D/C: I don't own Digimon.

Konnichiwa!! (Anime's rubbing on me) Time for my forth chapter!! The reviews you sent me last time were quite a handful; thank you so much! They made me really happy!! And now, without further ado, I'll leave you to read this chapter! Happy reading!!

Cashier Girl

Chapter 4:

'You what?'

Sora was trying to look indifferent as Mimi stared at her; she could understand why this little piece of news she'd just revealed was such a big deal to her friend. She gave off a casual shrug. 'Matt offered me a ride, and I agreed to take it,' she replied. 'He took me home.'

Mimi's jaw worked furiously, and a jumble of emotions was showing in her face. 'He took you home? Are you serious?' she demanded. Sora could detect a trace of jealousy in her voice, and she just smiled and nodded. Mimi forced a smile and leaned back in her seat. 'And what happened to the I-don't-give-a-damn-about-celebrities deal, eh? I thought you did like Yamato and wished you could murder him?'

'Well, things change...and I didn't say anything about starting to care about celebrities, did I?' she said testily. 'It was really late and I didn't like the idea of walking home, and Matt was right there, you see...it would've been stupid to turn him down.'

Mimi was looking disgruntled now. 'And when did you start saying his name so casually, eh?' she asked.

'He calls me by my first name, and so I thought that it's only good manners that I call him by his first name, too,' she replied.

Sora didn't tell Mimi this, but she had actually really enjoyed the ride with Matt Ishida, now that she got to know how he really was. She was even looking forward to see him again, something she didn't think would've been remotely possible. So, when he came into the restaurant later at his usual time (eight o'clock), she found herself smiling at him...and this wasn't the trademark smile she gave to all the customers; this one was a much more friendly smile.

'Hello!' he said cheerfully.

'Hello, sir,' she replied. 'How are you today?'

'Aw, come on!' he protested, plopping down on a stool in front of her. 'You needn't call me "sir" anymore; we're friends now! You can call me Matt.'

Sora raised any eyebrow. 'I wouldn't know about this friends' thing, sir,' she replied, and his expression drooped slightly. 'A ride home doesn't really qualify one to be some one else's friend. Besides, I don't know if my boss would allow me to call the customers by their first name; it's against the respect policy.'

Matt chuckled. He folded his arms against the counter. 'Still giving me that cold treatment, are you?' he chided her, and she opened her mouth to protest, but he waved an impatient hand. 'Talk to me. Yesterday, I got you laughing...maybe I can do that again. I'd sure love to see you laugh again.'

A faint blush crept into her cheeks, and she had to strain to keep herself from smiling. 'Well, okay, I'll talk to you, sir,' she agreed.

'And I want you to call me by my first name; I don't want anymore of this "sir" nonsense,' he warned her, and she started to bring up the policy excuse again, but he cut her off. 'If you don't, I'll have to tell your boss that you're disrespecting my wishes.'

Sora gave a tight smile. 'Okay, Matt; you got what you wanted,' she told him, and he beamed happily at her. 'Don't you want to order first, though?'

He shook his head. 'Nah; I don't want to trouble you. I only used to order that many meals before so I could have an excuse to hang around you,' he admitted, and she blinked in surprise. He grinned at her. 'So, tell me, what did you do today? Don't miss out on the details.'

Okay; that really wasn't what I was thinking about when he mentioned talking. She looked around, and saw that no customers were waiting to be served, and she pulled a chair towards her and sat down on it. She, too, folded her arms against the counter. 'Let me see...I woke up, I went to the bathroom, freshened up, brushed my teeth...' she told him, and he frowned at her. 'You said you wanted details.'

'Not that many details!' he protested.

She laughed. 'Okay, okay...so I went to school, sat for this really annoying history quiz and tried to stay awake through the rest of the day,' she continued. She paused, trying to remember what else she had done that day. 'And then I had a bit of soccer practice, went home and had lunch, and came here to work.'

Matt was looking mildly surprised. 'Wow. That's really...' he said, and trailed off as he searched for the right word.

'Boring?' she said helpfully.

He shook his head. 'No! It's really normal!' he told her, and she frowned, wondering whether she should take this as an insult or not. 'I mean it! It's been ages since I've had a life which was even close to normal! Listening to you...it just surprises me that there are people who still live like that. Its so...pleasant.'

