A/N: Yay! This is the last chapter of the revamp and on to new material! Enjoy!

Spring Ranting

chapter ten - For the Love of Socks

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Tai suddenly pulled away from Sora's tightening grasp. "Sora, I can't-"

"What do you mean you can't? I know you have feelings for me-" Sora continued to unbutton his shirt as she hovered over him in an attempt to continue their previous engagement.

"I kinda figured you might have…" he quickly interrupted her, finally grabbing onto her hands and holding it between his. He looked down at their intertwined hands, absolutely ecstatic that Sora had returned his kiss-a kiss that was somehow leading to more than just kissing-but he knew, despite the increasing size of the lump in his throat (and pants) and from the happiness he was trying to suppress, Sora had other things on her mind that she was just trying to get away from.

"So what's the problem?" Sora asked, removing a hand from his grasp and stroking his face with the back of her fingers.

Tai couldn't help but look at her. He had wanted this for so long… "Sora, I think you're just upset about your mom so you're trying to get away from your problems by doing this. It's not right. Besides-and I know many guys would think I'm less of a man for refusing you but-this is the wrong place and the wrong time to be doing something like this."

Despite the slight offense she took from being rejected, Sora was shocked at Tai's level of maturity. Surely any other guy would have jumped at the chance to have sex with her or any girl who threw themselves at him. But Tai had definitely grown up. Boy did he have some self control despite the obvious tent forming at the junction in his pants. She pulled away from him and looked up at the horizon. The sun had completely set now and all she could see was the outline of the mountain from the dim light of the moon. What could she possibly say to what Tai just told her? She knew she was acting this way partly because of her frustration with her mom…but did she really even have feelings for Tai? When he had kissed her, she felt a tightness in the pit of her stomach and it felt so easy and comfortable as if it had been the right thing to do all along…but at the same time, was comfort all she felt from that kiss? Were there any sparks, any deeper connections? Her body had been screaming "yes!" but her mind rattled on, making it difficult to distinguish how she really felt about him. She figured Tai refusing to continue what they were doing might have been a blessing in disguise seeing as it may have added more complications to their already complicated relationship.

"I really think you should work it out with your mom before we do anything and before you have to go back to Okayama and leave us all behind again," Tai said with what seemed like a slight look of sarcasm in his eyes before he placed her shirt into her hands and climbed back through the window. Sora's concerned eyes under her furrowed brows followed Tai's back as he disappeared behind her bedroom door. She rolled her eyes before shrugging her shirt back on and sighing as she turned back to the dark horizon.

"Tai…" she couldn't help but let his name roll out of her mouth.

She suddenly realized her heart had been pounding wildly in her chest and she clutched at it, the realization of what she and Tai almost did finally registering clearly.

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Tai tried not to think about what happened between Sora and him the night before. But it was damn hard. He really had to stop thinking about that lust-clouded look in her eyes, the desperation and urgency of her moist, pink mouth against his as they kissed, and her warm body pressed up against his, her hands clutching him for dear life. He touched his forehead gently and squeezed his eyes in frustration. He had almost lost control with her. He eventually really wanted to lose control with her, but not that way. Not right then. Not when she wanted him just to forget about other things. And how he had left things! He could only hope that she hadn't seen that resentful look in his eyes right before he left her alone. He couldn't bear the thought of finally being with her and having to see her leave Odaiba again, maybe for good this time.

But the way she looked at him last night. He really could have had his way with her right there on the roof...

He had to stop. The intense memories had already kept him up all night and he really needed to be alert for soccer practice that evening.

Breakfast was a little awkward for the two of them as they continuously sneaked peeks at one another when they thought the other wasn't looking. Sora picked at her green beans anxiously, unwilling to put them in her mouth because of her irrational fear of the fact that Tai might be watching her…eat her green beans.

Of course the awkwardness extended to Sora and her mother as well. They spoke a total of one word to each other (a simple "thanks" from Sora and a "sure" from her mother) during the entire meal and left it at that before they separated ways for the day.

