Playing the Part
Disclaimer: Digimon is not mine. As much as I play around with the storyline, it will never be mine. This is for F-U-N…
A/N: Wow! 122 reviews altogether! You guys are so great! I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time out to review!! I luv you guys! All the old reviewers, the new reviewers…
Yamato: That's everyone.
*glare* Yeah, but I'm not finished… *sniffle*
Yamato: What more is there to say?
The people who write LONG reviews, the people who write SHORT (one-word) reviews (y'all know who you are…I luv ya anyways), the Sorato fans, the Taiora fans…
Yamato: TAIORA fans?
Yeah, isn't it cool? I'm hoping to convert lots now! I got such NICE reviews…
Yamato: *nods and smiles* Yes, that's nice… *whispers* She only got 4 hours sleep last night…so…
Anyway! On with the fic!!
Yamato: There's no more leather pants in this, is there?
I'll never tell…
(*)(*)(*)
Chapter Nine: Dreaming in Digital
He couldn't find her. Taichi and Kourshiro just figured she was skipping school, something they all did at need, but he knew her. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't do something like that without good reason.
His heart thudded painfully in his chest, wild thoughts running through his head. Maybe she's sick…or hurt…or upset… He stopped dead in his tracks, Maybe it was the kiss…
How could he have been so stupid? And to do something like that in front of the whole school… He groaned, She hates me, she definitely hates me. There was no other plausible reason for her to leave school so quickly.
Just when we were getting along too… Yamato could swear that he was cursed, lately he could never seem to stay in Sora's good books. He couldn't help it, when he was near her he seemed to lose control, he just wanted to be close to her, to hold her, to kiss her, to… He blushed as he realised where his thoughts were going. Hentai! He scolded himself, he had to find her and make sure she was okay before his could do any of that. His blush deepened. Just find her!
He sighed, it was hard for him to keep their relationship on the 'just friends' plateau. He wanted to be so much more to her. No girl had ever turned him down, he was aware of that, but all the girls wanted him because he was Ishida Yamato, lead singer of the Teenage Wolves, no one wanted him just because he was plain Ishida Yamato. As a result, he never allowed himself to get really close to a girl, Mimi and Sora were the only exceptions to that rule, Sora more so than Mimi. He and Sora just got along so well, she was a great listener, and a good friend. She never asked for anything in return for anything she did. She was everything he wasn't. To him, she was perfect.
He had never known anyone to fit their crest as Sora fit hers. They all had the qualities pertaining to the crests, but love was obvious in Sora. She cared about people, she worried about people when she didn't need to. He still remembered how she'd looked after Takeru in the digital world for him, he could never forget that. Back then, his younger brother had been the reason he had kept going, the reason he'd tried to keep the peace with Taichi. Sora was the crest of love personified, when he often felt that the crest of friendship should have gone to someone else.
Yamato grinned suddenly, realising where she had gone. The digital world! Why didn't I think of it in the first place? Now he just had to make his way to the elementary school so he could use the computer room there.
"Mr Ishida? What are you doing out of class?"
Yamato groaned again.
(*)(*)(*)
It was quiet here. She liked that. So maybe it was a little childish to go running off to the digital world like that, but she needed the time to think. And to get away from Yamato…
The source of all her problems, she picked up a small rock and flipped it in to water of the lake. She looked around at her surroundings, this was where they had first arrived in the digital world, it was also where they had said goodbye to their digimon at the end of their adventure. She smiled slightly at the memories. I never thought my life would get more complicated… But it had, and the complication had a name, Ishida Yamato.
"Sora? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school?" Biyomon poked her pink head out of the bushes bordering the lake.
She waved her friend over, "I am, but I needed to think and to do that I needed to get away from school. I figured that the digital world would be the perfect place to do that."
Biyomon settled down next to her human partner, "Oh, okay, do you want to talk about it?"
Sora ran a hand through her auburn hair, smoothing tangled strands, "Well…it's kinda awkward, Bi…"
"Is it Yamato?"
She was surprised at her digimon's perceptiveness, "What do you know about me and Yamato, Biyomon?"
The small bird-like digimon laughed, "I know you like him. And I know he likes you."
"Really," she cocked an eyebrow sceptically, "How do you know that?"
Biyomon shrugged, "The way he looks at you, the way you act around him," she grinned, "Oh, and Gabumon told me."
Sora laughed outright, "He did, did he?" She reached over and hugged her friend, "Thanks, Bi."
"What for?"
