Tangled Web
Family Troubles
By Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or anybody in it.
This is TAITO, TAIORA and SORATO which you should already know. There's also sort of some DAIKEN but not much and not exactly.
Well, Taito seems to be the majority vote! In fact it was all Taito apart from one Taiora and one (you strange person!) Yamashiro! However, you can still vote if you want! I'm good at turning things that look like certainties round and making them different! Although Sorato is pretty much down the plug-hole. Thanks to Libek for her lovely review which I had a great time reading!
TK blinked awake confused. Someone was knocking on his door. Crawling out of bed, not wanting to disturb his wife and son, he opened it.
Matt was standing on the doorstep. His face was streaked with tears and he was clutching some bags.
"Matt!" TK said "Matt, whatever's wrong?"
"Oh TK," Matt said, his voice shaking "It's just awful."
Then he started to cry again. TK quickly pulled his brother inside, wondering what could have happened to put his brother in such a state.
* * * *
Davis sat sprawled on the couch with Ken. It was the ritual boys night in they had every week. Yolei went over to Kari's and they had a girls night in. The children were on alternate nights. That week it was the girls turn. Which meant that Davis and Ken got to play their favourite game.
Davis couldn't help wondering about their favourite game. It seemed a little unusual to him when he thought about it. But he enjoyed it. It involved describing different sexual fantasies to each other in as much detail as possible. For some reason, the more erotic ones seemed to involve other men. The even more erotic ones seemed to involve men they knew.
Davis took another gulp of beer. Ken had just finished one which involved Matt and liberal doses of whipped cream.
"S'just a shame he's married," he remarked.
"Don't see why that should stop you," Davis said with a slight snicker, thinking about what Tai had told Kari.
"'Cause he's married to Sora you dope," Ken said "Hey! That'd be even better. Matt and Sora at the same time! With the whipped cream...."
Davis thought about it.
"Yeah," he said "God, I wish I was Tai."
Ken blinked.
"Huh?"
Davis's brain caught up with his mouth at that point. He gulped.
"Oops."
* * * *
Yolei looked at Ken. He was lying on the bed looking a bit worried.
"Ken?" she said "What's wrong?"
Ken looked at her.
"Something Davis said," he said "I'm not sure if I should tell you actually."
"If it's bothering you, you should get it off your chest," Yolei said, sitting down next to him.
Ken looked at her.
"Well," he said slowly "Davis said Matt and Sora have been cheating on each other."
Yolei gasped.
"No!"
"Both of them," Ken said "With Tai."
Yolei frowned.
"You mean they've both been sleeping with Tai!" she said.
Ken nodded.
"Not at the same time," he said hastily "At different times."
"That's even worse!" Yolei said "They don't know about it?"
"Well as far as I know, no," Ken said "That's why I'm worried. Tai told Kari who told Davis."
Yolei bit her lip. It was only fair for her to tell Sora about it. But still...
She lay awake for most of the night worrying about it.
* * * *
Sora was sitting beside Sayo's cot, wide awake and mulling things over.
Matt had gone. She was now a single mother with three children under ten, two of whom were very upset and confused. Sora ran her hands though her hair, trying to decide what to do. She wasn't alone. She knew that Tai would help her, as would Kari and the other Digidestined when they found out what had happened. And Matt would almost certainly want to see Tanoshii and Shinji...
Sora sighed. The one thing she didn't want was a rift between her children. If Matt would only see Tanoshii and Shinji, then Sayo would grow up feeling left out. If he saw all three of them but didn't treat Sayo right then Sayo would be unhappy. That was going to be difficult.
Sora picked up the phone and dialled Tai's number. Tai never minded being woken up in the night and this was an emergency. She needed to discuss this with him.
* * * *
Tai, like Sora, was sitting awake and mulling things over.
He'd split up with Matt. He'd ripped Matt's marriage apart. Okay, so it hadn't exactly been a happy marriage. But it had been stable until he'd come along. Now there were three children who would be confused and miserable. One of whom was his baby.
Tai groaned and ran his hands though his hair. What was he going to do? He still wanted Sora but he didn't love Sora. Not like he loved Matt.
Why? Why did he have to suddenly realise that he was in love with Matt when it was too late? Why?
The phone rang, ear-splittingly loud in the silence. Tai picked it up quickly.
"Hello?"
"Tai. It's me, Sora."
Tai swallowed.
"Hey," he said softly "How're you?"
"I guess you've talked to Matt," Sora said, her voice shaky "He's....he's left us Tai. Me and the kids..."
"I know," Tai said "He told me."
Sora sighed. She sounded miserable.
"What am I going to do Tai?" she asked "Tanoshii and Shinji are so upset. They don't really understand. And what's going to happen with Sayo? This isn't her fault."
"No," Tai said quietly "It's not her fault."
Sora sighed again and Tai flinched. He knew what he had to do but even now it was so hard...
"Tai can you come over tomorrow? I need to talk to somebody."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Tai said softly.
"What?"
Tai swallowed.
"I'm sorry Sora," he said "I can't do this anymore."
"What do you mean?" Sora said, her voice trembling.
"It's got out of hand," Tai said helplessly "I'm really sorry Sora. But I just can't do this. I need....I have to stop."
"Tai..." Sora said faintly. She sounded like she was going to cry "Tai, please don't do this. Not now. I need you Tai!"
"I'm sorry," Tai said again "I want to still be friends and I'll help you all I can. But I don't think we should....should do anything anymore."
He heard Sora give another sob and then the phone went dead. Tai put the phone down too and curled up on his bed. His pillows, already damp from earlier tears, were soon soaked again as he cried.
* * * *
Izzy was surprised the next day when Yolei phoned him. She sounded a little disturbed about something.
"What's wrong Yolei?" Izzy asked her.
"It's something Ken told me," Yolei explained "He was talking with Davis who told him this."
"Well what? Spit it out," Izzy said.
"Apparently, Sora and Matt have been cheating on each other," Yolei explained "On separate occasions, they've both been sleeping with Tai."
"With Tai!" Izzy said "No!"
"Yes," Yolei said "Tai told Kari and Davis who told Ken who's told me. The problem is, what should I do? Should I tell Sora? She's a very close friend of mine."
"I don't see how she can complain if she's been cheating on Matt," Izzy said uncertainly.
"Yes, but Tai's been cheating on her too, hasn't he?" Yolei pointed out "It's the fact that they're cheating on each other with the same person that really bothers me. I just don't know what to do."
Izzy frowned gloomily. He still wasn't all that good with people and he didn't really know what to tell Yolei.
"I'm not really sure," he said at last "I've never really been very good with people Yolei. I don't think I can help you."
"That's okay," Yolei said "Thanks anyway. If you think of anything, you can let me know."
Izzy agreed and they rang off. Izzy sat thoughtfully, trying to work out what to do. Yolei was right he supposed. But how did you tell somebody about this strange love triangle?
* * * *
Mujaki Takaishi sat eating his breakfast, watching his parents. Everything had been normal last night but he'd woken up in the morning to find his Uncle Matt asleep on the sofa and his mother looking slightly annoyed. At that moment she and his father were whispering together in a hissy way which meant that they were annoyed with each other but they didn't want Mujaki to hear any of it.
Mujaki pricked up his ears to listen.
"Takeru," Shinoko Takaishi was saying "I know that something very bad must have happened but does he have to show up on our doorstep?"
"Well where else was he supposed to go?" TK asked.
"I suppose so," Shinoko said with a sigh "But still....it might upset Mujaki."
"Mujaki's a good kid. He can take it."
"Not if his Uncle Matt's crying buckets all over the place, he can't."
"Matt's not going to cry in front of Mujaki. I think he'd die of shame if he did for a start."
Shinoko sighed.
"Well....I suppose it's okay," she said "Do you know what's wrong anyway?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Matt wasn't exactly coherent last night. Something about Sora and Tai and Sayo but I couldn't quite untangle it into anything that made sense."
Shinoko nodded. She then glanced at her watch.
