Well hello there ;) I'm sorry it's taken a little while to get this chapter up. It was my birthday on the 4th, and my hubby took me to the Isle of Wight for a long weekend, and guys... it was amazing :) The weather was nice, the beach was beautiful and I ate so much good food I think I might have doubled my body weight. But anyway... I was planning on writing immediately when I got home, but then I made the mistake of watching Orange Is The New Black for the first time and let's just say... I'm completely addicted. It's taken up most of my free time, but I snapped out of it and wrote this chapter for you :P Which reminds me... To anyone currently reading Til We Meet Again, I definitely haven't abandoned it. I just haven't got round to writing the next chapter... and I have horrific writer's block on it :( It's taking a while for me to get my act together with that one. But never fear, it won't be long! Thank you for your reviews, I'm glad I'm not the only person who is interested in Matt and Kari as a pairing.

Oh... and there was one particularly helpful reviewer who pointed out that it's a little cliché to have TK and Sora be dickheads basically, lol. So I just wanted to point out that while TK is a bit of a shit, Sora is not. Not in this story, anyway lol. I like the dynamics between Matt and Sora, and wanted them to have a history, but still get along as good friends. I'm even hoping she can be one of the people to be a little supportive of Matt and Kari when things start kicking off lol. Thank you for your review, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter :)

CHAPTER TWO

Kari hadn't yet had the chance to unpack. She had been met at the airport by her parents and brother, along with his new fiancée Mimi and now she was sitting in the living room having cake, questions and general attention forced on her. She thought her stomach might burst from the amount of food her mother had fed her while in her typical worry mode, telling her that she was 'wasting away.' She couldn't keep up with the questions Tai and Mimi were asking, and she had lost count of the amount of times her father had asked her if there was anything she needed.

'Tea? Coffee? More cake?'

'Really, dad, I'm fine.' Kari laughed, although she felt like gritting her teeth. She was feeling overwhelmed; her family's affections were appreciated, but she just wasn't used to being the centre of attention and quite frankly, it made her feel uncomfortable. 'Actually guys, I think I'm just going to go unpack and have a lie down if it's ok with you.'

Mrs Kamiya smiled. 'Of course sweetie, I'll call you when dinner's ready. It's Tai's turn to cook tonight.'

Tai's grin fell. 'What?'

'You're cooking dinner tonight. If you don't like it, you can move out.' His mother smiled at him. Tai's parents had been rather generous with him. They had allowed their son to move his girlfriend in and they often put up with his friends' random visits. They even offered to put some money towards a house for the couple when they tied the knot. Mr Kamiya often joked that they were just desperate to get rid of him, but the truth was that they wanted to put it off for as long as possible. They loved having the family together under one roof, and it just didn't feel quite right when Kari wasn't there. But now they were all back together again, even if only for a few months, and once again, the Kamiya family felt complete.

Kari's bedroom was in the same condition she left it in. It was a sizeable room, a little bigger than Tai's (something he wasn't pleased about) but she needed the space. Her impressive book collection almost rivalled that of the local library, and her computer was surrounded by several of her own drawings scattered on the large desk. Posters and photographs lined the walls, and she stood to look at them. There were pictures of herself out and about with her friends, a few professional shots of her with her brother and parents, and at the far end of the room hung a huge canvas. It displayed a beautiful photo of Kari and her best friend Yolei at the beach a couple of weeks before she left Tokyo. It was one of Kari's personal favourites and when Yolei had presented it to her before she left, she was disappointed to realise that it was far too big to take with her. So she hung it in pride of place above her bed. She looked at it now, admiring the quality of such a large picture when she remembered who took it. She swallowed. He's history, she thought quickly. Don't think about him. To distract herself, she headed over to a wall and started carefully removing a few posters and photos. She wanted to make space for new photos, new memories, and aside from all of that, she had simply moved on from some of the things that pleased her before. A poster of a famous singer came down, along with the pictures of her childhood celebrity crushes. Before Kari knew it, big empty spaces appeared on the wall and it looked almost alien to her. Placing a bunch of old posters on her bed, she reached up to another without looking and pulled it down. As she rolled it up, something told her to stop and look at it, and when she did a small smile played on her lips. A huge image of Matt and his bandmates graced the paper and in front of them stood three hefty, majestic looking wolves. THE WOLVES was written in a large font at the top of the poster, and the members stood with serious expressions on their faces, all with their instruments of choice. She and Tai had bought a poster each at one of Matt's concert in support of the band, and despite its size on her wall, Kari had almost forgotten it existed.

