Hey, everyone, I'm back with the third chapter of Scrapbook! :D

...I guess I don't have anything else to say haha. Ah, well. XD

Get reading! :)

Soccer and sunshine

"Ok, ok! I'm almost finished, Tai! Just cross your legs, or something!"

"But I'm already crossing my legs, I can't do it twice!" Tai whined, smacking his head against the bathroom door. "Lemme in, lemme in, lemme in!"

"I'll only be a moment!"

"But you're not going fast enough!"

"Yeah, well it's not my fault you only ever need to go when I do!"

"…yes it is! Lemme in, lemme in, lemme in!"

"Quiet down, I'm done ok? I'm done! Just hold it in for one minute." Matt sighed, as he quickly zipped up his jeans and flushed. He moved to go and wash his hands, too, but was abruptly frozen in his tracks when he noticed something sticking out from behind the toilet. Something small; something rectangular; something that looked very much like…

"Hey, a photo!" Matt smiled.

"What? Did you just say a photo?" Tai gasped, fearfully. "Ooooh no! Don't you dare, Matt! Don't you dare! Open this door right now! I'm not joking, Matt! Lemme in! I gotta go!"

But, alas, it was hopeless. Matt was already immersed in a distant, childhood memory, sensing nothing of the present but the slight, nostalgic tingle running along his left leg.

It was a typical summer's day in Odaiba. Matt and his friends; Tai, Sora, TK, Kari, Izzy, Joe and Mimi, were strolling about underneath the roasting sun, bored out of their minds. Once again, they didn't have anything fun to do.

"I've got an idea!" Tai pitched in after their fifth awkward lap of the park, smiling. "Why don't we play-"

"-we're not playing soccer, Tai." Sora interrupted with a sigh. "That's all we ever play."

"But…"

"I have to agree with Sora, here." Izzy said, nodding. "Soccer is getting fairly repetitive."

"Oh, come on guys!" Tai replied, agitated by his group's lack of enthusiasm towards his favourite pass time. "It's not like we have anything better to do. Look at us! We're walking around in circles here! We may as well…"

"Stop it, Tai; you can't just bully everyone into doing what you wanna do all the time!" Matt interjected, clenching his fists at his sides.

"Well, do you have any better ideas, genius?" Tai retorted, snarling. "At least I'm contributing!"

"Contributing? More like dictating, goggle brains." Matt said, rolling his eyes.

"Well maybe if someone came up with a better idea, I wouldn't have to dictate!" Tai yelled back, anxiously fiddling with the aforementioned goggles that were sitting on his head.

"Well maybe everyone is so damn intimidated by your dictating that they're too afraid to pitch ideas!"

"Geez, quiet down you two..." Joe interrupted, standing between the pair. He placed his thumb and forefinger on his nose in his typical 'I'm dealing with children' pose. "There's no need to get so worked up."

"Yeah, it's ok Matt. I guess it's not that much of a problem…" Sora soothed, rubbing the blonde on the back. "...besides, it's a sunny day. It'll be good for us to run around for a bit, right?"

"Hmph…fine, I'll play; but I don't wanna be on his team." Matt answered, folding his arms.

"Good, coz I don't want you on my team; I wanna see your face when I destroy you." Tai replied, folding his own arms.

"…does anyone have a ball?" Izzy asked.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…I'll go get one from my place!" Tai grinned, perked up again. "I'll be back soon!" The group sighed simultaneously as Tai sprinted off towards his apartment. As expected, it didn't take him long to return, and when he did he rushed straight over to Kari with a huge grin on his face.

"I know you don't like to play, so I brought you your camera! This way you can take pictures of me as I play." He winked, much to Kari's amusement.

"Hmph…" Matt thought to himself, eyes glaring. "Just because he's pretty, he thinks the whole damn world revolves around him..."

"I'm just kidding; take pictures of everyone else, too." Tai smiled, before noticing Matt's expression and turning sour. "Except for Matt."

"Good, I don't want pictures anyway!" Matt replied, turning his head away and walking off.

"Don't be angry, Matt." TK smiled, hugging him around the waist. "I'm sure Tai doesn't mean it."

Matt rolled his eyes, again.

"Oh, come on guys! We've got a ball now, so let's play!" Sora exclaimed, attempting to shed some light hearted spirit onto the situation.

"I don't want to play…" Mimi replied, stretching her arms up in the air with a huge smile. "…I want to sunbathe!"

"Fine. Then you and Kari can sit on the side whilst we all play." Tai replied, before taking the ball to the centre of the football pitch. "Who wants to be on my team?"

