"Dear Kari," a voice said from behind a door. "No, to letter-like. Hi, Kari! Hey Kari! How's about you and I take a date to… ugh, disaster? Am I supposed to pay? What am I supposed to do if she doesn't like the food there? Or the movie? Or the whole idea of going out with me?!"

Yamato walked passed the door and stopped. He knocked on it with his knuckle and said loudly, "Why don't you try asking her first?"

Takeru threw open the door, his cheeks a bright red. "How am I supposed to do that!"

Seven straight hours the boy searched, rummaged, penetrated, and investigated his mind for a way to ask Hikari Yagami out. And for seven straight hours, Yamato heard his brother pound his fist against the wall, practice his lines to a mirror, kick the door, and throw his basketball around. The poor youth was terrified from even thinking of the concept, but he wasn't a quitter. Or at least he didn't want to be one. Not even taking a break to calm down and catch his composure from running away, Takeru remained in his room, pacing, thinking, yelling, driving himself out of his mind… Yamato couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"You're going to pull out all your hair." Yamato said, chewing a doughnut. "You haven't even gotten to your gel stage yet."

"Yeah, well, you know what? I don't care if I lose all my hair because when it's not there, I'll have nothing to tear and--"

"Heh, that rhymes." Yamato pointed out, trying to get his younger brother to lighten up.

"Funny for you to say-you have girls throwing themselves at your feet! You don't have to worry about such a thing like I do!" Takeru yelled quickly and slammed the door in his face.

This triggered the Ishida temper. "Hey!" the older blond yelled. "Open this door right now!"

Nothing happened.

"That's it!" Yamato growled. "I'm calling your gal pal and asking your question for you!"

The Takaishi brother opened the door wide-eyed. "Oh please don't!"

"Nope, too late. You already made me drop my doughnut, so I'm pissed off." He then walked to the living room and picked up the phone. With one hand, he dialed the Yagami's phone number and punched the numbers with his thumb. His other hand was holding Takeru back by his head.

"This! Isn't! Fair!" Takeru yelled and swiped for the phone repeatedly. Unlucky for him, he missed.

"Hey Taichi. Get your sister on the phone." Yamato smirked at his brother's feeble attempts to get the phone. "Takeru wants to speak with her."

In a moment, Hikari's cheerful "Hello?" came across the line. "Hi, Kari." Yamato greeted. "My brother wants to talk to you."

Following that remark, Yamato tossed the phone to Takeru and he fell forward to catch it. Countless seconds it took for the Takaishi to grab a hold of the phone.

"Um… hello?" Hikari asked again. "Takeru?"

"Hi, Kari!" he blurted and immediately blushed. "I mean… what's u-up?"

"Nothing really." She said with a giggle, "You?"

"Um, noth-nothing here either. Same ol', same ol', right?"

Hikari giggled again, "Right!"

Yamato watched as his brother started to rock back and forth from heel to toe. Then how he started to shift his weight from foot to foot and soon, he began pacing around in circles. The blush on his cheeks never faded. Finally, the question came up.

"So really, what'd you call for?"

"Um…I… Well uh…" Takeru knew what he had to say, but he couldn't get it out. Suddenly he choked out, "I can't remember."

"Oh…well… how strange."

D'oh! Takeru gave himself a mental kick to his brain. Somehow, he knew Yamato did too.

"Um…" Hikari said something to break the silence. Takeru stopped cerebrally kicking himself and looked at his older brother. Yamato, who was pointing to a calendar, jumped up and down without saying anything.

"U-uh," Takeru looked down at the ground. He took a deep breath and asked very quickly, "Hikari-will-you-go-out-with-me-sometime-nothing-fancy-just-a-movie-or-something-maybe-a-walk-in-the-park-or-something. Will you?"

There was an instant creepy silence followed after. At last, the girl's voice came over again, "I'm sorry, Meeko wanted out. What did you say?"

Takeru fell to the floor, wrapped in phone cord, little beads of sweat on his forehead, and his hands clutching onto the phone for dear life. Yamato couldn't help but fall over laughing.

