a/n: Welcome, welcome. We are going to spend some time breathing life into all of the little Takari moments throughout Tri. Ready?

As an aside, this is essentially a Takari focused rewrite of Tri, and I've taken the liberty to add more backstory (school life, friends) as well as extra scenes from my headcanon to help develop their relationship. For your reference, all chapters that don't contain an actual scene from the movie will be marked with a (ns) in the chapter title (just in case you only want to read the parts directly related to the movie).

"Takaishi, roof?"

Said popular blonde-haired boy was busy staring down at his desk when his friend's call snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, Yamanaka. Let's go." He turned to pull his lunch box out of his school bag.

"Hm? You packed today?" Yamanaka noted, staring at the drawstring bag that contained Takeru's lunch. "What is it, you get it packed twice a week?"

Everyone had noticed the pattern, but no one had noticed the source. It was a small comfort and a smug sort of joy to Takeru. "Yeah, twice a week."

Yamanaka leaned over the next desk and drawled, "Oi, Andou, Ogawa, you guys coming?"

One of the girls who had been giggling about something a couple desks over perked up. "Yeah, we're there!"

The other was busy fastening her high ponytail into place. "Yama-chan, what about Suzu-kun and the others?"

"Buying," Yamanaka answered impatiently. "Hurry up! The good spots are gonna be taken."

Both girls joined the boys as they made their way out of the busy classroom and down the hallway.

"By the way, Takaishi-kun, your brother's concert is coming up soon, right?" Andou mentioned as she caught up with them.

Ogawa's face lit up. "Ooh yeah! Teenage Wolves! Is that still their name? I'm such a fan!"

"Kyaa, Yamato-san!"

Takeru smiled at the two girls. "I was just about to mention that he gave me extra tickets."

Like lionesses, they pounced.

"Really?!"

"Kyaaa oh my gosh, can we go?"

"I'm there! I'm there!"

He smiled again, that smile that no girl (his age, at least) ever seemed immune to. "Of course."

There was one girl though, who was seemingly immune to his charms. She was charming enough in her own right, and he always struggled at the seeming unfairness of their interactions—how he was somehow starstruck while she escaped unfazed.

Unabashed. Free and bold. But gentle, composed, and sweet all at once. The girl with the whistle. She no longer had the whistle, but that was how they began, and that was how it remained to him. She was always one step ahead of him. One step too far, and the most itchy, irritating thing about it all was how seemingly close yet unattainable she was. It was a conundrum as odd as they come, because he knew her—and she, him—like no other. They had shared intertwined fingers and fears and laughs and tears; they had mingled new discoveries, triumphs, and hope.

It was easy to deal with other girls. He knew just what to say; they were predictable and cute. He liked them.

But when she came into the picture, despite the familiarity of having grown up together, his mind seemed to draw a blank and default into protective-little-boy-with-the-green-hat mode. He was the small boy with the green hat whose biggest goal was to protect the girl with the whistle with all of his might, despite his fears and insecurities. His suave lines and good-natured smile were overpowered by green-hat boy, and in all of his green-hat-boy naiveté, he could never seem to tell what she was thinking. And she, she would accept his protectiveness with a knowing smile and words wise beyond her years, as an older sister would treat her brother.

But maybe that was because she was the girl with the whistle.

"Hahh? You're taking the girls to what?"

They had made it to the roof only to find it fairly crowded with a bunch of other groups hoping to enjoy the fresh air, and had made do with leaning against the fenced railing.

Yamanaka snorted. "His brother's concert."

"Teenage Wolves is the best!" Ogawa squeed, stabbing a daikon with her chopsticks and brandishing it like a weapon. "And Takaishi-kun has extra tickets! Got a problem?"

Suzuki looked miffed. He turned to Takeru. "How many tickets you got?"

"Mmm.." Takeru thought for a bit, mentally counting out the number of tickets his brother had given him the night before. "Six.. including myself."

