Author's Notes: I. am. so. done. with. this. story. I wrote it in a couple of days and then spent half a year (HALF A YEAR!) trying to edit this thing. So, anyway, I'm posting it and I hope you like it.

Her lungs burned as she gasped for breath. She stopped running and laid her hand on a nearby tree trunk. Bending over, she sucked in air through her mouth, trying to catch her breath. Her legs and arms felt like jelly, like they could collapse at any moment. But she couldn't stop yet. Not until she knew. Pulling her will around her, she glanced behind herself. When she saw no one following her, she sank to the ground and leaned back against the tree.

Her gaze lifted to the sky. It was bright and blue. A few white clouds hung around the sky, but it was stunning and beautiful.

She wished it was raining.

It felt like it was laughing at her, mocking her, when all she wanted to do was drown her sorrow in a downpour. Her throat seized as the memory replayed in her mind. She had been so stupid, and now she had probably lost her best friend. Her eyes burned, but she bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears.

Going on this vacation had been a mistake.

When the train started up again, Hikari stumbled a bit. A hand grabbed her arm to steady her. She smiled up at her best friend with a quick word of gratitude.

Takeru returned her smile and gave a quick nod. "Ready to go?"

She nodded and gripped her suitcase handle tighter.

"Oi! Takeru! Hikari! Hurry up or you'll miss the stop."

Hikari giggled at her older brother's exuberance. She and Takeru moved closer to the doors, pulling their suitcases along with them. Theirs was the next stop and so they needed to be near the door to get off. Their brothers were already there waiting for them. When the train stopped again, the four got off the train. They had to move fast to get out of the way of the line of people waiting to get on.

"You good?" Taichi said as they reached the stairs. He lifted his eyebrow at her. "Do you want me to get your suitcase?" His hand reached halfway out to grip the handle.

Hikari shook her head and pulled the suitcase closer to herself. "I can carry it." A trickle of frustration moved along her mind. She definitely wasn't going to be the one that didn't pull her weight on this trip.

Her brother shrugged and adjusted the strap on his duffel bag slung around his shoulder. "Alright. Let me know if you change your mind."

They made their way out of the train station and to the buses without too much difficulty. The bus was the last leg of their journey to the hot springs. This vacation to Hakone had been a surprise gift from their older brothers for their last summer of high school. When they reached the onsen and got into their room, Hikari set down her suitcase and looked around the room. It wasn't big, but there was a private bathroom in one corner. Taichi rubbed the back of his head. "It's not much," he said with a sheepish laugh.

"It's great!" Takeru said. He shucked off his shoes and entered the room.

They all changed into their yukatas. After the staff brought dinner and they had eaten, they sat at the table as Yamato brought out a game to play. Hikari started laughing as Taichi and Yamato began to argue about the best way to play. She looked across the table to Takeru, wanting to catch his eye and share her amusement at their brothers' antics, as usual. Their eyes met and his amused smile reflected their shared understanding. In that moment, in a way that was familiar yet new, a prickling rush ran through her. Her laughter faltered as the realization struck. "Oh, no," she murmured, as her body slumped and almost curled in on itself.

Takeru's laughter trailed off as well. He tilted his head to the side as he frowned. "What's wrong?"

Hikari sat up straight. "Nothing." He had no idea. Taichi and Yamato had stopped arguing and were looking at them now as well. They had no idea. She could almost feel the question on Taichi's lips. Frantic to avoid it, she glanced around before her eyes landed on the clock. "Oh! It's time the women's turn in the bath. I'll see you guys in a little bit."

Without another word, she rushed out of the room and down to the baths. Like she was on autopilot, she prepared herself for the bath and slipped into the hot springs. The water soothed her body as she leaned her head back against the rock behind her. The thought that had hit her, that she had buried so deep, rose to the surface.

Hikari was in love with Takeru.

This was probably the worst thing that could have happened.

She could tell that this wasn't a new thing. She had felt this way for a long time, but she hadn't recognized it. In that moment, when he looked at her with his eyes bright with mirth and his expression lit up with laughter, the rush that flowed through her was something she knew she had felt before when she saw that expression on him. And she recognized what that feeling was at last. She loved him. And not in a platonic way.

