Before starting this chapter, I'd like to take a moment and apologize to anyone who might have just gotten 11 emails notifying that I updated my story. If you didn't get them, then you're blessed by the gods. Why would they get 11 notifications, you ask? Simple; I just spent the last hour repasting all the chapters in their rightful spots. There's a chance that you didn't get the notification, though.
I'd like to say something. "I'm sorry!" If you are unsure why the previous apology was needed, here's the explination: two years ago, 12-30-05, I updated ch. 10 as a new-year present. Unfortunately, in the few hours I did update this, had a bug. By updating one chapter, all the rest were put out of order; the chapters went 2, 9, 1, 7, ect. I put in a note to for them to fix it, and they never did.
I was considering on letting this story slide, just never be finished, but then I got a pm from someone (coughLiesandtruthcough) who requested I start updating the story again. After two years. Well! If you know me, I'm a sucker for those things. If even one person wants it to be finished, it usually gets finished. So I went in and re-did all the other chapters and wrote a new chap.
This story will be finished! Eventually! Before I go off to college! So, I'm sorry for wasting your time with that long explination, and will give the story now. If you are no longer interested in this story (I don't blame you.) then feel free to ignore this.
This chapter's dedicated to Lies-and-Truth because… well, if they hadn't asked, this chapter wouldn't be here right now.
Note: nomigid nwo t'nod I. Thank you.
CH. 11: Arrival
"…And then, he did! Izzy tripped, and fell over right into his mom, and then it was like… dominos…" Sora laughed harder and fell back into the beanbag-like chair she was sitting in. She and Matt were inside, in Matt's room, and Sora had basically felt that she needed to recap the ENTIRE thing to Matt.
Matt himself was lying flat on his mattress (which was still on the floor,) and grinning to himself. He tried to picture the scene as Sora went on babbling about it. He'd asked her what happened right after 'the fall' had occurred, and again at dinner, but every time she'd started they'd either been interrupted or Sora would crack up in the middle of a sentence. Or one of the others would glare at them so hard that Matt himself would begin to laugh.
So now it was the next day, right after breakfast. Matt had invited Sora up to his room and they'd been there for two hours, trying to get through what had happened. The two kids seemed easily distracted that day, though. Matt sighed and inspected the ceiling as a tired thought came to his head, but he suppressed it and turned to Sora, who'd started talking again.
"…fell into each other, and all the feathers and honey and sticky stuff got stuck on our clothing… and well…" she gave a soft chuckle. "You know the rest."
Matt let out a small burst of laughter as he remembered just how everyone had looked. Mimi wasn't here now, so he was free to laugh without the fear of being attacked.
Sora laughed with him. They laughed for a few minutes before finally stopping for breath. Sighing, Sora sat up. "But you know…" she began, flipping over to look over the beanbag to where Matt lay. She stopped, slightly uncertain.
The blonde boy blinked and rolled over onto his stomach. He looked straight at Sora. "Well I know…" he asked her, his voice questioning and slightly mocking. Sora stuck her tongue out at him before sighing again, making Matt frown. "Hey, don't be like that. I have weird dreams all the-!" Matt stopped abruptly.
"Time." Sora finished for him. She glared at him from across the room, daring him to elaborate.
It was Matt's turn to stick his tongue out. "Yes." He answered. "Same dream, every night. Standing underwater, looking up, being weird, seeing everybody else. Except I don't go up there to meet you guys. It's like I can't swim." He shook his head. "Or that I don't want to."
Sora rolled her eyes. "Because we're really THAT hard to be seen with, right?" she hummed sarcastically, enough to make Matt chuck a pillow in her direction. She sighed. "Hm…"
Matt looked down. "Dreams are just weird, Sora. Forget them." He advised, stretching. Sora pulled at the pillow he'd thrown at her, fiddling with one of the corners.
"I… Don't you think it's odd?" She asked suddenly, snapping up.
Matt blinked at her. "Um… sure." He answered, playing along. Sora huffed at him and looked around her for something to throw at his head.
"I mean, the dream I had… I dreamt that you… and then… well see…." Sora trailed off. Matt waited patiently as she tried to explain. With a large, controlled inhale, Sora began again. "Well, I had a dream the night before the whole incident happened." She told him. "And… you see, well… you told me that Izzy was going to trip. And not to eat the eggs." She stated.
Matt sighed and nodded. "Well, yes. You did tell me that earlier."
There was a brief silence. Again, Sora sighed. "And the eggs were bad." She went on. "They were. And Izzy did trip. You see?" she closed her eyes and rested them on her hands.
Matt grinned. "So you're psychic. Good for you. Go open 24-hour hotline and I'll call ya in three weeks."
Sora looked down. She didn't even smile. Frowning, Matt sat up. "Something wrong?"
"You told me an old friend of yours is coming 'tomorrow'. That was yesterday, so I suppose he's coming today, then?"
Matt froze. "And old friend." He said, making Sora look up at him. It had been more of a question than a statement, so she shrugged.
"You said his name was… Allen…"
At this, Matt bit his lip and looked at his feet. There was a long, awkward silence. They both knew what was coming next.
"Who is Allen? To you?" Sora asked.
Matt shrugged stiffly. "He's a friend. An adult, actually." Sora blinked at the déjà vu, waiting for the next line he'd said in the dream. The line didn't come. Instead he shrugged again, more for his comfort than hers. "Well, you'll know who he is soon enough." He said.
Sora stared him down for a moment. He looked back with cold, closed eyes. They just stayed in the same spot for several minutes, looking at each other. Finally Sora rolled over to look at the opposite wall.
"I wish you'd trust me…" she whispered.
Matt didn't break his stare. He just kept his eyes locked on the back of her head, running thoughts through his mind. 'trust…' he thought to himself. 'what a dumb thing. Of all the subjects to hit, we had to get all upset over TRUST.' He thought bitterly. An afterthought came up before he could suppress it.
'My weakness.'
Matt hesitated a moment, his breath hitched in his throat. Sora shifted her weight, sensing a movement behind her. She craned her head to look over her shoulder, out of the corner of her eye, to Matt.
"Hey Sora?" the boy called across the room. "About Allen…"
-
-
Nancy strolled in the corridor. Humming, she glanced out several windows that she passed. The sky was full of both sunlight and clouds. Dark shadows hung over the clouds, but the sunlight was penetrating them to reach the ground, giving everything a nice, pale glow. 'well, looks like it could either rain or be sunny today…' the woman thought to herself. She noticed the sun was high in the sky and wondered if it was time for lunch. Optimistically, she headed to the kitchen.
There was hardly anyone there. The catlike digimon was curled up in a chair, sleeping, and the boy with the large mass of brown hair was looking through the cupboards. She stepped in and looked at the clock, noting that they'd only eaten an hour ago. "I should really start watching how I eat." She mumbled to herself. In spite of her worries, she opened the nearby refrigerator. "Or join an exercise program."
"Nuthin' wrong with a little of both." The bushy haired boy answered her, standing on his tiptoes to reach a higher shelf. He brought back a soda jug and a glass from the shelves. "One two. One two. One two! Ha!" Tai punched the air enthusiastically before realizing that he was talking out loud. "Oh. Right. Sorry…" he blushed, going back to his drink.
"Was I talking out loud?" Nancy asked him, curious and slightly embarrassed.