'I can't get rid of this,' she said quietly to herself as she put it back up.

When her walls had been cleared of the things she was no longer interested in, she threw herself on her bed. Feeling something hard under her pillow, she put her hand under it and pulled out something she had completely forgotten about. It was a book, with a red leather cover and her name engraved on it in gold lettering. It was a beautiful book, but that was not why she was excited to see it again. The pages contained songs that she had hand written herself, with the odd diary entry thrown in here and there. Besides writing and photography being her only creative outputs, the songs and entries were extremely personal and heart-felt, and no one even knew the book existed, let alone read its contents. Not even her brother.

She flicked through a couple of pages when she came across a diary entry about her brother himself and intrigued, she began to read.

July 2, 2009

I found out something about Tai today. He doesn't even know that I know. He's dating Mimi. As in Mimi Tachikawa. As in Mimi Tachikawa, Digidestined. Mimi Tachikawa, Chosen Child. You get where I'm going with this. It's crazy. No, scratch that. It's unbelievable. Who'd have guessed? I don't know why he hasn't told anyone. From what I gather, it's been going on for a while, and it seems pretty serious. Well, if Tai making an effort with his appearance and grinning like an idiot every time he looks at his phone counts as serious, then yes. It's serious.

Don't get me wrong, I like Mimi. I like her a lot. But I'm not going to lie, I'm scared. I'm scared because she's my friend and he's my brother, and if they fight and break up, I'm going to have to take a side. It sucks. I hope it doesn't come to that. I don't like confrontation, and I certainly don't like picking sides.

Kari smiled to herself. She recalled her worry when she had accidentally caught Tai and Mimi out, and it seemed like nothing but a distant memory. Mimi was a good girl. Tai treated her well, and in return she made him happy. That was enough for Kari. Her brother was her whole world, her best friend and her protector. The other half of her. The fact that he was happy made her happy. She flicked through a couple of pages absent-mindedly, smiling at some of her lyrics, and skipping some in fear that they may make her cry. A page that was filled with angry looking red writing caught her eye, and she looked up from the book as she remembered writing it, momentarily afraid to look back at it. Taking a deep breath, she finally glanced down and read on.

It's over. OVER. I just can't take it anymore. TK Takaishi, the boy I gave my heart to, has broken it. Literally ripped it out and stamped on it. I'm still in shock. I never thought he was capable of cheating, not when he made so much effort to get me to date him in the first place. I only put up a fight at first because I was scared our friendship would be ruined. And I was right. It was. I'm so ANGRY! Turns out it was the little bitch with the morals of an alley-cat who lives next door to him. And it wasn't the first time. Whatever, she's welcome to him. I hope she gives him herpes or something!

Kari's eyes widened. She would never wish bad luck on anyone, and she was surprised to realise just how mad she was back then.

Matt's pretty pissed at him. I don't blame him. I'd be fuming if Tai treated a girl that way. Speaking of Tai, he went crazy. I think the only reason he didn't kick TK's door down to get at him was because I reminded him that he was Matt's little brother and I wouldn't have any more friendships ruined. Because although Matt is Tai's friend, he's also a brother, and no matter what your sibling does, you stand by them. I'm probably going to regret saying that at some point. But Matt and my brother have been friends for far too long for me to allow Tai to mess that up just because I'm hurting.

'Kari?' Tai knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for an answer. His voice was full of concern and he looked suspicious.

Kari looked at her brother in horror as she realised that she had been reading aloud. She quickly stuffed the book back under her pillow and plastered on a fake smile. 'Yeah?'

'Are you alright?'

'Oh. Yeah. I'm fine.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah.' She cocked her head to one side and giggled. 'Really, Tai. I'm ok. You don't need to worry about me.'