"Oh crap!" she hissed "I'll be late. Mujaki, are you ready for school?"
"Yes!" Mujaki called back instantly. He scrambled to his feet and smiled proudly "I'm ready!"
Shinoko nodded. She glanced at Matt who was looking pale and restless.
"Takeru," she said "Have a good day and look after Uncle Matt."
She and Mujaki left. TK turned and looked at Matt. He'd known that Shinoko would understand. She was an understanding person but she worried about Mujaki. He was only five but he was already showing signs of being an extremely clever child. Shinoko's twin brother had been a genius and he'd never really been able to relate to people. He'd killed himself shortly after TK and Shinoko's wedding. TK could see why Shinoko worried and was trying to help alleviate her worries. It wasn't easy.
With a sigh he settled down at his lap-top. Keeping one eye on Matt's sleeping form, he continued writing his latest novel.
Somehow he felt that no novel could be quite as interesting as his life was shaping up to be at that moment.
* * * *
Joe was having his lunch break when his phone rang. He was slightly surprised to find Izzy on the line.
"Hey Izzy, what's up?" he asked.
"A lot," Izzy said without any preamble "I need some advice."
"What about?" Joe asked.
"Yolei called me earlier," Izzy explained "She's found out that Matt and Sora are cheating on each other."
"No!" Joe said.
"Yes," Izzy said "It gets worse too. They are both sleeping with Tai."
"Both of them?" Joe said slowly.
"Uh huh."
"Matt and Tai are bi?" Joe said slowly "I never knew that."
"Yeah. But that's not the point. The point is, what should we do?" Izzy asked "I mean, Yolei's not sure whether to tell Sora or not. She has a right to know I suppose but what do you say?"
Joe paused. This was a pretty difficult question.
"How long has this been going on for?" he asked after a moment.
"I don't know. Quite a while?"
"Sora's just had a baby," Joe said thoughtfully "Maybe that will help her marriage stay together."
"Maybe," Izzy said "I guess."
"Unless the baby isn't Matt's," Joe continued, still trying to think "If Sayo isn't Matt's then it might encourage them to split up."
"Isn't Matt's?" Izzy repeated "That's a good point. Sayo does look like Sento did at that age..."
There was a pause.
"Izzy," Joe said at last "I think we don't say anything. If we say anything about this then we open a very big can of worms. I think we leave them to handle their own affairs. If Yolei wants to talk to anyone, she should talk to Tai. He's the one who's causing all the problems here."
"Okay," Izzy agreed "Thanks Joe."
"That's okay," Joe said.
After ringing off he sat, still thinking for a quite a long time. He hoped he'd made the right decision. But it wasn't really his business after all. If Sora, Matt and Tai wanted to get themselves involved in complicated love triangles, that was their business, not his. He just hoped that nobody had any STD's or real problems could emerge.
Unless of course, Sayo was Tai's baby in which case real problems had already emerged.
Joe groaned. Why was it that the Digidestined always seemed to cause more troubles in his life than his work or his home?
* * * *
Sento looked at his father. His father had picked him up from school like normal but now he was just sitting at the table. He looked really strange.
"Daddy?" Sento asked "Daddy?"
"Huh? What?"
His father looked vaguely at him, like he was only just noticing Sento's presence.
"Are you sick?" Sento asked uncertainly. He'd never seen his father act this way before.
"Sick? Me? No," Tai said "I'm fine Sento. Really."
Sento didn't believe him. He knew that something was up. He just wasn't sure what.
"Is it because Uncle Matt's left home?" he asked, remembering what Tanoshii had told him that day.
His father jumped violently.
"What? Who told you that?" he demanded.
"Tanoshii," Sento said "He said that Uncle Matt's gone away somewhere and Auntie Sora's very upset."
"Oh."
His father sat down again. His eyes glazed over and he continued to stare into the distance. Irritated, Sento gave up and went to watch the TV. If his father wouldn't talk to him then he wouldn't talk to his father.
Tai continued to stare at the wall, not really seeing it. He wanted to phone all the Digidestined and find out where Matt was but he didn't dare. It would look strange, him desperately trying to trace Matt when even Sora wasn't. Besides, the other Digidestined probably didn't even know that Matt and Sora had split up yet and Tai didn't want to upset Sora any more by telling them.
He groaned softly and put his head on the table. How the hell had he got himself into this? What was he supposed to do now?
Sento looked anxiously at his father then went over to the phone. He carefully flicked thought the phone book until he found Kari's number, then dialled it.
"Hello, Motomiya residence."
"Auntie Kari?" Sento said.
"Sento?" Kari said "Hello."
"I think Daddy's sick," Sento said "He won't talk to me properly and he's all upset and just staring at the wall."
He was slightly surprised when Auntie Kari used a word that he'd always been told was very bad indeed.
"Okay, I'll come over," she said "If I come, can you take care of Shinseru while I look after your father?"
"Sure," Sento said, feeling slightly honoured at the prospect of taking care of Shinseru. Normally he wasn't considered old enough for that.
"I'll see you soon," Auntie Kari said and rang off. Sento went to wait by the door, hoping she'd come soon. He didn't like to see his father like this.
* * * *
Tai unburied his head when someone gave him a sharp poke in the back of it.
"OW! What....?"
"Hello Taichi."
He winced.
"Oh. Um, hi Kari," he offered "Where'd you come from?"
"Sento opened the door," Kari said "After he phoned and asked me to come over. He is now in his bedroom baby-sitting Shinseru as Davis is out with Ken again. Now. What's going on?"
Tai sighed. He gloomily told Kari everything that had happened. Kari listened silently.
"I did warn you," she said quietly when he'd finished.
"I know!" Tai wailed "I know you did! But what do I do now? I want him back Kari."
Kari sighed. She personally felt that the only reason Tai wanted Matt was because Matt was now unavailable. But she wasn't going to say that. She felt very sorry for Tai. He was beginning to cry again. Kari wrapped her arms round him and tried to soothe him, hoping that the kids couldn't hear in the next room.
* * * *
"Tanoshii," Shinji said "Why has Daddy gone away?"
Tanoshii looked at his little brother. Shinji stared back with his big cinnamon coloured eyes.
"I don't know," Tanoshii said eventually "Sometimes Daddy's leave."
"But that's normally after fights," Shinji said "Our Mummy and Daddy never fight."
Tanoshii shrugged.
"Is it 'cause of Sayo?" Shinji asked.
Tanoshii paused. He'd noticed ever since his mother had said that they were going to have a little brother or sister she'd been sad. Or something. There'd been a bad feeling around. Then after Sayo was born, it hadn't gone away. And then his father had left.
"I don't know. Maybe," Tanoshii said at last.
Shinji sniffed.
"Can't we get rid of Sayo and have Daddy back?" he suggested "I want Daddy."
Tanoshii nodded his agreement. The two boys both sat quietly, thinking.
* * * *
"Takeru?"
TK blinked and looked up from his lap-top. Shinoko was holding the phone out to him.
"It's Motomiya Kari," she said.
"Thanks," TK said, taking the phone "Kari?"
"Hey TK," Kari said. She sounded tired "Is Matt at your place?"
TK considered. Matt hadn't said to keep his presence a secret but Kari....
"I won't tell Tai," Kari said.
"Yes," TK said.
"Good," Kari said "So I'm assuming that he's told you the whole sorry story?"
"Yes," TK said "Sorry about this Kari but your brother's a major jerk."
"Can't really argue but on behalf of the family 'Hey!'" Kari said "So how is Matt?"
"He arrived last night in tears, slept most of the day and woke up before Mujaki got back from school to tell me what happened," TK said.
"I guess he's taken it really badly?"
"I've never seen him this bad," TK said "Never in my life. Not even when Mum and Dad split up."
Kari sighed.
"I've just got back from Tai's," she said "He's in an awful state as well. I don't know about Sora."
"Does anyone else know about this?" TK asked.
"Davis," Kari said "I don't think anybody else even knows that they've split yet."
