a/n: i know there's been a heck lot of sorato rumors out there, but don't believe everything you hear, kiddies. according to funkiechick (who is the highest authority on digimon that i've ever known and also the writer of the world's greatest taiora fics), japan may be going for sorato, but the u.s. is dead set on taiora. tai's voice actor said so. something about "developing the growing romance of tai and sora." so relax. taiora still lives. and it rules.
just one more part left. ::wipes forehead:: maybe i'll get it up by tomorrow...::faints::
Tai peeked at her from between his fingers.
Sora's face was calm. Blank. Emotionless.
"So..." he faltered.
"So?" she asked.
Tai silently clenched and unclenched his hands. Why was she making this so difficult? "Sora," he finally said, then stopped. And then pretended to be fascinated with the carpet.
Sora sighed. "I guess I should leave..."
"No...not yet." Tai finally found his voice. "Look, remember that rose I gave you before I left for college?"
Sora shook her head. No.
'Why's she doing this to me?' Tai thought in despair. 'Doesn't she remember? Or...maybe...she just wants to hurt me by saying that she forgot..." Tai's thoughts trailed off. "Okay Sora. So maybe you hate me. I don't care. At least not right now. But that rose...I told you to keep it forever, remember? That it was a secret. That I would explain it to you during spring break..."
Sora shook her head again.
Tai quietly turned around and shut the door. But he couldn't help turning back his head and looking at the silent, impassive, beautiful woman still standing in the hall. For probably the very last time in his life.
*******************************************
Sora sprinted back downstairs and tackled down her door. She raced back into her bedroom, spotted her cabinet, and puled out one of its drawers. Various articles of underwear and a few rolls of toilet paper flew out and hit her hard on the head. She didn't seem to mind. 'Where is it?' she thought wildly as she pawed through her clothes. 'I know it's in here...' And suddenly, there it was.
"It" being a little wooden box.
Sora sighed in relief. She gingerly picked it up and gently pulled out a few of her greatest treasures...a photo...a card...a string of tarnished pearls...and at the very bottom...a rose. Flawlessly preserved and dried to perfection. She closed her eyes and remembered how she had been so insulted when Tai had pressed it into her hand...i mean, come on, it was the last time she was going to see Tai for practically six months. And he had given her a last minute present. Again. And he had lied about it too, blabbing away about a secret and spring break and only heaven knows what else. Sora hadn't really listened. She had stood and looked at the rose with disbelief, and had only stopped to give Tai a mechanical kiss before he boarded his flight. She had considered dropping the rose in the trash, but eventually stopped herself with a tremendous amount of restraint. After all, it was from Tai, wasn't it? 'Argh,' Sora remembered growling. And she saw herself, a younger self, hurrying back home...
Sora opened her eyes again. That was the day she had forced herself to stop loving Tai. And she had succeeded, at exactly 11:59 p.m. It was easier the next day, and even easier the next...then that pizza delivery guy just had to stop by her house...Sora wrinkled her eyebrows. He had just stopped to ask by directions...that was what he said...but they had ended up sharing a lot more than a Thomas Guide...
A small clink brought Sora back to the present. She looked down at her lap and gave a start of disbelief. Her hands had been busy, even while her mind had wandered off to God knows where. There was nothing left of the rose now except for a few shredded petals scattered aimlessly across the floor. "Oh my gosh!!" cried Sora. "What have I done?" She hadn't known why she had preserved the rose...but it wasn't hard, her mom being a florist and all. She had been glad later on...Tai had been, and as much as she hated to admit this, the only man she had been able to understand, been able to trust, been able to love. The rose was...well...a sort of reminder of how things used to be. And sometimes, just sometimes, she would wish wistfully that time was reversable, that she could go back...
But it wasn't. And she couldn't. And she accepted the fact remarkably well, considering her present circumstances. Young, successful, and engaged to one of the most powerful men in Japan. Sora sighed, tucked away a stray strand of hair, and started to pick up the scarlet pieces strewn haphazardly across the floor.
