A/N: Okay, I'm trying something new here. This is my first Digimon fan fiction, so please be merciful in your reviews. I apologize in advance if they seem OOC, but I've never written as them before. Also, T.K. is gonna be a year older in this one, so he'll be a freshman while Matt is a junior. By the way, this will all be Matt's POV. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.
Coldness Thaws
Chapter 1
"Matt, it's time to go!" T.K. called to me from downstairs. "We're gonna be late if you don't hurry!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I shouted back as I pulled my shirt on. I had taken a shower when I got up so I would be clean before going to school, and now I was running kinda late. Thankfully, I wasn't hungry, so no worries about breakfast. I barely ate these days anyway, especially not after—never mind. I'm not even going to go there, I thought as a light shiver ran down my spine. I ran to my room and grabbed my dark blue messenger bag before rushing down the stairs and slipping my shoes on and turning to my younger brother.
"Ready?" he asked, and I nodded. T.K. looked me over once before nodding to himself in approval, and then we left the house, locking the door behind us.
"We might wanna run T.K.," I said pointedly, and he looked at me as if to say, 'Why?' "'Cause we're gonna definitely be late if we don't."
"Crap!" he yelped, and took off running. I followed easily. It was our first day at our new school, seeing as we had just moved to our new house after some…incidents…a while back. More like six months ago, but still. Anyway, it was just me and T.K. in the house, seeing as our parents died two years ago. We had gained their inheritance and life insurance policy money, so we were set. But we needed a fresh start after the incident six months ago, so we moved into a small two-story house in a different city, and registered into a new school that happened to be within reasonable walking distance. Fortunately, T.K. and I were both in high school now, so we didn't have to worry too much about being separated during the day.
Finally, the school came into view, and I took the lead, my feet pounding on the concrete as we ran into the building and slowed to a quick walk as we neared the office. We walked inside, trying to catch our breath, and I approached the front desk.
"Hello, dear," the woman at the desk greeted. "Are you new here?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm Matt Ishida and this is my brother, T.K."
"Oh, yes, of course," she smiled. "I'll get the students who will help you around the school. They have the same class schedules as you both, so that will make it much easier."
"Thanks," T.K. grinned as he joined me, and we waited until the 'guides' arrived. When they did, we got up as they walked in. One of them was a tan-skinned boy my age with messy brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, wearing a pair of goggles that rested on his forehead. He was also a little shorter than me. I guessed this was my guide. The other, a young girl, was a little shorter than T.K., and also had brown hair and eyes. She even had a camera on a lanyard hanging around her neck.
"Hi, I'm Tai Kamiya, and this is my sister, Kari Kamiya," the boy said, and his sister, Kari, smiled.
"Hello," she greeted with a small wave.
"Nice to meet you," T.K. grinned. "I'm T.K. Ishida and this is my brother, Matt."
"Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, how about we take you guys to your classes?" Tai suggested, and we nodded.
T.K. hugged me briefly, and whispered, "You'll be okay, Matt." I nodded minutely against his shoulder before pulling away and smiling at him in reassurance.
"See you at lunch, T.K.," I told him, and he left with Kari. I turned to Tai, and he grinned widely before leading me to our first class.
"We're a bit late, but don't worry. The teacher knows about me being a guide," he said as we walked. After a few moments of silence, he asked, "So, how come you changed schools?" I immediately tensed up as I walked, but tried to play it off, thinking of a quick lie.
"Just needed a change," I murmured. Fortunately, Tai seemed to notice I wasn't going to tell much more about it, and changed the subject.
"Eager to start junior year?" he grinned.
"The only thing I'm eager about is being done with school, even though I just got here," I muttered.
"Yeah, I think just about everyone feels the same way," Tai chuckled. "My friend Izzy loves school and learning, though. He's always been really smart. Oh! Speaking of which, how would you and your brother like to sit with us at lunch? I'm sure Kari's extended the invitation to T.K. by now."
"I…guess so," I shrugged, feeling a bit hesitant. I barely knew this guy, and he's already offering for T.K. and me to sit with his group of friends at lunch? Well, I guess there's safety in numbers…
"Awesome," Tai smiled, and then we arrived at the door to our first class, Math. He opened it and let me in first, and the teacher was just beginning to call out names for attendance.