"Well Matt hasn't told anybody except me anything," TK said.
"Right," Kari said "We'd better wait and see what happens."
"Uh huh," TK agreed.
* * * *
Matt lay on TK's sofa, staring at the ceiling. The apartment was quiet now, everyone in bed, asleep. But Matt couldn't sleep.
What was he going to do? He couldn't stay on TK's sofa forever. But he didn't have anywhere else to go. And even if he did, he'd be all alone. He didn't have anybody now. Only TK. He'd lost Tai and Sora and his kids. He didn't have anything else.
Matt struggled with the tears that were threatening to run down his face. Why had Tai done this to him? He loved Tai, he loved him. Why had Tai hurt him like this?
"Uncle Matt?"
Matt looked over, startled. Mujaki was staring at him quietly.
"Mujaki," Matt said "You should be asleep."
"I was thirsty," Mujaki said "Why aren't you asleep?"
"I can't sleep," Matt said "I find it difficult sometimes."
"Why aren't you still with Auntie Sora?"
Matt paused.
"Auntie Sora and I got angry with each other," he said after a moment "We couldn't stay together anymore."
"Won't you ever go back?"
"No."
"Won't Tanoshii and Shinji miss you?"
"I'll still see them," Matt said "Just....just not living with them is all. Here, I'll get you a drink and you can go back to bed."
Mujaki drank the water his uncle gave him thinking. If his Uncle Matt had left Auntie Sora just because they were angry....hadn't his parents been angry that morning? Did that mean that they were going to move out?
Mujaki went back to bed thinking.
* * * *
Sora sighed and sat down at the kitchen table, running her fingers though her hair.
One month. That's all it had taken. One month for her life to fall apart.
First Matt had left her. Then Tai had left her. And now her children were playing up.
Well, she couldn't blame them. They were only eight and six. Of course they wouldn't really understand what had happened to their father. And of course, Sora couldn't tell them.
But she desperately wanted them to behave. She wasn't sure she could cope.
She'd managed to get them into a reasonable routine. She'd decided that the boys were old enough to walk to school together. After all, Tanoshii was nearly nine. She always made their packed lunches before school and always made sure that they had everything before leaving. Then she tried to sort everything else out before they got back, including looking after Sayo.
But the boys missed their father. He'd phoned once or twice and sent letters. But he'd done nothing more substantial than that. He wouldn't even speak to Sora. TK was always the one who phoned and Matt took over once the boys were on.
If it hadn't been for her friends, Sora would have gone crazy. Although they were all careful not to pick sides, everyone had been trying to help. Yolei offered to do baby-sitting and Mimi said friendly E-mails of encouragement. Joe came over to talk to Sora a lot. Sora appreciated this. Joe was a good listener and he was good at keeping secrets. She could pour everything out to him without fear of him telling everyone. He normally just sat quietly and let her moan, something that most people could never do. But he still couldn't help her with her main problem. Which was that Tanoshii and Shinji were beginning to misbehave in school and at home. Neither of them would help with Sayo anymore, something that Sora had feared would happen. The boys were blaming their sister for separating their parents.
"What the hell am I going to do?" Sora whispered to herself.
But she didn't have an answer.
* * * *
Sento sat down on the wall next to Tanoshii. Tanoshii was frowning and picking at his packed lunch.
"Hello," Sento said.
Tanoshii gave him a small smile, then looked back at his lunch.
"Dad always used to pack my lunch," he said sadly.
"Dad said I had to make my own today," Sento said. He peered in at the chocolate filled lunch box "There wasn't any bread so I can't have sandwiches."
"No bread!" Tanoshii said looking surprised.
"Dad forgot to go shopping," Sento explained.
"Mum always remembers the shopping," Tanoshii said. He scowled moodily "We don't get so many sweets things now because Mum says we're economising."
"What's that?" Sento asked.
"I don't know. Mum says that we'll be economising until she and Dad have settled on payments. I didn't understand it at all. And then the Brat started to cry and Mum had to stop."
"I like Sayo," Sento said mildly.
Tanoshii sniffed.
"She hasn't made your father move out has she?" he said.
Sento thought about it.
"I don't expect it's really her fault," he said "Maybe your Dad just happened to move out at the same time."
"Why else would Dad go?" Tanoshii asked.
Sento thought about it.
"Maybe it's because of your Dad kissing my Dad," he said.
Tanoshii looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"Your Dad used to come over to my house and kiss my Dad," Sento explained "Only when he left your Mum, they stopped. And my Dad's got very upset and misses it."
Tanoshii frowned.
"Kissing?"
"Uh huh. They were doing it all the time," Sento said "And other things."
Tanoshii looked curious. Sento began to explain with his limited knowledge.
"Well, most people only have girlfriends if they're a boy and boyfriends if they are a girl," he began "But some people - like my Dad - are special and like to have both. And when you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you like to kiss them a lot and do other special things with them. They often make you scream a lot and make loud noises. And your Dad used to do those things with my Dad."
"Oh," Tanoshii said, still looking slightly confused. Sento shrugged. He couldn't help it if Tanoshii didn't understand. He was used to his father kissing other lots of different people. He'd always been doing it, right from when he'd left his mother. He knew that his father often got rid of him specially to be with them. Auntie Kari said that it didn't mean that his father didn't love him but Sento wasn't so sure. Now his father had lost Uncle Matt, he seemed miserable. Sento was always with Uncle Davis while Auntie Kari took care of his father. Sento sighed. If he left, his father probably wouldn't even notice.
Tanoshii was frowning to himself. His father used to kiss Mr Yagami? He'd never seen them do that. He'd never seen a man kiss another man. Were men allowed to do that? And he'd never head his father scream. It was strange and Tanoshii didn't like it at all. What did Sento mean? And was that why his father had gone away?
Tanoshii spent the rest of the day deep in his own little world. This wasn't especially different than usual since his parents had split up and the teachers mostly left him be. Tanoshii barely noticed. He was still trying to untie the knots in his head.
* * * *
Kari opened the door to find TK standing there. This wasn't unexpected as she'd invited him over.
"Hey TK," she said, giving him a hug "How're you doing?"
TK sighed. He came in and they sat on the sofa.
"Not so good," TK admitted "Matt's.....Matt's pretty bad. And Shinoko doesn't really appreciated him being at our place. She thinks he's upsetting Mujaki and of course it's not so private with him around. We're not exactly arguing about it but...." his voice trailed off and he shook his head "I can see her point but I can't just turf him out. Matt really needs my support right now."
Kari nodded.
"My main problem is Sento," she admitted "Tai's moping about so much that he's neglecting him. The poor kid's miserable. He's been thinking for a while that his father likes his boyfriends and girlfriends better than him and this really isn't helping."
"Have you talked to Tai about it?"
Kari shook her head.
"I can't," she said "Tai's so unhappy. At least he gets to pour out his problems onto me. He's never been more stricken TK."
"Do you think he loves Matt?" TK asked.
"I don't know," Kari said gloomily "He says he does but I get the strong feeling that the fact that Matt rejected him has a lot to do with it. Tai never seems to have got over that rush of hormones that everyone suffers in their teenage years. And he is upset about having to leave Sora although quite frankly there was nothing else he could do. I've never seen him cry so much as he has for the past month."
TK sighed.
"Matt still loves him," he said "He's beginning to regret leaving him. He wants to see his kids but he can't bring himself to see Sora. But he's definitely regretting leaving Tai."
"And what do you think about that?" Kari asked.
"Well I still think your brother is a rotten git," TK said "So generally I try to put him off. But I don't know what to do Kari."
Kari shook her head. The month had really taken it out of her. She was trying to handle her job, Shinseru and Sento and Tai all at the same time. She was also trying to lend sympathy to an unhappy Sora. It was all pretty tiring. She could see that TK felt the same way as she did. Leaning over, TK gave her a hug. Kari smiled gratefully and hugged him back.
"Hey everybody, we're home!"
Kari pulled back from TK.
