AUTHOR'S NOTE: Gomen nasaaaiii, minna-san!! *_* I haven't written much fanfiction lately, but I decided to just sit and write the second part of this chapter. Probably because it's easy as sin to do, because I've already written out the whole thing in outline form. ^^;;; Ah well...
Anyway, the clichés continue!! (Has anyone noticed I'm virtually using a template? Heh heh. I love making fun of fanfiction.) So far we've got the basic Taito, the SSI (Prof. Irumei is me), the evil-bitch-with-no-purpose-or-character-development-whatsoever-other-than-to-be-a-bitch-and-to-come-between-Tai-and-Matt (at least it's not Sora ^^;), the "AU" environment, one boy is/was involved with something bad like drugs or alcohol, the other one helps them get out of it, the mindless fight, the "submissive" character (that sure won't last... I don't think I like submissive Taichi -_-;), and the whole "I do not acknowledge the end of 02" mindset. Which I don't...
Well, points to whoever can find other clichés!! I give... um... respect to whoever finds them. Yeah. ^^; Man, so far the only original things in this WHOLE FIC are my original characters. And the whole teacher thing... Well, only two mistakes, then... I guess that's my subconscious stubbornly refusing to give in to this fic's self-implemented rules. ^^;
...Heehee. This is so much fun. XD A little note: the thunder Tai heard in the last chapter and the thunder Matt hears in this chapter are supposed to help straighten out when things are happening. It... doesn't work very well. ^^; Ah well... I'll just stick a "meanwhile" at the top of this chapter. It'll do.
Read and Review!! I'm a review whore!! Must hear other people's opinions!! XD Hope you like it!!
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Chapter 3, part 2
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Meanwhile
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Stifling a yawn, Yamato picked lazily at his guitar from his sunk-in position on his easy chair, looking as if he was going to fall asleep in mid-chord any second. A few friends were sitting with him looking quite the same, loafing in chairs scattered about randomly; Kia had fallen asleep against Gojio; a few boredly doodled on sketchbooks; Leon tapped on a laptop; some played with other various musical instruments; and the others just lounged and talked softly amongst themselves, sipping a drink every once and a while. The overall group successfully created an air of exhaustion, and together they formed the classic party sector of the washed-out, worn-out students... quite done with partying, but not quite ready to turn in.
Though they all looked tired, Matt looked by far the worst; After that ordeal, he had finished off his pool game and played through a rematch, but other than that he had been nonchalantly thrumming the strings of his guitar for the rest of the night. Though the music he played was beautiful, it sounded sad, remorseful, and lifeless... and while his downtrodden face blended perfectly with the air around him, his eyes were not only tired, but laden with thought and distress.
**Dammit... I just can't feel good tonight,** he thought. He plucked another chord, letting the sound vibrate throughout his mind and body.
*"We'll see if I break down like you did, you asshole."*
**I shouldn't have said that,** he thought for the umpteenth time. Now that things had settled down, he had been left to dwell on his thoughts again... and finally saying something to Lila, though temporarily satisfying, had actually made it worse in the long run. He wanted to laugh about it with him... he wanted to see him again, tell him about it. But... that face Taichi made... he couldn't get it out of his head, especially those eyes, those energetic eyes that were always so full of leadership and courage. It was all utterly transformed into pain and sorrow... and all because of him.
**This is all my fault. I was way to insensitive. Why the hell did I say that? I swore he'd never make that face again,** Yamato scowled. **I promised myself. So why'd you lose control, Yamato? That was stupid. Stupid! He was only worried about you! He didn't mean anything. He just gets like that... I shouldn't have overreacted!** He played another cord, his eyebrows furrowing a bit and his mouth drawing into a line. **...I told her off, Tai. You should have seen it. See, I CAN take care of myself. There was no need to worry. There was no need to fight! Dammit, Taichi! Why do you have to say things that make me so mad I can't even think!?**
He sighed. It was times like this he really missed Gabumon. He was always so understanding... In fact, it was usually he and Augumon who got he and Tai out of fights. He wondered what he'd say to him now.
"Hey, Matt," he heard from his right, and he turned to look at his friend, Kenu; the drummer, youngest member, and Matt's closest friend from their band. He had the kind of skill that could only exist if the player had a real passion in his heart for music and for life, and Yamato deeply respected that. He was standing up, looking down at him with worry creasing his young features.
"Yeah, Kenu-chan? What is it?" He responded; the -chan was something the whole band tagged him with, since the little genius was only 17 as a college sophomore, and looked (and sometimes acted) like he was in middle school. "Weren't you serving as pillow over there? She looks kinda uncomfortable without you," Matt half-smiled as he gestured to the seat where Kenu's girlfriend, the equally charismatic and young-looking Hikaru from earlier, was sleeping in a position that looked like someone had clumsily moved her into it.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
Matt suddenly thought that if he were an animated character, his eyes would D-shape; he'd asked him this about twelve times tonight. Not that he was really discouraging him from it, since he made no effort to cover up the fact that he felt like utter crap.
"Yes, Kenu. I've told you fifty times."