'Pleasant?' she repeated, confused, and he nodded. 'Oh, come on! People would kill to have the life you do! Money! Fame! Friends! Fans! You must me the ideal dream for most of the teenagers out there!'

'I would gladly give it all away...except that I've signed a five-year contract, and it's far from being over,' he mumbled. He placed his head against his arms on the counter. 'It's not like I've had a normal life before that, either.'

'You didn't?' she asked.

'No,' he murmured. He paused, as if he was uncertain about continuing, but Sora gestured for him to go on. 'My parents got divorced when I was still a kid. My mother got custody over my little brother and I stayed with my dad...and he was always away at work, so I've had to learn to take care of myself. I could particularly cook any meal by the time I was eleven! And my mother lived far away, so I couldn't see my brother whenever I wanted.'

Sora looked sympathetically at him; this was a side of the famous Yamato Ishida she had never thought would exist. 'That must've sucked,' she said softly.

'I've learned to deal,' he replied. 'But when my career break came along, I thought it would be great to be a famous pop star and have all the money and everything I wanted. God; I was so naive back then!'

'You don't like it...your life now, that is?' she asked, although the answer was looking pretty obvious now.

Matt shrugged. 'Let's just say it's not what I expected it to be,' he replied, choosing his words carefully. 'Yeah, it's cool to have all that money; I could buy whatever I wanted...something I wasn't really able to do back when I was a kid. And a bit of fame doesn't hurt anyone, but...it doesn't offer me a normal life. Now, I rarely even see my father, let alone my bro and my mum, because I'm always on a tour or something else.'

'Oh,' was all she could say.

'It doesn't help in the friends' department, either; people just want to be around me because I'm famous, and that's that...I'm glad I still have my best friend who've I known most of my life,' he said unhappily. He looked up at her. 'I miss school. How is it? What do you do when you're in school?'

Sora stared at him, bewildered, but she decided to go along with him. 'Erm...school's still a normal building with lockers and classroom doors lining the walls. The cafeteria's food still sucks; I swear, today they tried to give me a piece of bread which I wouldn't eat last week because it had this tiny black thing on it, and...' she said, and broke off when she heard him laughing. She frowned. 'What?'

'See, that's why I love you so much; you're not phony like all the other girls I meet,' he told her, and he froze, realizing what he'd said. He saw her blushing, and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck as he did. 'I probably bored you with all that whining, didn't I?'

Sora smiled at him, trying to act as if nothing had happened. 'No...no, you didn't. In fact, I'm glad you told me all that,' she replied...and she meant it. A customer approached the counter, and she pulled out her notepad. 'Excuse me for a moment, okay? Good evening, ma'am, how may I help you?'

The woman paused for a moment, considering her options. 'I'd like a chicken fillet burger with normal-sized fries and a diet coke,' she finally decided.

'Okay, ma'am, your order will be ready in...' Sora said, but was cut off shortly.

Matt had reached out and had placed a hand over the one which was holding her pen. He squeezed it gently. 'Go out with me, why don't you?' he pleaded.

Sora stared at him. 'Matt, I'm with a customer now! Can't this wait?' she hissed out of the corner of her mouth. She turned back to the woman. 'I'm deeply sorry, ma'am. I assure you your order's going to be ready in a few...'

'Just say yes or no; it wouldn't take more than a moment,' he persisted, and flashed the woman one of his most winning smiles. 'And the kind lady here wouldn't mind sparing you this one moment, would you, madam?'

The woman was caught in the headlights of the smile, and she nodded...almost automatically. 'Of course not!!' she replied, and looked at Sora as if she were crazy. 'Go on, love! Go out with him! He's such a charming young man, can't you see?'

Sora was looking absolutely stumped. She didn't know what she should be saying or doing; she just looked from Matt to her customer, and then back to Matt again. Should she say yes...or no? Her rational mind was telling her to turn him down, that it was too soon to be going out on dates with this guy, but the other part of her, the wild part, wanted to experience how a date with a famous pop star would be.

This was going to be the second time she wouldn't be listening to her rational mind.

'Alright, I'll go out with you.'

Matt just beamed happily at her.