"Davis, why do you always have to announce your presence like that?" she asked rolling her eyes "You'll teach Shinseru that it's the right way to behave."
"I like to announce my presence," Davis said "Hello TK."
TK waved at him. Shinseru looked a bit shy and hid behind Davis's legs. TK tried not to laugh. Davis dropped the shopping bags on the table.
"There it is," he said "Do we really need so much food?"
"It's not just ours," Kari said "It's for Tai. He seems to have forgotten how to shop." She stood up "TK, will you come and help me deliver this to Tai?"
TK nodded.
"Sure."
He stood up.
"See you Davis. See you Shinseru."
Shinseru waved. Davis said nothing. He just watched Kari and TK go, frowning slightly as they did.
* * * *
Another week passed, another week of stress and strain for nearly everyone. Matt was growing steadily more depressed. He'd stopped going to work and was leaning on TK more than ever. However, Shinoko was beginning to put her foot down. She felt that Matt was severely upsetting Mujaki and he was definitely upsetting her. She wanted Matt out of there. TK was feeling torn. He didn't want to upset Shinoko but he couldn't just abandon Matt.
Kari meanwhile, was struggling even more with Tai. He seemed to have lost interest almost as much as Matt had although at least he was still working. But his boss was starting to complain, saying that his standard of work was declining. This was upsetting Tai even more and the atmosphere wasn't helping Sento very much. He'd come to the conclusion that his father didn't really love him. It wasn't helped by the fact that he was practically feeding himself and doing the cleaning. Kari had tried to make Tai see sense over this but Tai just didn't seem to be able to summon up the energy.
Kari sighed. If she hadn't had TK to talk to, she'd have gone mad. He was going thought pretty much what she was, meaning that it was pretty useful to discuss with him what was happening.
Then Davis started to get jealous.
Kari had been vaguely noticing since she started spending time with TK that he was being a little strange. But it took her most of the week to realise why.
"I'm going over to see TK tomorrow," she said to Davis as they did the washing up together.
She saw Davis stiffen.
"Do you have to?"
She blinked.
"I don't have to," she said slowly "I want to."
Davis scowled darkly and started banging plates. Kari frowned confused.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing!"
"Liar," Kari said "What's the matter?"
"You're always with TK!" Davis snapped "You're always with either Taichi or Sento or your precious TK! You don't have time for me anymore!"
"Davis!" Kari said "That's not true! Don't be silly!"
"Silly am I?" Davis said angrily "Why are you always with TK then? Answer that!"
"He's my friend!" Kari said "I'm just talking to him about what's happening between Tai and Matt!"
"Well why can't you talk to me?"
"TK understands," Kari said "He's going though the same thing, he knows what I'm on about."
Davis's scowl deepened. He banged the last plate into the drying rack.
"Fine. Go and spend time with TK then!" he snapped before storming out. Kari looked after him in distress.
Great. Wonderful. Thanks to Tai being completely unable to control himself, her marriage was having difficulties. That was just perfect.
* * * *
"Takeru."
TK looked up from his lap-top. Shinoko was looking at him.
"What?" he asked her.
"I want him out."
TK gulped. He really didn't want to have this conversation.
"Shinoko....." he began pacifyingly but she cut him off.
"Don't you 'Shinoko' me Takeru!" she said angrily "I'm sick of it you hear! I'm sick of this house not being my own."
"But...."
"No buts," Shinoko said "He's always here Takeru! And you can't deny that. He doesn't even go to work anymore! I'm sick of him sleeping on our sofa. I'm sick of him sitting around like a black thundercloud. I'm sick of him upsetting Mujaki!"
"Mujaki's not upset...." TK said.
"That's what you know!" Shinoko snapped "I don't know what Yamato told him but he thinks that we might leave each other! I'm fed up of this Takeru! I want your brother to leave here and find himself a home!"
"Look Shinoko," TK said "I know it's annoying okay? Matt gets on my nerves sometimes too. But I can't just turf him out! He's my brother and he needs me right now! Don't you understand? He's miserable!"
"And how I feel doesn't matter?"
"That's not what I said."
As TK and Shinoko argued, they didn't notice Matt moving away from the door where he'd heard everything that had been said.
* * * *
Sora looked at Tanoshii. He was picking at the food on his plate, not really eating.
"Come on Tanoshii, eat up," she said "You need your strength."
"Yeah," Tanoshii said. He poked a bit of broccoli round his plate.
"Mum?" he said suddenly "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Sora said instantly.
"What does it mean if a man's kissing another man?"
Sora stiffened slightly. This wasn't a question that she'd been expecting.
"Why do you ask?" she asking, keeping her voice neutral.
"It's something Sen....one of my friends said," Tanoshii mumbled, keeping his eyes on his plate.
Sora frowned.
"Well if a man kisses another man it means he's gay," she said "It's unusual to be gay but it's something that happens every now and then."
"Oh," Tanoshii said.
Sora sensed that there was something else that he wanted to ask. She waited patiently.
"If a man's gay, does that mean that he doesn't kiss girls?"
"No," Sora said slowly "They sometimes kiss girls as well. Why do you ask about this?"
Tanoshii paused.
"Sento said that Mr Yagami sometimes kisses men," he said at last.
Sora managed to stifle a startled gasp. Tai? Kissing men? There had to be some mistake there.
"He said that sometimes he used to kiss Dad," Tanoshii said.
Sora froze. She actually felt the blood freeze in her veins.
"What?" she said.
"Sento said that Mr Yagami used to kiss Dad," Tanoshii repeated "He says that they've stopped now and maybe that's why Dad left. Is that true?"
Sora said nothing. Tai used to kiss.....Matt? No. No, this was all a mistake, a horrible, horrible mistake....
"Mum? Mum!"
She blinked. Tanoshii was staring at her, his eyes wide.
"Yes?" Sora said, her voice sounding distant.
"Are you all right?" Tanoshii asked.
"I'm fine," Sora said "I'm fine. You run along and play with Shinji now, there's a good boy."
Tanoshii left, feeling worried. He'd obviously upset his mother badly but he wasn't sure how.
Sora sat at the table. She sat quite still, staring at the wall. This had to be some horrible, horrible dream. It couldn't possibly be true, it just couldn't be. There was absolutely no way....
Was there?
* * * *
Tai sat quietly in his normal place, staring at the wall.
"Dad? Daaaaad? DAD!"
He blinked. Sento was yelling at him.
"Yes Sento?"
Sento scowled.
"You haven't eaten anything," he said.
Tai looked at the table, as though expecting to see and plate of uneaten food there. Sento scowled crossly.
"You need to go and make some," he said patiently.
"Oh....I don't want anything," Tai said.
Sento stamped his foot.
"What if I did?" he yelled "You're supposed to make me dinner remember? I'm only eight-nearly-nine! You're supposed to be my Dad!"
Tai blinked. Before he could say anything, Sento carried on, his voice tearful and accusing.
"You don't love me!" he wailed "You don't love me anymore! You never did! You just love everyone else!"
Tai reached out but Sento ducked away. Turning, he ran into his room, slamming the door behind him. Tai groaned. That was just wonderful. He'd lost Matt and Sora and managed to alienate his own son. Just fabulous.
The phone rang. He picked it up.
"Hello, Yagami residence."
"Well thanks a bunch Taichi. Thanks a whole damn bunch!"
It was Kari. She sounded like she'd been crying. Or drinking. Or both.
"Kari?" Tai said, a wave of apprehension washing over him "Kari, what's wrong?"
"Thanks to you," Kari said, her voice bitter "I'm having trouble with my marriage. Thank you so much Tai, thank you so very, very much."
"Kari," Tai said "Kari, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to but I don't really understand..."
"No," Kari said "Why would you? Well thanks Tai. You never think of anyone but yourself do you? It's always 'me, me, me'. And now you've split Matt and Sora up and your idiocy is upsetting things with me and Davis. And if you believe TK, he's having troubles with Shinoko because of you making Matt unhappy. So nice one 'oh fearless leader'. Way to go."