The school year was finally over and spring break had arrived! Maybe that should have been Tai's main focus for the day. Matt, Jyou, and Izzy had so many plans laid out for the first week of spring vacation they anticipated for so long. They had hoped that their dysfunctional families hadn't planned any family get-together for the week that they planned so thoroughly…

"NO you dumbasses! We agreed to go to the Samui Kodomo* open concert by the bay. Come on, you can't even try to appreciate Aota Kimura's* awesome guitar riffs?" Matt argued as the boys attempted to find common ground over the phone.

"Yeah, yeah we agreed to do that on March 27th, but the comic book convention in Kanzai-" Izzy began.

"Comic book convention?!" Jyou and Matt interjected pretty damn loudly.

"What's wrong with that?" Izzy inquired.

"Tai, tell him what's wrong with that," Jyou asked the silent boy.

There was a pause as the boys waited for Tai's response, but nothing came. "Tai?" Matt called, breaking the silence. "He didn't get disconnected, I still see him on my phone."

"Huh-oh, what? Sorry guys…do you think we can do this later?" Tai finally responded.

"Wha-Tai! Come on, Spring Break for us starts tomorrow! We need to plan now before we get everything too messed up and we end up going to different places-or even spend vacation with our-" he gulped, "-families," Izzy explained nervously.

"Yeah, okay, definitely. I'll call you guys later. Bye." Tai hung up as protests were being made on the other line. It's true…he didn't want to spend Spring Break with his family or even Sora's family but ever since Sora came back into the picture, all he wanted to do was help her.

What to do…what to do… he pondered silently as he sat on the corner of his bed.

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"Tai! Guess what!?"

"What?" Tai replied, flipping through a magazine while flipping through the channels of the TV on the living room couch. Sora still recalled their passionate kiss, but she couldn't help but push the memory aside for both of their sake. To her surprise, Tai was doing the same thing. Forgetting the entire thing never happened. Well, maybe not forgetting it entirely but at least leaving the awkward aftermath far from the vicinity. She scooted next to him and grabbed the remote control away from his hand.

Tai was forced to look at her. She smiled innocently. "I got a job!"

"Yay." The reply was enthusiastic and oh-so full of life. Not. At least it seemed, for the time being, the two had reverted back to their old ways.

Sora frowned. "Okay, I guess I'm the only excited one. But you know, since I'm going to be here for a bit, I thought I should keep myself busy while I'm staying in this godforsaken city so I have an excuse for not being home all day. Isn't that great?"

Tai continued to flip through his magazine as he replied, "You don't need a job, your dad left you money."

"Were you not paying attention? I'm doing it to keep busy, not for the money."

"Then volunteer at a shelter or something. Help those starving street punks so they don't throw things at me when I don't give them money."

"Well I start on Tuesday so I can't get out of it now. Besides Mimi's gonna help me out."

Tai looked up from his magazine for a moment. "Wait-wha-are you working at that crappy cafe? Sora, you can do better than that, come on!" In reality, he just didn't want her spending so much time with Mimi. Mimi knew way too much about this part of town that he really wished she didn't. The fact that she liked to talk was a downer too. In less than three hours, Sora would know all there is to know about everyone living in Odaiba.

"Um…well isn't Mimi busy working too? She can't help you all the time."

Sora smiled. "Well right now she's training me so she has to spend time with me. You know she's told me a lot of stuff about how Odaiba has changed."

Tai swallowed. He didn't realize how hard it was to swallow until now. It felt like sandpaper in that darn esophagus of his. So Mimi had already opened that pretty little mouth of hers. He suddenly had the urge to go to her house, tie her to a chair and duct tape her entire face so she couldn't speak or attempt to communicate with Morse code through her eyes EVER. He'd be generous, of course, and poke holes where her nostrils should be so she can breathe. "Oh yeah?" he croaked. "Like what?"

"Like how Izzy's part Hawaiian."

Tai scoffed. "No he's not!"

"Uh-huh, ask Mimi. She's going out with him remember?"

"Well he's one of my best friends. I think I would know."

"Well you're wrong."

"Hell no I'm not wrong."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Why don't you go ask him?"

"I don't need to, I already know."

"Whatever," Sora replied, rolling her eyes as she turned toward the TV and changed the channel. "You know you're wrong. Stop with the whole ego thing."

"What ego thing? I think you should stop with the whole ego thing Sora Takenouchi."

Sora stopped flipping through the channels. She had a feeling that they weren't talking about Izzy being Hawaiian anymore.

