Okay, it was up to that point where I had to count down the hours. The hours left until Saturday night. And I had just about forty-eight left.

I needed a date and I needed one fast. Let's just say my body was getting used to the whole attracted-to-Koushiro thing, my proof being the way my hand failed me at the park yesterday.

The bad thing was that I couldn't even do anything about it now. Mimi and Sora had come up with a wonderful idea at school. 'We should take the babies to the movies!' they had said. Yamato and Jyou had casually agreed to their idea, probably thinking how great it was, judging by their over-enthusiastic smiles.

Okay, so they were probably forced to think that way.

But still! They may think it's an absolutely magnificent plan, but they had no idea what kind of torture Kou and I had to go through with Yumi and the bunny movie.

It wasn't like I could protest or anything, though. I didn't want to be screeched at by both Sora and Mimi.

And that's why I was now with Kou and Yumi in my Toyota heading towards the movie theatre, where we would meet our friends and their demented partners. The little girl was excited, bouncing on my friend's lap, her pigtails Hikari had tied with bright green elastics, bobbing freely. She loved going on car rides.

Hikari had forgiven me yesterday on my efforts to deny my feelings for Kou by trying to find a girl for this party. I was glad, because having my sister giving me menacing looks at me for hours soon gave me that creepy feeling that she might be plotting to murder me.

Or even worse, telling Kou…

We pulled into the parking lot of the theatre and caught sight of our friends waving in our direction at spotting my beat-up red car. I sighed deeply.

"I swear if they even suggest watching that piece of shit movie once more, I'm going to throw myself in front of traffic."

"And I'll join you," he said, looking up at me from Yumi.

That knot in my stomach just seemed to get tighter and tighter.

Dammit Taichi! Get over it!

I parked in a suitable spot, and we greeted our group as we approached the ticket booth.

"So guys!" I started, grinning. "What were we planning to watch?" What I had told Kou in the car earlier? I really meant that. "I was actually thinking of that new action one. Should be pretty good."

"Are you crazy, Taichi?" Mimi hissed, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not exposing my Sakura to explosions and random violence!"

"If you haven't noticed," Sora faced me this time. "We do have three children with us. Having people blow up on screen is not exactly the best thing to let them watch."

"Well then, what do you have in mind?" I crossed my arms, frowning. This couldn't be good.

Mimi clasped her hands and beamed. "I thought we could all watch that new romantic comedy from America! Those are always so cute!"

Of course it wasn't good.

"A chick flick!" Yamato was the first to protest. "You never said we had to watch that!"

"Mimi, be reasonable," Jyou said calmly, trying not to attract any more attention than Yamato had with his freaking out. People were already looking our way. "Let's choose something we can all enjoy?"

"Especially for the children," Koushiro piped in. He was standing behind me quietly the entire time, holding the basket where Yumi lay watching the scene with widened eyes.

"And that's why we should watch the romantic comedy," said Mimi. "Five of us will be enjoying the movie, and majority rules!"

"You think that watching two people suck face on screen is better for the babies than watching criminals being taken out?" Yamato asked incredulously, his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah!" I interjected. "And for your information, Yumi prefers violence!"

"Well, it's better than having people getting shot every five minutes!" she tightened her fists. "And how on earth would you know that she…"

"Guys?" a voice interrupted our little argument in front of us. We all turned our heads in that direction and saw Daisuke waving and grinning sheepishly at the ticket stand. "Sorry, but you're holding up the line."

Mimi and Sora glared daggers at Yamato and me as we made our way to the stand. Jyou and Koushiro simply rolled their eyes, shook their heads, and sighed.

"Hey Daisuke!" the pink-haired girl greeted. "Funny seeing you here!"

"Yeah," the younger boy laughed, placing his hand behind his head. "I haven't seen you all in a while!" He looked over the counter to see Yumi, Kenji and Sakura in their baskets. "I didn't know all of you were in on this project."

"Lucky us, don't you think?" Yamato growled, furrowing his eyebrows a bit as he crossed his arms.

Daisuke looked up at him and cringed, a redness coming to his cheeks.

Ah, yes. The Jun factor. I was wondering when she would attack my blonde friend.

"Oh hey, Yamato!" the younger digidestined's voice cracked. "How's it going?" The blonde's frown made Daisuke seem smaller. "Good?"

"Sure," Yamato replied. "If you consider getting dozens of scary messages on your answering machine everyday from an equally scary girl 'good', then yes, life's just spectacular."

Odd how he seemed to get bigger and bigger, while Daisuke was shrinking.

"And how the hell did she get my phone number? I know I'd taken my number off the school directory."

"That, I don't have an answer for," Daisuke squeaked. "But if it makes you feel any better, Jun's locked herself in her room, so I'm pretty sure she won't come by your practice building anytime soon." He grinned the biggest he had ever grinned.