She hung up. Tai sat there, staring at the phone in his hand.
She was right. He couldn't deny it. Thanks to him, everything was going wrong. Everything was just falling apart for everyone and it was all his fault.
Tai rested his head despairingly on the table top. He might as well just go and end it all now. Buy a gun and shoot himself. Hang himself from the ceiling rafters. Take an overdose of tablets. Everyone would be glad he'd gone. He was just spoiling everything for everyone.
Someone knocked at the door. Tai ignored it, barely even hearing it in his misery. The knocking grew more forceful.
"I'll get that shall I?" Sento called sarcastically "Thank you Sento," he added, mimicking his father's voice "That's most helpful. Oh not at all Dad," he said, switching back to his own voice "I love to help, you know that."
He opened the door.
Mr Ishida was standing on the doorstep. He looked cold and almost scared.
"Dad's being stupid," Sento said "Feel free to come in and invite everyone over for a party 'cause I doubt he'd notice."
Matt walked in and went into the kitchen. Sento stomped back into his bedroom. Tai didn't even look up. Matt stared down at his best friend and once-lover. Then he gently placed his hand on Tai's shoulder. Tai jumped and looked up.
"Matt?" he said, his eyes growing wide in his head with shock "What're you doing here? I thought..."
Matt put a finger on Tai's lips. Then he bent down and kissed him very gently. Tai instantly kissed back but then drew away.
"Matt?" he muttered "I though you said..."
"Maybe I've changed my mind," Matt said softly.
Tai stood up so Matt could stop bending so much. They looked at each other.
"This doesn't really change anything..." Tai said uncertainly "Maybe we should talk....discuss what happened."
Matt leaned forward and kissed him again, pulling Tai nearer to him.
"Screw talking," he whispered.
"Yeah," Tai agreed and kissed Matt hungrily, remembering all the good times they'd had together, enjoying Matt's warm body against his....
Neither of them heard the knock at the door, or Sento irritably going to answer it again. In fact, they only realised someone else had come in when there was a horrified gasp.
"Tai? Matt?"
The two leapt apart, whirling round in horror.
Sora was standing in the doorway, her face white with horror.
"Oh God Sora," Tai said, feeling like he was going to be sick. Oh no......
"You two were...." Sora's voice broke off "You....you were....."
"Sora," Tai said "I am so, so sorry. This is...I know that you must be...."
"You BASTARDS!" Sora screamed. She grabbed the nearest thing which came to hand (which happened to be a large plate) and threw it at them. Matt jumped to one side, Tai (wisely) leapt under the table as Sora continued to throw things at them. Sento peered out of his room, his face pale with fright as Sora shouted insults and threw everything which came to hand at them. Eventually, she ran out of things to reach. Sento was crying and both of the men were staring at her, wide-eyed.
"This is not over!" Sora shouted "I'll get you for this! Both of you!"
Turning, she stormed out of the house, leaving a very frightened group behind her.
The End of part 3.
Review me, review me, review me! Comments, suggestions, ideas and even flames are all welcome, just review okay!?
Don't forget to vote!!!! I can still salvage a Taiora but I think Sorato is a bit bollocksed. But I can still try!
Family Troubles
By Empress of the Eclipse
Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon or anybody in it.
This is TAITO, TAIORA and SORATO which you should already know. There's also sort of some DAIKEN but not much and not exactly.
Well, Taito seems to be the majority vote! In fact it was all Taito apart from one Taiora and one (you strange person!) Yamashiro! However, you can still vote if you want! I'm good at turning things that look like certainties round and making them different! Although Sorato is pretty much down the plug-hole. Thanks to Libek for her lovely review which I had a great time reading!
TK blinked awake confused. Someone was knocking on his door. Crawling out of bed, not wanting to disturb his wife and son, he opened it.
Matt was standing on the doorstep. His face was streaked with tears and he was clutching some bags.
"Matt!" TK said "Matt, whatever's wrong?"
"Oh TK," Matt said, his voice shaking "It's just awful."
Then he started to cry again. TK quickly pulled his brother inside, wondering what could have happened to put his brother in such a state.
* * * *
Davis sat sprawled on the couch with Ken. It was the ritual boys night in they had every week. Yolei went over to Kari's and they had a girls night in. The children were on alternate nights. That week it was the girls turn. Which meant that Davis and Ken got to play their favourite game.
Davis couldn't help wondering about their favourite game. It seemed a little unusual to him when he thought about it. But he enjoyed it. It involved describing different sexual fantasies to each other in as much detail as possible. For some reason, the more erotic ones seemed to involve other men. The even more erotic ones seemed to involve men they knew.
Davis took another gulp of beer. Ken had just finished one which involved Matt and liberal doses of whipped cream.
"S'just a shame he's married," he remarked.
"Don't see why that should stop you," Davis said with a slight snicker, thinking about what Tai had told Kari.
"'Cause he's married to Sora you dope," Ken said "Hey! That'd be even better. Matt and Sora at the same time! With the whipped cream...."
Davis thought about it.
"Yeah," he said "God, I wish I was Tai."
Ken blinked.
"Huh?"
Davis's brain caught up with his mouth at that point. He gulped.
"Oops."
* * * *
Yolei looked at Ken. He was lying on the bed looking a bit worried.
"Ken?" she said "What's wrong?"
Ken looked at her.
"Something Davis said," he said "I'm not sure if I should tell you actually."
"If it's bothering you, you should get it off your chest," Yolei said, sitting down next to him.
Ken looked at her.
"Well," he said slowly "Davis said Matt and Sora have been cheating on each other."
Yolei gasped.
"No!"
"Both of them," Ken said "With Tai."
Yolei frowned.
"You mean they've both been sleeping with Tai!" she said.
Ken nodded.
"Not at the same time," he said hastily "At different times."
"That's even worse!" Yolei said "They don't know about it?"
"Well as far as I know, no," Ken said "That's why I'm worried. Tai told Kari who told Davis."
Yolei bit her lip. It was only fair for her to tell Sora about it. But still...
She lay awake for most of the night worrying about it.
* * * *
Sora was sitting beside Sayo's cot, wide awake and mulling things over.
Matt had gone. She was now a single mother with three children under ten, two of whom were very upset and confused. Sora ran her hands though her hair, trying to decide what to do. She wasn't alone. She knew that Tai would help her, as would Kari and the other Digidestined when they found out what had happened. And Matt would almost certainly want to see Tanoshii and Shinji...
Sora sighed. The one thing she didn't want was a rift between her children. If Matt would only see Tanoshii and Shinji, then Sayo would grow up feeling left out. If he saw all three of them but didn't treat Sayo right then Sayo would be unhappy. That was going to be difficult.
Sora picked up the phone and dialled Tai's number. Tai never minded being woken up in the night and this was an emergency. She needed to discuss this with him.
* * * *
Tai, like Sora, was sitting awake and mulling things over.
He'd split up with Matt. He'd ripped Matt's marriage apart. Okay, so it hadn't exactly been a happy marriage. But it had been stable until he'd come along. Now there were three children who would be confused and miserable. One of whom was his baby.
Tai groaned and ran his hands though his hair. What was he going to do? He still wanted Sora but he didn't love Sora. Not like he loved Matt.
Why? Why did he have to suddenly realise that he was in love with Matt when it was too late? Why?
The phone rang, ear-splittingly loud in the silence. Tai picked it up quickly.
"Hello?"
"Tai. It's me, Sora."
Tai swallowed.
"Hey," he said softly "How're you?"
"I guess you've talked to Matt," Sora said, her voice shaky "He's....he's left us Tai. Me and the kids..."
"I know," Tai said "He told me."
Sora sighed. She sounded miserable.
"What am I going to do Tai?" she asked "Tanoshii and Shinji are so upset. They don't really understand. And what's going to happen with Sayo? This isn't her fault."
"No," Tai said quietly "It's not her fault."
Sora sighed again and Tai flinched. He knew what he had to do but even now it was so hard...