HA! HA! HA! Yamato! Laugh all you want! Takeru swallowed the lump in his throat. Again, he repeated his words, more slowly this time, "I was wondering if-if you'd like to um… w-watch a movie with me or something sometime someplace somehow?"

There's that moment of silence again! Takeru waited. His grip only tightened and his cheeks only burned more.

"Sure, Takeru." Hikari said, obviously flattered. "Um… when?"

The boy turned pale and looked at Yamato. "I-I forgot about that too…" Takeru laughed uneasily. Yamato slammed his finger into the little box saying 'December twenty-fifth' silently.

"I mean! Um… De-December twenty-fifth? Ch-Christmas Eve? Are you too busy? Have other plans? I'm sorry, I'll go now, b-"

"Wait at least a second, Takeru!" she laughed and muffled the receiver with her hand.

Takeru sat up from the ground and tried to slip the cord off that was around his neck. He didn't realize that it was practically choking him.

"No," she said.

He froze.

"No! Taichi! Please don't!"

He relaxed a little bit and struggled to get it off his neck.

"Um, I-I'm free, Takeru. And… I'd love to."

This comment made Takeru jump right off the floor. "You will?!" he smiled brightly. His hand released the cord in midst of getting it off and it slapped him right on the forehead. There's that mental kick again!

Hikari was nodding frantically inside her closet. Taichi hadn't given her the privacy of phone calls that he promised to. Blushing heavily, she then opened the door to find Taichi standing there with a cup in hand.

"Wh-what time?" she asked, ignoring her immature brother.

"There's a movie playing at f-five and seven." Takeru said over the line.

Hikari blushed again at what she was going to say next. "L-let's watch the later one. Um, less people go to the evening ones?"

Way to go, Kari! You just made yourself look like a complete imbecile! She mentally pinched herself and sat down on a chair.

"I-I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow?"

"Today's the eve of Christmas Eve."

"Oh! That's right…" she blushed.

"Um… b-bye."

"Buh-bye, 'Keru." Hikari said and quickly hung up the phone. She turned around to run into her room, but Taichi was standing there, so instead, she ran into him. "What's the big idea!"

"Kari and TK, sittin' in the dark. Kissing each other in the park. First comes-" Taichi's song was interrupted by Hikari pushing him in the gut.

"Grow up, Taichi!" she hissed, blushed even more, and ran into her room.

"K-Keru…" Takeru looked up from the phone and towards Yamato. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Congratulations!" he teased and messed up his brother's hair. "You may now faint and dream of your date. 'Cause TK's gotta girlfriend. TK's gotta girlfriend!"

Takeru smiled dazedly and felt his cheeks burn. "Thanks, Matt. I'll take that faint-away-trip now." The fear of not knowing what to do finally jumped into Takeru's mind and he fainted dead away.

Yamato kneeled down beside his brother and chuckled. "Poor kid."

"Mom…" Takeru groaned and fell off the couch. It was just an hour before he was to pick Hikari up to go to the movies. His mother was so happy that she wanted to take a picture.

"I'm not even dressed up for anything special…" he groaned again.

Ms. Takaishi zoomed in with the video camera. "Oh no! No! Mom! Not that!" he pleaded. If this boy had to name one thing he hated, it wasn't fighting, it was being recorded with a video camera.

"Quiet," she smile brightly and looked at him. "After the first date, you'll never be the same."

Takeru hid himself behind the couch and crimson seeped onto his pale skin. Every big event had to be captured with that contraption. His first day of kindergarten, his first report card showing; his first time with a basketball, his first homemade batch of cookies with Yamato, EVERYTHING was in videotapes. For all he knew, she caught him sleeping or eating a simple bowl of cereal. But this… this he knew that he wanted to keep… Just not on tape… in memory. Besides, it was his life and he didn't want other prying into it.

"Taichi go away." Hikari said, combing her hair gently.

Her brother taped her with their own video camera. "I told you that you shouldn't have asked for this thing for your birthday."

"It's mine," she snapped, "so put it down!"

