Hi everyone, I'm here with a Sway with me chapter update (: let's go dancing!

But before we start, I want to let you know that, together with some co-moderators from around the world, we opened a Taiora Discord Server a little month ago! There's always room for more members and when you're interested to join, please hit me up. We have a lot of fun conversation about Digimon and Taiora of course. It's a safe space, so character or ship hate isn't allowed (so yes, this means we don't mind sorato conversation!), only respectful salt. Anyway, send me a PM, we would love to get to know you!

As for the chapter, I love to hear what you think. Please leave a review when you want and can, no pressure of course ;)

Happy readings!

xxx

Distraction

Sora checked her outfit in the mirror, thinking she was showing too much skin with the grey, regular waist, tight jeans and her short, black top showing a bit of her flat belly. She reminded herself, though, it was a Saturday night and that it wasn't a sin to dress up a bit provocatively. Through the mirror she could see her friend struggling with his pick for a blouse. She chuckled to herself.

"I've never seen you so picky," she said looking at him through the mirror. He sighed. "Having plans tonight?" Sora teased.

"Not any other plans than you have," he said, before he turned the conversation down and around. "How about you, Sora-san?"

Now Sora was the one who was sighing. "Ever since my breakup with Yamato over two years ago, my dating life hasn't really improved. I had some dates, some lucky nights, but no keepers. Nothing memorable."

"It hasn't been that bad, has it?"

She turned around to look at him directly. "I'm not saying that it's bad… It's just that it would be nice to go out with someone for a change. You know, dance together, laugh together… Maybe kissing someone, knowing it's not just for one night…" She looked at him, his cheeks showing a little red. Sora's lips curled up into a playful smirk. "What about you Koushiro-kun? There must be someone tonight when you're this picky."

Koushiro's face became redder and redder. "W-Why would you think that… Besides, I haven't dated or kissed that many girls," he stammered.

"Or boys…?"

"Or boys. Anyway, I haven't set my mind on anything in particular."

"Says the guy who desperately wanted me to come over to help him with his outfit," Sora laughed as she approached Koushiro to inspect the two blouses he was holding up in the air from up close. "Koushiro-kun, for real, you've been so into your wardrobe recently. The last time you had that hyper focus was when you heavily crushed on Mimi." She looked up from the blouses to look at Koushiro. "You can't tell me there isn't someone you would like to dance with or whatsoever."

Sora could see the doubt in his expression and she instantly knew he was holding something back. Usually, Koushiro was a master in keeping things hidden, just like herself, but the two together had grown closer over the past years after Sora's breakup with Yamato and were now used to getting into the more personal stuff with each other. However, when it came to love, Sora had to try her best to get the information out of her fellow redhead.

"Maybe there's someone I like…" Koushiro eventually caved in.

"I knew it!"

"But it's kind of embarrassing… So I rather keep it to myself."

"Ah, come one Koushiro-kun, don't be so shy..!"

"You're just as persistent as Taichi-san…" He muttered under his breath. Sora laughed, she knew how persistent Taichi could be when it came to Koushiro. Taichi…

"… Is it Taichi?" She asked, her face now inches away from Koushiro's.

"W-what? Taichi-san?! No!"

"You suuuuuuure?" Sora teased, stretching the last word, the pitch of her voice going up near the end. With the two blouses still in hand, Koushiro lightly pushed Sora back.

"Sora-san, please, stop and just help me with the right blouse…!"

"Okay, okay." She giggled. "Take the green one, that color looks good on you."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the Yagami siblings at the Izumi's front door. Koushiro quickly changed himself into his green blouse while Sora checked herself in the mirror once more, adjusting her clothing in a way it was showing exactly enough skin for it to be both classy and teasing. Because even though she genuinely wished for Koushiro to have a nice evening with his crush, she could absolutely use one herself.

One hour in the club and all four of them had drunk enough shots for a fun night. The music was loud, the ambiance relaxed, but unfortunately, Sora hadn't found her luck for the night yet. She looked to the dancing crowd from their spot at the bar, but it seemed like all the cute boys were either already taken or simply not here. The sound of her shot glass against the shot glass from someone else took her out of her trance.