"Tai can you come over tomorrow? I need to talk to somebody."
"I don't think that's a good idea," Tai said softly.
"What?"
Tai swallowed.
"I'm sorry Sora," he said "I can't do this anymore."
"What do you mean?" Sora said, her voice trembling.
"It's got out of hand," Tai said helplessly "I'm really sorry Sora. But I just can't do this. I need....I have to stop."
"Tai..." Sora said faintly. She sounded like she was going to cry "Tai, please don't do this. Not now. I need you Tai!"
"I'm sorry," Tai said again "I want to still be friends and I'll help you all I can. But I don't think we should....should do anything anymore."
He heard Sora give another sob and then the phone went dead. Tai put the phone down too and curled up on his bed. His pillows, already damp from earlier tears, were soon soaked again as he cried.
* * * *
Izzy was surprised the next day when Yolei phoned him. She sounded a little disturbed about something.
"What's wrong Yolei?" Izzy asked her.
"It's something Ken told me," Yolei explained "He was talking with Davis who told him this."
"Well what? Spit it out," Izzy said.
"Apparently, Sora and Matt have been cheating on each other," Yolei explained "On separate occasions, they've both been sleeping with Tai."
"With Tai!" Izzy said "No!"
"Yes," Yolei said "Tai told Kari and Davis who told Ken who's told me. The problem is, what should I do? Should I tell Sora? She's a very close friend of mine."
"I don't see how she can complain if she's been cheating on Matt," Izzy said uncertainly.
"Yes, but Tai's been cheating on her too, hasn't he?" Yolei pointed out "It's the fact that they're cheating on each other with the same person that really bothers me. I just don't know what to do."
Izzy frowned gloomily. He still wasn't all that good with people and he didn't really know what to tell Yolei.
"I'm not really sure," he said at last "I've never really been very good with people Yolei. I don't think I can help you."
"That's okay," Yolei said "Thanks anyway. If you think of anything, you can let me know."
Izzy agreed and they rang off. Izzy sat thoughtfully, trying to work out what to do. Yolei was right he supposed. But how did you tell somebody about this strange love triangle?
* * * *
Mujaki Takaishi sat eating his breakfast, watching his parents. Everything had been normal last night but he'd woken up in the morning to find his Uncle Matt asleep on the sofa and his mother looking slightly annoyed. At that moment she and his father were whispering together in a hissy way which meant that they were annoyed with each other but they didn't want Mujaki to hear any of it.
Mujaki pricked up his ears to listen.
"Takeru," Shinoko Takaishi was saying "I know that something very bad must have happened but does he have to show up on our doorstep?"
"Well where else was he supposed to go?" TK asked.
"I suppose so," Shinoko said with a sigh "But still....it might upset Mujaki."
"Mujaki's a good kid. He can take it."
"Not if his Uncle Matt's crying buckets all over the place, he can't."
"Matt's not going to cry in front of Mujaki. I think he'd die of shame if he did for a start."
Shinoko sighed.
"Well....I suppose it's okay," she said "Do you know what's wrong anyway?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Matt wasn't exactly coherent last night. Something about Sora and Tai and Sayo but I couldn't quite untangle it into anything that made sense."
Shinoko nodded. She then glanced at her watch.
"Oh crap!" she hissed "I'll be late. Mujaki, are you ready for school?"
"Yes!" Mujaki called back instantly. He scrambled to his feet and smiled proudly "I'm ready!"
Shinoko nodded. She glanced at Matt who was looking pale and restless.
"Takeru," she said "Have a good day and look after Uncle Matt."
She and Mujaki left. TK turned and looked at Matt. He'd known that Shinoko would understand. She was an understanding person but she worried about Mujaki. He was only five but he was already showing signs of being an extremely clever child. Shinoko's twin brother had been a genius and he'd never really been able to relate to people. He'd killed himself shortly after TK and Shinoko's wedding. TK could see why Shinoko worried and was trying to help alleviate her worries. It wasn't easy.
With a sigh he settled down at his lap-top. Keeping one eye on Matt's sleeping form, he continued writing his latest novel.
Somehow he felt that no novel could be quite as interesting as his life was shaping up to be at that moment.
* * * *
Joe was having his lunch break when his phone rang. He was slightly surprised to find Izzy on the line.
"Hey Izzy, what's up?" he asked.
"A lot," Izzy said without any preamble "I need some advice."
"What about?" Joe asked.
"Yolei called me earlier," Izzy explained "She's found out that Matt and Sora are cheating on each other."
"No!" Joe said.
"Yes," Izzy said "It gets worse too. They are both sleeping with Tai."
"Both of them?" Joe said slowly.
"Uh huh."
"Matt and Tai are bi?" Joe said slowly "I never knew that."
"Yeah. But that's not the point. The point is, what should we do?" Izzy asked "I mean, Yolei's not sure whether to tell Sora or not. She has a right to know I suppose but what do you say?"
Joe paused. This was a pretty difficult question.
"How long has this been going on for?" he asked after a moment.
"I don't know. Quite a while?"
"Sora's just had a baby," Joe said thoughtfully "Maybe that will help her marriage stay together."
"Maybe," Izzy said "I guess."
"Unless the baby isn't Matt's," Joe continued, still trying to think "If Sayo isn't Matt's then it might encourage them to split up."
"Isn't Matt's?" Izzy repeated "That's a good point. Sayo does look like Sento did at that age..."
There was a pause.
"Izzy," Joe said at last "I think we don't say anything. If we say anything about this then we open a very big can of worms. I think we leave them to handle their own affairs. If Yolei wants to talk to anyone, she should talk to Tai. He's the one who's causing all the problems here."
"Okay," Izzy agreed "Thanks Joe."
"That's okay," Joe said.
After ringing off he sat, still thinking for a quite a long time. He hoped he'd made the right decision. But it wasn't really his business after all. If Sora, Matt and Tai wanted to get themselves involved in complicated love triangles, that was their business, not his. He just hoped that nobody had any STD's or real problems could emerge.
Unless of course, Sayo was Tai's baby in which case real problems had already emerged.
Joe groaned. Why was it that the Digidestined always seemed to cause more troubles in his life than his work or his home?
* * * *
Sento looked at his father. His father had picked him up from school like normal but now he was just sitting at the table. He looked really strange.
"Daddy?" Sento asked "Daddy?"
"Huh? What?"
His father looked vaguely at him, like he was only just noticing Sento's presence.
"Are you sick?" Sento asked uncertainly. He'd never seen his father act this way before.
"Sick? Me? No," Tai said "I'm fine Sento. Really."
Sento didn't believe him. He knew that something was up. He just wasn't sure what.
"Is it because Uncle Matt's left home?" he asked, remembering what Tanoshii had told him that day.
His father jumped violently.
"What? Who told you that?" he demanded.
"Tanoshii," Sento said "He said that Uncle Matt's gone away somewhere and Auntie Sora's very upset."
"Oh."
His father sat down again. His eyes glazed over and he continued to stare into the distance. Irritated, Sento gave up and went to watch the TV. If his father wouldn't talk to him then he wouldn't talk to his father.
Tai continued to stare at the wall, not really seeing it. He wanted to phone all the Digidestined and find out where Matt was but he didn't dare. It would look strange, him desperately trying to trace Matt when even Sora wasn't. Besides, the other Digidestined probably didn't even know that Matt and Sora had split up yet and Tai didn't want to upset Sora any more by telling them.
He groaned softly and put his head on the table. How the hell had he got himself into this? What was he supposed to do now?
Sento looked anxiously at his father then went over to the phone. He carefully flicked thought the phone book until he found Kari's number, then dialled it.
"Hello, Motomiya residence."
"Auntie Kari?" Sento said.
"Sento?" Kari said "Hello."
"I think Daddy's sick," Sento said "He won't talk to me properly and he's all upset and just staring at the wall."
He was slightly surprised when Auntie Kari used a word that he'd always been told was very bad indeed.
"Okay, I'll come over," she said "If I come, can you take care of Shinseru while I look after your father?"
