I decided to rewrite this because I didn't like the pace that was set up. More importantly, I want to make this a believable Yakari with a stronger Sorato set-up. Most of the fic will be the same, but not all.

Ages:

Iori: 13 (grade 8)

Hikari, Takeru, Ken, Daisuke, Miyako: 15 (grade 10)

Mimi, Koushiro: 16 (grade 11)

Yamato, Taichi, Sora: 17 (grade 12)

Jyou: 19 (sophomore in college)

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Too Young

Chapter the First

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The building towered threateningly above her, casting a shadow that fell over her even from the bench she sat at a good distance from the main doors. Why it looked so frightening, she could not decide, but the building was meant to be more of a sanctuary than a fear-provoking icon. It was only a hospital–well, the clinic attached to the hospital, to be more precise.

She shuttered against the wind and pulled her legs up to her chest, leaning further back against the bench as she did.

"I should have gone to school," she whispered bitterly, speaking only to the mist that appeared when she let out a breath of air. She checked her cell phone for the time, realizing that school had already let out and her brother would probably have just gotten home.

But school, like the clinic, made her blood run cold by the very sight of it. If she had gone to school, she would have had to pretend like everything was normal. To her credit, she had gone Wednesday, only to take an important test in Biology, but she had gone just the same. She spent the day hiding in the backs of classrooms, outright telling her friends not to speak to her.

A sad smile tugged at her lips. Yes, she had told them not to bother her. They were worried that she was in trouble and she yelled in their faces. But the most painful part had been when Takeru looked at her; a mix of guilt, sorrow, and hopelessness glazing his beautiful blue eyes. He hadn't fought with her like Miyako or Daisuke: when she told him to leave her alone, that was just what he did. Stop thinking about that now.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Her head snapped up and she was forcefully pulled from her thoughts. She shook her head violently–a little too zealously, for such a simple question.

She eyes the man in front of her; an older gentleman with nearly all grey hair, light, kind brown eyes, and a gentle smile. He looked like the kind of person whom one could tell her deepest, darkest, most fearful secret, and he would do anything in his power to help.

He was one of the doctors at the clinic, judging by the white overcoat and dark circles under his eyes. "You've been outside of here most of the week. Is there something you need help with?"

She shook her head again, calmly this time.

"Are you waiting for someone?" he pried.

Another shake. Her mouth was dry now, seeing how this kind old man could see something was wrong just by looking at her. Is it really that obvious?

"Shouldn't you have been in school?"

"I was…thinking," she managed finally, trying to keep her breathing even and her face neutral. "I'm fine, really."

"Well," he said, giving her a good look up and down, "if I may suggest so, perhaps you should think somewhere a little warmer. It is January, and if you keep sitting outside all day, you'll catch a frightful cold. Then you may not be outside the hospital, but rather in it."

She nodded softly, casting her eyes downward. She thought the old man, who had seemed so kind at first glance, (until she realized that he knew something was wrong with her at first glance, and then he became a nosy old crone) should mind his own business. Sure, it was January, but the weather more resembled October than anything. She could sit outside if she wanted to.

"What's your name?"

"Hikari," she whispered softly, forcing the old man to lean in to hear her speaking.

"It's nice to meet you Hikari. My name is Mitusi Ryousei and I work at the clinic. If you ever need my help, please do not hesitate to pay me a visit. I'm at work almost all the time," he added with a quirky smile.

"I'm fine," she replied firmly, taking a stand to make herself feel bigger. "I have to go."

Doctor Mitusi just nodded his head politely as Hikari stalked off. When she rounded the corner and out of his sight, she ran. She ran away from him, the clinic, and all the problems that had brought her outside the building.

She ran until her breaths became forced and her heart thumped in her chest so loudly that she couldn't hear her own thoughts.

Oh Kami, how did this happen to her? She was always a good person, kind and just and honest. She helped save two worlds; she was by far the last person who deserved this.

"Why didn't I just go inside?" she demanded of herself. Well, that was easy enough to answer. Going inside would lead to her talking, telling people what had happened. If people knew then it wouldn't just be a nightmare that seemed to follow her around in the waking world. It would be reality and Hikari couldn't handle that.

She couldn't handle it if Taichi or Takeru or anyone for that matter knew what had happened to her. They wouldn't look at her the same way if they knew that her innocence had been stolen.

No, she'd rather carry her heavy, shattered heart alone than tell her friends or family. Maybe it would come out eventually, for she knew that she could not hold off getting checked out at the clinic for very much longer, but now was not the time.

She even dared to hope that it would all just go away before she had to face the reality of it all.

Before she knew it, Hikari had run all the way to her apartment complex. She took a moment to catch her breath, leaning against the brick wall and swallowing the cool air greedily.

Finally, when she had regained her normal breathing pattern, Hikari entered the building, preparing herself for her brother's angry interrogation.

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Yagami Taichi, or Tai as he was commonly called, sat with his legs crossed Indian-style, a psychology book resting on his knees. He idly tapped his mercilessly chewed pencil against his leg, emitting a soft noise from his track pants. Discouraged, he slammed the book closed and unceremoniously threw it on the ground in front of him.

Beside him, leaning against the couch with his knees drawn up and an identical book being held up against his thighs, was Tai's best friend, Ishida Yamato. Following suit, the young blonde calmly closed the book and set it by his feet. "Giving up?" he asked.

"I can't concentrate, Matt. I swear I'm going to kill her when she gets home." Taichi ran his hand through his unruly brown hair. He tugged at his blue polo with annoyance. "I'm not even joking; her ass is mine when she gets back."