Yamato grunted in approval, his arms still crossed and his eyebrows still furrowed in one of his famous glares.

The ticket boy chuckled nervously. "So, have you guys decided what you want to watch?"

"Nine for 'Desperately in Love' please!" Mimi started before anyone else had a chance to think, already having her wallet open.

Jyou and Yamato stood there absolutely dumbfounded.

No way was I going to stand for this. "That's not fair…"

"We're watching THIS and that's FINAL." The girls' voices sounded pretty close to deadly and I swear their eyes glowed red.

Okay, so maybe a chick flick can't possibly be that bad…

I turned to Yamato and Jyou, who were scared stiff from the reaction of their partners. To think, they've had to put up with this for nearly two weeks.

I certainly would have gone insane by now.

We all paid for our tickets separately, and Mimi offered to take care of the babies' tickets.

Good. I didn't want to waste five bucks on something I didn't want Yumi to watch, after having been forced to fork over eight for my own ticket.

As Daisuke handed me the slip of paper that sealed my doom for the next two hours, he mouthed, "I feel for you, man."

No, he doesn't. I bet that as soon as we walk away he's going to bolt over and die laughing.

Nearly ever seat in the darkened theatre was filled. Couples littered the area. For the most part, however, the guys looked as if they would rather be anywhere but beside their girlfriends at that moment.

An usher who happened to be standing in the corner led us to a mostly empty row near the back.

He eyed Sora. Very much. And Yamato noticed this, because his eyes seemed to flare in the darkness of the filled room.

Not good. For the usher, I mean.

But the idiot continued. He casually touched her shoulder as he directed her to her seat in the row.

And that's when Yamato snapped.

"Back off, man!" he growled, pushing the usher away from Sora, who looked slightly confused. Kenji was looking on in wonder from his basket that his father was holding.

Yamato vigilantly wrapped his free arm around Sora's shoulders and glowered at the surprised usher, who put a stupid grin on his face and backed away quickly with his arms up in defense.

Good choice for him.

It's strange how quickly pretty-boy Yamato can change into macho-protector Yamato. For only a few circumstances, mind you.

I couldn't help but notice the way that usher looked at Sora. He obviously thought she was pretty. But that look…

When I absentmindedly stare at Koushiro, do I look like that?

Does that mean I think he's…pretty?

But he can't be "pretty", because that only describes girls. And girls usually call guys "cute" or "handsome" or… "hot". But that's what girls call guys.

What would a guy call another guy? The same thing? Hell, if I think a girl is really good-looking, then I'll call her "hot". But I can't call Koushiro "hot'. It's very un-Koushiro…

And why am I even thinking about his?

"Taichi, c'mon!" The object of my perplexity motioned from his seat, with Yumi on his lap, to an unoccupied space beside him. "The movie is about to start".

Oh good.

I slumped into my seat and readied my brain for a horrendous two hours of overly dramatic confessions and gushy kissing scenes. Looking past Koushiro, who tried to appear optimistic for the girls, I saw that Jyou and Yamato were already ahead of me. They had rested their heads back in a vegetative state.

I sat there numb for the next hour, as the story unfolded in front of me on screen. This guy knows this chick, and they've been friends since childhood. They're adults now, and she suddenly gets all gorgeous-looking. And she's taken. And it's not until then that the idiot guy realizes he loves her. Now they're at some coffee shop and the guy just said, 'What would you do if someone right now told you that they loved you?' And now the chick is getting all confused, but knows very well what he's talking about…okay, I need to get out of here. I can't take this anymore.

Kou beside me is looking like he's seconds away from taking a long nap. Yumi had already beaten him there. She was curled up into his T-shirt, his arms shielding around her.

Yamato was still in his unmoving state, unaware that Kenji had taken his finger as a sucking toy and that Sora had latched onto one of his arms.

Jyou was propping his head up with his elbow on the armrest. A glint of saliva could be seen on the corner of his mouth. Yeah, he was out.

I tapped my partner's shoulder, stirring him from his extreme boredom. "Koushiro, let's get out of here," I pleaded, my voice lowered to a whimpering whisper.

His eyelids snapped out of their tired trance and his face looked questioning. "But what about them?" He looked back at our friends, probably not wanting to leave them alone to suffer.

"They're being forced to watch this crap," I said, grabbing his wrist. "But we aren't." Pulling him from his seat, I led him out of the row, skirting around people in our path.

"Where are you guys going?" inquired a high voice. We immediately halted, turning around to see Mimi's questioning eyes illuminated from the flashes on the screen.

I thought quickly. "We're heading to the snack bar," I replied, my tone slightly high-pitched from surprise. "I'm in the mood for some nachos, huh Kou?" My friend quickly nodded his head in accession.

"Alright. But hurry back!" The pink-haired girl returned her attention to the movie, resting her head on Jyou's shoulder. "It's almost getting to the good part".