"Sure," Sento said, feeling slightly honoured at the prospect of taking care of Shinseru. Normally he wasn't considered old enough for that.
"I'll see you soon," Auntie Kari said and rang off. Sento went to wait by the door, hoping she'd come soon. He didn't like to see his father like this.
* * * *
Tai unburied his head when someone gave him a sharp poke in the back of it.
"OW! What....?"
"Hello Taichi."
He winced.
"Oh. Um, hi Kari," he offered "Where'd you come from?"
"Sento opened the door," Kari said "After he phoned and asked me to come over. He is now in his bedroom baby-sitting Shinseru as Davis is out with Ken again. Now. What's going on?"
Tai sighed. He gloomily told Kari everything that had happened. Kari listened silently.
"I did warn you," she said quietly when he'd finished.
"I know!" Tai wailed "I know you did! But what do I do now? I want him back Kari."
Kari sighed. She personally felt that the only reason Tai wanted Matt was because Matt was now unavailable. But she wasn't going to say that. She felt very sorry for Tai. He was beginning to cry again. Kari wrapped her arms round him and tried to soothe him, hoping that the kids couldn't hear in the next room.
* * * *
"Tanoshii," Shinji said "Why has Daddy gone away?"
Tanoshii looked at his little brother. Shinji stared back with his big cinnamon coloured eyes.
"I don't know," Tanoshii said eventually "Sometimes Daddy's leave."
"But that's normally after fights," Shinji said "Our Mummy and Daddy never fight."
Tanoshii shrugged.
"Is it 'cause of Sayo?" Shinji asked.
Tanoshii paused. He'd noticed ever since his mother had said that they were going to have a little brother or sister she'd been sad. Or something. There'd been a bad feeling around. Then after Sayo was born, it hadn't gone away. And then his father had left.
"I don't know. Maybe," Tanoshii said at last.
Shinji sniffed.
"Can't we get rid of Sayo and have Daddy back?" he suggested "I want Daddy."
Tanoshii nodded his agreement. The two boys both sat quietly, thinking.
* * * *
"Takeru?"
TK blinked and looked up from his lap-top. Shinoko was holding the phone out to him.
"It's Motomiya Kari," she said.
"Thanks," TK said, taking the phone "Kari?"
"Hey TK," Kari said. She sounded tired "Is Matt at your place?"
TK considered. Matt hadn't said to keep his presence a secret but Kari....
"I won't tell Tai," Kari said.
"Yes," TK said.
"Good," Kari said "So I'm assuming that he's told you the whole sorry story?"
"Yes," TK said "Sorry about this Kari but your brother's a major jerk."
"Can't really argue but on behalf of the family 'Hey!'" Kari said "So how is Matt?"
"He arrived last night in tears, slept most of the day and woke up before Mujaki got back from school to tell me what happened," TK said.
"I guess he's taken it really badly?"
"I've never seen him this bad," TK said "Never in my life. Not even when Mum and Dad split up."
Kari sighed.
"I've just got back from Tai's," she said "He's in an awful state as well. I don't know about Sora."
"Does anyone else know about this?" TK asked.
"Davis," Kari said "I don't think anybody else even knows that they've split yet."
"Well Matt hasn't told anybody except me anything," TK said.
"Right," Kari said "We'd better wait and see what happens."
"Uh huh," TK agreed.
* * * *
Matt lay on TK's sofa, staring at the ceiling. The apartment was quiet now, everyone in bed, asleep. But Matt couldn't sleep.
What was he going to do? He couldn't stay on TK's sofa forever. But he didn't have anywhere else to go. And even if he did, he'd be all alone. He didn't have anybody now. Only TK. He'd lost Tai and Sora and his kids. He didn't have anything else.
Matt struggled with the tears that were threatening to run down his face. Why had Tai done this to him? He loved Tai, he loved him. Why had Tai hurt him like this?
"Uncle Matt?"
Matt looked over, startled. Mujaki was staring at him quietly.
"Mujaki," Matt said "You should be asleep."
"I was thirsty," Mujaki said "Why aren't you asleep?"
"I can't sleep," Matt said "I find it difficult sometimes."
"Why aren't you still with Auntie Sora?"
Matt paused.
"Auntie Sora and I got angry with each other," he said after a moment "We couldn't stay together anymore."
"Won't you ever go back?"
"No."
"Won't Tanoshii and Shinji miss you?"
"I'll still see them," Matt said "Just....just not living with them is all. Here, I'll get you a drink and you can go back to bed."
Mujaki drank the water his uncle gave him thinking. If his Uncle Matt had left Auntie Sora just because they were angry....hadn't his parents been angry that morning? Did that mean that they were going to move out?
Mujaki went back to bed thinking.
* * * *
Sora sighed and sat down at the kitchen table, running her fingers though her hair.
One month. That's all it had taken. One month for her life to fall apart.
First Matt had left her. Then Tai had left her. And now her children were playing up.
Well, she couldn't blame them. They were only eight and six. Of course they wouldn't really understand what had happened to their father. And of course, Sora couldn't tell them.
But she desperately wanted them to behave. She wasn't sure she could cope.
She'd managed to get them into a reasonable routine. She'd decided that the boys were old enough to walk to school together. After all, Tanoshii was nearly nine. She always made their packed lunches before school and always made sure that they had everything before leaving. Then she tried to sort everything else out before they got back, including looking after Sayo.
But the boys missed their father. He'd phoned once or twice and sent letters. But he'd done nothing more substantial than that. He wouldn't even speak to Sora. TK was always the one who phoned and Matt took over once the boys were on.
If it hadn't been for her friends, Sora would have gone crazy. Although they were all careful not to pick sides, everyone had been trying to help. Yolei offered to do baby-sitting and Mimi said friendly E-mails of encouragement. Joe came over to talk to Sora a lot. Sora appreciated this. Joe was a good listener and he was good at keeping secrets. She could pour everything out to him without fear of him telling everyone. He normally just sat quietly and let her moan, something that most people could never do. But he still couldn't help her with her main problem. Which was that Tanoshii and Shinji were beginning to misbehave in school and at home. Neither of them would help with Sayo anymore, something that Sora had feared would happen. The boys were blaming their sister for separating their parents.
"What the hell am I going to do?" Sora whispered to herself.
But she didn't have an answer.
* * * *
Sento sat down on the wall next to Tanoshii. Tanoshii was frowning and picking at his packed lunch.
"Hello," Sento said.
Tanoshii gave him a small smile, then looked back at his lunch.
"Dad always used to pack my lunch," he said sadly.
"Dad said I had to make my own today," Sento said. He peered in at the chocolate filled lunch box "There wasn't any bread so I can't have sandwiches."
"No bread!" Tanoshii said looking surprised.
"Dad forgot to go shopping," Sento explained.
"Mum always remembers the shopping," Tanoshii said. He scowled moodily "We don't get so many sweets things now because Mum says we're economising."
"What's that?" Sento asked.
"I don't know. Mum says that we'll be economising until she and Dad have settled on payments. I didn't understand it at all. And then the Brat started to cry and Mum had to stop."
"I like Sayo," Sento said mildly.
Tanoshii sniffed.
"She hasn't made your father move out has she?" he said.
Sento thought about it.
"I don't expect it's really her fault," he said "Maybe your Dad just happened to move out at the same time."
"Why else would Dad go?" Tanoshii asked.
Sento thought about it.
"Maybe it's because of your Dad kissing my Dad," he said.
Tanoshii looked puzzled.
"What do you mean?"
"Your Dad used to come over to my house and kiss my Dad," Sento explained "Only when he left your Mum, they stopped. And my Dad's got very upset and misses it."
Tanoshii frowned.
"Kissing?"
"Uh huh. They were doing it all the time," Sento said "And other things."
Tanoshii looked curious. Sento began to explain with his limited knowledge.
