Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by Akiyoshi Hongo, creator of the Digimon concept, as well as various broadcasting networks. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: Forgive the mistakes and typos; in my excitement to finally get this chapter up, I'm uploading this way past my bedtime.

As mentioned on my Tumblr, this chapter was originally intended to twice as long. However, the sheer size of it was preventing me from feeling motivated enough to actually finish writing it. B convinced me to chop it in half and just get on with the damn thing. So B - thanks for kicking my ass.

A special shout out to all the people who left reviews for me over the years. I never forgot about this story, but definitely lost my way sometimes. Every time someone reviewed, you reminded me that there are people who actually want to see how this story ends and helped me get back on track.

To be honest, if you're still reading this story, I think I love you. This one's for all of you.

Under the Surface

Chapter XVI: Reversals

One step forward, three steps back. It took everything Yamato had to walk away from the look on Sora's face when he left the group to find Akira.

For a brief, insane instant, he had wanted to turn back and find her. He wanted to hold her by the arms and tell her that if he had the choice, he'd spend the rest of the day by her side. He wanted to see her smile at him again.

But what she wanted space, he reminded himself. She didn't want his explanations or apologies. She'd made that pretty clear. He needed to respect that, even if it was easier said than done.

His hands fisted at his side. "Snap out of it, Ishida," he muttered under his breath. "Stop being a damn fool."

Yamato's phone vibrated in the middle of his stride. Was it Sora? Heart somewhere in his throat, he slid it out from his pocket and checked.

Akira had texted: getting grub! just bought yakitori, want some?

He ignored the growing pit in his stomach as he course-corrected and headed toward the food stalls instead. It didn't take long to find his wayward guitarist. What he wasn't expecting to find was that Akira wasn't eating his snack food alone. "Hey man, I've been looking everywhere for you. I was getting stressed that you got lost or something."

Akira swallowed down a huge bite. "Oh, hey Yamato! You didn't have to worry, I found me a tour guide real quick."

"Yeah, I can see that now." Yamato smiled. "Thanks for keeping an eye on this troublemaker, Susumu."

The orchestra's pianist nodded back. He said pleasantly, "No problem at all. He recognized me while we were standing in line earlier. We got talking about music, and well - "

"This guy's got some great ideas!" Akira said as he bounced on the balls of his feet, fairly bursting with excitement. "I definitely wanna talk with the guys when they come back to perform later, but Susumu can jam. It'd be cool if we could collab, right?"

Yamato turned back to the pianist in surprise. "I thought you only performed in orchestras."

Susumu gave a half shrug. "I dabble in every genre," he said lightly. "I prefer being a soloist, honestly, but I experiment with other musicians every now and then to stretch other music muscles and keep my creativity running."

Akira pumped his fists in the air. "Yeah dude! Did you know this guy has produced music before for Hanae? Remember that one acoustic piano song that she released, 'Sunset Farewell'? That was him!"

"That was you?" Yamato said, his eyebrows raising. For a few weeks, he'd listened to Hanae's mini-album on loop. The acoustic song had been one of his favorites. "Man, that's - I knew you were talented, but you're on a whole other level."

Susumu protested, "Hanae came up with the melody herself. I barely did anything."

Undeterred by Susumu's modesty, Akira appealed to Yamato directly, "How cool would it be if Yukata and Susmu had a dueling piano moment on stage? Can you imagine it? It would be so crazy. People would lose their minds."

Yamato was inclined to agree. He'd seen firsthand that Susumu was a gifted pianist. If the man could improv as well as he played classical pieces…. "I don't think you're wrong about that. What do you say, Susumu? Have any interest in flexing your indie music muscles?"

"Well, I've never experimented with indie rock before. Could be interesting," said Susumu, the light in his eyes belying his otherwise casual tone.

"I'll run it by with the other WOLVES when they come back to camp to see what they think, but they'd probably be down. So consider this an open invitation to come by and jam with us anytime this summer you're free. It'd be cool to see what we could come up with," Yamato said, his mind already sparked by all the possibilities he could imagine.

"Be happy to." Susumu checked his watch and winced. "In the meantime, we'd better head back to the music cabin. I think we missed the arrival of the music scouts."

Yamato grimaced. While he didn't fear Kosuke's wrath any longer, he didn't necessarily want to incite conflict either with the volatile concertmaster when they were so close to finally performing. "We're going to be in trouble, aren't we?"