-

By eight o'clock the next day, Matt had pulled his car in front of the traditional Japanese house which belonged to the Takenouchis. He sat in the car for a few moments, with his hands gripping the stirring wheel. He didn't know why he was feeling so anxious about this date; he had gone on many dates before in his life, and none of them had worried him in the very least, so why now? Why was he feeling so nervous about the date with the one girl he thought he really liked?

Sighing, he finally grabbed the bouquet of roses which was lying on the passenger seat, opened the door and climbed out of the car. He slowly made his way towards the front door. He took in a deep breath, reached out and pressed the buzzer. He waited for a few moment, vaguely wondering how Sora would look like when she opened the door. Finally, he heard the definite click of a key turning in a lock, and the door opened.

He held out the bouquet. 'Roses for...' he said, and his voice trailed off when he took a good look at the girl standing in front of him. 'Whoa!!'

The Sora he was looking at looked nothing like the cashier girl he saw at the restaurant every day. The cashier girl wore a plain white t-shirt and no make-up, and had her short hair tied back, but Sora now...she was looking absolutely stunning. She was wearing a tight dress of a shimmering, periwinkle blue, which reached a bit above her knee. Her hair was let down and combed till it looked like shining bronze. She wasn't wearing a lot of make-up; just a slight touch of glossy pink lipstick and blue eyeliner beneath her eyes.

He always thought that those fan girls who followed him around were pretty, but now he realized, after seeing Sora, how ugly they must be without their make-up...since she looked absolutely amazing with, or without it.

Sora was now blushing. 'Hi,' she said softly. She gestured at the roses. 'Are those for me?'

'Wh-what? Oh, yeah,' he murmured, and bowed slightly as he presented her with them. 'Roses for you, my lady.'

She smiled. 'Thank you,' she replied, accepting the bouquet from him. She stepped aside to let him through. 'Would you like to come inside while I put them in a vase and go get my coat?'

Matt paused for a moment; the idea of going inside Sora's house seemed so foreboding...especially since that meant that he might have to meet her parents. He shook his head. 'N-no, it's fine; I'll just wait for you here,' he said quickly.

Sora frowned slightly at him. 'O-kay,' she said slowly. 'I'll be right back, then.'

She left him standing at the door and hurried inside. Matt tapped his foot nervously against the concrete ground, before finally pulling his phone out of his pocket and quickly punched in Tai's number. He waited impatiently as he listened to the rhythmic beat of the phone. 'Dammit, Tai! Pick up!' he hissed, and that's when his friend did pick up. 'Oh, thank God!'

Tai's voice sounded drowsy on the other end. 'What do you want?' he said irritably. 'I was sleeping, dammit!'

'Shouldn't you be studying for your exams?' he asked him.

'Wha...? Oh, yeah. I just dozed off back there,' Tai mumbled. 'What the hell are you doing? I thought you had a date with Sora tonight?'

'Yeah! Yeah! I am at her doorstep!' he snapped. 'Mate, you gotta help me out here!! I'm getting the hibbie-jibbies!!'

Tai burst out laughing on the other end, and Matt scowled. 'You're...you're...' he wheezed. 'You're getting the what?'

'It's not funny, okay? Teek uses it all the time! It means I'm nervous...or something like that...' he mumbled, and Tai burst out laughing again. 'Stop laughing!! I wouldn't call if this wasn't an emergency! I don't know what I should be doing! I've never been nervous on a date before!!'

'What's this I hear? The famous Matt Ishida doesn't know how to act on a date?' he teased him, and Matt grunted. 'Oh, come on! You gave her a ride before, and that went okay, didn't it? Just be like that and you'll be...'

Matt heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the door, and he panicked. 'Shit! She's here!' he hissed, and Tai laughed again. 'Shut up! Hang up! Hang up!'

He ended the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket, just as Sora came to the door, wearing a beige-colored coat over her dress. He smiled at her, and she just gave him a suspicious look. 'Are you okay?' she asked him. 'I thought I heard you talking to some one.'

He shook his head, and held out his arm for her. 'Shall we go now?' he said pleasantly.

-

A/N: Yeah...that's it. I know it's shorter than usual, but I didn't want to include the date in this chapter...this way chapter 5 will be solely about the date, and I've got it all planned out already. Anyway, if you did like this chapter, then would you please review? Thanks!!

- S. N. B.