A/N: I should probably not be starting this without having updated Koisuru in 2 months, but the idea stuck in my head and I couldn't help it. Also as much I would have liked to keep it a surprise, this is a strictly Taiora story. I don't want people to read this hoping for a different ending, as for the other pairings I'll let you guys figure that out, but you know I'm trash so it can only have that one result.
One.
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She watched as her father walked out of their house without turning back, her mother was on her knees on the floor sobbing quietly as her hands clutched her chest. Sora stood next to the crouching figure of her mother and patted her back silently. It was all her five year old self could manage at that time, words disappearing from her lips as her mother continued to shake and shudder. Her empty eyes fell onto her mother's hands and suddenly with a jolt that shook her entire body, Sora took a step back. Tied around the little finger of her mother's right hand, was a shining red ribbon extending into the direction her father had just been standing in. Sora's bright eyes were overtaken by sorrow as she watched the string fade and disintegrate as her father got further away from them, her mother continued to cry as the string fell loose from her finger and vanished into non-existence before hitting the floor, never to appear on her mother's finger ever again.
"Could it be? The great Takenouchi Sora is day-dreaming in class?"
Sora opened her eyes, grinning she turned to face her best friend sitting next to her. He had a smug look on his face, satisfied that he had caught her doing something she wasn't supposed to because it was usually the other way around. He rested his face on his palm and grinned back at her. As it was a natural habit of hers, Sora let her eyes roam for a short instance over his hands, once again re-establishing the lack of the red ribbon on either of them, she settled with looking him directly in the eye. His deep brown eyes held only mischief and humour as he wiggled his eyebrows at her, attempting to elicit a response from her.
"Well, I'm only human after all." Sora stated.
"Woah! What a truly amazing day it is, Sora has finally entered the realm of the slackers. We must rejoice, we must celebrate!" His smug grin widened and she laughed at his attempt to dance while remaining in his seat.
Happy and foolish, this was her best friend Yagami Taichi, red string or not Sora wouldn't have him any other way.
"Can you celebrate by observing 1000 minutes of silence?"
Sora turned around to face her other best friend, who was patiently using the self-study period to actually catch up on studying, and was obviously annoyed by Taichi's antics. She watched as Yamato fixed a glare at Taichi, setting down his pen and preparing to go into an all-out argument. She hoped they wouldn't but knew that this is usually how their day went.
"If you look closely Sora, you will see the specimen known as 'Grumpy Old Man' sitting right behind you. Their hobbies include dissing the youth and technology at least once an hour." Taichi smirked, meeting Yamato's glare with a mischievous look. Sora fought hard to control her laughter, knowing that it would only make Yamato angrier.
"I know living away from your home planet makes your head go a little wonky, Tai, but I pray every day that your makers come and beam you back to whichever fucked up planet you arrived from." Yamato replied, without missing a beat.
Sora chuckled to herself as she turned her attention back to the open notebook lying on her table and tuned out the bickering duo. Out of habit, she glanced once at Yamato, noticing the small knot of red tied around the little finger of his left hand, she went back to her studying, leaving the boys to argue and make up on their own. But as she picked up her pencil, and started reading what she had written so far she couldn't help but remember the small dream that she had had a few minutes ago. It had been a long time since she had last thought about her father, a long time since she had thought about the day that slightly changed her life. So she thought it strange that it would all come back to her today. Was something special going to happen, she wondered. But, she thought, she'd already studied Taichi and Yamato's hands and both had remained unchanged and devoid of any signs that their fate would change today. Apart from the two boys, she couldn't think of anyone else whose change in fate might affect her.
Taichi and Yamato were indeed her closest friends, and the two people who she cared the most about after her mother. It was ironic however, that her ability had failed her in helping them be happy. She'd known Taichi before she was able to identify the red string, so at first she didn't pay any attention to the fact that he didn't possess one. It was as they grew older, and her faith and knowledge in her ability increased that she was able to figure out that something was not right about this. He'd catch her staring at his hand quite often but Sora was never able to gather the courage to tell him the truth, simply because she didn't want him to think that she was weird. She trusted Taichi with her life but she'd understood early on itself that her ability should remain a secret, even from people she cared about. Although Taichi wasn't the only one who lacked the red string on his little finger, Sora's mom was the same. But Sora knew that her mom had subconsciously chosen to cut the string off when she had decided that she will not fall in love again. Her mother had forsaken the emotion of love, and Sora wondered if Taichi had done the same?