"Nice of you to join us, Tai," the teacher said sarcastically, but then he noticed me. "Ah, I didn't realize you were guiding the new student. Your name is…?"
"Matt Ishida," I answered softly, and he directed me to sit with Tai towards the back. There was a redheaded girl back there waiting for him.
"Hey Tai," she greeted in a whisper as we sat down. Sitting in front of Tai, I tuned out of their conversation as I tried to take notes while listening to the teacher's lecture. That's when I felt someone poke my back, and I growled under my breath.
"What?" I hissed, looking back to see Tai was the offender. "I'm trying to take notes so I don't fail."
"Sorry, I just wanted to introduce you to my friend Sora," he told me, gesturing to the redhead. She looked irritated with me, and I glared back at her slightly.
"Doesn't seem she wants to know me," I muttered, turning back to face to front. Before I turned, however, Tai noticed Sora's expression and chided her in a quiet voice as I tuned back into the lecture. Finally, the bell rang, signaling the end of class, and Sora stormed out of the room, annoyed.
"What's with her?" a short boy with messy, rust-colored hair asked as he joined us.
"Oh, she's just upset that I told her to be nice to Matt here," Tai shrugged, and turned to me. "This is Izzy, our resident genius in our group of friends! He's a whiz with computers, so if you ever need help with them, feel free to ask him."
"As long as it doesn't involve me doing your homework for you," Izzy chuckled, and held out his hand to me. "Nice to meet you, Matt." I shook hands with him, and he said, "We'd better hurry to Biology, or else we're toast."
"Right, I'm sure Joe is waiting for us!" Tai nodded, and the pair led me to the basement of the school, where all the science classes apparently were. The brunette guided me to the side in the middle row of seats, where a guy with glasses and dark blue hair was sitting.
"Hey guys," he waved, and looked at me with interest. "Who's this?"
"This is Matt," Tai told him. "He's the new student I'm guiding around. Matt, this is Joe. He's focusing on science while in high school so he can be a doctor."
"Nice to meet you," Joe smiled, and we shook hands. Suddenly, the door opened, and the teacher came in. Everyone scrambled into their seats, even me. I sat next to Tai, and he grinned at me.
"You're gonna like it in here. We hardly ever get homework, and the tests are easy," he informed me as I pulled out my notebook.
"Good to know," I murmured, and, once again, tuned everything around me out as I focused on taking notes. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Joe and Izzy were doing the same thing, whereas Tai was about to nod off. I poked him with my pencil, and he jerked awake, startled.
"What the—" he started to say, but I shushed him.
"You were about to fall asleep," I whispered, and he gave me a sheepish look. Rolling my blue eyes, I refocused back on the lecture.
When class ended, Tai looked at me, sighing in relief. "Sorry about nearly falling asleep, Matt," he apologized. "Biology makes me want to sleep sometimes."
"Are you sure it's not because you stayed up late last night talking with Sora?" Izzy teased, and Tai looked confused.
"Uh, I wasn't talking with Sora last night," he said, furrowing his brows in confusion.
"That's not what I saw," Izzy smirked.
"Oh, that may have been Kari under my login," Tai realized, and Izzy shrugged.
"Hey guys, I gotta go, but I'll see you at lunch," Joe said, leaving for another science class.
"See ya, Joe!" the other two called after him, and Izzy started to separate, too.
"I'll see you at lunch, too. I need to go to my tutoring class," he explained, and we nodded. "See ya, guys!"
"See ya, Izzy!" Tai waved, and turned back to me. "Ready for gym?"
"I guess so," I mumbled, but then realized something. "Wait, don't we need a change of clothes for gym?"
"Yeah, but I have an extra set that's completely clean and brand new," the brunette told me.
"Okay, as long as they're not something stupid," I muttered, and let the happy-go-lucky brunette lead me to the gym. Once we walked in, Tai handed me a pair of dark blue shorts and a dark grey t-shirt before starting to change in the boys' locker room. I thanked him and quickly slipped into one of the bathroom stalls in there and changed in privacy so no one would see my scars, let alone ask about them. As soon as I was finished, I hurried out to rejoin Tai. The tan-skinned boy was waiting for me by the locker room entrance. I noticed Sora from Math class already sitting on the gym floor with everyone else, and I groaned internally. She's gonna give me hell if I do anything better than her, I'm sure of it…
"Okay, students, time to split into teams for soccer," the coach announced as he emerged from his office. "Split into two teams and meet me out on the field."