Hikari stayed in the spring far longer than she should have. Tucked away in a corner, she did her best to ignore the other women in the bath. She knew she was being rude, but she had to sort herself out.

Far too soon, she was standing in front of the door to their room. And very much regretting brushing off Taichi's concern when he brought up the one room issue. When they had surprised them with the plan, Taichi had taken her aside.

"We only have enough money for one room, if that's okay?"

Hikari tilted her head to the side. "Of course, it's fine." It was only for a couple of nights and, as Taichi pointed out, it saved money. She'd shared a room with Taichi until he moved out, so she was used to that. In fact, she turned his question back on him. "Are you okay with it?"

He blinked at her. "Uh…yeah?" He rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, it's just Yamato and Takeru."

That had been her thought as well. Except it was different now. Before it was her, her brother and his best friend and that best friend's younger brother, who was her best friend. Now it was her, her brother, and his best friend and that best friend's younger brother who was her best friend and the boy she loved. Thinking about all the lines of the relationships was starting to give her a headache. Hikari shook her head and took a deep breath. Sooner or later, she was going to have to open the door.

She laid her hand on the handle and pushed the door open. The tables and chairs had been put away while she was gone. The futons were rolled out, two on each side of the room. Yamato and Takeru were sitting on top of the two of them on one side. Taichi was on one of the others, leaving the one next to him empty for her. Putting her as far from Takeru as she could be in this situation.

A conflict rose within her. A part of her was relieved that the space put her away from him so that she could avoid the awkwardness of being around him right now. The other part was disappointed that she wouldn't be sleeping closer to him which twisted her insides into knots of discomfort.

"Are you alright? Your face is all red. Do you spend too long in the bath?"

Hikari paused. For a moment, her mind went blank as she processed her brother's questions. "Yes." She latched onto the figurative rope Taichi had given her. The last thing she wanted to admit to was that she was blushing because she was about to sleep in the same room as Takeru. Because it wouldn't be the first time. And Yamato wasn't her brother either and had nothing to do with it. So, admitting that would lead to all sorts of questions she didn't want to answer. "Sorry. The bath was nice." She plopped herself down onto the empty futon. Her mind cast about for a change of topic. Any change of topic. "So…what's the plan for tomorrow?" She gave herself a silent pat on the back for the nonchalance she managed to say that with.

Taichi raised an eyebrow at her. She could tell that he didn't quite believe her nonchalant attitude. Not wanting "Mama Bear Taichi" to appear at this most inopportune time, she turned her head to Yamato, making sure not to linger on Takeru as her eyes glossed over his position. She smiled at him in anticipation and question. Luckily for her, he took the bait. "We're going out to Lake Ashi and the Hakone Shrine." However, it appeared that she hadn't quite fooled Yamato either. She could see his eyes flicker over to Taichi even as he spoke. Yamato may not be able to read her, but he could interpret his best friend.

She refused to even glance at Takeru.

He could read her better than anyone.

She clapped her hands together. "Sounds fun. Well, it sounds like we've got a busy day, so let's all go to sleep." She didn't miss the way the boys exchanged confused glances. But following her current plan of ignoring everything, she ignored this too and jumped up to the light switch. "I'll turn off the lights, okay?" She didn't give them a chance to reply and flipped the switch off. Without looking at any of them, she went back to her futon and slipped under the blanket. Hikari squeezed her eyes shut, hoping they would ignore her behavior.

She wasn't that lucky.

Two sets of footsteps moved across the floor. Judging from where the sound was coming from, she could guess it was Yamato and Takeru. The door to the room opened and closed. Then she heard Taichi move next to her side. "Hikari?" A hand laid on her shoulder. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Taichi." It was a lie, but she wasn't about to tell him the truth. "I think I spent too much time in the spring, and now I'm really tired." At least that one was only partly a lie. With the recent emotional overhaul of her brain, she did feel exhausted. It was true that she spent too long in the hot springs with her whole "completely ignoring the situation" attitude at the moment.

There was only silence to answer her and she didn't dare turn around to let Taichi glean what he could even in the dark. "Well, if you're sure…" He didn't sound like he was going to let this go.

"I am." That came out quicker than she wanted. She pleaded in her mind for her brother to let this go. With Taichi, more often than not, he didn't let things go.