"You know, you should start learning how to mind your own business."

"Well since I live with you, your business has become my business. I'm involved Sora, and there's nothing you can do to stop my involvement."

"I could kick you in your sensitive area as a warning. Would that stop your involvement?"

"You know Takenouchi, I should get you a puppy. Maybe it'll teach you to be a nice, behaved lady and to stop threatening to kick innocent guys like me in our baby maker. Now be a good girl," Tai told her, giving her a paternal pat on the head like she was a child. Sora grumbled and shoved his hand away.

"Well, it really pisses me off when people try to tell me what to do," Sora snapped at him, slapping the magazine away from his hands and throwing the remote control at his face.

"He-Hey what the hell was that for!" Tai growled as he watched her walk away. He sighed and sat down. "Women and their damn PMSing," he muttered before he got back to flipping through his magazine.

But before Tai could really get into his magazine, the doorbell rang. He began muttering incoherently about doors, girls and their mood swings, and shoelaces. How the shoelaces fit into his nonsensical muttering, no one will ever know. Tai opened the door and found three of his friends standing at the door, elbowing each other like little children. Izzy, Matt, and Jyou were arguing about what they were to do during their Spring Break again, this time getting fed up with Tai avoiding their calls regarding their plans.

"We are fed up with you avoiding our calls regarding our plans Taichi Yagami!" Izzy shouted, shoving Tai out of the way as he stomped into the house followed by Jyou and Matt who were heartily agreeing as they pushed their way into the house as well.

"Are you not looking forward to this anticipated trip, my friend?" Jyou asked, putting an arm around Tai. "Do you have other plans, perhaps?"

Tai could smell the obscene amount of hairspray Jyou had on his mohawk. Despite the guys bombarding him with questions about Spring Break, all Tai could think about was how long it must've taken Jyou to fix his 'hawk. It was just incredible.

"So?" Matt asked.

"So what?" Tai returned. He obviously wasn't listening to anything they had been saying for the past two minutes.

"Why weren't you listening to anything we've been saying for the past two minutes!" Izzy shouted again, shoving Tai.

"Izzy, will you chill out?" Matt warned, patting Izzy's shoulder. "We won't get anything from this dumbass if you keep shouting at him. He'll only drown you out again."

"You're right." Izzy took a deep breath. "I just want to know why you're not planning with us. A couple of weeks ago you were the one calling us at three in the morning to ask us what the plans are and what our budget was supposed to be. You were so psyched. Then all of a sudden you seemed to have left us hanging. What's going on Tai?" Izzy inquired, suddenly becoming genuinely concerned about his brown-haired friend.

"I've just been-" Tai paused and looked down at his shoes. "There have been a lot of things on my mind. Sorry okay? You guys can go ahead with the planning. I'll do whatever."

Matt gave him a sideways look. He knew what this was about. He slowly wandered away from the group as Jyou began talking to Tai. Their voices became muffled as Matt mumbled something about the bathroom and slid off. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he climbed the stairs to the bathroom on the second floor. Sora must be around the house somewhere. He had to see her. The last time he saw her was a couple nights ago at Jyou's before she snuck off and left him and Tai to resolve things. He still couldn't understand the girl.

As he walked across the hall, his eyes darted toward each door, pressing his ear against each one hoping to hear a familiar voice or maybe hope for a door that was slightly cracked open. Ahh… he grinned, seeing a glimpse of auburn hair move across the crack between the slightly opened door to what was obviously her bedroom. Wait…this is Tai's room. What is she doing sneaking around Tai's room?

Inside the room, Sora was sifting through dirty clothes, hangers, socks, and important papers that Tai thought looked better on his bedroom floor. Doesn't he have any clean pairs of socks? Dammit…I just had to run out of socks now, didn't I? And today just happened to be the day that Kari ran out of socks too. And there is no way I'm asking my mom… Sora thought aimlessly as she dug through his cabinets and drawers.

"Score!" she cried once she found a rolled up pair of socks in his bottom drawer. As she pulled out the pair of socks, a crumpled sheet of paper fell out with it. Sora was undoubtedly going to ignore it, but a glimpse of her name on the piece of paper caught her eye. What the…

It was the letter. A small smiled crept onto her face.