"For making me feel better," she sobered slightly, "But the problem isn't about that, I didn't even know I cared about him that way until a couple of days ago, and I probably would have been better off not knowing."
Biyomon shook her head, "It was so obvious, Sora, even when you guys were stuck here in the digital world. After all, wasn't it Yamato that rescued you from the darkness?"
She smiled fondly at the memory, "I'd forgotten about that…" she murmured, "I guess I was just too young to realise…"
"Realise what?" Biyomon asked innocently.
Sora blushed, "I really, really, like him Bi. Really like him," she sighed, "Every time he kisses me…"
"He kissed you?" her digimon interrupted her walk down memory lane, "When? What happened? Why didn't you tell me?"
Sora sweatdropped, "You're sounding so much like Mimi it scares me, Bi," she sighed, "He kissed me a couple of days ago. I don't even know what happened, we were rehearsing for the play and he just kissed me," she flushed slightly, "And it meant nothing to him…" she finished with a sigh.
Biyomon patted her friend on the knee, "Don't worry about it, Sora. Maybe he did mean it."
"But I can't let myself be caught up in the 'maybes', Bi! If that happened I'd never get out of bed," Sora wailed, "I just wanted to forget about it, especially since he'll never feel the same way. But then, today…"
This time it was Biyomon who sighed, "Why do you love Yamato, Sora?"
Love… That word again, the name of her crest, the virtue that supposedly existed so predominantly in her. Strange that she should hold the crest of love and never have experienced love, till now. Everyone seemed to assume that she and Taichi would fall in love, and she did love him, as her best friend, Taichi was always the guy who made her day brighter, if she was having a bad day, he could cheer her up. But he was like the brother she never had, whereas Yamato…
Yamato was Yamato. Stupidly simple, but true. There was no other way to put it. He was funny, witty, talented, angry, guilty and serious all at the same time. Yamato carried so much baggage from his past, hid himself under so many layers, that there had been times when it was hard to see the real him. She knew him better now, understood his moods, understood why he was like that. Or, at least, she thought she did.
Lately, he'd been as closed off as he had been the first time she had met him. Sure, they were getting along fine, but he'd been quieter, more serious. It was like he'd been trying too hard to make everything normal. She lay back on the grass, Why do I love Yamato? Maybe it was because he'd never tried to be anyone but himself around her. In school, he always seemed to be maintaining his 'cool image', he was the smooth, suave ladies man, a part he played well, but around her, he was just himself. She knew about his insecurities, she knew how important the cool image was to him. It was his attempt at acceptance, it was how he knew he was loved. He had grown up in a family where love seemed to be in short supply, sure, he knew that his parents loved him now, but, in a sense, his fans, as annoying as they were, were his security.
Only she knew about his nerves before the Teenage Wolves first major performance, she'd been the one to calm him down, telling him he'd be great, that he'd blow them away. And he had. Only she knew what a truly great friend he was, how supportive he was, what a great brother he was to Takeru. She grinned, Takeru was a great kid, and lucky to have Yamato looking out for him. Sora predicted strife between Yamato and Taichi in the future, as soon as Takeru and Hikari started dating, if they started dating.
"Sora?"
She became aware of the impatient look Biyomon was giving her, "You never
answered my question!" the small digimon complained, "Why do you love Yamato?"
(*)(*)(*)
"Yamato! Hey, what are you doing here, nii-chan?"
He cursed his bad luck, he'd spent five minutes convincing Takani-sensei that he wasn't about to take over the school, thanks to the congested traffic, it had taken him another ten minutes to get to the elementary school, and now, he just had to run into Takeru and – he checked to see who his brother was with – Daisuke and Hikari.
"Yamato?" Takeru became aware of the slightly frantic look on his brother's face, "What's up?'
"Nothing, I, uh…I need to use the computer room," he blurted out, looking left and right, trying to determine the way.
Takeru scratched his head, "Uh, aren't the computers in your school good enough or something?" he joked, "What's so important?"
Yamato gave up, "I need to get to the digital world," he explained somewhat impatiently, "Which way to the computer room?"
"Nothing's wrong, right?" Daisuke asked, a slightly worried look on his face, "I mean, our digimon aren't in trouble are they?"
"No, nothing like that," Yamato fidgeted, obviously itching to go, "Which way, guys?"
Takeru and Daisuke obviously had more questions, but Hikari stepped in, she had a faint idea of what this was about, especially since Taichi had come home the other night muttering under his breath about how people could never see what was right under their noses. Besides, she'd always thought Sora and Yamato would make a cute couple. "Down the hall, turn left," she said, before the other two could say anything more.