"No, you've told me twelve times, and you've lied each time. I know now; I asked some guys who were in class with you, and they told me all about it. Your music says so, too," he added, and Yamato frowned; nobody could read a person through his music like Kenu. "Something's really wrong. I guess you just don't want to tell me, eh? I wish you'd just say so. It'd make me feel a lot more loved and appreciated if you'd at least tell me the truth."
Matt blinked, then sighed and shook his head, smiling; he'd talk to only two people on the planet about something like this, and those two people were Dr. Irumei and Kenu. He was just so... so trustable. In fact, he was one of the few people he and Tai had personally shared their adventures in the Digital World with.
"You're right. I'm sorry... hell, Taichi wins anyway. He didn't want me to come to this party, and now I'm not even enjoying myself."
Kenu groaned. "God, I can't believe Tai. He's so overprotective of us sometimes... well, I guess he got that from being such a leader, eh? Well, let me guess what happened: Judging by what I hear and how you've been acting, he said something that made you mad, maybe even threw in a cheap shot, so you took a cheap shot to parry, and then things just went to hell, ending with a really nasty comment on your part, since Tai obviously backed down. And now you feel all bad about it. Is that it?"
He blinked. "Geez, you've really figured us out."
"Only when you fight; it's the same thing over and over again. When will you two ever learn?" He said condescendingly, ruffling Yamato's hair a little. "Maybe YOU two should get the -chan on your names, huh, Yama-chan?"
Yamato grinned, but suddenly a thought occurred to him... Taichi called him that sometimes. He remembered one time now, and heard Tai's voice calling him that as he laughed and smiled. He had the best laugh, and he always liked that smile.
He sighed. "Looks like I'll be the one to apologize first this time."
"Yeah, you were probably a real bastard."
"Well, gee, thanks."
"No, I mean it," Kenu said sternly. "I heard Taichi wouldn't even snap at people, like he usually does when you two are in a fight. He was totally quiet all day except for the school period he had with you, and if people would ask him if something was wrong, he'd quietly ask them to leave him be. He'd even add a `please.'"
Matt frowned, and he heard some rolling thunder play out in the background. He hadn't heard about that. Kenu sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"I know Taichi can be really harsh sometimes if you deny him something he really thinks is important... I mean, I remember one time when I was sick and didn't feel like swallowing anything, and he picked my head up off my bed and told me that if I didn't take my pills he'd force them down my throat... but it's just something that's part of him. He's a really nice guy... everyone knows that. Nicest guy around. I mean, you of all people should be used to his quirks by now... or maybe you are used to it, and you forget about how sometimes he's just yelling about something minor... and sometimes, he's really being serious."
Yamato sighed, and plucked another note on his guitar. He let it resonate for a little while, and then he closed his eyes and sighed.
"You're right... Kenu, I'm gonna go find him."
Kenu smiled. "Good. I'll get your case, and I'll help you. Hikaru would be mad if I didn't."
Yamato smiled, and crawled out of his chair. He placed his guitar carefully in the case Kenu brought him as he muttered some "see you tomorrow"s to nearby friends.
"..Nnh? Where're you goin', Yama?" A sleepy Kia mumbled, and she knocked Gojio's head mildly with her knuckles, waking him up as well.
"W... what?" He managed, exhausted. "Whawuzzat for?"
"I'm awake now, baka. If you don't move your freakishly muscular arms, I can't get up," she muttered. Yamato half-smiled; Kia looked so small with Gojio's arms wrapped around her. Then again, everyone looked small against Gojio.
Gojio yawned. "That's the strategy."
"I bite."
"I knooooow," he groaned, and he took his arms away. She sat up and made a face.
"Oh, now I'm cold. Feh. Anyway, Yama, where are you going?"
Yamato sighed as he clicked the case shut. "I'm going to look for Taichi."
Kia blinked, then smiled as she leaned over to shake Hikaru awake. "Hikaru-chan!"
"Mwuh?"
"Yama's apologizing!"
"Eh? ...Oh!" She said, realization striking her and snapping her awake. She bent over the side of her easy-chair and shifted through her backpack, eventually pulling out a small spiral notebook. She flipped through a few pages before stopping, and then she took the pen from the spiral and made a mark on the paper.
"Umm... okay, that makes 5 for Yamato, 7 for Taichi, 6 for simultaneous and 8 for `never really apologized.'"
"I'm so glad we're keeping track this year," Kia grinned. "It's so funny. Yamato, you're still more stubborn."
"Maybe we should wait to see if Taichi is coming right now... then it'd be simultaneous," Gojio pointed out.
Yamato sighed as he pulled on his jacket. "Gojio, tell Leon I put his guitar back."
"Gotcha."
"Thanks. I'll see you all later," he said, waving goodbye as he left the area, smiling as they chimed their farewells in return. After weaving through the crowd for a while he finally reached the door, and he sighed as he put his hand on the doorknob.
**I'll check the room first, and if he's not there he's probably out walking...**
But as soon as he opened it a crack, a much larger hand than his slammed the door shut again. He blinked and turned to the owner of the hand, and didn't recognize the belligerent face he saw. All he knew was a very large man with a neck the size of his head was blocking his way.