"Well, that decides it." Suzuki tore open his melon bread with an air of finality. "We're going too."

Yamamoto's eyes narrowed. "We?"

"Well, we can't let Takaishi go with just the girls, can we?"

Takeru grinned. "You mean I can't?" he said, making the girls giggle.

"Obviously not!" Suzuki snapped. "Yamamoto, you're coming too!"

"Ehhh…"

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting! Ugh that line was so long!" A slightly round and pretty girl with her hair in two braids came running up to them, interrupting Yamamoto's complaint. A boy with glasses followed.

"Finally!" Andou cried, moving over to make room for the two new arrivals.

"So, what were you all talking about?" The girl asked, nibbling on her yakisoba bread.

"Ki-chan, you're going to like this. Takaishi-kun's brother's concert! He has extra tickets, so we're planning on going together," Ogawa filled in.

"Oooh!" Kikuchi's eyes widened, her cheeks pinkening. "Sounds like sooo much fun!"

Ogawa and Andou exchanged glances briefly.

"Hey, Takaishi-kun, how many tickets do you have left again?" Andou brought up.

He hesitated a beat. Something in his stomach fluttered as he thought of that final ticket and who it was meant for. But he couldn't escape; he had already told them how many he had. "One," he said, looking apologetically at the two who had just joined them.

"I've got piano lessons, so don't mind me," the boy with the glasses said.

"One ticket left! That's perfect!" Ogawa chirped. "Ki-chan, you wanna go? Since Fujioka-kun can't make it. I mean, of course you wanna, right?!"

Kikuchi's grip on her bread tightened slightly. Her black eyes met Takeru's sea green ones and her cheeks grew even pinker, but the smile on her face spread. "Totally!"

"That's okay, right, Takaishi-kun?" Andou asked in a saccharine voice.

"Huh, I thought you were going to give one of the tickets to Yagami-san," Fujioka put in blankly, munching on his egg sandwich.

"Oh yeah, there's Yagami-chan. What about her?" Yamamoto questioned, suddenly interested.

Andou and Ogawa exchanged glances again, this time with small frowns on their faces.

Kikuchi looked crestfallen, but immediately stammered, "Oh, if one of the tickets is supposed to be for Yagami-san then I wouldn't, I wouldn't want to get in the way-I mean.. That's totally fine!"

"Miss Angel, huh?" Andou sighed, though her tone was more defeated than mean-spirited. "I guess that's that.."

There she was again. The girl with the whistle. She was actually sitting only a few yards away on the roof, just out of earshot, surrounded by a group of friends. He knew, of course, though he did not say a word, nor did he dare look for fear of her noticing. If she had noticed him there, she would have said something in greeting, because that was how she was. But if she didn't notice, he didn't want to always be the first one to make contact.

"There she is!" Suzuki dropped his voice to a whisper and pointed her out. "Waaa.. so cute…"

"She's waaaay out of your league," Ogawa scoffed.

"Have you even spoken to her?" Andou asked pointedly.

"Shut up."

Cute. That's right, she was. Strangely enough, the thought so seldom crossed his mind that it often took the comment of others (which came often enough) to be reminded of the fact that she was, in fact, conventionally beautiful. Generally, he was too caught up in her entire being to be solely captivated by her physical features. Plus, he knew them well. They were as much of a memory, a piece of home, as they were something to be admired.

He looked. A quick glance, letting his golden fringe hide his eyes—he couldn't help himself. Her bright, clear face and soft brown eyes caught the sun and seemed to glow as she laughed at something one of her friends had said.

That's my Hikari-chan… he indulged himself this one thought.

And was she eating ice cream? He sighed inwardly, thinking that another one of the admiring boys that were seemingly in surplus during all seasons had most likely made the trip to the nearest convenience store as soon as class let out just to get her beloved ice cream. Though her closest friend group was composed of mostly girls—and rather classy, well-respected girls at that—plenty of guys would go out of their way to talk to her and her friends. She was well-connected due to her involvement as a photographer and writer for the school newspaper, and was known and loved by many students, not just for her looks and talents, but also for her unrivaled kindness.

