Chapter 1 – Pillows and Laughter

Disclaimer -- Digimon is a product of someone else's imagination. not mine.

(A/N: Narration varies from characters to 3rd person perspective.)

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Sora -

Just another day, I suppose. The Digidestined (retired Digidestined, I should say, since the world didn't seem to need saving anymore) were all going to meet at Tai and Kari's house, and Mimi was helping me decide what to wear.

"Everyone knows, Sora..." she said.

"What! Did you tell them?" I responded quickly. A little too quickly; I didn't want to seem like I cared too much.

Mimi scoffed. "I didn't say a word – it's just so obvious."

"Maybe I should just tell him." I sighed.

"That's exactly what I've been trying to tell you this whole time!" answered Mimi. "Everyone except you and him realizes it… and wear the white one."

I sighed, taking a white shirt out of my closet, and plopped down on my bed.

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(Omniscient Narrator) -

Meanwhile, at Tai's house, Tai and TK tried to persuade Matt to ask Sora out on a date.

"Ask her out already!" Tai said. "Dude, I didn't break up with her for nothing!"

Matt protested, "No way, it'll just mess things up between us…"

"Look, when I asked her out, we broke up, and we're still friends, right?" Tai replied.

"It's just not the same…" insisted Matt.

"Don't be such a coward, Matt," TK interjected. "Plus, this way your fan-girls might finally leave you alone."

I wish, Matt thought. "Hah! Fat chance. Anyway, Tai, you're better off shopping with Mimi than giving me advice," he said.

TK laughed at the prospect, picturing Tai following Mimi around, laden with shopping bags. "Yeah, maybe she can give you some fashion tips."

Tai narrowed his eyes at TK. "Whose side are you on anyway?" he said. To Matt, he replied, "Anyway, Mimi's so obsessed with you and Sora. Ever since she came back from America it's all she can talk about. Which is why you have to make your move soon, Ishida, before I kill poor little Meems."

"C'mon Matt." TK teased."You know Tai can be a little reckless when he's annoyed. Do you really want to be the reason that we lose our pinkest friend?"

Matt sighed. "Why do you have to make everything so difficult for me?" he said. "Sora's my best friend."

"Aww, I thought I was your best friend." Tai said jokingly.

Matt shoved Tai and laughed. "Other than you, Tai," he said in a sweet falsetto.

"...Anyway…" Tai continued. "Everybody knows you like each other, all right? As I said before – she and I didn't break up for no reason. Remember last Christmas when she was going to give you that present and tried to hide it from me when I saw her before the concert?"

Matt, remembering the tale, gazed off wonderingly."Oh yeah, that tasted good…" he said. Snapping out of his daydream, he added, "Well that doesn't mean anything! We're FRIENDS, remember?"

"Well, that wasn't the only thing…" Tai said. "And you know you like her too!"

"Yeah, like when the Digimon attacked at the concert, you went straight to Sora to make sure she was okay…even Jun knew that." TK added.

Tai made a face. "Ugh…Jun."

"Whatever," Matt scoffed. "I'll think about it."

"Tell her today!" Tai urged.

The doorbell rang, signifying the arrival of some of the other Digidestined.

"That must be the rest of them right now!" said Tai. "I'll go get Kari from her room."

Before he could leave, Sora, Mimi, Izzy and Kari all entered the room, chatting animatedly and making a general racket.

"Oh, did they all get here?" Kari asked as she wandered in.

"Who else can make so much noise?" said Tai.

"Hi Kari." TK said. He paused, then realized that everyone was looking at him strangely. "Oh! Hi Sora, Mimi, Izzy." He chuckled nervously while everyone else in the room laughed.

Kari giggled. "You silly." Her cheeks affected a slight pinkish tint.

"Hey, where's Joe?" asked Mimi.

Kari, glad for a change of subject, answered, "He has that biophysics thing today, right?"

"Why're YOU so curious about Joe all of a sudden, Mimi? Hmm…" said Tai jokingly.

Mimi rolled her eyes at him. "Just wondering," she said, as Izzy looked away from her and glanced around distractedly.

"Umm…Yeah. I guess Yolei, Ken, Cody, and Davis couldn't make it?" Tai asked.

