"Hey Tai!" Daisuke called out on the way to PE class, the second class period after lunch. Tai, Koushirou, Ken, Takeru and himself were in the same PE class.

"Hey, Dai," Tai said, looking at Daisuke. He grinned suddenly, and then spoke again. "So, I heard that two students were caught kissing in the back stairwell last hour... You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you, Dai?"

"Well, it wasn't me," Daisuke said thoughtfully, then grinned. "Ken and Takeru cut through there... was it them?"

Tai smiled secretly. "Well, you may want to ask them, Dai."

"It was, wasn't it?!" Daisuke shook his head and pretended to be upset. "I feel so neglected!"

"Don't worry -- you can have them pay you back later, you know." Tai grinned as Daisuke rolled his eyes.

"You, Taichi, are very odd. You've got more interest in my love life than you do your own... or rather, your lack of one."

"Hey, lay off, Dai," Tai said, shaking his head and grinning secretly.

"Well, you know it's true..." Daisuke trailed off suddenly. Koushirou had walked into the hallway, and Tai had gotten the oddest look on his face. "Oh, I see now."

"See what, Dai?" Asked Koushirou as he fell into step beside Tai.

Daisuke grinned and Tai looked a bit scared. "Why Tai's always poking fun at my love life. It's 'cause he has none of his own," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"Ah, it's all so clear now!" Koushirou jokingly replied, grinning. "You know, Tai, now that he's figured out your secret, he's never going to let you forget it. He'll tease you mercilessly, day and night, and I might just help him." He poked Tai as he said the last few words, causing Tai to blush, though faintly.

"Dai! Wait up!" As his name was called, he turned to see a flustered Takeru dragging a slightly upset Ken down the hallway. Dai grinned and did what was asked of him, though Taichi and Koushirou went on ahead.

When they had caught up, Ken looked at Daisuke and then glared at Takeru.

"What's up, Ken?" Daisuke asked softly, pulling the other boy into a hug. Takeru stood on the side, looking a bit uneasy.

"Takeru decided it would be a good idea to kiss me right in front of the principal -- now we have detention tomorrow."

Daisuke rolled his eyes at Takeru and spoke. "Was it worth it?"

Takeru looked at Ken and nodded sadly. "I thought it was."

Hearing the tone of Takeru's voice, Ken turned to face him, pulling out of Daisuke's embrace. "I'm sorry, Takeru -- it's just that this will be my first detention, but you're right. It was worth it." He grinned slightly as Takeru's expression lightened up while he was talking. He stepped toward the blonde and kissed him softly, the other boy returning the kiss happily.

"You should've seen the look on his face, Dai!" Takeru said, grinning, after breaking the kiss.

Daisuke rolled his eyes and then pouted. "You guys are making me feel so unwanted!"

Ken took pity on him and kissed him -- hard -- leaving Daisuke grinning happily with kiss-bruised lips.

"Hey, guys, you're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" Tai yelled from the end of the hall, then he and Koushirou disappeared into the locker room.

Takeru dragged Ken and Daisuke down the hall and into the locker room, from which all five emerged several minutes later.

* * *

In gym, the routine was the same as always. Attendance was taken, stretches were done, and then everyone split up to play various athletic games. Takeru and Ken strayed over to the basketball hoops, while Koushirou, Tai, and Daisuke found themselves in the middle of a soccer game.

Taichi had been teaching Koushirou how to play soccer over the past few weeks, so they stayed together. Tai passed the ball to Koushirou, who was in the process of kicking it to another player when he was slide tackled. Tai had been coming closer and so ended up under Koushirou when he landed.

There was a collective silence after a loud crack, and everyone held their breaths. They all knew Tai's temper and his protectiveness of his friend. Koushirou's eyes were open as wide as they could be, and his breathing was sounding strained. Tai looked up at him in worry. "Kou?"

"... ow..." he answered, blinking rapidly. Immediately following this, everyone around the two fallen boys voiced their concern. The first and most concerned of them all was Tai, of course.

"'Shirou, you okay?"

"No... My arm..." Koushirou managed to say, closing his eyes tightly against the pain.

The gym teacher came over and carefully helped Koushirou to stand, then left with him to go to the nurse's office. Tai, as soon as they were gone, glared at the kid standing nervously at the edge of the crowd. He walked over to the kid, Hitoshi -- he was on the soccer team, Tai remembered -- with deliberate steps.

"Um, Tai-kun, you know I didn't mean it, um, it was totally an accident!" Hitoshi, seeing that this line of reasoning was not helping, started on a different track. "I mistook him for another player on our team, you see, Tai, so--"

"You know just as well as anyone else here that he's the only redhead in the class. If it really was an accident, then you would have just ran into him, not tackle him like that. If you had mistook him for another player, then it was not accidental, now was it?" Tai's voice was calm and dead serious; his face mirroring the tone.

Hitoshi glanced wildly around, his eyes begging for assistance. No one dared step forward; they had seen what happened, and knew he was at fault. Besides, no one wanted to cross Tai.

Tai started walking forward and Hitoshi stepped backward, matching Tai step for step until he found himself against the wall.

"You," Tai said, still advancing toward the other boy, his stride purposeful. "You will /never/ do that again. You will never mess with me or my friends."

Barely breathing, Hitoshi gulped in fear. He nodded, hoping absurdly that he could make it though this unharmed by agreeing to the terms.

A loud smack changed his mind as Tai punched him, and he clutched his bloody -- and likely broken -- nose.

"You'd better get that looked at. Those soccer balls are a pain to be hit with, don't you think?"

Hitoshi nodded and ran out of the room, hearing applause and congratulations as he left.

* * *