"Heads up," Taichi said, locking his eyes with her. She shook her head.

"Cheers," she said, locking her eyes with his while downing the shot in one go. She squeezed her eyes shut, her nose cringing a little due to the sweetness of the drink.

"Ugh, Hikari, couldn't you pick anything less sweet instead?" Taichi gagged, expressing Sora's thoughts. She looked at Hikari who definitely looked like she had already too much to drink, the last shot tipping her over.

"Nope! You picked the first three, now it was my turn to pick a shot and I wanted the pink one."

"Which was crazy sweet," Taichi fired back.

"Don't get all whiny now, go dance!" Hikari patted his shoulder before turning around to face Koushiro. She grabbed his wrist, "come on, Koushiro-san…!" She said as she dragged him along to the dancefloor.

Sora looked at the two as she laughed to herself. The dancing started a little awkward, with Hikari who was quite the dancer, being tipsy enough to dance wilder than usual and Koushiro who wasn't used to a girl dancing against him like that. To her surprise, it changed rather quickly and as Koushiro got the hang of it, Hikari and the music, a big smile and a red blush appeared on his face. The two looked cute together and Sora felt joy towards them. She looked to her right, where the big brother wasn't as happy as Sora was. He was mumbling something inaudible to himself.

"Hikari-chan was right, you know," Sora started loud enough for Taichi to hear, standing right next to him, both looking at the scene unfolding between Koushiro and Hikari.

"About what?" Taichi asked, turning his head towards Sora.

"You should go dancing." She turned her head to look back at him.

"I rather keep an eye on those two. I mean, look at them. I have never seen Koushiro dance so close with someone," Taichi's eyes trailed back to Koushiro dancing with his sister, Sora followed his trail of sight as he continued. "Or even dance at all, and from all the girls he can pick, he goes for my sister."

"Leave them be, he's just being a friend to her," Sora half lied, thinking the dancing looked a little more than just friendly.

"So? Being friends doesn't mean dancing is innocent. Especially when you dance together like that." And apparently Taichi thought the same. Still, Sora wanted him to leave the two alone, feeling like Hikari could be Koushiro's secret crush. She giggled at that before deciding to flip the conversation a bit.

"It's not even coming close to how I've seen you dancing with random girls."

"Those girls are random, they are just for one night," Taichi said, his eyes glued on his sister and best friend. Sora smirked, giving Taichi no verbal response for long enough, so he would look back at her. "Dancing for one night, jeez Sora, I don't jump into bed with all of them. I'm a nice boy, I dance because I want and can, not because I want something from them."

"Then what about those two girls?" She pointed to two girls, probably around their age. One had dyed blonde hair, the other more of a chestnut shade, both dressed in a more provocative outfit than Sora's. Sora had seen them staring at Taichi throughout the whole night. "They keep staring in your direction like they know you, giggling like you did one or two things with both of them."

Taichi placed his right hand on his heart, pretending someone had just hit him right there. Sora laughed. "The accusation… Don't worry, they're just two girls I know from college. Why? You jealous, Sor?" He bobbed his eyebrows at her.

"No! They're just… obvious." She defended herself sounding just a tad annoyed. Taichi rolled his eyes as he looked at the girls, then slowly started walking in their direction anyway.

"They are, but let me show you I'm a nice boy." He said walking backwards towards the girls, his eyes on Sora, a grin across his face. For some unknown reason, Sora could feel the annoyance growing.

"Fine. I was just about to go to the toilet anyway."

They parted ways, Taichi on his way to the girls and Sora on her way to the toilet. During her toilet visit, Sora wondered why she had felt so annoyed. Was it that she wanted him to be with her instead of with those girls? Was she afraid he would start making out with one of the girls, or even worse, both? And what if he did, he had every right, didn't he? She knew those girls weren't really his type, but what was his type then? Sora had no idea, but looking into the mirror at herself made her wonder if she could be Taichi's type… She adjusted her hair and looked for the lipstick in her purse she had with her, but didn't wear until just yet.