"Meow! Hiss! Scratch, scratch," he teased. Then she looked up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Taichi…" she pleaded, "I don't need to be tormented right now… That's the last thing I need. Please?"

Taichi looked at his sister and smirked. "Sure, Kid."

"Thanks."

For the rest of the time, Taichi played indoor-inroom soccer, even though he wasn't allowed to. And even though Hikari would occasionally trip over the ball, she didn't mind the fact that it was an accident. At least it wasn't Taichi's fault.

"I'm going now, Mom." Takeru mumbled and opened the door. As soon as it was open, there stood Yamato. In his hands was a miniature video camera.

"Does everyone have cameras around here?!" Takeru wailed.

"Hey, Squirt." Yamato grinned.

"Bye." He grumbled and pushed his way through the door.

"Hey! Come on! The camera loves ya!" Yamato watched as he ran into the elevator. The blond chuckled and turned to his use-to-be mother. "Ever think of him as a movie star?"

She thought for a minute then shook her head. "He doesn't have the patience."

Takeru briskly walked down the frozen sidewalk with his hands in his pockets. Silent was the night; the full moon decorated the clear sky and stars twinkled as if they knew a secret. Visible breath escaped from the boy's already-cold lips and he turned to look up at the sky. It was so gentle, like a pillow, something that you could fall into and never want to get up. That is how Takeru imagined Hikari's eyes. An endless maze they were. If he could, he would stare into them forever; he would get lost in them forever; then he would be with her forever. That's all he ever wished… That's all he ever wanted…

His thoughts carried him to Hikari's apartment door and he inattentively knocked. The swing of the door created a small gust of wind, and that's what made Takeru realize what he just did. There stood Taichi.

"H-hi, Tai…" he gulped.

Taichi smiled almost too friendly. "Come in already."

Hesitation couldn't set in his mind… Takeru was pulled in by his coat. Taichi crossed his arms and looked at the boy. Nodding faintly, he then scratched his chin. Takeru was now ready to cower in fear.

"My sister," he started to say in a tone that could make a little kid wet his pants, "is looking forward to this date… And if she comes home in tears-"

"I-I won't make her cry! I swear!" Takeru jumped a little bit.

"Really…" Taichi smirked evilly, "can I get that in blood?"

Takeru's face turned pale and his bright blue eyes widened and turned into a dull gray.

"Taichi!" Hikari laughed. Nearly instantly, the pressure that was piling up on the Takaishi was lifted.

"Hey, sister." He smiled innocently and patted Takeru on the shoulder. To the blond, it was like a death warning. From all the years he knew Taichi, he never knew he could be this terrified of him.

"I was just having a little chat with Little Hope here." Taichi kept patting his shoulder.

"Little Hope, huh?" Hikari giggled a little.

"Isn't that right, TK?" the brunette nudged the blond and whispered, "Say yes."

"Y-yes." He obeyed automatically.

Hikari rolled her eyes and pulled on her coat. "Oh please, Taichi. Your act is over."

Act…Of course! Taichi would never do that… Takeru kicked himself mentally just as he did so many times before.

"I'm trying to get him to lighten up."

"Well… stop it." Hikari tugged on Takeru's coat sleeve. "Let's go already, we'll be late."

"O-okay." Takeru never blinked once until Taichi was out of sight.

"I'm sorry about my brother. Weird sense of humor, I guess."

"I guess…"

Inside of the apartment, Taichi's phone rang.

"What's up?" he asked. "Who are ya and what do you want?"

"Nothing, Yamato, and what are you doing?"

"Oh, hi, and getting ready to go somewhere."

"Oh, okay, and where's this place?"

"Someplace." Taichi said, putting on his jacket.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Going out to see what happens?"

"Yup."

"I'll meet you at the theater."

"All right." Taichi hung up and left.

Takeru and Hikari walked wordlessly to the theater. They didn't know what to say or do. After all, it was just an innocent date with two friends. Wasn't it?

"Uh, t-two tickets please." Takeru said and held out a fair amount of money.

The woman inside the ticket booth adjusted her glasses and smiled, "Aw! How cute! Is this your first date?"

