Finishing off a breakfast of milk and cereal, TK headed out the door, scanning for his mom. Hmm, guess mom had to go. Curiosity did get the best of him, and he stepped into his mother's study. TK didn't have to search long as he found his target a top the desk. He took a few papers into his hand, scanning bits and pieces here and there. A smile came across his face as he read: Toilet Paper: The final Wipe. The greatest thing since two ply. He reached in his bag and quickly scrawled out his own idea for the title: That's One Small Wipe for Mankind…
With that accomplishment, TK made his way to school, hoping to meet up with Yolei and Cody. The elevator came to his floor, and the trio was reunited for what would soon become their morning ritual.
"Good Morning, Yolei, Cody." TK said, stepping into the elevator.
"Good morning TK." The pair sounded off.
"How is Tai doing?" Yolei asked.
"He's great. For a guy who hurts himself often, he also has the benefit of healing very quickly."
"Thank goodness."
The trio made small talk as they made their trek towards school. Class schedules, vacation activities, and the latest tv shows were the subjects of conversation. Throughout the day, TK still found himself the subject of attention, and found it hard to get away during any free time. Today's attention for TK had trickled down to just a few girls instead of the whole class. He politely answered questions and tried not to be the nail that stood out, but that was difficult with his blond hair, which the girls just seemed to go crazy over.
Davis was plopped down on his chair, watching his new rival. His vibrant energetic personality was gone today, and he just looked on. He thought back to the previous day when Tai had hurt himself. He had volunteered to look over Tai, trying to win points with Kari only to be met with TK being asked to walk Kari home. After recovering from the shock, and the others had all left, Davis slumped down on a chair next to Tai's bed.
"So Tai…" Davis' curiosity got the better of him. He had to know. Even if he would look slightly jealous. "Who… why does Kari know… the new transfer student so well?" He refused to acknowledge TK's name.
"Oh, you mean TK?" Tai kept his eyes closed, but answered Davis.
"Yeah, him."
"Do you remember my friend Matt?"
Davis was confused. "Yeah, but what's that got to do with anything?"
"TK is his younger brother. When we hung out together, sometimes we'd have to take TK and Kari along with us. They were about the same age, and so they just kinda got along with each other."
"Mmhmm." Davis nodded to himself. That makes sense. Wait. No it doesn't. "Wait a minute, you said he was Matt's younger brother. Why is he a transfer student, Odaiba's only got the one school."
"Oh. Right. Well, umm… their parents are divorced. Matt lives with his dad. TK went with their mom. That's all I should say on that matter."
"Oh." Davis thought to his own family. They may be annoying at times, especially my sister Jun, but I couldn't picture them not together.
"I kind of see him as my own little brother actually. Annoying, but family"
"Oh."
Davis winced. Another boy who's already intimately familiar with not only Kari, but had her protective big brother's seal of approval? This does not look good for me. Davis thought it best to change the subject before he seemed overly curious. "So did you see last week's match between Germany and France?"
Tai's interest definitely picked up with that subject. "Yeah! Sardelli's ball control really impressed me when he made the shot 20 minutes in." Davis let himself get wrapped up in the world of soccer and tried not to think about the chance he missed out on.
It wasn't like Davis to be so down, but any previous competition for Kari he'd been able to easily overshadow. This time, he wasn't sure he could do the same. He remembered her defending him and his name when they met yesterday. He never saw Kari so protective before. So he watched, trying to figure out what it was about the blonde transfer student that made Kari like him so much. As part of his observation plan, he had seen TK passing notes to Kari in class. It was the only time the other students weren't hounding him. Davis was also disappointed when he saw her write notes back. All he had ever gotten were smiles, nods, or head shakes. He resolved to keep watching.
An orange ball arced gracefully, hitting the backboard and sinking in the hoop. A blonde fully dressed in basketball jersey and shorts ran in from the side to recover the ball as it bounced under the rim. His momentum didn't stop when he recovered the ball. His arm extended and shot a successful lay up while in the key. Grinning, he spoke to his shocked friend.
