Yes, the next chapter. Everything's getting a little rough for the gang and it continues to rise. I decided to add a little break from all the drama with a little comedy(lucky if it works) so, yeah, don't forget to R&R!


~Promises and Broken Hearts~
*A Glimpse of What Would Be*

"Ohmigosh, how is Taichi?" Miyako asked as she walked arm-in-arm with Ken. She had heard the news from Takeru, who was walking with Iori and Daisuke that morning. Takeru felt miserable that Hikari was home sick with a fever and the fact that Taichi was still in the hospital.

"Jou says that he'll do fine in a day or two," Takeru said.

"You know," Daisuke said, peeling a bubble gum's wrapper, "I never seen Yamato so pissed off before. I mean, yah, it's a crazy notion for me to say, but...whoa!"

"I don't blame you," Takeru replied, "he rarely gets angry nowadays."

"How's Hikari?" Iori said, holding his project very carefully.

Takeru winced at the sound of Hikari's name, making him think of a fraile Hikari lying in her bedroom, wincing in pain. "Jou gave Mrs. Yagami some tablets to stop the fever and headaches, but she'll need her rest," he replied sullenly.

Daisuke shoved the Extra bubblegum in his mouth quickly.

"Daisuke," Miyako called, "you're not sharing."

Daisuke grimaced at Miyako's call. "Um, I'm not?"

Ken laughed, despite his discipline to control it.

"Don't you have another one?" Miyako wailed.

Daisuke said nothing as he leaned towards Iori and Takeru and said, "I ate the rest early before she arrived, so she wouldn't ask for one." Takeru and Iori's eyebrows raised, but they understood why he did what he did.

"I HEARD THAT!" Miyako yelled, reaching out with her free hand and yanking on Daisuke's ear. She swung him back and forth with him yelping as Takeru, Iori and Ken had a good laugh. Suddenly, she let go and Daisuke reeled towards Takeru, Ken and Iori. Takeru and Ken ducked away from the projecting Daisuke, but Iori was in the line of fire.

"Dai-Dai-Daisuke!!!" he yelped, throwing his project in the air as Daisuke slammed into him. Both of them tumbled onto the sidewalk.

"Get the project!" Miyako shouted as Takeru and Ken ran to retrieve it in the air. It was falling at impossible speeds as both guys reached out to grab the project. The cardboard nicked their hands as the dropped in the sheer velocity of the falling object and their aching feet.

Miyako ran towards Ken. "Ken-kun! You okay?"

"I think so," he groaned as he and Takeru struggled to their feet, carrying the project. Iori frantically rolled off a dizzy Daisuke and ran towards the others, ignoring the pain in his chest and his messy hair as he took the project.

"Oh, arigatou, you saved my grade!" he rejoiced.

Ken and Takeru grinned.

Miyako embraced Ken. "You're my hero," she said, making Ken blush.

"Someone...help me..." Daisuke groaned. "I think I'm dead."

"You will be in a moment," Miyako shot back.

Takeru limped over and pulled Daisuke to his feet. Nodding a thank you, Daisuke's hands went to his throat as the others watched in horror, thinking, Uh-oh, now what? "My gum!" he cried. "I swallowed my gum! Nooooo...."


"Jou!"

Jou turned to see who was calling him and found Yamato running down the white corridors towards him, dressed in jeans, a wrinkled polo and a black leather jacket. He sighed inwardly as he thought, Here comes my living hell, just in time, too. Gee, I wonder what absurd disappointments will he tell me today.
Breathlessly, Yamato said, "Oh, thank God I caught up with you. The receptionist told me you were just coming in from your lunch break."

Jou's stomach growled, reminding him on the teriaki he ate for lunch and making him hungry again. Pushing those thoughts aside, he straightened his pose into a physician. "May I help you, Yamato?" Jou asked with a detachment in his voice. "Some advil, maybe? Or some reactine? How about rum? Or maybe a sedative?" He pulled on his ID and clipped it on his shirt. "oh, hell, maybe give you a revolver, make my life easier.

"Yeah," he replied, ignoring his sarcastic remarks. I must've shooken him up enough to revert him to his old and sardonic self again, he thought. That makes the damage even more severe than I initially thought. "Well, actually I came here to apoligize."

"Really?" Jou asked, taking out a clipboard and examining the paperwork before his eyes. "And tell me, did Sora-chan set you up for this? 'Cause really, Yamato, I have some patients to visit and have to give Taichi his medication both physically and mentally..."

"She didn't tell me to do this," Yamato said urgently, "I came here before I felt guilty for yelling at you the way that I did." Jou looked up from his work to face him, giving him his undying attention, althought it was a temporary one. "I didn't mean to say those things last night...I was fustrated. Taichi wouldn't talk to me for days on end...it was unnerving, you know? And the worst part about it was, I felt like a bad friend for not doing anything about it."

"It's not your fault, Yamato," Jou said, his voice a bit younger now. "Just because you haven't done anything doesn't make you a bad friend. If I were to ask Taichi who his best friends were, he'd say you and Sora without skipping a heartbeat." He shrugged. "Trust me, Koushirou and I have been trying to help him, but it seems like this battle has to be settled between him and Sora."

"But---"

"No buts, Yamato," he replied firmly. "This is their problem. You're the little additional behind Sora. They have to work things out for themselves." He shrugged sullenly. "To tell the truth, I never recall feeling so angry ever before last night."

Yamato smiled. "Yeah, well, what can I say? It's a knack," he replied, giving Jou a buddy embrace. "Gomen, Jou, gomen."