Susumu sighed. "Manami might not be happy, but I doubt she'll say anything. Kosuke already has us on his blacklist. We can only sink further in the rankings."

"At least we have each other for company."

Akira snickered before finishing off the last of his yakitori skewers. He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the field. "Well, if you guys are gonna go practice, I wanna check out some of the other class demos. Is that cool with you, boss man?"

Yamato lifted his chin. "Yeah, go for it. I'll meet you at the stage after I'm done with my performance. Keep it contact with the others for me? I won't be able to check my phone once I'm with the orchestra."

"You got it, boss man. Yutaka said he'll keep me posted, but they're planning on leaving around five-thirty, so we'll have plenty of time to set up," Akira confirmed, clapping Yamato on the back. "Break a leg, guys! Can't wait to catch your performance later!"

Yamato and Susumu didn't exactly speed-walk as they left, but they didn't stop to linger by any of the other classes' presentations in the field either. They adeptly avoided the crowds of visitors and cut through the woods in unspoken agreement for the best shortcut to the music cabin. "Sorry about Akira and I making you late to meeting the scouts," Yamato said once they were far away from the noise and music to be heard more easily. "I know they're kind of a big deal if you want to get into the professional orchestra scene."

If he didn't glance in Susumu's direction, Yamato would have missed the way Susumu rolled his eyes. He waved off Yamato's concerns. "Don't go around telling anyone, but I honestly don't really care all that much about the scouts."

Yamato nearly tripped on a rock. "What?"

Susumu exhaled heavily. "I know, the whole orchestra is taking the idea of the scouts so seriously. It's Kosuke's fault for always harping on about it like it's some exclusive thing. As if the only way to a seat in the most prestigious university symphonies is to get headhunted."

"I assume you mean that's not the way it actually works."

"Practically every orchestra holds auditions for seats. And even at the highest tier of orchestras, scouts are always looking to pass their contact cards out if you network and talk to them. You'll see. It's their job to convince people to come to their schools. Granted, orchestra seats are still limited, and you still have to be nail your audition to get in. But the scouts aren't really the gatekeepers Kosuke keeps making them out to be."

Yamato countered, "So why did you come to camp, if not to impress the scouts?"

"Oh, I still plan on giving a strong performance so they know who I am. The more contacts I build now, the more choices I'll have later on when I try to narrow down which university I actually want to go to." Susumu said pragmatically, "I know that I want to study piano performance in university, but there are so many paths that I can take to make it happen. I want to be thorough in researching all my possibilities before I decide since it'll have a huge impact on my future.

"My point is that the scouts aren't the only shot we're going to have at getting into university orchestra. It simply paves the way."

It didn't surprise Yamato in the slightest that Susumu wasn't worried about his musical career prospects. With his gift for music, it made sense that he was spoilt for choice. Being a total newcomer to the orchestra life, however, Yamato had accepted Kosuke's propaganda about the scouts without question. If he'd known the reality was something entirely different…

"It would have been nice if you'd said something about the scouts earlier in the week," Yamato said dryly. "You could have saved both Wakana and I a lot of stress. I'm pretty sure that girl hasn't slept peacefully since she got here."

To Yamato's eyes, there was an edge of chagrin and maybe guilt to Susumu's answering smile. "True. In my defense, I didn't know either of you very well at first, and I make it a point to keep my controversial opinions to myself. I wasn't exactly gunning to be on Kosuke's blacklist." Then he said, "Besides, all that extra stress made you both practice harder, didn't it? Far be it from me to keep you from performing at the best of your abilities in front of our esteemed audience."

He said it in such a dead-pan voice, it took Yamato a second to catch Susumu's nose twitching with suppressed laughter. Yamato sighed. "Has anyone ever told you you're an ass?"

"Sure. But compared to Kosuke, I'm practically a saint."

Yamato couldn't argue against that.

When they arrived at the orchestra cabin, they slipped through the open door and silently made their way to their places without attracting much attention. The scouts, if they had arrived, were nowhere in sight. Most of the orchestra was abuzz with breathless conversation.

Nobu, of course, noticed Yamato's arrival amongst the bassists at once. "Where have you been? You missed the scouts," his section leader demanded.

"Lost track of time," Yamato said apologetically. "Where did they go?"

"Manami took them to the choir cabin."

He nodded. "Did I miss anything else? Are we just practicing by sections now?"

Nobu exchanged a look with another one of the bassists before he lowered his voice. "After Manami came back from the choir cabin, she had Kosuke, Kayo, and Wakana come into her office. The girls brought their cellos with them and they've all been there ever since. No one knows what's going on."