"Still think that was luck?" TK Takashi asked.
"No." A defeated Kari responded a quarter court away. "I forfeit."
"Then it looks like dinner's on you." A cheerful TK said, balancing a spinning basketball on his finger.
"Now you're just showing off." Kari huffed. "Just like Davis." She started walking away.
TK stopped the ball and brought it to rest against his leg. He did not like being compared to Davis, purely based on the fact that Kari didn't seem to like him too much. But he supposed the comparison was on the merit of athletic skill, so he tried to see it positively.
"Kari!, Wait up!" A hurried TK cried, gathering his things, and catching up to the brown haired girl walking away from him. He closed the gap between them quite quickly as he had ran and she was walking. Concerned, he reached out for Kari's shoulder. Upon contact, she spun slightly and he saw sadness in her eyes. "Hey… what's wrong?"
Kari stopped. "I'm sorry TK. I… It's just been a long time, and I know we caught up a bunch yesterday, but I still feel like…" She took a breath and tried to recollect herself. "I just really missed you. Yesterday, I told you that you got taller, and I suppose that's natural, but you've changed. Not in a bad way. Just… your clothes, how good you are at basketball…"
She looked up and found TK staring down at his shoes for a moment. Looking up and catching her gaze, he confusedly asked, "Wait, what's wrong with my clothes?"
Kari busted out laughing. "Nothing's wrong." Her face had turned pensive, as if struggling to find words. "They're just, maybe a little out of style. And the color is kind of… loud." She playfully teased him, spirits lifted already. How does he always do that? She wondered about TK's effect of brightening her up yet again.
"Please, you're the one in bright pink!" TK retorted.
"Girls are supposed to wear pink."
"Not that bright."
"Says the glowing neon sign."
The pair argued slightly as they walked home, much like the day before.
"Hey TK?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you get so good at basketball?"
"Ah. Well. There was a summer camp."
"A summer camp?"
"Yeah, it was about 2 years ago. It was actually for older boys than I was at the time, but my mom pulled some strings."
"Why would she do that?"
"Well, partially I think it was work. She had a big book ghostwriting project she was trying to get. She got it by the way. It kind of put her on the radar a bit, and was actually what let us move back here." He paused, turned to Kari and smiled. "Best thing to happen to us in a long time."
"That's great TK!"
"Yeah. But the drills and training were intense. Being younger, I quickly learned I couldn't compete on the strength front, so I focused on the speed aspect. I'd gotten so quick and they didn't see me coming since I was… shorter. That's how I got the name Lightning Paw." TK batted the air, as if swiping a basketball. "But yeah, that's pretty much how I picked it up."
Kari let out a giggle. "Lightning Paw? That sounds more like a girl nickname."
"A girl's nickname huh?" He swiped at Kari's face, making her flinch.
"So, what about this? This is new."
Upon opening her eyes, Kari found TK holding up her camera by the wriststrap.
"Hey! How!?" She cried, reaching for it.
He moved it out of her reach and gave her a look. "Lightning Paw." He said, while twirling it around, with much less grace and stability than the basketball he had been to perfectly balance.
"Be careful with that!" Her voice had gotten serious.
Responding to Kari's alarm, TK stopped the twirling and caught it securely in both of his hands. He looked down at the camera, then towards Kari's anxious face. "Here." He held it out to her. "Sorry."
Kari sighed in relief as she replaced the camera around her neck. She felt as weird without it as Tai would look without his trademark goggles.
"Sorry for freaking out a bit, but I spent almost a year saving up for this camera."
"Whoa, I'm sorry. I had no idea it was so expensive."
"That's alright. I should have told you…" She paused and stared at her friend, who was looking at her expectantly. "Umm... I took up photography as a bit of a hobby."
