Hey everyone. This is kind of an experimental fic.. something different, I think. Although I have to admit, I'm not sure which direction I want it to go in yet; perhaps some of your feedback would help ^_^.
For now, I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks to BandGeek99 for beta reading this!
X
Sora Takenouchi watched her friend run down the soccer field, towards the goal. However, she wasn't really watching the game. The main reason she came was to see him. He was Taichi Yagami- soccer star and built of muscle. More importantly, though, he was the boy Sora had been crushing on for years and years and years. In the stands, Sora put her elbow on her knee and leaned against her hand. She stared at him from afar, wishing he would notice her affection. From hints from him, and reassurances from everyone else, the girl had concluded her feelings were mutual. However, she had no way of knowing for sure; Taichi had never made an effort to come forth to her, so she really had no idea. She knew one thing for sure, though: She was pretty damn tired of waiting.
"Sora, hey!" The auburn haired girl sat up straight and turned around. Running up the stairs of the bleachers was her friend, Takeru. "What's up?" He called to her.
"Hey!" The girl cheerfully called back, waving to him. He sat down next to her and flashed a friendly smile. "Just watching the game," Sora continued. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting for Yamato to finish band practice so he can walk home with me. It's quite a lonely walk, you know." The boy shrugged and leaned back. "Are we winning?"
"I'm not sure..." Sora responded, looking back out towards the field. "Honestly, I'm not watching very closely."
"Then why are you here?" Takeru laughed.
Sora searched the field for the reason she came. Taichi was so focused; he probably hadn't noticed her anyways. "Ah, I had nothing better to do." The girl lied. "I was just leaving, actually. Your apartment's near mine, right? I'll walk home with you."
"You sure?" Takeru asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course I'm sure," the girl chuckled. "Now come on, let's get out of here."
The two stood up together and walked down the steps. Their feet pounded against the thin metal, making a banging sound with each step they took. As the two turned to walk away from the field, Sora looked back at the game one last time. She caught Taichi looking up to the stands, only to find no one. He looked disappointed for a second, but quickly continued on with the game. Sora felt a pang of guilt, but she was hopeful. Did he care that she left? It didn't matter, really. After all, it was only a game.
"You alright, Sora?" Takeru called from ahead.
"Yeah! Sorry, I'm coming!" Sora turned back and ran to catch up with him.
The two walked in awkward silence for a bit. Takeru constantly had to readjust his hat; the wind was terrible, and Sora, she kept tugging at her skirt and changing the arm she carried her books with.
"You want me to carry those for you?" Takeru simply asked with a slightly bubbly tone.
"Only if you'll use my hairpin to keep that damn hat down," Sora laughed in response.
Takeru looked at the girl with a skeptical look on his face. "Deal," He said, stopping on the sidewalk.
Sora smiled and removed the clip from her hair, allowing her bangs to fall gently in her face. "Come here for a second."
Takeru obeyed and walked over towards her, leaning his head down a bit so the girl would be able to reach his hair. Sora stood on her tiptoes and gently secured the hat. When had he gotten so tall? Once it was certain that the boy wouldn't have to fidget again, Sora stood back and smiled. "There!"
"Thanks Sora," Takeru responded, reaching out for her books.
"You really don't have to..." Sora said politely as the boy took the load from her arms.
Takeru shut his eyes and laughed. "Hey, we made a deal!"
The two walked along together for a bit longer, all the while pointing out odd people and things to talk about. However, the two ran into a certain someone who stopped Takeru in his tracks.
"Hello Sora! Hi Takeru!" A brown haired girl greeted as she passed the two on the street. "I'd stop and chat, but I want to catch the rest of Taichi's game!"
"Oh, that's fine Hikari!" Sora said with a wave. "Nice to see you!"
"Hi…ii… Hikari..." Takeru managed to get out. However, once he'd completed his sentence, the girl was too far away to hear him. Embarrassed, he turned away from Sora and took a step forward, secretly encouraging her to follow him. She did, but she wasn't fooled.
"Looks like someone's got a crush," she laughed, nudging Takeru in the arm.
"I don't want to talk about it." The boy turned bright red.
"Does Taichi know about this?" Sora asked, partly because she was curious now, and partly because she just wanted an excuse to talk about him.
Takeru stopped walking and faced her. "Taichi wouldn't know…"
"Oh..." Sora responded, not really sure what to say.
Takeru turned and walked on. However, the walk quickly turned extremely awkward. Neither of them had any idea what to say to the other. Thankfully, though, Takeru's building was only a bit farther; it could be seen in the distance. The closer it came, though, the more dissatisfied Sora became with Takeru's response. Although it really was none of her business, she wanted to know what was going on between Hikari and Takeru. Was Takeru feeling the same way she felt about Taichi? Surely, if he was, it would do him no good to be left alone.
"Hey, Takeru," Sora began, rather nervously for some reason, "it must be boring, sitting home alone all day. Would you like to come over?"
Takeru raised an eyebrow.
Sora jumped and tried to find something to make her request sound less out-of-the-ordinary. "I mean, until Yamato gets home and all…"
Takeru's steps slowed down a little, but his right eyebrow still remained higher on his face than his other one. He thought for a second; Sora had never invited him over before, but she was such a nice person. Of course she could tell something was wrong, she just didn't want him to be by himself.
"Sure," Takeru responded happily. "That sounds much better than being home."
Sora smiled at him as they both walked past his building toward hers.