Everyone began to divide into the teams, and I ended up on Tai's team while Sora somehow ended up on the other team. Once we joined the coach outside, he set everything up, and Tai helped me with it a bit, guiding me as he scored goal after goal. I soon was able to hold my own against the roughness of the other students, shoving back a bit when I was shoved.
It seemed that Sora had noticed this, however, and tried to ram me to get the ball away from me as I kicked it along the ground to her team's goal. I swiftly darted away using a small burst of energy with the ball at my feet, avoiding any and all contact with the redheaded girl, and she fell to the ground with a grunt. She waved the coach off when he checked her over, and quickly ran after me. I soon kicked the ball into the goal, the goalie's fingers grazing over the edge of the ball as it shot past.
"All right! Awesome job, Matt!" Tai praised as he ran over. He bent over slightly, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "You're pretty fast, man. How'd you get to be so quick?"
"I used to be on track at my last school," I answered with a one-shouldered shrug. It was true, even though I had more than that to say, but I didn't want to tell him about my past. Not yet, anyway.
"Maybe you should join the track team here!" the brunette suggested. "You're really fast, and I'm sure you'd be great on the team."
"I'll think about it," I told him, looking away. Honestly, I'd rather not, but I didn't want to tell him why. I would talk to T.K. about it tonight. Besides, I didn't want to be rude and outright say "no" when I hadn't really given it much thought. Finally, the bell rang, and everyone went back inside to change and run off to their next class. Tai told me to go ahead while he hung back and spoke with Sora. As I walked ahead, I tuned into their conversation. Sure, I wasn't close enough for a normal person to hear, but I could hear them with my keen hearing.
"Sora, how come you tried to ram Matt earlier?" Tai was demanding in a low voice. He sounded pissed.
"I didn't! I was trying to get the ball from him, and besides, he was shoving others on my team!" she protested quietly.
"It's soccer, Sora!" he reminded her. "People shove each other all the time! And you wouldn't have fallen if you were just trying to get the ball."
"I know that!" she snapped. "I don't need to explain myself to you, Tai." With a huff, she stormed ahead, right past me with so much as a glance in my direction. Tai joined me shortly afterwards, and we went to the locker room in silence. Damn, I was being the odd one out again…I even managed to make a pair of friends fight…
"Maybe I should eat by myself today, Tai," I mumbled when I was changed and we were walking to our fourth class. The brunette looked at me, surprised.
"Huh? Why do you say that?" he asked, honestly confused.
"Because I'd rather not be the odd one out," I replied softly. "And I don't want to make anyone else fight…"
"Don't worry about it!" he assured me. "Sora's fine, she's probably on that time of the month, anyway." He laughed at his words, and I couldn't help but smile slightly, amused. "Let's get to the cafeteria, seeing as we have fourth period free."
"Sounds good," I shrugged, and he led me to the cafeteria, where the brunette grabbed a table.
"So, what do you think of the school so far, Matt?" Tai asked as he sat across from me.
"Not sure. Seems like I'll be able to get through to graduation," I told him, shaking my head slightly.
"Yeah, the teachers here are pretty lenient as long as you do well on tests. They want us to all succeed in life," he agreed. "What do you plan on doing when you graduate?"
"Don't know. I'm thinking maybe some kind of art," I replied. "How about you?"
"I want to be the best soccer player in the world," he answered automatically. "As for art, at least you and I will be in art class together. Maybe you can help me and give me some pointers?"
"Sure. Where do you struggle the most?" I asked.
"Everywhere," he laughed. "I can really only draw stick figures."
"Well, I dunno if I can help much, then," I sighed, scratching my head.
"Come on, Matt! At least let me see some of your drawings," he pleaded. "Please?"
"I don't even have my sketches with me, though…" I murmured.
"Try drawing now! Here's a piece of paper," the brunette said, and handed me a blank page from a sketchbook.
"I guess…What should I draw?" I questioned.
"Whatever you feel like drawing," Tai grinned at me, and I pulled out my pencil, proceeding to draw a timber wolf sitting and gazing out over a cliff at the moon. When I finished, the bell had rung, and I pushed the sketch over to Tai, waking him from his little nap.
