A/N: Okay, Sora and Taichi are 15 in this fic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but according to the Japanese, u're in Junior High if u're 15, right? And when u're 16, u're in High School? Another thing, I know I don't have yen in here when I'm talking about money. I don't know how to convert ^.^;
A/N 2: This fic is the prologue/sequel (whatever u wanna call it; it's supposed to take place BEFORE, but I wrote it AFTER o.o;) to my Taiora, "Butterfly*~ Music of the Heart." Yes, the whole point in this is to make Taichi a jerk at first, so don't flame me becoz of that. Besides, if u read my last fic, u know that everything will turn out fine. So please, dont bug me about how Taichi's acting so jerk-ish in this fic. Arigatou gozaimasu ^.^
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Sora Takenouchi opened the school doors and into the bright, sunny afternoon. The fresh late summer breeze of Odaiba blew softly against her face. She had just finished her first day of school, and was going to walk to her tennis practice. Walking down the street, and practicing swinging her tennis racket, she heard a voice call her name.
"Sora! Wait up!"
She whirled around. Tall, brown-haired Taichi Yagami was running towards her, carrying his school bag on his back, and holding a soccer ball with his hands. He dropped the ball, but before it hit the ground, he kicked it sharply towards the girl. Even though she had quit the soccer team, and taken up tennis instead, she still had a passion for the sport. The ball was flying at her, as she kicked her right leg out to the side, and stopped the ball. It bounced to the ground in defeat, as her foot covered the ball, not wanting it to go anywhere.
"Nice block," Tai commented, as he caught up to her
Sora kicked the ball up to him, and he caught it. "Thanks," she said, grinning.
"I've still got it, huh?"
"Yeah, it's too bad you're too busy with tennis. We could still use you on the
team." They started walking down the street, and towards the soccer field.
"And not only that, but I have to help my mom with the flower shop," Sora added, looking at her watch. "Oh, sorry Tai, but I have to be at tennis in a couple of minutes."
"Well, a bunch of us are playing soccer," Tai said. As Sora could see, a whole
bunch of Taichi's friends were already gathering up at the soccer field. "You can watch us if ya want."
Sora shook her head. "No thanks. Maybe some other time. I have to get to my
lesson." She started walking away.
"Oh. Okay." She could hear slight disappointment in his voice. "I guess I'll just
see you later then."
She turned around. "Okay, bye!" she called out. She really regretted missing him play soccer. Especially since she's had a little crush on him lately. She's tried to make it go away, but her heart just wouldn't listen to her. She looked back at the field. Oh, why not? she thought. I'll just watch for a couple of minutes. Just don't be so late.
Sora ran back to the field, and sat herself down on the bleachers. There were five people on each team. The game had just started, and the other team had the ball. Taichi sneaked up behind one of them, and stole the ball on the side. Sora was surprised that she wasn't really paying attention to the game, but to Taichi. His wavy brown hair, blowing in the wind, and the cute look of concentration on his face. He's just so cute when he's like that...she thought. But....there's nothing I can do, is there? We're just friends....I've got to stop liking him....It's disgusting to like you're own friend...
She got up, and jumped off the bleachers, not wanting to miss her tennis lesson.
She ran into the sidewalk, trying to get Taichi out of her mind. "He's just your friend, he's just your friend..." she kept muttering to herself, as she ran the block. "He's your best friend, that's all he'll ever be....But...he's just so cute!" Sora stopped suddenly to catch her breath. She shook her head and twirled the tennis racket in her hands, gripping it tightly.
"Get a hold of yourself, Takenouchi," she muttered to herself. "Taichi is just a
friend. Get used to it." As soon as she regained control of her emotions, she walked the rest of the way to her tennis lesson.
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Sora? Taichi thought worriedly as he saw her jump down from the bleachers and run out of his sight. He was really happy when he saw that she was staying to watch some of the game, but it had only been about two minutes and she was leaving already.
Thunk! "What the...?!"
There was laughter in the field as his friends looked at the clueless look on Taichi's face. "Pay attention, Yagami!" one of them, Shigeru said, picking up the soccer ball that hit Taichi's head.
He blinked. "Uh, yeah, whatever," he muttered. "Guess I just blanked out..."
This was true. It wasn't just Sora on his mind, but a birthday present that he
should give to her. Just a month ago, he saw the greatest gift he could give her at the mall: a gold butterfly-shaped locket with her name engraved on it. But the price was the problem. He winced as he remembered asking the employee how much it was, and getting an answer.
"How much is it?" he had asked.
"Five-hundred," she had replied.
You've got to be kidding me, he thought. Maybe I got a lucky break and it's
really five hundred pennies...
