Yes, the next chapter. sorry it took a while. Yeah, revelations be known in this one. don't forget to r&r!
~Sudden Truths~
*A Glimpse of What Would Be*
"Oooooohhhhhhh."
"Miyako, stop complaining," Iori said dryly, as he passed Miyako some canned foods for her to add up. Miyako gloomily tapped the prices into the cashier. Tendrils from her pinned-up hair dropped over her forehead, making her scowl even more.
"Hmmmmmmmmpppppphhhhhhhhhh."
Iori scowled as his best friend and neighbour. "Don't worry, Miyako-sama," he told her dryly as he handed her money to pay. "Ken-sama's only going to be gone for the weekend. When he comes back, you'll be back to your normal self again, hai?"
Miyako pouted. "Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Iori rolled his eyes as he collected his groceries. "The problem with love," he said with a smirk. "When they're far away, you feel like falling apart. In this case, you're bound to crack any second now." He lifted his cell phone. "Don't worry, Miya-chan, since I am your friend, if you beserk, I'll call an ambulance towards the mental institute."
"You baka!" Miyako shouted, trying to pluck the cell phone from Iori.
At the same time, Koushirou entered the shop, carrying a bouquet.
"Koushirou-sama?" she asked, blinking. He never visited her from her family's shop before. Then again, if the flowers were for her, what the heck? "What are you doing here?"
Iori's eyes went up. What was Koushirou-sama doing here? And why was he carrying a bouquet with him? Did he feel sorry for Miyako-chan and decided to cheer her up with some flowers? My, they look pretty good...must've been expensive, but...is he a psychic? She never left the store since she got here this morning!
Koushirou blushed bright red. "Oh, oh, I was passing down the street when I saw these orchids and irises and I thought that maybe they'd be pretty with you," he said hotly, holding out the flowers and smiling in embarassment. He then smiled at Iori. "Konnichiwa, Iori."
Iori bowed. "Sensei Koushirou," he replied politely, then turned to Miyako. "I'll go now, Miyako. Keep yourself together, okay?" When she nodded, he then said, "Ja ne, Miyako-chan, Sensei Koushirou." He then pivotted and left the store.
"He's in some rush," Miyako said, blinking. Then, she turned her gaze to Koushirou and asked, "Oh, arigatou for the flowers...they're absolutely beautiful." She took them in her arms and placed them near the cash register aand smiled. "You're so thoughtful, Koushirou-sama."
Koushirou waved his hands out in front of him. "No, No, just Koushirou-san would do," he replied thickly, loosening his collared shirt. "The formalities kinda make me think I'm some rich guy when I'm just an average guy like you." He shrugged. "How are things between you and Ken?"
"Oh," she blushed. "Well...it's really interesting, really. I always had that kiddish crush on him, I just never thought it would come true." She laughed in embarassment and then continued. "Well, it's odd, our relationship. We know what the other's thinking and we seem to just click. it's like....a match made in heaven."
Koushirou sagged his shoulders. "Oh. Must be really...sweet."
Miyako smiled, her hands on her face. "Yes, yes, you can say that," she said, obviously excited by the thought. She then put on a serious and thoughtful look. "I don't know...he was telling me on our first date that he felt something strong...like this was all meant to be or something..."
"Really?" Koushirou was now in the blues. "He came to me the other day telling me about it. I thought that he was experiencing a problem or something, but then he mentioned that he was feeling something about you... something he didn't want to let go."
Miyako blushed. "Really?"
"Yes," he replied, trying to stay strong. Now I know how Taichi felt when he saw the love of his life go out with someone he knew...He breathed in, trying hard not to break down or anything. He swallowed dryly and continued. "He seemed confused about his feelings, but I know that he's sincere. He loves you very much, Miyako."
Miyako blushed even more. "Yeah, I know he does," she agreed. "He's shown it many times. I've never seen him so...blissful before."
"I told him to follow his heart," he finished, breathing in sharply.
She then smiled and hugged Koushirou tightly. Koushirou was baffled for a moment, but then he decided to let go. Miyako saw him like a teacher, or a brother. He could never be her great love and he prayed that Ken doesn't let go to this rose. He slipped his arms around her.
"Arigatou, Koushirou," she said, "for being a good friend."
He paused.
"Anytime, Miya-chan."
