Chapter 1: Evocable Epiphanies: Taichi
Have you ever asked yourself, "Why wasn't that me that happened to?"? Or even, "Why does he have to be the one with all of the luck?" What about ever asking yourself, "Why did I have to be the idiotic one?"? Well, you know what? I've asked myself that last one all the time. Why? Because what you're about to see is a story of drama, idioticness, stupidity, and stuff that's personal to a seventeen-year-old.
Oh yeah, tell yourself, 'A seventeen-year-old is always secretive! They're teenagers, after all!' Well, how secretive is this? My best friend is a yellow talking dinosaur (not the gay wad with a hand up his ass Barney, I'm talking about a living, yellow dinosaur). My other best friend who I had grown up with is the hottest bachelor at our school (no. I'm not a yaoi fanatic, that's just gross considering I'm a guy myself), but used to be a lone wolf. He's one of the main characters of my stupid personal life. No, we aren't secretly gay and absolutely love each other, I already told you that homosexuality is gross (although, girl-on-girl is pretty cool on some levels, but I respect all hetero and homos the same way), but he is dating someone that I love.
Who the hell is that? Sora Takenouchi. She's my best friend and has been since we were three-years-old and met each other at the park. Well, she was, anyways. I screwed up. Yeah, It's kinda in my genes to be a screw up, considering I once thought I was king of the world in this place called the digital world and got her to get kidnapped. All my friends there (thank goodness my sister wasn't there at the time, she would have done the same thing I did) and tried to comfort me as I cried myself to sleep that night.
How couldn't I? She's my best friend! C'mon, guys, you'd do the same thing if you knew a girl for almost all of your life and screwed up, you can't get past that. And you know what? She's the most perfect girl that I've ever known; gentle and motherly, tomboyish (or at least she was. My damn best friend turned her into a stupid fan of his. Yeah, I called him stupid. Got a problem with it?) and rough. Most of all though, she was loving and understanding and had the most gorgeous look whenever she saw me.
But, I told you that my life is full of screw ups already. And you know what? Most of these damn screw ups are with her, and I can't help myself for screwing up, but starting before middle school, I, Taichi Yagami, made the biggest mess of my life with her.
"Now?"
"No! Taichi, I told you already that I look awful!"
"Oh puh-lease, Sora! We're talking about middle school uniforms here. They're big and we'll grow into them by the time school starts in August!" Taichi rolled his eyes put his hands behind his head. He cracked a grin. "Remember, to the seniors, we're midgets."
"Well, at least you look okay! I look ridiculous!" she called back from the changing room.
"Sora, I somehow doubt that," Taichi retorted. He shook his head with a small chuckle and looked at himself in the mirror. Over his head was his signature goggles over his blue sweatband. He had to admit, the blue clashed with his hideously green blazer. Thankfully, that was the only thing that was the hideous green, and, he was allowed to wear the goggles at the high school. When he had come out of the dressing room in his own clothes, he had gotten remarks from other girls that he looked pretty hot, and that was enough for Taichi to hear. Sure, he wasn't a flirt, but compliments were good for the soul, right?
"And you know what I doubt? I doubt that I actually look good in this."
"And exactly when did you of all girls become self conscious? C'mon, Sora, you know your individuality is what I like best about you," Taichi encouraged. He tucked his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon, I'm sure that you look…" He wrinkled his nose. Never, he promised himself, would he ever say this world ever again. "cute. I'm sure the outfit will look cute on you."
"…"
"Sora? C'mon, you promised to me that we both would wear our uniforms anyways. You can't back down on a promise."
He heard a sigh come from the dressing room. Slowly, the door opened, revealing the blushing twelve-year-old. She held her hands out to form a 'T'. Taichi cracked a grin. She looked more than cute. She looked adorable. Especially considering her sleeves were drooping over her hands. "Well? I told you that this looked horrible!"
"As if," Taichi replied back. He looked at her playfully. "If I were single, I'd date you in a heartbeat. You look pretty hot, you know."
Sora immediately blushed as he said that. She squirmed. "T-Taichi!"
