So I have now decided to post the next chapter. As announced, it's somewhat
shorter than the first.
"Ishida."
"Hi dad. Could I speak to Matt please?"
"Just wait a second, TK."
"Hello?"
"Hi Matt."
"Oh, hi TK."
"I was wondering if we might go to "Crossroads – Not a girl" today."
"You wanna watch Britney Spears playing herself?"
"Unless you have a better idea.."
"The "Queen of the Damned" sounds a lot better to me."
"Alright. I think they play it at three and again at eight."
"Three will do. Meet you at the cinema then?"
"Yeah, see you."
"See you, TK."
It was only two o'clock so far, and so TK decided to listen to music in the meantime. That gave him time to think about what he was doing. 'Somehow I feel as though I was going to betray Matt. Maybe Kari's friend's friend is not supposed to know about Matt's sex life. But Kari must have thought about that.. Could it be that she has lied to me and in fact the person that's interested in Matt is a lot closer than just one of Kari's friends' friends? Who would it be then? It's got to be a boy. And he's got to know Matt. And, and that's most important, Kari must care for him, as she wouldn't be trying to play matchmaker otherwise. Maybe it's one of the digidestined? Joe? No. He's got a girlfriend and he would never tell Kari. Izzy? He doesn't care about anything but computers. And it isn't very likely either that he should tell Kari about it. But who is it then? There's only one person left: Tai. Tai would definitely a person that Kari would want to help. And he and Matt have become best friends since the digiworld. I don't think I'll tell Matt straight away, but I might ask him what he feels about Tai. This will prove very interesting..'
Suddenly TK looked at his watch and noticed it was time to go. He took his keys and left the apartment. A few minutes later he arrived at the cinema. Matt was already there waiting for him.
"So you finally made it. Hello again, TK."
"Hi Matt."
"I already bought the tickets. You know as the film is limited to people aged over sixteen.."
"But I wanted to invite you.."
"It's alright TK. We might go and have some ice cream in a café, and then I'll let you pay."
"Alright. By the way, the film started five minutes ago. Maybe we might get in now."
"Of course."
The two boys entered the cinema, found the way to the right room and sat down in the middle row. The room was empty but for a group of teenagers gathered in the first row that was making enough noise to fill the whole room. The two blondes had decided not to buy any popcorn as there were some ten persons waiting to buy theirs in front of the counter and they didn't want to miss the beginning of their film. During the showing both boys were staring at the screen and pretending to be very interested in the occurrences in front of them.
Behind that mask they were both thinking though. Matt was wondering why TK wanted to go to the movies with him.
'Normally he'd have gone there with Kari, wouldn't he? She's his girlfriend after all.. He never does things with me alone unless there is a very good reason to. Last time we did that he wanted me to help him to prepare for his Math exam... I wonder what will be his reason this time. Probably he'll tell me at the café. Should I show him that I have unmasked his true goals or should I let him have his illusion about manipulating me? I think I'll tell him when he asks me.'
In the meantime TK was thinking about how to get to the matter without Matt noticing it:
'I might start by speaking about me and Kari and then ask him who he wants to be with himself.. But if he isn't sure about it, then he won't tell me. I might also tell him that I felt attracted to boys. Then he wouldn't have to be ashamed if he were gay, too. I might also ask him why he never has had any girlfriends. In fact that's something I'd really like to know..'
Matt had read a few of the books written by the same author as the book that the film was based on. He came to think about those that moment. In one of them, the main character had very obviously been gay. Thereupon Matt started wondering about his feelings for Tai:
'How would it feel like to be here with him? To feel his perfect body sitting there right next to me. To know that I'd only have to reach out my hand to touch his smooth skin.' Matt was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that his hand was moving towards TK. Even as he touched the hand of his younger brother, Matt was still thinking about Tai. TK jumped in surprise though, as he felt a hand seizing his. That mad Matt awaken and get his hand back to his lap as quickly as he could.
"What are you doing?", TK asked in total surprise.
"Sorry.. I was just so lost in my thoughts..", Matt whispered back.
"Alright."
