A/N: Welcome to my latest fic. This was written over two half-hour sessions, both times between 11.30 and 12 midnight, in orange felt tip pen, under the watchful eye and damn sharp tongue of my muse, Lynne. She refused to let me get any sleep until I'd written it and got it posted up on ff.net. It's a pretty stupid drabble, but hey, if this is the price I pay for being able to write the next chapter of ISYD, then so be it. Enjoy, please review after reading, and I will officially love you forever. You'll even get a little 'I Love You Forever' certificate if I deem you worthy.

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"I couldn't!"
"You could!"
"No I couldn't."
"You could!"
"Couldn't!"
"Takeru..." Matt sighed, came within inches of raking an irritated hand through his hair, and snatched it back just in time. "This is getting childish!"
"Only because you refuse to acknowledge that I'm right!" his younger brother declaimed, arms folded stubbornly across his chest.
"That's because you're wrong! " yelled Matt, exasperated.
"Am not!"
Repressing the urge to scream or, better still, throw his intransigent brother through a window, Matt pressed his palms together in front of his chest and used the pressure to force his annoyance back under control. When he achieved something approaching calmness, he spoke again, keeping his voice level and reasonable.
"OK, so you tell me what you think would happen."
TK shifted uncomfortably, thrown off guard by his brother's sudden change in approach.
"I dunno...I guess I just walk up to him and say, hey, Dai, I've been thinking about you a lot recently and I'm really horny right now, so - "
TK pulled up short as the expression on Matt's face him that this was way too much information.
"Well, anyway," he amended quickly, "basically I just tell him I like him and then BAM! I'm on my way to the hospital."
"TK, that is not going to happen! Davis is a sensible, rational..." Realising exactly who he was talking about, Matt shut up quickly, then changed tactics.
"You know what, TK? You're looking at this from a really pessimistic viewpoint. Try taking the opposite angle. What's the best that could come of it?"
TK thought for a few seconds, then opened his mouth, but before he could speak Matt held up an admonitory finger.
"If it involves you two having hot, steamy sex, I'm not interested."
TK shut his mouth reluctantly, then opened it again a moment later.
"That includes oral sex."
The young blonde shot his brother a 'spoilsport' look.
"OK, how about this: I go up to him, tell him I like him, he says he feels the same way, and we share an incredibly romantic and passionate kiss."
"That's more like it."
"And THEN we have hot steamy - "
Takeru was cut off as his brother grabbed a cushion off the sofa and threw it at his head. After a short bout of energetic wrestling, they broke apart, Matt tucking a few stray hairs back into place.
"OK. So, worst case scenario, he hits you. You get a bruise, maybe a black eye, and in a week, maybe two, what? Nothing. No sign."
"Yeah, apart from the fact that my friends will all hate me for being gay."
Matt fixed his brother with a serious stare.
"TK, if they hate you because they can't handle your sexuality, they are not your friends .
Anyway, where were we...so, you lose a bit of personal pride and well-being. Nothing that won't grow back. Best case scenario, he likes you too and you develop a happy, loving relationship. Well, it's that or you have sex." Matt sighed. "Stop drooling, TK. Anyway, the middle-case scenario - he's straight but understanding, or gay and uninterested. Net loss: zero. Net gain: one hell of a weight off your mind.
Now, what if you don't tell him?"
"I don't ruin my life."
"WRONG, TK. You wonder for the rest of your life what would have happened - would he have liked you back? Could it have become 'something more'?" Matt sighed again as his brother began to zone out contemplating the 'something more'. "Anyway, if you don't tell him it'll tear you up for the rest of your natural existence. So go tell him already! Go on, get ready or you'll be late for school."
"So will you!" TK's tone was light, but he came over and hugged his brother tightly.
"Thanks, Matt," he murmured, voice slightly muffled by Matt's shirt. "For everything - for understand and explaining, and for not letting me off the hook."
Despite himself, Matt grinned. "You're welcome, TK."
"Oh...Oniichan?"
Matt froze - TK only ever used that name and that tone of voice when he really wanted something or he had a bombshell to drop.
"Yeah?" he asked guardedly, arms loosening from around TK's slender form in preparation for retribution.
"How come you never take your own advice?"
"Huh?"
Luckily for TK, Tai chose that exact moment to poke his head round the front door.

"Aww, don't they look sweet together," he teased. "C'mon, you two, we'd better get walking if we're going to make it to school in time."
"Since when were you so bothered about getting to school on time?" retorted Matt, but he was smiling. It was impossible to be angry with his best friend - Tai always had such a cheerful air about him.
The two brothers grabbed their bags from the table, Matt quickly donning his green blazer and TK reaching for his hat - then thinking better of it after a warning shake of his brother's head. After Matt had dumped the last of the breakfast dishes in the sink, the three of them exited the house. Outside, Tai's sister Kari joined them, and she and TK walked a little way ahead while the two older boys brought up the rear.
Tai slung a friendly arm around Matt's shoulders, almost knocking the other boy over in his cheerful enthusiasm. Once the blonde had regained his balance, the wild-haired brunette proceeded to grill his friend about the morning's events.
"So, what was that little scene between you and your brother all about?"
Matt grinned. "I was giving him some relationship advice - that boy really needs to learn to control his hormones!"
"Aw c'mon, Matt - we were all horny fourteen-year-olds once."
"Yeah, and some of us went on to become horny 17-year-olds," teased Matt, prompting Tai to cough and look suitably embarrassed.
"Yeah, well, anyway," he mumbled, "who's your little bro got a crush on, then? It's not my sister or she'd have told me, and God forbid it's Yolei - that girl has a mouth you could drive a train through - "
"It's Davis."
"YOUR BROTHER HAS A CRUSH ON DAVIS MOTOMIYA?"
"Jesus, Tai, you wanna yell it a bit louder? I think there're some people In Australia who didn't quite hear!"
Matt waved ruefully at his brother, who had stopped stone dead in the middle of the road and was blushing furiously. Beside him, Kari giggled softly, then wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders and gave him a hug.