Yamato cast a glance at the closed office door before scanning the faces of the other orchestra students. It didn't look like anyone had a clue what was going on; speculation and gossip ran rampant, and more than one student talked about eavesdropping (though no one actually dared to do so).

He bit his lip. He wasn't sure what this all meant for Wakana. It wasn't a secret to anyone that the cello section had consistently attracted the brunt of Kosuke's disapproval throughout their most recent rehearsals. And while Manami never seemed particularly moved by Kosuke's opinions before, he still had some rights as the concertmaster of the orchestra. Kayo was also a known Kosuke lackey. If he was using his influence to somehow negatively impact Wakana -

He wondered what Sora would think.

Nobu cleared his throat. "Well, let's stay productive while we're waiting. Everyone, let's get ready to practice the last page. I really want to make sure we have a strong finish when we perform later."

Yamato went through the motions of taking out his bass, adjusting the straps, and tuning the strings. Before they could launch into practicing, however, Manami's office door finally swung open.

The entire room fell to a hush. Kosuke emerged first, the lines of his face drawn taut in a stony expression; Kayo and Wakana followed, both of them looking flustered as they awkwardly carried their cellos through the narrow doorway. They returned to their seats and adjusted their instruments without a word and without looking at anyone.

Manami stepped onto the conductor box and looked out over all of them with an air of total calm. With little fanfare, she said, "After a lengthy challenge, your concertmaster and I have determined that Wakana will be playing the cello solo instead of Kayo. This decision was not made lightly, and I expect you all to be respectful to both cellists and keep from badgering them with questions."

The entire orchestra jolted from the shockwave. Yamato literally felt as though a bolt of electricity had passed through him. His gaze went immediately to Wakana, who was studiously examining the ground with flaming cheeks.

In the seat directly in front of Wakana, Kayo's attention was pointedly focused forward on their conductor. And Kosuke -

Well, the twitching jaw muscle definitely meant that he was clenching his teeth.

Manami went on as though she hadn't just dropped a bomb on the whole class. "Regarding our upcoming performance, I know some of you are feeling anxious. More than one of you have told me this is your first time performing in front of university scouts." She gave them all an encouraging smile. "But I don't want any of you to be nervous! No one is expecting us to put on a perfect performance. 'Ghosts of Brandenburg' is a difficult piece for any high school orchestra, let alone one that has only had the chance to practice it for a couple of weeks. What the scouts are looking to find are students who are passionate about music and find joy in performing - something that I know you all have in abundance.

"Now, we have time for one last run through of 'Ghosts' before we're expected to head to the main hall for our performance. I don't want you to focus on playing every note perfectly, or beat yourself up if you make a mistake. You all know this piece. Loosen up. Let your muscle memory guide you and get your nerves out of your system. All right?"

Yamato found himself nodding along with the rest of the orchestra, the anxiety in his pulse somehow fading.

"Good." The conductor turned to Susumu, sitting alert on his piano bench. "Let's tune. Give us an A, please."

Susumu saluted her. "Yes ma'am."

"Get her!"

"Holy sh-!"

"Did you see that?"

"Yeah, she just rammed him right into that other robot - wait, there he goes!"

Taichi stuck his fingers between his lips and whistled hard. "Yeah! Go Koushiro! Go Hayate!" He waved madly.

Sitting across on the other side of the makeshift arena, both Koushiro and Hayate grinned but couldn't wave back, their hands fully preoccupied with their remotes.

Meanwhile, at Tachi's side, Mimi winced and held a hand to her ear. "You couldn't have given us a warning before you did that? I'm practically deaf now!"

"Sorry… Oh, crap, look at them go! Yes!" Taichi whooped and jumped. "That's what I'm talking about! You guys got this!"

"There are still three other bots, though, don't jinx it!" Jyou said. His hands were clapped to his face, covering his eyes and then peeking through his fingers in turns.

"Don't be such a worry wart!" Taichi protested. "They're doing awesome!"

"Come on, Koushiro!" Mimi cheered, "You got this! Kou-shi-ro! Kou-shi-ro!"

Takeru and Hikari took up the refrain and started chanting, "Kou-shi-ro! Kou-shi-ro! Kou-shi-ro!"

"Man, some people here are so annoying. It's just a bot battle. What's the big deal."