"I believe I was." Tai answered, misinterpreting her question. "Oh, but you were too, so if you don't tell, I won't tell?" he smirked, and suddenly Nancy was reminded of Matt.
Obviously the catlike digimon, Gatomon, thought so too. "Geez, Tai. Don't go all Ishida on us." She meowed, her tail twitching. She found her feet and jumped off the chair, stretching. When she finished, her tail twitched snootily and she began to stalk out of the room. "Otherwise everyone's going to get sick of his sarcasm, and then one of you two will have a grave. Here lies Matt- the annoying. Or… here lies Tai, sadly influenced by Matt, the annoying." She mused, leaving. "I'm outta here."
Nancy couldn't help but smile. Tai just shrugged as the Digimon left the room. It became oddly silent as they went about eating. Nancy just watched as the boy poured soda into his glass and then fetched chips to go with his drink. After a moment, Tai noticed that the adult was watching him. He raised an eyebrow, and again, Nancy was reminded of her son. "Something wrong?" Tai asked.
Nancy blinked and opened her mouth. 'fine. No, nothing's wrong.' She'd meant to answer, but the words confused themselves in her mouth. "So you know my son well." she stated.
Tai blinked. "Hm? Oh. Yeah, well, I did spend half a year with Tk…"
"I… ah…" Nancy blushed. "That didn't come out right… I meant Matt." She tried to correct herself.
Blushing, Tai looked down at his glass. "Oh, right. I'm sorry, I made a false assumption. Matt's your son too. I just sort of forgot that… he doesn't talk about you much…" he trailed off, thinking with a frown. "…or about anyone in his life, really…"
Nancy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "No, it's ok, common mistake…"
This snapped Tai out of his dreamland. "Um… right. Well, yes, I know him. Everyone in our group does." He stopped. "Wow, that sounds really stupid when you say it. I mean, doesn't everyone here know Matt?" Tai stopped again. "Geez, that sounds stupid." He muttered, wincing.
Nancy looked down. "Well, not everyone knows him…"
Tai looked at her. "No?"
"No… well, I… it's just… I feel like I don't know him at all!" she blurted out. Letting go of the refrigerator door, she bit her lip in embarrassment. After the door slid shut she started again. "I mean… I don't know anything about him. And it doesn't help that he's always so… well…"
"Secretive?"
Nancy snapped her head up. In front of her, Tai gazed at her, his face sad but understanding. She found she couldn't say anything, and didn't want to. Tai was the first to speak.
"Yes. Well, Matt's just that way, you know? Never fully known…" he set his glass down. "It's like he's hiding something from us, you know? Like he doesn't want us to get to close… which I've always thought was weird, since he's got the crest of friendship and all."
Nancy nodded. "Yeah. I get that feeling sometimes too." She agreed with him. "But… If there was something he was hiding, I wish he would tell me. I hate being the idiot." She sighed. "Parents are supposed to know all about their kids, right? And I don't know anything…"
"Well that's silly!" Tai exclaimed. Blinking, Nancy looked up at him. "Well, see, even I don't know all there is to know about him. Knowledge doesn't play a big role in relationships with people." He told her. "Meaning that it doesn't matter how much you know about the person, it matters if you care enough to find that stuff out. If you love him like a parent, it doesn't matter if you don't even know his name." Suddenly Tai blushed again and rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "That… probably didn't make any sense, huh?" he asked.
The adult just stared. Finally she shook her head. "No, I think… I think it made perfect sense." She admitted.
Encouraged, Tai looked up. He smiled, a smile that you would expect from an eight year old. He looked completely carefree, and suspiciously spontaneous. "Plus, you hang out with him enough and you'll learn something new every day. Today… well, isn't his friend coming today? That Allen guy?" suddenly Tai frowned, thinking. "He did say something like that at breakfast yesterday…"
Nancy blinked at him. "So… you don't know who Allen is either?" She asked, slightly disappointed, but mostly confused.
Tai looked up at her and shook his head. "No. why? I haven't met hardly any of Matt's other friends. Why would I know about an Allen?"
"Well," Nancy sighed. "No one I've talked to knows who he is, either. Not even Richard…" the adult leaned back on her heels. "But that's not exactly a surprise, either."
Tai looked at her, a smile in his eyes, but the smile didn't reach down to his lips. It was almost as though he was amused by her comment. Again, Nancy was reminded of Matt's… er… eccentric personality. She sighed. "You know, that Gatomon was right. You do act like Matt. Poor thing…"
The smile didn't go away. Instead, it tugged at his lips, giving him a smirk. "Well, yes. Gatomon's usually right. But you know… I feel that you might just learn something important about Matt today." Nancy blinked at him as he spoke. "That is what you wanted, right?"
With that comment, the almost-sarcastic look dropped from Tai's face to be replaced by the immature, carefree one he had on earlier. "Anyway… I'd better go. Kari said she wanted to talk to me…" he picked up his juice glass and headed out the door. With one last smile, he left Nancy, who was now standing alone in the kitchen, thinking.
The adult glanced at the door that Tai had left out of, then to her feet. Frowning, she shifted her stance, and looked up at the ceiling uncomfortably.
"Well that's what I thought I wanted…"
-
-
"Ok, Sora?" Matt's voice called to her. The girl was sitting upright on her beanbag chair, taking all of what he'd just explained to her in. "Ok? Please don't tell the others…" he pleaded to her.
Sora looked at him, her eyes unreadable. Slowly she stood up. She hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the window, her shoes rhythmic and steady. She reached the windowsill, looking out. The windowsill had a bench seat, one she was tempted to sit in and just think for a while, but that wouldn't do. Matt was waiting for her answer, sitting on the bed. And if she didn't say anything, he'd probably think she hated him or something. A cloud strayed across the sun, making the light around them flicker and dim. Sora took a deep breath, steeling herself, before turning to Matt.
Anxious eyes looked up at her from the bed on the floor. Matt's perfect hair fell into his eyes, accenting their nervous blue color. His knees were pulled up to his chest, his hands supported a death grip on his ankles, locking him into position. She'd never seen his face so full of expression—nervous expression, but expression all the same.
"Well, you have to tell the others." Sora said as evenly as she could. It was the first thing she had to say, before anything else. Looking at him again, she noticed he was gazing at the floor.
Finally Matt released his ankles and groaned, like a machine that hadn't been working for years and was now rusted over. He eased out of his tense position, laying back on his bed. "I know, I know… I just… need some time to relax right now…" he breathed out, closing his eyes and massaging his temples with one hand. After a minute of silence he tiredly opened his eyes and turned his head, looking underneath his hand at Sora.
"And I DO want to be the one to tell them." He added slowly.
At this comment, Sora relaxed, sighing in relief. She carefully walked over to Matt's bed, sitting on the edge. "Well, that's good. I didn't want to have to tell them anyway."
"Tell me about it." Matt groaned.
Sora frowned worriedly. "Tired?"
"Impossibly." Matt answered. "But that's a good thing… then I won't fall asleep." He paused. "Well, not by accident, anyway. That's the important thing."
Sora gazed at him. Abruptly, she pushed herself into a cross legged position. "Well, later, we're going to have to talk more."
"No," Matt corrected. "Later, you and Allen will have to talk more. I'm beat."