Confident she walked from the toilet area back to her old spot at the bar to look for Taichi in the crowd. Luckily, his big brown mess was a thing no one could barely miss. What couldn't be missed were the two girls that were all over him. Sora bit her lip before she made her way towards the three. Once arrived, she grabbed one of the girl's shoulders to get all of their attention.

"He's taken."

"Oi, hey, Sora!" Taichi said excitingly upon noticing her. Sora could feel his eyes burn on her skin, thinking he liked what she did. She couldn't hide a smirk.

"You didn't tell us you have a girlfriend, Taichi-san…"

She couldn't hide her smirk even less, hearing one of the girls say that. Sora decided to play along. "He does, Takenouchi Sora is the name," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him down slightly so her lips could meet his cheek with a soft peck.

"Yeah… well, some things I don't have to tell." Taichi grinned, instead of looking at the girls, looking Sora in the eyes. He bid the girls goodbye quickly before taking Sora's hand and dragging her away from them. To her delight, he had chosen a spot where those girls were very much capable to see them together. Meanwhile, she felt his hand moving up, stroking it alongside the length of her arm to her shoulder.

"You are jealous!" He said.

"I'm not! Why would I be jealous?!"

"Because I'm hot."

Sora rolled her eyes, a shade of red on her face, one she was unable to hide from him. The grin on his face widened before he looked her up and down, his eyes kept staring at her chest a little too long. Sora felt both watched and flattered at the same time.

"Taichi, can you not?" She finally said.

"Can you not what?"

"Stare. It's rude,"

"Oh sorry!" He apologized, but he kept his eyes on her anyway. "But hey, how can you expect me to not stare when you look like so hot like this?"

Taichi was clearly referring to her outfit and Sora looked down at herself. He was right, she had accidentally dressed the way she did and it seemed like it worked. She wondered whether he had always paid that much attention to her, but quickly reminded herself the slight rudeness of his comment.

"Rude! Taichi!" Sora said as she tried to pull away from him. His grasp on her was a little too strong though.

"In my defense, I think you're pretty," he said as he pulled her little closer. "Besides, I didn't mind you dragging me away from those dolls."

"It was your own doing, as you wanted to show me what 'a nice boy' you were," Sora fired back, "but I'm glad I could do you that favor."

He softly laughed at her, his grin still in place as usual. "Was that the only reason you dragged me away from them, though?"

"Mhh… Maybe because I wanted to dance… with you…?" Sora said carefully, her hands holding onto Taichi's shoulders a little tighter. She followed his trail of sight to their moving feet.

"Funny," Taichi started. Sora looked back up, meeting his eyes again, her face immediately heating up, "we're already doing it. Dancing."

Sora looked back at their feet moving closely to one another, then became aware of the way she was holding onto him and the way he was guiding her. She heard the rhythm of the music and felt how Taichi was leading her body to move to it, following the melody and flow of the sounds filling the club. A soft, little laugh escaped her.

It was funny to Sora how normal it all felt, dancing with Taichi. It had been six years ago since that one time he had swept her off of her feet. Six years, and still she knew exactly where to place her hands on his body, letting him lead her. Back then she had felt physically drawn to him in a way she had never felt physically drawn to anyone, not even to Yamato who had been her boyfriend at that specific moment. It was Taichi who was the only person who could make her feel this way. That still surprised her to this very day, an unexpected but welcoming surprise.

"It's been six years since we last danced together, isn't it?" Taichi wondered out loud, connecting with her thoughts.

"It really has been that long already, huh?" She responded.

Taichi nodded, confirming it had indeed been that long. And it wasn't just that those six years were that long, it was their friendship overall. Sora couldn't even remember how long she had known him by now, that's how used she was to Taichi's company. In the past six years they had grown apart and there had been some moments where they had barely talked to each other. Due to Hikari and Koushiro's efforts, the two found each other again, rekindled their friendship and the four of them started going out together, having movie nights and sometimes helping each other out with studying. With the latter, Taichi had put himself into another light through Sora's eyes, the passion he had found for school was something Sora admired in him, the academic skills he showed a little turn on for her.

