A/N: Many thanks to all who have reviewed as I wrote this story. Each one of you helped push me towards the end of this project, and I wouldn't have finished without you.
A very special thanks to Lord Pata, who has been a faithful reviewer and boosted my ego many times when I felt I might not be writing as well as I hoped.
This is the final chapter of this story. As I said, it didn't end up very long, but I'm far from finished when it comes to this little universe I've created. I very much plan to explore other relationships, and many of them will take place in this universe and reference the events of this story.
But that isn't what you came here for. You came here for a story - in particular, a chapter full of fluffy DaiKari goodness - and so here it is.
Deep breath, Davis. Slowly, he walked towards her door - and, just as with the stairs, he reached it before he had time to realize he was even walking. Oh, man… here goes nothing! Steeling himself, he raised his hand to knock on the door, and -
Dropped it. "Whoa. What just happened?" Well, obviously you chickened out. Shaking his head, Davis raised his hand again, and then -!
"Gah, what is wrong with me! How hard is it to knock on a stupid door?"
"Davis? Is everything okay?"
Oh no. This is… bad? Good? I don't know… Turning, his eyes met with none other than the object of his affection - as well as the source of the greatest terror he had ever known. "H-hey there, Kari. Why wouldn't everything be okay?" Davis chuckled nervously, mentally kicking himself for looking like such an idiot.
"Well… You've been standing in front of my door for almost a minute. And you were talking to yourself."
Dangit, Davis! Why do you always have to act like an idiot when it really matters? "Well, yeah, about that…" Davis took a deep breath, but before he could speak, Kari cut him off.
"If you're looking for Tai, he and Sora went to go visit Matt and Mimi," she stated, moving past Davis and beginning to open the door.
"I wasn't looking for Tai, though!" Davis blurted, blushing crimson the moment the words left his mouth.
"Oh? Then what did you need?"
"Well, I don't know if you heard, but Matt's having a concert tomorrow night," Davis began, and paused for a moment to let her respond.
"Yeah, Mimi sent me a message telling me last night."
"Great! Well, I, uh… I was w-wondering if maybe… you wanted to go with me?" Wow. That was… easier than I expected it to be. And now that I've actually done it… I feel better.
At his question, a very slight blush had tinged her face. "Go with you? You mean like, a date?"
"Y-yeah. Like a date." Ha. Good job sounding totally lame. For once in his life, Davis had to literally bite his tongue to keep himself from talking back to himself.
"That sounds wonderful, Davis. Of course I'll go with you." She was still blushing a bit, but she was smiling at Davis, and he was quite certain that he was going to melt right there on the spot.
"Great!" Much to Davis's surprise (and delight), the belittling voice in his head had absolutely nothing to say to him. "Ha! Take that, you… voice!" He arm-pumped in triumph… before realizing he was still standing right in front of Kari.
"…"
"Y-yeah. So I'll come pick you up tomorrow at eight?"
"Sure." Slightly bewildered, she walked into her apartment and shut the door.
Good job, idiot.
"Oh, what am I supposed to do now? Veemon, you've got to help me, man! I can't handle this date thing!" Davis was frantically digging through his closet looking for something nice to pick Kari up in the following day; once again, a first for him.
"Maybe you should ask Ken for help! All the girls in the school like him!"
"No way! I am not going to him for help!"
"But why not? I'm sure he'd have some good advice for you."
"He's going out with my sister! If I ask him for help, then she's gonna find out, and if she does, I'll never hear the end of it!" he shouted, pulling his head out of the closet for a moment before diving back in.
"Oh, right. What about T.K.?"
"No way. That would be totally awkward. What would you do if you were going to pick Gatomon up for a date?" Once again emerging from the closet, Davis sat down in front of Veemon as he awaited his response.
"Wait, that reminds me! I'd better ask Gatomon if she wants to go with me!" He turned to dart out the room, but Davis was too quick for him.
"Oh no you don't!" he shouted as he tackled Veemon. "You're gonna help me with Kari before you go running off after Gatomon! You made me do this, you're gonna help me see it through to the end!"
"Oh, calm down, Davis. You're just taking her to a concert. Just wear some casual clothes and make sure you pick her up on time." Davis froze at the sound of Jun's voice coming from his doorway.
"How long have you been standing there?"
She scoffed. "Ever since you dove headfirst into your closet. Listen, this isn't anything special. Sure, it's a date, but it's a casual one. Just be her friend. And make sure to pay more attention to her than anything else. And buy her stuff. Lots of stuff." With that, she turned to walk away.
"You mean you aren't gonna make fun of me?"
"Oh, don't worry; I am. Just not now. You have plenty to worry about already." Davis groaned.
Kari was sitting in the living room when Davis arrived, though she knew he was there long before he knocked on the door. She chuckled as she listened to him bicker with Veemon.
"No way, it's only 7:55, we're early! I don't want to look desperate!"
"Get over it, we're only five minutes early, and I want to see Gatomon already!"
"I don't care! We're gonna be on time, not early. We might even be fashionably late, just to bug you!"
Giggling, Kari opened the front door, and was greeted by Davis holding Veemon off the ground in order to restrain him. "Good evening, you two."
Instantly, Davis dropped Veemon. "Hey, Kari. So, uh… ready to go? Or do you need more time to get ready?"
"Don't worry, I'm ready." Turning, she shouted down the hall. "Gatomon! They're here!" Grinning, she turned back to the pair. "And don't worry, Veemon. I think it's sweet that you wanted to get here early."
"Ha! Told you so, Davis!"