Takeru's cheeks burned wildly and he wanted to scream at the old lady. Instead, he hung his head in embarrassment. Taichi and Yamato arrived just in time to watch their younger siblings hurry into the doors with their faces bright red. Without hesitation, Taichi bought two tickets and he and the blond followed them into the building. They watched as Takeru offered to buy Hikari some popcorn and a drink. She only agreed to the popcorn.

"You're sister's going to ask for a drink from Takeru's cup." Yamato whispered as they hid behind the pretzel stand. "I bet you two dollars."

"And I bet you your brother's going to attempt the arm around the shoulder thing." Taichi whispered back. "Three dollars. I should make profit."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I paid two dollars to get in here."

"I'll pay you back."

"I know you will; I'll win the bet."

Soon after they placed their bets, the two teenagers trailed the other two inside of the dark room. They sat three rows behind the young couple and kept a close eye on them. As the movie began, nothing happened. As it got deeper into the plot, nothing happened. Near the middle of the movie, Takeru sneezed and Hikari muttered a "Bless you". Mainly, that was it until the end.

"This was an interesting movie." Hikari leaned over to whisper to him. Taichi and Yamato inched forward as if trying to hear their conversation.

"Yeah…" he nodded and sipped the drink of his.

"Can I um, have a drink?" she asked innocently. Again he nodded and held it out to her.

"Ha! See?" Yamato jabbed his fist into Taichi's shoulder. "You owe me two bucks."

"Sh! The movie's not over yet."

"…"

"Hey, I didn't pay two dollars just to watch your brother play tonsil doctor on my sister!"

"MY brother didn't do anything! YOUR sister asked HIM to let HER drink from HIS drink!"

"Hey! Shut up you two!" someone yelled hastily.

"Shut up yourself!" Taichi huffed. Hikari flipped around in her seat and they dropped to the floor.

"Something wrong?" Takeru asked, a little worried.

"I thought I heard Tai."

"Oh."

"Can we go now? It's almost over anyway…"

Takeru stood up. "Sure… do you want to get something to eat on the way home?"

"Sure."

They left without any more words. Takeru had a hard time focusing his eyes on the ground so he couldn't tell where he was going. Sure enough, he tripped over his feet and he fell to the ground. Chuckles came from people nearby and his face turned a faint red in the dark. As if things couldn't get even more embarrassing, the drink he was holding then fell on top of his head. The liquid dripped out and poured over his head.

"Oh, TK!" Hikari pulled him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"L-let's just get out of here." He muttered and pulled her out of the theater. Outside, Takeru regretted his fast decision and patted his stiff hair with his hand.

Hikari giggled. "You should've at least dried it."

"Sorry I didn't think of that before I tripped." He mumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

She smiled and looked at the boy. His hair was flat from the sugary refreshment and it had rolled down the back of his neck. To her, he was unusually cute in the helpless kind of way.

"Come on, Little Hope." Hikari wrapped her hands around on of his wrists. "Let's dine on a delicate and delicious dinner!"

Takeru couldn't help but smile at her effort to cheer him up. The first restaurant they came to, they entered and Takeru immediately walked into the bathroom. As she waited, Hikari was seated and given two menus. Despite the fancy looks and expensive dishes, the food prices were extremely low from the way they sounded.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Takeru said and sat down across from Hikari. Lightly blushing, he looked up to see her holding out a menu. He took one and nodded as a thank you. While his eyes scanned through the list of foods, Hikari stared at the boy. Since his hair was wet, it reminded her of his older brother. It looked nearly gelled and neat instead of dry and messy. He looked more grown up than he usually was. Hikari looked at herself in the reflection of the silver bowl in the middle of the table. She still looked the same, her clips holding back her bangs, her hair the same length, her body still small. Unlike her friend, she looked childish and young, not sophisticated and wise.

"Hikari?" Takeru watched as a waiter stopped. She didn't answer, so the waiter moved on. "Hikari? Is something wrong?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked into his azure eyes. "N-no. I'm sorry."

