So I Need You

Chapter 1
The cold breeze brushed her hair as she made her way to the Odaiba Mansion. She hated winter, it always reminded her of things she was trying to forget. Cooler seasons made her a little happier but she could never enjoy it like she used to. Not since he left. The happy girl that everyone knew and loved was gone and she became bitter and depressed. Her best girl friend had moved to New York six months ago and her best boy friend couldn't understand what she was going through but he was trying desperately to cheer her up. She couldn't thank him enough.
The girl silently opened the front door and closed it the same way. She glanced over at the clock. At that time there was no one home. The red haired girl did the same thing she did every day. She headed to her room and carefully locked the door. She made her way to the bed and came across a picture of him. She was there too. They looked so happy. Everything seemed so easier when they were just kids, now that she thought about it. She lay on the bed and held her pillow against her chest. Not much time had passed when she heard a soft knock on the door.
"Sora, honey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine mom." The girl replied inside her room.
"Would you come out of there just for some minutes? There's something I would like for you to see."
"What?" She opened the door.
"Well, there's a concert from the Teenage Wolves on TV. I thought maybe you wanted to see it."
"Oh god mom!" The red haired girl protested. "Can't you see my pain here?"
"But Sora…"
Before her mother could say something, Sora slammed the door again.

Sora's mother went back to the room to watch the concert when she heard two people talking outside. She opened the door to see who it was.
"Hello you two."
"Hello Mrs. Takenouchi." The girl spoke. "Is Sora home?"
"Yes. She's in her bedroom as usual." She sighed. "I'm so happy you two are here. Maybe you can cheer her up a little. She really needs it."
"Don't worry about it. Cheer is my middle name!"
The girl tapped the boy's arm. "You talk way too much! Thank you, Mrs. Takenouchi. We'll do our best."

Sora decided to take a look at the concert going on TV. She saw the crazy obsessive fans the lead singer had and it depressed her more. Of course she wouldn't have a chance with him. He wasn't aware she had feelings for him. Or so she thought. The girl quickly turned the TV off when she heard the knock on the door.
"Who is it?"
"Sora, it's me."
Sora was surprised. "Come in."
"Hello! You look like a mess."
Again, the girl had to hit the boy's arm.
"Shut up Tai!"
"What did I do, Kari?"
"How are you?" Kari sat beside her friend and hugged her.
"I'm okay. I guess."
"You know, I don't understand why you are suffering so much. I mean, yeah Matt's gone but is it necessary? Even TK wasn't affected that much and he's Matt's brother."
This time Kari said nothing, she only looked at her older brother. That was enough for him to shut up.
"You know, you're a pain today, Hikari."
"And you need to learn how to shut up, Taichi." She turned her attention to Sora and smiled. "Have you called Mimi yet?"
"No, I… couldn't tell her."
"Sora."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Let's go out."
Both girls were startled by Tai's voice. This time, however, Kari wasn't giving him angry looks or telling him to shut up. She nodded in agreement and smiled.
"Let's go shopping!" Kari clapped her hands cheerfully.
"What?!"
"I don't know, Kari. I'm not in the mood."
"Come on, Sora. You need to cheer up. I'm a good listener by the way." She blinked at the red haired girl.
"Alright. It won't hurt I guess."
"Great! I'll wait for you outside. Come on, Tai."
Sora locked the door after they left. She smiled to herself. She loved them for trying to cheer her up. She's lucky to have such great friends who never gave up on her when she herself already had. She opened her closet and picked her best clothes to wear.

"So how was it?" Sora's mother inquired.
"It was great. She agreed to go out with us."
"We should have told her that Izzy and the others are meeting us there."
"She wouldn't agree if we did. And we won't tell her Mimi is here also."
Tai pouted. He thought it wasn't right to her.
"Stop pouting, brother. She's your best friend and you seem not to know her at all. I know her better than you."
"I know her very well and better than you! I just don't know how I can be there for her."
"Well, I do. I've been there for TK after all."
"You've been doing more with TK."
The eleven year old girl went bright red. "Shut up!"