"Excuse me," he said, and he reached for the doorknob again.
"Yer excused," the slurred reply was. "But yer not goin' anywhere."
He paused. "And who are you to tell me what I can't do?"
"He's a real man," a new voice stated, "Unlike you." Matt's right eye twitched as he felt a shiver run up his spine, and he turned around to see Lila standing there, surrounded by her minions and their men.
"Excuse me?"
"You sure as hell don't know how to treat a lady," the giant growled. "And we're not happy about that."
Matt's ice blue eyes pierced into his large brown ones. "When I see a lady, I'll treat her like one."
He heard an infuriated growl and he looked back to Lila, who might as well have been blowing steam out of her ears. But she blinked after a while, took a breath, and tossed her hair, putting herself back on airs and regaining her self-righteousness.
"Feh! Who do you think you are? You're obviously an idiot. Take a look around you," she said, waving her hand. Just then a heavy blow landed on the back of Yamato's head, and he staggered forward; it wasn't hard enough to knock him out, but it was sufficient to make his vision blur. Surprised yells came from all directions as a crowd gathered, but through them he could hear laughter... so it was a game.
"Ahahahaha!" Lila jeered with the back of her hand to the side of her face, grinning madly. "What will you do now? You're completely surrounded!"
"I see the reformed Yankees* never really dropped their bad habits," He growled, and his eyes darted around him. It was true. The only people around were Lila's gang and onlookers that were either too meek or too curious to stop it. And not only was he surrounded, he was ridiculously outnumbered; there were about nine men and women each, and though he seriously doubted any women would attack him when they each had a dog, he couldn't completely rule it out. He growled, and put his arms up in a defensive position as some of the guys around him cracked their knuckles. It looked as if they were going to jump him any second.
One man went for a fakeout, jabbing a punch at the air in front of Matt. He jumped a bit, and that was all the distraction the giant behind him needed; he leapt into action, scooping his arms under Matt's and pulling them up in a powerful, painful lock. Yamato winced and struggled as the gang formed a semi-circle around him, but his strength was nothing against the lock. One man stepped forward out of the grinning circle, cracking his knuckles and looking at Yamato's completely undefended stomach with a sort of curious mischief. Though Matt shot a pained, steadfast glare at the second aggressor, he grit his teeth and tightened his muscles in preparation as the man pulled his fist back; this was going to really, really hurt...
But suddenly...
"Hey, Lila! How `bout YOU try defending against someone twice your size!?" a female voice bellowed from nearby, and Yamato's spirits immediately lifted as the mass of people surrounding Lila's gang-circle drew back to reveal Kia and Gojio, half-shoving their way through the crowd to get to them. Coming up behind them were Hikaru and Kenu, and their faces held just as much defiance and anger in them as Kia and Gojio... only the latter two had distinct hints of mischief in their eyes, and Kia's full-blown Evil Grin almost completely outshadowed any rage she was feeling. It was as if she was overflowing with an unparalleled and wicked joy at finally getting a chance to pick a fight with Lila... an otaku let loose in a dealer's room with over two thousand dollars cash to spend.
**Bless the powers that be for giving me this wonderful opportunity,** She thought.
"So the snake bares her fangs. But really, you shouldn't lash out so quickly; your pets are no match for Gojio, or me for that matter. You want to hurt Matt for hurting your poor, feeble little pride, you go through us." She then turned her glare to the man about to punch Yamato, as well as the giant holding him, who looked furious at being called a pet. She smirked even more, as if she didn't even care that he was nearly twice her size. "You two better just keep your hands off him, unless you want to feel the wrath of the all-infamous captain of the kickboxing team." She paused for the predicted murmurs of recognition. "Yeah, that's right; the one who was disqualified from the last local tournament for... taking cheap shots." She let that final tone ring a little, and then moved on. "Funny thing is, I'm so good, I was forgiven by the coach. Wanna deal with me? Do you, or are you just a backstabbing, spineless coward who takes orders from a whore?"
Yamato's eyes widened. That cheap-shot call, he decided, could have been for the deliberate kick to her opponent's groin... or for her colorful language before the blow.
"You little bitch!" the giant holding him bellowed, and he flung Matt to the side, the force of the throw nearly enough to send him to the ground. He pulled his balled fist across his chest with every intention of backhanding Kia's face, and frightened yelps came from outside the circle as he swung. But Kia deftly avoided the strike, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side and bending her knees to drop her body out of the fist's reach. She paused there for a moment to let it sink in that she was far superior to her opponent, let the insult pile on with the injury, and then lightly kicked off the ground to land a bit further away, standing at a casual, ready position, her eyes alert to all potential attackers. Her hands were dropped, as if she dared them to attack. They held their ground.
Gojio shot a meaningful look at Yamato, and he heard the unspoken command. **Get out of here,** that was what they wanted him to do. Go find Taichi. They're targeting you, they'll gang up on you, you'll get hurt. Don't worry about it. People will help us. You already have a record with this group, and we're clean.
Abandon us when we're already outnumbered almost two to one. Right, sure.
