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Written: 11.o3.o7
Thanks to Calmer of the Storm, JyouraKoumi, BelovedSaiSai, crest of music, InitialJs, Shikyo Yaiba, Wishinstahhz, Flashing Silver, pain herself, Moppy, Princess-Maiden, pickledevil, Lullaby oF DaRkNeSS, kathlaida-princess, jmj102 and Malcolm Yuy for reviewing!
To the readers below: I couldn't reply to you by e-mail because I don't know your email and also because you don't have a account. THANKS FOR REVIEWING TOO!
lil miss child: LOL! I'd love to change Erica to Erika...because somehow 'Erika' looks better...but maybe when I have the time too. Sure, it may be an easy process, but my computer is extremely slow. Thanks for the compliments!
Bla: I know, both Kari and TK are wayyy OOC. I'm just curious to why you hate TK in this story. Haha. I'm glad that you expected that they were going to get together (at chp 4)..but then I wouldn't call that a story. Haha. The story needed more problems. Haha.
KatarasHomegirl & Drunkenchicken94: Sorry, another late update. haha. You've probably forgotten this story and the excitement by now. Sorry . lol
a/n: Again, I don't own all those basketball teams and Digimon. ;D
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Paparazzi
Chapter Twelve: Losing Belief
By Flipstahhz
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The tension was so thick that it was suffocating him. Instead of their basketball changing room being animated, wild, lively and entertaining…it was replaced with a dark dreary silence. Takeru observed his team and grimaced. Not a single player, in his team, had uttered a single word since their painful defeat. All of them were sitting on the benches, legs apart and gazing at the cement ground. They were so quiet that they could just make out their opponent's loud cheering and celebrating through the stone walls. Guilt swerved in the pit of his stomach. If he hadn't missed the hoop in that quarter of a second…they would have won. It had been his fault; and the team had to suffer because of that. Some captain he was.
He couldn't take it anymore.
"FUCK!"
Before he knew it, he had jolted up and was walking to the other side of the changing room, slamming the door behind him, and began beating the lockers with his fists clenched in a blind rage. He suddenly felt his jersey's sides being pulled on as he was rammed against the solid wall. The vice captain and the OSG Phoenixs' coach had silently slipped in while he was going on his self-culpable tangent.
"TK, pull yourself together!" Curtis divulged. He let go of the captain's jersey, letting TK's feet touch the floor to stare up at the taller man.
"How can I? It's our second defeat against them – two years in a row! I screwed up-"
"Yes, you did," their coach said bluntly. He had been standing there, arms folded, the whole time. His eyes burning down at TK in a deadly trance. "I don't know what the hell happened to you lately…but if you plan doing this, again, you'll be demoted. Curtis scored more hoops than you tonight. I'd gladly make him the new captain if you don't shape up soon. Hell, it's not even certain if our team got a place in the championship anymore. It'll be a miracle to get us back in the game."
With that being said, the coach made an exit and slamming the door behind him. The two men stared at the captain in disbelief. They had never seen their coach this serious before.
"Looks like you're going to be the new capt," TK said sarcastically.
"Shut-up, Takaishi. Everyone knows you're the best captain we've had for a long time. Plus, I don't deal with stress well. There is no way in hell I'll kick you off your throne."
"Thanks, man."
Curtis smiled. "Don't worry about it. Looks like we'll have to wait for next season."
"Yeah," the blond headed man struggled a reply. "If only I hadn't missed-"
"No regrets! What's happened, has happened already…we can't do anything about it but make amends in the future and kick the Aisin Seahorses' butts – if they have any!" Curtis declared. "Plus, since Hitachi Sunrockers won against Nigata Albirex…they'll be competing Aisen now. And if Sunrockers win, we may have a chance! Stop blaming it all on yourself. So what if you missed out on those points? It was also the whole team's fault for making the score too close as well. We can't always rely on you, Takaishi."
"Right," TK grumbled succinctly even though he still was enwrapped with immense shame.
For the second time the door to smaller changing room was opened to reveal Daisuke. He was still attired in his mascot clothing from cheering the team on that night. The bottom half of his body was covered in the phoenix costume, while his upper body was relieved of the bird's head. Daisuke's face was scarlet. TK figured out that it was from applauding and motivating the crowd…but he soon realized that it had nothing to do with it.
