Chapter Text
It’s the first summer since the fall of Ordinemon. The Digidestined (minus Meiko, since she was still in Tottori) decided to meet for a picnic to just relax. The past few months had been quite taxing on all of them, plunged back into schoolwork after everything that had happened, with barely any time to catch a break. Daisuke, Miyako, Ken and Iori had it worse because of all the school work they missed when they went missing.
Takeru smiled at the sight in front of him. Taichi and Daisuke engaged in yet another one of their friendly competitions, with some spectating and cheering them on, others like Koushiro, Mimi and Jyou just trying to catch up with one another (maybe dig around about Jyou’s supposed girlfriend), and some just lazing around on the ground like himself. His friends — no, his family — all together again. He relished in the feeling of having everyone he cared about back together, heart filled with joy of seeing everyone alive and well, but also tinged with sorrow and regret, for he knew they almost wouldn’t be here.
The young blonde sighed as he recalled the events of the year before. They defeated Ordinemon, but before that the Digital World had been rebooted and their digimon’s memories had been erased (though thankfully, were restored later on). They lost Mr Nishijima and they almost lost Taichi. Their friends had gone missing and they didn’t know anything about their disappearance. They could have died in the digital world, and they wouldn’t have known.
Takeru would never forget the day he visited them in the hospital. It was the day after they defeated Ordinemon. Taichi told them about what went down after he fell through the cracks and got swallowed up by the ground of the digital world: how Mr Nishijima sacrificed himself, how they realised Himekawa had tricked them all, how the 4 of them were on life support. Being the youngest and the closest to the ones affected, Takeru and Hikari rushed to the hospital to check on their friends, where they were met with the sight of each of them on life support. Their breathing was shallow, their skin was paler than he’d ever seen. They were alive, but barely breathing. When they all finally came to a few days later, he and Hikari cried. Cried from relief knowing their friends would be okay, cried out of gratitude that they were at least alive, but also cried from guilt and sorrow for everything their friends had been through and for not realising they were missing earlier.
None of the 4 blamed them, of course. It was by pure coincidence that Ken had found out about Himekawa and YgDrasil’s plans, and since the four of them attended the same school, it just seemed more efficient to act on their own after school one day. They thought it would be easy. Besides, Himekawa had convinced the rest of the Digidestined that they were fine. Within weeks they were discharged from the hospital and though the initial stages of catching up with the 2 months of missing schoolwork was exhausting, they all (including Daisuke) had managed it.
His four friends might not blame him, but till this day, Takeru couldn’t forgive himself for it, and he didn’t know if he ever could. It didn’t matter that the four of them had been in a school different to the one he and Hikari attended, and it didn’t matter that the four of them had decided to act without informing anyone. They were a team. They were his friends. He should have known something was wrong when they all stopped replying to his emails, he should have sensed it when he didn’t hear from them for weeks on end, he should have been a better friend.
For now, he was just grateful they were still alive — they were all alive and together and his family was still intact.
Bringing himself out from his thoughts, Takeru’s eyes naturally gravitated to a certain brunette, who was cheering her brother on in his match against Daisuke. She was his best friend, but ever since the dark ocean incident a few years back, he’d been wondering if maybe his feelings towards her were more than just platonic.
He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment he became sure of his feelings. Maybe it was when he caught her in his arms back at the bathhouse; maybe it was back in the Digital World, when he couldn’t sleep and rolled over to see her sleeping peacefully next to him; maybe it was when she’d been so struck with grief over the supposed loss of her partner and her brother that she fell sick, and he’d hoped so hard that he wouldn’t lose her too. He couldn’t imagine losing her.
Physically, Hikari was stunning. She was easily one of, if not the most beautiful girl in school, which made her insanely popular with the guys. But Takeru couldn’t really care less about any of that. What he really loved about her was how she was sweet, kind, caring, smart, witty… everything good rolled into one.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” someone asked from his left.
“Yeah, she is…in more ways than one…” Takeru answered without much of a second thought. When he’d finally realised what he’d said, he snapped out of his daze and looked to his left, blood rushing to his face upon seeing the smug look on Mimi’s face, as well as the small smile on Koushirou’s and Jyou’s.
“Wh-When did you guys get here?” Takeru stammered, face still red from embarrassment. He couldn’t believe he’d just said that out loud!
“Well… we thought you could use the company, seeing as how you’ve been sitting here alone for awhile now…” Jyou started.
“But it seems like someone’s been busy looking at a certain Yagami now huh, Takeru?” Mimi smirked. Takeru groaned as he hid his face in his hands. “Please don’t tell anyone. Not yet.”
“About what? Your crush on Hikari? I believe everyone’s just waiting for you to make a move by now.” Koushirou stated. “You aren’t exactly subtle, Takeru. The only person that doesn’t know about your crush on Hikari is probably Hikari herself. Even Taichi knows.”
Another groan. “Have I been that obvious?” Takeru asked, face still in his palms. “Wait, Taichi knows? How am I not dead yet?” The blush and embarrassment had died down and was now replaced with curiosity.
“Beats me.” Another voice came from his right. This time it was his brother. “And when did you get here?” Takeru raised an eyebrow. People need to stop sneaking up on him.
“Not long ago, but long enough to know that you’ve been staring at a certain someone for a little too long.” Sora chuckled from beside Yamato. A shade of pink returned to Takeru’s cheeks. “Taichi and Daisuke are done. They’re lying on the ground.”
Takeru’s eyes shifted back to the group surrounding the fearless leaders. Ken, Miyako, Iori and Hikari were all laughing while both Taichi and Daisuke were lying on the ground, exhausted from whatever just went down. His eyes softened as he focused on his best friend’s laughing form. She looked ethereal against the setting sun.
“I do plan on telling her, maybe some time soon...” Takeru said to no one in general, eyes shining bright with hope. “I want to be honest with her. She’s my best friend. I’m just… scared that I’ll lose her if she doesn’t feel the same or if something goes wrong…” Takeru turned to Sora and Yamato, who had sat down next to him sometime in the past few minutes. His eyes were determined, yet frightened. He couldn’t stand losing her, but he also wanted to be honest with her. And maybe, just maybe she feels the same way…
There was a brief silence. The older digidestined had been pleasantly surprised to hear Takeru’s confession. Little Takeru has sure grown up alot .
A hand came up to his shoulder. It was Sora. “You guys are the best friends I’ve ever seen. Even if things were to go wrong, you’ll still be best friends.” She gave him a warm smile. “The connection between the two of you is hard to deny. It’s something special. We all see it, so I’m sure the both of you can feel it.” The rest nodded their heads in agreement. Hope and Light did always fit well together.
Takeru gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks, Sora.” A pause. “Thanks guys.”
It was Yamato who spoke next, “My little brother’s all grown up now.” He ruffled the younger’s hair affectionately. They all laughed.
“Hey! What are all of you laughing at?” Daisuke shouted from where he was on the ground with Taichi.
“Oh, it’s nothing!” Mimi yelled back. “We should start packing up and leaving! It’s getting dark!”
And with that, the group of 12 said their goodbyes and parted ways.
I can do this. Takeru thought on his way home. I’ll just have to wait for the right moment.