"My ass it is…"

"What was that?"

"NOTHING!"

We sighed in relief and hurried out of the theatre. Yumi was just waking up from her boredom-induced sleep. She yawned as her tired gaze set upon both of us.

"No kidding," I laughed. "Come on. If we paid eight bucks to come here, the least we can do is watch something we like." I began to walk in the direction of the rest of the rooms showing other new releases.

"Taichi," Kou said behind me. "You can let go of me now." My eyes jerked to my hand. Still latched on firmly to his wrist. That traitor, it failed me again!

Unclenching my hand, I looked upward a bit. "Sorry about that." I tried to laugh it off. A pinkness was felt rising to my cheeks, and I was glad the redhead was behind me.

"No worries!" He rested his free hand on my shoulder. "But I think you should carry Yumi now." I turned around to see the little girl being offered to me in his outstretched arms.

"Uh, sure," I replied, receiving her.

"Good!" He smiled fully and strode past me. "Because I think she's in need of a diaper change."

And that's when the fumes hit me.

"Oh my God!" I turned my head away and held her as far as I could from my face. It was toxic. Did she do that just now! "Kou!"

He had the baby bag slung over his shoulder, which he handed to me. "All the stuff you need is in here." He pointed to the women's bathroom. "Just go in there and take care of it."

The women's bathroom? Was he freaking crazy! After that girls' soccer team incident, I didn't wish to make even more enemies from the opposite gender. Casually walking into the women's restroom is like prancing in front of a pack of crocodiles and singing "kill me now".

Kou could probably understand exactly what I was thinking from the terrified expression that covered my face. Maybe he's thought of another solution…

"What, do you think there are changing counters in the men's room?"

Okay, maybe not.

I sent him an angry pout before entering man's pit of doom. The place reeked of perfume. And the walls held something I never thought I would see.

Tampon dispensers.

Oh. My. God.

A toilet flushed and I froze in place. My feet just kind of gave out right at that second. A click from an unlocking bathroom stall.

A girl just about half my age creaked the door open. She gasped when she saw me. There we stood, gaping at each other, neither of us having the slightest idea what to do.

I think it was the baby's fumes that brought her back to reality with a rather harsh jerk, because a cringe went over her before letting out a shrill scream. "You aren't supposed to be in the girls' bathroom!" And she ran out, screaming dramatically as she pushed the bathroom door open to reveal a hysterical redhead clutching his stomach in fits of laughter.

Evil Koushiro. If he weren't so cute, I'd beat him.

Dammit! Mentally kick myself!

I looked down to see Yumi staring up into my face with a delighted twinkle playing in her eyes. The bathroom mirror showed that indeed I had a sort of psychotic look on my face, like someone who was about to fall off a twenty-story building.

Oh, how I long to find a suitable wall to bang my head upon repetitiously.

And the ongoing stench brought me back to the task at hand. It was filling up the bathroom and fast.

I found the changing table off to the side of the room and carefully lay Yumi on it, setting the supply bag by my feet. My fingers began to carefully peel the soiled diaper from her, one hand on the pinned cloth and other pinching my nose.

You know what would have been really awkward? If some chick just happened to walk in right at that moment and got freaked out thinking I was some sort of child molester, then called the police to get me locked up in jail.

But that didn't happen and I thank God that it didn't.

Did Koushiro not even think about that possible sequence of events?

Of course not, or else he wouldn't be outside the women's bathroom door laughing his ass off.

I managed to change Yumi's diaper with one hand, the other one not daring to budge from protecting my nose. The entire time she was beaming in innocence, but had this deceitful gleam, almost triumphant, that seemed to say something along the lines of "ha, I win".

I swear everyone's out to get me. First Daisuke, then Koushiro, now Yumi! Oh, and we can't forget about those soccer girls I royally pissed off a couple days ago.

Or, you know, I could just be paranoid…I've been just that for the past week. Paranoid.

I should be paranoid. For Christ's sake, I just referred to a guy as "cute"!

The said "cute" object suddenly rushed into man's black ceramic-tiled pit and quickly shut the door as I was washing my hands. With plumeria-scented soap, might I add.

"Mimi and Jyou are out there at the snack bar," Koushiro blurted, exasperated at nearly being caught by our pink-haired wonder. An almost wild look was glistening in his eyes.

But wait a second…what?

"Are you fucking serious?" I raised my voice, echoing around the flower-papered walls. Yumi, still on the changing counter, whipped her head towards me, flabbergasted.

Kou cringed and flinched at my outburst. Then he snapped. "Would you mind not using that kind of language around her?" He pointed an angry index finger directly at the little girl. A flush tinged his face and a stiffness came to his shoulders.

Whoa, did he crack in two.