'Hmm.' Tai frowned. 'Alright. If you're sure.' He turned to leave but then looked back at his sister. 'Oh yeah. Matt's here. It's been a while, huh.'

'It certainly has.'

'Well then. Come say hi.'

'Alright, I'm up, I'm up.'

Matt sat next to Tai's mother, who had just offered him a third slice of cake. He politely declined, joking about his weight, and sat with an amused smile as Mrs Kamiya eagerly went on to ask a lot of questions. The subject soon turned to his career, something Matt enjoyed being asked about.

'How's it going with your band?'

'Good. It's all good. We've just started writing some songs for the new album, actually.'

'Really? Well you let me know when you release it, I want first dibs.'

Matt laughed heartily. 'You got it,' he said with a click of his tongue and a wink.

'Stop fangirling mom, you're forty-five, not fifteen.' Tai re-entered the living room and sat on the chair opposite the two.

'Oh, well excuse me for taking an interest.'

'That's alright Mrs Kamiya,' Matt interrupted. 'I promise you'll get a free copy, just for being my favourite fan.'

'Urgh.' Tai pretended to gag and Matt laughed.

Looking thoroughly satisfied, the matriarch stood up and went into the kitchen, giving Tai a smug smile as she passed.

'How do you do it?'

Matt looked up from the thread he was picking in his jeans. 'Do what?'

'Make fully grown women act like… that?' Tai waved his hand in his mother's direction.

'It's the Ishida charm,' he chuckled in reply, and Tai groaned.

'It's gross.'

'Whatever.' The pair sat in silence for a moment before footsteps were heard near the door. Tai looked back over his shoulder at the arrival and Matt glanced up. A strange feeling stirred in the pit of his stomach as he looked at the girl in front of him. It had been a while since he'd last seen her, but she hadn't changed much. Which is why he didn't feel entirely comfortable with the new sensation bubbling inside him now that he was looking at her again. He felt himself flush a little as he realised he hadn't yet spoken to her. 'Uh… hey.'

'Hey, Matt.'

'How're you doing?'

'Not bad. Thanks. You?'

'I'm good.'

Kari gave him a small smile and perched on the arm of the chair next to her brother. 'Aren't you supposed to be making my dinner?' She winked at him.

'You'd best be grateful that you're eating at all tonight, you cheeky little shit.'

Kari feigned a look of horrified offence, clapping her hand to her heart, and Tai smirked. His cocky smile turned into a grimace when he heard his mother's shrill voice yelling at him from another room.

'Tai Kamiya! What have I told you about controlling your language in this house?'

It was Kari's turn to smirk at her brother, and she shrugged innocently at him.

The older Kamiya rolled his eyes. 'Sorry, mom.'

'Good. Now get in here and help.'

Tai objected but stood up anyway, shooting a sharp glance in Matt's direction when the blonde snorted at him discreetly behind his hand. Kari laughed and moved to sit in the chair her brother had risen from.

'Please don't poison my food,' she said innocently.

Tai turned and pointed at her. 'I can make it look like an accident,' he said jokingly.

'Oh please,' said Kari with a snort. 'You'd miss me too much.' She smiled as she watched her brother leave the room, practically dragging his feet along the floor.

Matt watched as Kari flicked through channels on the TV lying on the chair with her legs over the arms of it, before flinching as the remote control came flying through the air towards him.

'Jesus!' His eyes widened as he caught it centimetres away from his face. 'Easy, tiger.'

He smiled as Kari giggled. 'I'm sorry,' she said sincerely. 'Look for something you want to watch, it seems they stopped putting good things on when I left.'

'Yeah, like you didn't watch TV in college.'

'Nope. Well, not really. I was always busy. The only time we really watched TV was when we'd get pizza and watch DVDs.'

'We?'

'Me and my roommate.'

'Lacey?'

Kari eyed him suspiciously. 'Yeah. How'd you…'

'It seems Tai came home from his last visit with a new-found phobia of girls named Lacey.'

'Oh.' Kari winced. 'He told you, then?'

'Oh yeah.' Matt smirked, and the two shared a moment of amusement, before Kari swung her legs over the chair so that she was sitting upright again. 'Have you sorted things out with Sora yet?'