"What? Is it so weird for a twelve-year-old to compliment his best friend by saying she looks hot? Now come on. Get your clothes and let's get moving. Hikari and the others are waiting for us in the digital world!" Taichi encouraged. He pulled on her arm as she held the bag that contained both of their clothes.
"Taichi!" she squeaked. She tried to keep pace with the energetic boy, but seemed to be failing at the slightest. "Slow down!"
"Heck no!" Taichi grinned and looked back at her. "It's the first day of summer vacation and I'm allowed to be happy!" He let out a childish laugh and pulled the girl into a bear hug as they got to the end of the street. "Geez. You're out of shape since you dropped soccer for tennis."
"Am not!" Sora protested. She pouted at the taller boy, which earned another laugh. Slowly, a smile formed over her face as she started to laugh too. Taichi let go of her slowly. Sora looked at him and shrugged. "You know, you shouldn't really put down tennis. It's a good way to test your agility."
"You know what's another good way? Kicking a soccer ball pasted your opponent," Taichi replied. Both of them walked slower until they got to the elementary school. Immediately, both dropped to their knees and crawled against the cement gates that led inside. Playfully, he whispered, "And, kicking Vandemon's butt is a plus!" He fiddled with the school gate. Finally, both of them were inside and once again, crawling their way through.
Sora arched her eyebrow at the second logic. "Yeah? Well, we both did the last one."
"But only one of us decided to drop out of soccer."
"And only one of us is nagging about it," Sora pointed out. They made it to the back entrance of the school easily and snuck in. Very few teachers would want to be in school the day after the last day of school. Thankfully, those few teachers left the doors unlocked. …Well, it was either them, or it was the digidestined who decided that they'd break in.
"Yeah? And I have a right to," Taichi said as he got up from the ground. He dusted himself off and helped the girl up. He frowned. "Sora, you're the best co-captain we've ever had. As the other co-captain, I should know."
"Well, you'll make a great captain-captain," Sora reassured. She blushed slightly and put her hands behind her back. "After all, you're already a great leader. Besides, you could always ask that Daisuke kid to fill in as the other captain."
"You mean the little kid who took Takeru's slot as my little sister's new boyfriend?" Taichi cracked a grin. "Maybe." Slowly, both of them started walking to the computer room, often bringing up the conversation between Sora's dropping out. Until, Taichi stopped. He turned his head and flashed a concerned look at Sora. "You've got the presents for her, right?"
Sora blinked. Immediately, she flashed another reassuring smile and nodded her head. "Yeah, yeah. I've got the gift for your girlfriend. You can stop worrying already!"
"Can you blame me? I'll barely see her after she leaves!" Taichi laughed quietly as he opened the door. When he did, there was a note plastered on the only monitor that was turned on. Taichi picked it up and read aloud, "'Took you guys long enough. Meet us on File Island.' Geez. And I thought I was the only impatient one of the bunch." He started typing something on the keyboard.
Sora watched awkwardly and held the bag in her hands tightly. "So… what do you plan on telling Mimi when you give her your gift?"
"I'm not really sure, truthfully," Taichi replied with an awkward shrug. He smiled as he clicked something on the computer screen. "It's kinda funny, though. Hopefully when I tell her, she's not going to be that sad."
"Sad?" Sora blinked. Her eyes widened. "Taichi… you're not doing what I think you're doing, are you?"
"It depends if you know how my mind works," Taichi replied nonchalantly. He shrugged and stopped typing that instant. "I know how Koushirou and Jyou stare at her that much. And you know what? I'm not even that much jealous. I mean, I really will miss her since she was my first girlfriend, but Mimi's… Well, we haven't really been seeing eye-to-eye lately anyways. Besides, having an unrequited love is a bad thing."
"I know the feeling…," Sora replied weakly. She looked up at the boy from behind with furrowed eyebrows.
"Hm? What was that?"
"N-Nothing…"
Taichi turned around and cracked a grin. "All right, good news for us. The Digital World's feeling generous today and letting us in."