"Matt, get out of here!" Kia voiced, as if she knew he was wavering. "There's no need to dirty your hands on trash like this!" Angry outbursts arose from all sides, but Matt shook his head and stood firm. "Forget it," he replied, his voice low and deadly as he could make it sound. "There's no way I'd leave you here to clean up a mess that I made."
"MATT!!" Leon shouted; he had pushed his way through, along with a few others on his side. "You stubborn idiot! You KNOW we can take care of ourselves! We're not that outnumbered NOW, even without you!"
"NO!" He shouted in reply, but he cut off... someone had hit him in his back, a downwards punch in the flesh just to the side of his lower spine, and his eyes widened on their own as gasps and shouts of anger or excitement arose. The entire area burst into a frenzy of action then; Kia shouted out his name, Gojyo let out an enraged and colorful German word, and the rest of the group attacked Lila's gang like a swarm of bees. Inside the mass of shouting, fighting bodies, Kia wasted no time; she dodged a punch, spun her body around quickly to slam her heel into her opponent's head, and then darted right towards Matt. Gojyo had no need for such nimble movement; he let out a roar and started pummeling anyone that had the courage or stupidity to cross his path, which seemed to move from gang member to gang member. He quite clearly trusted Kia with Matt... just as Kia trusted him to fight enough for two people until she was done.
"Matt!" She shouted over the chaos once she reached him. He had sunk against the wall, trying to avoid attention, which was surprisingly not difficult; the hectics of the fight had all but made him disappear.
"Are you all right?! Bastard hit you in the BACK, for chrissake..."
"I'm fine," he said, his voice low.
"Bullshit."
Matt sweatdropped. "Kia, do I have to use specific adjectives to describe the exact truth of my being EVERY SINGLE TIME I want you to believe me?"
"Yes."
"Fine. He caught me completely off-guard, but I was already angry already so my muscles weren't relaxed when he hit me. The pain was really, REALLY sharp, but it's settled to dull and throbbing now. And I know for a FACT that I will NOT..."
His eyes widened and he kicked off to the side, Kia instinctively darting in the other direction as someone was flung into the wall between them. He staggered for a bit, clutching the side of his face, and then leapt back in, without second glance at Kia or Yamato.
"... leave without payback."
Kia sighed. "I know you're too stubborn to convince. Fine. Just remember; we can only create a diversion for so long. Sooner or later, they're gonna remember that they should be targeting you and not everyone else, even though we're doing a pretty good job of pissing them off."
Matt nodded hastily as someone else careened towards them, fists menacingly pulled back. Kia rolled her eyes as she jumped in the air, pulled her knee to her chest, and landed a front-kick square in his chest. He hit the floor hard, and Kia wasted no time; she immediately leapt back into the fray, stepping on the felled gangster's shoulder on her way in. Yamato followed right behind her.
*~*~*
Hikaru frowned as she stood back, her handmade slingshot aimed from behind the kitchen counter. Kenu was beside her with his own, trying to find more things to load it with once they were out of hard-shell nuts. They were far too slight to be directly involved in a chaotic fight like this one... but she'd be damned, Hikaru thought, if she missed the opportunity to nail Lila with a walnut square in the back of her head.
"Kenu!"
He spun to face her.
"Go get Tai. The door isn't guarded right now, right? If Tai gets here, there's no way we can lose. We won't be outnumbered anymore, and Yamato needs Tai to fight at his best. Look at us! Nobody's used to this kind of fighting... Lila has an advantage. We just need one more person..."
Kenu nodded quickly, breathlessly, looking worriedly into the fray. It was true; everyone on their side was holding his or her own, but the problem was in the numbers and the experience. Tai would definitely help; he had taken a few years of self-defense before college, and it was no exaggeration that he and Matt worked miracles, no matter what they did, when they worked together. He hugged Hikaru from behind quickly, and then he ran along the wall as quickly as he could, the door in his sights.
She held her breath as she watched him. Speed was everything... if he couldn't open the door, get through it, and close it again in less than two seconds, the whole thing would be shot to hell... almost as soon as she thought this, he dropped out of her sight. She blinked, but all she could see was people fighting and people surrounding the fight. Her eyes widened as her panic rose; Where was he? What happened to him?! Her gaze darted from person to person, trying to catch a glimpse of his blue jacket, a brief glance of his shock-brown hair, but nothing, she couldn't see him; what if he was pulled into it?! He can't take any damage, not with his...
But then she saw the door open, saw a short young man bolt through it, and saw it close again. If anyone noticed, they either didn't care or didn't want to get involved.
She exhaled and pressed her hand to her chest, trying to calm her heart. But she shook her head quickly, to clear it perhaps, and readied a walnut.
*~*~*
* "Yankee" is a term for a member of a gang. Bad-news people... ya know, the ones you don't want babysitting your kids. I decided to throw it in because it fit the calculated randomness of Lila's group's violent behavior. ^^; It just made sense to actually make them a real gang.