Her finger touched something cold. Sora looked down at her hand and gasped. A ring lay glittering in her hand, studded with diamonds and with a yellowed inscription attached to its side..."Tai and Sora. 'Til death do us part." An engagement ring.
'It must have been hidden inside the rose,' Sora thought bitterly. 'Why didn't he tell me sooner?'
And as she spoke, another glittering jewel was added silently to the ring. A single, beautiful, perfect tear.
*******************************************
"Um, hi, this is Tai Kamiya. From Room 309. Yes. Uh, could I please have the room number for...uh..." He glanced at the business card Sora had accidently dropped from her purse. "Mr. Shurakin Osamu, please. It's an emergency."
The attendant from the front desk sighed in frustration. "We aren't allowed to release phone numbers, sir," she patiently sighed for the thirty-sixth time. "By the way, wasn't it you who called all the other times as well, sir?"
"Uh...how'd you know?" Tai replied rather lamely.
"You're probably the only male here that's below 42," the woman laughed. "How'd you manage to afford this place, anyway?"
"That's my problem, not yours, lady," Tai had tried to joke. (How did Tai get the money? Err...I'll explain later)
"Well, we usually don't do this, but..."
"Please?"
"Room 117. And if anyone asks, it wasn't me."
Click.
*******************************************
Tai, dressed in a smart service suit he had borrowed from a waiter downstairs, ("For a hundred and ten dollars an hour," Tai muttered bitterly) raced down to 117 and gave the massive door a tentative rap. The one hundreds were the rooms where all the big mucky mucks stayed. Each room was bigger than Tai's own house...the door opened.
Mr. Shurakin Osamu himself stood blinking down at Tai.
"Uh...hi there. Room service."
"Oh...uh...did I call you? Let me go ask my secretary...she's my fiancee too, you know." Mr. Osamu positively beamed.
"Oh...uh...great!!" Tai replied. 'Ugh,' he thought sadly. 'What a horrible way to waste my good looks. Being a service-boy to a guy with no hair. Gross.' Tai nervously touched his own thick head of hair. Just to make sure it was still there after seeing Mr. Osamu without a toupee.
Then what Osamu said finally clicked. 'Uh, not so great,' Tai thought in a panic. "I mean, um, of course you didn't call. Your fiancee thought you might like a extra large platter of our..uh...triple fudge sundae with sixteen different toppings, including--but not limited to--bananas, nuts, and...uh...lots of fudge," Tai finished hurriedly.
"Oh, well, of course. Where is it?"
"Oh...I just..um...wanted to check if you wanted some first. Cuz it takes us more than an hour to layer all that stuff on. You know. The sprinkles, the cream, the sugar. Oh...and the fudge."
Tai dodged deftly to avoid a small waterfall. Which was, of course, coming from Osamu's gaping maw.
"Oh, yes I see," Osamu finally said after wiping off his mouth with a small silk napkin. "Yes, I do see. Of course. Sora's that kind of person." And he smiled happily.
Tai considered giving him a kick between the legs.
"But before you go..." Suddenly Osamu's entire expression changed. "Come in here for a second. Half a second. I need someone to talk to." His expression grew sadder. "Are you engaged, boy?"
'How ironic,' Tai thought, a slow smile stealing across his face. "No, sir."
"Oh you lucky..." moaned Shurakin Osamu. Who was, of all people, going to be married to the only one Tai wanted. Needed. Loved.
"You lucky, lucky, lucky..." Osamu moaned some more.
Tai finally couldn't stand the suspense.
"Why am I lucky?" he exploded. Then added redeemingly, "sir?"
Osamu had glanced up for a few seconds at this outburst.