Sora stuck her tongue out at him. "You know… you know… Part of me wishes… that you hadn't told me all this…"
Matt pushed himself up to look at her eyes. "But you're the one who asked. No complaining." He said, and in one fake, rehearsed action, he stuck his nose into the air indignantly and closed his eyes; a self-mocking motion.
Smiling, Sora leaned in and ruffled his hair, making him squawk in protest. "…But part of me knows that if I hadn't asked, it'd still be a problem. Right?" she released his now-mussed hair and leaned back, and Matt's hands shot up to his perfectly ruined hairstyle. He looked at her, eyebrow raised, before breaking the eye contact to stare at the floor.
"Well…"
Suddenly a pair of digidestined burst into the room. "Sora, Sora, come quick!" Joe did what Matt called his 'nervous dance' around in a circle. "Geez, Gatomon said that Tai's acting like Matt, and he's talking like him too, and I think she just went out to dig a grave for one of—Hi Matt… didn't see you there…"
Matt cocked his head, smiling at the new playfulness that had entered his dreary room. "Oh, and what, may I ask, is the catastrophe?" he asked in a light voice. "From my vantage point, if there's another Matt here, you should be celebrating and worshiping your god. I mean, Gods. If there are two of us…" he trailed off suggestively.
Mimi and Palmon had come in right behind Joe. Palmon took a seat at Mimi's feet. Mimi herself smiled sweetly and looked over Joe's shoulder at the two sitting on the bed. "He stole your smirk." Mimi added to Joe's description.
"He did WHAT?!" Matt demanded in false anger, shooting to his feet. "Oh, he'll pay for this…" pausing, he turned thoughtful. Glancing down at Sora, he snatched up her hand and swept her to her feet, twirling her as though they were dancing. "BUT! Until I reclaim my smirk, I must obtain a new one. How's this, my queen?" he plastered on an overly charming smile, batting his eyelashes and making the smile as cute as an Ishida can get it. Which, Sora had to admit, was pretty cute indeed.
"Little less on the eyelash batting and you're good, My King." Sora advised, trying to rid herself of that butterfly feeling that was rising from her stomach. She reached up to muss his hair again, but Matt put a hand over it, guarding his precious golden locks with one of his hands.
Joe blinked at his friends. They were flirting with each other. 'Hoo boy. What a time to walk in on them…' Joe thought darkly, images of what they might've been doing rising in his head. He pressed them down with a furious blush, and another thought came to his head. "Oh yeah, and we're gonna miss lunch."
Sora and Matt's heads snapped up in shock, looking at him suddenly. Sora grabbed Matt's wrist and dragged him to the door. "Oh, convenient that you forgot to mention that!" she glowered at him, bolting down the hallway to the kitchen and leaving the two messengers in the room. The door creaked shut behind them.
Joe stared at the door. "What just happened?" He asked his companion.
Mimi turned to look at him. "Oh, that blur with the orange hair? That was Sora." She told him, smirking.
"Now don't you start acting like Matt too." Joe ordered her. "One Matt is too much already!"
"Oh, you're no fun." Mimi smiled at him.
"But don't you get it?" Joe stammered. "They were… they were…"
"Flirting. I know." Mimi sighed. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. They HAVE been doing it for a while. Just not so…"
"Blatantly."
"Ghezunetight."
Joe sighed, knowing Mimi was joking. "You're never serious."
"Not since I've caught the new trend!" she agreed.
"The new trend?"
"Acting like Matt." Mimi informed him, making Joe groan. Inspecting him head to toe, Mimi grinned, trying to keep it in the form of Matt's smirk. She loved antagonizing Joe. There was just something about it that was so intoxicating, being with him, being interactive with him. Sometimes it was just too much. Suddenly, she pat Joe on the back. "Oh, ok. I'll stop. But only for you. And we'd better get down to lunch."
Joe looked at her sideways. "If I know Matt, that would be the sort of thing he'd say before he began bugging me again." He said, suspicion evident in his voice.
"Well, then."
"NO MORE MATT IMPERSONATING!" Joe cried, covering his ears.
Mimi looked over at him, smiling broadly. Joe looked at her as well, noticing that it wasn't a smirk. He uncovered his ears and raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if she was done.
"You're sorta cute like that, Joe." Mimi laughed, trotting to the door. "C'mon, let's go!" she called to him, and left. Joe stood up, completely dazed by what she'd said. Palmon left after her master, and Joe was left surveying the room.
"Huh?" he asked.
-
-
Out in the hallway, Matt was being dragged by the hand unmercifully by Sora. She was in a rush to get to lunch. Quickly Matt stretched his uncaptive hand to grab Sora's arm. When he did this, she stopped. "Matt?" she asked, frowning. It was then that Matt realized he felt extremely nervous. He looked down, trying to regain his composure.
"Um… Sora? You know… You aren't going to tell anyone, right?" he asked quickly.
Sora blinked, then looked down as well. "No, I guess I wont." She admitted. Looking up, she added with some force, "But you'd better not forget your promise!"
"Ok, Ok!" Matt assured her. "I will tell them."
"When?" she demanded.
"Right after dinner."
Sora's mouth fell open. "Already?" she asked, shocked.
Blushing, Matt shifted his stance. "Well, yeah, of course. I mean, Allen is coming around dinnertime, so, after dinner, I'll have to tell you."
Sora frowned. "You will?"
"Because…" Matt bit his lip. "I kind of asked him to tell you all, if I couldn't get it out. He's probably going to think he has to. But I want to be the one to tell my friends. In my heart, I know that much."
Sora nodded, understanding. "Oh, alright. Just… if you chicken out…!" she trailed off.
"Chicken…" Matt repeated. Suddenly his stomach growled. "Uh… Geez…"
"LUNCH!" suddenly a voice broke through, and Mimi (who'd finally caught up to them,) began pushing them in the direction of the kitchen. "Slackers! Slowpokes! Why are you still standing here? Get moving so we can eat!" she said.
Sora sighed and Matt smiled, enjoying the interruption. They'd talk later, but right now, they were hungry. After all, the serious stuff could wait. It always did.
-
-
After eating, everyone was helping clean up. Nancy and Rachel were washing the dishes, and Matt and Izzy were hauling the dishes to their mothers. Most of the other digidestined were putting the unfinished food back into the fridge, and the adults were wiping down the tables.
Matt came up nervously to his mother. Gabumon was following closely behind with a stack of dishes in his arms. He handed them to Rachel, Izzy's mom, and went to go get more. Matt stood in front of his mother, who was in the middle of washing a plate. "Mom?" he asked. Nancy turned to take the plates from him, but the boy hugged them to his chest. "Mom, listen. I told you already, but Allen's coming today, and he has to… talk… to you…"
Nancy nodded to show she understood. She tried again to take the dishes, but her son began again. "He'll be here soon, and he'll probably want to talk to Dad, but I want you to listen too. And anyone else who wants to listen is fine, but you have to listen when he talks."
"Matt, I understand. I'll pay attention. Give me the dishes now, please?"
The boy handed them over. "I'll want to talk to my friends around then, so you have to listen to Allen." He repeated. Then he walked away.
Nancy quickly did the dishes. She was done almost as fast as she had started. The woman liked to be efficient. She looked over to the table, finding everyone else finishing up. Rachel, beside her, smiled. "You're fast. So what was your son saying?"
