A/N: This is just something short I thought I'd post as a bit of a filler for a series fic I'm writing. Let it be known that while I totally support slash, I'm not a Taichi/Yamato fan. (3/4 of readers leave) Uh, wait! I'll write Daiken….

Truce

Yamato took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

A woman opened it, an inquiring look on her face. "Yes...?" The inquiring look turned to one of surprised recognition. "Oh, Yamato!"

"Ohayou, Yagami-san." Yamato bowed, politely.

She ushered him inside, smiling pleasantly as he removed his shoes. "It's so nice to see you, Yamato! It's been much too long since you've come to visit. To tell you the truth, I was worried that you and Taichi had gotten into a fight."

Yamato gave her a weak smile. There hasn't been any fighting …yet.

Aloud he asked, "Is he at home?"

"Yes, he should be in his room. You remember which one it is, I'm sure?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Arigato gozaimasu." With another slight bow, he headed down the hall to the familiar door.

Yamato had to smile. Even if he hadn't been here countless times before, he would have known whose room this was: Taichi was the only person he knew over the age of ten who had a nameplate on his door. Even Takeru didn't still have one. Yamato guessed that it was because Taichi was so happy to finally have his own room, after sharing one with his sister for such a long time.

Taking a calming breath, Yamato knocked, the nameplate rattling on its hook.

There was no reply.

Feeling a bit silly, Yamato pressed his ear against the door. There was definitely someone banging around in there. He tried knocking again, but still no one answered. Sighing, Yamato slowly opened the door.

Taichi had been bouncing a soccer ball on one knee. When the door opened, he started, sending the ball flying wide toward Yamato. The blonde caught it easily, and gave him a half-smile.

Taichi glared, but didn't look all that surprised to see him. "Ever hear of knocking?"

Yamato shrugged. "I did knock." He tossed the ball back.

"What are you doing here, Yamato?"

"I'm pretty sure you know." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We need to work this out."

Taichi snorted. "I thought the two of you had already worked it out, without me." He sat down on his narrow bed, clutching the soccer ball in his lap.

"How could we have managed that?"

"I don't know, but you guys looked pretty cozy at the theatre the other night. Like you didn't have a care in the world."

"You know that isn't true."

"Whatever, Yamato. Is there a point to this conversation?"

Yamato winced. This isn't going to be easy…not that I thought it would be. "Look, Taichi- I'm sorry."

"You're sorry," Taichi said flatly. "You're sorry!"

"Yes, I'm sorry, okay? I know how much she means to you, but- "

"If you knew, then why the hell did you go after her?"

Some part of Yamato was relieved that the other boy was holding on to something, otherwise he was sure Taichi would have gladly tackled him to the ground. Not that Yamato couldn't take him. Still, he had told himself going into this that he was going to be calm and rational. "Look, I just want- "

"Oh, well," Taichi spat, "if the great Ishida Yamato wants something, then we must hurry and give it to him."

"Would you let me finish what I'm trying to say?" Yamato asked angrily. So much for calm and rational.

"No!" Taichi stood up, taking no notice of the soccer ball that rolled to the floor. "No, I won't! You think you can just come in here and apologize? That I'm just going to say, 'Oh, no problem, Yamato, take her' and then smile as you two slobber all over each other every time you're in the same room? You think that I'm just going to forgive you for stealing the girl I love from right under my nose? You think- "

"I didn't ask to fall in love with her!" Yamato yelled, interrupting Taichi's rant. The other boy stared at him, stunned by the uncharacteristic outburst. Yamato lowered his voice. "I didn't ask to fall in love with her," he repeated. "But I don't regret it."

Taichi looked away, though Yamato could picture the pained expression on his friend's face. "I didn't ask for it either," he said quietly.

As if Yamato could have felt any worse. This was Taichi, his best friend. Nothing was supposed to come between them. But something had. Or someone, to be more specific.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Taichi. Neither did she."

"Well," the other boy said, still not looking at him, "you two did a bang-up job of that."

Yamato drew his eyebrows together in frustration. He had promised himself that he was going to have this conversation, and he wasn't going to let Taichi's stubbornness stop him. Even though, a little voice piped up from inside of him, you'd act the same way, if the situation were reversed.

"The thing is, Taichi," he said, shaking the little voice from his mind. "The thing is, I'm happy."

"You couldn't be happy with some other girl?"

"No."

Taichi nodded a little. "I can sort of see that."

"I guess now we know why Sora got the Crest of Love," Yamato joked lamely.

He was relieved to see his friend's mouth quirk the tiniest bit, before Taichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but we still don't know how you got the Crest of Friendship."

"Ouch." Yamato almost flinched, the words striking painfully at something inside of him.

Taichi must have realized, because he looked a bit abashed. "I didn't really mean that." He took a breath. "It's just, you two are my best friends, and when you got together like that it really hurt me."

Yamato bit his lip. "I know. And so does Sora." Taichi looked at him doubtfully. "Believe me, Taichi, she feels as bad about this as I do."

"It would be better if she hadn't known I liked her, you know? If she hadn't chosen you over me knowing how I felt about her."

"Yeah, but you still like her, right? No matter what else she is, Sora's a good friend first, and I know you don't want to lose her." Yamato softened his next words. "And ignoring her phone calls and giving her the cold shoulder aren't sure-fire ways to keep her in your life."

"I guess." Taichi ducked his head. "I don't want to lose you, either." The words were spoken so softly that Yamato almost wasn't sure he had heard correctly.

"You won't," he said emphatically. "We're still your best friends, Taichi." Friendships were important to Yamato, and he wasn't going to lose this one.

Taichi nodded, slowly. "I believe you. But I think I need some space from you guys, for a while."

Yamato let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "Sure, okay. I understand." He was just reaching for the doorknob, when Taichi spoke up.

"So, I guess were stuck in this little love triangle, huh?"

Yamato turned back around, smirking. "More like a love V, with Sora at the point." He made the victory sign. "Unless there's something you're not telling me, Taichi?"

It took Taichi a second to catch on, and then he threw his soccer ball at Yamato's head. "In your dreams, Ishida!"

Yamato laughed, ducking out the room just as the ball hit the door with a loud thump.

Things were never going to be the same, he reflected, not really. But they had reached the breaking point and come away with their friendship intact, and that definitely counted for something.

-Owari-