Sorry for the late post. It's been quite tricky trying to come up with conflicts between characters. With Mimi, Takeru and Yamato far away from Odaiba, it's pretty hard to set up conflicts and connect them together. I've been reading a couple of books this time to improve my writing skills. Hope it's not disappointing.

As a treat for those who've read and reviewed, here is the cover picture for the story. Just copy and paste the link below.

http://i48[dot)photobucket[dot)com/albums/f229/Hayabusa[underscore)gallery113/Digimon[underscore)AinoWarGamecover[dot)jpg

Oh, and again, I don't own Digimon.

Enjoy!

Bokura no Ai no War Game - Part 2

"That's the last of it," sighed Koushirou with relief as he placed the last plate aside to dry. Koushirou turned to the window, where the warm rays of the late afternoon sun shone down on the busy city of Odaiba. It seemed so peaceful, as if it was impossible that a powerful Digimon virus was disrupting the network system moments ago.

The wind gently blew against the chimes as it rang faintly over the balcony door. At that point, it finally occurred to Koushirou that Taichi had been awfully quiet since Mrs Yagami took her leave to the store.

Determined to help his friend, Koushirou strode slowly over to the front of Taichi's bedroom door and with a deep breath, lifted his arm, and gently knocked the door.

"Taichi-san?" Koushirou's voice whispered softly. "Taichi-san? Are you okay?" No answer came.

"Taichi-san?" Koushirou repeated. Silence. Sighing, Koushirou grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

However, it was locked. "Ah…T-Taichi-san, I know you're in there!" called Koushirou, now knocking the door. "Please Taichi, let me in."

"Go away Koushirou," answered a cracked and muffled voice. Taichi was sitting on the floor; his back against the door, his head buried in his tightly folded arms; his goggles thrown across the bedroom floor.

"Taichi-san, please, if you'd just let me in…"

"Leave me, Koushirou…"

"Let me in, Taichi-san," Koushirou continued knocking and twisting the doorknob. "Taichi-san!"

"KOUSHIROU!" The door swung open, hitting Koushirou right in the face; he was thrown aback, tripped, and landed hard on his back. Taichi was on his feet, standing at the door, breathing heavily; his eyes were red with rage, as drops of tears drifted down his cheeks.

Koushirou, bloody-faced and bruised, stared at him, bewildered and terrified. "Ta-Taichi-san…"

Realising what he had done, Taichi quickly turned away and quickly said, "Koushirou, please, leave me alone." Taichi returned to his room, locking the door in the process, leaving Koushirou alone in the corridor once again.

Koushirou felt warm blood trickle down his bruised face. However, he didn't seem to be bothered about it. Instead, he got up and turned to the computer room. There, he hoisted up his bag and his laptop, ready to head home…until…

Beep!

"Koushirou-kun, I'm back," called Mrs Yagami as she took of her shoes. "Koushirou-kun…?"

"Oh, hi, Mrs Yagami," Koushirou greeted Taichi's mother as he closed the door behind him. "Um, just went to get my stuff."

"Oh, looks like you cleaned the plates. Aw, you know you didn't have to, Koushirou-kun," sighed Mrs Yagami. "It was no problem, Mrs Yagami," Koushirou quickly said. "After all, it's the least I could do after I…"

"Oh my goodness, Koushirou-kun, you're all bruised!" exclaimed Mrs Yagami. She dropped her groceries and immediately tended to Koushirou. "And bloody! What happened?"

"Oh, it's…it's really nothing," stuttered Koushirou. Just…um…accidentally fell on the floor," he said finally. Sure let's go with that one. Mrs Yagami bent and scanned Koushirou's bruised face.

"Stay here, I'll go get some iodine," said Mrs. Yagami. "Now, where did I put the medicine box…" In a flash, Mrs Yagami disappeared into her room. Relieved, Koushirou took this opportunity and scooted to Taichi's bedroom door.

