A/N: This chapter's using prompt #003 - hands.

Dripping Water
4. looking over (Akari)

Monday had Akari's eyelids glued together in exhaustion. She'd spent the entire day with Taiki, and half of that with Zenjirou as well, and they'd alternated between studying, sparring and studying some more. And then she'd come home to her little brothers and they'd played shooting games until their mother had sent them all to bed.

It felt odd, having the digimon quiet in the Xros Loader while they worked. It felt odd being back in the real world, in general, even if this was their home. Maybe it was because they'd left things unfinished. Maybe it was because things were clearer, then. They had enemies, and allies, and something to work towards but now she felt like she was back to chasing her tail and that was the worst.

Though, technically, she was chasing Taiki's tail and not her own.

Sighing, she dragged herself out of bed. Sometimes, she thought the western schools that had two days off instead of just a day and a half had it right. The start of the new school week had come too early and next week, with exams, would be worse.

She wished Taiki would slow down, sometimes only so she could slow down as well, but it hadn't happened last year and she doubted it would happen now. And on top of the usual things, they had the digital world and the digimon in Taiki's Xros Loader to think about. Where they looking for a way back by themselves, while the humans focused on their exams? Or were they impatiently waiting until the exams were done? Did they even understand about the structure of the human world, or were they just going along with things. Or would their fragile peace fall apart when impatience won?

They should explain more, she thought. Show them more. Or perhaps they'd already seen more with Taiki, when he studied late into the night and drank more coffee and sugary drinks than was healthy. And they had gone out for Marine Day, before splitting up and heading to their respective homes. And Taiki did let them loose in an empty classroom so they could get some fresh air and watch from the windows.

Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised to catch some of them sneaking around the school, but there hadn't been any dramas so far.

No digimon-related dramas, anyway. She yawned again, quickly dressed and took off with the breakfasts and lunches her mother had packed the night before. She'd go to Taiki's house, usually, but this morning she knew he'd been up for a while already, peddling down the streets and poking newspapers into fences for a classmate who'd sprained his ankle on Friday.

Honestly, with how close it was to exams, Akari couldn't help but wonder if he'd faked that sprain to get out of work, and then Taiki had kindly volunteered to add even more work onto his own plate… And it wasn't like Taiki would get the money, or take it if it was offered. His schoolwork wasn't suffering for it yet, but how long would it be before the exhaustion caught up? Or maybe it just wasn't obvious; teachers did ease up on assignments when exams were close.

She felt bad for the thought. It wasn't like she wanted Taiki to fail his exams, or get hurt. But how was he balancing everything? Her mind was so crowded with things and she didn't have as much on her plate as he did. And part of her load was keeping up with his.

She snorted to herself as she jogged to school. Well, there was an easy way to rectify that but she wouldn't do it. She'd made that decision when she adopted Taiki as another little brother and she was going to stick by it. Though she really hoped her other four brothers didn't pile as much onto their plates. She wouldn't be able to keep up with it all!

There were students milling around in the yard when she arrived, and it didn't take long to spot Taiki playing soccer with a few classmates.

She sighed. 'Taiki!' she yelled. 'Get over here right now!'

At least he came without too much of a fuss. But really, she grumbled to herself, what was he thinking playing around like that after cycling for an hour, and with no breakfast on top of that. He'd probably had milk or a protein shake or something, but that wasn't a substitute for a proper meal.

Akari thrust the extra box her mother had prepared into his chest. 'Eat,' she ordered.

''kaa-san packed me –'

'And with all the running around you do, some extra won't hurt. I'm sure you've got the appetite for it.'

She was wrong. Taiki's bento box went untouched. He didn't even finish all of hers, and she stared at the contents leftover as she packed them away in her locker. It wasn't any more than usual, and they both had pretty healthy appetites. They could have managed three boxes between them. They should definitely have finished their own ones, and her mother hadn't overpacked them.

Still, Taiki ate his own lunch, and he didn't finish that either. 'I'll finish it after school,' he shrugged, unconcerned.

She frowned at the leftover contents, and the extra bentos in her locker. And she frowned again when Taiki dove straight into kendo practice without stopping by her locker (and she'd only discovered that after waiting for him for a whole ten minutes after the bell).

He was in the gym, of course. To her surprise, though, Zenjirou was there too, watching one of the younger members go through a kata and barking corrections at every step. As she watched him though, it made sense. Zenjirou had been doing kendo for years. He had experience that Taiki simply couldn't make up for.

And yet, Taiki had defeated Zenjirou in that tournament. Experience wasn't everything, and they'd both seen how it had frustrated him. He'd interrupted their Marine Day, after all, before the digimon had shown up to completely derail their plans. And now…

Zenjirou and Taiki were talking about something. Zenjirou in particular was animated, waving his hands and gesturing. Taiki was just nodding along, and finally, they broke away and split the group. 'Three minute spars,' Zenjirou called, taking out his phone to time. 'Then rotate.'

Ah, Akari thought. That'd be tricky, if they were rotating without breaks. Everybody sparred differently, after all. But maybe that was the idea. It promoted flexibility: changing between strategies and being used to the fluidity of someone experienced and confident enough to shift between one strategy and the next. Because sticking to the same strategy wouldn't win them everything. If they won the first match, their opponent would know how to counter for the next one.

It made her wonder what the outcome of the next match between Taiki and Zenjirou would be. It was an effective strategy for someone new to a field: to adapt a lesser known or lesser utilised strategy. But Zenjirou had been exposed to Taiki's fighting style several times since then.

And then, suddenly, Taiki and Zenjirou were paired up and she watched them live.

She was right. Zenjirou did know how to counter Taiki's moves, by now. And he was countering them, and even though Taiki was quick on his feet (and quick at coming up with new strategies too), he simply didn't have the diversity in his repertoire that Zenjirou had, or the diversity of the other members of the kendo club.

He was still holding his own, though, and most people wouldn't be able to do that. He'd beaten two of the three players he'd played so far, though it looked like Zenjirou would be winning this time.

The three minutes dragged on. Their practice swords smack together and spring apart, until finally Taiki lost his grip on his and it went rolling away. 'Sorry,' he panted, chasing after it.

She saw his eyes lose focus when he bent over, and had the pillow ready to catch him.

The kendo team and Zenjirou hustled around. 'He should know better than to bend over quickly by now,' she sighed, as they helped Taiki over to the bench. He mumbled a protest, not quite unconscious. 'I'm fine,' he managed, once he was sitting and had drunk some of his fruit juice. 'Just a bit dizzy.'

'You overdid it,' Akari scolded. 'And you didn't eat properly today at that.'

It probably wouldn't stick though. It never did, and she didn't exactly want something dramatic happening to change that…

Did she see a flash of red by the door? She blinked, but it was gone.