"He said I should listen to his friend Allen when he comes later." Nancy recited obediently.
Rachel sighed, leaning against the sink. "'Allen'? Mr. Mysterious who called last?" she asked.
"Seems to be" Nancy provided.
Just then, Gennai walked into the room. He surveyed the kitchen. "Well, nice and clean. How nice to have helpers nowadays." He said to himself. Then he turned to Yamato. "By the way, your friend's walking up the entrance. I'm guessing he'll be here pretty darn soon." He informed the boy.
Excited, Matt grinned wickedly. "Really? He's close?" he asked, and a doorbell rang from overhead. "He's here!"
Matt dashed out of the room, followed closely by Sora. The other digidestined made their way after their friend, but didn't bother running. They found Matt and Sora in the entryway, Matt was busy undoing one of the three locks on the doors. When it clicked, he swung the door open enthusiastically. "Yes! Allen, it is you!" the boy laughed, throwing himself onto him.
The digidestined's jaws dropped. There was a gigantic man standing in the doorway. His face was large and had a square shape, and he was a full head taller than Richard Ishida… which made him very tall indeed. The man had energetic green eyes and a sly smile, similar to Matt's.
"This is Allen?" Sora was also gaping at how tall the man was. "You're a mountain! How can anyone grow so tall?" she asked, then blushed brightly. "Ah, sorry…"
"Red hair, blue hat… you're Sora, right?" the girl blushed even deeper. "He talked about you a lot last session. And then you…" he turned to Gabumon, who was holding the door open. "You must be Gabumon. Or is that Tsunomon?" he asked, putting a finger to his lips and thinking.
Matt popped his face out into the other's vision, resting his chin on the adult's shoulders. "No, you had it right the first time. Gabumon. Get it straight, get it straight! And while you're working on that, that's Biyomon, Palmon…" he started listing off the other digimon. When Allen began to look confused, Matt smiled. The other digidestined just stared. They couldn't believe how childish their friend was acting.
Around an adult.
"You really are acting weird, Matt." Izzy informed him. "I didn't think you even LIKED adults."
"He's practically family, the time we spend together." The other boy scoffed.
Allen was about to speak, but then he realized what Matt had just said. "Why do you always copy what I'm about to say?" he sighed.
"Because you're so predictable." He laughed. "Tai, this is the guy I told you about, who got front row seats to that one soccer game you keep drooling over? That's Tai." He told the adult, pointing to his friend.
Allen reached out and shook the boy's hand. "He speaks highly of you." Allen told Tai.
Tai blushed furiously. "He does?!"
Matt grinned evilly. "So, you got all that? Speaking of which, have you got…" at this, Allen rolled his eyes and produced a large black book bag from among his luggage. "Alright!" Matt snatched it from the man and slid from his shoulders. He took a quick peek inside, counting whatever was in there. When he was satisfied, he looked back up to Allen. "I'm going to have to take this upstairs, you know." He informed the man. "But the talking will be after dinner later."
Allen facepalmed at that comment. Matt just shrugged. "You knew it would come to this. You told me yourself. So get to know my other friends, here. Later." In a slight change of mood, Matt shot down the hallway, slinging the backpack over his shoulder as he ran.
"How many times do I have to tell you," Allen called after him. "Don't RUN!"
Matt slowed to a walk for a second, reaching the stairway. He looked back to see Allen watching him. He obediently walked slowly to the stairs and took a step, glanced back to the giant adult, then darted up the stairs, laughing. "I said…" the adult began, but gave up when he could no longer see the kid.
"Never mind him, he's always like that." Sora approached the man. "So… you're Allen?" she asked hesitantly. "He's been talking about you for the past day or two."
"So I guess you know all about me, then," Allen raised his eyebrow, as though he wasn't expecting the answer to be 'yes'.
Sora raised her own eyebrow. "Nope, you've pretty much been the 'mister mysterious' around here. No one can quite figure out what he was talking about." She shrugged.
Izzy tapped his chin. "Matt wasn't very clear on why you were coming. But he seems attached to you, at any rate," he assumed, holding out his hand. "I'm Izzy, by the way."
"Nice to meet you," Allen replied, shaking the gloved hand.
"Call me Kari!" the digidestined of light piped up from the back, waving at him.
"I'm Joe," Joe said, approaching Allen. "Matt probably didn't mention me, though…"
Allen shook his head. "Oh, no, I believe that he mentioned all of you," he said, nodding. "He told me everything—all about the digital world and the digimon and the weird snowing thing at your campsite… at the time, I halfway thought he was kidding, but after the whole digimon-taking-over-the-city thing, I realized he had to have been right," the man sighed.
Taichi blinked, surprised. "Wait, he told you all of that before the digiworld was revealed?" he asked, his jaw dropping. "I can't believe he'd tell!"
Allen shrugged, standing straighter. "Why? Yamato tells me everything."
"Wowww…" was all Tai could say.
Izzy shrugged, blushing lightly. "We… sort of have a hard time getting him to open up to us, really," the kid admitted.
"I know," Allen gave them a smile. "He doesn't open up to a lot of people… it almost makes me feel honored, that he opens up to me. Speaking of which… are Matt's parents around?" he asked, glancing his surroundings.
"Mom 'n Dad are waiting in the kitchen," Tk said, jumping in place to catch Allen's attention. "We just had lunch, so they were finishing cleaning up while we met you at the door."
Allen smiled at him. "And you are…?"
"I'm Tk!" the kid beamed at him.
"Matt's younger brother?" Allen blinked, surprised. "I didn't expect to be meeting you here. He talks about you sometimes." The man commented, following the short child into the kitchen.
Once they walked in, the adult's heads turned. Izzy's dad, who was shuffling some papers, stared when they walked in, letting the papers slide down onto the table again. Nancy stopped chewing on a leftover breadstick that she'd found while cleaning up, and her ex husband stopped drying plates momentarily. They all stared at the gigantic human that had just walked through the door.
"you're, uh… big…" Chris, Izzy's dad, said at last.
"No, I'm Allen," the man corrected him with a smirk. Nancy blinked—his sarcasm reminded her of Matt.
"So you're the mystery man that called a few days ago," she said, trying to stop staring at him. Really, she'd never seen anyone so tall. "Matt's been… mentioning you lately."
The man rubbed the back of his neck with a large hand. "Good. I didn't want to drop in on you all unexpectedly," he said politely. "But really, it would be just like Yama to not mention I was coming, so I wasn't really sure."
"He said… that you wanted to talk to me, or something," Nancy commented.
At this, Allen let out a sigh, much to many of the kids' surprise. "I figured he hadn't told you yet," the man groaned. "Apparently, he wants our little chat to take place after dinner."
Nancy nodded, and Tk looked around. "Well, if you're going to be here for a while, why don't we do something until dinner?" he asked, pausing. "I got it! Let's play a game!"
"A game?" Joe asked, giving the eight-year-old a look. "Allen's an adult."
"I like games, though," Allen gave them a shrug. "What kind? I'm sure Matt'll be busy for a bit." He glanced up the staircase as he spoke.
"Ah, Matt doesn't really like games. He likes to watch, usually." Tk gave a shrug. "But we could play… how about twister?" the kid asked.