Taichi and Jyou both glanced over their shoulders at the guy grousing behind them. Jyou caught Taichi's eyes and shook his head slightly, so Taichi had to content himself with sending a silent scowl in the guy's direction. Then he deliberately turned back to the battle ring and tried to refocus on the competition.

Unfortunately, some jerks were determined to spread their misery around. The guy continued to complain to his buddies, "Buncha nerds playing with kiddie toys. What a waste of time. Good luck making a career out of that, huh? Can't believe their parents spent money to send them here to play around with - "

Taichi's fist clenched at his sides. Don't turn around. Don't turn around. Don't turn -

"- acting like it's the Olympics or something. They're kidding themselves if they think the real world is all fun and games. Betcha this group of losers -"

That does it! Taichi began to turn, his mouth already opening to give the idiot a piece of his mind. Before he could face the guy, though, Taichi got an elbow to the ribs and was shoved unceremoniously into Jyou. "Whoaaa - sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Jyou gasped. "What - "

"You take that back!" a feminine voice screeched.

Taichi recovered his balance, turned - then blinked. Blinked again, just in case he was imagining things… Nope. That was definitely Tachikawa Mimi, jabbing her finger into the chest of some guy who was a good head and a half taller than her.

"Mimi - " Sora touched Mimi's shoulder but got shaken off.

Princess Mimi was apparently just hitting her stride. "You're being so rude! Do you know how hard the engineers worked to program those bots? You think that was easy? Don't make me laugh! As if you have the brain cells to pull off anything close to what they've done!"

The guy spluttered, his group gaping behind them.

Mimi only paused to suck in air. "Not only that, but for you to talk about the rest of us like we're immature kids, when all we're doing is supporting our friends? How dare you! Apologize! Apologize!" She punctuated each demand with more finger jabs.

Sora hissed, "Taichi!"

At her meaningful look, Taichi finally got his limbs to move enough to separate Mimi from her victim, his hands firmly on her shoulders. She resisted of course. Unluckily for her, given that he had a few kilos of muscle on her, it didn't do her much good.

Out of imminent danger of being assaulted, the other guy recovered enough make a verbal jab of his own. "You're crazy!"

Taichi shot a glare of his own back. "And you're disrespectful. If you don't like what you see, there are plenty of other places you can go. No one's making you stay here."

The guy spat at the ground and turned to leave with his friends. "Cowards!" Mimi yelled at their retreating backs. She fought against Taichi's hold with renewed energy. "Come back here! I'm not done with you yet!"

"Mimi," Sora protested, "we're missing the bot battle!"

Taichi would have busted up laughing at the look on Mimi's face if he didn't value his own life. He let Sora and Mimi take their spots back at the arena railing while he hung behind to mutter to Jyou, "Is it just me or did America make her feistier?"

Jyou's eyebrows went up. "Are you kidding? Have you met Mimi? She's always been feisty."

"I mean, I knew that. But that was…" Taichi scratched his jaw.

Jyou's mouth twitched. "Maybe she's Digivolved to her Champion form."

Taichi snorted and elbowed his friend. "Don't let her hear you say that."

"No, they're gonna crash!" Mimi screeched. Similar cries erupted from the rest of the crowd watching the match.

Taichi's head snapped back to the arena, but by the time he figured out where to look, all he could see was the aftermath: three toy robot cars in a mangled heap, gently smoking. The remains of Koushiro and Hayate's bot was only recognizable by its distinctive bright red paint. "No! I missed it!" Taichi demanded. "Did anyone record it?"

"I was recording earlier for a bit," Hikari said apologetically. "But I didn't have my camera ready in time to catch this."

"Ugh. But what happened?"

"I mean, it's pretty self-explanatory," Takeru said. "There was a bot car crash. No casualties except for the bots, though."

Hikari shook her head at Takeru. "I think something malfunctioned in one of the cars. The blue one crashed into the black one, then there was this weird sound - "

"Like the bot was choking," Takeru agreed.

Sora added, "Then Koushiro's car smashed into them."

"And then they all blew up." Mimi sighed. "What a bummer!"

"It's not all that surprising, considering how hard we were having the robots ram into each other. In retrospect, I'm surprised there was only one explosion for the entire battle."

"Koushiro!" Taichi clapped his friend on the back. "Sorry about what happened, buddy. I know you guys would have been the last bot standing otherwise. No doubt about it."