A few minutes later the two found themselves outside Sora's door. Quickly, the girl lifted the welcome mat in front of the entrance to get the spare key. She inserted it into the lock and pushed open the door, revealing a modest yet pleasantly decorated house.
"Everything smells like flowers," Takeru commented as Sora ushered him in.
"That would be my mother's doing," Sora stated simply. "Sorry about that."
"Oh, no," Takeru chuckled "It's nice! Where is your mother anyways?"
"Probably at the flower shop down the road."
Sora threw the key onto the counter in the kitchen and opened the fridge. She took out water and a bag of chips for herself. "Do you want anything? I'm quite the cook."
Takeru laughed. "It would be a nice change from my brother's meals. I'll have whatever you're having I suppose."
"You got it!" Sora called. "Make yourself at home, alright? Television's in the other room."
"Okay!" Takeru called back as he set Sora's books down on the ground.
The boy walked past the kitchen towards the living room. The floor was wooden, with rugs under tables to keep them from scratching the ground. The sofas were a nice tan color and had a dark coffee table and end tables surrounding them. In front of the sofas was the television Sora was talking about. He walked over and turned it on. Some news channel came on, but the boy was distracted by a picture that stood next to it. It was a recent photograph of Sora and her mother. They looked like they were on vacation somewhere- probably somewhere tropical. Both of them looked tan, and their hair looked salty and light. Takeru zoned in on his friend; she looked happy. Her smile was wide and her teeth were white as anything. The color of her hair brought out her tan skin and made her ruby eyes sparkle. Small freckles even began to show on her cheeks and shoulders. Takeru smiled at the photograph, the memory he didn't know anything about. For some reason, though, the genuine happiness that radiated from it made him feel warm inside.
"What are you looking at?" Sora asked as she walked towards the sofa, dumplings in hand.
"Oh, nothing! I was just wondering where this picture was taken," Takeru covered up and he seemed to float towards the delicious smelling meal.
Sora smiled, remembering the time the photo was taken. "That was in Okinawa. My mom took me there last summer for vacation."
"You look- er, it looks really beautiful there, I mean." Takeru's cheeks turned slightly red- not enough for anyone to notice, but he could feel his face beginning to heat up.
"Oh, it really was." Sora sat on the sofa next to Takeru and picked up a dumpling herself. "I'd love to go back someday."
"Ah, I'm sure you'll get there…" Takeru said as he took a bite. His voice drifted off.
"What's wrong, Takeru?" Sora asked, putting her own dumpling back down on the coffee table. "And don't tell me nothing, I don't like seeing my friends upset."
Takeru was a bit taken aback by the boldness of her question. Really, he didn't want anyone to know about it, but for some reason, as he looked at the girl who offered him her home and a meal just to make sure he was alright, he felt like he could trust her.
"It's just... it's Hikari," Takeru stuttered while saying her name. "I really... Well..."
"You like her?" Sora finished his sentence for him.
"Yeah..." the boy said slowly, trying to extend the word, as if to remember the first time he'd confessed to anyone that he liked the young Yagami girl. Honestly, he'd pictured himself confessing over and over again, just, the person he was confessing to wasn't Sora. This was so different than how he planned it out, but it felt better to tell someone. Perhaps he should explain more… "I like her, but she doesn't see it. I don't know how I can make her notice. I know there's something there, there has to be. I guess... I guess I'm just tired of waiting."
Sora's eyes opened wide. "Takeru, I completely understand. I won't make you say anymore."
"Ah," the boy responded. "You felt the same at the soccer game today, didn't you?"
"How could you tell?" Sora put her hands on her knees and leaned closer, fully intrigued now.
Takeru let a light smile find its way onto his face. "You reminded me of me."
Sora leaned back on the couch and let her head rest against the back of it. She'd thought correctly, Takeru was in the same exact situation as her. Now, though, at least she'd found someone who understood her.
"Takeru!" the girl exclaimed, bolting to an upright position again.
"What?" Takeru asked, letting a piece of dumpling fall through his teeth. Embarrassed, he picked it up and tossed it back in his mouth.
Sora grinned widely. "I have an idea!"
"What is it?" Takeru asked, chewing slowly on his food.
"We're both tired of waiting, right?" Takeru nodded, and the girl went on. "What if we somehow gave them a little push, made them want to tell us…"
"You mean..." Takeru began. However, he decided not to jump to conclusions. "How?"
"Well," Sora began, looking straight into the boy's eyes. "If you wanted to, what if we faked dating? In my defense, there's no doubt Taichi would be jealous. I know he'd tell me!"
"And Hikari would be shocked and realize..." Takeru's eyes lit up.
"Yes!" Sora shouted as she jumped happily off the couch. "Are you in?"
Takeru swallowed his dumping and thought to himself. Sure, it would be awkward, at least at first- but indeed, he was tired of waiting. Maybe 'going out' with Sora wouldn't be such a bad thing. The only real risk was that Taichi might kill him.
However, once he met the girl's hopeful eyes, he decided to give it a try. "I'll do it" he said, standing up and smiling himself.
"Thank you Takeru!" Sora giggled as she threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. "This could really work!"
"Yeah!" Takeru responded. He was beginning to get excited about their plan. "It really could." Gently, he wrapped his arms around her, returning her hug. She felt so skinny; so fragile, yet strong. And she smelled so good. It wasn't perfume though, he could tell. It was simply the shampoo, the soap, the flower-filled house. Secretly, he smiled as she rested her head on his chest.
"Thank you," she whispered again.
X
*surflilu.