"Listen, boy," he had finally said. "I'm about to tell you something I've never told anyone. No, not even my psychologist. I am about to married to a girl...very pretty, and very sweet, mind you...who is twenty-three years my junior. Now, and I know you will agree, I should go through with the wedding. She has the kind of guts that will be good for the business." He nodded his head warmly. "That's what my head tells me. Now my heart. That's different." He sighed and wiped his head with a large handkerchief. "I'm in love with someone else. Yes, I know. I'm in love with the CEO of Toilets, Plumbing, and Co." Osamu stopped when he saw Tai's face. "Noooo! She's a woman, you pervert! Oh, yes, all right. I forgive you. Anyway. We used to date in college. Oh, I was a wild young man then, all right," he chuckled. "Yes, and to use the American expression, I was a real raver." He chortled at his remarkable sense of humor. "And she called me last night...said that she's been watching me rise in the economic world and her company topple...of course, what was that darling thinking, selling toilet seats...and she wondered if I could possibly give her a monetary boost. I said that I would, but only if she came to see me in person. Now, I am usually a very reasonable, sane, cool-minded man," he wheezed, "but this lady was astounding. As-toun-ding, I tell you. She was absolutely beautiful, even though she has...er...gained some weight. And she gave me a kiss before she left. A kiss! And not just a peck, my friend. A real kiss, like the ones you see on soap operas..." Osamu's eyes squeezed shut with pleasure.
Tai tried not to gag.
"Well, boy, back to what I was saying. She said that I had awoken her 'passion.' Her passion, I tell you!! I was elated! I was floating on air! But then I remembered..." he stifled a sob. "I remembered that...that...I was engaged!!!" At this point he burst into tears. "You...sniff...can go now...and get me that...sniffle...triple fudge..sniff...sundae..."
Tai stared in amazement. And then he left.
~to be continued~
hey. i know the ending of this series sounds pretty inevitable. yeah, i know, i said it was a taiora, blah blah blah. but i added a little twist to part six...(hint: the wedding...the one with sora and her fiancee...isn't cancelled. it's still going to happen, people)
oh and about tai and the money problem...um...he won a ticket over the internet, okay? sorry i didn't write a whole chapter on how he filled out his entry form, guys, i really am. but it just didn't seem important.
just one more part left. ::wipes forehead:: maybe i'll get it up by tomorrow...::faints::
Tai peeked at her from between his fingers.
Sora's face was calm. Blank. Emotionless.
"So..." he faltered.
"So?" she asked.
Tai silently clenched and unclenched his hands. Why was she making this so difficult? "Sora," he finally said, then stopped. And then pretended to be fascinated with the carpet.
Sora sighed. "I guess I should leave..."
"No...not yet." Tai finally found his voice. "Look, remember that rose I gave you before I left for college?"
Sora shook her head. No.
'Why's she doing this to me?' Tai thought in despair. 'Doesn't she remember? Or...maybe...she just wants to hurt me by saying that she forgot..." Tai's thoughts trailed off. "Okay Sora. So maybe you hate me. I don't care. At least not right now. But that rose...I told you to keep it forever, remember? That it was a secret. That I would explain it to you during spring break..."
Sora shook her head again.
Tai quietly turned around and shut the door. But he couldn't help turning back his head and looking at the silent, impassive, beautiful woman still standing in the hall. For probably the very last time in his life.
*******************************************
Sora sprinted back downstairs and tackled down her door. She raced back into her bedroom, spotted her cabinet, and puled out one of its drawers. Various articles of underwear and a few rolls of toilet paper flew out and hit her hard on the head. She didn't seem to mind. 'Where is it?' she thought wildly as she pawed through her clothes. 'I know it's in here...' And suddenly, there it was.
"It" being a little wooden box.