Koushiro smiled and nodded, accepting everyone's mixture of congratulations and consolations as was his due. "I still consider the whole experiment to be a success. Our bot behaved just as Hayate and I programmed it to. Its reflexes were spot on, and the proximity sensors that Hayate cobbled together couldn't have worked better. Anyway, no one could have predicted a technical malfunction like that explosion…."

"It's Taichi's fault," Jyou dead-panned. "He jinxed you."

"Hey!"

Hayate breathlessly broke through the lopsided circle their group had formed. "Hey all. Sorry to interrupt. Koushiro, I was looking for you. Masaru wants to introduce us to someone. I think I heard them saying something about being impressed by our programming." He sucked in a deep breath, his eyes wide. He looked like he was on the verge of either passing out or having a panic attack.

In sharp contrast, Koushiro cocked his head and blinked once before he calmly addressed the group. "In that case, please excuse me, everyone. I'll be back as soon as I -"

Taichi flapped his hand. "Say no more. Don't keep them waiting, we'll be here."

Takeru voiced the obvious once the engineering students disappeared: "I bet he's gonna get a job offer."

Hikari grinned. "No one's going to bet against Koushiro being successful."

"Koushiro makes us all look like underachievers," Taichi groaned. Still, he didn't bother suppressing the laughter that bubbled up out of him right after that. It was about time Koushiro got some recognition from the real world for his brains. The only surprise he felt was that it had taken so long.

Sora coughed quietly and shot Taichi a look.

"Except for Jyou," Taichi amended. "We're all underachievers next to Jyou and Koushiro."

Jyou inclined his head and smiled at Sora knowingly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Hikari giggled. "So where are we going next? We still have a little less than an hour before the performances in the main hall start."

Sora unfolded a camp map to all the afternoon activities. "Well, we have a couple options. The physics department is hosting a 'magic show' in the field, the filmmaking class is screening some of their shorts in the computer lab…"

"And the art department has all of their work displayed in a gallery," Takeru said. He nudged Sora. "Right?"

She grimaced back at him. "Right."

Taichi wished Sora wasn't so insecure about her accomplishments. He wanted her to own her hard work, especially knowing how much she doubted herself. Taichi patted her on the shoulder and said encouragingly, "Come on, you know we want to see the results of all your painting!"

"It's barely anything. I only finished a few things before I got pulled into working on the mural -"

"Well, the art cabin isn't far from the field, right?" Taichi pointedly addressed the others. "Why don't we start with the art cabin first so that we can check out Sora's art, head east to check out the magic show, then go to the hall? I'm pretty sure if we do that, we'll make it just in time for the performances to start."

There was a round of unanimous agreement - one more reluctant than the rest, maybe, but Taichi expected that - and then the group waited a few minutes more for Koushiro's return. "What's the plan now? Are we going to head to the main hall soon?" Koushiro asked when he came back. "This heat is becoming excessive."

"We'll get there eventually. We wanted to make a stop at the art cabin first to check out Sora's artwork. Does that work?"

Koushiro smiled. "Good enough for me."

Taichi nudged Koushiro in the side as the group began to migrate. "Okay, be honest. Aren't you even a little bit bummed that your car wasn't the last one standing?"

Koushiro shrugged. "I wasn't planning on winning or anything like that. Once I saw all of the clever adjustments my classmates made to their bots, I knew that Hayate and I would have a real fight on our hands. My only concern was that we didn't end up embarrassing ourselves somehow. Regardless, the whole project has been a great learning experience. That's the most important thing."

"Do you ever say anything that's not such a diplomatic answer?" Hikari teased. "You give more perfect answers than Miss Japan does!"

"Well, it has been my secret dream since childhood to compete to become Miss Japan," Koushiro answered in a blithe tone that made the girls break out into giggles while the boys choked on surprised laughter. "Sadly, there are certain key criteria in which I currently lack, as well as certain attributes that automatically disqualify me for competition."

Jyou shook his head. "It's too bad. Your special talent of 'saving the day' would have blown the competition away."

Takeru gleefully added, "Yeah, and your swimsuit body is a total knockout."

"But can you walk?" Mimi wanted to know, her face serious even as light danced in her eyes. "Everyone knows that's the most important part of being Miss Japan."

It ended up taking them twice as long to reach the art cabin as expected - Koushiro's attempt at a pageant walk having destroyed everyone's ability to do anything other than laugh to the point of tears - but Taichi considered that a worthwhile delay.