"Great," Sora smiled happily. She stared as Taichi recited the words to get to the other world and smiled just a bit more. "Just… great."
And… stop. Oh, no. This isn't the end of the story. After all, this just happened five years ago and we haven't even gotten started yet. Looking back on it now, you can see how stupid I am, can't you? Yeah, if we were a story, what she just said would mean that we would end up with each other, right? Boy, I wish. Just watch, my life's about to get crappier. …What? I'm being a spoil-sport to you now that you know I've got a good friend?
So, we have the party, and even Takeru, whose mother told him they should have moved, was there. So, us eight original digidestined were having the time of our lives. Jyou tore away from his studies and we were at the edge with our digimon where our Digital Adventure had first started (minus my sister since she was sick when the original seven were there. But, Takeru explained everything to her, and boy, if it weren't the fact that I was trusting of him, I'd had smack him for blushing so much with her) what was there and we opened gifts and all.
As for when I broke up with Mimi? How about we zoom to that part right now?
Taichi laughed happily and took a sip of the soda in his hands. He opened one of his eyes and eyed his girlfriend rather anxiously. He felt a nudge in the arm and saw Sora giving him a reassuring look. "Hey, Mimi?" he finally said.
The girl broke away from her conversation with Hikari and looked at Taichi with a happy grin. "Yeah, Taichi?"
Taichi shrugged. "Let's talk. Alone. Please?" Mimi blinked and nodded her head. Taichi flashed a smile to her and pulled her up from the ground.
"Don't do anything stupid, you two!" Yamato jokingly called to them.
Mimi giggled and locked hands with Taichi as they finally got away from their friends. "He's just… really silly."
"Well, you have to admit, that's an improvement after three years of being a total stiff," Taichi cracked a grin and sat down on a giant rock. He patted the space next to him.
"Thanks," Mimi replied. She sat down and looked at him curiously. "So? What's up?"
"Well…," Taichi replied skeptically. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Really, don't take this the wrong way, but… do you think Yamato's attractive?" He looked away and was ready to plug his ears from the girl squirming. When he didn't hear anything, he turned his head back to Mimi and saw her with a surprised look.
"T-Taichi…," she stammered. She turned back to him. "I can't believe you'd ask me something like that! I mean sure, he's an aspiring singer, but-"
"Do you find him attractive?" Taichi repeated. He shrugged. "Or… any other guy besides me, for that matter? I mean, I know we're barely even teenagers, but c'mon."
"All right… I'll answer your question when you answer mine."
"Deal," Taichi replied. He looked at her and arched his eyebrow.
Mimi shrugged and put her hands between her legs. "Well… Do you think Sora's cute? I mean… you guys hang out a lot so much, and one of you is bound to-"
"Oh yeah. I find her so hot that I'd make out with her in a heartbeat."
Mimi laughed lightly at this and turned her head back to Taichi, who cracked a joking grin. "I'm serious, Taichi! Do you honestly, in any way, find Takenouchi Sora attractive?"
Taichi blinked and shrugged back. He looked up into the sky, a dazed look on his face. "Honestly?" He earned a 'yes' from the girl and shook his head. "No. I mean, she's cute, but she's my best friend. Mimi, exactly what do you expect me to say about her? She's like a sister to me." He chuckled lightly. "Besides, even if I liked her that much, she'd never like me back. For all I know, I'm like some little daredevil brother to her."
Mimi stared at him for what seemed like forever. She let out a quiet sigh and shook her head. "Really now…"
"Anyways," Taichi interrupted. He looked back at her. "How do you feel about Yamato?"
Mimi blinked. This time, she was the one who was staring up into the sky. She shrugged lightly. "What do you expect me to say about him? I'm only eleven and I still have a lot to learn about him." She shrugged and giggled. "But a lot of people at school think that we're the perfect couple."
"You would be," Taichi pointed out. He shrugged and stretched his arms out. "…Which, brings me to something else."
"Eh?" Mimi turned her head in confusion to the boy. "What are you talking about?"
"I think…," Taichi said slowly. He looked at her apologetically, "that we should break up. Face it, Mimi, even I know that a long distance relationship never works out."