The boys went back to watching the film, but Matt's thoughts drifted back to Tai, though this time he was careful not to move his hands.
'Obviously I would like him to be here. Holding hands with him seems so right.. Maybe I should tell TK about it.. I could ask him what it feels like to be in love with Kari. If he feels just as I feel about Tai, then maybe he'll understand. Anyhow I need to confide in someone. Maybe he will even know what to do.'
After the movie had ended, the two brothers left the cinema and headed for a café Matt had suggested to have some ice cream at.
As soon as they had sat down at an outside table, a waiter was standing there and waiting for them to order. Matt decided on an enormous fruit ice cream and TK ordered a milk shake with a lot of vanilla ice cream.
The orders arrived quickly and so the boy started eating silently, both thinking their plans over.
Finally, Matt broke the silence:
"How's your relationship with Kari going?"
"Oh, we're arguing all the time, but I think I really love her."
"Maybe this sounds somewhat stupid, but what does it feel like to be in love with her?"
"Dunno.. It's hard to describe.. It's like having butterflies inside my stomach.. But I guess you know that, as that's the way they describe it in books.. When I'm with her, I feel safe and just happy. It's as though I had found something I had been looking for during all my life. And I share her feelings totally: When she's sad, I'm sad too, and when she's happy, I'm happy too. And when she wants me to, I do the most stupid things, because to me they seem just the right thing to do, just because she says so. And when we're separated, I always feel incomplete and somehow tense and nervous. She means everything to me, and even I myself am unimportant compared to her. I think if it was necessary I wouldn't hesitate a second to sacrifice myself. Does that definition help you?"
"Yes.." 'Do I feel this way about Tai? Would I give my life to save his? Yes. Anytime.'
"By the way, why did you want to know that? Are you questioning your own love life?"
"That's a way to put it.."
"Would you mind giving me some details?"
"You know, my feelings have been quite messed up in the last few months.. Maybe what I'll tell you might seem strange or even abnormal to you."
"Don't be scared of telling me anything. You're my only brother after all and I really care about you."
"I think I've fallen in love with…" Matt hesitated for a few seconds and eventually TK couldn't take it any more and asked: "With whom?"
"Tai." It wasn't more than a whisper, and TK's first impulse was to ask Matt to repeat, but after a second he understood what it had to have meant.
"Oh." Was all TK could say to that confession. He looked truly taken aback and so Matt asked with some fear in his voice: "Don't you want to be my brother anymore now?" TK recollected himself and quickly answered:
"Of course I still love you as my brother. I was just surprised.. You know I didn't quite expect that."
"So you're not disgusted?"
"No. I think everyone should choose for himself with whom he wants to be."
"Thank you so much, TK." Matt said hugging TK over the table.
As Matt was hugging him, TK decided not to tell Matt about what he had figured out about the strange friend Kari had told him about: 'If I tell him now that Tai loves him too, he'll probably be extremely happy, but if Tai doesn't love him after all, it'll be the apocalypse to him.'
"What do you think should I do about it?" Matt's voice woke TK from his thoughts.
"What..what should you do? Maybe you might try to do things with him and tell him then.."
"We're going to a dance class together next month."
"That sounds great. If you managed to get a dance with him, you might.." "With Sora and Mimi.." Matt cut him off.
"That.. makes things more difficult of course.. But still you might try. Maybe Mimi and Sora might miss the first lesson..?"
"What do you mean by that."
"I mean that I could probably convince them to let you two go alone. That will only work if you allow me to tell them about you and Tai of course.."
"Do you think it's worth trying?"
"Yes. Anyhow it's the easiest way to know."
"Did anyone ever tell you you are an angel, TK?"
"Yes, Kari is telling me all the time.." Both boys laughed wholeheartedly. They went on chatting and making plans about the conquest of Tai's heart all afternoon until they decided time had come to part again. TK had to take care of the dancing matter, which would first mean to wait to know if Tai had as yet told the girls about his plan. Then TK would use all his male charm to convince the girls to help playing matchmaker for Tai and Matt.
