A/N: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy and review.
Riding back home was just too hard. Takeru still felt the heavy burden of actually telling his father the army plans and betraying Kari.
'But it wouldn't be betrayal, would it?' He asked himself. It couldn't be betrayal. He had barely spoken to Kari, and this was war. Kari shouldn't have said everything that she had. It was her own fault for trusting a stranger.
Takeru shut his eyes as he got off his horse and looked to the large castle doors. The castle was way gloomier than the Yagami one. Probably because everything was almost perfect there.
Iori sighed and looked up at his best friend.
"We're finally here. That ride was the longest," he stated, grabbing the reins of both their horses, and pulling them to the stable. Takeru nodded and smiled slightly.
A few guards walked up to Takeru, and he knew this was it. He had to tell his father. But suddenly, a part of him didn't want to. Not because he would be breaking the promise he made to Kari, but because his father would still neglect him.
He comes back with information all the time, but his father could care less about him. He only swoons over the newfound data.
As Takeru walked into the throne room, he shook his head. His father was worth it. His kingdom was worth it.
King Ishida sat on his throne, looking as if he had gotten no sleep since Takeru had been gone. His brown eyes were duller than usual, and his hair was undeniably messy.
"You've finally returned. Took you long enough!" he said gruffly. Takeru winced but held his ground. His father was worth it. His kingdom was worth it.
"Fa-uh, Sire, I've discovered that there is no exact wedding date set for the marriage alliance between the Yagami Kingdom and Takenouchi Kingdom," Takeru announced, looking at the floor. Iori walked in at that moment, and stood beside Takeru. His father looked unfazed.
"I-I have also retrieved some army plans," he started, and then paused. His mind was pushing him to tell his father, but his heart wouldn't let him. Kari's face popped into his mind. He couldn't do it.
Iori nudged him, but Takeru didn't move. He just stared at his boots.
"Go on with it! I don't have all day to waste on you," he shouted, banging his fist into the arm rest. Takeru looked up into his father's angry eyes. They weren't like that when his mother was alive. No, they were full of love, and happiness. All that's left in them now is anger, and a void.
His father was worth it. His kingdom was worth it.
"The Y-Yagami Kingdom has called the Motomiya Kingdom to help send troops, then after the marriage, the Takenouchi Kingdom will also rally their army," Takeru paused to shut his eyes tightly, "Once they have a big enough army, they plan to raid the castle, and crush our troops. They plan to use all their acquired land to fight a defensive battle, as well."
King Ishida brought a hand to his chin, and thought deeply. After a few seconds, he let out a mysterious laugh.
"Is that the best Susumu could come up with?" he asked himself. Takeru raised his eyebrow, and Iori also looked curious.
"Everything depends on this marriage…Susumu won't attack unless he has the power to do so. He wants to defeat me with one blow," The king stopped to laugh again. What he found so funny was beyond Takeru.
"All I have to do is stop this marriage. All I have to do is stop the Takenouchi Kingdom, and since their Kingdom is weak, this will be easy…" the king cackled and Takeru glared at the ground.
Yamato walked into the room and he brought a certain light with him. The room felt a little less suffocating to Takeru, and he knew his brother had entered.
"You've returned," he stated with a slight smile. At least someone was happy that he was alive.
"I have another job for you, boy," King Ishida interrupted. Takeru looked back at his father and bit his lip. The things he would do for him just to have his love…
"Father, at least let him get rest for a couple of days…" Yamato offered. His father glared.
"Stay out of this, Yamato," he barked. Yamato's jaw clenched and he glared to the floor silently. He knew better than to talk back to his father.
"Go back, and find out when the Takenouchi family will be returning to their kingdom," he ordered. Takeru stared for a while and the king got aggravated.
"Do I make myself clear?" he asked with force. Takeru bowed and left the room, with Iori and Yamato following behind him. Yamato held onto his shoulder.