"…Maybe you're right-"
Obliviest
"And we can never be too sure if we can see each other-"
"Taichi, I said that you were-"
"Since the Digital World's portal opens at rare times and sometimes not at the same time around the world-"
"Taichi…"
"And tickets cost-" He was pulled into a soft, sweet kiss that tasted like chocolate before it was let go. Taichi blinked and looked at Mimi and arched his eyebrow. "Have you heard anything I just said?"
Mimi stared for what seemed like forever. Then, she let out a laugh and shook her head. "I have. But you just kept babbling on and on. Yagami Taichi, I haven't seen you this nervous since your sister first hit puberty and you were the only one home."
Taichi blushed at that and shook his head. "If you were a guy, you'd be nervous about that too! But…" He looked at the girl with seriousness. "Why are you acting so calm?"
"I agree with you," Mimi replied. She shrugged her shoulders. "Quite frankly, a long distance relationship sucks and… you've already found a replacement girlfriend."
Taichi frowned in surprise and looked at Mimi curiously. "I have?"
"Just wait and see."
"That doesn't really help me much," Taichi frowned.
"No. Really, wait and see for yourself," Mimi replied with a smile. She turned to him and arched her eyebrow playfully. "You think that there'll be some cute guys in New York?"
Taichi blinked and cracked a grin. "You bounce back fast, Tachikawa."
"Hey, my motto is, 'Life's short. Live happy first,'" Mimi replied with a shrug. She let out a small giggle and kissed him on the cheek. "Try not to miss me that much, all right?"
"I'll try," Taichi laughed.
"Well then, I guess I should get back since you already stole the fashionably late thing from me," Mimi replied. She stood up from the rock and turned her head to the direction that the both had come. Taichi watched her leave, then saw that everyone was actually looking at them. Mimi stopped in her tracks in surprise with a blush. "Did you guys… don't tell me you were…"
All of them started jabbing fingers at each other. "He told us to!" It was hard to tell who was telling the truth. In fact, all of them just seemed to have mischievous looks on their faces, except for Sora.
Taichi stared at her in surprise. Not because she was spying, but because she was staring at him with the weirdest look he'd ever seen from the girl. It was a mix between hurt, and heartbroken, if there was a difference at all. Tears were threatening to run down her face. Hell, they were already at her cheeks. Taichi arched his eyebrow carefully at her. "Are you okay, Sora?" he got up from the rock and walked over to her with a concerned look.
When he finally got to her, though, she stumbled to back away. She was staring at him now and tried furiously to blink away the tears, but they were already running down her face. "Y-You… T-Taichi… y-you're…" She was all out crying now, and hiccupping at that.
Taichi fidgeted a bit and turned his head with a glare at the others. "What'd you guys do to her?"
All of them stared at Taichi as if he had just done something stupid. Yamato sighed and rubbed his temples. "Honestly… we've been standing here for the most part and you're really…"
"Quite frankly, Taichi… none of us really thought you were that dense…," Koushirou mumbled under his breath. "All of us know, you know."
Agumon nodded his head. "You're really oblivious, aren't ya, Taichi?"
"Know what?" Taichi asked angrily. He pulled Sora into a hug as she stood frozen. "What the hell did you guys do to her?!"
That's when Sora finally got into motion. She wrestled under his grip to get away and slapped him harshly in the face. "Taichi you… YOU IDIOT!" And with that, she ran.
You know what? Now that I think about it, love and friendship really do belong together. Why? Because, without friendship, how would you get love? That's pretty much something that I obviously missed. And you know what? I caught the message right then and there. I've known Sora for years, right? Well, apparently our friendship had reached the level of love for her. Or at least, the like-like kind of love. That slap hit me cold and hard.
Everyone knew. Everyone knew that she liked me a lot. Everyone, except for oblivious goggle-headed me who was too blind to realize it. This was one of the biggest screwed up things that I was talking about. And you know what? Friendship ran after love. No, I don't mean friendship came after love, I mean literally, my best friend, the holder of the crest of friendship (or used to be, anyways), ran after my best friend, AKA the holder of love.