"What the hell, TK?"
"Huh?" he replied back, unsure. He blinked. "Oh. If it's because I missed the hoop…yes I know I did shit and-"
"I knew this would happen…I thought you'd at least gain some common sense to stop it when-"
"Stop what?"
"Don't be a smartass! You know you've been distracted with Kari all along! This whole game…you were probably thinking of her!"
TK frowned. Daisuke just had to remind him... He perfectly knew why he had stuffed up with his performance. And being told the answer again was just making him even more frustrated.
"Dai," Curtis warned. "Don't-"
"I can't believe you didn't see this coming! She works for a bloody magazine, TK! With information that big…it was bound to leak out!" Daisuke blurted. Even though, at that particular moment, he looked quite ridiculous with the clothing he was wearing…but TK wasn't in the mood to laugh. He would be, since he was accustomed to Daisuke being a worrywart, if the situation was less intense.
"You think I didn't take that into consideration? You think that I only cared about myself…and didn't care about the team?" TK responded to his best-friend. He wasn't used to Daisuke being against him since he usually was on his side. In this case, he wasn't. "I'd like to see you be captain! It's not fricken' easy, Dai."
"Yeah, if I was captain…I would have stay focused!"
"Daisuke…"
"No Curtis. I'm going to tell him," he said angrily. "TK, she's been deceiving you all along! You told me that you hadn't talked to her since high school…didn't you find it coincidental that she began talking to you now? She had you in her claws right from the beginning…you're in love with her, damnit! That's why you never hooked up, you never dated, you never-"
TK flinched. "Stop it, Dai. If you want to tell me…just get to the point."
"She sold you out. She is, no doubt about it, the person who spread the truth with your relation to Yamato. All those camera flashes during the game…they were the paparazzi. Who knows…she was probably at the game too, thinking of all the thousands she could gain for capturing the right photograph. I know you, TK…you were thinking of her the whole time. That's what has distracted you. She was bad news from the beginning. You really need to get over her."
The blond man closed his eyes, leaning against the white stone wall. It was like he had the biggest whipping of his life. His mother hadn't ever been that harsh to him either. All the emotional drama was draining him stiff.
"Dai, that's enough. You've said too much," Curtis said quietly, throwing a withering glance at Daisuke. "TK, I think you should go home. I'll shout you a cab."
Curtis put an arm over his friend's depressed figure and led him outside of the building. They would wait for a taxi in the blistering cold.
Later, TK found himself sitting in a vehicle staring at the blaring numbers of the clock.
'01:43am'
Those were the bright red numbers that he read; the red contrasting against the dark atmosphere of the taxi. It was already early morning and he would, soon to be, return to Tokyo. From the game location, it had taken them almost two hours from all the traffic even though it was already late. Then again, it was a Friday night or a Saturday morning if one was to be completely precise. Minutes later the dark atmosphere was eliminated by the flashing lights of places the vehicle drove by. He was now back in the city.
The repetitive techno hummed softly in the background. He was glad that no love songs or loud rock songs were playing at the hour. To his dismay, the continuous music became discontinuous and was interrupted with an updated gossip commentary.
"It has been two days since it has been revealed that Yamato Ishida, leader from the retired band – The Teen-Age Wolves, has been related to Takeru Takaishi, the OSG Phoenix basketball captain. Adding to this large story it is now known that Willis Jesper, American actor, is their cousin. It is also confirmed that they are all known to have French decent and-"
He gave an inward grown, leaning back against the comfortable leather seat. They now connected Willis to the outrageous story. Willis wasn't related to Yamato and Takeru, but was just a close overseas friend of theirs. He really was in no mood for more…
"…with Takeru Takaishi on topic, it is known that OSG Phoenix has lost against Aisen Seahorses. The total score ended up being 88-85. It's been the second year that OSG Phoenix has lost against Aisen Seahorses-"
"Ah," the taxi driver spoke up. "I was listening to that match on the radio. Close game, that was. I still am in astonishment that the captain is related to Ishida. My…I wonder if he can sing too. They do carry the same appearance, don't they boy?"
"I guess," TK said. Feeling lucky that he had worn the ebony woolen beanie. It was doing a good thing keeping him well disguised and protecting him from being chilly both inside and out.