"Takeru, don't go back. Don't listen to him. I don't want you to get hurt," Yamato explained with sadness in his eyes. Takeru shoved his hand off and looked at Iori. He knew Iori was tired, but he would still follow Takeru. He was a reliable friend.
"Father is worth it, Yamato. The Kingdom is worth it…" he trailed, looking at nothing in particular. Yamato sighed and shook his head with anger. Iori nodded and stood next to Takeru.
"Takeru, I'm going with you," Yamato declared, heading towards his chambers to pack. Takeru shook his head fiercely.
"You can't! Father will be upset if you go. He'll notice that you're gone," Takeru explained. Yamato glared.
"I don't care about him anymore, Takeru. He's twisted and he's not our father anymore. I care about you. I care about my brother," he stated, looking at Takeru with emotion that he wished his father would glance at him with.
"Yamato…If something happened to you, he'd fight every kingdom in the world. Better me than you," he said softly, spitting out the last few words. It was true. It had always been true. Yamato shook his head.
"Takeru-"
"We leave tomorrow morning, Iori," he told him, walking towards the Servants' Quarters for some rest. Iori sighed, and Yamato punched the nearest wall with anger.
"Takeru doesn't want you to carry his burden," Iori told him. The blonde haired prince stared at the younger boy and glared.
"But I would gladly carry it for him."
The horns blared, once again, to wake up the residents of the Yagami castle. Taichi's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he noticed the sleeping Mimi in his arms. Smiling lightly, he rubbed his nose against her beautiful cinnamon hair.
Mimi slowly stirred, and opened her eyes to find herself looking at Taichi's. She grinned and knew that there was nothing to worry about. Before, she would worry about one of the maids noticing she was gone, but now Miyako could cover for her.
"Good morning," She murmured slightly, stretching under his sheets. Taichi smiled and moved some of her hair out of her face. She hadn't put it in a braid that night.
"Well, you better hurry out of here or someone will catch you," he mumbled rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them. Mimi pouted, getting up and putting on her nightdress.
"You want me to leave already?" she asked, batting her eyes. Taichi chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"I don't want you to leave, but you have to," he explained, closing his eyes. Mimi glared, picked up one of his pillows, and struck him with it. Taichi yelped and glared at her playfully. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the bed. She squealed and fell onto his arms, poking him on his bare chest.
Mimi sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder. Everything was so perfect right now. She didn't want to leave his arms…ever. Then she remembered that she had to talk with him on account of Sora's new 'feelings'. But she knew Taichi would get angry, so she made it indirect.
"So, the swordfight between you and Sora, yesterday, was…interesting," she stated.
Taichi felt something odd when he thought about Sora. A feeling of warmth that he'd never felt before.
"Yes…it was interesting," he said softly, stroking her hair, but looking out his window. Mimi's face twisted.
"Have you heard of her feelings for you?" Mimi asked bluntly. She wanted to be straightforward now. She wanted to know how he felt about it. Taichi looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"I did. You were there when I heard about it," Taichi said obviously. Mimi hit herself mentally. Of course she was there.
"How do you feel about it?" she queried, narrowing her eyes and examining his emotions. Taichi removed his arm from around her and glared.
"Mimi, stop acting like this! Just because Sora has feelings for me, why would I have feelings for her?" he asked, raising his voice. Mimi sighed.
"I don't know. Everyone loves her, Tai. I just thought that since she loves you-"
"She doesn't love me. She has feelings for me," Taichi corrected. Sora couldn't love him. Not after the swordfight yesterday, although, she had been acting peculiar during dinner.
"That's what I meant! It's not that I'm scared that you'll fall for her, Tai. I just hate how she has feelings for you, when she knows that I'm with you. I bet this whole goody-goody, smart act she's been putting up is pretense because she does want to take you away from me," Mimi ranted, throwing up her arms. Taichi rolled his eyes and brought his hand to his temples.
"Do you even hear what you're saying? Sora isn't that type of person. I bet this whole 'feelings' thing is just gossip," Taichi offered, rolling his eyes. Mimi glared.