"Nuh-uh," Sora shook her head. "I'll be out in less than one turn!"
"You're exaggerating!" Tai waved her concerns away. He gave her a sly look. "Or are you just chicken?" he sang suggestively.
Sora balked. "I am not chicken!"
"Then it's settled, you'll play!" he exclaimed back, clapping his hands together.
"I never said-!" Sora began, but stopped. "Oh, fine, but I know I won't win!"
"Should I change?" Mimi asked, looking down at her skirt.
Joe nodded. "That… would probably be a good idea." He agreed. He looked around as Mimi left the kitchen for the upstairs. "Say, does this place even have a twister board?" he asked, giving Tk a look. He obviously didn't believe it.
"I checked." Tk nodded. "Kari and I found it in that place where all the games are kept. Didn't you see it when you started that game of chess with Izzy?" he asked, making the others smirk; they remembered that game with a very clear memory.
Joe remembered too, and blushed vividly. "I… wasn't the one who got the game board out." He said quickly.
"I wonder if Rachel wants to play…" Chris wondered aloud, naming his wife. He looked around, then walked out the door to look for her. "Don't start without me!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Tai called back as he left. the digidestined leader motioned to another door, one that led to the leisure rooms. "Shall we?"
"I'll be there in a second. I figure that'll be some game to watch," Richard commented, going back to his earlier task of drying plates.
Sora sighed in relief. "So I won't be the only one sitting out once I fail," she said to herself.
Joe turned to look at her as they left the kitchen. "You do realize that if you keep thinking you're going to lose, you will lose, right?" he asked, giving her a skeptical look behind his glasses.
"I'll take my chances," Sora retorted, folding her arms. "And I'll also put my money on the fact that you're going to be one of the first ones sitting out with me."
Joe gave her a startled look. "Why do you think that?" he asked, earning "looks" from the other kids present.
"Because you're a klutz, obviously," Izzy offered frankly with a shrug.
"If I were Sora, that's what I'd guess too," Nancy gave him an apologetic look. The woman had followed them out of the kitchen, tagging along, and had decided to put her two cents into the conversation. "It just seems like the logical answer."
Defiantly, Joe folded his arms over his chest. "Well I'll have you know that I'm fairly good at twister," he stated. "And don't you forget it."
"Forget it? Let's see you prove it first," Tai said, putting an arm around the older boy's shoulders and grinning wickedly.
Joe hesitated, then re-assumed his earlier confidence. "I will. And believe me, you're going to regret assuming I'm bad at twister!" he stated.
-
-
Actually, it was true. Joe was a very good twister player.
Even though most people were still in the game, it was clear that Joe had the advantage. No one had considered that he had the longest arms and legs of any of the children, and that he was skinnier than most of the adults, giving him more of a range to complete the 'task' the caller gave them of reaching the colored orbs, and also giving him the ability to squeeze through tight cracks in the crowd.
Sora watched them play from the sidelines. As predicted, she'd gone out in the third round, when left-hand-green had been called. Clearly, she had no gift at this game whatsoever.
As she watched, bored, random thoughts popped up in her head. Her conversation with Matt rose up in her mind, creating doubtful questions. Would he really tell his family all of that? Would he really tell his friends?
It seemed like a big secret to keep, much less to tell. Honestly, she couldn't believe the news herself. It almost seemed like a dream, or a joke that Matt was playing on her. After all, no one could keep that kind of secret for long.
A crash broke through her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. Before her, she saw two people who'd fallen on the twister game. One was Rachel, (Izzy's mom,) and the newcomer, Allen.
Both sat up with a blush. "Whoops," Rachel commented, sighing. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine," Allen waved her apology away. "It's a game. Besides, you couldn't avoid that," he commented. Sora guessed that the two must've run into one another and fallen.
The two adults slid out from the group, as they were now out of the game. Rachel went to sit on a nearby stool, whereas Allen came and sat right by Sora on the couch that the girl had made herself comfortable on. "Mind if I sit?" he asked.
Sora blinked up at him. Finally she shook her head, and the man took a seat, eyes watching the game, which had now resumed. She studied him, wondering if she should ask him about Matt. Honestly, he was probably the only one that could answer her questions right now. In a hushed tone, she called to him.
"Matt told me about you," she told him quietly, and the man beside her blinked.
Allen sat straighter, looking at the girl questioningly. "Did he now?"
"Dr. Allen Rider, lives in Kyoto. Has a wife but no children. Matt said he's known you for a few years, even before his parents got a divorce." She explained to him, not really meeting his eyes. "Matt said you two were close because of the…" she fell silent momentarily. "It's not true, is it?" she blurted out suddenly.
Allen blinked at the sudden question. "Not true?" he repeated.
"What Matt said. It can't be true. He had to have been joking," Sora decided, looking at him earnestly. "Right? He was joking. Tell me he was joking."
Beside her, Allen's eyes opened wide in shock. "He actually told you everything? Everything?" he demanded softly in disbelief, now ignoring the game.
When the man avoided her question, Sora let out a sigh. "He did," the girl gave him a shrug, leaning back into the couch. "But that doesn't mean I'm happy about it."
The man shook his head, leaning back into the couch as well. his eyes seemed distant as he recalled a memory, focusing on an image in his mind that Sora could not see. "I'd imagine not," he answered her softly. "If Yamato told you what I think he told you… then no, he wasn't lying." The man shook his head. "I really can't believe he told you. I didn't think he'd tell anybody."
Sora looked down, thinking. "He's going to tell the rest of them," she assured the man. "Tonight before dinner. He'll tell the rest of us."
"Meaning his friends, not his family." Allen groaned, rubbing his temples.
"He's closer with us than he is to his parents," Sora pointed out. "You shouldn't be surprised that we're going to be the first to know his secret."
Allen shrugged, not really agreeing with her. "He's known you for less time, though. I had thought that he already told his father." Allen muttered quietly, glancing at the place where Richard Ishida stood, watching the game. "I even called his house and left a message on the answering machine. But Richard never got that message. Matt's… not to keen on letting his family know about it."
Sora remained silent, thoughts roaming back to Matt. She already knew what 'it' was, and if Sora was sure that if she were in Matt's shoes, she'd feel the same way. With a sigh, she let her eyes fall on Allen again. "I guess now's not the time to be talking about that," she gave him a shrug. "I just… didn't want it to be true."
Allen sighed as well. "I know. No one wants it to be true." He told her. "We just have to deal with it when we deal with it."
"Right," Sora took a deep breath, putting the bad thoughts to the back of her mind. Instead of worrying about it, she turned to watch the twister game just in time to see Tai slip and do a summersault off of the board. The action made her burst out laughing, as others who were still in the game bit their lips. If they laughed now, chances are, they'd end up on the floor just like Tai did.
Tai gave a groan, standing up and making his way over to Sora. "Well, it's official. I'm a klutz." He told the giggling girl, sitting by her.
Sora let her laugh die down, watching the game. There was nothing she could do about Matt, after all. Why not enjoy the time while they had it? After all, Matt had ignored the serious things for years, so she could ignore it until at least after dinner.
She wasn't looking forward to that, anyway.
-
-
They played three twister games before dinnertime. Joe won two of them, much to everyone's surprise, and Izzy's mother, Rachel, won the last one. Sora had managed to be the first one out every time.
