Disclaimer

I wrote this story four years ago, and only recently took another look at it.  It was kinda okay.  But there was some cool stuff, so I'm rewriting it and reposting it.  When I'm done, I'll post the original version, and we can laugh at how stupid it was.  But let me just say, that I haven't watched Digimon since the end of season one, and I've probably forgotten a lot of it.  But this was a really, really AU story when I first wrote it.  If you read far enough to see the space aliens and the parallel universes, you'll see what I mean.

Enjoy.

1


A year ago, when his family had moved Okuchi, Tai had started asking everyone to call him Taichi. Aside from his parents, and his sister Kari, there were only six people who still called him Tai, and they lived an hour away, even if you took the train.  He missed them, and his adventures in the other world; since returning, their lives had drifted apart.  He wouldn't say he missed the constant mortal danger, but there was a sense of immediacy, of alive-ness, that came with facing death.  It nagged at him, and Tai was no longer comfortable sitting alone.  He had thrown himself into his schoolwork, to distract himself from the feelings.  His parents were pleased with that, at least.  They had encouraged him to court a girl named Kusami, who came from a good family.  She was sweet, and Tai tried to like her, but she had adopted the same role model as Mimi, and her air-headedness annoyed him.  Once, it even got him into trouble:

 Kusami whispered, "Taichi," she stabbed him in the back with a very sharp pencil, eliciting a yelp of surprise.

"Is there something you'd like to share with the class, Mister Kamiya?" asked Mr. Ishkado.

"No, teacher-chan," Tai mumbled, tossing Kusami a quick look of annoyance.  Ishkado was a very old teacher, who had not changed his curriculum since long before Tai was born.  He did not hold with students interrupting class, or talking out of turn, or talking in turn, or generally showing any signs of being sentient life forms.  The old man turned back to his lecture, talking about the unification of China, and managing to make one of the most exciting periods of Asian history about as interesting as a very mediocre slug.

"Taichi-kun!" Kusami whispered at him again.

"What is it?" Tai whispered horsely back.

"Can I just give you this note?" she asked lightly.

"A note?" Tai replied, "That's it? The old man's farsighted, for crying out loud! You could have just given it to me."

Tai turned back to face the front.  He could no longer hear Mr. Ishkado's lecture droning in the backround.  "Tell me something, Taichi." Mr. Ishkado's voice almost expressed a vague emotion: glee. "Can you see if I wrote 'detention' or 'expulsion' on this card? I'm holding it almost a foot away, and I just can't see that far."

On his way to detention, Tai grabbed the note Kusami had been trying to give him.  It said, "Come talk to me after class."


Matt made his way through the backyard, and ignored the painful stench of people smoking cigarettes.  He made his way through the basement of the house, and ignored the more pleasant smell of people smoking something else.  In the kitchen, there were a great deal of drinks, and a thicker crowd; he took two cups of coffee and pushed his way through.  In the front room, he ignored some nudity.  On the porch, he found Sora.  She had perched herself on the railing farthest from the door, and he slid in next to her.

"I guess the university students don't mind a couple of kids crashing their party after all."

"Well," Sora replied thoughtfully, "I can't be held responsible if they're too drunk to kick out the obviously underage and uninvited guests."

"So," Matt repeated, "Are you having fun?"

"Yes," she admitted, "It's probably one of the best nights of my life."

"And a whole lot cheaper than tickets to the opening ceremonies," Matt smiled.  The 2002 Winter Olympic Games had officially begun not an hour before, and their parents were off enjoying themselves at the after party in the Japanese house, safely under the impression their children were mixing at similar event for the young ones at the Swiss house.  Matt sighed – after party, frat party, it was a small mistake.

"I'm surprised you haven't made a pass at anyone," Sora observed.  "Isn't that why you brought me?  So you could go out and try all sorts of new and exciting western things and people."

"It's not so easy, close up.  The movies always cut out the difficult bits, between when your eyes first meet and the making out."

"You should have brought something to play."  Sora was always trying to get Matt to do more with his musical abilities.

"You should have something to drink."  Matt grinned, "They're playing strip poker in the basement."

"Hardly original.  No wonder we invent all their cool gadgets."  Sora yawned.


"Weakling.  You've only been up a day."

"Just because you like to stay up until people look like blue lizards doesn't mean everyone else does," Sora shot back.

"That has nothing to do with how long I've been up, lizard queen."

Sora didn't get a chance to strike back – suddenly someone was shining a bright flashlight in their faces.  It swiped past them to sweep over everyone on the porch, and there were several other people standing at the door, knocking and waving flashlights.

"Guess what?  We're the cops."

Matt and Sora looked at each other for a moment.  Then the simultaneously swung their legs over the railing, dropping into the front yard.  Calmly, they walked at an even pace, passing several cruisers and a few officers.


Tai walked as quickly as possible out of the school, planning ways to avoid talking with his parents when he got home. He was one of the last people to leave the school for the day. Of course, he wouldn't be coming back for three days. A three day suspension. His parents were just about ready to kill him, and Mr. Ishkado was refusing to let Tai back into his class. He had an official reprimand placed on his official record.

Tai slid wordlessly into the passenger seat, and his mother did not have a chance to say anything before the school exploded.