TK put a finger on his chin while his head tilted up. "Come to think of it, you have been wearing that camera around your neck all the time, and you even took a picture of us the other day."
Kari smiled. "Yeah, that one is my all time favorite." She rummaged through her backpack, pulled out a 4" by 6" photo, and handed it to her friend. "That copy is for you."
TK took the picture into his hands and laughed again at its sight. It marked an important event: A happy Kari and annoyed TK enjoying their reunion. "Thank you. I'll treasure this great work." He teased.
Kari responded with a light punch to his arm. "You better."
"So how did you get into the photography?" TK resumed his inquiry into his friend's new hobby.
"It was about 2 years ago as well, in the summertime. I suppose it'd have been when you were at that camp you mentioned. I was really…" Kari stopped. She didn't want to say lonely and that she was thinking of him. "Bored." She continued. "So, I went out on the terrace and looked at the stars. Not only that, but there were a few shooting stars as well. I later found out it was the Cryser meteor shower. They were beautiful, but also so very fleeting. I wanted to capture some of these fleeting moments, so I went back inside and found my parent's camera. I took a shot of the night sky to remember it. It came out quite blurry actually, but that's how it started."
TK listened to Kari's story, but as soon as she had mentioned the meteors, his mind thought back. TK had always had a fascination with the stars and space. At the time, he hadn't found his skill in basketball and was quite frustrated. But on nights, he'd be able to enjoy himself by gazing at the stars. One night in particular, he saw the shooting stars. Being in the countryside, the sky was clear, and the heavenly lights shone clearly. He couldn't explain it, but the sight made him feel calm and warm, even though it was normally quite chilly.
"TK?" Kari asked.
"Hmm?" TK snapped back to attention. "Oh. Right. Sorry. I was actually thinking. I saw that meteor shower 2 years ago too."
Kari's eyes lit up in surprise. "You did?" She asked.
"Yeah. They were quite inspirational weren't they?"
Kari nodded.
"You know the Cryser's come around every three years or so." TK shared. "What do you say when they come around again, we do a bit of stargazing?"
Kari smiled and enthusiastically agreed. "Absolutely!"
9 months later, TK was frantically cleaning his room. Cleaning at this time entailed grabbing clothes left on the floor and stuffing them into drawers, old homework crumpled into the trash, and giving various surfaces a quick wipe down. His reprieve came when the doorbell sang its melody through the halls. TK emerged from his room and walked into the living room.
"Hello Ms. Takashi. Thank you for letting me stay the night." Kari greeted and bowed. She was wearing a blue jacket over her normal pink shirt as well as a dark pink scarf and a white beret.
Nancy welcomed Kari in. "Please Kari, you know you're welcome anytime." Closing the door behind her, she turned to TK and said, "Now did you clean up your room for your guest?"
"Mom!" TK sighed. "Yes. I did." He turned slightly red.
"Good. Now you two have fun. Take care of Kari now TK." Nancy retreated to her study to work on her latest assignment.
"I will." He called. Turning to Kari, he put on a big smile and greeted her with a simple, "Hi."
"Hi TK."
"Right this way." He led her towards his room. "You can put your stuff anywhere."
Kari looked around his room, amazed by how clean it was. She did, however, also notice his white shirt he had on was quite dusty. "You clean up quick Lightning Paw."
He noticed her gaze and looked down at his shirt. "Busted." Embarrassed, but going with it, he batted the air with his hand. TK turned to his closet and found a classic green shirt to replace his dirty white one. Meanwhile, Kari had left her things on the floor and opened the door to the terrace outside his apartment. She found a little futon set up with a few thick blankets on it along with some chairs for their feet to rest on. Kari sat down and snuggled herself up in the blankets. She noticed the familiar scent of TK around her and felt at ease.
TK finished changing and found Kari ready to go. He stepped out onto the terrace and turned the lights off. He gave his eyes a second to adjust before moving again. He saw Kari's head turn up towards him.