Of course, after that entertaining sight, people were hungrier than usual. When they walked into the kitchen, they found a pleasant surprise; the food was already on the table. While the group had been playing the game, Matt and everyone's digimon had been preparing the dinner. When they walked in, Matt turned and smirked.
"Well, you all look tired," he mentioned wryly. "Bet that you're hungry, huh?"
the kids nodded, but Richard looked suspiciously at his son. "What's with you? You never dirty your hands setting the table. At least not by yourself."
Matt beamed. "Glad you asked! See, since we set the table for you," he motioned around the room, getting Gabumon, Agumon and Biyomon to grin, "That means you all have to clean the table afterwards."
The news made most of the group groan. "Hey, it is fair," he said, giving a smile. "Ok, it's not like I expect my friends to do that, but isn't that just common courtesy, for an adult?" he asked, looking at his parents, and his friend's parents. It was slightly surprising; they didn't think he'd pull that card on them. In Japanese culture, most of the time the children didn't have to set or clear the table, or many other chores like that. The fact that the digidestined actually helped out was a rarity that was just happening because the time in the digital world had made them more responsible.
Richard sighed, knowing he'd been backed into a corner. "Fine." He mumbled grudgingly. "I'll help clean up after dinner in your place."
At this, Matt gave a genuine smile. "Thanks."
Allen came around the group to look at Matt. "You're just trying to put off the talk, aren't you?" he asked.
"You bet!" Matt called back, merrily going back to setting the table. The reply made Allen (and Sora,) groan. Yamato put the bowl he'd been carrying down onto the table, something occurring to him. "Oh, and guys," he turned to his friends. "This is to Tai and everybody. After dinner, we really do need to talk."
Sora blinked at him, then over to Tai. Tai blinked at the comment. "You mean just us?" he motioned to the kids. When Matt nodded, Tai smiled. "All right. About what?"
There was a moment of silence, and Matt just shrugged. "Can't say."
Gennai chose that moment to enter through the door, carrying what seemed to be the last plate of food. "Food's on, time to eat!" he called, and everyone gathered around the table. Matt did a quick count to see if he forgot anything, disappearing into the kitchen for a moment to get salt and pepper shakers that were not on the table yet.
Sora took a seat, saving one for Matt once he got back. She eyed the food, her stomach growling. Others took their seats, though there was some fuss; Tai and Tk were arguing who would sit next to Allen, who'd chosen a spot on the other side of Matt's saved chair.
"I'm older, so I should be allowed to sit there!" Tai exclaimed, pointing to the free chair beside Allen.
"Well, Allen's my brother's friend, so I say it's my seat!" Tk countered.
"Yeah?" Tai paused, trying to come up with a better argument. "Well, Allen's my friend's friend, so I should sit next to him! And I'm older!" he repeated.
"But I'm younger!" Tk said back, countering Tai's remark.
Kari made her way over there, looking between the kids. "What are you two bickering about?" she asked, her voice scolding.
Each pointed to one another. "He says I can't sit by Allen!" they both exclaimed at the same time.
"Why are you getting into a fight over that? We barely know him," Kari pointed out.
Tai paused, not really knowing the answer. Tk seemed to know, though. "Because Allen's the new guy! I'll bet he tells good stories!" the boy exclaimed with a grin.
The digidestined leader jumped forward. "Well, I figured that he probably had some questions about the digital world, and I'd tell him all about it!"
The door to the kitchen swung open, revealing Matt with the numerous salt and pepper shakers. "Oh, and by that I suppose you mean 'tell him all about our adventures', right?" Matt gave him a smirk, distributing the condiments he held in his hand along the table. "You know, you could just both sit next to him. Why don't you…" the blonde finished putting the salt and pepper on the table and came up beside Allen, noticing that between him and Sora was an empty chair. It clicked; Sora had saved a single chair for him, and Allen was probably sitting on the other side. "Oh."
Allen looked wryly up at Matt. "You don't actually expect me to leave you alone during supper, do you?" he asked with a grin. "You never eat your vegetables."
Matt scrunched up his nose. "'never eat my vegetables'?" he repeated. "Honestly, what I eat and how much of it isn't really your business. What are you, my mother?" the boy blinked at his own question, then groaned, already knowing Allen's answer.
"Well, I could be, you never know," Allen smirked, and Sora giggled.
Matt hung his head. "Okay, hello? Why is everyone saying that? Everyone's acting like my mother! First mom, then Gennai, then Sora, now you… I can take care of myself, you know!"
"riiiight." Allen gave him another smirk, pointing to the chair. "Sit."
With a groan of protest, Matt sank into his seat as Taichi and Takaru began arguing again. "I say it's my seat!"
"Yeah, well, I say it's mine!"
Kari looked at her brother, then at Tk. "Well, I say it's my seat." she said flatly.
Both pairs of eyes snapped over to her figure as she crawled into the seat next to Allen. The size difference between her and Allen was really quite a sight, and Sora giggled at the thought. Tai and Tk were busy trying to talk her out of sitting there.
"But Ka-ri!" Tk whined.
"That was supposed to be my seat!" Tai stared in disbelief.
Kari turned her sights on them. "Well, you both should know better. Besides, there's more room on the other side of the table!" she pointed. "what's wrong with those seats?"
Tai paused, looking at the chairs. "Ummm….."
"I guess that could work," Tk sighed, going around.
Allen looked down to her. "Does this happen often?" he asked, watching as Tai made the trip around to the other side of the table.
"All the time," Kari answered for him.
The adult smiled. He had a feeling that this girl was really something special. "Do you always have to break up the fights?"
"No…" Kari shrugged, taking some food from in front of her. Others at the table had already started eating. "But Tai—he's my brother, you know—is kind of a hothead. He argues with Matt sometimes."
Tk, from the other side of the table, rolled his eyes. "That was nothing, Kari," the kid scolded. "You should've seen them before you joined the team. They were bickering left and right!"
"Oh?" Allen's eyes strayed over to Matt, sitting beside him. The boy was already deep in conversation with Sora, and didn't realize he was the subject of the others' discussion. Absently, the blonde boy picked up a dish of string beans, taking a few. As soon as he put the bowl down, Allen calmly took it and proceeded to give Yamato another spoonful.
Matt watched the action with displeasure. "Hey!" he protested, seeing that his green-bean count had tripled.
"You're going to eat it, Matt," Allen ordered lightly.
The guardian of friendship head-desked. "Must you do this every time we eat together?!" the boy demanded. Reluctantly, he picked up a lonely green bean and began munching on it.
"So you bicker with Tai a lot, do you?" Allen asked, ignoring the youth's earlier question.
Matt looked at him, slightly startled. "Where'd you hear that?" he asked, looking at Sora for some clue. The brunet rolled her eyes and pointed across the table to Tk, who ducked his head beneath the table. "Shoulda known," Matt groaned when he saw this.
"Actually, they don't fight much any more," Sora reported back to Allen.
"Still," Allen gave Matt a look. "You should know better. Compromise is always the solution, whether you like it or not."
Matt took some food out of another dish, beginning to eat it. He slurped up a noodle, giving Allen the same look that he himself had received. "And you're one to talk," scoffed the blonde. "You remember Cornelius Mitagawa?"
The question made the adult wince. "Unfortunately. But that's a different story."