She never asked him this question however, afraid of the answer she might receive. For her, Taichi was a ray of sunshine. His goofy smile would be the first thing she saw when she set off for school in the morning, uplifting her mood instantly. His silly jokes and cheerfulness made her get through the day easily, keeping her blissful until she had to head back home and face the dreary atmosphere of her house where her mother rarely ever smiled. The thought of the one person who kept her truly happy being unable to love would always drive her crazy, and it was at these moments that she despised her ability. If only she hadn't known about the existence of the string thoughts of Taichi's fate would not plague her at her darkest moments. All she could do for him was wait patiently for the right person to arrive and touch his heart and soul by creating the string of fate.
Yamato was different, in fact his case was closer to Sora's mother than Taichi's. The bond Sora shared with Yamato was the mutual pain they both went through when their parents split. Yamato's was deeper because not only did he lose his mother, he also lost his younger brother. There was no one in the world who could parallel Yamato's love for his brother, Takeru but the fates had not been kind to them. They were lucky that his mother had more or less decided to stay in the same neighbourhood. But when they started middle school, his mother decided to suddenly move away taking Takeru with her halfway across the country. Those were the worst two years of Yamato's life. He was barely able to meet Takeru once or twice a year because of time and financial constraints. He completely shut himself down, not reacting until it was absolutely necessary, and there were a lot of times during that period that Sora ate lunch alone and walked home alone because Taichi could no longer take Yamato's stoniness. The two fought quite often during those two years, and it was then Sora learned that she shouldn't interfere with them because Yamato seemed most alive when he argued with Taichi.
Fortunately, Takeru and his mother returned in the third year of their middle school and some part of Yamato did go back to normal, but some part of him was lost to the void and Sora was afraid he'd never be able to get it back. She wasn't sure whether it was during this time or it was when his parents divorced, Yamato had decided that love was unreal, and he didn't want anything to do with it. The string sat on his left hand, tied into a knot always remaining still. He had been confessed to countless times, and there were many other times that Sora felt that maybe that girl would do it for Yamato, but the knot remained, unmoving, telling Sora that her best friend was empty inside.
Sometimes she'd be on the train or on the bus, when she'd see that the two strangers standing next to each other were connected by the red string. This sight would fill her with excitement as she tried to think up of scenarios where they would realize their love for each other and live happily ever after. She'd be able to tell if the latest couple in their school would last or not just by one look at their hands, she'd be able to predict the teachers who were secretly dating and who would be the next couple to get together. This definitely made her popular with the girls in her class, as she became the best person to go to gossip for, but it never left her feeling happy. Seeing strangers in a bus was okay because she knew she'd never be able to influence their lives directly, but when it came to people around her, the dreadful feeling would settle in her stomach whenever she realized that the girl was actually supposed to be with the guy's best friend. She hated prying into their lives like this, into their emotions, just because she could.
Being with Taichi and Yamato kept her sane, but whenever her eyes would drift towards their hands, the dreadful feeling would return leaving her hopeless. Here were two people she cared deeply about, but couldn't do anything for and on the other side were people she couldn't be bothered about but she knew the most intricate detail of their lives. It tore her apart, to live like this every day but it was too late to share the secret now. Taichi and Yamato would never accept that she lied to them for so long, and she would lose the only stability she had created for herself.
She did however have a theory. Sora liked to think that she was able to see this string because she herself hadn't fallen in love. She belived that the day it happened would be the day the red ribbons would disappear from her vision forever. She waited for the love of her life to arrive every day, tired of the emotions she had to carry within herself. But the absence of the string on her hands only led her to harbour more questions than answers. What she was not aware of was how her ability to see the string of fate had clouded her vision more than ever making her unable to see the simple answer lying in front of her. Instead unknowingly, she went out of her way to avoid what was so obvious, even her two best friends had caught whiff of it way before it hit her.
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A/N: This was just the introductory chapter, so it's not that long. Review and let me know what you think about the concept, and as always, thank you for reading!