"Taichi-san?" he whispered. As expected, no answer came from within the room. Koushirou bent and took a peek under the door and saw that Taichi was still slumped against the door. Koushirou sighed.

Taichi felt something move at his side and lifted his head. A few pieces of paper were slid under the door from outside, neatly clipped together.

"I used your printer, if you don't mind," said Koushirou. "You can get mad at me later, but I think it's better if you settle this first."

"Koushirou…"

"Koushirou-kun? You still here?"

"Gaaah!" Koushirou turned to see Mrs Yagami. "Oh, Mrs. Yagami, I-I was just about to leave…"

"Not without some iodine, you're not," Mrs Yagami soaked up some iodine with a cotton ball and smeared it over Koushirou's bruises.

"Mrs, Yagami, you don't have to…"

"Nonsense," she replied quickly as she bottled up the iodine."There, all better, ne? Would you like some bandages?"

"No, thanks," said Koushirou, pushing away Mrs Yagami's hand as politely as possible. "Um, I think I'd better go, now."

"Leaving already? Do take care, okay?" waved Mrs. Yagami.

"Will do," smiled Koushirou as he turned around; he tilted his head to the side and whispered at the corner of his mouth, "See you round, Taichi-san."

"Odaiba station," announced a female voice on the intercom. Jou weakly walked out of the train, sandwiched between many other people; his hair messy as if it has been pulled in all directions, his coat, terribly ruffled.

As relieved as he was being able to get through with his middle school entrance exams, he was also worried about the marks he'd get after being late on that morning.

"Stupid train!" muttered Jou angrily. Suddenly, Jou stopped and turned his head to the shop across the road. "Sora-kun?"

"There you go, miss, please, come again," said the lady at the counter.

"Thank you," Sora bowed politely as she left of the store with a plastic bag in her arms.

"Sora-kun!" called a voice from behind her. "Ah, Jou-senpai!" ("senpai" meaning "senior" in Japanese, in this case, used to address those of a higher rank/ grade in schools.)

Jou stopped and panted. "Anything wrong, senpai?" asked Sora worriedly. Jou gave a little chuckle. "Haha, no. Just stopped by to say 'hi', actually."

"Oh," Sora replied. She held out her plastic bag and pulled out of it, a brand new hat and placed it on her head. "How do I look?" asked Sora, placing the hat on her head and adjusting it.

"Oh," said Jou, in a rather confused sort of tone. "Um…you look pretty, Sora-kun. Very pretty…" Sora's smile faded. Jou gulped. "Eh? S-Sora-kun? Is anything wrong?"

"I'm sorry Jou-senpai, I just…" Sora turned away as she shoved her hat and the plastic bag at Jou. "It's just…that…" Sora turned away; her voice quivered as she ran her fingers through her hair, over her hair clip.

"Oh? That's a very nice clip, Sora-kun," Jou tried to make a good impression this time. "Um…who gave it to you?"

Sora dropped her hand. "No, it's not!" she yelled as she pulled the clip fiercely from her fiery orange hair. "It means nothing to me!"

She lifted her hand to throw it across the street. But somehow, she just couldn't. A river flashed before her; she turned her head - her tag, and her crest of Love in her hand, Piyomon by her side. Warm tears started to trickle down her cheeks. She tried holding it back. But she couldn't hold it any longer and let them quietly flow.

"Sora-kun," said Jou senpai softly. People were staring as they passed. But Jou wasn't bothered by it. After all, Yamato once said to let Sora cry if she was hurt. It was the only way for her to let go of the pain inside. "Sora-kun," Jou placed his hand on her shoulder. Sora turned her head.

Jou lifted up the hat to her. "Come, let's go for a walk, trust me, it will make you feel better." Sora sniffed and with great difficulty, smiled. Sobbing, she took the hat from him and placed it on her head; she pocketed her clip.

"Thank you, Jou-senpai."

End of Bokura no Ai no War Game - Part 2
-By Dragon-Android-