"No, it isn't. it's exactly the same." Matt asserted, taking another bite of his food.
"Who's Cornelius Mitagawa? What happened with him?" Kari asked.
Allen sat straighter, clearing his throat. He was fully prepared to defend his actions. "Well you know, it's a funny story actually…" he said, making Tk and Kari sit up brightly, light shining in their eyes. They loved a good story.
Seeing this, Matt chuckled to himself. It was going to be a pleasant dinner.
-
-
Sora caught Matt's attention after the dinner. Matt made a motion to step out in the hallway, away from any prying eyes or ears, to talk. Dinner was over, and it was time to get down to business. Dinner? It had been a good gathering, full of engaging stories and amused comments, and both kids were stuffed, but now they had more serious things to worry about.
Once in the hallway, Sora stood close to Matt, looking him straight in the eye. "You ready?" she whispered to him. Gabumon, who'd also followed them out, looked up at Matt worriedly.
Yamato let out a heavy sigh, squeezing his eyes shut. He just wanted it all to go away. Was that too much to ask? "As ready as I'll ever be," he replied.
Sora took his hands, making the eleven-year-old look up in surprise. "You'll do fine," Sora reassured, looking into his deep blue eyes.
They held this position for a moment. Matt felt his thoughts drift uncharacteristically, feeling the warmth of Sora's hands against his. After a moment, he took a deep breath and looked away. "I hope so." He muttered, more to himself than to her. "I'll be upstairs in my room. Could you…?"
"Get the others?" Sora finished his open-ended question. "Sure."
She was rewarded with a grateful smile from Matt. Without another word, he turned and trudged up the staircase, Gabumon following closely behind. Watching him go, Sora felt a twinge of sadness, but brushed it away. Readying herself, she turned to the kitchen.
The girl stepped inside, and was greeted by Tai. "Ah. Sora." He commented in that strange I-just-found-the-homework-I-was-supposed-to-hand-in-three-weeks-ago-in-my-backpack tone he sometimes took. The thought made Sora grin, but she suppressed her laughter when he spoke again. "I was looking for Matt. He said something about…?" he paused, seeing the gigantic grin on Sora's face. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." The girl tried to wipe the grin off her face, only succeeding in making it wider.
"Honestly! Do I have something in my teeth?" asked the boy, licking the front of his pearly-white smile. While doing so, however, he made an even funnier face, making Sora's grin nearly turn into a laugh. "C'mon, what's up with you?"
Sora tried once again to stop grinning. Come on, think of something serious! She demanded herself, knowing she was grinning like a fool. It only took a second to come up with something serious, though; an image of Matt trudging up the stairs just a moment ago came to mind. The mental picture made the smile drop immediately off her face.
"Matt's upstairs." Sora answered his earlier question, completely sober now.
"well, then, we should…!" he paused, looking around. "Where did everyone else go?" he called out.
"You mean us?" his mother called from the kitchen. Matt's earlier display had, apparently, caused all the adults to do the entire cleaning job. Most of the adults were in the kitchen currently, and those that weren't were ferrying dirty dishes between the table and there.
"Looks like Allen's not going to be able to talk with Matt's parents for a while," Sora said to herself quietly.
"No, mom, I wasn't talking about you guys." Tai shook his head. "Kaarrriii! Teeeeekkkaayyy!" he called loudly.
"You don't have to shout," Tk scolded. His figure rounded the table. "Me and Kari were just talking."
"Where is everyone?" he asked.
Kari rounded the corner of the table as well. "Looking for Matt. Where else?" she asked. "You know, he's probably in his room, isn't he?"
"Just up there waiting with Gabumon," Sora nodded.
Tai sighed. "Looks like we're going to have to round up the others…" he groaned to himself. "All right. You have five minutes," he pointed to the three other digidestined. "Sora, you check the west area, Kari, you check outside, Tk, you check the games room, and I'll check the rooms upstairs. Ready? Break!" he shouted, mimicking a football quarterback. Obediently, the others headed off into their assigned areas of the gigantic mansion.
It took a while to round everyone up, but they managed to do it. The group stood outside Matt's door, which was shut. Sora took a moment to look at them, then let her eyes wander down the staircase. They'd taken so long to find everyone… Allen was probably talking with Matt's parents by now. The girl turned to the group. "Ok, be sensible guys." She ordered in a whisper, so Yamato wouldn't hear from inside the room. "Matt's got a secret, and you know how he is with secrets. But he wants to tell it to you guys, so don't be rude, ok? It's really hard for him."
Most of the group looked slightly surprised and/or confused, but they all nodded in agreement.
Sora stepped cautiously up to the door, knocking lightly on the wood. "Matt? We're here," she said softly. Carefully, she opened the door.
Across the room, Matt was sitting on his window seat, looking out the window. He was curled up, clutching his legs to his body. Beside him, on the floor, sat Gabumon. Matt stroked the digimon absently as he watched the outdoors. Outside, the sunlight was dying quickly, and that was the only light in the room; all of his lights were shut off. Still, the fading sunset was providing quite a vivid scene, and was enough to light the room, so no one touched the lights.
The digidestined children and a few of their digimon filed in. Many took seats on the floor in front of Matt, and Sora sat on a chair beside the boy.
"What was it you wanted to talk to us about, Matt?" tai asked once he was comfortable. Matt glanced over to where his friend sat before looking back outside. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again. All the while he stroked Gabumon's fur.
"Is it really that hard to start?" Gabumon asked his human. Matt looked down and gave his digimon friend a weak smile.
"Well, you see…" Matt started, addressing the group. "I… I'm… sick."
Tai, on the floor, blinked. "Oh. Well, I hope you get better!" he said, looking over Matt. The others remained silent.
Matt flinched and looked out the window. "It's not… well… um… you see, it's a chronic disease."
"Chron.. what?" Tai asked, confused.
Joe sat up straighter, looking Matt over. "Chronic? You're joking. When'd you find this out?" he asked the blonde. Then he turned to Tai. "kron-ick. It means it's a disease that lasts for more than six months." He explained to the boy.
Matt huffed bitterly. "It means I'm probably going to die with the disease." He growled, then paused. "Actually, it's more like I'm going to die because of it. I will never get better."
Joe shook his head. "Matt, come on. Not all chronic diseases are fatal. Who says you won't be cured?"
"Past references. This one's fatal." Matt cringed at how nasty that sounded.
The doctor-in-training raised a worried eyebrow, standing up. "But… ok, I'll play along. What's the disease called?" he asked. "Don't tell me it's cancer or something."
The blonde boy hugged his legs tighter. "It's… it's a rare disease. Really rare. And it's young, they don't even have a name for it. they just call it… Fraility."
At this, there was a long, drawn out silence. Tai looked up to Joe's face to find it had gone completely white. Fear flashed in the older boy's eyes. It made Tai worried… in diseases, if Joe was scared, it probably was really bad. "Joe?" the boy asked quietly.
Instead of answering, the standing boy took a step forward towards Matt. Then another, and another, until he came to stand beside him. He stared down to the younger boy. "Joking." He forced out. When Matt said nothing, Joe got even more upset. "Tellme you're Joking. Tell me!"
Matt looked down, ashamed. "Would I lie about this?" he asked evenly.
