This is a birthday gift for Sonofthetrigod. Ehehe, one of his suggestions when he entered Christopher Hughes (Chris) was to have a love interest, which he requested would be Taimi. I accepted, so that's a ship. (LOL I started shipping Rinko and Alan, Tairo and Mishka, and even a yaoi ship for my OCs- Haruki and Hidenagi.)

This is set a year before the events of TMOFTKON.

Christopher Hughes. He wasn't really having the best of times at the moment, nor was he wishing he would just die. A year after the kidnapping of nearly every duelist in Heartland, he had learned how to be a stronger duelist. He had met a perfect rival, the well-known, violent, bratty girl called Rinko Yutora, and he met a couple new friends too. Yuma Tsukumo, a boy who was able to befriend anyone with ease. Kotori Mizuki, a girl who had been the one who took care of their injuries. Alit Arito, one of the trainers who had the same enthusiasm as Yuma. Astral Mist, an amnesiac boy who supports everyone. Alan Mako, another trainer who happened to be another close friend of Rinko's. Haruki Tenshi, a somewhat well-mannered boy who treated Astral as his own brother. And last, but most certainly not least, Taimi Shikuro.

The first girl he ever met and managed to not bore away. Taimi was a sweet girl, motherly to her younger friends, especially Rinko. Taimi had yellow hair with black tints on the strands, and they were somehow formed to look like a spider's. Her clothes were simple. A white shirt with a yellow denim jacket, black finger-less gloves, black pants, and black boots. She was the same age as Chris, therefore making her very excited to have a friend of the same age. Apparently, everyone was four years younger, while Haruki was two years younger. They were both the same age, so they most likely had been suffering through puberty.

Taimi had an aura, like everyone else. Rinko's aura was extremely hot, to the point it could burn someone if they angered her. Yuma's wasn't as hot, but it was warm. Astral's aura felt as if he was being stroked by clouds, for it felt really soft. Alit's aura felt as if it was a mixture of lightning and fire. Alan's aura was quite odd, it felt like multiple bugs were crawling into his skin. Haruki's aura was odd as well, once second it can be warm and light, the next it could feel cold and heavy.

"Snack time!" Yuma cheered, resulting to Kotori pulling his ear and yelling at him to wait for everyone else. Alan and Alit both decided to join the group for snacks, after non-stop training sessions. Rinko and Astral had finished deck-researching, something they tend to do once a week. Haruki and Taimi had also decided to join after their turbo-dueling training. "Chris, wanna come with us? Rinko and Kotori are making snacks for the day!"

Chris nods. "That'd be nice. I'll join you guys, it's never fun if you guys aren't around." He commented, joining the only girl who seemed to be as tall as him. "G'morning, Taimi-chan."

Taimi grinned. "Morning, Chris-kun! I'm really hungry. I don't think I can even stand another session without eating. Something with sugar oughtta wake me up a bit." She chuckled. "Practice was tough, but as they say, practice makes perfect! Rinko-chan, you're hungry too aren't you?"

Rinko nodded. "What do you guys want for snacks? I want to make something sweet.. Kotori, let's make something sweet. Banana rolls are easy enough."

"Oh my god!" Kotori screeched running behind Yuma and trembling in fear. "Guuuuuys! There's a sp-spider over the counter..! It's big and everything, and it looks evil!" She whined. "Do something! Rinko-chan, burn it!" She cried, causing Yuma to laugh loudly at his friend's fear of spiders.

Alan made a frown. "Koto-chan! Spiders are part of nature! Rin-Rin, don't you dare kill them! I wanna try to talk to them!" Alan attempted to scoop the spider on the counter, only to end up scaring it and making it jump to the table. Kotori made a shriek, as Rinko attempted to stab the bug with her fork (the poor table got stabbed badly) when the spider managed to scare Astral into nearly fainting, clinging onto Haruki.