To be honest, Taichi's ability to make her go weak in the knees in the most unexpected ways had come back to her full force since their friendship bloomed again. Sora had daydreamed about being more than friends with him, but could never cross that line in real life, her friendship with Taichi being too important, especially after they had to find their ways back to each other. So whenever certain thoughts and feelings passed her by, she shook her head, waving any longing away. Though she had to admit, the alcohol didn't make it all better or easier.

Too lost in her thoughts, she had missed how Taichi averted his gaze away from her. "What is it?" She attempted to get Taichi out of his stare. It was a lost cause, the music too loud and Taichi too distracted, so instead she turned her head to see what he was looking at for herself. She could have known though that his eyes were glued to his sister and Koushiro, their dancing getting closer and closer. "Taichi, they're just having fun…"

"Fun?" Taichi interrupted, his head turning back to face Sora. "All close like that? Sora, that's my best friend with my younger sister. You can't expect me to do nothing." He was fast, loosening his grip on Sora and trying to make his way towards them, but Sora was fast too. The hand that slid down his arm as he walked away tightened around his wrist to stop him in his tracks.

"Taichi, don't," she said as Taichi turned around to face her. Sora knew he needed a distraction. "Just… keep your eyes on me, okay?"

Without any more words exchanged, Sora had closed the gap between Taichi and herself, taking over his lead as the music swelled again. She made sure to turn both of them in a way he couldn't watch Koushiro and Hikari without turning his head. She led his hands to her waist, placing them a little lower than where he had put his hands himself before. Taichi was quick to follow, his hands slipping further onto her lower back and Sora could feel how the fingers of both his hands intertwined with each other, pulling Sora even closer in the process. The only time her face had heated up so fast was those six years ago and Sora had to swallow, her face now incredibly close to his, just like it was back then. Her own hands found their way from his shoulders to the back of his neck, mirroring his intertwined fingers on her back. They both smiled at each other, a surprised expression still lingering on both of their faces as well, the beating of her heart getting excitingly faster by the second.

They danced like that for a little while, slow but steady, closer than Hikari and Koushiro had seemed to be. Due to the closeness, Sora felt how her breasts were squeezed in between their bodies, her eyes trapped in his brown ones, a tingling sensation sending goosebumps all over her skin every time their noses accidentally brushed against each other. She had swallowed once, then twice, maybe even trice and eventually a fourth and fifth time, one hand traveling to the side of his face every time Taichi tried to turn his head to look at Hikari and Koushiro. Her words reminding him over and over again that his eyes should stay on her, trying to provide him the distraction he needed. And apparently wanted as well.

The want became clear to Sora as the small gap between them grew smaller and smaller, up until the point their noses didn't brush, but were permanently pressed against each other. Feeling intoxicated by both the alcohol and her raging hormones, Sora tilted her head a little to give Taichi some room to tilt his head too. Even though she could hear the music at normal speed and time seemed to pass just as usual, their movements felt like a slow motion to her, every millimeter that had to be bridged taking forever. By smelling him, she could already taste him a bit too and her want to savor his lips had never been so strong before. She already parted her lips in anticipation, her hands on the back of his neck sliding over each other and her arms towards his opposite shoulder, tightening her grip around him and Sora could feel Taichi doing the exact same around her waist and behind her back, pulling her even closer so their lips could finally meet. He was mere nanoseconds away—

"Hey you two~," came a voice from next to them. Sora shrieked, with it blowing air in Taichi's face before she let go of him to jump back.

"Oi, Hikari!" Taichi exclaimed with an annoyed tone.

"Hi…! Hikari-chan… Koushiro-kun…," Sora said, shaking her head like she always did whenever she had to shake away the fuzzy feelings.