Takeru wasn't exactly outmatched in terms of popularity, keeping up with her person-for-person on the number of times they'd been confessed to (okay, maybe she had a few more). He was the star of the basketball team and close with both his teammates and plenty of cheerleaders, and, of course, he had an aptitude for attracting the opposite gender.

At a glance, it seemed obvious and perhaps natural that they would be close and hang in the same popular friend group. At school, however, they had somehow ended up in different circles—they were in different classes and occupied different social niches (he was with the jocks, she was with the preps). The drifting apart had happened smoothly once middle school started and they both began pursuing their own interests; surprisingly enough, both were okay with this.

And at the end of the day, they came together as naturally as they drifted apart. He would wordlessly wait for her at the gate after basketball practice, his gym bag slung over his shoulder, and she would walk her bike out to meet him. They always walked home together. This was how everyone eventually learned that Hikari and Takeru were something of a unit. Even during the day, when they barely saw each other and only said hello in passing, there was an unmentioned sense of acknowledgment of something special between them, a relation of sorts. Whenever Takeru was around, guys tiptoed a little more cautiously around Hikari. Whenever Hikari showed up to take photographs of the basketball team, the cheerleaders were more pushy and flirty (though they quickly backed down when they saw how gracious and unfazed she was at their behavior). While it was clear they weren't dating, there were plenty of whispered conspiracies as to if and when they would. But he paid these things no mind; he knew she would pay them no mind.

Takeru pictured the sly smile that had been on his brother's face the previous night as he brandished the extra tickets.

"I saved six for you! Even number! You know what that means, right?" Yamato gave a grin so wide that his teeth glinted.

Takeru had played dumb, teasing. "No, I don't."

He remembered the arm his older brother had slung roughly but lovingly around his shoulder. "Don't be silly. Make sure you ask Hikari-chan. I'll talk to Taichi if you need me to."

That's what he had been thinking about. How to ask her. When to ask her. And without her knowing his intentions and his hopes, because somehow, she always seemed to be able to read him. But for some reason now, he found himself shaking his head to reassure the dispirited Kikuchi and the rest of his friends.

"No, I wasn't particularly thinking of doing that," he said warmly. "So Kikuchi, if you want to come, it's all yours!"

"Ahh," Yamamoto and Suzuki sighed, doing little to hide their disappointment. Andou and Ogawa smacked them.

"Yayy! We'll all go together then, 'cept for Fu-kun!" Andou declared excitedly.

"Seriously?! Wow!" Kikuchi squealed. "Takaishi-kun, can you e-mail me the time and details again later?"

"Yeah!" Takeru answered, good-naturedly as ever.

"Takeru-kun!"

She came to him like a fall breeze. Easy, unaffected, and completely welcome after the heat of summer.

He gave her the smile he always gave her. To outsiders it looked no different from his signature, swoon-worthy gentleman's smile, but he knew. And she probably knew. It was the little boy with the green hat who smiled that smile for her.

"Hey. Otsukare."

They started the long walk home. They walked slowly. Was it she who matched his pace or he who matched hers? He had long forgotten. Halfway there, their roads diverged—he went left and she went right. It seemed that until that point, their strides were feeble, almost half-hearted. Their lips did more moving than their feet. Her eyes danced, and his cheeks were sore from trying to keep his smile in check.

She nudged her bike along, letting it run forward by itself for a moment before nudging it again to keep it from falling over, and the slow click of the wheels seemed the only indication that they were making progress as they ambled along.

"By the way," she said suddenly, as if in passing, "My brother's soccer game is on Sunday. The one he's been getting all worked up about? If you're free that day, do you want to come with?"

Do you want to come with?

