Author's Note: This, my friends, is a joke

When Love Leads Awry

Yamato rolled over on the hard ground, unable to sleep in spite of all the walking the group had done that day. He sighed. I'm going to tell Taichi tomorrow. I'm sick of laying awake all night worrying about how he feels. I love him. I just hope he feels the same way.

Suddenly, Yamato felt something brush his arm lightly. He turned to see Taichi leaning over him, a tentative smile on his face. "Yamato, meet me in the small clearing in the woods by that old tree in about 20 minutes. I have something I really need to talk to you about." And then he was gone.

Yamato blinked. Did that really just happen? Had Taichi really just invited him for a secret meeting in the woods? Alone? The thin boy felt himself beginning to shiver in anticipation. Maybe Taichi didn't like Sora after all…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sora watched from where she was laying as Taichi left the clearing where the group had set up camp. Why is he going off by himself? She wondered, and then it hit her. Taichi must have known she was awake! It was a signal! He was trying to lure her off into the woods so they could be alone! It was perfect!

Slowly standing up, Sora glanced around the clearing to make sure nobody else was awake, and then slipped through the break in the trees where she had seen Taichi exit. Soon. Soon all of her dreams would come true.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mimi sat up as soon as Sora exited the clearing and felt a shiver run down her back. She had seen the look Sora had given her as she exited the clearing. It had definitely been seductive. An enormous smile spread across the pink-loving girl's face.

She had been yearning after Sora ever since they met at camp. She had such a strong, athletic body, and such a warm, caring personality. And now, now Sora was returning her feelings. She was beckoning to Mimi in the middle of the night. She was calling her off to meet in the woods… alone…

Mimi stood quickly and looked at where Sora had exited the clearing. Ewwww, she thought, the berries on that bush might smear all over my outfit. I'll just leave from the other side of the clearing and circle around to meet her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jyou pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose as Mimi left the clearing. He had seen Taichi and Sora exit the other side. They had a tryst planned, no doubt. But what about Mimi? That girl couldn't stand the woods, what with the bugs and evil digimon and all, so why was she wandering about by herself?

Unless Tai and Sora's tryst had given her an idea. Jyou began to wonder if maybe Mimi was just as lonely as he was. He began to wonder if maybe she would like his company out in the dark, scary woods. He began to wonder if she was *asking* for his company. He had been sitting up when she left the clearing, after all. Only a complete moron wouldn't have seen him watching.

Jyou unfolded his legs and scrambled to stand up. Now's your chance, Jyou. It's time to tell Mimi how you really feel. The boy walked purposefully through the heavy screen of foliage where Mimi had gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of a stick cracking woke Koushiro from his fitful sleep, and he snapped into a sitting position, looking warily around the clearing. He was shocked to see that the only people left in the clearing were Yamato, Takeru, and himself. Wait, where is everyone? Where's Jyou? Koushiro felt his cheeks grow warm as the reason for his fitful sleep came to his mind.

Jyou had been in his dreams more and more recently. He had been Koushiro's good friend for a long time, but Koushiro was starting to want something more from the relationship. He knew he was younger that Jyou, but he couldn't help what he felt. I need to take a walk. He thought, standing and walking to the edge of the clearing. Maybe that will clear my mind, or at least maybe I'll figure out where everyone else went.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When branches started shaking near the old tree that Taichi was sitting on, he leap to his feet and took a defensive stance. It hadn't been nearly 20 minutes, so that probably wasn't Yamato.

"Hi, Taichi." Sora said softly, posing delicately as soon as she was free of the branches.

Taichi's jaw dropped to the ground. "Sora?"

"Yes, Taichi?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.

"What are you doing here?"

Sora's body fell from it's pose, and her face went slack. "What do you mean? Don't you want me here?"

"Uhhhh…" Taichi was taken off guard. He *didn't* want Sora there, but he knew he couldn't say that to her face. "No, it's not that… you just weren't quite who I was expecting."

"Who were you expecting?"

Taichi glanced over Sora's shoulder, hoping to see the blond boy coming so that Yamato could help tactfully send the girl away. "Well, you see I was just—"

Sora cut Taichi off by holding up her hand. "Wait. Do you hear something?"

Glad for the save, Taichi strained his ears to the surrounding woodland. "Yeah. It sounds like voices."