But he surprised her. "Okay then," he conceded. She heard him getting to his feet. "We're going to see if they have a ping pong table or something somewhere, if you need us." She wondered how he could know that was the plan when she hadn't heard the boys speak one word. But she had long ago given up trying to assess the depths of Taichi's and Yamato's ability to communicate with each other without speaking. She curled up into a ball as she heard him leave the room.

Hikari's only wish was to fall asleep before any of them came back.

The next morning, she managed to suppress her feelings back down that she was normal enough that they boys didn't question her about her odd behavior the night before. Or Taichi had threatened the brothers not to make her uncomfortable by asking questions. Regardless, none of them brought up her weirdness.

On the bus ride to the lake, she sat next to Taichi with her camera ready in hand. She exclaimed with the rest of them as the bus traversed out to the lake. While this wasn't her first time in a hot springs, it was the first time she had been to Hakone. In about half an hour, they reached the bus stop for the shrine. There was still a ten-minute walk from the bus stop to the shrine. The pathway led them along the river and within a few minutes the red torii gate seated in the water came into view.

Taichi consulted the map. "The shrine should be up this path." He pointed at the trail leading inland from the gate. They walked up the path to the shrine. All four tossed their yen into the box and clapped their hands together. Hikari mulled over her thoughts before she prayed. Let me pass my entrance exams…and please take away my feelings for Takeru. It was a selfish wish, true, but every little bit helped.

Once they finished, they moved on to the fortune boxes. Taichi laughed as Yamato pulled out a kyo fortune. Then it was Yamato's turn to smirk when Taichi blanched at his dai-kyo fortune, even worse than what Yamato had gotten. Smiling at the two boys, Hikari pulled out her own stick. She rolled it between her fingers and looked at the number she received: 21. Her eyes scanned the boxes of fortunes, and she found the right box. She pulled the paper out and glanced over it. Hikari beamed when her eyes skimmed over the page. Dai-kichi was the best possible outcome. Her heart soared. Maybe things were finally looking up after the fiasco of last night. Perhaps the universe was at last shifting into her direction.

"Of course, you got chu-kichi," Taichi muttered. Hikari looked up and noticed that both older brothers were looking at Takeru's paper over his shoulders.

Takeru was grinning and with good reason. While chu-kichi wasn't as good as her dai-kichi, it was still good luck. Unlike Taichi and Yamato who both got bad luck. Takeru chuckled and walked over to her. "What about you, Hikari?" He glanced over to see the paper.

She grinned and held up her fortune. "Dai-kichi," she boasted.

"This is so lame," Yamato scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. She giggled at his dramatics.

Takeru draped an arm over her shoulder. Her heart jumped at the contact, but she hoped she kept the flush off her face. "What can I say?" he teased. "You old men just can't keep up with us." He turned his head to her and leaned closer. "Right, Hikari?"

She was possessed. Insane. Crazy. Out of her mind. Wacko. That was the only explanation for what she did next. For what other reason would she push herself up on her toes and press her lips to his?

His arm dropped away from her as he took a step back. She dropped her heels back to the ground and smiled at him. A blush filled his cheeks, and Hikari had to fight down a giggle because it made him look completely adorable. His hand lifted to cover his mouth with the back of his hand. Her eyes flitted over to their brothers. Both boys stared at her with wide eyes and mouths hanging open. Their bodies were stiff, and her brows furrowed together, wondering why they were looking at her like that.

Suddenly, Hikari's eyes snapped back to Takeru. She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands as she stumbled back a few steps. The reality of what she had done crashed over her, drowning her in a sea of overwhelming shock.

She had kissed Takeru.

Out of the blue.

With no warning whatsoever.

Just flung herself at him.

Hikari had to be one hundred percent off her rocker.

Horror, like prickles of ice, filled her entire being. She gasped out an apology, unsure if it was actually any kind of coherent. Then, she turned and fled.

Takeru stared after Hikari's retreating form. Instinctively, his hand had reached out to stop and grab her, but he had been too late. As he dropped his hand back to his side, his mind churned, unable to focus enough on a single thought except one.

What the heck had just happened?