After the Chosen defeated Apocalymon and the portal between their world and the Digital World was sealed, Sora's mom was adamant that the two of them visit home to Kyoto to be with family. "A chance for you to live normally again," Toshiko had said with all the weight of an edict - perhaps anticipating her daughter to put up a fight.

Sora had no desire to disagree. After all she'd seen and done, she ached to feel like a normal eleven-year-old. Simply having the possibility of getting away from Tokyo so she could be protected and cared for by both her parents was overwhelmingly comforting. She'd jumped at the opportunity for them to go.

She'd miss her friends, of course. The Chosen had been through so much together as a team and being apart from them felt as though she were missing a necessary limb. However, being around them also made her grief at losing Piyomon and all their other Digimon friends feel that much more acute. It was hard enough to manage when the smallest things she came across in her daily routine would make her want to burst into tears: birdsong, the smell of smoke, the sight of the green buses around the city. It was nearly impossible to force a brave face when she saw how heartbroken the others (and especially Takeru and Hikari) still looked.

Then there were the larger things that haunted her. Various parts of Tokyo were still cordoned off or under construction from Vamdemon's occupation. Worse still were all the notices of missing persons or injured civilians who had been caught in the crossfire between the Chosen and Vamdemon's forces. Unsurprisingly, her mom tried to shield Sora from as much of the news as possible. Sora secretly spent a lot of time on the phone in hushed conversation with Yamato as a result, since Hiroaki and Natsuko not only kept their older son informed about the news but also consulted him on how he thought the Chosen's involvement should best be covered by the press.

"Everyone wants to know who we are and how we were involved," Yamato said, "but my parents have been working together to make sure that our identities stay private because we're kids. Mom had to call in a few favors, but everyone agreed to either 'accidentally lose' their photos and videos of us in action. There might be a few grainy photos of us going through the portal but nothing that definitely proves who we are."

She passed that reassurance to her mom, and she could practically see the weight lifted from Toshiko's shoulders. But it didn't change her mind that Sora needed a change of scenery - so they packed their things, posted a vacation notice at the flower shop, and left.

With each kilometer they put behind them on the Shinkansen, the lighter Sora felt. By the time she raced into her father's arms at the Kyoto station, she felt like a normal kid again.

Haruhiko asked Sora if she wanted to accompany him to Adashino Nenbutsu-ji for work on the third morning of her visit and she cheerfully agreed. She walked arm in arm with her father around the grounds, then shadowed his steps when he began to ask the monks anthropological questions. One of the pathways they traveled took them close to one of the private areas of the temple, enough so that they could actually hear the monks chanting and offering Buddhist prayers.

Sora stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of the familiar sutra. She couldn't breathe, like there was a vice constricting her lungs.

Although it took Haruhiko only a few short moments to realize she was missing, those short moments were still long enough for Sora to feel unsteady. It was long enough for her to realize that being in the Digital World had changed her irrevocably. If normal was what her life had been like before the adventure, she was never going to feel 'normal' again. The past few days in Kyoto were, at best, a veneer. What was happening to her now was her new normal.

Knowing that, though, didn't stop Sora from avoiding the temples for the rest of her stay in Kyoto.

"Sora? Is everything alright?"

Sora jerked out of her reverie, blinking rapidly. "Sorry Hikari, did you say something?"

The younger girl gave an almost self-conscious shrug. "I just asked if you made some good friends in your painting class?"

"I did make a few." Sora cleared her throat, sharply reminding herself not to neglect her friends. It wasn't their fault that she was letting her memories and emotions get the better of her. "Some of the best friends I made in the art department weren't even in the painting class though."

Light conversation about Yuu and Linda and their fashion class mishaps covered the rest of the walk to the art cabin. As Sora mounted the steps and led the way to the painting gallery, her heartbeat began to rise and her ability to concentrate on entertaining her friends faltered.

"This one is my painting."

The other Chosen made the requisite noises of praise as they crowded around it. "Aww, it's so pretty," Mimi cooed. "You're so talented!"

Sora could only smile mechanically in response. As gratifying as it was to be complimented, she couldn't really absorb what they were saying. Maybe it was because they were all looking at her art and seeing all of its flaws that her anxiety pulsed so persistently.

Maybe it was because she kept seeing Yamato's specter in her mind's eye, and the way he had bent close to the watercolor frame, absorbing every aspect of her work.

Regardless of what it was, she was having difficulty staying still and watching their reactions.

