Running, running, running. The woman panted as she dodged tree after tree and hopped over root after root. How had she even gotten here? The footsteps following her became quieter and quieter until they ceased to exist, however, the young woman kept running. All was dark in front of her. The sky was covered by rotting trees and hard, crunching leaves. She stopped. To run was useless. She'd end up deeper in the woods then she was before. The other option though, didn't seem any better. To run would leave her lost and alone. To be caught would leave her with an unsure future. The footsteps behind her were coming close again. The woman brushed the sweat from her forhead and flicked the stray hairs from her face. She stood up straight, turned around, and faced her chaser, eye to eye.

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Tai Kamiya ran out the school doors as soon as the bell rang. Finally, he could breathe the fresh, outdoors air. He paused near the front gates to search for his sister with whom he walked home everyday. Standing on his tiptoes, he searched the crowd. He saw his spiky, blonde-haired best friend without his own sibling, which only meant one thing.

"KARI!" Tai shouted as loud as he could. The blonde boy, Matt, spun around and looked at him.

"Missing yours as well?" He asked.

"Yeah.. suppose she's with T.K?" Tai joked.

"Where else?" Matt laughed as the boys went off to find them.

They pushed their way through the crowds of people until they came to the fountain in the middle of the yard. There, two kids, about 3 years younger then their brothers, sat playing in the water.

"Kari! T.K! Is it everyday? Everyday must you make me late to my beloved couch and television?!" Tai half smiled and yelled.

"Don't be jealous, Tai." Kari retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.

Matt turned and looked at his brother. "T.K, come on, Dad's going to be wondering where we are."

"Would he even notice? He's probably still at the station anyways.." The younger blonde replied.

"Doesn't matter" Matt said, getting a little fed up. "Come on" He turned to Kari. "You can come over for dinner later, if you'd like."

"And what would you be having?" Tai jumped in, throwing his arm over Matt's shoulders. "Steak? Rice? Chicken? All of the above?"

Matt laughed. "I suppose you can come too, Tai."

Kari smiled at T.K and gave him one last kiss before they departed. Tai could hear Matt mumbling to T.K as he walked away. He turned to his own sister, prepared to give another speech about how he didn't like seeing her with boys. However, before he could begin, Kari put her hand over his mouth.

"Quick!" Kari whispered "Close your mouth before you drool!" She pointed to a group of tall, thin girls crossing the road.

Tai pushed her hand away. "Come on now, I know you just didnt want to hear me talk."

"Maybe." Kari laughed to herself.

However, in that group of girls, one inparticular stood out to the brunette. Sora Takenouchi stood in the middle of the pack, carrying her tennis racket under her arm. She saw him and gave a quick wave before she turned the corner.

"Hey..." Tai muttered to himself, waving to no one, really, as Sora was already gone.

Kari and Tai walked the rest of the way home in silence. Tai unlocked their apartment door and walked in, collapsing on the couch. He fumbled around for a bit, looking for the remote. When he found it, he turned on the television and put on his favorite show.

"Would you look at that Kari, it already started." Tai grumbled at his sister.

"It'll be okay Tai, it'll be okay" She said while walking into her room.

What was she going to wear tonight? She needed to find something nice, but it seemed like most of her clothes still needed to be washed.

"MOOOOOOMMMMMM!" Kari yelled. When she got no response, she yelled it again.

"Kari, be quiet!" Tai shouted back, annoyed.

"Do you know where Mom is?"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I know where mom is?"

Kari peeked out her door only to see her brother thrown across the couch with an open soda in his hands and a cupcake stuffed into his mouth. "Guess not" She laughed, and returned to her closet. Eventually, she picked out some jeans and a plain white top. She put it on and threw some chunky gold jewlery over it. She finalized her look with a bit of eyeliner and some blush.

'I suppose I look alright' She thought to herself. She couldn't help but chuckle though when she thought about what her brother would say. With that in mind, she walked out into the main room and stood in front of the television.

"Kari what are you do-WHAT are you wearing?"

"Clothes.. Makeup.." Kari replied innocently.

"Why do you look like you're 20 years old when you're only 14? Do you know how much harder this makes scaring all the boys away from you?"

"You shouldn't be doing that anyways!" Kari scoffed. "I can handle myself. Besides, I have T.K. And you're not much older then me. What, are you turning 18 in a week?"

