Yes, yes, sorry it took a while. gomen, gomen. well, here's the next chapter. i guess the only hint i can give is that all good things must come to an end...don't bust me, k? r&R

~Shocking Revelations~
*A Glimpse of What Would Be*


"Talk about the singles club," Koushirou grunted as Taichi arrived. He smiled at their old friend. "Yagami Taichi, you had us all going! Welcome back! Sit back and join the club!" Sitting with Koushirou was Jou, Daisuke and Iori, who had no dates.

Taichi smiled. "Is this a good thing or what?" he teased, sitting down.
"Ha Ha, very funny, Taichi," Daisuke said, clasping his hands together as the waited for their dinner. "You know, I envy that Takaishi. The basketball star snagged your sweet and smart and hot sister...you should feel honoured by that."

"Whatever, Motomiya," Taichi replied. "Yamato still wants to kill you."

"Figures," Daisuke said with a strange look on his face.

"Honestly," Iori said, "Ishida Yamato still wants to beat you to a bleeding pulp down at the alleyway because of that hit you gave to Takeru four years ago over Hikari."

Daisuke glared at Iori. "He didn't give a fight!" he croaked.

Jou leaned over. Taichi realized how much older Jou had gotten. "As your doctor," he said to Taichi, "I'm telling you to take it easy these next few days. I know, you were out days ago, but I don't want to rush you nor anybody to the emergancy ward this time of night!"

"C'mon, Jou," Taichi replied. "What does Jou my friend says?"

"Eat up!" he said cheerfully with a smile as a waiter arrived carrying a big white box. Propping it on the table, he bowed and left, leaving the five boys to the contents of the white box. To avoid a war, Jou stood up and opened the box, revealing a freshly-baked pizza.

"I am starving!" Daisuke cried.

"You're always hungry," Iori pointed out dryly.

One by one, Jou handed everyone a slice before sitting down to settle with his slice of pizza. Daisuke, of course, scarfed his down while the others ate their slowly, talking. Even Koushirou didn't seem too hungry compared to the amount of chatter he was making.

"So," Jou said, "how are things between you and Sora-chan?"

Taichi swallowed some pizza and drained it down with some Pepsi. "All's better now," he replied. "Yeah, it took a while for me to get over with it but I guess all that time in the hospital gave me some new insights. How you come to work there, Jou, I don't want to know," he added teasingly.

Jou laughed.

"Although I can't be her boyfriend or the love of her life," he continued seriously, chewing on his pizza thoughtfully, "I realized that I can always be there for her. It's the best I can do now."

Koushirou smiled. "That's some insight, Taichi," he said.

"What Koushirou-sama means," Iori elaborated as he drank from his Mountain Dew can, "is that he wished he came up with such insight."

"That is not what it means," Koushirou said defensively.

Iori's brows went up. "So says the guy in love with Miya-chan."

Silence echoed on the desk.

Daisuke laughed out loud harshly after a moment, nearly choking on the pepperoni of the pizza. "You're jokin', right?" he cried incredulously, taking a swig of his drink. "Man-beater, Xena: Warrior Princess Inoue Miyako? The woman's insufferable, Koushirou-sama, and she takes pleasure in beating up on guys, particularly me!" Seriously, Koushirou-sama, I thought you had better taste."

Koushirou turned a beet red.

Jou shrugged. "Think about it, Taichi," he said, "you aren't the only one suffering from unrequited love around here."

"Jou, didn't you say you had a crush on Tachikawa Mimi?" Koushirou asked.

Jou turned red. "Yeah, well, I'm over it."

"Suuuuuure you are," he teased.

Taichi smiled politely in his friend's defence.

"So," Daisuke said, "what now?"

Taichi blinked. "What do you mean?"

Daisuke swallowed the piece of crust and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I mean," he explained, "now that you've settled things with the past and with Sora-chan, what will you do now?" He drank from his Dr. Pepper can and sighed. "Ahh...that hit the spot," he commented, rubbing his belly with satisfaction.

Iori scowled. "You're embarassing us," he commented.

Taichi shrugged. "I guess I move on," he replied. "I guess she wasn't meant to be. But I think there's someone out there that is..."

Daisuke smiled. "Hey, Jun's available! Want me to hook you two up?"

This brought guffaws of laughter in the gang as Taichi scowled with disapproval. "No!" he cried. "No...I think I can find some girls on my own...besides, isn't Shuu dating her?"

Jou dropped his pizza. "He IS?!"

More laughter.

Taichi smiled at them. He was back. He missed having laughs and talks about almost nothing. Sure, he was still recuperating from his experience. Sure, he was emotionally scarred from the entire "being the third wheel" thing but he was recovering. He was going back to normal. At least, mostly normal. Yagami Taichi had returned!


"Ken-kun!"

Ken turned around to see Miyako run up to him. He dropped his case and collected the love of his life in his arms and swung her around. Sure, they were standing at the bus stop but he didn't care what the others thought. He was reunited with Miyako again.

Miyako kissed him gently.

"Gosh, it was torture, a weekend without you!" he exclaimed.

"Tell me about it!"