"Have a good nap, Sleeping Beauty?" I teased, smirking, and he laughed lightly before looking at my sketch. His jaw dropped open in amazement, and the brunette stared at me.
"Holy shit, Matt, this is amazing!" he cried out. "I've never seen such realistic artwork before unless it was a photo! How'd you do that?!"
"How did who do what?" a girl asked as she walked over. She had light brown hair and eyes, and wore a pink cowgirl hat.
"Oh, hey Mimi!" Tai greeted. "This is Matt, and he just drew this awesome picture of a wolf! Look!" He showed her the picture, and she gasped in awe.
"It's so life-like!" she squealed, and I winced slightly at the high pitch. "Has anyone else seen it?"
"No, he just finished drawing it a couple minutes ago," Tai told her, and she nodded.
"We need to show this to the others when they get here!" she said firmly, and Tai laughed as he agreed with her.
"Speaking of which, where are they?"
"Oh, Joe and Izzy should be here soon…" she replied, trailing off as she looked around for them. "And where's Sora?"
"I think she's mad at me," Tai admitted.
"WHAT?! WHY?!" Mimi shrieked.
"Because I told her to be nice to Matt. She tried to ram him in gym on the soccer field today," he explained. Mimi sighed.
"Ugh, I'll find her. In the meantime, show the others this picture! And it was nice meeting you, Matt!" she called as she ran off, handing the drawing back to Tai before leaving.
"Well…um…" I mumbled, unsure of what else to say.
"Yeah, she's something else," Tai chuckled. "Oh! Here come the others, even Kari and T.K.!" I jumped slightly when I heard him say my brother's name and looked up to see T.K. running over with Kari.
"Hey Matt!" the younger blonde called when he got close. "How were your first classes?"
"They went well," I told him as we hugged.
"Hi Matt," Kari waved when T.K. let me go. Then she noticed my drawing. "Whoa! Did you draw that?"
"Yeah, Tai gave me some paper so I could show him how well I draw, and…yeah," I mumbled, embarrassed.
"Wow, Matt. You haven't drawn in a few months," T.K. remarked with a smile. "Looks like your skills are still sharp."
"Yeah, we'll see how well I can keep it up in class, though," I smirked.
"That's amazing, Matt!" Izzy said when he joined us and saw the drawing. "I'm more into making artwork on my computer in art class, but you have a special gift for creating realistic pieces."
"He's got more in his sketchbook at home," T.K. boasted, and I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed from all of the attention.
"You gotta admit, it's pretty impressive," Joe chimed in as he sat down.
"What's impressive?" a boy's voice asked, and we looked to see a kid with messy brown hair and brown eyes as well as a pair of goggles similar to Tai's come over and wrap his arms around Kari's waist. "Besides me, of course."
"Davis, be nice. We're just admiring Matt's drawing," Kari chided, blushing. She looked at me. "Matt, this is my boyfriend, Davis." At the mention of the word "boyfriend", I noticed T.K. deflate a bit, but he perked up instantly.
"Nice to meet ya, man," Davis grinned, shaking hands with me. "So you're T.J.'s brother, huh?"
"It's T.K.," my brother muttered, offended.
"Whatever," the brown-haired freshman said, rolling his eyes. I immediately didn't like this guy. He's too cocky for his own good.
"Don't mess up my brother's name," I growled, narrowing my eyes. "It's two simple letters. It should be easy enough to get right."
"Touchy-touchy," Davis smirked. "Let's see how well you can do on the tracks."
"Oh boy…Here we go again…" Tai sighed, facepalming as Izzy slammed his head on the table.
"What?" I uttered, quirking a brow at everyone.
"You heard me, let's go outside and see who can race faster," the cocky bastard grinned. Internally, I was laughing my ass off, but I kept a cool exterior as Davis led the way outside. Oh, he's gonna get it now… I thought to myself as we got ready at the starting line.
"Okay, so the loser has to respect the winner and buy him lunch every Friday for three weeks," Davis declared, and we shook on it. I smirked as Kari pulled out her camera just in case it was close.
"Ready, go!" Tai shouted, and we took off. I dashed ahead of Davis after a few meters, grinning, as he stared after me.
"What the hell!" he yelped, and tried to catch up, but I was quick to reach the finish line. When he finally got to the finish line, he was glaring at me. "How the hell did you manage to beat me?!"