Meanwhile, Tai was practically in hysterics, clinging to Matt's arm for support.
"God, Matt, your brother's face then was priceless...green poloneck, yellow hair, bright red face, you could've used him as a traffic light!" Struggling back onto his feet with Matt's help, Tai yelled,
"That's for showing everyone in my science class my baby photos!"
Matt double-took, glaring at his best friend who had surrendered once more to laughter.
"You KNEW? You yelled it out to half the population of Odaiba just to get your own back on him for some stupid stunt?"
Tai nodded, still laughing merrily. "Kari's known for ages!"
Matt glared at him again, but despite his outward annoyance, inwardly he was smiling.
I can't be angry at him - it'd be like kicking a puppy! Look at him - those big liquid chocolate-brown eyes, the completely wild brown hair, the infectious grin, the cute face...
Earth to Matt! Stop checking out your best friend! He just asked you a question!
"Huh? What?"
"I saaaid," repeated Tai mock-exasperatedly, "is that little brother of yours going to spill his feelings for a certain spiky-haired boy today?"
"I sure hope so."
"Just think," grinned Tai, nudging him, "you could end up with Jun Motomiya as a sister-in-law!"
"Aaaaaargh!"

TK looked up briefly at Matt's yell, then quickly went back to his low-voiced conversation with Kari.
"So your Oniichan has no idea that my Oniichan has a crush on him?"
Kari shook her head, eyes sparkling merrily.
"No! And Matt is completely unaware that Tai has a shrine to him in his bedroom!"
TK facefaulted, and they both collapsed into giggles.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously! He's got every single picture of Matt that he ever took up there - and he blows it a kiss every morning and every night! He's obsessed!"
TK laughed wickedly and rubbed his hands together.
"Oh, this is gold - even better than the time we put that video of Tai doing karaoke to 'I Will Survive' up on the Internet!"
Kari nudged her companion, throwing a wary but gleeful look over her shoulder at the two unsuspecting boys. "Ssh! He doesn't know about that yet!"
TK dissolved into giggles again. "He will do soon! I got Izzy to hack into the school website and put a link to it on there - whenever anyone visits the school website, it automatically redirects them to the video!"
Slapping her hand over her mouth to control her sniggering, Kari smacked TK gleefully on the arm.
"TK - the school's website is set as the homepage in the library! Anyone who uses the Internet in there - "
She couldn't finish - both of them were overtaken by a wave of hysterical laughter.
When it had finally passed, TK shot a glance back along the road at the two older boys.
"So what are we going to do to get our brothers to see what a perfect couple they are?"
Kari wagged a finger at him. "Don't you worry about that - you've got enough on your plate with Operation Tell Davis You Adore Him without planning Operation Get Our Brothers To Make Out!"
TK's face fell. "At least tell me what your plan is."
Kari leaned in and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "OK, here's the plan. Phase One will take place at lunch time, in the canteen. Yolei and I..."
After a few minutes, TK began to laugh.

* * * * *

Later, after a Chemistry lesson spent agonising over exactly what to say to Davis, TK made his way to his locker to dump a few books and pick up his physics folder.
Opening his locker, he began swapping books around when he heard a familiar voice coming towards him down the corridor.
"God, that lesson was SO dull...I hate geography."
TK looked around wildly for somewhere to hide, feeling his heart start to pound as though it wanted to escape from his chest. The corridor looked back impassively at him, long and straight, with no handy places of concealment. Unless he could fold himself up enough to fit in a three-by-one-foot locker, he was on his own.
"Hey, TK!"
Kuso, he's seen me!
Quickly, TK smoothed his hair down and tried desperately to calm himself. When he felt slightly better, he shut his locker, coming face to face with Davis Motomiya.
"H...hey, Davis," he murmured, trying not to let his voice shake.
Without warning, the other boy suddenly lunged forward and grabbed TK's neck, yanking his head forward and ruffling his hair mercilessly. TK yelped and struggled, making it look as though he was trying to break free, when in reality he was secretly loving being so close to Davis.
Eventually, he managed to grab the cinnamon-haired boy's wrists and break away - just not too far. Blue eyes met chocolate brown, and Davis's narrowed slightly.
"Teeks? What's wrong?"
Despite his mind's instinctive recoil at the horrible nickname, TK took a deep breath and prepared himself for all the possibilities, praying that the right one would come to pass.
"Davis...I have something to tell you..."
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A/N: Ugh, how horribly predictable and cliche. It's been done soooo many times. Ah well, that's my own personal twist on it. R&R please, or Lynne might refuse to let me write the next chapter of ISYD...