"I think you're being too hard on yourself, bro," Takeru said as he jumped, tossing the basketball. The basketball soared and it swooshed into the Net. Yamato caught the ball and tossed it back to Takeru, who was coming around. "Taichi is crushed, but he's not stopping you from pursuing your relationship with Sora."
"He's being modest," Yamato scowled. "He doesn't want to hurt both of our feelings by keeping this all inside. I'm surprised the guy managed long enough without falling apart."
Takeru did a perfect lay-up. "He's like that, Yamato," he told his brother, catching the basketball again. "He keeps things inside because he believes he has to keep his brave character up...you know that as well as anyone. He doesn't want to show flaw otherwise it's the end of everything. It's a Yagami thing." He did another shot.
"You know what?" Yamato said, brushing his hair back. "I think you've been hanging around the Yagamis too much."
Takeru grinned. "Yeah, well, I notice lotsa stuff," he countered.
Yamato shrugged as he wiped his face with a white towel from their duffel bag they brought. "I just wished this could've turned out different," he said. "That's all."
"How do you feel about Sora?"
"God, Takeru, you know how I feel about Sora!" Yamato cried, tossing his brother the towel, who caught it easily. He stopped and thought. "I mean, she's beautiful, she's smart, she's a good tennis player...God, she's amazing. I love her, Takeru, I love her very much."
"And how about Taichi?"
"He's my best bud in the whole wide world," Yamato replied, scratching his gold blonde hair. "Yeah, sure, he can pretty much be an ass every now and then and we certainly butted heads in the past, but he's a good friend. He's clever and witty...not to mention gives a different point of view in life." He scowled. "Why are you asking me all this stuff? You know all of this better than anyone!"
Takeru smiled ruefully. "So sue me," he teased. "I'm asking this to get your thoughts straight. You care about them both very much. This entire thing with Taichi...he has to straighten things out with himself...and with Sora-chan. He isn't blaming you and he certainly doesn't want to screw things up with you. Give him time, Yamato, things will be alright."
Silence.
"And I'm suppose to be the older brother," Yamato said ruefully.
"Dammit, Oniisan, why can't you just eat it?" Hikari demanded. She was in her frilly green uniform, and she looked positively exasperated. She was still recovering from her sudden sickness, but she was looking better every day. And more agrivated.
Taichi shrugged. "I don't like hospital food," he stated weakly.
Hikari groaned. "You're never going to get better if you just...stare at it!" she told him, brushig back her hair. "Oh, Taichi...I'm so worried about you. I know you don't wanna hear it, but Sora's worried about you."
"Why? I'm nothing special," he grunted sardonically, finally picking up the chopsticks and poking at the thing on his plate.
Hikari sighed. "You always underestimate yourself, Taichi," she said.
"Everyone is worried about you. And I mean everyone. I answer the phone and there's always someone that's asking how you are. People care about you, Taichi, whether you know it or not."
He sighed. "I just...I just wished everything was a bit different."
Hikari smiled sadly and gripped her brother's limp hand tightly for no words could be found. Someone knocked and she got to her feet, grabbing her school bag. "Yes?"
"Konnichiwa, Taichi."
He looked up from his hospital food to see Sora standing by the door. She was holding her denim jacket and was in jeans and a cute pink t-shirt. That was the shirt I gave her for her 16th birthday, he realized as brushed his hair back. "Sora."
"I'll be going now and leave you two alone.," Hikari said respectfully, bowing at them both. "Besides, I have a date. Sayonara, Oniisan, Sora-chan." Before Taichi could complain, Hikari scuttered to the door and disappeared from the room.
Sora approached his bed and sat down where Hikari was sitting. "How are you?"
"Same old, same old," he replied, eating a bit of the food. His face scrunched as he dropped the chopsticks. "Eww...this is just disgusting. I knew this was crap...is it hard to ask for a pizza? Or some dim sum maybe?"
She smiled. It was nice to see her smile. "You want some of my okonomi-yaki? I had some left over."
Taichi was close to drooling. "Anything other than this!"
She handed him a topperware and he started to munch down on her leftovers. She was a bit surprised; she never seen Taichi this happy over okonomi-yaki before as he finished scarfing down the last of the leftovers. Embarassed, he solomnly covered the topperware again and passed it back to her.
"Arigatou, Sora-chan."
Once she put it away, she said, "I have to talk to you, Tai-chi."