Sora took around thirty minutes to get ready for her stroll with the Kamiya siblings. As they were walking down the street, they looked around the shops and came across a CD one, which had a poster of the Teenage Wolves. The red haired girl mentally cursed the store and the band as she tried to get over the memories in her mind. Kari noticed the frown on her friend's face and squeezed her arm lightly.
"It still hurts, doesn't it?"
"Yeah it does. But I have to get over it, Kari. I need to."
Behind them was Tai, with his hands laced over his head. Women, he thought to himself as they kept walking towards the mall.

The auburn haired girl with green hat and skirt kept walking back and forth in front of the cinema.
"Where are they? They should be here by now."
Izzy looked at his watch. "They should be arriving any second. I think they must have got held up on something."
She sighed. "Why did Matt leave again?"
TK took a deep breath. Mimi was starting to annoy him. "He went in a world tour with the Teenage Wolves. We've told you at least ten times already."
"I'm sorry but I can't understand why he would possibly leave Sora after she confessed her feelings."
"He and Sora never had anything!" TK shouted. "He didn't have any reasons to stay. He's doing something he loves for once."
"Of course you'd support him. He's your brother."
Joe noticed the glances Mimi and TK shared and decided to step in to avoid something worse.
"Calm down both of you. You don't want to see Sora more upset than she already is, do you?"
"No." Both said at the same time.
"I'm sorry, TK. I shouldn't have taken it on you."
"It's okay, Mimi. I'm sorry too." He paused to take a deep breath. "I wish he had stayed to talk things through with Sora. It wasn't exactly fair to her."
Both Izzy and Joe lowered their heads due to the discomfort this argument was causing to them. They prayed that Kari and Tai would arrive soon so it could be stopped.
"Yeah, well. Things don't usually go the way we want them to."
"Should we buy the tickets for the movie now?" Izzy was finally able to break the discussion.
"I thought we were going to stroll around first."
"We are. But I think it's better to do it now or else we might not get any good seats or seats at all."
"I guess you're right."
The four destined then headed to the line so they could get the tickets.
"Eh… what movie are we going to watch? We haven't discussed that."
"How about this one?" Mimi pointed to a poster of a guy and a girl embraced.
"Before sunset." Izzy said thoughtfully. "I know it's girls' favorite kind of movie and all and it does seem like a good one but I don't think Sora would want to see it. Not right now at least."
Mimi sighed. "Yeah, maybe not."
"Why don't we just wait for Tai and Kari then? That way we can choose a movie together."
"That's a good idea, TK."

Tai was waiting outside the accessories shop for the two girls. He looked at his watch and then back to them. Kari was chatting excitedly with Sora when his brother's voice interrupted it.
"What is it, Taichi?" She turned to him as she asked in a cold tone.
Tai frowned. Everytime Kari called him Taichi he knew she was angry at him. He shrugged.
"We are gonna get late for the movie."
"Oh right."
"I didn't know we were going to watch a movie."
"Well, we thought of lots of stuff to do to cheer you up. And a movie was one of them."
"We?" Sora asked curiously.
"Yeah, you know, me and Tai."
"Oh." The red haired girl paused. "I appreciate that you guys are doing that to me, really."
"Well it's nothing that you wouldn't do for us anyway. Besides I hate seeing my friends sad and being unable to do something. Especially someone I look up to, like you."
Sora was taken by surprise by the younger Kamiya family member's last statement. Sure Sora and her had got a lot more closer after Mimi left to New York and they have known each other since they were kids. Kari looked up at her.
"I'm sorry, Sora. I didn't mean to shock you."
Sora shook her head. "It's not a big deal, Kari. It's okay, really. And thanks for the compliments I guess."
"Okay. We should get going."

Izzy, Mimi, Joe and TK were sitting on the stairs that led to the food area of the shopping.
"They are taking a lot longer than I expected." Mimi said, absentmindedly curling a lock of her hair.
"I wonder what happened to them."
TK looked up. "Looks like you won't have to wonder anymore, Joe. They're here."
They all stood up as Sora and the Kamiya siblings headed towards them. Sora blinked hard, trying to believe what she was seeing.

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