Sora sighed in relief. She gingerly picked it up and gently pulled out a few of her greatest treasures...a photo...a card...a string of tarnished pearls...and at the very bottom...a rose. Flawlessly preserved and dried to perfection. She closed her eyes and remembered how she had been so insulted when Tai had pressed it into her hand...i mean, come on, it was the last time she was going to see Tai for practically six months. And he had given her a last minute present. Again. And he had lied about it too, blabbing away about a secret and spring break and only heaven knows what else. Sora hadn't really listened. She had stood and looked at the rose with disbelief, and had only stopped to give Tai a mechanical kiss before he boarded his flight. She had considered dropping the rose in the trash, but eventually stopped herself with a tremendous amount of restraint. After all, it was from Tai, wasn't it? 'Argh,' Sora remembered growling. And she saw herself, a younger self, hurrying back home...
Sora opened her eyes again. That was the day she had forced herself to stop loving Tai. And she had succeeded, at exactly 11:59 p.m. It was easier the next day, and even easier the next...then that pizza delivery guy just had to stop by her house...Sora wrinkled her eyebrows. He had just stopped to ask by directions...that was what he said...but they had ended up sharing a lot more than a Thomas Guide...
A small clink brought Sora back to the present. She looked down at her lap and gave a start of disbelief. Her hands had been busy, even while her mind had wandered off to God knows where. There was nothing left of the rose now except for a few shredded petals scattered aimlessly across the floor. "Oh my gosh!!" cried Sora. "What have I done?" She hadn't known why she had preserved the rose...but it wasn't hard, her mom being a florist and all. She had been glad later on...Tai had been, and as much as she hated to admit this, the only man she had been able to understand, been able to trust, been able to love. The rose was...well...a sort of reminder of how things used to be. And sometimes, just sometimes, she would wish wistfully that time was reversable, that she could go back...
But it wasn't. And she couldn't. And she accepted the fact remarkably well, considering her present circumstances. Young, successful, and engaged to one of the most powerful men in Japan. Sora sighed, tucked away a stray strand of hair, and started to pick up the scarlet pieces strewn haphazardly across the floor.
Her finger touched something cold. Sora looked down at her hand and gasped. A ring lay glittering in her hand, studded with diamonds and with a yellowed inscription attached to its side..."Tai and Sora. 'Til death do us part." An engagement ring.
'It must have been hidden inside the rose,' Sora thought bitterly. 'Why didn't he tell me sooner?'
And as she spoke, another glittering jewel was added silently to the ring. A single, beautiful, perfect tear.
*******************************************
"Um, hi, this is Tai Kamiya. From Room 309. Yes. Uh, could I please have the room number for...uh..." He glanced at the business card Sora had accidently dropped from her purse. "Mr. Shurakin Osamu, please. It's an emergency."
The attendant from the front desk sighed in frustration. "We aren't allowed to release phone numbers, sir," she patiently sighed for the thirty-sixth time. "By the way, wasn't it you who called all the other times as well, sir?"
"Uh...how'd you know?" Tai replied rather lamely.
"You're probably the only male here that's below 42," the woman laughed. "How'd you manage to afford this place, anyway?"
"That's my problem, not yours, lady," Tai had tried to joke. (How did Tai get the money? Err...I'll explain later)
"Well, we usually don't do this, but..."
"Please?"
"Room 117. And if anyone asks, it wasn't me."
Click.
*******************************************
Tai, dressed in a smart service suit he had borrowed from a waiter downstairs, ("For a hundred and ten dollars an hour," Tai muttered bitterly) raced down to 117 and gave the massive door a tentative rap. The one hundreds were the rooms where all the big mucky mucks stayed. Each room was bigger than Tai's own house...the door opened.
Mr. Shurakin Osamu himself stood blinking down at Tai.
"Uh...hi there. Room service."
"Oh...uh...did I call you? Let me go ask my secretary...she's my fiancee too, you know." Mr. Osamu positively beamed.
"Oh...uh...great!!" Tai replied. 'Ugh,' he thought sadly. 'What a horrible way to waste my good looks. Being a service-boy to a guy with no hair. Gross.' Tai nervously touched his own thick head of hair. Just to make sure it was still there after seeing Mr. Osamu without a toupee.
