Better the Devil You Know

Chapter 9: There's a First Time for Everything.

The gentle breeze of a sunny Thursday morning travelled along the street, causing TK's clothes and golden blonde hair to gently sway. The teen boy used his index finger and thumb in an attempt to remove the tiredness from his sapphire eyes. TK leant against the stone wall behind him as he rubbed his digits over his closed eyelids. He sighed, removing his hand from his face and looking expectantly to the near by street corner. The teen boy hoped Kari would soon walk round it and inject some much needed energy into his body.

As if on cue, the brunette teen girl walked around the corner and set her mahogany eyes on him. Kari beamed her beautiful smile towards TK, which was exactly what the teen boy needed to inject some energy into his body. Her smile always had a way of doing that to him.

"Good morning," TK greeted her and returned the smile as he pushed himself away from the wall.

"Heya TK," Kari replied as she strolled up and looked him over. "Still having nightmares?" Kari stated more than asked as she pulled TK into a hug. He could never hide anything from her, even if he tried.

"Yeah," replied TK as he felt Kari's arms wrap around his body, pulling him towards her. He willing accepted the embrace and returned it by wrapping his arms around her waist so he could have the teen girl's body as close to his as he could.

"How much sleep did you get?" Kari asked in a concerned voice as she placed her head on his chest.

"A couple of hours," the blonde boy answered before gently resting his cheek on the top of Kari's head.

Kari sighed and tightened her grip. "I know how you feel. Remember when I had those nightmares caused by those creatures that live in the Dark Ocean?"

The mention of the Dark Ocean caused TK to instinctively tighten his grip as well. The idea of loosing Kari always scared him, whether it was loosing her to Myotismon, the Dark World or Neodevimon. The blonde teen shuddered at his last thought. "Yeah, how could I forget?"

Kari sighed again before they fell into a comfortable silence that allowed the teenagers to enjoy their embrace. They stayed that way for several minutes, letting the world pass them by.

"We should get going," Kari broke the silence, lifting her head off TK's chest so she could see whether or not he agreed. Both of them could have happily remained in the embrace all day if they did not have to go to school.

"Yeah, I could do without having to stay behind after school tonight," TK nodded as his eyes met with hers again. He began to loosen his embrace with Kari, removing his arms from around her as she did the same to him. As the friends moved apart, TK could feel Kari's arm sliding over his left arm and realised their hands were going to touch.

TK felt the soft skin of Kari's right hand almost pressing against his as their hands met. He let his feelings take over as he clasped her hand in his. The blonde boy felt his best friend entwining her fingers with his own. It was something that fuelled his hope that he could move his relationship with her beyond boundaries of friendship.

TK noticed a pink tint forming across Kari's cheeks as he continued to gaze into her soft brown eyes. He could feel the heat rise in his own face and his smile returning. TK noticed Kari's smile growing too before they both turned and started walking hand in hand towards Odaiba Junior High School.

They both remained silent, enjoying the contact, however small it might be, between their bodies. The two teens had accepted that it was now alright for them to hold the other's hand, without saying a word, after they started holding hands on the way home two days ago. Both of them had held hands on the way to and from school yesterday as well. However, they only did so when they weren't in sight of anyone they knew and they were using the same caution as they continued towards their destination.