I think that settles the Mimato business, doesn't it? Did you like it?
"Ishida."
"Hi dad. Could I speak to Matt please?"
"Just wait a second, TK."
"Hello?"
"Hi Matt."
"Oh, hi TK."
"I was wondering if we might go to "Crossroads – Not a girl" today."
"You wanna watch Britney Spears playing herself?"
"Unless you have a better idea.."
"The "Queen of the Damned" sounds a lot better to me."
"Alright. I think they play it at three and again at eight."
"Three will do. Meet you at the cinema then?"
"Yeah, see you."
"See you, TK."
It was only two o'clock so far, and so TK decided to listen to music in the meantime. That gave him time to think about what he was doing. 'Somehow I feel as though I was going to betray Matt. Maybe Kari's friend's friend is not supposed to know about Matt's sex life. But Kari must have thought about that.. Could it be that she has lied to me and in fact the person that's interested in Matt is a lot closer than just one of Kari's friends' friends? Who would it be then? It's got to be a boy. And he's got to know Matt. And, and that's most important, Kari must care for him, as she wouldn't be trying to play matchmaker otherwise. Maybe it's one of the digidestined? Joe? No. He's got a girlfriend and he would never tell Kari. Izzy? He doesn't care about anything but computers. And it isn't very likely either that he should tell Kari about it. But who is it then? There's only one person left: Tai. Tai would definitely a person that Kari would want to help. And he and Matt have become best friends since the digiworld. I don't think I'll tell Matt straight away, but I might ask him what he feels about Tai. This will prove very interesting..'
Suddenly TK looked at his watch and noticed it was time to go. He took his keys and left the apartment. A few minutes later he arrived at the cinema. Matt was already there waiting for him.
"So you finally made it. Hello again, TK."
"Hi Matt."
"I already bought the tickets. You know as the film is limited to people aged over sixteen.."
"But I wanted to invite you.."
"It's alright TK. We might go and have some ice cream in a café, and then I'll let you pay."
"Alright. By the way, the film started five minutes ago. Maybe we might get in now."
"Of course."
The two boys entered the cinema, found the way to the right room and sat down in the middle row. The room was empty but for a group of teenagers gathered in the first row that was making enough noise to fill the whole room. The two blondes had decided not to buy any popcorn as there were some ten persons waiting to buy theirs in front of the counter and they didn't want to miss the beginning of their film. During the showing both boys were staring at the screen and pretending to be very interested in the occurrences in front of them.
Behind that mask they were both thinking though. Matt was wondering why TK wanted to go to the movies with him.
'Normally he'd have gone there with Kari, wouldn't he? She's his girlfriend after all.. He never does things with me alone unless there is a very good reason to. Last time we did that he wanted me to help him to prepare for his Math exam... I wonder what will be his reason this time. Probably he'll tell me at the café. Should I show him that I have unmasked his true goals or should I let him have his illusion about manipulating me? I think I'll tell him when he asks me.'
In the meantime TK was thinking about how to get to the matter without Matt noticing it:
'I might start by speaking about me and Kari and then ask him who he wants to be with himself.. But if he isn't sure about it, then he won't tell me. I might also tell him that I felt attracted to boys. Then he wouldn't have to be ashamed if he were gay, too. I might also ask him why he never has had any girlfriends. In fact that's something I'd really like to know..'
Matt had read a few of the books written by the same author as the book that the film was based on. He came to think about those that moment. In one of them, the main character had very obviously been gay. Thereupon Matt started wondering about his feelings for Tai:
'How would it feel like to be here with him? To feel his perfect body sitting there right next to me. To know that I'd only have to reach out my hand to touch his smooth skin.' Matt was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that his hand was moving towards TK. Even as he touched the hand of his younger brother, Matt was still thinking about Tai. TK jumped in surprise though, as he felt a hand seizing his. That mad Matt awaken and get his hand back to his lap as quickly as he could.
"What are you doing?", TK asked in total surprise.
"Sorry.. I was just so lost in my thoughts..", Matt whispered back.
"Alright."