'Oh. No. That's done,' he said simply. An awkward silence fell upon them until Kari sighed.

'I'm sorry.'

'No, don't be. Don't get me wrong, she's great. Really great. But we just don't work. I'm too laid back and a little careless sometimes, and she's kinda uptight. And a little neurotic. A bit like-'

'-Tai.'

Matt chuckled. 'Yeah. Tai.'

'So… is she ok with everything?'

'Yeah. It was a little awkward telling her I didn't want to be with her, but she got it. She said she knew I wasn't right for her either. I think we're ok.'

Matt thoughts took him back to the previous day, when he had sent the conclusive text message. About fifteen minutes after he arrived home, Sora herself had gone to see him. They had sat down at the kitchen table and discussed their situation. There were some disagreements and a few misunderstandings, but after several depressing hours, they both acknowledged that they were just too different and their relationship consequently came to an end on good terms and with a final hug.

'Six months I've wasted on you,' said Sora jokingly, wiping a tear away.

'I know. I'm sorry.'

'Don't be. It was a good six months. We had some fun, right?'

'Yeah.'

'Just… turns out we have more fun as friends.'

'Yeah.'

'Oh god,' Sora sniffed. 'I've dated Matt Ishida, how's anyone ever gonna match up to that?'

Matt smirked. 'I'm sure you'll find someone.'

Sora laughed, but it sounded almost sad. 'Sure.'

'No, really.' Matt took her hands and smiled at her. 'You're beautiful, funny and smart. Any guy would be lucky to have you. We're just too…'

'Different.'

'Yeah. Different. Come here.'

The two shared a hug, a hug more intimate than any they'd ever shared, because they both knew it would be their last one as a couple. Matt pulled away first and tilted Sora's chin with his finger so that he could look into her watery eyes. 'One for the road?'

Sora laughed and shook her head. 'Typical.' But she tilted her head further back, closed her eyes and allowed Matt to bend down and plant a delicate kiss on her lips for the last time. 'Wow,' she said quietly when they pulled apart.

'What?'

'If my next boyfriend doesn't kiss like that, I'm sending him to you for training.'

Matt smiled as she picked up her bag and keys, kissed his cheek and made her way to the door. On approaching it, she stopped and turned around. 'Thank you,' she said. 'For treating me well. I'm glad this ended the way it did.'

He nodded. 'Me too.'

'Earth to Matt… Come in, Matt. ISHIDA!'

'Holy shit.' Matt jumped and blinked rapidly as Kari clicked her fingers in front of his face.

'Yamato!'

'Sorry, Mrs Kamiya!' he shouted. He looked up at Kari. He wasn't sure how long she had been standing in front of him, but he liked that she was. She was fairly tall, like her brother and father, and she had a delicate frame. She was slim with curves in the right places, Matt noticed, and he found himself staring a little longer than he should have been. 'I'm sorry,' he said. 'Miles away.'

'You're telling me,' she laughed cheerily. 'You sure you're alright?'

'Oh. Yeah, of course.'

She giggled. 'Ok. You staying for dinner?'

'Uh, I dunno. I don't wanna outstay my welcome.'

'Oh, you won't. In fact, I insist.' She turned her head slightly towards the kitchen. 'You hear that, Tai?' she yelled.

'Got it!' was the reply from her brother, seemingly irritated that he now had to cook for his friend as well as his family and fiancée.

'Looks like you're not going anywhere,' she said to Matt with a smile.

'Hmm. Should I be scared?' he smirked.

She shrugged. 'Not of me. Tai's cooking, on the other hand…'

He smiled as he followed her in to the kitchen, where Tai was stressing about timing and ingredients since his mother had abandoned him and gone to her bedroom to catch up on her favourite TV show.

'Hey, Kar?'

'Yeah?'

'Does this taste right to you?'

Before Kari had the chance to answer, Tai spooned a pile of homemade ice cream into her mouth. Almost choking, she chewed (chewed?) slowly and with a confused look on her face. 'Maybe go easy on the… is that salt?'

'Shit! Salt, sugar… easy mistake, right?'