I don't think he ever snapped like this before. He was the one who demanded peace. He always hated when Yamato and me would fight with fists and all when we were younger. And he wouldn't even hit me back when I offered him a free punch in the face to get even after I had socked him all those years ago.

Now he cracked, because I swore in front of the baby.

Okay, I'm thinking this baby project is starting to tense him up a bit…

"Sorry Kou," I squeaked. A cheeky grin escaped my lips. His shoulders relaxed and he smiled. Yumi was gathered in his arms, and he looked back at me. "As I was saying, yes, they're out by the snack bar. Now, I say we keep watch from here until they leave." The little girl latched onto his waving finger. "Mimi has eyes like a hawk, and if she finds us, we'll be dragged back into that movie."

So true. It's scary how girls have eyes in the back of their heads. It's as if they have some sort of crystal ball where they can observe our every move and catch every mistake we make. Sometimes I can't help but think that they were given this power to solely torture us guys and forever intimidate us.

And my God, is it working.

"Let's keep watch from the door, then, until they leave." I motioned toward the bathroom entrance.

"Huh?"

"That way we know exactly when she leaves and don't have to stay here guessing when we could go. Plus I want to get away from those things as soon as possible." I pointed to the tampon dispensers mounted on the wall past Kou's head.

He raised his eyebrow at me, oblivious to the fact that Yumi had stuck his finger into her mouth. "You know, Tai, you'd think that after two weeks of in-depth study on menstruation and the female reproduction system, you'd become indifferent to those kinds of things."

I had flinched when he said "menstruation".

"What?" I was taken aback. "You mean it doesn't bother you?"

"Of course not!" He looked down and realized his index finger was still mouthed by Yumi. Surprised, he yanked it away and settled her back onto the changing counter, then placed his hands on his hips. "Why be intimidated by a natural occurrence in the human body?" A thoughtful look came over him. "If it were something like STDs, then maybe I'd understand."

My God, he's braver than I am. "You don't understand Kou!" I was waving my arms frantically in the air. "That natural occurrence puts us men in mortal danger every month!" My hands grab his shoulders and begin to shake him frenziedly. "I should know! I have a sister!"

But instead of sympathizing with me and agreeing that women are indeed the scariest beings that ever walked this planet, he had this amused look on his face. He wasn't smirking. Kou doesn't smirk.

He just looked…amused.

The redhead looked straight at me and one single word escaped his lips.

"Menstruation."

"Kou!" I choked on my breath, hands gripping a bit harder on his shoulders.

"Ovaries," he continued. Christ! Just what is he thinking?

"Quit it!" I whined, pushing him a bit backward. His expression is one I can't seem to name. He was definitely having fun with this. But his face had a tinge of something else…what was it? Evil?

No, Kou could never be evil, but he resembled Yamato so much right now, that it was kind of disturbing.

The glee in his eyes gleamed bright before opening his mouth once more.

"Tampon".

"KOU!" Okay, that was stepping over the line. He was laughing uncontrollably as I pushed him to the tiled floor. I pinned his shoulders to the ground as I straddled his hips.

"Tai!" he forced out, catching his breath. "I never thought you were so afraid of such a small defenseless object. Do you have nightmares about them?"

My knees gripped tighter around his slim hips. "I'm not afraid of it!" I mumble, giving him the best glare I could muster.

Who am I kidding? I can't seriously glare at Koushiro! I look at our position on the floor and think back to how the hell I had ended up sitting on my best friend on the floor of the theatre women's bathroom.

We were talking about tampon dispensers.

What the hell?

Anyhow I burst out laughing, and Kou followed suit. It's funny how these things happen. Just a couple minutes ago I was changing Yumi's diaper while struggling to breathe, and now I was cracking up with my friend lying between my knees.

And that's when I realized my position at that moment.

Koushiro. Lying on his back on the floor.

And me straddling him.

Whoa. Why did I really like the sound of that?

I looked down at him, and I was only hoping my body did nothing more than bring a blush to its cheeks.

His black eyes shined against the bathroom ceiling lights, and his bangs were ruffled in such a way that I wanted to bring up a hand and move them to the side. He was smiling dazedly, and his head was tilted just enough that his neck was exposed.

You had no idea how much I wanted to kiss him at that point. How much I had to force myself to not bend down and place my lips over his. To not yank his shirt off and run my hands all over his bare skin. To not taste him.

And just listen to my thoughts. Am I really that sex-deprived? Once again I had to ask myself what the hell I was thinking. I desperately wanted to make out with my best friend. Who is a guy.

And I'm a guy.

It isn't right. It can't happen.

So I won't let it.

But I couldn't seem to take my eyes off him. Damn, he shouldn't be allowed to look this good. And his neck just had to be showing that much, didn't it?

I was using all my strength to not take him right here in the women's bathroom, but I could feel myself slowly lowering closer and closer to his lips…