He turned to Taichi and Yamato, hoping for some kind of support. Or advice. Or any help at all. Something. Anything.

He got none of that.

Taichi folded his arms across his chest. It felt like his gaze pierced to his soul. Under those eyes, Takeru felt like he had done something wrong.

"If you screw this up, I will end you."

Because that wasn't terrifying coming from the man who once took an arrow to the chest on the off chance that maybe it was the right thing to do. The man who faced monsters and demons that would cower most adults (had cowered most adults) with fierce determination. The man who was known to sometimes be as protective of his younger sister as a mother bear protecting her cub.

Then the actual words Taichi spoke caught up in his mind. "Wait, sorry. 'If I screw this up'? What does that mean?"

"Oh, come on," Taichi said, flinging his arms up into the air. "It's not like we hadn't all seen this coming for years."

Takeru looked at his own brother, hoping for some clarification. He had no idea what Taichi was talking about. Yamato shrugged. "Don't look at me. I agree with him. On both points, by the way."

Well, that was something he hadn't expected. His own brother, turning on him. Or he assumed since he was taking Taichi's side. Whatever side that was.

But Taichi wasn't done yet. "I mean, if I have to hear Mimi rant about it one more time, I may strangle someone." His voice changed into one more high-pitched that Takeru guessed was supposed to be a simulation of Mimi's but sounded nothing like her at all. "Don't you think they would make a cute couple, Taichi? They are so frustrating! Why can't they just get together instead of making eyes at each other. Sometimes, I want to smash their faces together and get it over with." The more he spoke, the more heat Takeru could feel returning to his face as comprehension began to dawn.

Yamato gave his friend a flat look. "Your impression of her is terrible," he deadpanned.

Taichi punched Yamato in the arm. But Takeru could tell there was little to no power behind it. In fact, Yamato only smirked in response to his friend's action. "Shut up," Taichi said. There was no bite to his words. "You know what I meant."

With a small nod, Yamato gave a half-shrug. "True," Yamato conceded. A contemplative look twisted his lips. "To be honest, though, I never expected Hikari to make the first move. I didn't think she was that bold."

Taichi folded his arms across his chest again, which he puffed out in pride. "What can I say? She gets that from me." He wiggled his eyebrows.

Yamato slammed his hand against his forehead. "I can't believe you."

"You adore me."

"Against what is my better judgment, but you're getting off topic."

Takeru had been more than happy to let the two banter because then their attention was off him. And it may have allowed his mind to not focus on the fact that Hikari kissed him in front of her brother and he didn't know how to deal with that. Or the fact that the older Digidestined talked about the romantic relationship between him and Hikari. Or lack thereof.

He wilted a little when Taichi turned his gaze back to him, still half-sure the older man was going to deck him for violating his sister. Even if it was Hikari who initiated the kiss. And he didn't exactly reciprocate in the moment.

In the moment? Would he had reciprocated if he had more time to get over the shock of it? A strong suspicion told him the answer to that question was "yes". Which was an intriguing and enlightening thought that he suspected he should explore later. As in not when Taichi was glaring at him like he kicked every puppy on Odaiba.

To his great surprise, Taichi dropped the glare after a moment and something far too close to an amused smirk replaced it. His insides crawled under that look. He was pretty sure he almost preferred the glare. "Well, Takeru, did you hate it?"

"What?" The seeming non-sequitur threw him for a moment. Heat flooded his cheeks, burning like the sun, as he realized what Taichi meant. "No!" he snapped. His mind slammed to a halt as he took in what he had admitted. He wasn't planning on "later" being "in five seconds" but he supposed he couldn't not deal with it now. Ignoring the two knowing smiles on both the faces of Taichi and Yamato now, Takeru let that train of thought move forward. Hikari's sudden kiss hadn't been…unpleasant. Which was an understatement. It was about as far from unpleasant as one could get. Wonderful. Fantastic. Mind-blowing. These were far better words to describe how he felt after the initial shock wore off.

Which was a possible indication that he liked Hikari. In a romantic way. If that wasn't a life-changing epiphany, he didn't know what was.

"Okay." Taichi pulled out the map and turned to Yamato. "What else is there to do around here?"