"She does have feelings for you. I just know it. She asked me where you were, yesterday," Mimi announced, folding her arms. Taichi looked at her incredulously.
"She wanted to know where I was? Dear God, she must love me now!" Taichi declared sarcastically. Mimi hit him in the arm.
"She has feelings for you! She wanted to know where you were so she could talk to you," Mimi said, hoping that he would understand. Taichi stared at her for a while and then shook his head.
"What?!" Taichi didn't understand at all. Mimi was obviously going crazy, "Mimi, look at me."
He turned her shoulders so she was looking straight at him.
"I don't love Sora, okay. I will never love her because I love you," he stated, putting his forehead to hers. Mimi looked at his sheets and sighed.
"I know…I just hate that she has feelings for you. It just puts you one step closer to getting married," Mimi said with a pout. Taichi grinned.
"We're not going to get married. We're not. I love you," he stated again before kissing her fully on the lips. Mimi sighed and kissed back.
He kept telling Mimi he loved her, but he couldn't push away the feeling that he was just trying to convince himself that he did love her.
Sora laughed as Jun continued to tell her the story of when had she told Jyou she was pregnant. Jyou practically having a heart attack sounds like something that would happen. It surprised her. Sora could listen to all these stories about the married couple, but not get upset like before.
Both sat on benches in the garden, just chatting happily. Sora wore a light green dress with her gold tiara shining brightly in the rising sun. Jun was wearing a deep red dress with a larger gold tiara.
"That the thing with Jyou, though. He gets surprised easily," Jun explained with a high pitched giggle. Sora laughed and shook her head.
"That's just how he is," Sora stated, letting a morning breeze run through her hair. She couldn't deny that she still got nervous when Jyou came around, but it wasn't as strong as before.
Jun smiled and placed a hand, gingerly, on the tiny bulge of her stomach, letting her head tilt back slightly. Sora smiled.
"Are you nervous about having a baby?" Sora asked politely. Jun turned to her and shook her head.
"More excited than nervous…I can't wait till she's born," Jun explained with a peaceful smile. Sora raised an eyebrow.
"She? You know the baby is a girl?" Sora queried. Jun grinned.
"I don't know for sure, but I just have a feeling," Jun replied. Sora grinned and Jun spoke a little more.
"Being pregnant is the most amazing experience, Sora. Having another person inside you is just…incredible," Jun said with a new saneness. Sora's chest heaved. She had always wanted to be a mother. Jun smiled and knew what Sora was thinking.
"It won't be long till you have a baby," Jun stated with a grin, her perkiness returning. Sora smiled.
"I hope so…" she trailed, thinking of holding her son or daughter in her arms for the first time. Jun's grin widened.
"I'm sure Taichi will give you a child fast," Jun said with her eyebrows bobbing. Sora blushed.
"I already told you, Jun. The marriage is probably not going to take place," Sora explained, looking at the ground. Jun pursed her lips.
"You don't know that for sure!"
"And I don't like how you told people that I have feelings for Taichi," Sora added, looking away. Jun grinned.
"We both know that you do," she said, poking Sora's arm. Sora shook her head.
"I don't. I-I just want to have children, therefore I want to get married," Sora blabbered then hit herself mentally. Just to have children?! Jun's eyes widened and she started to giggle.
"Then marry Daisuke!" she said with a loud laugh. Sora blushed. This wasn't working. This whole denial plan was the wrong road to take with Jun. She knew women.
"Sora, I don't see why you care so much about having feelings for Tai. Now that he knows-"
"He knows?!" Sora screamed, looking at Jun with astonishment in her ruby eyes. Jun laughed.
"So you do have feelings for him!" she giggled. Sora blushed. How could he know when she barely understood her feelings? God, it was just going to be more awkward between them now.
"Jun…I don't even understand anything," Sora answered softly. Jun looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
Sora sighed.