Yamato shot her a grateful look and dashed away.
"Hikari-chan! What if something's really wrong?"
She shook her head, "Takeru, if something was really wrong he would have told us. Don't worry so much." She began walking towards the cafeteria, with the intention of telling Miyako about this latest development.
"Wait! Hikari-chan!" Daisuke yelled, chasing after her, "You know something about this, don't you?"
Takeru was hot on his heels, "Hikari, Daisuke! Wait up!"
(*)(*)(*)
"Why do I love Yamato?" she took a deep breath, "I don't exactly know, Biyomon. I love him for so many different reasons."
"Well, tell me one of them," her friend pressed gently, "You can tell me one, right Sora?"
Sora shrugged, "I guess because he's such a great guy, y'know?" she looked to her digimon for confirmation, "He's always been such a good friend…"
"He does hold the crest of friendship," the digimon pointed out dryly.
"Do you want to know or not?" she mock-glared at her friend, "He's cute," she laughed, "I know it's not really important, but he is and I guess that's a plus."
(*)(*)(*)
His blood was roaring in his ears, he really shouldn't be listening to this, it was a private conversation. But he couldn't help himself, he needed to know this.
"Yamato?"
"Shh!" he hissed, glaring at the striped digimon that had appeared beside him, "Gabumon, keep it down!"
"Sorry," the wolf-like digimon apologised, "What are you doing here?" he whispered.
"Looking for Sora," Yamato muttered, straining to hear Biyomon and Sora.
Gabumon peered around Yamato's legs, "Well, I'd say you've found her…"
"Be quiet, I'm trying to listen," Yamato murmured, giving his digimon a rueful smile, "I don't want her to know we're here, this is important."
Gabumon listened for a moment,
"…I know that' s not important…that's a plus…"
He pulled on Yamato's pant leg, "Are you sure you should be listening to this? It's private isn't it?"
"Gabumon!" Yamato whined softly, "For the last time, be quiet!"
Gabumon sighed.
(*)(*)(*)
"The thing is," Sora continued, "It all just happened! I didn't even realise that I loved him until it was too late." She looked at her friend sadly, "Isn't there some rule that says you're not allowed to fall in love with one of your best friends?"
Biyomon shook her head, "I don't really know, Sora, I'm not human, remember?"
"This is crazy, Bi," she sighed, "I mean, I just seem to lose it when I'm around him. He's bound to figure out sooner or later, and it's going to ruin our friendship. I don't want that," she said sadly, "He's been so distant lately and I don't know why."
(*)(*)(*)
Yamato didn't know whether to be happy or sad. On one had, Sora loved him, on the other, she was upset because of the way he'd been acting lately. I've been hurting her, I never wanted to do that.
"Yamato!" Gabumon hissed, "I think this is a good time for you to make an appearance."
"What?" he whispered loudly, "Gabumon are you crazy? Then she'll know I was eavesdropping!"
Gabumon rolled his eyes, "Yamato, you're going to have to tell her sometime," he gave his partner a questioning look, "You do love her, right?"
"Well…yeah, but-"
Gabumon pushed Yamato out of the bushes.
(*)(*)(*)
He landed on the ground with a crash, causing Sora and Biyomon to turn around. Blushing, he climbed to his feet. "Uh…hi guys," he offered weakly.
Biyomon gave Sora a hug, "Tell him," she whispered in her friend's ear before leaving the two of them alone.
Sora beckoned him over, "What are you doing here?"
He flushed a darker red, sitting down beside her, "I…I was worried when you disappeared after assembly," he muttered, finding the ground infinitely interesting.
"Oh," she was quiet for a moment, studying her shoes, "Yamato…"
He looked at her, hope shining in his sky blue eyes, "Yeah?"
"I love you."
(*)(*)(*)
A/N: I am evil!! MUWAHAHAHA!! I love cliffhangers, don't you? *giggles* Reviews are wanted for this chapter, it's been the longest so far and I hope you guys like it! The story is slowly but surely drawing to a close…scary thought huh? I'm having a blast writing it! I think I spaced out the angst and the (sort-of) humour sufficiently. I got quite into the whole character analysis huh? Oh well… Reviews, flames, comments, criticisms, GB signings… these are all acceptable. My email is smabbi@hotmail.com just so you know. Next chapter coming soon!
© Smabbi-chan
2001-11-18