Sora spoke for the rest of them (who seem a bit embarrassed for some reason or the other). "Ken and Yolei are off on a DATE, I think, Cody's got Kendo, and Davis…eh, who knows?"

Suddenly, Matt said, "Hey, Sora."

Everyone looked over. Weren't greetings already over?

Sora now blushed as well. "Hi, Matt," she answered a little too loudly, as Tai and TK snickered in the background.

The Digidestined continued their conversation (which gradually grew less and less awkward), but Mimi and Izzy remained quiet (and thus also rather awkward). Every once in a while Mimi would glance over at Izzy. Whenever he began to turn his head, she would look away and revert her attention to Tai. Izzy would look at Mimi and see her looking at Tai but would turn his head away when Mimi glanced as him. This went on for a while.. Kari noticed and felt embarrassed just watching the interaction.

"So…why'd you gather us anyway, Tai?" she asked.

"Oh, you know, just for fun." Tai snickered and glanced at Matt and Sora.

Mimi, suddenly alerted, says, "What! You said it was mega urgent!"

"Well…uh…you know – we all just haven't talked to each other in a while," Tai said nervously. "Just thought we could catch up and get some things out in the open... and.. you know, stuff."

Mimi sighed in annoyance but seemed satisfied with this answer. "Whatever," she said.

"Any volunteers?" Tai asked.

Tai looked around. Kari and TK were playing rock-paper-scissors, Mimi was showing her new skirt to Sora, Matt was kicked back on the bed while tugging playfully at Sora's hair, Izzy tapped his laptop quietly, and Tai watched them all impatiently. A classic Digidestined moment.

"Fine, I'll go," Tai said, capturing everyone's attention. "I'd just like to say that Mimi - you need to stop obsessing about 'you-know-who' because you're driving me crazy."

"Ugh!" Mimi laughed and slapped Tai's arm lightly.

Tai smiled. "You're awesome, Mimi, and you know I love you, but you've got to trust things to come out by themselves. Which they will soon," he said loudly so that Matt would hear. (Matt, evidently having heard Tai, cringed at his words).

"Aww…you love me?" Mimi smiled and hugged Tai.

Matt, seeing Izzy's face, interrupted. "As a FRIEND, right?"

Tai blushed. "Yeah, of course," he said.

Mimi, also blushing, said, "Well I know THAT, stupid…" Nobody noticed as Izzy exhaled a little sigh.

"Yeah, um…okay," Tai said. The look on his face suggested that maybe he did like Mimi as more than a friend. Of course, the Digidestined are all too preoccupied with their own problems to notice this either. "Uh huh…your turn, Mimi."

"Well, I guess you're right about THEM, Tai."Mimi answered. "I should stop bugging them. And I must say Tai – I love you too!" She smiled. Looking around, she added exasperatedly, "as a friend. Honestly, guys, isn't that a given?"

"My turn." Matt said."Okay, I wanted to say…although I do hate it when people try to meddle with my life, TK should totally ask Kari out."

TK and Kari both having been listening amusedly to the conversation, were startled. "What?" they said nearly in unison.

"Tell your brother to shut up," Kari said to TK.

TK, smiling at Matt, said, "Shut up."

"Just saying…" Matt defended. He looked around room for the confirmation of the others. "Don't you all agree?"

The others nodded and laughed - except Tai (who was in overprotective brother mode) "You think so, Matt!" he said. "Well too bad, Kari's too young. In fact, I think I'll lock her in a closet until she grows up. No…" he pondered for a bit. "Maybe a bit longer than that…"

"Tai!" Kari exclaimed.

"Just kidding!" said Tai. He laughed. "Anyway…Isn't there SOMETHING ELSE you'd like to say, Matt?"

"No, I'm fine," Matt answered.

Tai, who had been expecting Matt to ask Sora out, was indignant in his own disappointment. He shot a jokingly-scathing look at Matt, as if to say "I cannot believe you..."

"Okay, Sora, your turn!" said Mimi eagerly. [If at first you cannot succeed, try the other person!

"Yeah, you know, you guys are awesome and Matt especially, for coming to all of my tennis matches," Sora began.