"I don't understand these feelings," Sora whispered, looking at her hands. Jun looked at her sympathetically as she continued.
"At times, I can really despise him and want to wipe that stupid smirk off his face, you know?" Sora paused and looked at Jun. Jun laughed and nodded, "and other times…I want nothing more from him than to…I don't know."
Jun looked at her curiously and soon a smile crept on to her face.
"Nothing more from him than to… what?" she Jun asked teasingly. Sora blushed and looked away, but Jun continued to jeer.
"You want nothing more from him than to hold you? To kiss you? To love you?" Jun asked, poking Sora's arm and giggling. Sora looked at the ground. God, she wanted all of that, but she couldn't have it. Mimi had it. Why does this always happen to her?
"Jun…he's never going to return my feelings…" she explained softly, staring at the castle. Jun scoffed.
"Sora, Taichi would be crazy not to return your feelings! You're beautiful, sophisticated, and completely perfect," Jun supported, looking at her with glee. Sora shook her head.
"But I'm not perfect," Sora stated with a shaky sigh. Jun glared.
"Stop thinking pessimistically!"
"Jun, I don't want to have feelings for him!" There. She said it. She felt a sudden deep emptiness fill her. Jun shook her head softly, smiling at the younger girl.
"Sometimes you don't….but you can't stop them," Jun explained wisely. Sora bit the insides of her mouth. She randomly remembered the sniper that tried to attack her in the cellar. She remembered how Taichi tried to help her ease the pain by bringing her to a bar. She remembered the way he looked at her… and quickly shut her eyes.
"Why do I always fall for men I can't have?" Sora asked quietly. Jun frowned and put an arm around Sora's shoulders.
"It happens to everyone, Sora, but you'll see. There will be one man that will fall back," Jun said with a grin. Sora looked at her and smiled softly.
"How you remain optimistic all the time is a puzzle to me," Sora said softly with a shaky smile. Jun giggled.
"The best things have happened to me, Sora, and I have no doubt that nothing but great things will happen to you in the future, as well," Jun grinned. Sora laughed and looked up at the sky.
"I can hope, at least," she sighed. Jun laughed.
"Jyou's right, you know?" Jun asked, taking Sora's hands. Sora smiled and tilted her head.
"Right about what?" she asked the maroon-haired girl.
"You don't know how truly incredible you are."
Kari took in a quick breath and knocked on the Maids' quarters' door. A blonde haired maid answered and smiled brightly.
"Good morning, princess. May I help you with something?"
Kari bit her lip. Miyako would always answer first.
"Is Miyako available?" she asked the girl. The maid shook her head.
"She isn't in here now, princess. I believe she already is downstairs doing chores," the maid added. Kari bit her lip and nodded, thanking the girl as she walked away.
She and Miyako had never gotten in a fight before. This was different, horribly different. Miyako never went downstairs without Kari.
"Kari?! Hold on, I want to talk," a voice called. Kari turned to see Mimi walking towards her. Kari raised an eyebrow, noticing that she was in her nightgown wandering the castle. She then remembered that she had gotten ticked off at Mimi. Kari sighed to herself. It was only because she was already angry about the whole Miyako situation and what she had said about the roles of women.
Mimi smiled.
"Good morning!" she chirped. Kari smiled slightly and returned the greeting. Mimi frowned.
"I'm sorry about yesterday…I didn't mean to do anything," Mimi stated softly. She actually didn't know what she did wrong, but she just didn't want Kari to be upset with her.
After the talk with Sora yesterday, Kari couldn't stay angry at Mimi anymore. No one could stay angry at Mimi.
"It's alright, Mimi. I was just a little upset with everything else so I just snapped," Kari stated. Mimi grinned.
"It happens to all of us, trust me," she explained with a slight chuckle. Kari smiled and then looked at Mimi's clothing again.
"Why were you walking around the castle with your nightclothes on, again?" Kari asked with curiosity. Mimi tried to stay cool.