"Coming in?" She asked.
He sat down and snuggled in beside her. "Of course."
The two felt warm and safe in each other's presence. They made small talk as the night darkened, and lights from apartment buildings went out, making the stars in the night sky clearer and brighter.
"How'd you get here tonight?" TK asked.
"By the skin of my teeth." Kari replied.
"What does that mean?" He worriedly asked.
"Well, Tai's been learning to drive."
"WHAT?!"
Kari laughed. "I know right! I'm surprised mom and dad let him keep going after he hit that garbage can and the other time where he got 3 flats in a week."
"So what happened tonight?"
"Well we didn't hit anything, thankfully. We just maybe ran a red. The upcoming light was yellow. Tai was a bit further away than he thought. My parents scolded him a bit, but I guess they realize he's gonna have to learn sometime. I'm just glad I'm here in one piece."
While she talked, TK brought up a bag of snacks. Kari squealed, her eyes focusing on one bag in particular.
"I love these!" She cried, opening the bag and began munching and crunching on the colorful shrimp based chips.
"I know." He enjoyed some as well.
"So speaking of reckless, how's it going with Davis?"
"He's really cooled off since we met. I think I'd call him a friend. But he really does remind me of Tai. What's the word? Crazy?"
"That might be too-"
"Yeah, that's too harsh. Maybe… Impulsive then." That seemed to hit the nail on the head.
"Don't remind me. Part of me wishes you could have scared him off for good."
"If anything, all I did was make him stick to you tighter."
"And he's not bad… he's just… Davis." They laughed together at that statement.
By 10 the sounds of the city grew to a murmur and the lights had reduced to a flicker. It was prime time to see the stars. Kari snapped some pictures of the streaks of light in the sky. TK just watched the stars in silence, interrupted only by the camera shuttering.
"Beautiful stars huh?
"Mmhmm."
Their eyes grew heavy as the night wore on. They closed them but kept talking to each other.
"I actually made a wish the last time around." Kari said.
"You did?"
Her head shook in affirmation. "And since its already come true, I can tell you. I was honestly, really missing you. And I wanted you back in my life. I wished for you to come back and you did." She smiled at him.
"I'm glad you made that wish. Maybe that's how I was able to come back." He could feel her smile and returned it.
Kari set the camera to take a few long exposure shots of the sky before re-securing her space in the warm cocoon. She glanced at TK, who had already fallen asleep. Letting her head rest on his shoulder, she gave a yawn before her eyes shut and joined TK in dreamland.
Unbeknownst to Kari, who had spent the bulk of her money on the actual camera, the stand was of subpar quality. Shortly into the night, the weight of the camera lost its battle gravity and swiveled to focus on the sleeping duo.
Kari started stirring to the sounds of the hustle and bustle picking up on the streets below them. Her eyelids were still heavy, but a few blinks roused them up. She turned her head and found TK sleeping peacefully behind her. She smiled at the resting blonde and shifted position, trying to get up. TK woke from the slight rustling and mumbled out a quiet "Don't go Kari." He reached out, trying to embrace his friend back into bed. His eyes hadn't opened yet, but puzzlement crossed his brow as he thought Why is Kari's shoulder so soft? TK's eyes jerked wide open and followed the path of his arm onto Kari's chest. Kari's eyes were equally wide was blushing as red as a ripe tomato. "TK!" She said, in a strained voice, roughly removing his hand and jumping out of bed. At this point, the pair froze in both position and words.
TK tried to break the silence. "Sorry, I w-"
But Kari walked away quickly, grabbing her camera and her backpack and breaking into a run away from the Takashi residence. She avoided eye contact as she turned away and didn't look back.
TK tried to chase after her, but stumbled into his blankets instead. By the time he got to the door, Kari was nowhere to be found. He looked down at his hands thinking Boy, you guys sure like to get me in trouble.