Taimi giggled a bit, letting the spider crawl into her arm. "Calm down, you babies. He won't hurt you. He's my little baby, aren't you?" She cooed at the spider. Immediately, everyone screamed (minus Rinko and Yuma who were laughing at everyone's reactions), causing Taimi to grin evilly. "Seriously.. Chris-kun! You're the only sane person on this table! Come with me, please?"

Chris nodded, following the older girl out of the area. As he followed her, he realized she was heading to the artificial garden. Rinko used to hate that place because it had flowers in it, but after Alan and Yuma told her they were all fake, she goes there with Kotori often. The garden itself made itself look natural. But one could tell it was fake if they looked closely. Taim placed the spider on one of the plants, and Chris watched as it crawled away.

"I'm surprised you didn't scream at Tairo-kun. I've had the little guy for a while, I just didn't tell anyone. He's pretty cute." Taimi grinned. "You're a pretty tough guy, aren't you, Chris-kun? Just a little more time, maybe Tairo-kun would like you too."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You named it Tairo..? Do I need to know why you named it like that?"

"You're curious. Obviously you need to know." Pointed out Taimi. "It's a black spider with yellow stripes. Like me, right? I have a little brother named Tairo. However.." She made a frown. "He's.. at Black Star. He used to tell me not to worry about him, but I'm his onee-chan, so obviously, I'm worried for my little brother. I saw it on the monitor. Takashi-kun and the rest of the main team fought him and a few members of Black Star. My little Tairo has certainly grown."

Chris paused. He was surprised about the fact that the girl had a little brother. Taimi seemed very sad about her brother being in an enemy team, yet, she was trying to be as calm as possible. "Do you.. miss him? What about your parents, Taimi-chan?"

Taimi shrugged. "From where I come from, parents send away their child to train to become ninjas, as soon as they know how to talk and walk. They waited until I was six, and Tairo-kun was four, before sending us to become proper ninjas. I don't know much about my parents, beside the fact we both look like our mom. I don't think I miss them as I miss Tairo-kun." She explained. "However.. we were sent to the city because the town elder sensed an upcoming danger, and someone needed to be protected. A hundred men couldn't protect this particular person, so we were sent to protect this fellow. Heck, I don't even know if the elder sensed it, or merely dreamed it. Nevertheless, we're here."

"Someone needed protecting?" Chris said out loud. "I wonder who it is.."

Taimi made a toothy grin. "Dunno. But in the meantime, I can't act all mopey and nervous all the time. I need to be strong. For Asu-kun and his friends. Haruki-kun can handle himself, but I doubt those little kiddies can. I'm here to be their onee-chan, considering they lack of a parental figure. But no matter what happens, I still love my little Tairo-kun, no matter how grown up he is."

Chris looked down. "I.. wish I can be as strong as you, Taimi-chan.."

"Huh?"

"When I was a kid.. my parents.. got into a coma.." He said softly. "Ever since.. I've been staying with my grandpa.. and joining dueling tournaments to get money to help my parents.. but.. ever since the day we got kidnapped.. I've been losing hope.."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Taimi stared into his soul with a determined look. "Chris-kun! It's not like you to be so sad and all! If anything, you and the rest of the guys are the optimists! Chin up!" She forced a smile. "I know your family is safe. Your grandpa might be worrying about you, but you're strong, and I'm sure he knows that. I know I do."

Chris felt his cheeks getting warmer as Taimi made that statement. With a goofy smile and chuckle, he scratched his head awkwardly. "That's.. pretty nice of you to say, Taimi-chan. Thanks, I feel a bit better now."

"Ohmygod! Yuuuuuuuma!"

Both teens turned around, and saw the younger batch pointing and screaming at Taimi's spider-friend. Taimi made a playful pout, hands on her hips. "Heeeeey! You guuuys! You've been spying on me and Chris-kun, haven't you?!"

"It's not our fault that Hughes can't make the damn first move." Rinko commented, as Chris literally planned a hundred ways to kill the brat.

Happy (late) Birthday, Sonofthetigod! I hope this is good enough for a present, lol. Anyways, if you aren't satisfied with how this came out, you can always request a fic! :D