Chapter 2: Special
Taiki stood fretting with his tie, making sure it was in the right place. After glancing in the mirror for the third time, he brushed at his suit to remove any dust or hair that had collected on it. Seeing that his hair was still messy, he whipped out a comb and tried to keep it back. He didn't know why but he kept twiddling his fingers and looking at his watch. She had been his best friend since they were kids, so why was he so nervous? Or at least that's what he guessed it was. His fingers were trembling, he kept making sure his suit was right in every which way and that his hair didn't look so messy.
Tonight was a party that the Old Clockman had held for all the Hunters who had helped defeat Quartzmon and there was a dance as well. So, Taiki had decided to muster up the courage and ask Akari to be his lovely date for the night. That was all well and good, they had gone on a pretend date once before but that had been ruined by SuperStarmon. That had gone fine but this made his stomach squirm and a part of him felt as if saving the world had been so much easier than doing this.
He checked his watch again and decided it was time to get going.
"Feeling nervous?" A voice asked and Taiki blushed when he realised his mother had come inside the room. However, her warm smile made him forget how embarrassed he was and he returned the smile.
Mrs. Kudou ruffled her son's hair. She had seen Taiki and Akari grow up together, watching the close bond of the two of them blossom into a relationship. Her son could be rather protective over Akari and she smiled as Taiki flushed and moved aside, fixing his hair again.
"Taiki," Mrs. Kudou said with a laugh. "Akari will love the way you look, just because it's you."
Taiki smiled at this, his thoughts drifting back to the digital world. He remembered how Akari had gotten in the presence of Bastemon and definitely hated seeing her in Lillithmon's grip. Jumping out of the window to save her had been a reckless move but his body had moved, the only thought in his mind to protect her. He was glad she was safe and amongst them. He checked his watch and decided it was time to go.
"I better head out, Mom," Taiki waved goodbye his mother, before heading outside to take the car to Akari's house. Their family wasn't exactly rich. He was 19 after all and knew how to drive so it would be better to drive there. It looked better than taking a taxi.
Akari had never thought she'd ever get dolled up for anything considering she was a tomboy but this night was special. She had asked Nene to go shopping with her since she wasn't the greatest at what was in the latest fashion. If she looked at herself three years ago, she would have laughed at the idea of dressing up. But she wanted to look nice for Taiki.
After checking her hair for the fifth time, she realized Taiki had arrived and went to join him in the lounge where he was waiting for her. Goosebumps rose up her skin but she pushed it aside. This was her best childhood friend for god's sake! This shouldn't even be that hard! They had practically grown up together after all.
Taiki held out his arm. His eyes widened. He felt his breath catch in his throat and had to keep himself from flushing at the fact that she had done all this for him. For a moment, it was like the words had been caught in his throat. He knew he should say something but in this situation...it was hard to formulate what should be said. Tagiru would certainly make fun of him seeing him this starstruck and speechless in a sense.
"You look beautiful," Taiki finally said softly, a small smile gracing his features as Akari shuffled her feet and blushed before smiling at him.
"You don't look too bad yourself, Taiki," Akari replied, her heart fluttering at the compliment and the two got going. They arrived at the cruise party. Everyone was having a really good time.
Taiki hadn't seen everyone together like this for awhile. It was a welcome change to see everyone back together. He hid a smile as he saw Tagiru and Yuu bickering about something as per usual. It was almost amusing to show that hadn't changed.
Ryouma was off to the side, looking outside, his expression somewhat distant although he turned, seeing Taiki.
"Taiki-san," he greeted causing everyone to stop what they were doing. "It's good to see you."
Tagiru pulled away from Yuu, grumbling about him not understanding and his eyes lit up.
"Taiki-san!" Tagiru said running over and tackling his senior into an embrace causing him to break his linking with Akari. "It's been so long! I missed you! Where have you been busy? You totally forgot about Yuu and I since you graduated!"
"Tagiru!" Yuu scolded, exasperated with his best friend as usual. "Stop acting like a child and give Taiki-san a chance to breathe!"
Taiki laughed a little, returning the embrace. He had to admit he had kind of missed his juniors' bickering over the smallest things although he had gotten so busy with his first year of college that he hadn't gotten a chance to keep in touch. He and Akari attended the same college, despite doing different courses so she was really the only one he kept in touch with.
"Tagiru," Taiki responded warmly. "It's good to see you too. You too, Yuu. It has been awhile hasn't it?" He moved away from Tagiru to embrace Yuu as well.
Yuu laughed a little, returning the embrace of his mentor just as warmly. It was good to see him, although he didn't act as crazy as Tagiru did.
"Good thing we had the reunion party huh?" Yuu said lightheartedly. It hadn't been the same without Taiki. Their trio somehow felt rather incomplete without him to act as a buffer between him and Tagiru as well as just to bring a sense of normalcy to their group.
Airu smiled grabbing Yuu's hand.
"Yuu-kun and Tagiru were really missing you, Taiki-san!" Airu hollered happily. "Ne, you guys?"
Yuu laughed.
"I think Tagiru was a bit more excited," Yuu teased his best friend, nudging him playfully.
Taiki rolled his eyes, waiting for Tagiru to retort and the two to get into their usual bickering but was surprised when he didn't respond. He glanced at the other, noticing a puzzled expression on his face.