She couldn't exactly chivvy everyone along without getting unwanted attention, though. So instead of running away, she stayed to answer their questions and explain some of the watercolor technique she had learned over the past week. She pointed out some details of the neighboring paintings as well and encouraged her friends to wander the gallery and admire some of the other paintings and sculptures on display. It was only when everyone was fully distracted that Sora felt able to slip outside the cabin and breathe in the fresh air.

Of course, she knew to expect that Hikari - sensitive, caring, empathic Hikari - wouldn't take long to follow.

Hikari joined her on the bench outside the cabin, and they sat and watched other people coming and going in silence for a time.

Sora broke the silence. "You didn't want to check out the photography?"

Hikari shook her head. "I can't really enjoy the art if you're out here by yourself."

"Me?" Sora's heart rate picked up again. "Don't be silly."

"You seemed really distracted today. Sad. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

The younger girl returned Sora's gaze steadily, and Sora found it difficult to brush Hikari's concern aside. Still, mindful of where they were and how easy it would be for the other Chosen to rejoin them, Sora could only say, "I'm fine. It's been a long couple of weeks, that's all. I'm looking forward to finally going home."

A beat passed. Hikari took a deep breath. "You know you can talk to me if something is bothering you, right?"

Sora's insides twisted. "I know that."

"But?"

She couldn't answer.

"Even though I'm younger than you," Hikari said, "that doesn't mean I can't worry about you, too. Aren't friends supposed to look out for one another?"

Sora wasn't so unfeeling that she could remain unmoved by that. She touched Hikari's arm. "Of course we look out for each other. Only, it's hard to figure out what's bothering me when there's so much on my mind," said Sora. She brought her hands back to her lap and folded them together tightly. "I don't know where to begin."

Hikari waited quietly.

The lack of expectation in her kind eyes made Sora confess, "I was thinking about how I've developed this habit of avoiding things that make me feel anxious or upset."

"Things? Like what?"

"Things like… places. People." She continued haltingly, "I've been avoiding Yamato for the past few days."

"I couldn't tell," said Hikari, her eyes widening. "You both acted so normally at lunch. Did he do something to upset you?"

"Yes. No. It's complicated." Sora sighed. "We had this whole situation that happened - a big misunderstanding. We cleared it up, but I told him I needed space."

Hikari nodded. "Is that why he didn't come with us to Koushiro's class showcase?"

"No, he genuinely needed to go and practice his music more before his performance." She massaged her temple and tried to figure out how best to explain what about that whole episode made her so unsettled.

Contrary to what some of their other friends might have expected her to feel, Sora actually wasn't upset at Yamato for leaving to find Akira and to head back to the orchestra. She understood that he had responsibilities and didn't begrudge his being a hard worker. The situation had nothing to do with her.

But the look on Yamato's face when they met eyes made it feel personal. He had looked so panicked, so afraid of her reaction - it had filled her with guilt.

"Lunch felt normal because… it was normal. It felt good to spend time with everyone like that. I forgot what it was like to just relax around him," Sora said eventually. "When he was leaving, reality kind of asserted itself again. And it sounds stupid, maybe, but it didn't really hit me until right then that - "

She shook her head, unable to vocalize the rest of her thought: I'm just as capable of hurting him as he is at hurting me. My decisions scarred him too.

Instead, Sora finished quietly, "I don't know how to fix this. I don't know how to fix this distance between us. Every time I've talked to him lately, it all seems to go wrong."

Hikari reached over to hold Sora's hand, squeezing it gently. "You're a good friend in more than just words. If talking is too hard, show him in your actions that you're ready to mend bridges."

Sora squeezed back gratefully. "I can try," she said, her throat abruptly thick with emotion.

Hikari seemed to sense that Sora had exhausted her ability to talk about Yamato further just then, so she changed the subject. "Other than that, you've been having fun at camp right? It seems like it's been a good experience. Koushiro's gotten a job offer, and Mom and Dad will be happy when they hear how Taichi got so invested with his business class."

"Taichi never does anything halfway." Sora smiled. "It's true, they'll be pleased."

"I think your mom will be happy too," Hikari said decidedly. "Before you came to camp, you were feeling so anxious about what to study in university. And now you've figured out your major!"

"Well…" Sora hesitated. "I'm not completely set on having art as my major."

"You're not?"

Sora bit her lip. "I don't feel as passionate about art as the others do," she said. She waved her hand a little. "Of course, I've really enjoyed drawing and learning more about painting. But I also know that realistically, if I want to do well in art, I need to feel more than just enjoyment.