"U-um, I was just trying to g-get some fresh air," she stuttered lamely. Kari raised an eyebrow.
"There's no fresh air in the castle…" Kari trailed, examining her. Mimi sweated.
"I went to a window. Actually, why don't I change and then we can head on downstairs! How's that?" Mimi asked, trying to change the subject and heading towards the Maids' quarters. Kari sighed and shook her head.
"Actually, I have to find Miyako. I want to fix things up with her, so I'll see you soon, Mimi," Kari announced. Mimi grinned and waved goodbye and Kari headed towards the stairs.
Kari noticed that there was something very different about Mimi, but didn't bother to strain about it. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she quickly headed towards the kitchen.
As she walked in, she searched for the lavender haired girl, but she was nowhere to be found. Kari sighed. Maybe Miyako didn't want Kari to find her, but then she spotted Koushiro who was chatting happily with a few servants. He was her only hope.
She walked up to him gracefully and tapped on his shoulder. Koushiro turned around and smiled.
"Good morning!" he grinned. Kari laughed and returned the greeting, but then quickly getting back on topic.
"Have you seen Miyako anywhere, Koushiro?" she asked softly. Koushiro looked at his shoes and then at his fingernails.
"No, sorry," he stated, turning around and becoming slightly red. Kari rolled her eyes. He was a horrible liar.
"I know you do, Koushiro. I need to speak with her," Kari explained, holding his shoulder and giving him an upset look. Koushiro sweated a little.
"I-I'm sorry, princess, but I h-have not seen her since last night," he added, suddenly finding the ceiling fascinating. Kari sighed, noticeably frustrated. Koushiro was asking for it.
"Koushiro, under my orders, I demand you to tell me where Miyako is," she declared, smirking proudly. Koushiro bit his lip and sighed.
"She's cleaning out the horse stable…" he trailed, glowering slightly. Kari grinned and hugged him before rushing to the stable. Koushiro sighed and he knew that Miyako was going to murder him after this.
As Kari entered, she stopped when she saw Miyako and Daisuke sitting in the stable, talking. When they both heard someone enter, they turned and quickly started to get up.
"What's going on here?" Kari asked, raising an eyebrow. She felt something odd when she thought of Miyako and Daisuke being together. Especially since Daisuke had never liked Miyako much. Daisuke grinned.
"Good morning!" he exclaimed and Kari couldn't help but smile, but when she felt Miyako turning her back to her and busying herself, Kari looked to the ground. She walked to the both of them and first looked at Daisuke.
"Can you excuse us for a moment?" she asked and Daisuke nodded before looking back at Miyako and exiting the stable. Kari bit her lip and started to talk.
"Miyako…look, I'm sorry about yesterday," Kari started, looking at Miyako as she petted Mimi's favorite horse, Yuki. Kari could see her rolling her eyes and then she answered.
"You tell me everything, Kari. It hurt to know that you ran off somewhere and didn't even tell me why," Miyako stated, glaring slightly. Kari knew that was coming, but she couldn't tell Miyako that she had gone to meet up with Iori Takada…but then again, Miyako was her best friend.
"Miyako, I had a lot going on, and I just needed to be alone for a while," Kari improvised. Miyako scoffed.
"Then why were you so eager to go to the market place? I'm not blind, Kari, and I'm aware that there's something you're not telling me!" Miyako explained while looking at Kari for the first time, demanding answers. Kari had to tell her. If Miyako was in her place, there was no doubt that she would have told her.
"I was meeting that boy I bumped into a few days ago at the market place. When Princess Sora was arriving at our castle," Kari stated, looking down at the floor. Her voice had no expression. Miyako's eyes widened.
"What?! K-Kari do you have any idea how dangerous he could be? What-"
"He's anything but dangerous! He's actually very sweet, and he understands me," Kari explained, trying not to sound like a complete fool. Miyako threw her hands up.
"You've met him once! Kari, he could have killed you if he had wanted to," Miyako explained, glaring at the naïve girl. Kari snapped.