Looking at it now, it really was stupidity. Girl on rebound and first guy she sees (depending whether or not he's a good guy) equals obvious relationship. Geez. Stupid me strikes once again.
All summer, I didn't see her at all. Mimi left already for America, so I didn't really have someone to help me with it. I could talk to my sister about it, but that'd be awkward. Why? I was thinking about the very first day of my summer for the rest of my summer that year. Why didn't I realize it before, I'd have to ask myself. It was like I was dropping hints to Sora the whole time we were in the Digital World for the very first time and didn't even know it. Did I like her all along and was having my subconscious drop the hints to her about it? Maybe.
Even the very thought of her that summer made me blush. Hell, seeing anything that reminded me of her mad me blush. And you know what? That was only the second week of summer. How sad is that? With courage as my key trait, I tried my best to get in contact with her too. I'd try to leave her a thousand messages (which, reminded me of the attack from Diaboramon when she wouldn't read my messages. Damn, that annoyed the shit out of me.), but she'd never pick up on them. She was out on vacation or something, I dunno.
Hikari said that after that I started maturing quickly. I dunno what she meant about that, but I guess you can see the comparison, huh? After all, from just one flashback to my intro to you, you pretty much saw how bitter I am now compared to then, right? You would be too if you were just now having an epiphany that you were in love with your best friend after being evoked from a slap. Geez, a painful one at that.
I never got in contact with her at all that year. She and I had different classes for everything, like she asked someone up there herself to avoid me. Soccer practice seemed like a plus on the first day of school, but then I remembered I had been nagging her in the first place to not drop out. Damn, was I so stupid back then! And you know what? I hate those lovey-dovey lovesick people you see on TV. Eventually, I calmed down. She's not my best friend anymore, so why bother, right? She had a different life from then on and I didn't see her. At all.
Finally, when duty called a year later, three years after evil before, we get attacked from the Digimon Kaiser. Wooptie-doo. I saw her for the very first time in what seemed like forever (she's pretty clever in avoiding me, you know?) when I called a meeting for this 'Armor Shinka' business. Once again, we had no classes that year, and you know what? She looked gorgeous. What? A thirteen-year-old boy can't use the word 'gorgeous' at the time? Well, she was and I'm not denying it. She was smiling at me as if she forgot everything, and I really wanted to talk to her. Not in front of everyone though. That'd just be… awkward. Seriously awkward.
Luckily, we got to see each other the next day since Miyako and Iori were nagging to see the Digital World themselves. Unluckily, I was the distraction for our old teacher. Screw him, I never did like him.
And the part you guys have been waiting for since I started babbling? When I find out she was at a whole new level of unreachable.
Taichi wrapped his scarf tighter over his neck and looked at Agumon from the corner of his eye. "You think the new digidestined will be able to handle it, Agumon?"
"With Ken on their team, we might be able to find something!" Agumon reassured as they continued their walk. He looked at Taichi from the corner of his eye with a concerned look. "..You miss the action too, don't you?"
"Who wouldn't? We kicked butt!" Taichi replied with a small chuckle. They stayed still at a stopping light before continuing. Taichi then held a dazed look as he thought about it a little more. "Lots… and lots of butt. And even had a damsel in distress…"
"You're talking about Sora, aren't you?" Agumon asked him in a sad tone. Both of them walked again as the light turned green.
Taichi sighed softly as they continued their walk. "Is it that obvious?"
"Well, you did get her into a lot of trouble," Agumon pointed out. He cracked a monstrous grin at the boy. "She's quite a catch."
Taichi stopped in his tracks and flinched. He blushed ever-so slightly and turned to Agumon with a glare. "What are you talking about?!"
"It's easy to read you," Agumon laughed. He folded his arms knowingly. "Just like a book."
"Well, this book is overdue for Yamato's concert. We're gonna be late," Taichi said as he looked at his watch. He laughed and pulled on Agumon's arm to run. "Hurry up!"
"GAH! All right, all right!" Agumon cried back.