Unfortunately, wishful thinking didn't help the 15-year-old boy. He had saved up four-hundred fifty in the past month, but he was still short. Just fifty more to go... He thought, and sighed, looking defeated.
"You blanked out, huh?" Shigeru said, punching Taichi lightly on the arm. "Yeah, I'd say you blanked out. Lookin' at Takenouchi-chan over there, you love-sick puppy."
Taichi rolled his eyes, but he couldn't hide the redness that was taking over his
face. "Yeah, right. Sora and I are just friends. We go way back," he added. This was true. The kind of feelings he felt for Sora were just warm, friendly feeling, the kinds of feelings he usually felt for his younger sister, Hikari.
Shigeru just shook his head. "Well, you could've fooled me. You two are
together so much, you'd think you were surgically attached to her."
"Ha-ha," Taichi retorted, and kicked the soccer ball that was by his feet. This got the game started again, and for the next hour, Taichi's passion for the sport was the only thing he had on his mind.
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"Okay, Sora! I'll see you later!" Taichi called out to her the next day. It was after school, and again, the two were going their separate ways. Taichi was going to soccer practice, while Sora was going to tennis practice.
She stuck out her tongue. "Not if I see you first!"
Taichi laughed. "Bye!"
Sora gave one of her award-winning smiles. "See ya!" she called out, and jogged
ahead.
Taichi smiled right after her. He cared about her so much, and they've been
through so much together. They were almost like family. Ever since that incident with Datamon back when they were eleven, he vowed to himself that he'd take care and watch over everyone in the group- especially Sora, since he'd almost lost her.
"You sure you don't want to go out with her?" a voice said, interrupting his
thoughts.
Taichi spun around, and saw Shigeru and another guy from his soccer team, Li.
Yamato and Koushiro were right behind them, black eyes and blue eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Go out with who?" Yamato asked, shifting the guitar case he had held onto his
other hand. The five of them started walking down the steps of the school.
"Sora Takenouchi," Li told him, grinning, walking backwards to face them. "Our
boy Tai here is practically in love with her."
"Am not," Taichi retorted. "We're just friends. Nothing more. We go way back,
right, Koushiro? Yamato?"
They both nodded. "Believe me, Taichi and Sora don't mix together," Koushiro
replied to Li and Shigeru. "They're just friends, and that's all they ever were."
"They're just friends," mimicked Shigeru. He rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound like Taichi, Izumi."
"Well, it's true," Yamato shot back. He said this to cover up his friend. He
thought something was going on between Taichi and Sora for the last couple of months, but he didn't want to say anything. Both of them had made it clear that they were just friends, so he didn't want to get into an argument about them liking each other again.
"Fine. Be that way," Shigeru said, kicking a lone soccer ball that was sitting on
the grass in front of the Junior High. Then, he turned back around, his brown eyes
sparkling with a new idea. "Hey Taichi..." he said slowly. "How about a bet?"
Taichi narrowed his own brown eyes. "What kind of bet?"
"Ask Sora out and last it for like.... umm... say about a week. If you do it, I'll give you fifty bucks."
Taichi froze. Fifty? Fifty dollars? It was all he needed for his birthday present to Sora! Sora's birthday was just at the end of the month, and he didn't know what to do to pay for the great necklace he saw. The necklace was on hold at the store for him, but he knew that if he didn't got back to buy it soon, they might take it off.
"Taichi," Koushiro said in a low voice. "You're not going to do it... right? I
mean... think of what would happen if it got too far..."
"That's too far, Taichi," Yamato told him. "You can't risk your friendship like
this. It's just not... right."
They're right. But, what should I do? Taichi thought, looking troubled. I can't
ask Sora out... But I need the money... Asking Sora out- even for a week- was something big. She wouldn't know about the bet, the money, about anything. I can't bear to hurt her feelings, even if it is a week... he told himself inwardly. But... I can make it up to her when I get her the birthday present...
It was just for a week. They were close friends. If he told her what had happened when he gave her his present, he might forgive her. They would laugh about it. Sora would exclaim how beautiful her butterfly necklace was. And she would forgive him.
"Well? What will it be?" Li asked him, observing him closely.
Taichi took a deep breath. "When do I ask her out?"
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Well, part one's done. If I don't get at LEAST 10 reviews, I will not put up another part and delete this. Ja ne! ^.^
Another A/N: Also, I will not accept any crap saying that Taichi's last name is Kamiya, not Yagami. Kamiya is his ENGLISH name. When I use English names (which I rarely do) I will use Kamiya, but I dont mix a Jpn. first name & an English last name. Tai Kamiya, Yagami Taichi. Tai Kamiya, Yagami Taichi. See the diff? ^.^