"I was on the track team at my last school," I smirked. "Maybe you should think before opening your mouth."
"Shut up!" Davis snapped, and tried to punch me, but I caught his fist, my gaze icy as I glared furiously at him.
"Don't even think about it," I spat, shoving him away.
"How are you two dating?" Tai asked Kari.
"Right now, I have no clue…" Kari sighed. Tai shrugged and came over to me with T.K.
"You okay, Matt?" the brunette asked as I took a deep breath.
"…Yeah, I'm fine now," I replied once I was calm. T.K. and Tai took me back inside, the others following, except for Davis. He sat there on the ground, glaring at me as we left him. Kari was quick to follow us, giving her boyfriend, or rather, soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, a dirty look as she passed him. When we got inside, we sat down, the others going to grab some lunch, while T.K. and I pulled out our packed lunches. We didn't feel much like eating the cafeteria food, anyway.
"Thanks, Matt, for defending me," T.K. murmured as he ate his sandwich.
"Anytime, T.K.," I smiled at him. We resumed eating, and my brother smiled at Kari when she sat next to him with her lunch. I could tell he liked the brunette girl, especially judging by his reaction when she introduced Davis as her boyfriend. I know he stands a chance with her, it'll just take some time.
"Sorry about Davis, he's just too cocky and hates losing," Kari apologized to me.
"It's okay," I shrugged. "Just make sure he says T.K.'s name right from here on out, or else he'll need another ass-kicking." Kari giggled.
"I'll make sure he does," she smiled. It wasn't until lunch was over that I realized Mimi had never returned with Sora.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X
The rest of the day went by smoothly, and eventually, T.K. and I were walking home. We walked in silence, but when we got home, T.K. turned to me.
"So, what do you think of the new school, Matt?" he asked as he took his shoes off.
"It's fine, I guess," I mumbled, taking my own shoes off. Smirking, I added, "Looks like you have a love interest already, though."
"You noticed that?!" my brother yelped, blushing.
"Well, it was obvious to me, but I hope it wasn't too obvious to Davis," I grinned. "Then again, that guy has nothing going on in his head other than showing off and being a moron."
"True," T.K. laughed. "What about you? Anyone catch your eye yet?"
"No," I stated with a scowl. I fixed my brother with a hard look. "You do remember why we're even in a new school, right?"
"Yes, I know, but I highly doubt any of those people are like him," T.K. pointed out.
"T.K., I don't want to risk it and get hurt again, let alone have a repeat of what happened six months ago," I muttered, looking away.
"Look, Matt, you're already friends with Tai, it looks like to me. I bet you that the only judgmental one of the group is just Davis," my brother shrugged.
"Yeah, I don't think so," I grumbled, thinking of Sora.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, I'm talking about Sora, this girl in the group who didn't show up at lunch with us today, and—"
"What did she do?" T.K. cut me off.
"She tried to ram me in gym while we were playing soccer today, and when Tai got upset with her for it, she left and didn't show up for lunch," I explained.
"Ah, gotcha," he murmured. Then he looked up at me in realization. "Sounds like she thinks you might be trying to steal Tai from her, and she's jealous."
"But they're not even dating," I said, furrowing my brows in confusion. "Why would she be jealous?"
"She's got to be interested in him, then," the younger blonde told me. "Just because they're not dating, doesn't mean she's not gonna try and keep you away."
"Whatever, Tai and I are just friends," I muttered, and looked at the time; 5:30 already. "Hungry?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah, just let me get changed, and I'll cook tonight," T.K. told me, and I smiled.
"Thanks," I said softly. "I'm gonna get changed, too."
As I changed into some pajamas, which consisted of just a pair of black sleep pants and a white t-shirt with ice crystals patterned on it, I thought about what my brother had said. Sure, the sick bastard from my past was sentenced to life in prison without parole or bail, but that didn't mean I was free from being hurt. I just don't want to risk it. I don't want to be raped again…
A/N: And there you have it! Please R&R, and let me know what I should do to improve! I know the group looks like their younger selves, but I think Matt and the gang look better that way. The only exception to that is Kari and T.K., but they're supposed to be freshman in high school, so what do you expect? Anyway, please be merciful on what I can do to improve this fic! R&R, peeps!