mmhmm. And I would always win." She said matter-of-factly.
"Only because I let you." He couldn't resist the tease. "I could always find you."
"You didn't let me anything. I wanted you to find me." She said, breaking out and running ahead towards a swing set.
"Hey!" He shouted out as he chased.
Kari had made her way onto the swing. Grasping the support chains, she pushed off. Her legs tucking and extending at the correct moments brought her into an active swing. The old bolts and chains of the swing squeaked with each period. TK sat down on the swing next to her and copied her motions. They swung in compliment to one another. When one was going forward, the other was going back. They would speak to each other when they passed the center point.
"And I would always beat you at HORSE." Kari argued.
TK raised his eyebrow. "Actually, about that, you may be surprised to find how much I've improved my skills in that area."
Kari came to a stop and turned to face TK. "Is that a challenge, Takashi?" An upward curl on her mouth appeared.
TK was intrgued by the usage of his last name. Mirroring her movements, he stopped and turned to face Kari as well. "It won't be a challenge at all, Kamiya."
Kari didn't know why TK was so confident. The last time they had played, he could barely make a single shot. "How about we play a game tomorrow, loser pays for a dinner?" She extended her hand towards him.
Without skipping a beat, and with amusement in his voice, TK responded. "Deal." Shaking her hand and accepting the bet. "Let's get going. It's getting dark." He noticed the sky had begun to darken, and the lights in the park had already lit up. He looked at his watch and was surprised to see it was already 6. What should have been a 35 minute walk had now stretched past an hour and a half. Kari looked at the darkening sky and nodded. The park was right by the Kamiya residence, and so the final leg of the trip was short. TK insisted on walking her all the way to her door, just to be re-familiarize him with the area.
"Good night TK. Thanks for walking me home." She bowed.
"Not a problem Kari. I'll see you tomorrow." He bowed and began walking away.
"Wait!" Kari ran up to TK and stood beside him. TK looked oddly at Kari as she gave a smile. Suddenly, a flash of light disoriented him. "Arg." TK groaned. Bright light in his face was not something he liked. Kari's head was looking down at the softly lit screen. She stifled a giggle, with her hand covering her mouth. "What? Let me see." TK moved to get a better look. Kari obliged and turned the camera so he could see. Kari was smiling, not just with her lips, but even with her closed eyes, and the rest of her body which exuded happiness. TK was mesmerized until Kari's giggle caused him to look at the other figure in the photo. The TK in the photo had turned towards Kari and one of his eyes was half closed from the flash. He could see the faint trace of the face he knew he made when he was annoyed. TK couldn't help but laugh too.