~Reflection~ Disclaimer: Digimon ain't mine, but my muses sure as heck are (unfortunately.) A/N: This pertains partially to this chapter and mainly to the next chapter: I have very limited knowledge about soccer, (Gwen: Limited being defined as whatever general information she remembers learning in P. E. a few years back. G: Showoff!) so bear with me here. Also, I'm not sure if Yolei is the tallest among the Digidestined, so don't quibble about that part when you get to it. With those said, enjoy this long, boring chapter. *** Chapter 9 "Ken, there you are!" joyfully shouted a brown-haired boy wearing goggles. Waving his arms wildly, he ran across the lush green field of Odaiba's local park to greet his gray-clad friend, who was strolling at a leisurely pace in their direction. "You know, I was about to take on everyone by myself when it didn't look like you were coming." "Yeah, just me and Davis!" cried a blue digimon trailing not far behind him. "We could have taken them all on single-footedly." "Don't you mean single-handedly, Veemon?" questioned Wormmon, who was riding atop Ken's shoulder and watched as the Digidestined of Courage and his energetic rookie-level digimon bounded up to them. "But I thought you weren't allowed to use your hands in soccer," stated a confused Veemon. "Not unless you're the goalie," remarked the thin dark-haired boy, stopping once the enthusiastic duo had come close enough. Then in a half-mocking tone, he added, "But I'm sure you already knew that. After all, Davis is your partner, and soccer seems to be one of the only things he relatively excels in." Davis scratched his head, puzzled. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult." He shrugged. "Oh well, I'll think about it later. Now that you're here, let's get this game going!" "Wait! We can't start yet," said a tall blond boy walking up behind Davis. On top of his white fisherman's hat rode an orange digimon with bat-like wings. "Huh?" The goggle-headed boy turned around to glare at the Digidestined of Hope. "Why not, T. J.?" Coming up next to T. K., a short child with dark brown hair answered for him. "Because Yolei isn't here yet, that's why." "Cody's right. It'd be kinda uneven playing with an odd number of humans, don'tcha think?" drawled the yellow armadillo-like digimon at his side. "Oh, yeah, I forgot," said Davis sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ken's always been the one who's late, so we usually start the party after he arrives." "Don't worry. She should be coming soon," assured a brunette girl, wandering over and standing in between Cody and T. K. with a Gatomon in her arms, "though she's been really tired all day for some strange reason." The girl's cat-like digimon looked up at her. "Didn't you read your mail this morning, Kari?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow. "No, I didn't think I would get any e-mail. Why?" All but Ken gaped at her with their mouths open. "Kari, Ms. 'I've Got Mail' herself, didn't expect to get e-mail?" the lanky, indigo-eyed boy snorted. Gatomon explained before Kari could say anymore in her defense. "Wormmon asked Yolei to go find Ken in the Digital World last night. She probably stayed up a long time looking for him and didn't get much sleep." The green caterpillar-like digimon bowed his head apologetically. "Yes, I'm afraid that's true." All eyes turned to Wormmon when he said this. "But I'm extremely grateful that Yolei was up late because she brought Ken back safe and sound. I was so worried when he wandered off to the Digital World alone like he did." Now all eyes turned to Ken. "What were you doing in the Digital World?" Davis spoke for the rest of them. Ken's eyes narrowed. He was about to sneer that it was none of their business when suddenly Kari spotted something over his other shoulder. "Yolei!" the concerned Digidestined of Light called out to her friend. Everyone present turned to see the sleepy lavender-haired girl trudging slowly over to them--barely being kept on her feet by Hawkmon, who flew behind her and held the collar of her shirt up in his beak. So fixated was everybody's gaze on the sluggish Digidestined of Love and Sincerity that no one noticed Ken's eyes, as well as his indigo irises, widening at the sight of the fatigued girl. "Yolei…?" the Digidestined of Kindness breathed. Before anyone could say anything more, much less move a muscle, Ken dashed over to intercept the girl in question. So quickly had he accelerated that Wormmon nearly fell off his shoulder. "Ken, slow down, I'm losing my grip on you!" the green digimon cried frantically, clutching onto his partner's gray uniform for dear life, but the boy hardly heard him. Across the field, about a hundred meters ahead of them, Hawkmon was saying almost the exact same thing to his human partner. "Shtopf, Myolei," he tried to mumble with her shirt still in his beak, "Iph camn't holdmf onmf mwfuch mfwonger!" Much like Ken, the girl scarcely paid much attention to her digimon. "I knew I should have slept more during Chemistry…" she mumbled and rubbed her eyes, which were red from crying all night and not getting