Takeru raised his hand to call for a waiter, but his shirtsleeve caught onto the edge of the cup and it raised with his hand. The water poured out of the cup and landed on Hikari. Instincts rushed into her mind and she jumped up and screamed. As the cup fell, the blond tried to catch it. His attempt failed and he bumped into the table and made the candles fall over. Along with Hikari, Takeru tried to extinguish the flames of the candle and tried to clean everything up. Everyone around them was staring. Right as the problem was fixed, the two young teens shot their head up to look at a man dressed in a tuxedo.

"Eh, h-hey. What's up?" Takeru smiled crookedly and waved a peace sign in front of his chest.

"What is up?" the man repeated. Hikari looked up at him and blinked.

"Um…" Takeru began.

"Silence!" he yelled. "You! And you! Out! NOW!"

Takeru tried to work his way around the demand, "But sir! It was a complete accident!"

"I don't care! Get out of my restaurant right this moment!"

"Humph," Hikari took one of Takeru's fingers and pulled him away. "Let's just go."

"Fine." Grumbled Takeru. "The waiters were snotty anyway."

They stumbled outside and began to laugh.

"This night has been weird." Hikari smiled and pulled her coat tighter around herself. She sighed and a big puff of hot air was seen.

"You're cold…"

"No big deal-"

"Yeah, whatever. And if you had a deadly virus, that wouldn't be a big deal." Takeru slipped his jacket off and then his sweatshirt. As the sweater was placed in her hands, Hikari felt a blush form on her cheeks. She quickly put it on underneath her jacket and looked up at Takeru.

"Thanks."

He looked down at her and blushed a little bit. The sidewalks were icy and slick and the snow that was piled up on the sides looked like a cold pillow. They chattered about the movie, the could-have-been dinner, and what they could do for the rest of the night. On the opposite side of the road, Taichi and Yamato lurked within the shadows, not knowing that they were across from their siblings.

"You lost them!" Yamato growled.

"I did not. It was your idea to stop by the guitar place!"

"You could've kept an eye out for them."

"You could've just walked right by… but NO!"

Their sour bickering carried on until they turned the corner. Again, the younger couple walked one way, and the older brothers walked the other.

"Look at the moon," Hikari whispered and pointed up towards the sky.

Takeru followed her finger and stared at it. "It's pretty."

"Isn't it?" she smiled brightly. "It's very romantic too…"

Takeru's eyes shot down to look at his friend by hearing those words. When he saw her smiling that smile of hers, a soothing feeling ran through his body and made him feel like he could fly. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Tragedy too, because along with that wonderful feeling, there was a pinch of terror following it. This made his legs feel weak and his balance shifted on him. He fell not only because of his careless balance, but because of the ice as well. In attempt to catch himself, he grabbed onto Hikari's arm. Both fell to the ground with a thud.

D'oh! Takeru, you idiot! I can't believe how klutzy you are tonight! Takeru opened his eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Kari."

She giggled and sat up. Her eyes looked into Takeru's and she said with a smile, "It's okay, really. One mess up won't count against a record."

"One?" Takeru blinked. He stood up and brought her to her feet as well. "I could count many… many more than one."

"Don't worry about it."

Takeru shoved his hands in his pockets. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah…" she grinned, just thinking about the past restaurant. "Let's just get some fast food."

"You read my mind." Chuckled Takeru. Once more, they tried to find a place to eat. Once they arrived, they waited outside for a minute.

"Wanna do somethin' fun?" Takeru smirked and looked at the drive thru'.

Hikari blinked, "You wouldn't!"

She watched as he casually walked to the cable.

"You wouldn't!"

She then watched him step on it and walk to the speaker.

"You would!" she gasped.

"What do you want, Kari?"

Hikari rolled her eyes and laughed. She never knew Takeru could be so… different. They ordered their food and the girl who took their order believed that they were old enough to drive. By the time they strolled up to the window, their food was all ready. Lackadaisically, he walked by and dropped off the money and picked up the food. Hikari, who was unable to move from giggling so much, met him around the corner.

"You slimy snake in the grass!" she laughed and snatched the french-fry from his fingers.

