Hello everyone! It took me a little more than I expected to write this, but I finally managed it. I want to apologize to all of you who wanted a Sorato kiss in this chapter. It will take a little longer, but it will happen I promise. Anyway, I think it's clear but just in case it's not, this chapter has events from the second episode of 02. Don't forget to review. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Reunion
Sora opened her eyes and saw Yamato sitting next to her, staring at a spot on the shelf across him. She blinked and tried to understand what had happened. He was about to kiss her, but somehow the kiss didn't happen.
"I couldn't do it." He said without looking at her. "There's too much in the table."
"Yeah, you're probably right." She sighed and stared at the shelf as well. "We wouldn't work as a couple."
"What makes you say that?"
"Say we become a couple and it doesn't last. It would be too weird to see and talk to you whenever we meet. Besides, we are both destined children. We have to interact somehow."
"Someone will be happy to know what almost happened here."
"Who?"
"Takeru. He keeps telling me I should confess to you. The idea of us being a couple really pleases him."
"That's so typical of him." She smiled. "Three years later and he still wants a happy family. I can't blame him, though. He was too little when your parents got divorced."
"Yes, he was. I was as well, but I was old enough to understand at least a little bit. Seeing them fight was awful. I remembered my mother taking it out on my father because he often stayed at work until very late at night and never helped her with us or the house. Her screams scared Takeru a lot, so I tried to blind him from everything as much as I could." Yamato sighed and closed his hands into fists. "I never told this to anyone, not even him, but I made the decision of staying with my father. I figured Takeru would need our mom more than me. It still broke my heart to see them walk away. I had no idea when I would get to see my brother again."
"Yamato." Sora said softly and grabbed his pale hand. "I had no idea you felt like this about the whole situation with your parents. You deciding to stay with your father in behalf of Takeru's needs was such a selfless act. To be honest, I would never expect anything less coming from you. I know what it's like to grow up without a mother or a father."
"I always thought you had a happy family."
"That's because I don't like talking about it. My parents aren't divorced, but they don't live under the same roof for about five years."
"May I ask you what happened? If you don't mind sharing, of course."
"I don't mind it. I' m comfortable enough to talk about it now." She smiled briefly before proceeding. "My father was offered a job in Kyoto University to teach about folklore. He invited my mother to go along, but she declined saying she had the flower school and couldn't give up on it. Nor did she want to. So they agreed on try the long-distance relationship. It was very hard for me at first, I missed my father a lot. I only got to see him twice a year, when he could get a break from the university and come to Tokyo."
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Sora. You didn't deserve this."
"Ah well… neither did you and Takeru. But I guess life isn't always fair, right?"
"I guess so."
"We should…" She blinked to recover from the emotional conversation. "We should get back to rearranging all these books."
"That's right." He stood up and offered her his hand.
"Thank you." She said as she took it and he lifted her up. "So what do we do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"We almost kissed, Yamato. We can't pretend that it never happened."
"It never happened, Sora. It almost happened. There's a big difference."
"Still, what does it mean?"
"Nothing. It doesn't have to mean anything."
"You don't want it to mean something?" She asked a little hurt.
"What do you want it to mean?" He snapped and quickly dimmed the tone of his voice. "It was just a moment of weakness. I don't know what I was thinking."
"Right." She nodded, turned around and walked away.
Yamato threw his head back and sighed with frustration and disbelief.
Later that day, we all got together in the park as planned. Taichi and Koushiro were sitting next to each other on a bench, while Takeru sat in another one. Jyou sat on a string and I stood by the jigsaw. We were just waiting for Yamato and Sora to arrive. They were taking a little more than they said they would. The girl was the first to arrive.
"What took you so long?" Taichi asked.
"I'm sorry. I was in detention and only left now."
"Detention?!" We all asked surprised.
"What did you do?"
"I got into a conversation and ended up causing trouble to the class."
"Wait, you have never done such thing before. Who were you talking to?"
"Yamato. We were talking about…" She glanced at Koushiro and the boy immediately turned bright red. Sora shook her head. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."
"Why would you and Yamato fight?"
"I said it's nothing important. We worked things out."
"Somebody pitch me, I think the world is ending."