Ken collected his suitcase again as they walked back to his place, Miyako's arm wrapped around his arm. He felt a lot more calmer whenever she did that; he no longer shuddered whenever she did so. He slipped his arm from her, making her blink in perplexion before he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I missed you," he said.

She smiled. "Me, too," she replied.

Silence enveloped them as they crossed the street. In a distance, they heard children laughing as well as some people laughing. The birds harked as they flew in the blue sky. They watched two birds fly parallel to each other across the sky, whole, one.

"How's Taichi-sama?" he asked distantly.

"He's out of the hospital now," she replied seriously, "but Jou-sama's keeping a real close watch with him. Taichi-sama says that Jou and Koushirou sometimes drop by just to check up on him. But he looks a lot better than he was before."

"I see..."

Miyako turned to him. "Say, Ken, you free tonight?"

He smiled slyly. "Why? Got any plans for tonight?"

"Maybe."

"Then I'm free," he replied quickly with a casual posture. "What time?"

Miyako grinned despite herself. "You're quick," she replied.

"Only with you," he countered gently, giving her another kiss. The wind blew, making him look like a model and making Miyako feel like swooning. He smiled boyishly. "So...meet you at your place at eight?"


"I'm so glad Taichi's okay now," Sora said with a sigh of relief. She was sitting on the couch with Yamato's head on her lap as he propped his feet on the handrests. Her fingers were entangled in Yamato's golden blonde hair as she sighed, looking at the ceiling as her wrinkled blouse clinged to her in the strangest positions. "I just feel so sorry for him."

Yamato looked at her. "Sora-kun..."

"Honestly, Yamato," she told him, looking down at him, her auburn hair swinging over her face in obscurity. Her eyes looked so pained that before, which made Yamato's heart ache. "I mean, I can't help but feel guilty for all this. I was the cause of Taichi-san's pain...I feel so selfish and so..."
Yamato grabbed her hand despite his thoughts not to do so. "Listen to me, Sora-kun," he said softly. "Taichi-san's okay now. He explained it all to you. He didn't want to be the third wheel. He didn't want to hurt us. We have to follow our hearts, not our path of guilt."

"But I feel so..."

"Guilty?" Yamato provided. "Yeah. I know the feeling."

Sora smiled sadly. "You always take the words out of my mouth."

"I know," he said, slightly proud for a moment. "But Taichi was being selfless at the moment. He could've done a crazy stunt, knowing the guy, but he didn't. He cared about you so much that he decided to give up the idea of you and him and settle with you and me." He shrugged. "I guess we have to live with that now."

Sora nodded, then returned her gaze at the ceiling.

"Hai, Yama-kun."


"That was an amazing movie," Hikari said dreamily as she and Takeru walked with arms linked together back to Takeru's apartment. They had two hours to spare before Hikari was due home and they decided to lounge at Takeru's apartment. "I mean, it was just extrordinary!"

Takeru grinned, brushing his hair back abruptly. "Yeah, it was," he agreed, then added begrudgingly, "I'm glad you liked it." He then rummaged through his pockets and retrieved the keys to his apartment. He then struggled to get the key into the key hole without success.

Hikari smiled. "Let me try."

Their hands momentarily brushed against each other's as she took the keys from his bumbling hands and gently slipped the key into the key hole. She turned it and the door opened. Their hands brushed again as she handed the keys back.

Not ready to lose the moment, Takeru pressed his lips against Hikari's soft lips. Lost in the sea of her sweetness, Takeru's hands fumbled to find the doorknob and he swung the door open and the two of them stumbled in. Takeru felt himself crash into the umbrellas' holders and slipped over some shoes, but Hikari kept him standing as they kept on kissing.

"Mmm!" Takeru moaned.

Hikari looked at him. "What?"

"I think I stepped on my slippers," he said with a smile.

She smiled and they locked lips once again as they stumbled into the living room, unaware of anything else other than each other's presence. Takeru felt himself floating and at the same time hurting himself with the tables and chairs that were in the way. Finally, they collapsed on his couch.

"Takeru?! Is that you?"

They broke the kiss abruptly and Takeru slid to the floor as his mother appeared from the kitchen. She was still in her work clothes but judging by the way she unbuttoned the first few buttons of her blouse, her messy blonde hair and her glazed eyes, she was partying.

"Ms. Takaishi!" Hikari said in surprise.

"Mom!" Takeru croaked, wiping his lips and struggling to his feet again. "Uh, what are you doing at home? I thought you were still down at the upper districts on those important meetings. You wouldn't be home until Friday. What's up?"

Miss Takaishi smiled at her youngest son. "Oh, they sent me home early to pack!" she said, grinning. "Guess what, hon! They offered me a job at Washington! Yes, Washington DC, the capitol of the United States! I've already booked passage for next Friday. We're moving!"

Takeru staggered back in shock. "Wh-What?"

His mom looked surprised. "I thought you'd be happy!"

Takeru turned away from his mom to face Hikari. She looked shocked, surprised and hurt. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and Takeru could see everything that she was feeling. He felt like it was all his fault. "Hikari, I..."

Hikari didn't wait as she got up and ran out the front door.

"Hikari-kun! Hikari!"

Takeru ran out after her.

~End of Chapter~