If you caught any new clichés, put it in your review!! And lemme know if you especially liked the way I did anything, or if anything didn't work well... ya know. The basic review stuff. ^_^ And get ready for Taichi... he's not going to be very happy about this. What will happen to them? How will they get out of THIS one? Is the author EVER going to get around to some quality Taito action?! Well, review and keep reading to find out. )
Anyway, the clichés continue!! (Has anyone noticed I'm virtually using a template? Heh heh. I love making fun of fanfiction.) So far we've got the basic Taito, the SSI (Prof. Irumei is me), the evil-bitch-with-no-purpose-or-character-development-whatsoever-other-than-to-be-a-bitch-and-to-come-between-Tai-and-Matt (at least it's not Sora ^^;), the "AU" environment, one boy is/was involved with something bad like drugs or alcohol, the other one helps them get out of it, the mindless fight, the "submissive" character (that sure won't last... I don't think I like submissive Taichi -_-;), and the whole "I do not acknowledge the end of 02" mindset. Which I don't...
Well, points to whoever can find other clichés!! I give... um... respect to whoever finds them. Yeah. ^^; Man, so far the only original things in this WHOLE FIC are my original characters. And the whole teacher thing... Well, only two mistakes, then... I guess that's my subconscious stubbornly refusing to give in to this fic's self-implemented rules. ^^;
...Heehee. This is so much fun. XD A little note: the thunder Tai heard in the last chapter and the thunder Matt hears in this chapter are supposed to help straighten out when things are happening. It... doesn't work very well. ^^; Ah well... I'll just stick a "meanwhile" at the top of this chapter. It'll do.
Read and Review!! I'm a review whore!! Must hear other people's opinions!! XD Hope you like it!!
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Chapter 3, part 2
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Meanwhile
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Stifling a yawn, Yamato picked lazily at his guitar from his sunk-in position on his easy chair, looking as if he was going to fall asleep in mid-chord any second. A few friends were sitting with him looking quite the same, loafing in chairs scattered about randomly; Kia had fallen asleep against Gojio; a few boredly doodled on sketchbooks; Leon tapped on a laptop; some played with other various musical instruments; and the others just lounged and talked softly amongst themselves, sipping a drink every once and a while. The overall group successfully created an air of exhaustion, and together they formed the classic party sector of the washed-out, worn-out students... quite done with partying, but not quite ready to turn in.
Though they all looked tired, Matt looked by far the worst; After that ordeal, he had finished off his pool game and played through a rematch, but other than that he had been nonchalantly thrumming the strings of his guitar for the rest of the night. Though the music he played was beautiful, it sounded sad, remorseful, and lifeless... and while his downtrodden face blended perfectly with the air around him, his eyes were not only tired, but laden with thought and distress.
**Dammit... I just can't feel good tonight,** he thought. He plucked another chord, letting the sound vibrate throughout his mind and body.
*"We'll see if I break down like you did, you asshole."*
**I shouldn't have said that,** he thought for the umpteenth time. Now that things had settled down, he had been left to dwell on his thoughts again... and finally saying something to Lila, though temporarily satisfying, had actually made it worse in the long run. He wanted to laugh about it with him... he wanted to see him again, tell him about it. But... that face Taichi made... he couldn't get it out of his head, especially those eyes, those energetic eyes that were always so full of leadership and courage. It was all utterly transformed into pain and sorrow... and all because of him.
**This is all my fault. I was way to insensitive. Why the hell did I say that? I swore he'd never make that face again,** Yamato scowled. **I promised myself. So why'd you lose control, Yamato? That was stupid. Stupid! He was only worried about you! He didn't mean anything. He just gets like that... I shouldn't have overreacted!** He played another cord, his eyebrows furrowing a bit and his mouth drawing into a line. **...I told her off, Tai. You should have seen it. See, I CAN take care of myself. There was no need to worry. There was no need to fight! Dammit, Taichi! Why do you have to say things that make me so mad I can't even think!?**
He sighed. It was times like this he really missed Gabumon. He was always so understanding... In fact, it was usually he and Augumon who got he and Tai out of fights. He wondered what he'd say to him now.
"Hey, Matt," he heard from his right, and he turned to look at his friend, Kenu; the drummer, youngest member, and Matt's closest friend from their band. He had the kind of skill that could only exist if the player had a real passion in his heart for music and for life, and Yamato deeply respected that. He was standing up, looking down at him with worry creasing his young features.
"Yeah, Kenu-chan? What is it?" He responded; the -chan was something the whole band tagged him with, since the little genius was only 17 as a college sophomore, and looked (and sometimes acted) like he was in middle school. "Weren't you serving as pillow over there? She looks kinda uncomfortable without you," Matt half-smiled as he gestured to the seat where Kenu's girlfriend, the equally charismatic and young-looking Hikaru from earlier, was sleeping in a position that looked like someone had clumsily moved her into it.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
Matt suddenly thought that if he were an animated character, his eyes would D-shape; he'd asked him this about twelve times tonight. Not that he was really discouraging him from it, since he made no effort to cover up the fact that he felt like utter crap.
"Yes, Kenu. I've told you fifty times."
