Rumpleteasza: You crazy people, you're actually READING this crap? Well done. If I knew you all, I'd kiss each and every one of you on the face. To answer a few of your comments – yes, Enchantress, the chapters get longer. They vary. I've done most of them already, but I edit them all the time. And by the way, Hi no Tori, I'm sorry, but... Ken's not in this one. (restrains Ken fans) Sorry! Sorry! But I didn't know much about him when I started this, and it was less complicated to just leave him out. Many apologies. But on another note, there IS shounen ai in later chapters. Excellent. Oh yes, one more thing before I let you get on and read it - I don't know if I've mentioned this, but none of the girls are actually dating any of the boys in this fic. I might have given the impression, but I prefer being minxy about it, as opposed to nice and conventional. Should give you some idea…

Xxxxxxxx


Chapter Four – The Boy's Plan

"Ok everyone, settle down!" Tai yelled.

"Nobody was talking," Matt pointed out.

"Oh… yeah." Tai blushed. "S'pose I just like playing the leader."

Tai, Matt, Joe, Izzy, TK, Daisuke and Cody sat in a circle under the shade of the trees in Odaiba Park.

"So why are we all here, Tai?" asked Joe, blowing his nose hard. "I don't know why you wanted to meet in the park, it's aggravating my hayfever."

"Stop whining, Joe. I've got news." Standing up, Tai regarded them all with a serious expression. "Ok. I called you all here because there's about to be a serious violation of our privacy. For those of you that don't already know, I'll explain the situation."

"It's hardly a full-scale disaster, Tai," Izzy pointed out. "You're acting like nuclear war's about to break out."

"Thumb-sucking, Izzy, thumb-sucking," Tai growled ominously. Izzy snapped his mouth shut and sat back on the grass, his face grim.

"Will you lot tell us what's going on already?" complained Daisuke.

"Ok, here's the deal," Tai told them. "The girls are getting together for the day on Saturday to do all kinds of girly stuff, and I have it on good authority that it's likely they'll be talking about us boys. Now I'm aware that on first hearing this may sound a bit trivial," he held up his hands, "but there are things that some of the girls know about us that we wouldn't want them telling the others, if you know what I mean."

"Like what?" TK asked blankly.

Tai sighed in exasperation. "Ok, let me put it another way, TK. Think about what Sora and Mimi could tell Kari about those first days in the Digiworld, when you were eight. Remember how much you cried, your confession about painting the kitty when you were four, your little speech to Sora about how you didn't miss your mummy so much around her? Remember getting berry juice smeared all over your face when you were eating, and Matt teaching you how to piss in the bushes without getting your clothes wet?"

TK's face was flaming. Matt was laughing like a hyena.

Tai turned to Joe. "Remember falling in the lake and getting so soaked you had to stand naked behind a rock for two hours while your clothes dried, Joe? And Cody, what about when you were messing around a couple of months ago and got your head stuck in the railings? Or when Daisuke's belt broke when he was walking home from school with me and Yolei, and flashed the whole of Katsurati Plaza? Which reminds me, Dai, Kari said something about inviting Jun along as well – now just think about what Kari could hear from your sister!"

Daisuke's eyes bulged. "No way!"

Tai nodded. "Yes way. It's all there – bedwetting every other Thursday, blowing your nose on the curtains when nobody's looking, thumb-sucking… which brings me on to Iz-"

"That's enough, Tai!" Izzy snapped, feeling as if this thumb-sucking joke had by now had it's day. "We get the idea!"

Matt was rolling on the grass, howling with laughter. "I... I never knew you guys were such a load of idiots!"

Tai raised his eyebrows. "You're not exactly clean of all charges yourself, Matt."

Matt sat up, getting his breath back. He grinned roguishly. "Don't even bother, Tai. There's nothing you can pin on me."