"I'm worried that… maybe I only settled for art as my camp focus because I was starting to panic about how indecisive I still felt about it all. Maybe I latched onto art because it was the first class I sat in on where I found people I enjoyed spending time with and inspired me." Sora crossed her arms, her hands gripping her elbows. "I came to camp to find answers, but in some ways I feel like I'm going to leave with more questions."

"Oh." Hikari's head tilted, her gaze becoming contemplative. "I'm sorry to hear that. I mean, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do too. I was hoping that if it helped you…"

"Camp might still be worth it for you to try though!" Sora protested. "Don't look at only me to make your decision. I know lots of other people who found their way through the exploratory program here. To be honest, I'm in the minority. And it's really all right. I'll figure it out eventually." Sora sighed. "That's a part of life though, isn't it? We're all trying to figure out the answers to our problems, and we have no way of knowing whether we're making the right decisions or not."

"All we can do is figure out the best way to go with the information we have, and hope for the best," Hikari concluded.

Sora grinned ruefully. "You're not wrong. I just look at some of the friends I've made here and I envy their certainty and determination. I wish I knew what it was like to feel that certain about my future. Or at least certain enough to know that if art isn't for me after all."

"Well, you do have the rest of the summer," Hikari said. "You could always try out a few classes for fun and see if you can put a portfolio together? If you feel inspired enough to finish it, maybe you're meant to do art after all. And if you don't feel motivated to do it, there's your answer."

Sora nodded slowly. "That's a good idea. I think I'll do it, see where it takes me." She laughed. "I can always count on you for a fresh perspective, can't I?"

"Of course." Hikari's answering smile was as warm as the sun. "I don't think anyone wakes up and just commits to a vision of the future out of the blue. It takes time."

"You're right." Sora sighed. "Still, that doesn't stop me from wishing there were an easier way!"

"An easier way for what?" Jyou said, with Taichi coming closely behind as they finally emerged from the cabin.

Hikari's eyes flicked to Sora. "We were talking about how hard it is to figure out what's the right major to pick for university," Sora hedged. "At least, how hard it is for the rest of us. You've been talking about being a doctor since we were kids."

Jyou shrugged. "That doesn't mean I don't still have my doubts about it."

"You have doubts? No way!" Taichi said incredulously.

"Have you met me? I have so many doubts, I'm practically made of them."

"What doubts do you have?" Sora asked.

Jyou pressed his glasses up. "Well for one thing, I'm stressed out about being here." He held up his hand to forestall any possible protests. "I don't regret coming, and I'm happy to support you all as my friends. But that doesn't mean that there isn't this voice in the back of my head continually reminding me of all the studying I'm going to have to pay for later."

Sora felt her insides jolt. "Jyou…"

He shook his head. "I'm not saying this to guilt trip anyone," he reminded gently. "It's all part of the field that I'm in, you know? Everyone knows that medicine is cut throat and demanding as a career. If I can't take the stress of being a medical student now, how can I possibly deal with the stress of working in a hospital later? And trust me, that's a doubt that resurfaces more than I want to admit."

"But you're still sticking to it," said Taichi.

"Yes. Not because I think I'll be the best doctor in the world, and not because healing people is necessarily my calling in life." He looked down at his spread hands for a moment. "Given everything I know about myself - my character, my strengths, my weaknesses, my abilities - I chose medicine because... it's the way I think I'm best suited to help others. To make some sort of solid contribution to the world."

Jyou looked up again and smiled at Sora wryly. "I don't know if any of that was helpful at all."

"No, it was." Sora meant it. It wasn't that Jyou handed her the answers that she wanted on a platter, necessarily, but it helped to know that there was another way to help her decide her future. His words somehow eased a knot in her stomach that she hadn't even been aware of. "Thank you. You've given me a lot to think about."

"Me too," Taichi echoed. "I think camp's been really helpful, but I've been so caught up in surviving one challenge after the next in my classes."

Hikari said, "So are you going to be majoring in business after all, big brother?"

Taichi tilted his head in a pose of thoughtfulness. "You know, it's a big contender. I'll sleep on it and talk to Mom and Dad when I go home and… yeah." He clapped Jyou on the shoulder. "I bow to your wisdom, O Honest One."

When Takeru, Mimi, and Koushiro finally emerged from the art cabin, Sora smiled at them, determined to put her mood behind her. No matter her own inner turmoil, her friends could have found other ways to spend their free time than at camp. She wasn't going to take that choice lightly.