"Did...did you two come as a date?" Tagiru asked Yuu and Airu, looking at them, an unreadable expression in his eyes.
Yuu rolled his eyes.
"I told you that last night, Tagiru!" Yuu replied, exasperated. "When you hung up on me remember?"
"Hmmm yeah," Tagiru waved it off, almost dismissively. "Anyway, Taiki-san, Akari-san, why don't you guys get some food? You'll need the energy to woo Akari-san into the dance ne Taiki-san?" He put on his usual cheerful smile.
Taiki and Akari both blushed, glancing at one another before looking in seperate directions.
Kiriha laughed at this while Nene giggled. The two of them were holding hands and Nene winked at Akari as a sign of wishing her good luck.
"Go on, grab a bite and get ready to woo her," Nene said teasingly, giving Taiki a small smile causing him to flush further. He nodded however.
"Yeah..." Taiki finally replied, taking Akari's hand again, leading her inside towards the food, although glanced at Tagiru noticing he had gone strangely silent. "Something's wrong."
"What's wrong, Taiki?" Akari asked, pouring some drinks for the two of them handing one to him. "You're not nervous about the dance are you?" In truth, she was nervous. Even though her and Taiki had held one another and looked out for each other, dancing would include a different type of holding.
"A little," Taiki admitted, saying a half-truth although he smiled not wanting to worry her. Sometimes he tended to worry too much anyway. "But I'll make it the best dance I can, for you."
Akari felt her cheeks heat up. She knew her face was probably as red as her hair right now. Taiki could say these things with such a straight face and not be embarrassed, she wished she had that talent.
"Taiki..." Akari murmured.
Taiki put the drink down, taking Akari's hands into his own and looking into her eyes and leaning in close.
"Am I making you nervous?" Taiki murmured just below her ear, pushing a piece of her hair back.
Akari felt as if her breath had caught in her throat. Looking into Taiki's eyes, she felt as if she could just melt into that embrace. Was he making her nervous? Yes, but not necessary in a bad way. His breath tickled at her ear causing her heart to feel like it was beating at the speed of light. She hadn't really dated anyone before nor felt this warm around anyone.
"Yes," was all she managed to get out and even that came out so low that it would be a surprise if Taiki heard it.
"Akari," Taiki pulled away, albeit lifted the redhead's chin so she was looking in his eyes. "You're special to me. I want to make this night special for you. So...will you allow me a dance?" He backed away, bowing to her, kneeling down slightly and holding out his hand.
Akari smiled, the redness of her cheeks having toned down to a light pink and took his hand.
Taiki wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her into a dance. The two were so close that their bodies were almost touching.
Kiriha smiled, seeing Taiki and Akari dancing. He felt a little awkward. He wanted to ask Nene to dance but was unsure of how to. He wasn't as good as Taiki when it came to responding to emotional situations though and breathed out through his nose. Nene looked absolutely gorgeous the way she did and he wanted to make this night special for. Besides, it had been hard enough to get Yuu's approval, he wanted the night to at least be worth it.
"Kiriha-kun?" Nene said, a small smile gracing her features. She could tell he was flustered and to be honest, it made him kind of cute. Yuu's protective brotherly warning had made him nervous after all even though she knew her brother was in complete approval of her dating whoever she wanted. It was just his way of letting her and Kiriha know that he had her back.
"Yeah?" Kiriha replied. "Sorry I was just...I wondered...I mean..." He groaned, turning bright red. Why was this so hard? He had saved the world once before dammit! "Do you want to...dance with me?"
Nene giggled a little, seeing his face flush red.
"Of course," Nene assured him warmly. "You look kind of cute like that you know." She winked at him. "It's an expression I could get used to."
"N-Nene!" Kiriha felt even more flustered with how easy she took things although felt relieved when she agreed. He cleared his throat and like Taiki had, held out his hand towards Nene which the brunette took.
"That's so cute and romantic!" Airu squealed, gushing at how sweet the couple looked. "I'm surprised Tagiru isn't take the chance to embarrass them though, Yuu-kun."
Yuu laughed a little at his date's gushing and glanced over at Tagiru. He had gone rather quiet and seemed to be avoiding, since he had reminded him that he had brought Airu as his date to the night. Whatever could be wrong? He went over to his friend, who had a smile on his face as he watched Taiki and Akari.
"Tagiru, are you ok?" Yuu asked lightly. "I mean, I would've thought you'd be going crazy and embarrassing Taiki-san and all."
Tagiru glanced at Yuu for a moment.
"Your girlfriend can be crazy at times, you know," Tagiru sounded almost disheartened in a sense. "Why not get her to amuse you with her antics? I'm gonna get some onigiri." He went to the onigiri table, leaving Yuu looking even more confused.
As his friend to get the onigiri, Yuu glanced over at his sister and Kiriha dancing. He smiled. He could tell Kiriha cared about Nene a lot and hoped he could give her the happiness he deserved. Seeing that they seemed to be having a good time, the blond made to go after Tagiru but before he could do anything, there was a blast on the ship and Shoutmon, Gumdramon and Damemon came rolling in. Everyone was shouting in surprise at the fact that the Digimon King was there. Taiki and Akari looked alarmed at what they saw.
Shoutmon was bruised, a few scars and cuts down his metallic body and was being supported between Gumdramon and Damemon. His eyes were closed at the pain he was in.
"Taiki," Shoutmon began. "We need your help."