"Hey kid!" the girl leaned out of the window. "Kid! Hey! Come back here!"

Takeru grasped Hikari's hand in his and dashed out of the fast-food place. They ran until they reached the street. Across from them was the park. Instantly, they began to stroll over to the grounds. Together they sat, even though it was cold, on the metal merry-go-round. But before Hikari could sit down, it was her time to take a fall. She slipped on the frozen ground and up the bag of food went… And, as the law of gravity goes, down it came. The french-fries fell onto both of them and the hamburgers flopped onto their heads. Hikari shrieked as she fell backwards onto the merry-go-round. But before she landed, Takeru reached out and braced her so she wouldn't land on the metal.

Hikari's cheeks flared a bright red. "I'm so sorry!"

Takeru said nothing; the only thing he did was laugh. Before she could ask what was so funny, he lifted the hamburger off of her head. She started to laugh along with him. As the laughter died out, they finally began to dine on the dinner. The dinner that was on each other that is.

"Sh! There they are." Taichi pointed and stopped dead in his tracks.

Yamato blinked. "This is getting old. Let's just go home-"

"They're eating the same hamburger…" Taichi growled and grabbed onto Yamato's shoulder. "You're brother is a cheap son of a-"

"Shut up! It could be Hikari that volunteered to do that!" Yamato grasped his hands onto the brunette's shoulders.

Before Taichi could do anything else, both of them dropped their arms. They stared at their littler siblings and held their breath. For what they saw startled them largely. No, they weren't kissing. But they were feeding each other french-fries and laughing. Such little things made the two brothers steamed…

"We should go." Takeru chuckled and pulled Hikari to her feet. They linked hands unknowingly and walked away, stopping to throw the trash away of course. Instead of silence, the night was filled with silly chuckles and giggles. It was much more different than the beginning. The stars still twinkled and the moon stilled shined brightly. However, one thing did change throughout the hours they spent together. Friendship was no longer the term used between them, it was love.

"This was absolutely great." Hikari said as soon as they entered Hikari's apartment flat. She swung her arms and caused his to swing as well.

"Thanks for the night." Takeru said as he walked her to the door. His fingers were laced with hers and they stopped in against the wall.

"Are we going to stick with traditional dating rules?" Hikari asked and leaned against the wall. Her brown eyes peered up to his blue eyes and they both smiled.

"We've had a very untraditional date so far…" said he.

"Frozen soda hair…" she giggled.

"Miniature candle fire and restaurant kick-out."

"Slips on the ice…"

"False order in the fast food place…"

"…More slipping on the ice."

They both laughed and said together, "A natural first date disaster!"

Takeru glanced at the elevator then back at Hikari. "Thanks again…"

"Thank you, Takeru." She whispered. That moment was strengthened the second Takeru started to lean towards the girl. Leaning against the wall, Hikari closed her eyes when his hand found the right spot on her jawbone. His fingers tilted her chin up and his lips brushed against hers, swiftly at first. Then again, his lips caressed hers and they remained in that position for several seconds. Both of them felt a type of feeling that they've never experienced before... And Takeru mentally kicked himself to break away from her tender lips. At last, Takeru stepped back and felt his cheeks burn with embarrassment.

Takeru didn't know what more to do, so he nodded foolishly and waved numbly. Still taken aback from the kiss, Hikari waved back and watched as he walked into the elevator. With one more wave, they parted by the closing of the doors. Hikari sighed and set her fingers on her lips. She then twirled her way into her apartment.

"There, ladies and gentlemen," Yamato said as he walked around the corner. He had the video camera pointing towards his face. "Was the perfect example of how Hope found his Light."

Yamato paused and chuckled. "In other words: TK's gotta girlfriend! TK's gotta girlfriend!"

The Ishida then turned off the camera with a simple…

"The end."

Did you like it? I hope you did. I did. I thought it was fun to write. 'Cause it was funny. Woo-who… I feel like an idiot. ::sweatdrops:: Please review and tell me if you like it or not. Thank you. ^-^ ~HT