Another silence pursued. Joe looked one way, then the other, nervous. His hand twitched once. "Where… where did it start?" he asked cautiously.
Matt sighed. "My legs."
Instinctively, Joe raised a hand. He reached down, setting his hand on the cloth covering the boy's leg. Carefully, he began to peel it backwards to try and see the boy's skin. When Matt realized what his friend was doing, he frantically snatched his leg away and put a hand on his arm. "You really… You really don't want to see it…" he cautioned the older boy.
Joe lowered his eyes. He backed away, slowly turning to move outside the group, where he had room to pace. Everyone except Matt watched him go back and forth on the floor. Finally, when Tk started feeling dizzy, he cleared his throat. "So, Joe… what's Fraility?" he asked.
Joe stopped, facing the wall. He stood for a moment, then sighed and rubbed his eyes in frustration. "it's a very bad disorder, Tk. It's… it's…" the boy searched for words the boy would understand. "In the human body, cells are always dying, and being replaced or repaired. Fraility is when the tissue and muscle in a certain part of the body die faster than they're repaired."
"So it's like leukemia?" Mimi asked.
"No, the blood cells don't die, just the tissue and muscle. And just in one area."
Tai looked back at Matt. "Well, I don't see how that would be a problem." He said, confused.
"It makes everything weaker. His muscle diminishes, doesn't support the bone, sometimes it makes people break bones easier, and makes it harder for them to heal." He explained. "It makes the ligaments—what holds the bones together—disappear and sprain something. The skin turns red and wears away, exposing the stuff underneath it. sometimes the skin turns black…" the boy winced. "If the disorder gets really bad…"
Matt cleared his throat. "For your information, it isn't black, not yet. And it's a disease, not a disorder."
Joe ignored the comment. "See, Tai, if Matt has it in his legs… he might loose the ability to walk, or the disorder—disease," he corrected when Matt glared at him. "The disease could spread up, to his heart or brain or lungs and wear them down, till they can't work anymore."
"So… they have to amputate his leg?" Mimi asked, horrified.
"No." Matt sighed. "They've already tried that with one person. She had it on her arm, and she wanted it cut off. So they did, and she got better, but the next month it… spread to her other arm. She died."
Izzy looked at his friend with sorrow. "I'm sorry. Did you two know each other well?" he asked.
"Well, yes. All of us knew each other. There's only been eight cases in the world, after all." Matt told him, and Izzy blinked. "Hey, I said it was rare. Everyone's died, though. Virginia was the first… I know I'm probably next. I've been pushing my luck…"
"Matt." The boy looked up to Joe. His voice was stern. "Matt, how long have you HAD this disease?"
the golden haired boy squirmed. "Oh, I don't really know… you see… well, about… four, five, maybe even six…" the boy trailed off.
"Six what?" Joe prompted. "Matt, come on, six what? Weeks? Months?"
Matt looked at him with weary eyes. "Years?" he supplied.
Joe just stared in disbelief. "Six… oh boy. You're not… Years? Six years? You can't…" he faltered, then tried to smile. "You must have a good immune system, Matt. You won't die because of... I mean, six years! That's longer than anybody I've heard! And… and not everyone's died, there has been one that's…" he stopped.
"I was the first one to officially contract the disease. I'm the first person who was taken to the hospital with this disease. I'm the person who's had the disease the longest, and the only one who's even slightly recovered. I'm the only one who hasn't died because of it. everyone dies after the first year. Now Allen says it's getting worse again, and… and…" Matt shook his head.
"Wait." Tai interrupted. "How does Allen play into this entire thing?"
"H-he… he's my doctor. Doctor Allen Rider? The world's leading expert on Fraility." He grinned sheepishly as Joe stared again.
"Dr. Rider? You're joking! He's a legend!" Joe exclaimed. Then, suddenly, he stopped. "Why is he here?"
"He's my doctor, and… he needs to talk to my parents." Matt said vaguely.
"I need more than that." Joe sighed.
Matt took a deep breath. "Let's start from the beginning. When I was six years old, I was out in a park, and got sick. I was sitting on a park bench, and Allen found me there. He was taking a break, about to go home. He saw me sitting there and asked what was wrong, I told him my legs hurt and I couldn't see. He took me to the hospital right away."
"I got better, a day later. Felt fine. I went home, and he had me monitored, see my progress. He found out that I had a new disease, one that no one heard of before. My legs were dying too fast, he said."
"We monitored it for three months. It got worse, but only a little. Then Virginia got it. she was from Kyoto. They'd never seen anything like it. She came up to see Allen too. But… Allen noticed her disease was dying faster than mine. He got worried, and sent the word out to other places in the world to see if anyone else knew something like this. Someone in America had just gotten it too, just the early stages. The American's was even faster than Virginia's."
the boy—his name was Arnold—he had his start in his shoulder. It turned black and began wearing down his heart. Virgina got worried and had her arm amputated, but it came back right by her heart. She died a little while later, and so did Arnold, two weeks after. I stayed pretty much the same."
"Others got the disease. One in Germany, one in Canada… others that are in various countries… they all got worse and died. Then I started getting worse. About a year and a half ago. I was nine…"
"I was hospitalized. Allen was worried… we'd become good friends. He thought it was my time, that I'd die like the rest. But a week in the hospital, and I got better. No one had gotten better before. They thought I was different, like something was curing me, or special about my body, so everyone looked at my case."
"There WAS something different. Allen figured it out first. I was taking this drug… one he'd invented himself, see. It made the cells stop dying, and last longer, and I would recover. And… now…" Matt smiled. "There's a cure. We think, anyways. Everyone's waiting, and the testing was done… but then we came back from the digital world."
Matt's voice turned sour. "I was feeling lightheaded. I went in for a checkup, like he told me to, and afterwards, I felt a bit better. And now he calls me up to say it's getting worse again."
He hid his head in his hands. The room was silent, and they heard Matt panting slightly, as if he'd just done something really hard. Izzy looked up to him. "No problem, though, right Matt? I mean, if there's a cure…" the redhead looked up to see Matt distraught. "What's the matter?" he asked his friend.
"I need surgery."
Joe's face blanched. "It's ok, Matt, surgeries aren't that bad." He consoled, trying to hide worry from his face.
Matt huffed. "Joe, it's a new surgery, we don't know if it will go wrong, we don't know if it will work, and there's a 70 chance of death. There's a high chance we won't fix it. there's a chance it will cripple me, it may kill me. And it's in a hospital, and it's for a long period of time, and I don't know if I'll recover afterwards!" he cried. "I… and there's one more problem. I need parental permission. Tests are ok with out it, but my father… my mother… they have to make the decision now."
"They'll say yes, Matt, if you need it." Sora consoled.
Matt looked at her, his face bitter. "And that's where we run into the problem."
Sora was confused. He hadn't mentioned the parental permission when he described who Allen was earlier. He'd said everything else, but not that. "What's the problem, then?" she asked.
From downstairs came their answer. Richard Ishida's voice shrieked up the stairs. "Yamato Ishida, you get down here this instant!!!" he screamed. The children practically levitated out of their seats for a moment. They'd never heard him shout so loud. Matt buried his face in his hands again.
Sora looked at him, shocked. "Matt, y-you never… you never told him about the disease, did you?"
Matt was trembling.
"No, I didn't…"