Takeru had been waiting near the entrence to the school for Hikari to get her bike. When she approached he smiled, as usual, and joined her as she left.

Things had been strange at home since... everything. Taichi still wasn’t himself. It felt like he wasn’t even seeing them when they were talking. And she still hadn’t learned how to forgive him, despite Sora and Koushiro’s interference on his behalf. She knew he wouldn’t ask for it. It was for her. It was selfish, but it was for her.

If only he would look at her like he knew she was right there.

The only time her heart didn’t feel like someone had closed a fist around it and squeezed was when she was with him. Her mind quieted. She stopped fidgeting, and could be still. They watched movies, or did homework together. Sometimes they talked, but often they didn’t. His mother had even stopped reacting to seeing Hikari on their couch when she got home. But she wasn’t there often. The news never sleeps, she liked to say, even though it always made Takeru frown.

She wouldn’t be home tonight, she knew. There was a story on the TV about a truck turning over and toxic waste spilling near a waterway. It was the kind of story that stayed on until every question had been asked six different ways.

So when Takeru asked, it was an easy decision. There were no siblings to worry about or parents to explain things to. It was just her, and Takeru.

And she knew he had nightmares, too. Sometimes even the same one. They would fill in the gaps for each other, like they were telling a story even though their voices shook. 

He was always near by when she needed him, so even though she didn’t feel him--Hikari didn’t feel anything.--she knew he was there with his hand on her shoulder, trying to steady her, trying to calm her down.

But she was calm. She didn’t feel anything. The world had gone strangely silent.

Oniichan.

And suddenly, she was a storm. She was fire and ice and rage, but she still felt like she was watching someone else. It was someone else’s indignation, someone else’s fury, someone else’s desire to punish the world for going wrong. 

Her body didn’t have the energy to sustain such heightened emotion, and it left her nearly as quickly as it had appeared. A brief window of feeling, and even that was too much. Her body sagged, and just as she knew he would be, Takeru was already beside her to catch her weight. She leaned against him, staring up at the now-dark sky, not quite understanding what she was looking at.

“Tailmon,” she whispered, but she wasn’t sure the word came out. Nobody heard her. Tailmon didn’t come.

The summer in Tokyo had been blistering. The news had been warning of heat stroke, but that hadn’t stopped the two of them from going to the convenience store for snacks and drinks. It was on the way back that Hikari had slowed, and Takeru had provided a much needed cooling back for her from his bag. 

Send ✉ for a text that wasn’t sent (x)

[hikari]: After we said goodbye, I thought I saw something.

protective sentence starters (accepting from mutuals)

For all that she was worried about Tailmon, she realized Meiko must be hurting just as much. Maybe more, although Hikari couldn’t imagine it just then. Not with Taichi…

To lose Tailmon too was too much. 

She felt to blame for the way the situation had spiraled. For the black sky, the return of glimpses into the digital world where they used to see stars and satellites on a lucky night. But through all her own hurt, she realized Meiko must have been feeling this way for much longer, watching with despair as her partner rampaged with no idea how to end it.

It would be so easy to blame Meiko, but her heart wasn’t in it. She tried to smile. 

“And I have yours. We’ll find a way. We always do.”