So steeped into his newly discovered feelings, Takeru didn't notice right away that Taichi and Yamato were no longer paying attention to him. "That's it?" This was not how he imagined it going. Not that he had actually imagined it to being with, but, if he had, this was not the way he would have envisioned. The whole situation defied everything he knew about Taichi and Hikari. He understood, better than most, that Hikari was not perfect. She had her flaws. He knew and understood more of them than maybe even Taichi (because they shared a few of them between them). Takeru knew that (on an intellectual level, at least) Taichi knew that his sister was not perfect. But saying or doing anything that tainted Hikari's image in front of Taichi was another matter. He would descend into his "my sister is a perfect angel how dare you say otherwise, I must now stab you to death" mode.

All in all, he was left with a strange sense of disappointment. Which made no sense. He should be happy Taichi wasn't beating him to a pulp, and he was, but this was not going in the direction her thought it would. And it was leaving him with a slight sense of being lost.

It took a second, but Taichi looked back at him from over the map. For a moment, he blinked at Takeru, like he didn't understand why he was seeing him. He pressed his lips together as he scratched the side of his head. "You know how to get back to the hotel, right?"

"Yes."

He looked at Yamato, who shrugged. "Yes, that's it." His tone spoke volumes to his confusion about what else Takeru wanted.

At this point, Takeru pushed aside all the weirdness that filled this situation. He had only one concern left. "What about Hikari?" Because she had gone off. Alone. As in they had no idea where she was. Taichi should be freaking out. He should not be shrugging, like he was doing right now.

"I know you'll take care of it. Go after her, tell her how you feel, and live happily ever after. As long as you don't make out with her in front of me, I don't care what you do together. Go be all lovey-dovey and we'll see you back at the hotel." He and Yamato turned back to the map, murmuring to each other.

Takeru could only stare. If anything, he was almost more confused that when Hikari had kissed him. He could accept that event over what was happening right now. The two older brothers folded up the map, their discussion on what to do over.

They stopped when they saw Takeru. Taichi's eyebrows drew low over his eyes. "Why are you still here? What else are you waiting for? My permission? I think I made it pretty clear what my feelings are on the subject." He looked to Yamato for confirmation.

Yamato nodded. "Abundantly."

"Now, go," Taichi said, waving his hand at him in a shooing motion.

It all came to a head for Takeru in that moment. "I don't understand," he breathed. The words escaped him almost without thought.

Placing his hand on Takeru's shoulder, Taichi looked into his eyes. "You like my sister. She likes you." He enunciated each word like he was talking to a small child. "At least, I think so." He pulled his arm back and rubbed his chin "Unless we've all been reading the signs wrong for years." He turned back to Yamato and shrugged, who shrugged back at him.

Takeru shook his head. "Not that. Not her." New knowledge it may be, but he knew his feelings. And it was clear what Hikari's were. That he understood completely. There was one thing that he didn't understand. "You."

Taichi raised an eyebrow and then looked at Yamato. Whatever silent question he asked Yamato, the blond boy seemed to understand as he answered, "I believe he is wondering why you are not on a homicidal rampage against him."

Eyes widening, Taichi looked back at the younger boy. "Because you're Takeru. Why else? Find Hikari. And make my sister happy." With that, Taichi grabbed Yamato's arm and dragged him off. Within seconds, they were out of sight in the crowd, leaving Takeru alone to figure out how to find her. For a moment, he had no idea how he was going to even begin to look for her in this crowd of people. But then he remembered he had an advantage over everyone else.

Thank goodness for Digivices.

Within seconds and a few presses of the buttons, his screen lit up with a pink dot, showing the location of Hikari. There was also a blue and an orange one for Yamato and Taichi, but he ignored those.

While he didn't understand his reasoning behind why being himself was enough, Takeru knew that Taichi was right. He had to find her and fix this, however he could. He may not have been aware of his feelings before now, but there were bright and strong and true. So much so that he wondered how he could have ever mistaken them for friendship alone.

With that determination, he set out, following the light.

Why couldn't the ground open up and swallow her? Why did this have to be her life right now? Hikari would take anything over this. Anything had to be better from the complete and utter humiliation she was experiencing. She would even take Myotismon coming down to wreak havoc on the city.

Okay, maybe that was a little far. But it was close.