"We'll go on ahead so you and Gatomon can walk together. Come on, Davis." Stepping past Veemon, she slipped her arm into Davis's and began to walk away. The two walked in silence down the stairs, but once they were on the street, Davis broke the silence.
"It's a really nice night tonight," he commented, and Kari could almost see him mentally berating himself for his choice of small talk.
"Yeah. It'd be nicer if we could see the stars, though." At her complaint, Davis looked up.
"You're right. I never really noticed." Light pollution completely blocked any sign of the night sky. Davis was silent for a moment. "Hey Kari," he began, "waddya say after the concert, we go somewhere where we can see them?"
"Oh? Where did you have in mind?"
"Uh… I dunno, really. I guess we'd have to leave the city."
"Don't worry about it, Davis. I appreciate the thought. Lets just enjoy the concert tonight."
"Are you sure? I mean, it can't be that hard."
"You're sweet. But really, it isn't that big a deal." He still looked unconvinced, so she smiled and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. Surprised, he blushed, and the two continued to chat as they walked.
Shortly after the two began walking, they reached the concert hall and walked up to the gate. From the sounds of things, the show had already started. "Dangit! Now we probably won't be able to find a good seat." They approached the ticket stand, and Davis pulled out his wallet.
"Hey, you two don't worry about paying. That loud brown haired girl said you're covered, and Matt said to do whatever she says," said the man at the stand, waving them through. "You two have reserved seats." Davis laughed, and the two proceeded through.
"Davis? Did Mimi set this all up?"
"Well, she did give me the idea to ask you to go. So yeah, sort of." Kari smiled. Mimi, you are amazing. I wait for a year and a half, and you convince him to act in a single night. I've got to remember to thank you later.
They reached their seats just as the band began another song. Matt was just as talented as ever, and there was no shortage of screaming fan girls hoping he would fall in love with them.
As the concert went on, Kari grew ever so slightly annoyed. Davis would speak when she spoke to him, but he never tried to make conversation. Whenever she would try, it would take him a moment to even realize she had spoken; it was like he was concentrating on something. Eventually, she just gave up and tried to listen to the band.
The concert only lasted about an hour, and as everything began to wind down, Davis stood up and offered Kari his hand. Ignoring it, she stood up. "Let's go."
They managed to make it out of the concert hall before the rush; thankfully, the majority of the fans were hanging around in the hopes of meeting the band. They walked back to the Kamiya residence in relative silence, Kari's annoyance deepening into hurt with each step that Davis refused to acknowledge her.
Before long, they had reached her building. "Good night." Kari kept it short, hurrying towards the stairs.
"Kari, wait up! What's up?"
"What's up is that I'm mad at you for taking me on a date and then completely forgetting that I'm here! Throughout the concert, you never said one word without me prying it out of you first!" She shook her head, and fought back tears. "Good night." She turned and once again hurried towards the stairs.
"Kari, wait! I'm really, really sorry! I promise, I had a good reason. Let me make it up to you."
"A good reason? What reason could you possibly have for ignoring me?"
"A good one. Please, just trust me. Meet me at the mall at five tomorrow. I promise, I'll make it up to you."
"…"
"Please? I know I messed up, but just give me this one chance."
"Fine. Screw it up, and we're completely over." Without waiting for his reply, she hurried up the stairs.
Just as quickly, Davis took off running toward his house. I've gotta hurry. I've got a lot of work to do.
I hope this works… Kari, as promised, was approaching him. He nervously felt his pocket, making sure for the twelfth time that he still had what he needed.
"Alright, Davis. What was it you wanted to show me?"
"Here, come this way." He beckoned for her to follow, and walked toward the back entrance of a nearby building. Rolling her eyes, Kari followed. He entered the door, holding it open for Kari, and pulled out two tickets. Rounding a corner, he handed them to a man in front of some double doors.
"Come on," he said, holding the door so that she could enter. Once she did, the door swung shut, leaving the two in total darkness.
"Davis, what's going on?"
"Shh! Just take my hand," he said, grabbing her hand and gently guiding her forward. "Alright, now lay down and look at the ceiling."
"Davis, what is-"
"Not now! Hurry, it's about to start!" He grinned as he felt her hand move down and out of his grasp - she had finally laid down. He quickly joined her, directing his attention to the ceiling.
Just as Davis heard Kari begin to ask why they were here, it began. The ceiling lit up in a perfect replica of the night sky - minus the light pollution of the city. He heard Kari gasp, and waited to see if she said anything.
"Davis… why?"
"I knew you didn't mean in when you said it wasn't a big deal. So I spent the entire concert thinking of a way to let you see the stars." As he spoke, shooting stars began to travel across the simulated night sky, and a bright moon rose and shed enough light on the room for Davis to position himself directly next to Kari.
"I know I screwed up, and… I definitely should've paid you more attention. But I hope that maybe this can make up for it?"
"Davis, I… Thanks." A moment of silence, and then: "How did you get this place empty?"
"I reserved it for the two of us."
"You're kidding! Where did you get the money?"
"It's not important," Davis blushed, hoping she wouldn't push the subject.
"Of course it is! This must've cost a fortune! How did you do it?"
Davis sighed. "I kind of… sold my PS3."
"No! Davis, why would you do that? You loved that thing," she was having trouble replying; her voice was rather thick.
"Yeah, but… You're more important."
"Davis…"
"So, do you forgive me?" Kari slipped her hand into his, and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.
"Of course."
A/N: Wow. That got much longer than I expected. I thought about breaking it up into two chapters, but I was just on a roll and wanted to finish the story. Tell me what you all think, and once again, thank you all for your support.