A/N: This was written for the alpha phoenix's Two Characters and Prompt Challenge on The Forest of Irrelevant Road Signs. The characters I chose were Takeru and Hikari, and the prompt was "That was awful." Enjoy!

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Imperfection

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I. The Accident

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The beach was spectacular.

Rays of sunlight bounced off the crystal-clear ocean that lapped against the shore. The sand in between his toes was so white and pure and clean that it was almost unbelievable. Everyone–and not just him and his friends–was lively and full of energy despite the summer heat, but even that was quite bearable. Even the crowds weren't so bothersome, for they were minding their own business and not bothering him and his friends.

Takeru stretched his arms, a bright smile plastered on his face. His vacation had only begun, but he was feeling like he was at the top of the world, and he found himself wishing that this would never end.

Summer break had started a few days ago, and in the last few weeks of school, Takeru and his friends had already been planning their vacation to Kyushu. It had been Miyako's idea for the six of them to go there for the duration of the summer vacation, and Ken had a friend in Kyushu who was able to rent a house in which they could reside, so everything worked out perfectly.

"Takeru! Hikari-chan!"

Takeru's head snapped up, and Hikari, who was lying beside him, mimicked his action. Patamon and Tailmon stopped playing with the sand and looked up. Daisuke was standing a few feet away from them, waving.

"What is it, Daisuke-kun?" asked Takeru.

"We're going to play volleyball with all the Digimon," Daisuke responded. "Do you guys wanna come?"

"That sounds fun," said Hikari, standing up. "I'll come. What about you guys?" she asked, directing her question to Patamon and Tailmon.

"Sure!" they exclaimed in unison. They nodded their heads with fervor.

"I'll come, too," said Takeru. "It seems like everyone's going to go, anyway."

Apparently, Daisuke's definition of "playing volleyball" meant, well, playing volleyball, but then go snorkeling and kayaking afterward. Not that Takeru was complaining or anything, because he definitely had a lot of fun, but Daisuke could have at least been more specific.

He was now sitting down near the shore next to Hikari, the ocean hitting him every now and then. The Digimon were playing in the water, splashing about and throwing the salt water at each other's faces. Ken, Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori were sitting near Hikari and Takeru, and they were all listening to the purple-haired girl ramble about what she planned on doing for the rest of their vacation.

"…and Hikari-chan and I have to go to that mall in the city. I want to look around at the stores there and buy some new clothes and souvenirs to take home. There's also this restaurant we have to go to, because I've heard that the food there is absolutely amazing–"

"Miyako, did you seriously already think about all this?" asked Daisuke. The tone of his voice made it obvious that he was getting annoyed and tired by Miyako's nonstop talking.

"Are you saying that it's a bad thing to do that?" Miyako snapped, glaring at Daisuke. "I was the one who wanted to go here in the first place, and I was the one who planned the trip before we got here."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Daisuke muttered, rolling his eyes.

Ken chuckled. "I wonder if those two ever not fight."

"Hey, Daisuke!"

Said brunet looked in the direction of the voice and found V-mon, who was staring excitedly at Daisuke along with the other Digimon. "What's up, V-mon?" shouted Daisuke.

"You should come and play with us!" called V-mon. "You aren't scared to play with us Digimon, right?"

"Hey, you know I'm not!" All of a sudden, Daisuke jumped up to his feet and sprinted toward the ocean. He picked up V-mon and threw him into the salty water while laughing uncontrollably. The other Digimon joined in with Daisuke's laughter as V-mon emerged from the water, spit the water out from his mouth, and cleared his eyes.

V-mon glowered at Daisuke and raised a fist. "You're gonna pay for that, Daisuke!" Takeru laughed as Daisuke and the Digimon engaged in a playful water fight.

"You know, their relationship is kind of adorable," said Hikari. "It's so sweet how close they are."

"It is," agreed Takeru. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, do you want to go ice skating together sometime while we're still here?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Hikari smiled, and Takeru could feel his already overjoyed spirits lift.

Takeru and Hikari chatted with each other and watched Daisuke and the Digimon play in the ocean for a while as the sun barely met the horizon and the sky became colored with hues of reds and oranges along with tints of purple, streaked with wispy clouds. People were beginning to leave the beach, and Iori suggested that they all leave as well. Everyone agreed to it and called Daisuke and the Digimon from the ocean.

"We're coming!" shouted V-mon. "Come on, guys!"

"V-mon, wait up!" cried Daisuke. He struggled through the water until he reached his Digimon partner. Suddenly, Daisuke wrapped his arms around V-mon's waist and lifted him up.

"Daisuke, put me down! Now!" demanded V-mon, kicking his legs and flailing his arms around as he tried to escape Daisuke's grip.

"I got you now, buddy!" Daisuke threw V-mon, and the Digimon went sailing through the air–

And hit Hikari hard on the back, sending her forward and falling right on top of Takeru.

The funny thing is that her fall was so perfect that she just so happened to end up kissing him.

Takeru knew that the right thing to do was to push Hikari off and stop the kiss, but when he tried to push her off, his fingers somehow found their way to the small of her back, and when he tried to pull his lips away from hers, something in his mind told him to just keep kissing her because it was almost ridiculous how right it felt to be kissing her and how perfect her body was against his. He could feel Hikari resisting just as much as he was, yet some invisible force was keeping her lips on his–and his lips on hers–and it wasn't letting them break free from each other. His fingers were itching to just run through her brunette hair and he just wanted to deepen the kiss and something inside of him desired to lift her up in his hands and take her somewhere else so that no one would be staring at them–

Staring at them. Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken were staring at them.

Takeru immediately let go of Hikari and gently pushed her away from him. His breathing was heavy and labored, and both of their cheeks were colored a furious red. He scolded himself for letting that accident go any further than it should have gone.

A tense silence hung in the air for quite some time. He didn't look at the faces of the others, because he could already see the flabbergasted looks that were on them in his head and his eyes just couldn't seem to peel themselves away from her. Takeru didn't know what to say, and if he did say something, how would Hikari react to it? He already hurt her for doing that, and saying anything more would only hurt her further.

Finally, Miyako shouted, "Daisuke, what was that for? Why do you have to be so stupid?"

Daisuke raised his hands up in surrender, fear and worry etched across his face. "Hey, I didn't know that was going to happen!"

Miyako glared at him before directing her gaze at V-mon. "And you! You two are just… ugh!" She stomped her foot in frustration and crossed her arms.

"We should probably get back to the house," suggested Ken, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," agreed Iori, shuffling awkwardly on his feet. "Let's go."

As Takeru and Hikari stood up, they sent one last awkward glance toward each other, and they never spoke to each other for the duration of the drive back to the house.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and reviews are much appreciated!