A hand landed on her shoulder. Hikari half-screamed, half-gasped as she flung herself away from the contact. "Ow," she muttered as her back slammed into the bark of the tree.

"I'm so sorry, Hikari. Are you alright?"

She froze at the sound of his voice. Takeru was the last person in the world (or any world) that she wanted to see right now. Hikari buried her face in her hands, not even looking up at him. "Please, Takeru. I'm fine. I want to die from complete humiliation, but please leave. You don't have to force yourself to be around me. I can't handle that awkwardness."

She couldn't believe it. He laughed. Here she was, wishing that she could rewind time to the moment where she ruined their friendship forever and not kiss him this time, and he was laughing at the end of their ten-year long relationship. Takeru had now been a part of her life longer than he hadn't, and she had burned that bridge forever and he found it amusing!

"You seem to be under the impression that I didn't like it."

Her head snapped up. As he rested in a crouch, with his head propped up by one hand, Takeru looked down at her with a fond smile. There was a softness to his eyes that she had never seen before. But Hikari could only latch onto the fact that he wasn't looking down at her with disgust and rejection. She blinked, processing his expression and words together. "Then, does that mean that you didn't…I mean, that you…liked it?" That was impossible, right? There was no way that Takeru actually didn't mind that she kissed him. That was too much to hope.

"I did," Takeru admitted. It was so like him to be blunt like that. "I mean, of course, I was shocked at first, but…" His eyes twinkled in mirth. She recognized that look. It was the same look she'd seen whenever Takeru was about to say something he felt was truly witty or would shock those around him the most. "As it turns out, I like you, too."

Hikari swore her heart was doing somersaults in her chest and battling with the butterflies in her stomach. Her ears heard his words, her heart wanted to believe them, but her mind whispered that it was too good to be true. The seconds dragged as the two of them stared at each other. Takeru seemed more than content to wait for her reply. As each moment passed, her heart grew stronger and stronger until it finally won the war. "When did you figure that out?"

As he hummed in thought, his finger tapped lightly on his chin. "I don't know. Maybe five minutes ago? Definitely when Taichi—"

A squeak erupted from her mouth. Hikari wasn't entirely proud of that. But she'd been so busy wallowing in the idea of Takeru's rejection that Taichi's reaction hadn't had much room to squeeze itself into her brain. "What did he do? Are you alright?" She almost leapt forward, resting onto her knees as her hands gripped his arms. "What did he say?"

The shock that erupted across his face faded as Takeru leaned closer to her. "Well, judging from the way he practically kicked me to go find you and gave me permission to make out with you as long as it wasn't in front of him, I'd say he was kind of supportive, to be honest."

Her jaw dropped. This was nothing like what she expected her brother to do after seeing her and a boy kiss (regardless of who initiated it). "Really?" She couldn't believe it. And as it sometimes was with Takeru, she couldn't say whether or not her was serious or teasing.

Leaning a little bit closer to her, Takeru's smile morphed into an almost smirk. "Those were pretty much his exact words."

The air became electric between them. There was a charge, and Hikari realized how close they were to each other. Her hands became hot where they rested on his arms. She wanted to kiss him again.

Badly.

A huff of laughter escaped his lips as he pulled away from her. The sting of rejection cut her deep. He must have seen some of that in her, as his face quickly turned into a frown. He pulled her up with him as he got to his feet. As he did, his arms tugged her closer, and he placed his mouth next to her ear. "Believe me, Hikari." His breath tickled her ear and created shivers down her spine as he spoke. "I want to. But this is a little too public for me to do it properly."

Judging by the amount of heat on her cheeks, Hikari could tell she was blushing something terrible. When he pulled back, Takeru was kind enough not to comment on it, though his amused smirk returned. "Come on," he murmured, pulling her along with him as he walked.

And for the rest of the afternoon, he did not let go of her hand.

Author's Notes: I meant to write more to this (I had in mind a scene where they return to the onsen and Taichi and Yamato had put their futons together and were grinning like maniacs or something of the sort). But I was just so done with this story that I was all "forget that, I'm posting this thing". So, I didn't. Why am I telling you this? I don't know. I guess so you know what you missed out in my frustration? Whatevs. I'm hoped you liked it anyway.