"Iori would never do that!" she yelled. Miyako tried to knock some sense into her.
"Kari, what if he was just acting to gain your trust? You can't trust random people, especially in times of war!" Miyako retorted, grabbing onto Kari's shoulders. Kari broke free and glared.
"I'm not going crazy, okay?! So stop acting as if I don't know the danger of trusting random people, but Iori Takada's not random. There's something about him that I just trust. I feel like I've always trusted him…" She trailed, even confusing herself over her words. Miyako's eye's bulged.
"What are you talking about?!" Miyako screeched. Kari glared.
"Let's just drop the subject. You obviously will never understand," Kari explained, turning around to walk away, but then she stopped, "That's why I didn't tell you, Miyako. Because no one understands."
Miyako glared again, and then sighed.
"You're not going to meet him again, are you?" Miyako asked as calmly as she could. Kari turned around and glowered.
"Yes. When I get the chance…" Kari stated.
"Why do you want to keep going back to him?" Miyako asked incredulously. Kari bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly.
"You won't understand, Mi-"
"Tell me," Miyako commanded while interrupting her. Kari turned, looked her straight in the eye, and held a strong gaze.
"Because I'm drawn to him, Miyako. I don't know why, but I am," Kari stated, feeling her chest fill up with something anomalous. Miyako walked up to Kari and took one of her hands.
"Drawn to him as in you feel something for him?" Miyako asked with pity. Kari shrugged her shoulders.
"He's different…"
"They usually are," Miyako said with a slight smile, but then became serious again, "But Kari, you have to understand. You just can't trust him. You can't meet him. You just can't. You're the princess, and if he ever found out for sure-"
"He does know that I'm the princess," Kari cut in. Miyako shook her head but then held onto Kari's head.
"Promise me you won't see him again. I love you, Kari. You're my best friend, and if anything happened to you because of this Iori, I'd feel responsible because I knew about him," Miyako offered. Kari knew Miyako was right. She didn't want anything to slip out to him again, either. That could cost them the war.
"I promise."
Miyako beamed.
"Fabulous!" She exclaimed while leading Kari out of the stable and out into the morning sun. Before they started walking towards the castle, Miyako thought of something.
"What about Daisuke?" she asked the princess. Kari looked up and raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you had feelings for Daisuke," Miyako added. Kari looked at the ground and bit her lip. To tell the truth, she didn't know how she felt about Daisuke.
"No. I don't have feelings for him. He's fond of me," Kari stated, walking a little faster. Miyako smirked. She knew Kari way better than she knew herself.
Sora sighed as she and Jun walked back into the castle. For some odd reason, she didn't want to go back.
She didn't want to face Taichi, now that he knew about her 'feelings'. God, to think that he knew yesterday when she was totally oblivious. He didn't act different around her, though. Sora sighed again.
If he didn't act different around her, then that must mean that he definitely didn't return her feelings. But she knew that was coming. He loved Mimi.
"I'm going to find Jyou so I'll talk to you later, Sora," Jun said while heading towards the stairs. Sora said a quick goodbye then sighed, yet again. What to do now?
She headed towards the kitchen and stopped in her tracks when she saw Mimi walking out of it, holding some items for her chores. Mimi looked up and Sora saw her slight wince.
"Good morning," Sora stated politely. Mimi smiled slightly and rubbed her nose.
"Good morning."
Both stood there for a while, not really looking at each other. Sora was the first to move and head into the kitchen. Now she understood why Mimi was acting the way she was. She had found out about her 'feelings' as well. Sora bit her lip. She could only imagine how awkward it would be with Taichi, but a part of her didn't want to avoid him all day.
"Good morning, Sora," King Yagami called as he entered the kitchen as well. Sora smiled and returned the greeting.
"Have a good night's sleep?" he asked, itching some of his dark brown hair under his crown. Sora chuckled and nodded.