"Shut up, Taichi." She snapped. "Or I'll tell your mother how many detentions you got last year."
"Hell no!"
"So what did you have to do for detention?" I asked.
"We had to rearrange all the books in the school library. I will have to tell the teacher they should buy a new ladder because I fell down from the one they have."
"Oh my God! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She smiled. "I just had my ankle swollen but got treated after we were free to go. I bet my tennis teacher isn't happy for missing the practice today."
"Are you practicing everyday?"
"Pretty much. Until Wimbledon, I'm working as hard as I can. I don't think I'll make it to the finals, but I don't want to embarrass myself in the tournament."
"I'm sure you'll do great. It's a lifetime experience."
"It is."
"So where is my brother?" Takeru asked.
"Uh, he should be here soon. He said he had to go somewhere first. I thought he'd arrive before me."
"Well, here's the thing…" Taichi started talking. "A new situation has come up in the Digital World."
"I thought we were waiting for Yamato to arrive." Koushiro interrupted him.
"He's somewhat filled in with it. I told him and Sora a little about it as we went to school. He won't miss much."
"Alright, if you say so."
"So, as I was saying…" He proceeded. "There are three new Destined Children."
"What? You must be kidding." Jyou said.
"I wish I was. But apparently we will need extra help."
"Hello, guys."
"Yamato!" Takeru stood up from his seat.
"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. I hope I'm not too late."
"No, we've just started. Sora arrived not too long ago."
"Really?" He looked at her, but she didn't return his gesture.
"Guys, we have no time for this right now." Koushiro spoke. "We have a serious situation we need to talk about."
"That's right." Taichi nodded. "I'm afraid to say our partners won't be much of a help. They can't evolve because someone called Digimon Emperor is putting up a lot of black towers in the Digital World. Daisuke was able to find something called Digimental with the Crest of Courage symbol on it. This allowed his partner to evolve into a new Digimon."
"Digimental?" Jyou asked. "I've never heard about such thing."
"Neither have we. But if you ask me, there are other seven digimentals waiting to be found."
"So does that mean there will be other six kids who will own digimentals with our crests' symbols?"
"It's likely." Koushiro confirmed. "My guess is that they will replace us in the fighting."
"As much as it hurts me to say, I think you're right."
"So we'll just leave it on their hands?"
"Of course not. We have a lot of experience with evil forces in the Digital World, so we can work as advisors at first, but eventually it's all on them."
"Do we even know who these new kids are?" Sora asked. "I mean, other than Daisuke."
"Not yet."
"When I lifted the Digimental, three lights came out of it and they all went in the same direction. Maybe the other two kids are from our school."
"But we have no way to find them. We struggled so much last time; we got lucky Hikari was the eighth child."
"And we can't exactly ask every student if they have a digivice. We could pretty much get expelled."
"That's not an option." Koushiro rubbed his chin. "I just remembered Miyako seemed too interested about the Digital World after Hikari and Takeru went after Taichi. This is just an assumption right now, but she might be one of the kids."
"Okay, so what do we do now?"
"Can you keep an eye on her, Takeru? You said she lives in the same building as you, right?"
"That's right."
"Don't be so blatant about it, though. Just keep an eye on her whenever you can. I know she's in the computer club, so I'll watch her as well."
"Is there anything else we need to talk about?"
"I don't think so. Just pay more attention to the other students without being so invasive."
"You heard that, Taichi?" Sora mocked.
"As if I'm invasive."
"Of course you are."
"Shut up, Takenouchi."
"I also got you all this." Koushiro handed us a portable device. "We'll call it a D-3. We can send each other e-mails to fill in on the situation."
"Okay, that sounds like a plan."
"So are we settled?"
"I think so."
"Good, because I really need to go home. I'm starving."
"When are you not starving, Taichi?" Sora teased. "It's so predictable."
"Whatever. I'll see you all tomorrow."
"Taichi, wait up." I called him. "Good night, everyone."
"Good night, Hikari."
"I'm going home too." Jyou said. "I still have some homework to do."
"Me too." Koushiro nodded.
"But if you need, don't hesitate to call me. I'll do anything within my reach to help."
