Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter Four: Tanning and Shopping
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Sora awoke to the loud beeping of her alarm clock. She slid her hand out from under her covers and hastily shut it off. She had remembered to move it closer before she went to bed the previous night.

She got out of bed and looked at her alarm clock: nine-thirty in the morning. Ever since Sora was little, she had been an early-riser. The only reason she slept in yesterday was because she was drained from the bus ride and the club with Tai. Walking downstairs, Sora saw her mother about to walk out the door.

"Oh, good morning, sweetie," she said. "I was going to wake you but you looked so peaceful that I just couldn't disturb you. I have to go, but there's a number on the counter where you can reach me. I should be home in about a week. If you need anything, just ask Tai. I'm sorry about this. I love you, bye." She gave Sora a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried out the door.

Standing alone in her living room, Sora looked around, trying to decide what she wanted to do. She could watch some TV, but she didn't feel like it. She could have a nice breakfast, but that didn't really appeal to her, either. She hung around downstairs, hoping that Tai would wake up and rescue her from her boredom. When a half hour passed and there was no sign of Tai getting up anytime soon, Sora looked outside.

The sun had long since risen and it looked very warm. The backyard was calling to her. She rushed upstairs and changed into her bathing suit, a pink-and-white polka-dot bikini that she had purchased two days before she came back to Odaiba. She walked back downstairs and slid open the sliding glass doors, entering the backyard. Shutting the door behind her, Sora stretched and looked around. The pool was about the same as she remembered it to be. The water was calm and a lovely shade of bluish-white. It looked like the perfect refresher, but that was to be saved for another day. Sora had come outside to tan.

She could feel the heat radiating off the wooden boards of the deck, and walked hurriedly across them, over to a chair. Pulling the chair to the middle of the deck and adjusting it so she was lying almost perfectly horizontal, Sora basked in the glow and warmth of the sun.

About an hour later, she heard footsteps approach her.

"Mind if I join you?" she heard Tai ask.

"Not at all, pull up a chair," she inviting, squinting against the sunlight to look at him. He was wearing baggy shorts that looked like swimming trunks. He grabbed the other chair on the deck and positioned it beside her.

"What do you want to do today?" Tai asked her.

Sora sighed, not ever wanting to think of anything that involved getting up or moving again, and turned over. "Absolutely nothing."

Tai laughed. He had to admit, when Mrs. T first told him that Sora was coming, he wasn't too thrilled. He thought she would be rude and snobby, or worse, shy and quiet. But he was wrong. Sora was the perfect amount of beauty and brains, sincerity and sarcasm. She was the perfect person to be around in general. He was having a great time with her. She was fun, and she wasn't too hard on the eyes, either. Especially in the skimpy bikini she was wearing. Maybe she would grow accustomed to life in Odaiba and choose to stay after the month was up. He could very easily imagine living with Sora and her mother for another year, as one big, happy family.

Of course, that wouldn't do. He couldn't let Sora start thinking of him as the brother-type. He didn't think of her as his sister – not even close. He wasn't saying he wanted to marry the girl, or even have a serious relationship with her, but a summer fling sure would be nice. Maybe it was good, in a way, that she was leaving when the month was over.

Tai liked having deadlines. It gave him something to work toward; something to motivate him, and this was no exception. He made it a goal of his, to get Sora to want him like he wanted her, by the end of the summer. Who knows? Maybe they'd even do something about their feelings. He sure wouldn't mind another shot at kissing her.

"Oh crap!" Sora groaned, interrupting Tai's thoughts.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm going to have a stupid tan line," she said. "Tai, be a dear and untie my string, please?"

Untie the string? Did she just ask me to undo her top? He reached over and untied the sting that went around her back, and the other one that went around her neck. The small strips of material fell to her sides, but the top still managed to cover everything that needed to be covered.

"Thanks," she said sweetly. Yawning, Tai shifted positions, trying to get comfortable in the chair. He rolled over onto his stomach, and shut his eyes, feeling the warm sun on his like a blanket. Unlike Sora, he was not an early-riser. He could still go for another few hours of sleep.

"If I fall asleep," she mumbled, "wake me up at noon."

"Yeah, okay," Tai agreed. "And if I fall asleep, wake me up at one."

She acknowledged his request with a yawn.

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Sora awoke over an hour later to find an empty chair beside her. She stretched and blinked blindly into the sunlight. Bending her arm into an awkward and slightly painful position, she did up her bathing suit top and got up from the chair, trying to walk off the stiffness in her thighs. She went back into the house, and the smell of eggs and bacon hit her immediately. Tai was standing by the stove in the kitchen, making food.

"Hey, I was just about to come wake you. I made lunch" he said. Sora smiled, and offered to set the table.

"Where'd you learn to cook?" Sora asked when he put the food on plates and they sat down to eat.

"I'd hardly call what I do 'cooking'. I mostly turn on the stove and cross my fingers that I don't burn the house down," he grinned. Sora laughed.

"Comforting," she said sardonically.

"Don't worry, I only do lunch…and even that's pretty rare."

"Well, don't I feel special?"

"Oh, you definitely should."

A few minutes passed in a comfortable silence. Sora looked up from her plate and found Tai staring at her. She smiled and he looked away.

"So … what are you making for dinner?"

Sora looked at him like he had three heads. "What makes you think I'm making dinner? I can't cook!"

"It's only fair. I made lunch, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Sora said slyly, "if you can call this lunch. Seems more like breakfast to me." Tai laughed and shook his head. "Okay, fine. I'll cook dinner if you'll go grocery shopping with me," she offered.

"Your mom just bought groceries yesterday," he noted.

"Yeah, I know, but I'll need a few extra things if I'm really going to impress you with my culinary skills."

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Sora and Tai walked into the supermarket. As they strolled through the fruits and vegetables, Tai stopped beside the grapes. Sora watched as he reached into the bag and ate one.

"What are you doing?"

"Eating," he said simply. "Have one."

"You aren't supposed to eat those!" she scolded.

He threw a grape at her; it bounced off her forehead and rolled away. She looked around. Nobody had noticed Tai's antics. "What's the matter? Are you afraid?" he asked smugly.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Sora grabbed a grape from the bag and threw it back. Tai grabbed a few more, and chucked them in her direction. She laughed and ducked behind one of the displays. He grabbed a handful and was about to launch into a full-on attack when a woman slightly older than Sora's mother walked by.

"Hello, Tai. Out shopping with your girlfriend, I see," she said.

Tai grinned. Sora blushed slightly and looked away. "Oh, no, this is Sora. She's Toshiko's daughter," Tai said. "Mrs. Sato lives down the street," he told Sora.

"Nice to meet you," Sora said politely, shaking her hand. She didn't remember this woman from when she lived in Odaiba.

"Sora … well, the last time I saw you, you were this tall," Mrs. Sato exclaimed, holding her hand out about five feet from the ground. "Are you back for good?" Mrs. Sato asked her.

Sora shook her head. "No, I'm only here until the end of July. Then I might be moving to America with my dad," she said.

Tai frowned. America? That was very far away. If she went back to her old town, he could maybe keep in touch with her and they'd continue to be friends. But America was like a whole other planet. It was all the way across an ocean! He pushed the thought out of his mind, but not before he promised himself that he would try his hardest to get her to stay.

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