"No, you've told me twelve times, and you've lied each time. I know now; I asked some guys who were in class with you, and they told me all about it. Your music says so, too," he added, and Yamato frowned; nobody could read a person through his music like Kenu. "Something's really wrong. I guess you just don't want to tell me, eh? I wish you'd just say so. It'd make me feel a lot more loved and appreciated if you'd at least tell me the truth."
Matt blinked, then sighed and shook his head, smiling; he'd talk to only two people on the planet about something like this, and those two people were Dr. Irumei and Kenu. He was just so... so trustable. In fact, he was one of the few people he and Tai had personally shared their adventures in the Digital World with.
"You're right. I'm sorry... hell, Taichi wins anyway. He didn't want me to come to this party, and now I'm not even enjoying myself."
Kenu groaned. "God, I can't believe Tai. He's so overprotective of us sometimes... well, I guess he got that from being such a leader, eh? Well, let me guess what happened: Judging by what I hear and how you've been acting, he said something that made you mad, maybe even threw in a cheap shot, so you took a cheap shot to parry, and then things just went to hell, ending with a really nasty comment on your part, since Tai obviously backed down. And now you feel all bad about it. Is that it?"
He blinked. "Geez, you've really figured us out."
"Only when you fight; it's the same thing over and over again. When will you two ever learn?" He said condescendingly, ruffling Yamato's hair a little. "Maybe YOU two should get the -chan on your names, huh, Yama-chan?"
Yamato grinned, but suddenly a thought occurred to him... Taichi called him that sometimes. He remembered one time now, and heard Tai's voice calling him that as he laughed and smiled. He had the best laugh, and he always liked that smile.
He sighed. "Looks like I'll be the one to apologize first this time."
"Yeah, you were probably a real bastard."
"Well, gee, thanks."
"No, I mean it," Kenu said sternly. "I heard Taichi wouldn't even snap at people, like he usually does when you two are in a fight. He was totally quiet all day except for the school period he had with you, and if people would ask him if something was wrong, he'd quietly ask them to leave him be. He'd even add a `please.'"
Matt frowned, and he heard some rolling thunder play out in the background. He hadn't heard about that. Kenu sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"I know Taichi can be really harsh sometimes if you deny him something he really thinks is important... I mean, I remember one time when I was sick and didn't feel like swallowing anything, and he picked my head up off my bed and told me that if I didn't take my pills he'd force them down my throat... but it's just something that's part of him. He's a really nice guy... everyone knows that. Nicest guy around. I mean, you of all people should be used to his quirks by now... or maybe you are used to it, and you forget about how sometimes he's just yelling about something minor... and sometimes, he's really being serious."
Yamato sighed, and plucked another note on his guitar. He let it resonate for a little while, and then he closed his eyes and sighed.
"You're right... Kenu, I'm gonna go find him."
Kenu smiled. "Good. I'll get your case, and I'll help you. Hikaru would be mad if I didn't."
Yamato smiled, and crawled out of his chair. He placed his guitar carefully in the case Kenu brought him as he muttered some "see you tomorrow"s to nearby friends.
"..Nnh? Where're you goin', Yama?" A sleepy Kia mumbled, and she knocked Gojio's head mildly with her knuckles, waking him up as well.
"W... what?" He managed, exhausted. "Whawuzzat for?"
"I'm awake now, baka. If you don't move your freakishly muscular arms, I can't get up," she muttered. Yamato half-smiled; Kia looked so small with Gojio's arms wrapped around her. Then again, everyone looked small against Gojio.
Gojio yawned. "That's the strategy."
"I bite."
"I knooooow," he groaned, and he took his arms away. She sat up and made a face.
"Oh, now I'm cold. Feh. Anyway, Yama, where are you going?"
Yamato sighed as he clicked the case shut. "I'm going to look for Taichi."
Kia blinked, then smiled as she leaned over to shake Hikaru awake. "Hikaru-chan!"
"Mwuh?"
"Yama's apologizing!"
"Eh? ...Oh!" She said, realization striking her and snapping her awake. She bent over the side of her easy-chair and shifted through her backpack, eventually pulling out a small spiral notebook. She flipped through a few pages before stopping, and then she took the pen from the spiral and made a mark on the paper.
"Umm... okay, that makes 5 for Yamato, 7 for Taichi, 6 for simultaneous and 8 for `never really apologized.'"
"I'm so glad we're keeping track this year," Kia grinned. "It's so funny. Yamato, you're still more stubborn."
"Maybe we should wait to see if Taichi is coming right now... then it'd be simultaneous," Gojio pointed out.
Yamato sighed as he pulled on his jacket. "Gojio, tell Leon I put his guitar back."
"Gotcha."
"Thanks. I'll see you all later," he said, waving goodbye as he left the area, smiling as they chimed their farewells in return. After weaving through the crowd for a while he finally reached the door, and he sighed as he put his hand on the doorknob.
**I'll check the room first, and if he's not there he's probably out walking...**
But as soon as he opened it a crack, a much larger hand than his slammed the door shut again. He blinked and turned to the owner of the hand, and didn't recognize the belligerent face he saw. All he knew was a very large man with a neck the size of his head was blocking his way.
"Excuse me," he said, and he reached for the doorknob again.
"Yer excused," the slurred reply was. "But yer not goin' anywhere."