"Will do."
The two boys headed to their homes, leaving Takeru, Yamato and Sora alone. The girl looked away to hide her tension.
"Well, I should be heading home as well."
"Are you staying with mom and me, Yamato?"
Yamato looked at Sora before turning his attention completely to his brother. "I'm afraid not. It's my cooking night and dad should be arriving at any minute now. You know how he gets when he comes and dinner isn't ready."
"Right."
"But you are more than welcome to stay over. You know that, right?"
"Yes, I do. I'll probably stop by tomorrow, if that's okay."
"You don't even have to ask. You know that house is partly yours as well. We'd love to have you over."
"Sweet." Takeru said excitedly. "I'll call you later to arrange everything else."
"What are you? Sixty?" Yamato joked. "You can show up anytime you want. We got everything you need there."
"I know, but…"
"You sound like it's the first time you are sleeping at our house."
"No…"
"So relax." The older blonde interrupted. "Do you want me to walk you home?"
"No, it's alright. It's not that late and it seems you have something more important to do."
Takeru winked and Yamato blushed a little. Sora shifted uncomfortably and turned to leave.
"You should go after her." He motioned his head towards her. "And gather your courage to finally confess. The more you deny it, the more evident it gets."
"Are you sure you can go home by yourself?" Yamato asked hesitantly. "I mean, you're only eleven."
"I can take care of myself. I've dealt with more dangerous things when I was younger than I am now, remember? Besides, the building isn't far from here." He smiled. "But I'll call you when I arrive. I'll understand if you don't pick up, though."
"Okay, this has to stop."
"It's fun to see you feel uncomfortable." Takeru laughed and then turned serious. "Really, you need to walk Sora home. If you run, you can catch up with her."
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. Take care."
"You too. Bye."
Yamato turned around and rushed after his friend.
Sora was waiting for the red lights appear so she could cross the street when Yamato caught up with her.
"Didn't you hear me calling your name?" He asked as he bent over and placed his hands on his knees, grasping for air.
"I did. I just couldn't stay much longer. I still need to help my mother with ikebana stuff."
"Why are you avoiding me?"
"I'm not avoiding you, Yamato." She didn't dare to look at his face. "I just explained why I didn't stay."
"You didn't look at me during our meeting, since I arrived."
"Was I supposed to? We weren't having a romantic date. That meeting was to figure out how to deal with the new events regarding the Digital World."
"Exactly."
"So why does it bother you the fact I didn't look at you?"
"It doesn't bother me."
"Good night, Yamato." Sora moved forward to cross the street, but he held her arm.
"Wait, is this because of what happened earlier?"
"What happened earlier? Or what almost happened?"
"Did you want it to happen?"
"Does it matter? I think it's a known fact this wouldn't work."
"That's right. So why are you so angry about it?"
"I don't know. " She sighed. "Why were you so upset that Koushiro was the first guy I kissed?"
"It seemed weird to me. You two don't seem compatible."
"Neither do we. Yet you tried to kiss me."
"Would you kiss me back if I did?"
"I don't know." She replied angrily. "Maybe."
"Well, let's see it then."
Yamato pulled her into him until they were millimeters away from each other. Sora felt her heart start racing and her mind going blank. She blinked hard and then pushed him away.
"But then what? I don't think things would be the same as they are now."
"I don't think you can know that beforehand."
"I want my second kiss to mean something. My first kiss may not have been as I expected it to be, but I want that to change in my second one. I want it to be with someone I actually have feelings for and they are reciprocated."
"Okay, that's fair."
"Can you please let me go?" She glanced at his arms around her body. "I really need to go home."
"Yeah, sorry." He released her and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry for that."
"It's okay. I just don't think we're right for each other. I have a lot of background history. You wouldn't want to deal with that."
"So do I. But I get what you said."
"This isn't going to work, Yamato. I think we should stay away from each other. I don't even want to imagine how things would be like for everyone else. It's better this way."
"But Sora."
"I'm leaving in a few days, Yamato." She said firmly. "This tension between us will probably be gone by the time I return." She turned around and crossed the street, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Hope you enjoyed this. I'll come back with a new chapter next month.