As if on cue, the front door creaked open, and Yagami Hikari slid in through the frame and door. She pushed it closed, leaning heavily on the door and sighing softly. A few stray strands of her newly dyed black hair fell into her face, which she pulled behind her ear before letting her book-bag slide off of her shoulder onto the floor.

Taichi jumped over the couch, landing in a crouching position, glaring up at his younger sister. "Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Taichi, it's four in the afternoon, where could I have been?"

"You skipped school again. That's the fourth time this week. Where the fuck were you?"

Hikari shifted uncomfortably under her brother's angry gaze. She couldn't let his anger weaken her; she couldn't confess where she had been.

"I don't see how it's any of your damn business, Taichi."

Temporarily thrown off, Taichi remained silent as Hikari stalked passed him, intent on finding sanctuary in her room. She stopped, however, when his hand suddenly darted out and grabbed onto her forearm and turned her back to face him.

"It's my business so long as Mom and Dad are in America."

"Let go of me," Hikari demanded. When her older brother made no signs of relinquishing his hold on her, Hikari tore herself away, turning and walking away again.

"Get back here!"

Hikari turned on her heel and stared Taichi down. His fists were balled up and his knuckles were turning white; his face was flushed red with intensity. "Don't tell me what to do! Just stay out of my life!"

And with that Hikari disappeared into the hallway down towards her room, leaving Taichi standing there.

"Do you see what I mean?" Taichi asked of Yamato, who had been witness to the whole scene. "There's no talking to her," Tai continued. "She won't listen to me and I can't call Mom because then they'll never leave us alone again. I just don't get why she's trying to rebel or whatever."

Taichi collapsed on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. "Well, I could be wrong, but I didn't notice too much talking. It was more like whoever could yell the loudest was right. And Hikari definitely won that one," Matt assessed as he sat down beside his friend.

"What else can I do Yamato? She's never been like this before; she's the good child. It's like all of a sudden she's a different person. Last Friday she didn't come home at all; she spent the weekend locked in her room; she dyed her hair black; she skipped school four out of five days this week; and she won't speak to Takeru or me or any of her friends. That is not my little sister." Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "It's got to be an alien in disguise!"

Yamato smirked at his friend. Leave it to Tai to make the most outlandish assumptions. "It's just a phase," he reasoned. "Hey, don't you have football tonight?"

Taichi jumped to his feet. "Shit!" He pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and read the digital clock. "I'm going to be late!"

"Get moving," Matt advised. "I'll let myself out."

Taichi nodded gratefully before grabbing his football bag from the corner of the room and rushing out the door. Yamato stood up, collected his belongings, and put them into his bag. Looking uncertainly down the hallway to where the bedrooms were, Yamato decided that he'd check up on Hikari before leaving.

Standing outside the door, Yamato found it to be slightly ajar. He rapped his knuckles on the wooden door and it opened silently. Hikari was sitting on her bed, staring blankly at the wall. She almost didn't notice when Yamato stepped inside the pink bedroom.

Her head snapped up, sending a few strands of hair into her face. The crimson orbs poured into him for only a brief second before returning to the wall. "Did Taichi send you to check up on me?" she inquired icily.

"Nah. But since I'm here, what's up kiddo?"

"I'm not a child, Yamato."

He certainly didn't' need to be told that. Hikari was anything but childlike anymore. Having grown to nearly five and a half feet, and still growing, she was not the size of a child. Her hair had grown out passed her shoulders, and with it being black now, accentuated the paleness of her skin, making Yamato wonder if it felt as silky soft as it looked. Then there were the curves that had come with growing up; her shapely hips and breasts were hard to miss with her otherwise petite figure.

"No," he mused softly, "you're not."

He sat down on the bed beside her, mimicking her by leaning his back against the wall and letting his feet dangle off the edge. "Personally, I find staring at the wall to be very amusing. A pink wall, especially. A very pink wall…" Yamato waited for a reaction, but Hikari sat perfectly still with her eyes staring at the nothingness in front of her.

They stayed like that for while, until Yamato's cell phone rang. "Hello," he said, his voice oozing with irritation.

"Hey Yamato, where you at? Practice started a half hour ago." Ryouki, the drummer of the Teenage Wolves, was on the other line. He was a somewhat moronic young man; having spent two years in America, he became quite fond of some illegal herbs and was never the same after. He was one of the more popular of the boys at Odaiba High School, not in league with Yamato or Taichi, but popular nonetheless. He tan skin, black hair, dark eyes, and muscular body made him a good friend to all the ladies; especially Takenouchi Sora.

"When did we schedule that? I never heard about it."

"We made plans yesterday. Sora was supposed to tell Tai to tell you."

"I didn't get the message," Yamato replied, his annoyance growing. Sora and he weren't on the best of terms at the time, so he didn't doubt that she'd 'forgotten' to mention it. "I'll be over soon."

Goodbyes were exchanged and Yamato pocketed his cell phone. "Hikari…"

"You know where the door is, Yamato. Feel free to let yourself out." And with that last cold remark, Hikari pulled back her covers and climbed under them, dismissing Yamato from her presence.

"My, my, Hika, that was exceptionally unkind of you to say. I never thought you had an ounce of meanness in you. My mistake."

She sighed softly at his words, wanting to call him back and apologize, but if he stayed any longer she would wind up telling him what had happened. She'd rather he think of her as a cruel person than know the truth.

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MMkay, that concludes the first chapter. Feel free to review or PM me.