(Disclaimer: I own nothing, they are the property of their respective owners).
(Author's Note: This chapter took a while to finish due to writer's block).
Chapter Three.
Laying in a hospital bed, attached to I.V's and an oxygen tube on his nose, the man known as Tai Kamiya lies unconscious, his appearance has been cleaned up a bit, his scars are more noticeable, he groans, and wakes up, his vision is a little blurry, it takes about a moment before it's clear, he sees his surroundings, they're familiar to him, like he's been there before,
Tai - Obaida Hospital.
He stops for a moment.
Tai - Shit.
He lays back against his pillow, he remembers the last time he ended up in a hospital bed, he lifts his right arm, but he can't, as he's been handcuffed to the bed, no chance of an escape this time, typical, looks like the hospital staff took one step ahead of him, he sighs in frustration, he looks at his arms, there's cigarette burns on them, he looks at his reflection on the windows, the bruises on his face, the result of a recent beat down he suffered, are now visible, along with the scars on his face, another result of a fight he endured a while back, the corner of his lower lip has a cut, that is slowly healing, the complete opposite of what he used to be, he thinks back to how he ended up in this position, again.
Growing up, Tai Kamiya was a good athlete, soccer had been his sport as long as he could remember, one day at summer camp, him and six other people, which included some of his childhood friends, went to a mysterious world known as the digital world, it was a weird but adventurous time, they became friends with these little monsters called digimon, his digimon was a orange dinosaur named Agumon, it while fun and dangerous at the same time, eventually they had to leave, with the knowledge that they could never return, in time their digivices had disappeared, further erasing any connection they had, all they had was a group photo taken that day, he missed the orange dinosaur that he became friends with, while they couldn't return, long lasting friendships were made with the others, they became a close knit group,
Within time, two members of the friends would leave, Mimi Tachikawa would move to America, but she would stay in touch with everyone, via email, Joe Kido, the oldest one of the group would go off to college, the remaining ones, which included his little sister, Kari, and Matt's little brother, TK, would stay close, his core circle of friends were Izzy Izumi, Matt Ishida, and Sora Takenouchi.
During high school, the four of them kept themselves occupied, Izzy would focus on his studies, Matt started his own band, Sora kept busy with Tennis, also Matt and Sora began dating, Tai was dissapointed, as it was known that he had a crush on Sora for some time, but supported his two friends, and he would act as mediator between them when they would argue over pointless things, one notorious incident involved a hairclip, Tai found this funny, as he had done somthing similar a few years prior, despite this, the four of them still hung out at lunch, and they would see Tai at his soccer games.
Soccer kept Tai busy, he joined the school soccer team, by the time of his last year in high school, the team had already won a championship, he got a soccer scholarship to Obaida University, he left his High School Team in the hands of two up and comers, Ken Ichijouji, a new student, and Davis Motomiya, a kid who acted as his protégé, almost to the point of adapting his look and appearance, he knew the team was in good hands, and eventually they would join him at Obaida University, he was being looked at by talent scouts for professional sports, it looked like there was no where to go but up.
But he was wrong.
That fateful game started out normal, he was showing off of course, and his teammates also were going full force, the game was highly competitive, it was almost a tie score, basically who would finish first, on the field he was dominating, nothing could stop him.
Then it happened.
While the details are a little fuzzy, all he remembered was running across the field, with everyone behind him, and the next thing he knew, he was on the ground, screaming in pain, one of his teammates called for assistance, the referee blew his whistle, and paramedics immediately rushed to his side, he remembered blood squirting out of his leg, maybe a bone sticking out, but the sight of that caused him to faint, he was carried off the field, and rushed to the hospital, he vaguely remembered drifting in and out of consciousness, being in the ambulance, a paramedic telling him that's it's okay, and to hang on, and a row of lights on a ceiling, and hearing voices, before darkness fell.
He had woken up in a hospital bed, his leg was heavily bandaged, and he was in pain, the doctor had told him what had happened, but the real shock came afterwards, because of the extent of his injury, the doctor had told him that his soccer days were done, and this was a low blow to him, all he ever wanted o be a soccer star, and now that dream was dead.
He stayed in the hospital while he recovered, but he wasn't the same after that, he quit the soccer team, since he felt useless, everyone understood, and soon he lost interest in class altogether. While he had been a social drinker of alcohol, he soon found comfort in it, drinking every week, but unknown to everyone close to him, he also began using drugs, another thing he did was disappear for days at a time before turning up, for a time he managed to keep his habits a secret, but Izzy, who was his roommate at the time, had discovered his drug stash, he immediately contacted those close to him, attempting to stage an intervention, however Tai had discovered that someone had been through his stuff, busted, Izzy knew, pretty soon everyone was gonna know, he had gotten a message from him earlier saying to come over to Matt's, which he knew was a setup, panicking, he packed a bag of his stash, and other items he would need, along with money, and he went to the train station, and left town, hoping to return when the time was right.
After spending time away, He eventually returned to town, he then spent the next couple of years in a haze of drugs and alcohol, he had lost touch with everyone, and I mean everyone, he resorted to stealing, he tried his hand at drug dealing, but he wasn't good at it, and one incident led to him getting a beat down, he'd woken up in a hospital, the nurse had told him that somebody had brought him there, this incident led to him reconnect with a old friend of his, Joe Kido, who remembered him, being down on his luck, Joe helped Tai out by paying for his medical expenses, as well as lending him some money to get back on his feet, he accepted the offer, but on the condition that he tell nobody about this, Joe promised to keep his word, and Tai promised to stay clean, he kept his word initially, he got a small apartment in a boarding house, it wasn't too shabby, but it was home, and the rent was really cheap, he became acquainted with a drug dealer that lived in the building, and having heard about him, the dealer offered Tai a job, but as a delivery person, to make sure he didn't rip him off, the dealer had someone accompany him every time, he did good, and was putting money away, hopefully enough to live off of until he got his life together, eventually, he gained the dealer's trust, and he'd begun dealing again, but the temptation of drug using reared it's head back into his life, when the dealer found out, he was furious, and sent his goons to go rough him up, they beat him up, almost killing him, he was left with a few bruises, and a scar on his cheek, courtesy of a knife blade, another visit to obaida hospital, and another visit from Joe, who now was starting to get concerned, he had told Tai that he needed to go to rehab, Tai had promised him that he would think about it, and try to stay sober in the meantime, that was almost a week and a half ago, during that time he had gotten beat up again, this time by someone he had ripped off, and he had begun using again, now he was back at obaida hospital, handcuffed to a gurney, with no possible way of escaping.
End of Chapter Three.
(Author's Note: Stay tuned for the next chapter.