Suddenly, a nurse who was coming out of the joint corridor saw the transaction and lifted her brows, wondering about their little hug. Yamato smiled, embarassed, and suddenly pushed Jou away from him. Jou toppled to the floor, a bit in the daze as Yamato laughed.

The nurse shook her head and went to her rounds.


"Taichi..."

Was he in heaven? That heavenly voice...he never heard such a voice other than...He groggily opened his heavy lids. He was confused at the images that was projected in his mind. Slowly, the blurry images slowly co-insided and sharpened. It was Sora.

He jerked up in bed, his eyes darting about. He was in a hospital room, in lame clothing. There was a tube stuck up in his right arm and his wrists were bandaged up. He felt a dull pain on his forehead, and when he gingerly touched it, it happened to be a bandage wrapped around his head. Around him was a monitor, an IV unit and on a small table near the door was a bunch of flowers, a soccer ball, balloons saying 'Get Well' and a teddy bear.

"Taichi, lie down," Sora instructed coolly.

Automatically, he lay down again. Sora's eyes were puffy, as if she had been crying. She had her hair up, but tendrils of her hair was falling from the pin as he looked away suddenly. "How long have I been in the hospital?" he rasped.

"Almost a day," she replied. "Hikari found you lying in the washroom floor last night and freaked out. She, Takeru, Daisuke and Jou carried you to Jou's car and drove you here." She smiled sadly. "Jou made sure you had the best accomodations, on the house, of course."

"Typical," he replied. "Hikari...???"

"Is sick," she replied. "She was so worried about you. So was I."

He said nothing, avoiding her gaze.

"Taichi," she pleaded, taking his hand, "talk to me."

He fought the pain inside him as he painfully looked up to Sora, who, too, was struggling for words. He wanted to reach out and stroke her cheek and kiss those tears away, but then, of course, he was reminded of Yamato and stopped. He shook his head, blocking out the thoughts. "What is there to say?"

"You can start," she choked out, "with why you've been avoiding Yamato and I. Why you've been avoiding me." When Taichi looked away, she gripped his hand tighter. It felt sickening of how weak and how skinny Taichi had became over the period of months. "Tell me! Please, Taichi, why!"

Taichi swallowed dryly. "I...I was hurt, Sora-chan," he blurted out. "I was hurt. I always...I always l-loved you, Sora. I just could never come to terms on what to do with those feelings I had. I just thought that maybe time will lead me the way." He sighed. "Then, four years ago, you started dating Yamato, and I was crushed. But I didn't do anything. Why? Because despite the feelings I had for you, I didn't want to hurt you...neither of you. So I just supressed it down, as Jou or Koushirou would say. But," he added, "I guess it didn't work. Now I'm lying in this cot telling you about things that I don't think should be ventured.

"Why?" she whispered.

Silence.

"Because I'll be hurt even more," he replied softly.

Sora bit her lip, thinking. All those times he covered for me...all the things he'd done both here and the Digital World...he really loved me. And in return, she added, I broke his heart. "Oh, Taichi..." she said sadly. "You know I care for you so much. I just never knew you would be standing there, behind my back and waiting patiently...even now." She gasped. "It must've been hard for you to just support me when I went up to Yamato that Christmas."

Taichi didn't look at her.

"I'm so sorry, Taichi, I really am," she pleaded.

He yanked his hand away from hers and lay down on his shoulder, his back facing Sora. He couldn't bear to look at her even once because he was so hurt. He knew that if he'd even glance at her, he would fall apart and then ruin everything between Sora and Yamato. He couldn't bear being a problem or a burden to them.

"Taichi," she pleaded, crying now. "Taichi, please, talk to me."

How can I be the child of courage if I can't even look at her? he wondered. Does unrequited love do this to everyone? How can I move on without breathing in with a sharp pain beneath my ribs...in my heart? I feel so completely helpless, I feel like a coward...but it hurts so much....


"Hikari?"

She looked up to see Takeru's head pinned between the door and the wall. He was looking around, trying not to be impolite or disrespectful. He didn't wear his hat---another formidable trait whenever he entered her place. He's such a gentleman, she thought with a small smile.

Hikari threw the math textbook aside and smiled. "Come it!"

"You sure?" Takeru asked dubiously.

"Don't worry, Takeru-kun," she replied. "My dad's busy at work trying to catch up and my mom went to the hospital to check up on Taichi. Don't be a chicken---come on in!" She gestured him to come in weakly, then coughed violently.

Takeru rushed to her side, dropping the flowers and took her hand into his. "Hikari...you look so weak..." he said, feeling down. He kissed her fraile hand and looked up into her eyes. "I wish I could do something...but...I feel so damn helpless..."

"You're here, aren't you?" she asked, smiling. She pointed to the fallen flowers. They were white lilies, beautiful and whole and it made her bright up inside. "Those were for me, weren't they?"

Takeru made a silly face. "No, I picked them up for Koushirou," he teased.
Hikari grinned. "Well, thank you," she replied weakly, clearing her throat. "Even though they're lying uselessly on the floor of my room." She looked at him and their gazes locked.

"Takeru," she rasped, "will you always be there for me? No matter what?"

"Of course, Hikari-kun," he replied, "you know I'd never leave you."

Hikari brushed her hair back and gripped her weak hand with his strong one. "And you'll always tell me the truth...right?"

Takeru gripped hers tightly with affection. "Don't start talking like that," he told her firmly. "You're going to get better." He lifted his hand and touched her cheek. "Don't feel bad, Hikari. I'll always be here for you...I'll never leave you. We'll get through with this....together."


~End of Chapter~