"Sure, I'll go on your team. It just means I don't have to do as much…" Joe answered, walking over to stand behind Tai.

"Izzy, how about you?"

"I'm not sure that it would be in your best interest to have me on your team if you intend to win, Tai. But if you insist…"

"Oh, don't be such a downer. You're fine."

"That leaves me, Matt and TK." Sora said, smiling. "Let's have a nice game, everyone. Matt, do you want to kick off?"

"…sure." Matt answered, walking to the centre to stand opposite Tai. They stared at each other for a few moments. "Good luck."

"Yeah, you too; break a leg out there." Tai said, resulting in a half smile on Yamato's part, before Tai continued with "Really, I mean it. Break a leg out there." They scowled angrily at each other.

A whistle blew from the side lines, courtesy of Kari, and Matt kicked the ball backwards towards Sora. The match began.

Perhaps Matt was fuelled by some unholy grudge, or perhaps Tai was simply hindered by feelings of guilt for the day's events so far, but for the first time in ever, Tai's team wasn't winning. In fact, both teams seemed perfectly equal. There hadn't been a single goal yet.

"Hey, Matt!" Tai shouted when they accidently moved next to each other, both waiting for their team-mates to pass them the ball. "I've been thinking. If you spent as much time practicing your soccer skills as you do styling your hair on a morning, then maybe you'd stand a chance here."

"Shut up, Tai!"

"C'mon, you've gotta admit Matt; you spend way too much time on your hair."

"Yeah, well I may take the time to style my hair, but at least it doesn't defy gravity of its own accord! Your hair looks like it's trying to run away from you!"

"Wha…!" Tai gasped, touching his hair. "My hair is not trying to run away from me!"

"Heads up, Tai!" Izzy shouted, as the ball came soaring in Tai's direction. Unfortunately, though, Tai didn't pay it any attention, and instead it rolled straight past him.

"Those stupid goggles must be cutting off the air to your brain, Tai. You completely missed the ball!"

"Yeah, well you didn't get it either!" Tai retorted, staring back into Matt's cold, blue eyes. They kept it up for a few more seconds before they both darted back into the game, growling with frustration.

A few more minutes went by, with a couple more attempts at scoring from both teams. Still, though, neither succeeded in scoring a goal.

For the umpteenth time, Matt had made his way back to the centre of the pitch, ball in front of him, and had started to advance at an increased pace. He passed by Joe without a problem, and with another quick flick of the ball he had made his way around Izzy. Tai was up ahead, though, steaming like a bull. Matt wasn't intimidated.

"I'm gonna show that self-righteous superstar show-off who's boss!" Matt thought, angrily. He sprinted forward, moving as fast as he could. Tai sprinted forward, too; smirking a particularly obnoxious smirk. They drew closer, and closer, neither backing down. Tai pulled his leg back and kicked forward with all his strength. Matt kicked the ball forward as hard as he could.

*SMASH*

Tai's foot missed the ball, and instead collided with the blonde's shin bone. Matt fell to the ground with a resounding yelp.

Tai fell on top him.

The ball rolled into the goal.

Tai and Matt's lips connected.

Silence ensued.

"…um, Tai?" Matt eventually attempted, sounding fairly calm considering that his best-friend-turned-mortal-enemy was currently kissing him, and was showing no signs of stopping.

"…uh-huh?" Tai replied, nervously running a hand against the immaculate, blonde hair that he had previously been criticising.

"…I think…you did something…to my…leg." Matt continued, trying his best to make coherent noise through their mashed together lips. He began to fiddle with Tai's goggles, playfully.

"…uh-huh…" Tai replied, not really paying attention.

They didn't speak anymore after that. They just continued kissing each other, right there in the football pitch, in front of everyone. They remained oblivious to the strange angle that Yamato's leg was currently bent in, just as they remained oblivious to the fact that Kari was currently aiming the camera in their direction, a glowing smile radiating from her face.

*Click*

When Matt drifted back into reality he could hear little more than what sounded like a wounded cat crying from outside.

"Tai!" He cried, hurriedly opening the door to let the brunette in. Immediately, Tai sprinted inside and fell onto his boyfriend, knocking them both to the floor.

"I gotta goooo!" Tai whined, climbing back to his feet before rushing over to the toilet. Matt remained where he was.

"…at least he didn't break my leg this time."

Thanks for reading, everyone! If you would be so kind...please tell me what you thought of this chapter! :D

Oh, and one more thing. This fic is dedicated to one of my personal favourite fanficcers, Kerukeru, as he offered me the idea of doing a 'first kiss' chapter. I hope this lived up to expectations, Keru.

All the best everyone! :D