He paused. "And who are you to tell me what I can't do?"
"He's a real man," a new voice stated, "Unlike you." Matt's right eye twitched as he felt a shiver run up his spine, and he turned around to see Lila standing there, surrounded by her minions and their men.
"Excuse me?"
"You sure as hell don't know how to treat a lady," the giant growled. "And we're not happy about that."
Matt's ice blue eyes pierced into his large brown ones. "When I see a lady, I'll treat her like one."
He heard an infuriated growl and he looked back to Lila, who might as well have been blowing steam out of her ears. But she blinked after a while, took a breath, and tossed her hair, putting herself back on airs and regaining her self-righteousness.
"Feh! Who do you think you are? You're obviously an idiot. Take a look around you," she said, waving her hand. Just then a heavy blow landed on the back of Yamato's head, and he staggered forward; it wasn't hard enough to knock him out, but it was sufficient to make his vision blur. Surprised yells came from all directions as a crowd gathered, but through them he could hear laughter... so it was a game.
"Ahahahaha!" Lila jeered with the back of her hand to the side of her face, grinning madly. "What will you do now? You're completely surrounded!"
"I see the reformed Yankees* never really dropped their bad habits," He growled, and his eyes darted around him. It was true. The only people around were Lila's gang and onlookers that were either too meek or too curious to stop it. And not only was he surrounded, he was ridiculously outnumbered; there were about nine men and women each, and though he seriously doubted any women would attack him when they each had a dog, he couldn't completely rule it out. He growled, and put his arms up in a defensive position as some of the guys around him cracked their knuckles. It looked as if they were going to jump him any second.
One man went for a fakeout, jabbing a punch at the air in front of Matt. He jumped a bit, and that was all the distraction the giant behind him needed; he leapt into action, scooping his arms under Matt's and pulling them up in a powerful, painful lock. Yamato winced and struggled as the gang formed a semi-circle around him, but his strength was nothing against the lock. One man stepped forward out of the grinning circle, cracking his knuckles and looking at Yamato's completely undefended stomach with a sort of curious mischief. Though Matt shot a pained, steadfast glare at the second aggressor, he grit his teeth and tightened his muscles in preparation as the man pulled his fist back; this was going to really, really hurt...
But suddenly...
"Hey, Lila! How `bout YOU try defending against someone twice your size!?" a female voice bellowed from nearby, and Yamato's spirits immediately lifted as the mass of people surrounding Lila's gang-circle drew back to reveal Kia and Gojio, half-shoving their way through the crowd to get to them. Coming up behind them were Hikaru and Kenu, and their faces held just as much defiance and anger in them as Kia and Gojio... only the latter two had distinct hints of mischief in their eyes, and Kia's full-blown Evil Grin almost completely outshadowed any rage she was feeling. It was as if she was overflowing with an unparalleled and wicked joy at finally getting a chance to pick a fight with Lila... an otaku let loose in a dealer's room with over two thousand dollars cash to spend.
**Bless the powers that be for giving me this wonderful opportunity,** She thought.
"So the snake bares her fangs. But really, you shouldn't lash out so quickly; your pets are no match for Gojio, or me for that matter. You want to hurt Matt for hurting your poor, feeble little pride, you go through us." She then turned her glare to the man about to punch Yamato, as well as the giant holding him, who looked furious at being called a pet. She smirked even more, as if she didn't even care that he was nearly twice her size. "You two better just keep your hands off him, unless you want to feel the wrath of the all-infamous captain of the kickboxing team." She paused for the predicted murmurs of recognition. "Yeah, that's right; the one who was disqualified from the last local tournament for... taking cheap shots." She let that final tone ring a little, and then moved on. "Funny thing is, I'm so good, I was forgiven by the coach. Wanna deal with me? Do you, or are you just a backstabbing, spineless coward who takes orders from a whore?"
Yamato's eyes widened. That cheap-shot call, he decided, could have been for the deliberate kick to her opponent's groin... or for her colorful language before the blow.
"You little bitch!" the giant holding him bellowed, and he flung Matt to the side, the force of the throw nearly enough to send him to the ground. He pulled his balled fist across his chest with every intention of backhanding Kia's face, and frightened yelps came from outside the circle as he swung. But Kia deftly avoided the strike, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side and bending her knees to drop her body out of the fist's reach. She paused there for a moment to let it sink in that she was far superior to her opponent, let the insult pile on with the injury, and then lightly kicked off the ground to land a bit further away, standing at a casual, ready position, her eyes alert to all potential attackers. Her hands were dropped, as if she dared them to attack. They held their ground.
Gojio shot a meaningful look at Yamato, and he heard the unspoken command. **Get out of here,** that was what they wanted him to do. Go find Taichi. They're targeting you, they'll gang up on you, you'll get hurt. Don't worry about it. People will help us. You already have a record with this group, and we're clean.
Abandon us when we're already outnumbered almost two to one. Right, sure.
"Matt, get out of here!" Kia voiced, as if she knew he was wavering. "There's no need to dirty your hands on trash like this!" Angry outbursts arose from all sides, but Matt shook his head and stood firm. "Forget it," he replied, his voice low and deadly as he could make it sound. "There's no way I'd leave you here to clean up a mess that I made."