"Sorry, she just took off all of a sudden," Koushiro apologized, though he didn't sound that genuine to Sora. She could see how Taichi had already opened his mouth to give a snarky comment back, but Hikari was faster.

"Kou here and I were dancing and it was sooooo much fun… But then I really, really, really wanted to talk to you guys, because you two look so cute, so I made my way over—"

Taichi's jaw dropped as he looked at his sister rambling on. Sora watched him raising an eyebrow before he turned to Koushiro. "How drunk is she?"

"She drank one more wine after those last shots…"

Sora's eyes shifted between the two guys to make sure Taichi wouldn't get brash and punch Koushiro for unnecessary reasons. Meanwhile, she had placed herself next to Hikari, holding her so she couldn't get away. Fortunately, Hikari was super cuddly and had basically latched herself onto Sora's arm.

"Your cheeks are quite red too, Kou," Taichi said, teasingly emphasizing Koushiro's nickname Hikari had given him earlier. Then he turned to his sister, letting out a sigh, "You're too drunk, let's go home."

"But I'm not done dancing yet…" Hikari whined.

"Yes, you are…" Taichi stated and grabbed Hikari's wrist, forcefully pulling her away from Sora.

Sora sighed feeling a little frozen in place, trying to comprehend the situation and especially the situation with Taichi. Ever since he had directed his energy back towards his sister and best friend, she had felt strangely cold, missing his closeness, their intimate dancing and his warm touch and breath on her skin. Eventually she followed the siblings and Koushiro towards the exit of the club, but the disappointment was clearly present on her face. Because just like Hikari, she too wasn't done dancing yet.

The brisk night's air didn't make the coldness Sora had felt back in the club disappear, the jacket she was wearing not enough to keep her warmed up. She wasn't sure whether it was just the cold night or the combination of the outside's cold hugging her, the alcohol leaving her body and the disappointed feeling that arose earlier that night, spreading from her chest through her body.

She looked at the bickering siblings in front of her, her eyes lingering a little longer on the brown mess of hair of her male friend. Imagining his face close to hers made her cheeks slightly warmer, she bit her lip to hide away the little smile forming on her lips.

"Seemed like you and Taichi-san had some serious chemistry going on tonight." It was Koushiro who walked next to her saying those words. Sora looked at him, feeling a little caught and confused.

"Chemistry…?" She asked him.

"Yes, chemistry. And not the kind of chemistry I have with either you or Taichi." Koushiro winked, the alcohol in his body still active enough to make him act a little cocky. Not wanting to admit any of it, she laughed and waved it off.

"We were just dancing! Nothing out of the ordinary…" Sora linked her arm with Koushiro's, impatiently waiting for some kind of response from him, but nothing came. "It wasn't like it did something to me. Taichi is just a friend." She clarified, both their faces facing forward as they continued their conversation.

Koushiro laughed back in return. "I'm just saying you two seemed very… close…"

"We weren't 'close'."

"Well, your faces were pretty close to one another at a certain point," he pointed out to her, his head turning back to her. "Are you sure you weren't about to kiss him, Sora-san?" He asked her, his voice getting lower to make sure neither Taichi nor Hikari could hear him.

"What? No! Like I said, Taichi is my friend and it was just the dancing… and the music… and the moment. Anyway…," Sora made sure the siblings were still too busy with each other before she continued, "what about you and Hikari-chan?"

Sora could see Koushiro's cheeks warming up, a shy but satisfied smile painting his lips. She smirked back, but decided to not dig deeper all the same.

The rest of the way home they walked in silence, watching Taichi dragging along Hikari, telling her his displeasure with her being so drunk. Sora caught Koushiro looking at Hikari multiple times, his cheeks getting a little redder every time his eyes fell on her. The sight made her smile too, feeling her redheaded friend's happiness on her own cheeks. It was a welcoming warmth during the chilly spring night, one she wanted to hold onto for as long as possible. Besides, it wasn't that hard to hold onto that fuzzy feeling, because all it took was one look in Taichi's direction, taking her back to that encounter, the image of his closeness living on vividly in her thoughts.