The boys went back to watching the film, but Matt's thoughts drifted back to Tai, though this time he was careful not to move his hands.
'Obviously I would like him to be here. Holding hands with him seems so right.. Maybe I should tell TK about it.. I could ask him what it feels like to be in love with Kari. If he feels just as I feel about Tai, then maybe he'll understand. Anyhow I need to confide in someone. Maybe he will even know what to do.'
After the movie had ended, the two brothers left the cinema and headed for a café Matt had suggested to have some ice cream at.
As soon as they had sat down at an outside table, a waiter was standing there and waiting for them to order. Matt decided on an enormous fruit ice cream and TK ordered a milk shake with a lot of vanilla ice cream.
The orders arrived quickly and so the boy started eating silently, both thinking their plans over.
Finally, Matt broke the silence:
"How's your relationship with Kari going?"
"Oh, we're arguing all the time, but I think I really love her."
"Maybe this sounds somewhat stupid, but what does it feel like to be in love with her?"
"Dunno.. It's hard to describe.. It's like having butterflies inside my stomach.. But I guess you know that, as that's the way they describe it in books.. When I'm with her, I feel safe and just happy. It's as though I had found something I had been looking for during all my life. And I share her feelings totally: When she's sad, I'm sad too, and when she's happy, I'm happy too. And when she wants me to, I do the most stupid things, because to me they seem just the right thing to do, just because she says so. And when we're separated, I always feel incomplete and somehow tense and nervous. She means everything to me, and even I myself am unimportant compared to her. I think if it was necessary I wouldn't hesitate a second to sacrifice myself. Does that definition help you?"
"Yes.." 'Do I feel this way about Tai? Would I give my life to save his? Yes. Anytime.'
"By the way, why did you want to know that? Are you questioning your own love life?"
"That's a way to put it.."
"Would you mind giving me some details?"
"You know, my feelings have been quite messed up in the last few months.. Maybe what I'll tell you might seem strange or even abnormal to you."
"Don't be scared of telling me anything. You're my only brother after all and I really care about you."
"I think I've fallen in love with…" Matt hesitated for a few seconds and eventually TK couldn't take it any more and asked: "With whom?"
"Tai." It wasn't more than a whisper, and TK's first impulse was to ask Matt to repeat, but after a second he understood what it had to have meant.
"Oh." Was all TK could say to that confession. He looked truly taken aback and so Matt asked with some fear in his voice: "Don't you want to be my brother anymore now?" TK recollected himself and quickly answered:
"Of course I still love you as my brother. I was just surprised.. You know I didn't quite expect that."
"So you're not disgusted?"
"No. I think everyone should choose for himself with whom he wants to be."
"Thank you so much, TK." Matt said hugging TK over the table.
As Matt was hugging him, TK decided not to tell Matt about what he had figured out about the strange friend Kari had told him about: 'If I tell him now that Tai loves him too, he'll probably be extremely happy, but if Tai doesn't love him after all, it'll be the apocalypse to him.'
"What do you think should I do about it?" Matt's voice woke TK from his thoughts.
"What..what should you do? Maybe you might try to do things with him and tell him then.."
"We're going to a dance class together next month."
"That sounds great. If you managed to get a dance with him, you might.." "With Sora and Mimi.." Matt cut him off.
"That.. makes things more difficult of course.. But still you might try. Maybe Mimi and Sora might miss the first lesson..?"
"What do you mean by that."
"I mean that I could probably convince them to let you two go alone. That will only work if you allow me to tell them about you and Tai of course.."
"Do you think it's worth trying?"
"Yes. Anyhow it's the easiest way to know."
"Did anyone ever tell you you are an angel, TK?"
"Yes, Kari is telling me all the time.." Both boys laughed wholeheartedly. They went on chatting and making plans about the conquest of Tai's heart all afternoon until they decided time had come to part again. TK had to take care of the dancing matter, which would first mean to wait to know if Tai had as yet told the girls about his plan. Then TK would use all his male charm to convince the girls to help playing matchmaker for Tai and Matt.
I think that settles the Mimato business, doesn't it? Did you like it?