"MATT!!" Leon shouted; he had pushed his way through, along with a few others on his side. "You stubborn idiot! You KNOW we can take care of ourselves! We're not that outnumbered NOW, even without you!"
"NO!" He shouted in reply, but he cut off... someone had hit him in his back, a downwards punch in the flesh just to the side of his lower spine, and his eyes widened on their own as gasps and shouts of anger or excitement arose. The entire area burst into a frenzy of action then; Kia shouted out his name, Gojyo let out an enraged and colorful German word, and the rest of the group attacked Lila's gang like a swarm of bees. Inside the mass of shouting, fighting bodies, Kia wasted no time; she dodged a punch, spun her body around quickly to slam her heel into her opponent's head, and then darted right towards Matt. Gojyo had no need for such nimble movement; he let out a roar and started pummeling anyone that had the courage or stupidity to cross his path, which seemed to move from gang member to gang member. He quite clearly trusted Kia with Matt... just as Kia trusted him to fight enough for two people until she was done.
"Matt!" She shouted over the chaos once she reached him. He had sunk against the wall, trying to avoid attention, which was surprisingly not difficult; the hectics of the fight had all but made him disappear.
"Are you all right?! Bastard hit you in the BACK, for chrissake..."
"I'm fine," he said, his voice low.
"Bullshit."
Matt sweatdropped. "Kia, do I have to use specific adjectives to describe the exact truth of my being EVERY SINGLE TIME I want you to believe me?"
"Yes."
"Fine. He caught me completely off-guard, but I was already angry already so my muscles weren't relaxed when he hit me. The pain was really, REALLY sharp, but it's settled to dull and throbbing now. And I know for a FACT that I will NOT..."
His eyes widened and he kicked off to the side, Kia instinctively darting in the other direction as someone was flung into the wall between them. He staggered for a bit, clutching the side of his face, and then leapt back in, without second glance at Kia or Yamato.
"... leave without payback."
Kia sighed. "I know you're too stubborn to convince. Fine. Just remember; we can only create a diversion for so long. Sooner or later, they're gonna remember that they should be targeting you and not everyone else, even though we're doing a pretty good job of pissing them off."
Matt nodded hastily as someone else careened towards them, fists menacingly pulled back. Kia rolled her eyes as she jumped in the air, pulled her knee to her chest, and landed a front-kick square in his chest. He hit the floor hard, and Kia wasted no time; she immediately leapt back into the fray, stepping on the felled gangster's shoulder on her way in. Yamato followed right behind her.
*~*~*
Hikaru frowned as she stood back, her handmade slingshot aimed from behind the kitchen counter. Kenu was beside her with his own, trying to find more things to load it with once they were out of hard-shell nuts. They were far too slight to be directly involved in a chaotic fight like this one... but she'd be damned, Hikaru thought, if she missed the opportunity to nail Lila with a walnut square in the back of her head.
"Kenu!"
He spun to face her.
"Go get Tai. The door isn't guarded right now, right? If Tai gets here, there's no way we can lose. We won't be outnumbered anymore, and Yamato needs Tai to fight at his best. Look at us! Nobody's used to this kind of fighting... Lila has an advantage. We just need one more person..."
Kenu nodded quickly, breathlessly, looking worriedly into the fray. It was true; everyone on their side was holding his or her own, but the problem was in the numbers and the experience. Tai would definitely help; he had taken a few years of self-defense before college, and it was no exaggeration that he and Matt worked miracles, no matter what they did, when they worked together. He hugged Hikaru from behind quickly, and then he ran along the wall as quickly as he could, the door in his sights.
She held her breath as she watched him. Speed was everything... if he couldn't open the door, get through it, and close it again in less than two seconds, the whole thing would be shot to hell... almost as soon as she thought this, he dropped out of her sight. She blinked, but all she could see was people fighting and people surrounding the fight. Her eyes widened as her panic rose; Where was he? What happened to him?! Her gaze darted from person to person, trying to catch a glimpse of his blue jacket, a brief glance of his shock-brown hair, but nothing, she couldn't see him; what if he was pulled into it?! He can't take any damage, not with his...
But then she saw the door open, saw a short young man bolt through it, and saw it close again. If anyone noticed, they either didn't care or didn't want to get involved.
She exhaled and pressed her hand to her chest, trying to calm her heart. But she shook her head quickly, to clear it perhaps, and readied a walnut.
*~*~*
* "Yankee" is a term for a member of a gang. Bad-news people... ya know, the ones you don't want babysitting your kids. I decided to throw it in because it fit the calculated randomness of Lila's group's violent behavior. ^^; It just made sense to actually make them a real gang.
If you caught any new clichés, put it in your review!! And lemme know if you especially liked the way I did anything, or if anything didn't work well... ya know. The basic review stuff. ^_^ And get ready for Taichi... he's not going to be very happy about this. What will happen to them? How will they get out of THIS one? Is the author EVER going to get around to some quality Taito action?! Well, review and keep reading to find out. )