"Anyhow, I can't believe that they've been hiding this story from the media for such a long time. Dirt like this usually gets out early…whoever found out must be getting a lot of credit for this."
"Yes, believe me," TK responded satirically. His head was getting foggy. The driver was hitting too close to home. And then it triggered him to be angry again. His life wouldn't be as screwed up as it was now…if Kari had never intervened. In sudden impulse he spoke up, "Actually, driver, could you take me to 21 Rosemont Rd, Odaiba."
"Odaiba?"
"Yes," TK said thoughtfully. "There's something I've got to take care of."
"I don't know what you're planning at this time to get some idea of all a sudden, but hey…I'll drive you there," the driver shrugged. "I'm just warning you…it'll be a bit more expensive…"
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His fist thumped against the door vigorously in reoccurrence.
He didn't know what drove him at Kari's doorstep. Okay, it was a lie. He knew the reason, alright. He could have waited for tomorrow, but he couldn't stand it. It had been bugging him for the past two days and right now he wanted to let it all out. Since it was early in the morning it felt like he would let go and do some sort of payback catharsis on her. Yes, everything mostly was his fault…but she was the reason for it. He was furious. He wasn't thinking straight and his thoughts were still mingled with confusion, hurt and loss. How could they lose that match? After all the training and effort they had made to get that far…all down the drain. Did she want to destroy him this much? Did she purposely want him to fail and let his image to be spoiled by the media?
What had he done to make her so…revenge driven? What had he done? He had remembered how snappy she had been after the renewal of their friendship, as if she was holding a grudge…? He didn't know. He was so sick of this confusion that he wanted their confrontation to be over and done with already.
All he knew was that Daisuke had been right. He was an idiot to fall for Kari's plan. He was an idiot to fall for her in the first place…
"Ha," he let out bitterly. He was still wearing his jersey. Even though his head was warm from the beanie, he was blatantly cold considering he was still wearing a jersey. He'd probably look like a fool when Kari answered the door. He didn't
care.
Indeed, he was going to show her his savage beast side now…
He was just about to knock on the door again until the door opened. She stood their in a fluffy pale yellow bathrobe, yawning. "TK?
Even though he wanted to physically hurt her at that moment, he couldn't. He gruffly pushed her aside and entered her home, striding into the living room.
"Aren't you supposed to be at Tamachi? How'd the game go?"
He avoided her interrogations.
"Ok, can't you just answer me? You don't just show up out of nowhere, go to someone's house in the morning and push me aside when I never welcomed you in the first place! What the hell? Do you know the definition of being rude? Sure…I'd be fine if it's during the afternoon…but it's 2am!" she muttered, tiredly taking a seat on her sofa as she watched TK walk back and forth her living room. "TK?"
"Oh…believe me…I have the right to do this," he chuckled dangerously, tone drawling. "You've got some explaining to do."
"Explaining?" her eyebrow quirked an eyebrow. Her mouth opened in realization. Though she was really brain-dead at that moment, something seemed to spark in here mind. "Oh no…TK, I didn't."
He chuckled louder. "I never wanted media attention, but that didn't really matter to you…did it?"
"Why are you assuming it's me? I didn't do it, TK," she said, baffled. "I wouldn't. But you know…the media would have eventually found out…"
"You are the media," TK finally erupted, throwing his arms up. "How can I believe you?"
"I didn't."
"Stop denying it!"
"Stop taking the easy way out. Think clearly…there could have been other reasons to why-"
"Other reasons, my ass. Don't you find it strange that once I start talking to you…it happens now? Before I met you again…there was no shit going about. And now…? God Kari. You could at least acknowledge me the truth!"
"The truth? I am telling you the truth," she stood up from her chair, facing him. "What do you think I am?"
"Well…I really don't know," he growled. "I mean…I gave you two days for you to tell me it wasn't you. You could have told me in those two days instead of just avoiding me. You didn't bother to ring up because you're probably getting thousands of money per second by now! Oh…cut loose ties with 'The Star Player' because you've used him already. The 'Star Player' lost the bloody game because of you!"
"Now, hold on a second. Don't put all the blame on me…you don't even have evidence!"