Matt knocked on the door softly, and with the knock came a reaction.

"OH SHI-Ahh-I-" Sora began as she stood up and whirled around to see who had caught her red-handed. When she found Matt standing by the door she sighed and swore under her breath. "Matt! Was that really necessary?"

"The knock? That's what I usually do before I walk into someone's room. I'm guessing you don't do that?" Matt smirked, implying her intrusion into Tai's bedroom.

"Ughh…I was just looking for socks in this sewer he calls a room. I think I saw something crawl out of his closet…but I wasn't too sure. I think the smell was making me hallucinate," Sora muttered, sitting on the floor as she pulled the socks onto her cold feet. She smiled up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Jyou, Izzy and I were planning Spring Break with Tai, but Tai hasn't been picking up our calls lately. Kinda pissed Izzy off so we came over here."

"Oh cool."

Matt nodded, but slowly added, "…and I wanted to see you too."

Sora looked up from her sock wearing and paused. "Hm? What for?"

"Uh…I…well I just wanted to see how you were doing…I mean with the whole Mom business."

"Well, it's going terribly. She brought the jerk into the house last night to have dinner. They were all sitting at the table like a happy family when I walked in. Disgusting."

"You should really listen to her explanation. Maybe she has one-it's just a suggestion. I'm not trying to pry or anything." Matt shut his mouth after the comment. "Never mind."

Sora sighed exasperatedly. "No you're right…Tai and Jyou said the same thing. I just can't bring myself to do it yet and everyone's pressuring me. I know it's childish-"

Matt took a seat next to her on the floor and inadvertently grabbed her hand. "No, it's not childish! You just need time to sort out your feelings because you feel like your dad's being replaced by some nobody."

Sora nodded, still not aware of the contact. "Yeah…that's exactly it. I hate that she…cheated...and didn't listen to me..."

"Cheated? Didn't listen to you about what?"

"Yep cheated. And disregarded my feelings. I mean I tried getting along with her boyfriend before I left since my dad wasn't so mad...but he's such a jerk. How could my mom like a guy like that?"

"I'm sorry…" Matt apologized.

"It's nothing-well it's something…but you don't have to feel sorry. If there was a logical explanation for her infidelity, then maybe I'd listen. But the fact that I caught them in the act of infidelity-I just can't. Plus I just felt so unimportant-"

"Wait. Caught them in the act of-?"

"Yes I caught them…"

"In the act?"

"In the act," Sora confirmed with a nod.

"Really?" Matt asked.

"Yes."

"Damn," Matt couldn't help but swear under his breath. Now he understood why it was so hard for Sora to forgive her mother and that guy. Her mom had been selfish. Matt wrapped his arms around her and held her as she rewound and replayed the incident over and over again in her head. "Odaiba is just filled with secrets…"

"Yes it is…" Sora whispered as she enjoyed the comfort in silence. But in the back of her mind, besides the whole mom thing, she was also extremely anxious to read what was written on the crumpled letter she held in her left hand.

The door suddenly burst open with Tai, Jyou, and Izzy at the door. Matt and Sora quickly pulled away from each other and looked at them guiltily, looking as if they were ready for an explanation but with nothing coming out of their mouths. Then the two of them spoke simultaneously, making absolutely no sense.

"Socks! And your room-like vinegar and crawling…" Sora stumbled on her words. She just shut up and looked down at the floor. "You know what I mean!" She couldn't understand why she was acting like this. There was nothing to be ashamed of. She was looking for socks.

So why couldn't she explain it correctly?

Before Sora could say another word, Matt spoke up with the same anxiety and urgency that she had in her voice. "And I was just helping…with the smell-I mean socks…not the smell, the smell-I can't even smell the smell and the socks don't smell-" Matt quickly joined Sora in silence when he couldn't remember what he was trying to say. And just like Sora, he turned a beet red. Then there was a moment of silence between both parties again. Tai's eyes moved to where Sora was sitting and their eyes locked. He spoke.

"You're right," he said with a slight look of betrayal in his eyes. "Izzy is part Hawaiian."

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A/N: Yeah…Bye.

Samui Kodomo is a fictitious local Tokyo metal band that Matt absolutely fanaticizes. The lead guitarist is named Aota Kimura, other members will be named later if necessary.