Then what Osamu said finally clicked. 'Uh, not so great,' Tai thought in a panic. "I mean, um, of course you didn't call. Your fiancee thought you might like a extra large platter of our..uh...triple fudge sundae with sixteen different toppings, including--but not limited to--bananas, nuts, and...uh...lots of fudge," Tai finished hurriedly.
"Oh, well, of course. Where is it?"
"Oh...I just..um...wanted to check if you wanted some first. Cuz it takes us more than an hour to layer all that stuff on. You know. The sprinkles, the cream, the sugar. Oh...and the fudge."
Tai dodged deftly to avoid a small waterfall. Which was, of course, coming from Osamu's gaping maw.
"Oh, yes I see," Osamu finally said after wiping off his mouth with a small silk napkin. "Yes, I do see. Of course. Sora's that kind of person." And he smiled happily.
Tai considered giving him a kick between the legs.
"But before you go..." Suddenly Osamu's entire expression changed. "Come in here for a second. Half a second. I need someone to talk to." His expression grew sadder. "Are you engaged, boy?"
'How ironic,' Tai thought, a slow smile stealing across his face. "No, sir."
"Oh you lucky..." moaned Shurakin Osamu. Who was, of all people, going to be married to the only one Tai wanted. Needed. Loved.
"You lucky, lucky, lucky..." Osamu moaned some more.
Tai finally couldn't stand the suspense.
"Why am I lucky?" he exploded. Then added redeemingly, "sir?"
Osamu had glanced up for a few seconds at this outburst.
"Listen, boy," he had finally said. "I'm about to tell you something I've never told anyone. No, not even my psychologist. I am about to married to a girl...very pretty, and very sweet, mind you...who is twenty-three years my junior. Now, and I know you will agree, I should go through with the wedding. She has the kind of guts that will be good for the business." He nodded his head warmly. "That's what my head tells me. Now my heart. That's different." He sighed and wiped his head with a large handkerchief. "I'm in love with someone else. Yes, I know. I'm in love with the CEO of Toilets, Plumbing, and Co." Osamu stopped when he saw Tai's face. "Noooo! She's a woman, you pervert! Oh, yes, all right. I forgive you. Anyway. We used to date in college. Oh, I was a wild young man then, all right," he chuckled. "Yes, and to use the American expression, I was a real raver." He chortled at his remarkable sense of humor. "And she called me last night...said that she's been watching me rise in the economic world and her company topple...of course, what was that darling thinking, selling toilet seats...and she wondered if I could possibly give her a monetary boost. I said that I would, but only if she came to see me in person. Now, I am usually a very reasonable, sane, cool-minded man," he wheezed, "but this lady was astounding. As-toun-ding, I tell you. She was absolutely beautiful, even though she has...er...gained some weight. And she gave me a kiss before she left. A kiss! And not just a peck, my friend. A real kiss, like the ones you see on soap operas..." Osamu's eyes squeezed shut with pleasure.
Tai tried not to gag.
"Well, boy, back to what I was saying. She said that I had awoken her 'passion.' Her passion, I tell you!! I was elated! I was floating on air! But then I remembered..." he stifled a sob. "I remembered that...that...I was engaged!!!" At this point he burst into tears. "You...sniff...can go now...and get me that...sniffle...triple fudge..sniff...sundae..."
Tai stared in amazement. And then he left.
~to be continued~
hey. i know the ending of this series sounds pretty inevitable. yeah, i know, i said it was a taiora, blah blah blah. but i added a little twist to part six...(hint: the wedding...the one with sora and her fiancee...isn't cancelled. it's still going to happen, people)
oh and about tai and the money problem...um...he won a ticket over the internet, okay? sorry i didn't write a whole chapter on how he filled out his entry form, guys, i really am. but it just didn't seem important.