'Oh god.' Kari ran to the bin and emptied her mouth, half expecting the contents of her stomach to follow. She turned back to face Tai, who somehow managed to look both amused and irritated at the same time. Matt chuckled discreetly, looking at the floor, not wanting Kari to see him laughing at her expense. 'What the hell is wrong with you?'

'I'm sorry!' Tai held up his hands. 'I'm no expert!'

'I'll say.' She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and sighed. 'I'm gonna get out of your hair for a bit. Call me when dinner's ready.' She reached up and kissed her brother's cheek quickly, then turned to leave.

'Hold up.'

She stopped in her tracks. 'What?'

'Where are you going?'

'Downstairs. I'm just going to Mark's, I haven't seen him in ages.'

'Alright. Don't be too long, I'm slaving here.'

'Hmm. Makes up for all the times I made you dinner and got no appreciation.'

'You know I appreciate you, sis.'

'Sure.' She laughed. 'See you in a bit. You too, Matt. Nice to see you again.'

'Yeah,' he said. 'You too.'

He watched as she cheerfully blew them both a kiss and strolled out of the apartment with her jacket over her shoulder, then pushed himself up to sit on the counter Tai was working on. 'Who's Mark?'

'Oh,' he replied, rushing to take a tray from the oven and put another one in. 'Her friend.'

Matt raised an eyebrow. He knew Tai. The fact that he had just let his sister go to a man's house with no objections seemed out of character. 'And you're ok with that?'

Tai shrugged. 'Sure.'

'Is Tai Kamiya finally letting his sister make her own decisions?'

'No.'

Matt chuckled. 'Thought as much. You seem pretty laid back about it though.'

Tai narrowed his eyes at him. 'Wouldn't be jealous now, would you?'

'Don't be ridiculous. Just wondering where the change of heart came from, that's all.'

'Good. You're never getting your filthy hands on that one, Ishida.' Matt laughed cockily. 'Besides, he's no threat.'

'Ugly?'

'Not exactly. It's just… he's more interested in me than my sister… if you catch my drift.'

'Oh.. Oh.'

Tai smirked at his friend's surprised reaction. 'Yeah.'

Something stirred in Matt at that moment. It felt like relief, but he brushed if off. Kari was fine. She was a big girl now, and he no longer had to take care of her, since Tai was around. Yes, he thought to himself. That's why I'm relieved. She's safe.

'Good evening, gentlemen!' A loud, high pitched voice sounded from the doorway and both men turned to see Mimi bursting through, arms ladled with bags.

'Hey, Meems.' Tai barely acknowledged her before returning to his cooking.

'Wow, stop! I can't cope with the enthusiasm,' she exclaimed sarcastically.

Matt rolled his eyes and walked towards her. 'Here,' he said, taking some of her bags. 'Let me help.'

'Thank you,' she said breathlessly. 'You see this, Tai? At least someone knows how to greet a lady!'

'Yeah, sure.'

Mimi made a tutting noise and shook her head before smiling brightly at Matt. 'How're you holding up?'

'What do you mean?'

'Since yesterday. You know.'

'Oh, yeah. Fine. Is she ok?'

'She's great.' She nudged him with her elbow. 'I'm impressed, Ishida. You're the only guy I've ever met who's dumped a girl and made her happy.'

He chuckled. 'What can I say? I have a way with words.'

'Yeah, well.' Mimi dumped her bags on the living room floor and sighed, pushing her hair out of her flushed face. 'I'm glad you're both ok. Maybe it's for the best.'

'It's definitely for the best,' he replied confidently. 'She's brilliant. She deserves someone just like her.'

'And you?'

'What about me?'

'Is love on the horizon for our very own Romeo?'

'Pfft. I'm taking it slowly, Meems. I'm not interested in that right now.'

'Yeah, yeah.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Oh come off it. You love female attention too much to avoid it. Plus,' she added while lowering her voice, 'you're a total hottie. You'll be off the market soon.'

'Sure, Mimi. If you say so.'

'I do say so.' She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him knowingly. 'Mark my words, Ishida.'

Matt frowned in confusion at the pink-haired girl strutting back into the kitchen to greet her fiancé properly. 'Strange girl,' he said to himself, shaking his head and smiling.