"Evidence?" TK exploded. His eyes caught sight of a newspaper sitting on her coffee table. He grabbed for it and pointed at the front page, "Then tell me…where did you get this photo?"
In the picture showed both Yamato and himself when they were both younger. Her mouth opened to protest, but TK bet her to it. "Exactly, you took the photo from your Tai's house during the party."
"TK I SWEAR! Why don't you just believe me?"
"Forget it, Kari. Don't make this worse. I trusted you. I believed you."
"Then why are you making this different?"
"I can't do it anymore. It's over. We're over. Whatever the fuck this is…this friendship…relationship…whatever the fuck this 'ship' is…it's over!" he spat out.
He watched her collapse back onto the sofa, body shaking. She was a good actress, he noted. She shook her head, "Don't say that…"
He held her gaze. She didn't look at me. She continued to shake her head, "Don't you dare say that…I've been waiting for you so long. And now…don't say that. Everything was going so well! You kissed me!"
"So what? It's just a kiss. What are you supposed to expect, Kari? How the world was I supposed to know? You didn't kiss me back!" He said snidely, "We didn't even make it to third base."
"What nerve," she sat straight up, eyes becoming fiery. "Don't elude me to be one of your sluts-"
"Excuse me?" he barked.
"And I actually thought you changed!" she remarked, tears becoming visible in her eyes as her jaw started quivering.
"What?" is was his turn to question. He wasn't sure what frenzy she was going on now…
"You didn't even realize what you did to me when you left! My best-friend…my best-friend didn't even tell me he was leaving and moving away! You know how much it hurt when I found out through Tai…and not through you!"
"Oh…if that's what you're on about," he felt less angry now. Now he understood why she had been mad at him, but he also had a reason to be mutually angered. "Maybe you were too busy with your head in the clouds to realize that you weren't acting like much of a best-friend. C'mon Kari, we drifted…we stopped talking."
"You were the one that was hardly there! You suddenly blocked me out and pretended I existed."
"You had Grant!"
"He was only my formal partner because you didn't have the bravery to ask me out! You had all those other girls!" she shot back. "We're going in circles. God TK…what the hell are we doing?"
"You tell me! You tell me why the hell you went to that extent to go work crazy over money and sell out your own best-friend…or whatever we are. Actually, I take that back. You've made a new best-friend anyway-"
"You're being really childish, Takeru. Yolie's different to you. You aren't thinking straight…"
"I think I am. Screw the past. All I know is that you sold me out for your own personal gain. That's enough to believe."
"And what about you? You're so selfish, TK. You only play basketball for the money…you hardly visited any of our old friends when you left. You left without saying goodbye! What's so hard about that?"
"So…you keep saying I left without a goodbye. So what? You know what, Kari? Forget it. When there's anything that deals with you…it always manages to become stuffed up, you know?"
He headed towards the door.
"Why can't you believe me?"
"I tried. And look where it's got me," he retorted in a strained tone. "Now that you stop complaining about me not saying goodbye..Goodbye, Kari."
He walked out into the cold for the second time, the blistering lonely breeze welcoming him with open arms. The door closed behind him and he could hear her fall into sobs. He held his head high, walking away from her apartment and into the empty streets of Odaiba, accompanied by the trailing moonlight.
Takeru found himself walking towards a café nearby and almost laughed aloud in misery. It was where he would hangout with Kari during their high school years. His face was freezing now. He let his naked hands touch his cheeks to realize that they were wet. There were tears. He hadn't cried ever since his parents had divorced. It was like a regretful catharsis. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh and cruel to her. But it was the only way. Crying was the best method to get over Hikari Kamiya.
He squatted down and wept.
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Oh the drama. It's been a while since I've written drama like…that. Lol. I was meant to save their confrontation for the next chapter but I decided it couldn't wait because TK's character (in this story) isn't the type to just sit around. For example, when he found out about Kari's 'Savage Beast' article, he stormed to the magazine company's location.
It's been so long since my last update. It's because I've been wanting to finish LimitZ II off so I can focus on this story and MFV as well. I think I might finish this story early too…because I don't want to drag it. I'm not sure how many chapter left…but I don't want to have more than 10. Thanks for keeping up with my infrequent updates. Take care…and don't worry…TK and Kari will be friends. Eventually. Haha
Heart flipstahhz.