With a couple of jokes, both of them made their way to the concert hall Yamato would be performing at. Taichi cracked a grin at the line. "He's certainly gotten pretty popular. Hope he remembers who even started his band career." He twisted his foot and made his way to the back as Agumon stared at him in surprise.
"You did?"
"Of course," Taichi replied. He shrugged his shoulders and looked forward. "He and I both took Guitar lessons. One time during practice, some other kids joined us and we had a crowd and made some money. I quit because I had to save your sorry behind."
"Hey!" Agumon pouted.
Taichi laughed and put his arm around Agumon. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He smiled softly and thought about it more. Within the two years, Sora had grown.. beautifully. She was loving and she was comfortable with everyone. How could you not like her? Agumon tugged on the boy's sleeve, which snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked over at Agumon and saw him point somewhere. As soon as Taichi looked towards that direction, he regretted it. His throat suddenly became dry and his thought pattern went from a perfect ten to zero. Standing there was none other than said girl.
"Taichi... we could just go to the seats if you want...," Agumon told him quietly. A concerned look flashed over the dinosaur's face.
Taichi could feel his face heat up immediately as he saw the girl. She seemed much different from the months past before. Where was his courage? Why couldn't he just—"Sora! Wait up!"—...not sound like an idiot? Taichi flinched as he saw her eyes land on him and immediately ran up to her.
Sora smiled at him endearingly. "Oh, hello—" Her eyes landed on the gift in her hands. Taichi immediately noticed it.
"Something smells good!" Agumon remarked cheerfully. The door in front of them immediately opened, revealing Gabumon.
"Those smell great! Yamato's practicing, but I'll be glad to take those to him!" Gabumon replied cheerfully.
Taichi let out a quiet laugh as both Piyomon and Gabumon started to quarrel about it. His eyes turned back over to Sora who was looking at them to. He could feel himself blush. When in my lifetime have I ever been so nervous? "So um... Sora... Are you going to the concert with anybody?" He felt his blush rise as he realized how flirty he had just sounded. "I mean, not that it matters to me, I'm just wondering..."
"Oh... I want to be available just in case Yamato's free after the concert...," Sora replied in an uncomfortable tone. She was barely even looking at him, a blush on her face as Yamato's name was mentioned.
A new feeling of jealousy enveloped Taichi. He shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Oh.. I see... Yamato..." Sora brought herself to look at her, her eyes connecting with his. Unlike when they were younger... it just felt awkward. She's looking for approval, Taichi realized. He smiled at her and walked up. His hand fell on her shoulder. "No, it's okay."
Sora looked at him in surprise. "You're not mad at me, Taichi..?"
He tried harder to smile and hoped it didn't look fake. "No." He gave her a reassuring shove inside. "Now, get inside and say 'hi' to Yamato for me."
"At least leave us the cookies!" Agumon childishly pouted.
Sora stared at Taichi for what seemed like forever. A light blush came over her face as she smiled at them. Taichi couldn't help but smile back. This didn't feel awkward at all... "Tell you what, I'll make you your own batch later."
A dazed, dreamy look came upon Taichi's face. He smiled again as she finally left. "I'll be waiting..."
All right. So my introduction sucks. That was probably one of the last times both Sora and I had actually had a serious talk with each other before Yamato and she were together for real. They have been for the past few years, and you know what? I should be happy for them. They make a cute couple, they get discovered by the paparazzi all the time, and even have their own name; Sorato. Geez, fans can come up with the stupidest names, can't they? Well, all is gone. If you're still interested, keep reading, because I feel like spewing. This tragedy is just beginning.
—
Author's Note:
Wow. This came out awfully... short. 8D;; I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm sorry that Taichi sounds so OOC. (pout) Trust me, his personality gets better, and... I'm kinda still studying on character, so imagine me, a 13-year-old girl miserably failing at portraying 17-year-olds in the near future of this fic and waver whether or not you still want to read. Please, review!
Also, remember, this is a fanfiction site. No way do I own Digimon, just a simple fan. o.o