enough rest. Then, without warning, Yolei tripped over a small rock in the grass in front of her and was sent hurtling forward. "Yoleeeeeiiiii!" Hawkmon's hold on her was completely lost as he, too, was sent tumbling ahead. Foggy though her mind was, the lavender-haired girl still recognized that she was falling and braced herself for impact on the hard ground. As the low-cut grass rushed up towards her face, the last thing she expected to see were the pair of pale hands that reached down to catch her at the last possible second. Hearing a small grunt and the thud of someone crashing to his knees in front of her, Yolei looked up with bleary eyes at the person who had saved her. "Ken?" she murmured incredulously, a blush starting to form on her face. His arms hooked under hers and his hands clasped tightly behind her back, Ken looked down into Yolei's sleepy red eyes with his shining indigo ones. "Are you okay?" he whispered to her softly. Yolei didn't say a word. She merely nodded her head a little and hung onto his strong, protective arms for support. Likewise, Ken said nothing more as he held onto her. Both simply sat there on their knees, gazing deeply into each other's eyes. The dazed girl felt like she could stare into his round, gentle eyes all day…just her and those two deep seas of azure… "Earth to Yolei and Ken! Hello?!" A familiar tan hand waved between the two of them and broke their gaze. "Davis, cut that out!" The hand instantly disappeared. "Yolei, are you all right?" came Kari's concerned voice. "Huh?" Yolei flinched and looked up at her DNA-Digivolving partner. "Oh, yeah, just a little clumsy, that's all. How about you, Ke--?" Yolei didn't finish her question. As she had turned her head back towards the boy who had saved her, she could have sworn she saw the sparkle in his eyes vanish and a hard iciness replace it. "I'm fine, thank you," Ken said in a deadpan voice. He released his grip on Yolei and stiffly stood up. The others helped the perplexed girl get to her feet. "Great! Now that everyone's here, let's get started. I'm team captain!" said Davis, seeing that no one was seriously injured and eager to get the game going before it got any later in the afternoon. Pushing her uneasiness to the back of her mind, Yolei's instinct to rebuke such a pretentious claim, especially from someone who had interrupted her blissful moment with Ken, instantly kicked in. Her brain might have been fuzzy, but that didn't mean she was going to let Davis get away with his selfishness. "Who died and made you captain?!" Yolei suddenly turned and practically yelled at him. She was more awake now than she had been all day. "Wha…? Um, uh, er, no one." Not expecting an outburst to come from the weary girl, Davis stumbled backwards a step before putting a determined look on his face and retorting. "But since I'm the best soccer player around, I deserve to be captain," he confidently shot back. "No you don't. Ken deserves to be captain more than you do! He's ten times the soccer player you are, or have you forgotten how he easily kicked your sorry butt at the game last season?" The indigo irises of Ken's eyes shrank. "But that was almost a year ago. I've gotten better since then--better than Ken, and I'll prove it." This time Ken's eyes narrowed. "Hey, hey! Settle down you two; both Davis and Ken can be team captains," T. K. tried to pacify them. "We need two teams to play, after all." A small, sly smile crept over Ken's face. Turning to Davis and extending his hand, the indigo-haired boy said in a smooth voice, "I'm up for it. How about you, my worthy adversary?" Davis started at the name and again nearly fell backwards. 'Whoa, now this is weird. Ken hasn't called me that since…' the bearer of the Digieggs of Courage and Friendship pondered. Then, one of his brilliant thoughts struck him. 'Oh, I get it: he's just joking around. This is gonna be kinda like a rematch of that soccer game. Only this time, he doesn't stand a chance against me. I'll show that Yolei!' Aloud, Davis answered playfully, "Of course I am, 'Rocket.' Davis the Courageous doesn't back down from any challenge." He took Ken's extended hand in his own and shook hard. "But I wanna pick my players first, if that's all right with you." "Suits me just fine." "Hey, can't we set a few ground rules first?" complained Gatomon, who had just jumped down onto the grass. "What do you suggest?" asked Kari, crossing her now-free arms over her chest. "For starters, us digimon shouldn't get separated from our human partners; it's kinda hard to play at our best knowing that we're going up against the people we're destined to be with," piped up Patamon, hovering next to T. K. "So that means when you pick someone, his or her partner has to join your team, too." "And another thing, no one can digivolve or use his or her special attacks," continued Gatomon. "We don't want you guys to lose your heads." "Literally," added Armadillomon. "Sounds good to me," said Yolei. "Okay, okay, can we get this game started already?" Davis stamped his foot to show his impatience. Everyone nodded, giving the goggle-wearing boy the cue to