"Wait, before you do," he said quickly, "I have to tell you something.
Please, Sora-chan, let me...explain. Elaborate. Whatever." He sighed. "Look, I've been so enamoured by you for a long time...probably around the time that we first went to the Digital World. Maybe before we became best buddies, I'm not sure. You've changed me, Sora, you've changed me completely. I became stronger and a better person because of our friendship.
"But I always wanted more than that friendship. I was prepared to die for you if it was required. It always hurt me whenever we weren't talking or if I felt that I hurt your feelings. I was still mustering up the courage to tell you how I felt...but somehow, I always fell behind. Then, when I found out you liked Yamato from me...I just...oh, I don't know what I did...I guess you can say that I swallowed my own pride and just tried to be supportive."
"Taichi..." she said.
He brushed his hair back. "I tried to be there for you," he continued. "I tired to be the best friend you needed. I always smiled, even though I felt like absolute crap inside." He scoffed. "I knew that somewhere at the back of my mind, I was still in love with you, but...I didn't want to accept it. I just buried it.
"It hurt me, the way I saw you with Yamato...happy. I wondered whether that would be the same if we were together. I don't know about me hurting myself...I guess I was trying to ease my own heartache, whatever good that did me. Then I saw how happy Hikari was with Takeru...and I guess it snapped. It wasn't going to happen, and I tried to accept it." He looked at her. "The point is, I don't want you to look back at me. You have a great life with Yamato, I understand that fully...just don't have second thoughts just because of my opinion."
Sora grimaced. "But Taichi," she said, "things are now different between me and Yamato. Your feelings seemed to have brought a new dimension to our relationship. We are happy, trust me, we are veyr happy...but with the well-being of our friend at stake..."
Taichi seized her wrist before she could realize it. "Listen to me, Sora," he said softly yet firmly, "I don't want to come between you, Kami, that's the last thing I want to do. I don't want to be a third wheel. Not anymore, anyways." He smiled ruefully at her. "Your love is genuine, there was never any doubt."
A tear dropped despite her strong will not to. He lifted his hand to wipe it away. "I'm always here, Sora, no matter what," he said. "That's what friends are for...right?"
Sora sobbed, wrapping her arms around her best friend.
~End of Chapter~
~Sudden Truths~
*A Glimpse of What Would Be*
"Oooooohhhhhhh."
"Miyako, stop complaining," Iori said dryly, as he passed Miyako some canned foods for her to add up. Miyako gloomily tapped the prices into the cashier. Tendrils from her pinned-up hair dropped over her forehead, making her scowl even more.
"Hmmmmmmmmpppppphhhhhhhhhh."
Iori scowled as his best friend and neighbour. "Don't worry, Miyako-sama," he told her dryly as he handed her money to pay. "Ken-sama's only going to be gone for the weekend. When he comes back, you'll be back to your normal self again, hai?"
Miyako pouted. "Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."
Iori rolled his eyes as he collected his groceries. "The problem with love," he said with a smirk. "When they're far away, you feel like falling apart. In this case, you're bound to crack any second now." He lifted his cell phone. "Don't worry, Miya-chan, since I am your friend, if you beserk, I'll call an ambulance towards the mental institute."
"You baka!" Miyako shouted, trying to pluck the cell phone from Iori.
At the same time, Koushirou entered the shop, carrying a bouquet.
"Koushirou-sama?" she asked, blinking. He never visited her from her family's shop before. Then again, if the flowers were for her, what the heck? "What are you doing here?"
Iori's eyes went up. What was Koushirou-sama doing here? And why was he carrying a bouquet with him? Did he feel sorry for Miyako-chan and decided to cheer her up with some flowers? My, they look pretty good...must've been expensive, but...is he a psychic? She never left the store since she got here this morning!
Koushirou blushed bright red. "Oh, oh, I was passing down the street when I saw these orchids and irises and I thought that maybe they'd be pretty with you," he said hotly, holding out the flowers and smiling in embarassment. He then smiled at Iori. "Konnichiwa, Iori."
Iori bowed. "Sensei Koushirou," he replied politely, then turned to Miyako. "I'll go now, Miyako. Keep yourself together, okay?" When she nodded, he then said, "Ja ne, Miyako-chan, Sensei Koushirou." He then pivotted and left the store.
