A/N: Tiny little one-shot that popped into my head this morning when I stepped outside. The cold weather inspires my mind somehow!

Frowny Lips
by neo-chan

It was a cool December day in Odaiba. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it; the day had progressed like any other, and Taichi had persuaded Yamato into letting him come over after school like usual, and now Taichi and Yamato were sitting on Yamato's couch watching TV. It seemed like just a regular day in the life of Yamato Ishida.

…which was why it came as quite a shock when all of a sudden, Tai leaned over and kissed him.

Yamato reacted instantly, pushing Tai away quickly and staring at him as if he had grown a third head. "What the fuck, Tai?" he exclaimed.

Tai shrugged casually. "Sorry. It's just that you have frowny lips."

Yamato stared at Tai for another few long moments, very seriously contemplating whether he should just say "whatever" and go on with his day rather than investigate the ridiculous statement. Knowing Tai, if Yamato did try to get to the bottom of this, it would be a long and excruciating process. So the smarter route would be to just shrug it off and tell Tai he was crazy, and forget that this had ever happened.

…however, as usual, Yamato gave in to curiosity and humoured Tai by doing exactly what Tai wanted him to do—try to figure out what the brunette was up to.

"I don't have 'frowny lips'," Yamato argued, and then wondered aloud, "What the hell are 'frowny lips' anyway?"

"How can you say you don't have 'frowny lips' if you don't even know what they are?" Tai pointed out. When Yamato glared at him, he relented and explained; "You know; those kinds of lips that always look like they're frowning, so it makes people want to kiss the frown away."

It was the most ludicrous thing Yamato had ever heard but he tried to push past that and asked, "People like you?"

"Well, I'm a person, yes," Tai said with a nod.

Yamato rubbed his forehead, letting out an irritated sigh. Why had he bothered to say anything?

"Well, if I need my frown kissed away, I'll make sure to let you know," Yamato said sarcastically.

However, that didn't quite close the conversation like Yamato had hoped. Instead, Tai asked curiously, "So it's not the fact that I kissed you that's the problem; it's that I didn't kiss you for a good reason?"

Yamato opened his mouth, but then closed it as he realized he had no idea what to say. This was a classic Tai strategy; being vague and nonchalant one moment and then purposely trapping Yamato with his own words the next. Yup, Yamato definitely should have avoided reacting in the first place.

"You shouldn't be kissing me at all!" Yamato eventually ended up saying. And then he tacked on a sentence that he really had no explanation for. "And if you're looking for an excuse to kiss me, it shouldn't be something stupid like telling me I have 'frowny lips'!"

"You do have frowny lips," Tai said matter-of-factly. "And I don't need an excuse to kiss you," he said haughtily.

Yamato let out a laugh of pure surprise. "Oh really? Try to kiss me again and I'll punch you in the face, Yagami," he threatened.

Tai snorted. "You didn't punch me just now."

"That's because I was caught off-guard!"

"So I'll just catch you off-guard again," Tai shrugged. "Sounds like a plan."

Yamato had no idea what to say to shut Tai up so he wound up letting out an exasperated, "Tai."

Tai pretended to squint at Yamato's mouth. "Are you frowning right now? I can't tell."

The jibe came at such an unexpected time that it made Yamato pause and simply stare at Tai incredulously, because he felt like either punching Tai or laughing, and he wasn't sure which. And it was in that moment that Tai swooped in, slid a hand around the back of Yamato's neck, and pulled him into another kiss.

Yamato was so lost at that point that he simply gave in, kissing Tai back—because, really, Tai's lips on his wasn't a terrible sensation. In fact, Tai was kind of a good kisser.

When they parted, Tai brought his thumb up and brushed it over Yamato's lips. "Still frowning?"

"Mm-hm," Yamato murmured, and their lips met again.

*END*