pick. "Good. Then, I choose Kari and Gatomon to be with me and Veemon." "Why am I not surprised?" Kari mumbled as she and her digimon walked over to stand by Davis and his cheering digimon. "Hmph. Yolei and Hawkmon, you're on my team," Ken simply stated. "Really?! You really want me on your team?" Yolei cried ecstatically. "Of course. You're the tallest one here; you'd make an excellent goalie," the dark-haired boy said matter-of-factly. "Oh." Yolei's face saddened as she walked over to his side. For the second time that day, the guy of her dreams had crushed her heart. Noticing the pain in his partner's eyes, Hawkmon immediately tried to comfort her. "Don't let that get to you, Yolei," the bird-like digimon whispered. "He probably just wants to give you a chance to rest. After all, a goalie's job requires the least amount of work." "I guess you're right," she sighed and whispered back, "especially if Ken's on our side." Oblivious to what was going on with the heartbroken girl, Davis continued his draft. "Let's see, next I'll choose…" "T. K., Patamon, come join us!" Kari called before the brown-haired boy could decide. "What?!" Davis's eyes bugged out of his head. "Please, Davis." The "Angel of Light" batted her eyelashes and gave the team captain her best puppy dog eyes. The lovestruck boy melted. "Sure…anything you say, Kari," he said dreamily. "Well, that leaves you and Armadillomon with me, Cody…huh?" As Ken turned to face the young boy, he noticed that the emerald-eyed child was staring intently at him. Ken's casual smile instantly vanished. "Anything wrong?" 'I get the strange feeling that there's something not right about Ken, but I just can't place my finger on it,' the grave little boy thought. "Cody?" Armadillomon pulled on his partner's pants leg, shaking him from his reverie. "What? Oh, it's nothing. Let's just go play," Cody quickly said and started walking over to the soccer field. "I hear that!" Davis began sprinting towards the huge grass field, which the goggle-wearing leader of the new Digidestined had reserved for them by scaring off every person who had even set foot on it since school ended. "Wait for me, Davis!" yelled Veemon, hot on his heels. Ken and Wormmon soon followed, leaving Yolei behind with Kari, T. K., and their digimon. "Are you sure you're up for this, Yolei?" asked Kari, who had put a comforting hand on the tired girl's shoulder. "You know, you can always sit out if you want. I'll even sit out with you to make it fair," offered T. K. Yolei weakly waved a dismissing hand. "No, I'll be all right. I wouldn't want anybody to miss out on my account. Besides," she stood up straight and attempted to sound more cheery, "Ken's gonna need my help." Yolei struck a dramatic pose with her finger pointing in no particular direction. Human and digimon alike sweatdropped at her sudden burst of confidence. "Let's go, Digidestined!" the lavender-haired girl shouted and ran after the three boys. "Looks like that nap in Chemistry did her some good after all," said Hawkmon, flying after her. T. K. sighed. "We'd better hurry up before Davis has a fit about us lagging behind." "Right! We wouldn't want to give him any ideas about us," Kari giggled. With that, the two humans and two digimon jogged over to join their friends. ~~~ "Ready?" asked Davis eagerly, putting down the soccer ball in the middle of the field between him and Ken. "May the best man win," Ken said slyly, his mouth twisting into a half smile as he matched Davis's determined gaze. Everyone was in position: Yolei was playing goalie for Ken's team, with Hawkmon and Wormmon close by on defense and Cody and Armadillomon helping on offense, while on Davis's team, T. K. was goalie, Patamon and Gatomon were on defense, and Kari and Veemon were helping with offense. Returning the smile, Davis silently stared into Ken's unreadable indigo eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, adrenaline rushing through his veins, the goggle-headed Digidestined of Courage and Friendship shouted, "GO!" Before Davis could make a move, however, or even blink for that matter, Ken and the soccer ball had disappeared from sight. "Huh?" The bewildered boy turned around just in time to see the "Rocket" dribble the ball past Patamon and Gatomon and shoot it cleanly into the goal. Davis simply stood there stunned. Only one thing ran through his mind at that moment. The leader of the new Digidestined knew he had said this nearly a year ago, but now he was going to say it again. "Houston," he gulped, "we have a problem." *** Gwen: *sitting on the branch of a tree* Now tell me, since when have you felt like this? Ken: *still shaking and mumbling* Fangirls…torturing me…can't drive them away… Gwen: *sighs and calls down to the ground* Gaia, I don't think I'm cut out for this. Gaia: Be quiet and go back to being Ken's psychiatrist. You needed another job, and what more useful job is there than bringing Ken back to sanity so that he can be other people's muse? G: (slyly to herself) Especially Gaia's muse. Heh heh heh! Gwen: (exasperated) Fine. *turning back to Ken* So, tell me about your childhood. Ken: *screams*