"Go on..." said Mimi.

"And I just wanted to give you this…" Sora approached Matt while everyone wondered what she was going to do... when suddenly she hit Matt on the head with a big fluffy pillow! Matt yelled and tried to get away from the attack, flinging another pillow back at her. In the classic way that pillow and food fights begin, it missed and hit Tai square on the forehead.

"Sora…" Mimi said in the midst of the confusion. She was equally as disappointed as Tai that Sora had not admitted her feelings for Matt. She was about to try to "talk some sense" into Sora when someone hit her with a pillow. She turned around and gasped. "Who was that?" she demanded. Since everyone was already deeply engaged in the pillow fight, nobody answered, and she obliged to hit each and every one of her friends with a large stuffed animal.

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Sora ----

Half an hour later after our little pillow fight started, everyone was exhausted and lying on the floor. Jackets and sweatshirts were strewn all over Tai's bed and I saw my scarf dangling off the side of his dresser. As the first to get up after the fight, I had the privilege to see everyone in their tired, perspiring conditions. TK and Kari were over in their own little corner, fanning themselves tiredly. Tai was watching them from his "perch" on the bed. After years of soccer, he didn't tire out easily, I guessed. I could see Mimi had her head on Izzy's shoulder, but she was gazing dreamily at Tai. Izzy had actually put up quite a fight during our pillow struggle, protecting Mimi from attack. It was kind of sad, because everyone could see that Izzy was trying to get Mimi's attention, while she was trying to get Tai's. I could see why she liked Tai. He was… that athletic sweetheart who would do anything to protect his friends and family. We went out for a while last year, but it didn't really work out. At first it seemed like we were meant to be, but he broke up with me when he thought I liked Matt.

Matt – The popular rock-star-lead-singer guy that I'd been friends with since we first went to the digital world. Sure, at first he seemed like an all-that hotshot but after I got to know him…he wasn't so bad. Still, until Tai broke up with me, I kept denying that I'd ever really liked Matt. It was just a big shock and a major wake up call back into the real world. I had spent the majority of the year living in a fantasy, being caught up in my complicated relationship with Tai. But in addition to that – I had this growing idea that if I liked Matt, I would be just another one of his fan-girls, like Jun.

Matt – The guy whose happy blond head was resting on my knees at this very moment. I ruffled his hair and closed my eyes.

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Matt ----

I woke up after a nap at 6MP to find myself using Sora as a pillow. I got up and smiled at Sora, who looked like she just woke up as well. I whispered "Sorry" in her ear and looked around the room. Everything was just like before I fell asleep, with Tai on his bed and Mimi on Izzy, and TK and Kari in a corner of the room. I had meant what I said before – everyone knew TK and Kari were meant to be. I mean, it was just too obvious -- a match made in heaven or something cheesy like that. It's too bad they won't admit it, but I agreed with Tai that it'd best if they let themselves grow up a bit anyway. I mean, if they started going out now, they'd break up in a heartbeat over something trivial. And none of us wanted to see that happen.

I thought about what had happened earlier in the day. I was glad Sora started that pillow fight. I wanted to tell her that I liked her, just not in front of everyone else. I thought our personal lives should be something other than entertainment for our friends. But I was glad they thought we should be together; it confirmed that I might have had a chance with her after all. Tai gave me the most confidence, I'd say. Other than the fact that he was my best friend, he's also Sora's ex, and I was grateful that he wouldn't kill me for liking her.

Honestly, though, Tai needed to wake up and smell the pink! Mimi was all over him, and he was just oblivious. I felt bad for Izzy though; I knew he liked Mimi but was too shy to ask her out. Izzy – of the all people to like Mimi. Still, they say opposites attract.

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Tai ----

Well, that was fun. The group left after everyone woke up. It was pretty weird, seeing Matt and Sora, and TK and Kari, and Mimi and Izzy. Everyone all coupled up, and ME all alone. I need to find myself a girl. But – I can't help but think that Mimi might like me. (How can she not, I'm such a great guy). But then, it's obvious that Izzy likes her. What's a guy to do?

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TO BE CONTINUED...

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A/N: hope you like it! it's my 1st fic so review honestly :)