Takeru

Ah, Takaishi Takeru, Yamato's one and only little brother. Well, yes, he is Yamato's little brother, but he's a person, too! In 01, he was eight years old and one of the original eight Chosen Children, carrying the Crest of Hope and partner to Patamon. He lived with his mother, Takaishi Natsuko, on the outskirts of Odaiba ever since his mother and father divorced. Ishida Hiroaki had custody of Yamato and lived in central Odaiba, and Ms. Takaishi took Takeru. One of the reasons Yamato and Takeru attended summer camp together was so that they could spend some more time together (however, Yamato was a little uneasy about being a big brother). He was, well...a bit of a crybaby. Um...actually, he was a huge crybaby. However, that was ages ago, and now he's...well, look at him! The crybaby turned into a babe! A dead ringer for his big bro and just as good looking. He and his mom have moved further into Odaiba and closer to the Ishida boys. They now live in the same apartment building as Miyako and Iori. TK has cornflower blue eyes, blonde hair a shade darker than his brother's, and is rarely seen without his signature "Gilligan hat".

Takeru means the world to his big brother, even though Yamato rarely shows it. Yamato sees himself, especially in 01, as Takeru's protector. And he is hysterically overprotective of him, to the point where he babies him. Why? Possibly because of the divorce -- Yamato and Taker were taken away from each other when Takeru was three and Yamato was six, so, Yamato's thinking may have run along the lines of "oh no, here's this kid...my brother...I don't know how to be a big brother, what do I do?" The answer was worry about him every step of the way. But the problem was, Yamato was looking at Takeru more along the lines of "little kid I have to worry about" than "little brother I care for".

But somewhere along the way, Yamato realised that, "Hey, yeah, I do love my little brother"--unfortunately, that was around about the time where Takeru finally gained his independance and grew away from Yamato, learning to stand on his own two feet. And when he did, it was very hurtful for our blue eyed angel. At that point in time, Yamato was feeling pretty useless. When Takeru escaped from Pinocchimon all on his own, it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. Yamato snapped, hurt, and had to walk away before he took it out on anyone else. Of course, that was proven futile once Jyureimon got into the act and manipulated him.

In many ways, Takeru was the catalyst for a lot of Yamato's actions in the series. The reason why Yamato had such a major attitude problem at first? Worried for Takeru. Why he was so moody and unsure towards the end? Because Takeru was growing up and away from him. And where do you think that quiet confidence in 02 comes from? At least part of it comes from knowing Takeru's all right.

"Let me see your smile; it'll always be all right..."