"But I'm your brother! Your favorite brother!" Tai jumped up and attempted to mess up her hair.

Kari pushed him away. 'You're my only brother." She giggled as she got a full view of him. "Aren't you going to get ready? It's already 4:30 and we should get there by at least 5."

Tai glanced down at himself. He brushed the crumbs off his shirt and whiped some icing from his mouth. "Ready!" he cheered and smiled.

Kari rolled her eyes as they both walked out the door.

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Dinner was almost ready at the Ishida residance. One could smell the scent of roasting chicken and gravy-covered mashed potatoes from down the road. That one, happenned to be Tai Kamiya. The doorbell rang and Matt got up to answer it. He looked through the peephole of his comfortable apartment only to see two brunettes standing in the walkway. Tai raised his eye to the hole as well. "Let us in! I smell chicken!" Matt laughed and opened the door.

"Well you look lovely" T.K eyed Kari from down the hall

'As do you..." Matt raised his brows at Tai.

T.K and Kari went and sat in the living room as Matt and Tai made their way towards the kitchen. As he walked by, he peered in just to make sure that the kids had at least 5 feet between them. However, what caught his eye was a white tennis racket laying on the chair. He furrowed his brow. Sora had been here?

"Hey Matt, didn't know you played" Tai pointed to the racket.

"Oh" Matt chuckled when he saw it. "No, that's Sora's. She stopped by for a bit before. She must've left it here."

"How come?" Tai asked curiously

"Oh... no reason." Matt started walking towards the kitcen again. "So you like mashed potatoes, right?"

"Er... yeah.." Tai replied halfheartdly. He sat down as Matt pulled out a chair across from him. "Hi Mr. Ishida" Tai waved when he saw the middle-aged man at the stove.

"Hey Tai, how ya been?" Mr. Ishida grinned.

"Been alright.." Tai looked down at his empty plate. He suddenly didn't have an appetite.

"You okay?" Matt looked at him concerned.

"Oh, yeah, fine. Just got a little tired there. Long day at school."

"I see." Matt replied.

The two boys sat there in silence until dinner was ready. T.K and Kari came running in and sat next to their respective siblings as Mr. Ishida took his place at the head of the table.

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Sora walked into her apartment and threw her school bag in the closet.

"Mom! I'm home!" Sora yell echoed through her spacious, yet empty home. 'That's weird...' Sora thought to herself. She glanced up at the clock which said 8:15. 'The flower shop closes at 7.. Must be out running errands or something.'

The auburn haired girl went to the kitchen to prepare some dinner for herself. What would she have tonight? She went through some options in her head, but stopped when she noticed she had a message waiting on the phone.

She checked the caller I.D. It read the name of her father, Hiroshi Takenouchi. Sora smiled to herself. Rarely did she hear from her father. He cared about her, alright, but he had a weird way of showing it.

"Hey Sora. It's your father here. How've you been kiddo? I've missed you. The project was a success! You can let your erm.. mother know, that the check is on the way. But anyways, I'd like you to come and check out the new building. All my new employees want to meet my favorite daughter. Call back soon. I love you baby girl."

Click. The recording was over. That was one voice she didn't hear too often and when she did, it was for too short of a time. Hmm. Check out the new building? Sora honestly didn't have any idea what the 'project' was. Her father had a way of forgetting what he told her and what he didn't. Maybe he expanded the business again..

Sora returned to the fridge and rummaged through it until she found something good to eat. She ended up making herself a simple sandwich, but delicious none-the-less. She was about to take her first bite, when the phone rang. Sora grunted, slapped her sandwich down on the plate, and walked over to pick it up.

"Hello?" Sora said, trying to sound as polite as possible

"Hey Sora, it's Matt."

"Oh, hey Matt, what's up?" Sora twirled the phone cord through her fingers.

"Not much, but hey, listen, we might have a problem."

"What?" Sora was intently listening now.

"I think Tai is getting suspicious.."

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Hi guys! It's been at LEAST 3 years since I've written anything on here, so I hope this was alright. Let me know how you liked it =]. I hate writing things at the beginning of a story, so my disclaimer for every chapter is here. I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS. =D. Alright. Talk to you soon, guys.

Surflilu