"He's in some rush," Miyako said, blinking. Then, she turned her gaze to Koushirou and asked, "Oh, arigatou for the flowers...they're absolutely beautiful." She took them in her arms and placed them near the cash register aand smiled. "You're so thoughtful, Koushirou-sama."
Koushirou waved his hands out in front of him. "No, No, just Koushirou-san would do," he replied thickly, loosening his collared shirt. "The formalities kinda make me think I'm some rich guy when I'm just an average guy like you." He shrugged. "How are things between you and Ken?"
"Oh," she blushed. "Well...it's really interesting, really. I always had that kiddish crush on him, I just never thought it would come true." She laughed in embarassment and then continued. "Well, it's odd, our relationship. We know what the other's thinking and we seem to just click. it's like....a match made in heaven."
Koushirou sagged his shoulders. "Oh. Must be really...sweet."
Miyako smiled, her hands on her face. "Yes, yes, you can say that," she said, obviously excited by the thought. She then put on a serious and thoughtful look. "I don't know...he was telling me on our first date that he felt something strong...like this was all meant to be or something..."
"Really?" Koushirou was now in the blues. "He came to me the other day telling me about it. I thought that he was experiencing a problem or something, but then he mentioned that he was feeling something about you... something he didn't want to let go."
Miyako blushed. "Really?"
"Yes," he replied, trying to stay strong. Now I know how Taichi felt when he saw the love of his life go out with someone he knew...He breathed in, trying hard not to break down or anything. He swallowed dryly and continued. "He seemed confused about his feelings, but I know that he's sincere. He loves you very much, Miyako."
Miyako blushed even more. "Yeah, I know he does," she agreed. "He's shown it many times. I've never seen him so...blissful before."
"I told him to follow his heart," he finished, breathing in sharply.
She then smiled and hugged Koushirou tightly. Koushirou was baffled for a moment, but then he decided to let go. Miyako saw him like a teacher, or a brother. He could never be her great love and he prayed that Ken doesn't let go to this rose. He slipped his arms around her.
"Arigatou, Koushirou," she said, "for being a good friend."
He paused.
"Anytime, Miya-chan."
"I think you're being too hard on yourself, bro," Takeru said as he jumped, tossing the basketball. The basketball soared and it swooshed into the Net. Yamato caught the ball and tossed it back to Takeru, who was coming around. "Taichi is crushed, but he's not stopping you from pursuing your relationship with Sora."
"He's being modest," Yamato scowled. "He doesn't want to hurt both of our feelings by keeping this all inside. I'm surprised the guy managed long enough without falling apart."
Takeru did a perfect lay-up. "He's like that, Yamato," he told his brother, catching the basketball again. "He keeps things inside because he believes he has to keep his brave character up...you know that as well as anyone. He doesn't want to show flaw otherwise it's the end of everything. It's a Yagami thing." He did another shot.
"You know what?" Yamato said, brushing his hair back. "I think you've been hanging around the Yagamis too much."
Takeru grinned. "Yeah, well, I notice lotsa stuff," he countered.
Yamato shrugged as he wiped his face with a white towel from their duffel bag they brought. "I just wished this could've turned out different," he said. "That's all."
"How do you feel about Sora?"
"God, Takeru, you know how I feel about Sora!" Yamato cried, tossing his brother the towel, who caught it easily. He stopped and thought. "I mean, she's beautiful, she's smart, she's a good tennis player...God, she's amazing. I love her, Takeru, I love her very much."
"And how about Taichi?"
"He's my best bud in the whole wide world," Yamato replied, scratching his gold blonde hair. "Yeah, sure, he can pretty much be an ass every now and then and we certainly butted heads in the past, but he's a good friend. He's clever and witty...not to mention gives a different point of view in life." He scowled. "Why are you asking me all this stuff? You know all of this better than anyone!"
Takeru smiled ruefully. "So sue me," he teased. "I'm asking this to get your thoughts straight. You care about them both very much. This entire thing with Taichi...he has to straighten things out with himself...and with Sora-chan. He isn't blaming you and he certainly doesn't want to screw things up with you. Give him time, Yamato, things will be alright."
Silence.
"And I'm suppose to be the older brother," Yamato said ruefully.
"Dammit, Oniisan, why can't you just eat it?" Hikari demanded. She was in her frilly green uniform, and she looked positively exasperated. She was still recovering from her sudden sickness, but she was looking better every day. And more agrivated.