"A very good night's sleep, thank you," she said with a grin. He laughed and walked over to a servant to tell them something. Sora felt his eyes on her and turned to see Taichi smirking and leaning against the kitchen wall. 'Here we go' she thought.
"Why do you always butter up to my father?" he asked with a larger smirk. And this was one of those moments where Sora wanted to wipe his stupid smirk off. She rolled her eyes.
"It's not 'buttering up', Taichi. It's called common courtesy. Try using it sometimes," she stated, trying to walk out of kitchen to avoid a talk like this. Taichi sighed and grabbed her hand. Sora blushed as he pulled her out of the kitchen with him.
As he led her outside, Sora tried to break her hand free of his grasp, but he just held on tighter. Sora grumbled.
"Where are we going?" she asked rudely. She was surprised at the tone of her voice. Taichi raised his eyebrow, surprised as well.
"Excuse me?" he asked, questioning her tone. Sora blushed even more. She had no idea why that had come out the way it had. Maybe she was trying to hide her feelings by showing hate. He rolled his eyes.
"You're acting different today," he stated as he led her to the same place they fought swords yesterday. He let go of her and handed her a sword. She raised her eyebrow.
"We're sword fighting, again?" she asked. Taichi chuckled and took his sword out.
"Well, you were good practice," he stated, swinging his sword around. Sora glared and dropped the sword. That's all he thought she was? A good practice?
He raised an eyebrow.
"Well I don't want to help you train," Sora spat, crossing her arms at her chest and walking away. Taichi stood there for a while, completely lost, and then went to follow her again.
"Why not? We had fun yesterday, didn't we?" he asked her, holding onto her arm to stop her. Sora glared.
"No," she lied. He rolled his eyes.
"My, aren't we irritable today?" he asked, letting go of her arm. Sora didn't look him straight in the eye and stared at the floor.
"Maybe because you're just irritating," she explained, looking away with a glare. Taichi smirked and moved closer, out of impulse.
"Maybe you just get irritated easily," he retorted, using her comeback against her. Sora blushed and turned to walk away again. God, she hated him. Taichi laughed and ran up to her till he was in front of her and stopped. She scowled.
"I don't really want to talk to you right now, Taichi," she explained. Taichi beamed.
"Sure you do," he said while bobbing his eyebrows. Sora was the darkest shade of red, and a part of Taichi found it cute.
Sora bit her lip. He definitely knew of her 'feelings.' She looked at the ground with dread, and started to power walk away from him, but Taichi caught up with her and held onto her arm.
"Let go! Why are you bothering me? I'm sure Mimi would love to have you in her company right now, so go to her," Sora sneered, pulling her arm away. Taichi hushed her and glared.
"You promised you wouldn't say anything about that," Taichi snapped, glaring at her. Sora hated when he did that. She liked it better when his eyes were bouncy and cheerful. She even liked it better when he smirked.
"But you keep annoying me, so I have to be strict," she stated with a big smirk, mocking Taichi. He looked angrily at her.
"I'm only trying to spend some time with you because I know you want to. But hey, why should I try to make you feel better about me choosing Mimi and not you when all you want to do is snap?" he asked rhetorically but then felt horrible when he saw Sora loosen her glare and stare at him with hurt. Taichi bit her lip.
"Sora-"
"Don't talk to me," she said with a slight quiver as she turned to walk away. Taichi couldn't help but feel just as much pain as she did.
"I didn't mean it!" he told her. Sora bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly.
"You did," she whispered while running towards the castle. Taichi groaned and kicked a stone while running his fingers through his hair out of anger. How could he have been so ignorant?
Sora ran into the castle and stopped when she felt that Taichi wasn't following her. She felt horrible, like someone had kicked her in the stomach. It was turning out to be like Jyou all over again.
She didn't want to cry.
She wasn't going to cry.
She just remembered a piece of advice that Taichi, himself, had told her.
'Any man would be lucky to have you. And any man who's broken your heart isn't worth your time.'