The words which fell so easily from her lips gave him pause. 'Come with,' as in, together? Just the two of us?

And then, crushing realization. Sunday.

He bit back his disappointment and consoled himself by remembering that Taichi would be there as well, so it would not actually have been an 'alone together' sort of situation.

"Sorry, but I have plans on Sunday," he answered, in carefully measured tones.

It was almost infuriating to him that she seemed unfazed by his refusal.

"Oh, so you can't make it. "

Was it his imagination, or was she walking a little bit faster than usual? The early evening sunlight caught her eyes.

"I'm taking friends to see my brother's band, " he explained.

As they reached the street crossing just before where they usually parted ways, she asked softly, "By friends, do you mean girls?"

He was busy trying to maintain his nonchalance and answered absentmindedly, "Yeah. "

It grew quiet. The light clicking of her bike wheels had stopped. He turned back to where she stood a few paces back, face beautiful in the light but unreadable.

Suddenly, she smiled widely. "You're pretty popular with girls, huh? "

As if to punctuate the teasing question, her eyes narrowed, turning the radiant smile into a playful smirk.

Startled, he quickly fell into her trap. "What? No, it's not like that at all—they're just friends!"

"Hmm~ " she nodded cheerily, as if to say 'yeah, right.'

As if in tune with her reaction, the crosswalk light changed, and she sprang forward, feigning indifference.

Dumbfounded and trying decipher her tone of voice, he waited a few beats before hastening to catch up with her. "Eh? What is it?"

"Hmm, nothing really!" she laughed.

Something about the whole situation pleased him. She had never shown interest in his girl friends before, so why now? It was hard to keep the eagerness out of his voice as he voiced his hopeful realization. "What? Wait… wait a second. " He caught up to her as the crosswalk ended. "Hikari-chan… are you jealous? "

Her silky brown locks swept by her chin as she walked, another laugh playing at her lips at the incredulousness of the thought. "Mhmm, sure. "

When she turned to face him again, her expression was a few shades more serious. "But I am worried that oniichan's going to be pretty disappointed if no one else shows up to cheer him on. "

So it was back to business. That's how it was. He knew that—in fact, he was that way as well. Other people's feelings and well-being took precedence over thinking about her own. Perhaps that was why they had never been able to progress beyond 'childhood friends'—she rarely prioritized her own feelings and instead turned her attention to her family and friends. He loved that about her, but this time he couldn't help but slightly resent their respective older brothers for taking up so much of their emotional head space.

But he answered honestly, "Yeah… You know, my brother really wanted everyone to come to his concert."

Hikari looked mildly surprised at this. "He said that?"

"No, but he's just like Taichi-san. " Takeru laughed finally. "We both have our hands full with our brothers, huh? "

This time, her smile was empathetic.

Reaching the fork where their paths diverged, he raised a hand in greeting and decided to leave himself another chance. "Invite me again sometime."

"Yep! Bye!" she said sweetly, as usual.

He turned and walked away. With a knowing smile, she prepared to push her bike down the sidewalk again when a sudden gust of wind blew past, sending a familiar shiver down her spine. Anxious, she lifted her eyes to the darkening sky.

Digiegg 1: Moments, ep. 13

In the famous ep 13. of Season 2, Takeru walks up to Hikari in the very beginning with a huge, eager smile on his face and is about to tap her on the shoulder, excited to see her. It's adorable how happy he is to see her, and even if it's just platonic (I believe it is still platonic at this point), it's clear that they are very good friends. She turns and says, "Oniichan!" in a sort of nervous way, then blushes and laughs it off before Daisuke interrupts them saying, "You're going to be late!" and the three of them go running inside.

It's notable, however, that this tiny moment is enough for Takeru to notice something may be wrong with Hikari—he glances at her in a concerned sort of way in class, then jumps out of his seat and yells her name when he realizes she's disappearing. (he literally interrupts the teacher mid-lecture to do this! Woah!)