"Oh yeah?" Tai smirked. "What about when me and Sora found you with that lollipop in the Digiworld, trying to-"

"Shut up!" Matt hissed hurriedly, his earlier humour gone. "Ok, ok, I get your point! So what do you want to do about it?"

"I have the perfect plan."

"I don't know about this…" began Cody uneasily.

"Whatcha thinkin', Tai?" Daisuke asked eagerly.

A sly smile crept over Tai's chocolate-brown eyes. "Do any of you have any stalking experience…?"


"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No!"

"Te-"

"NO!"

"Aw, c'mon, Sora!" Tai whined. "What's so secret about it? What are you going tobe saying about us?"

Sora whirled round, banging the door of her cupboard shut and hugging her books to her chest. "Tai, how can I tell you what we'll be talking about when we haven't even had the conversation yet? Don't you think you're overreacting a bit?"

"You know I have insatiable curiosity."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "That's a very big word, Tai."

Tai grinned. "Aw, get stuffed." He fell into step beside her as they walked through the sunny hallway, bustling with students. "Isn't it natural to wonder what your best friend's up to on the weekend?"

"Tai," Sora said, wagging a finger at him, "I'm warning you…"

"What?"

"I'll-I'll…"

"You'll do what?" Tai mocked, opening his eyes wide. "What would you do to a sweet, loveable guy like me?"

You don't wanna find out!" Sora yelled, taking off down the corridor, running away from him as fast as she could.

"Oh, no you don't!" Tai shouted after her. "You don't get away that easily!" Quick as lightning, he caught up with her, snatched the books from her hands, stuffed them in his bag, and swung Sora up into his arms while she shrieked and wriggled. People in the hallway turned to look at them.

"Sora…" Tai looked down mischievously into her crimson eyes. "Did I ever tell you how stunningly beautiful you are…?"

"Tai!" Sora gasped, squirming, breathless with laughter. "Put me down!"

"Or what a lovely shade of colour your eyes are…?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere mister!" Sora yelled, hanging on desperately with her arms round his neck. Some of Tai's friends cheered him on, and a few popular first-year girls whispered and giggled at them, running off to tell the gossip to everyone they could find. Tai grinned.

"Or what a lovely figure you have…?"

Sora tipped her head back, laughing hard, weak with giggles. "Get real, Tai! I bet you haven't noticed how I look in at least a year! If you're going to win me with compliments, you'll have to at least make them realistic!"

For a second, Tai looked slightly confused. "Why wouldn't I-"

"C'mon, Mr Ladies Man," Sora laughed. "Chemistry awaits! If I'm late again, Haida-sensei'll have me for dinner. Put me down!"

"Well, ok," Tai said reluctantly, setting her back on her feet. "But I'm not finished with you yet, Takenouchi."


"As you'll see, the composition is particularly volatile…" droned Haida-sensei, drawing a chalk diagram on the board. Sora sighed, making a few more notes, feeling her eyelids drooping. Haida-sensei was giving one of her famously boring talks – this time on the properties of potassium– that the students had come to nickname 'lullaby lectures'. Sora had to agree. There was no faster or more effective method of sending you to sleep, especially on such a beautiful, lazy summer morning.

Her head was beginning to drop forward when something whizzed through the air and landed with a quiet smack on her desk, making her jump and gasp softly. It was a screwed-up piece of paper. She glanced up at Haida-sensei, but she had her back to the class writing an equation on the board and hadn't noticed. Sora unfolded the paper and smoothed it out on her desk.

Tell me! I'll lend you my Playstation2 AND Virtua Fighter for a whole week…

t-kun x

Holding back a smile, Sora looked over to Tai, who gave her an innocent, boyish grin. Taking out a felt tip, she turned the note over and scribbled on the other side.

I could kick your monkeyass at Virtua Fighter anytime I like anyway, practice or not, and you know it.

s-chan x

Smiling superiorly, Sora flicked the note back at him and gave him an innocent, girlish grin before turning back to the lecture.