Taichi shrugged. "I don't like hospital food," he stated weakly.
Hikari groaned. "You're never going to get better if you just...stare at it!" she told him, brushig back her hair. "Oh, Taichi...I'm so worried about you. I know you don't wanna hear it, but Sora's worried about you."
"Why? I'm nothing special," he grunted sardonically, finally picking up the chopsticks and poking at the thing on his plate.
Hikari sighed. "You always underestimate yourself, Taichi," she said.
"Everyone is worried about you. And I mean everyone. I answer the phone and there's always someone that's asking how you are. People care about you, Taichi, whether you know it or not."
He sighed. "I just...I just wished everything was a bit different."
Hikari smiled sadly and gripped her brother's limp hand tightly for no words could be found. Someone knocked and she got to her feet, grabbing her school bag. "Yes?"
"Konnichiwa, Taichi."
He looked up from his hospital food to see Sora standing by the door. She was holding her denim jacket and was in jeans and a cute pink t-shirt. That was the shirt I gave her for her 16th birthday, he realized as brushed his hair back. "Sora."
"I'll be going now and leave you two alone.," Hikari said respectfully, bowing at them both. "Besides, I have a date. Sayonara, Oniisan, Sora-chan." Before Taichi could complain, Hikari scuttered to the door and disappeared from the room.
Sora approached his bed and sat down where Hikari was sitting. "How are you?"
"Same old, same old," he replied, eating a bit of the food. His face scrunched as he dropped the chopsticks. "Eww...this is just disgusting. I knew this was crap...is it hard to ask for a pizza? Or some dim sum maybe?"
She smiled. It was nice to see her smile. "You want some of my okonomi-yaki? I had some left over."
Taichi was close to drooling. "Anything other than this!"
She handed him a topperware and he started to munch down on her leftovers. She was a bit surprised; she never seen Taichi this happy over okonomi-yaki before as he finished scarfing down the last of the leftovers. Embarassed, he solomnly covered the topperware again and passed it back to her.
"Arigatou, Sora-chan."
Once she put it away, she said, "I have to talk to you, Tai-chi."
"Wait, before you do," he said quickly, "I have to tell you something.
Please, Sora-chan, let me...explain. Elaborate. Whatever." He sighed. "Look, I've been so enamoured by you for a long time...probably around the time that we first went to the Digital World. Maybe before we became best buddies, I'm not sure. You've changed me, Sora, you've changed me completely. I became stronger and a better person because of our friendship.
"But I always wanted more than that friendship. I was prepared to die for you if it was required. It always hurt me whenever we weren't talking or if I felt that I hurt your feelings. I was still mustering up the courage to tell you how I felt...but somehow, I always fell behind. Then, when I found out you liked Yamato from me...I just...oh, I don't know what I did...I guess you can say that I swallowed my own pride and just tried to be supportive."
"Taichi..." she said.
He brushed his hair back. "I tried to be there for you," he continued. "I tired to be the best friend you needed. I always smiled, even though I felt like absolute crap inside." He scoffed. "I knew that somewhere at the back of my mind, I was still in love with you, but...I didn't want to accept it. I just buried it.
"It hurt me, the way I saw you with Yamato...happy. I wondered whether that would be the same if we were together. I don't know about me hurting myself...I guess I was trying to ease my own heartache, whatever good that did me. Then I saw how happy Hikari was with Takeru...and I guess it snapped. It wasn't going to happen, and I tried to accept it." He looked at her. "The point is, I don't want you to look back at me. You have a great life with Yamato, I understand that fully...just don't have second thoughts just because of my opinion."
Sora grimaced. "But Taichi," she said, "things are now different between me and Yamato. Your feelings seemed to have brought a new dimension to our relationship. We are happy, trust me, we are veyr happy...but with the well-being of our friend at stake..."
Taichi seized her wrist before she could realize it. "Listen to me, Sora," he said softly yet firmly, "I don't want to come between you, Kami, that's the last thing I want to do. I don't want to be a third wheel. Not anymore, anyways." He smiled ruefully at her. "Your love is genuine, there was never any doubt."
A tear dropped despite her strong will not to. He lifted his hand to wipe it away. "I'm always here, Sora, no matter what," he said. "That's what friends are for...right?"
Sora sobbed, wrapping her arms around her best friend.
~End of Chapter~