Sora cupped her hands around her mouth. "Hello?"

~~~~~~~~~

Jeez, where is she going? Norway? Jyou wondered, shoving a bush out of his way as he trailed after Mimi. The girl hadn't stopped walking since she'd left the clearing and, by Jyou's calculations, they had gone almost halfway around the clearing already.

Suddenly, he heard the body in front of him stop moving. "Ewwww…" He heard Mimi say, "There's no *way* I can get that out without bleach."

Jyou's ears perked up at the melodious sound and practically sprinted to catch up with the girl. Mimi barely even noticed when he came up behind her, however, and just kept grumbling about the new stain on her clothing.

Jyou cleared his throat. "Uhhh… Mimi?"

The girl spun around. "Jyou? What are you doing here?" She asked, confusion playing clearly across her face.

"Why? Do you want me to go somewhere else? I'll go anywhere." Jyou sputtered out his response before thinking and then almost slapped his forehead at how stupid he sounded.

"No, Jyou, I don't really want you to… go… somewhere else. I just wanted to know what you were doing here."

"I was following you."

"Why?"

"Because—"

"Hello?" A voice asked from a short distance away, causing Mimi's ears to perk up instantly.

That sounds like Sora! She thought, and immediately forgot about Jyou as she shoved her way through the dense forest to get to the other girl. "Don't worry, Sora, I'm here."

Sora raised an eyebrow at Mimi's statement as the other girl entered the small clearing. "Mimi? What do you mean, 'Don't worry I'm here?' I was trying to talk to Taichi."

Mimi's smile melted from her face. "I was…" She said, trying to think of a cover quickly, "I though you were in trouble, or something… So I thought I would come help out."

Taichi looked back and forth at the two girls with confusion before turning to look back toward the campsite again, hoping to see Yamato pushing through the trees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jyou felt his jaw drop as he watched the love of his life leave him behind without a glance and disappear into the forest. I had just gotten up the nerve to tell her how I felt, too. Now what? He wondered, tempted to start banging his head on one of the nearby trees.

A cracking twig off to his left caused him to turn, though, and a feeling of fear and dread rose in his stomach. He wasn't prepared to deal with anything on his own. All he wanted was to talk to Mimi. He didn't want to fight anything in the middle of the dark, dark woods all on his own.

When the familiar face of Koushiro materialized in front of him, Jyou felt his knees go weak with relief.

"Hey, Jyou, I wasn't expecting to run into you out here… alone…" Koushiro swallowed hard, trying to bring his voice back under control. "Where is everybody?"

Jyou shrugged, a distant look in his eyes. "I dunno. Mimi went that way. I'm going that way." He said, walking in the direction he had indicated Mimi went.

Koushiro swallowed again and followed Jyou. Wouldn't it be great if we got lost out here, just the two of us… The boy's dream was smashed, however, when he looked up to see Mimi, Sora, and Taichi staring at him. "Uhhh… Hi, guys. What's going on?"

"I have no idea." Taichi mumbled. He looked incredibly ticked off.

Sora smiled and batted her eyelashes. "Taichi and I were just talking, and Mimi showed up."

"I thought they might be in trouble." Mimi said quietly, her eyes glued to Sora.

Jyou didn't say anything. He merely threw his arms into the air and shook his head in exasperation.

"What about you, Koushiro? What are you doing out here."

"I was just looking for you guys." The small boy said matter-of-factly, but the slight touch of sadness in his eyes spoke of something else.

Taichi clapped his hands together and looked at everyone. "Well, I think it's about time all of you went back to—"

"Yamato?"

Everyone turned to looked at the tall, blond boy who had just entered the small clearing looking incredibly confused. "What the…"

Taichi looked back and forth between Yamato and the rest of the digi-destined, not sure if he wanted them to all know his reason for being out in the woods that night. Finally, after a long silence, he looked at his feet and said quietly, "I'd like to talk to Yamato alone, if you guys don't mind."

Sora's jaw dropped. "Why do you want to talk to Yamato?"

The other children looked just as interested in the answer to Sora's question as she did.

"I just have something I need to talk to him about." Taichi said defensively and then looked at Yamato for support.

The blond boy was practically beaming. "Would you guys mind?"

"Yeah, whatever." Sora said, shoving past the two boys and heading back to camp.

The other three followed her with less of a show, but Koushiro did glance back curiously before he disappeared into the forest.

The two boys stood in silence for a long time, Taichi staring at his feet, and Yamato looking anywhere but at Taichi.

"Yamato?"

The blond boy took a step closer to his friend. "Yeah?"

"Do you think Takeru's interested in me?"