"Well, most people only have girlfriends if they're a boy and boyfriends if they are a girl," he began "But some people - like my Dad - are special and like to have both. And when you have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you like to kiss them a lot and do other special things with them. They often make you scream a lot and make loud noises. And your Dad used to do those things with my Dad."
"Oh," Tanoshii said, still looking slightly confused. Sento shrugged. He couldn't help it if Tanoshii didn't understand. He was used to his father kissing other lots of different people. He'd always been doing it, right from when he'd left his mother. He knew that his father often got rid of him specially to be with them. Auntie Kari said that it didn't mean that his father didn't love him but Sento wasn't so sure. Now his father had lost Uncle Matt, he seemed miserable. Sento was always with Uncle Davis while Auntie Kari took care of his father. Sento sighed. If he left, his father probably wouldn't even notice.
Tanoshii was frowning to himself. His father used to kiss Mr Yagami? He'd never seen them do that. He'd never seen a man kiss another man. Were men allowed to do that? And he'd never head his father scream. It was strange and Tanoshii didn't like it at all. What did Sento mean? And was that why his father had gone away?
Tanoshii spent the rest of the day deep in his own little world. This wasn't especially different than usual since his parents had split up and the teachers mostly left him be. Tanoshii barely noticed. He was still trying to untie the knots in his head.
* * * *
Kari opened the door to find TK standing there. This wasn't unexpected as she'd invited him over.
"Hey TK," she said, giving him a hug "How're you doing?"
TK sighed. He came in and they sat on the sofa.
"Not so good," TK admitted "Matt's.....Matt's pretty bad. And Shinoko doesn't really appreciated him being at our place. She thinks he's upsetting Mujaki and of course it's not so private with him around. We're not exactly arguing about it but...." his voice trailed off and he shook his head "I can see her point but I can't just turf him out. Matt really needs my support right now."
Kari nodded.
"My main problem is Sento," she admitted "Tai's moping about so much that he's neglecting him. The poor kid's miserable. He's been thinking for a while that his father likes his boyfriends and girlfriends better than him and this really isn't helping."
"Have you talked to Tai about it?"
Kari shook her head.
"I can't," she said "Tai's so unhappy. At least he gets to pour out his problems onto me. He's never been more stricken TK."
"Do you think he loves Matt?" TK asked.
"I don't know," Kari said gloomily "He says he does but I get the strong feeling that the fact that Matt rejected him has a lot to do with it. Tai never seems to have got over that rush of hormones that everyone suffers in their teenage years. And he is upset about having to leave Sora although quite frankly there was nothing else he could do. I've never seen him cry so much as he has for the past month."
TK sighed.
"Matt still loves him," he said "He's beginning to regret leaving him. He wants to see his kids but he can't bring himself to see Sora. But he's definitely regretting leaving Tai."
"And what do you think about that?" Kari asked.
"Well I still think your brother is a rotten git," TK said "So generally I try to put him off. But I don't know what to do Kari."
Kari shook her head. The month had really taken it out of her. She was trying to handle her job, Shinseru and Sento and Tai all at the same time. She was also trying to lend sympathy to an unhappy Sora. It was all pretty tiring. She could see that TK felt the same way as she did. Leaning over, TK gave her a hug. Kari smiled gratefully and hugged him back.
"Hey everybody, we're home!"
Kari pulled back from TK.
"Davis, why do you always have to announce your presence like that?" she asked rolling her eyes "You'll teach Shinseru that it's the right way to behave."
"I like to announce my presence," Davis said "Hello TK."
TK waved at him. Shinseru looked a bit shy and hid behind Davis's legs. TK tried not to laugh. Davis dropped the shopping bags on the table.
"There it is," he said "Do we really need so much food?"
"It's not just ours," Kari said "It's for Tai. He seems to have forgotten how to shop." She stood up "TK, will you come and help me deliver this to Tai?"
TK nodded.
"Sure."
He stood up.
"See you Davis. See you Shinseru."
Shinseru waved. Davis said nothing. He just watched Kari and TK go, frowning slightly as they did.
* * * *
Another week passed, another week of stress and strain for nearly everyone. Matt was growing steadily more depressed. He'd stopped going to work and was leaning on TK more than ever. However, Shinoko was beginning to put her foot down. She felt that Matt was severely upsetting Mujaki and he was definitely upsetting her. She wanted Matt out of there. TK was feeling torn. He didn't want to upset Shinoko but he couldn't just abandon Matt.
Kari meanwhile, was struggling even more with Tai. He seemed to have lost interest almost as much as Matt had although at least he was still working. But his boss was starting to complain, saying that his standard of work was declining. This was upsetting Tai even more and the atmosphere wasn't helping Sento very much. He'd come to the conclusion that his father didn't really love him. It wasn't helped by the fact that he was practically feeding himself and doing the cleaning. Kari had tried to make Tai see sense over this but Tai just didn't seem to be able to summon up the energy.
Kari sighed. If she hadn't had TK to talk to, she'd have gone mad. He was going thought pretty much what she was, meaning that it was pretty useful to discuss with him what was happening.
Then Davis started to get jealous.
Kari had been vaguely noticing since she started spending time with TK that he was being a little strange. But it took her most of the week to realise why.
"I'm going over to see TK tomorrow," she said to Davis as they did the washing up together.
She saw Davis stiffen.
"Do you have to?"
She blinked.
"I don't have to," she said slowly "I want to."
Davis scowled darkly and started banging plates. Kari frowned confused.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing!"
"Liar," Kari said "What's the matter?"
"You're always with TK!" Davis snapped "You're always with either Taichi or Sento or your precious TK! You don't have time for me anymore!"
"Davis!" Kari said "That's not true! Don't be silly!"
"Silly am I?" Davis said angrily "Why are you always with TK then? Answer that!"
"He's my friend!" Kari said "I'm just talking to him about what's happening between Tai and Matt!"
"Well why can't you talk to me?"
"TK understands," Kari said "He's going though the same thing, he knows what I'm on about."
Davis's scowl deepened. He banged the last plate into the drying rack.
"Fine. Go and spend time with TK then!" he snapped before storming out. Kari looked after him in distress.
Great. Wonderful. Thanks to Tai being completely unable to control himself, her marriage was having difficulties. That was just perfect.
* * * *
"Takeru."
TK looked up from his lap-top. Shinoko was looking at him.
"What?" he asked her.
"I want him out."
TK gulped. He really didn't want to have this conversation.
"Shinoko....." he began pacifyingly but she cut him off.
"Don't you 'Shinoko' me Takeru!" she said angrily "I'm sick of it you hear! I'm sick of this house not being my own."
"But...."
"No buts," Shinoko said "He's always here Takeru! And you can't deny that. He doesn't even go to work anymore! I'm sick of him sleeping on our sofa. I'm sick of him sitting around like a black thundercloud. I'm sick of him upsetting Mujaki!"
"Mujaki's not upset...." TK said.
"That's what you know!" Shinoko snapped "I don't know what Yamato told him but he thinks that we might leave each other! I'm fed up of this Takeru! I want your brother to leave here and find himself a home!"
"Look Shinoko," TK said "I know it's annoying okay? Matt gets on my nerves sometimes too. But I can't just turf him out! He's my brother and he needs me right now! Don't you understand? He's miserable!"
"And how I feel doesn't matter?"
"That's not what I said."
As TK and Shinoko argued, they didn't notice Matt moving away from the door where he'd heard everything that had been said.
* * * *
Sora looked at Tanoshii. He was picking at the food on his plate, not really eating.
"Come on Tanoshii, eat up," she said "You need your strength."
"Yeah," Tanoshii said. He poked a bit of broccoli round his plate.
"Mum?" he said suddenly "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Sora said instantly.
"What does it mean if a man's kissing another man?"
Sora stiffened slightly. This wasn't a question that she'd been expecting.
"Why do you ask?" she asking, keeping her voice neutral.
"It's something Sen....one of my friends said," Tanoshii mumbled, keeping his eyes on his plate.
Sora frowned.
"Well if a man kisses another man it means he's gay," she said "It's unusual to be gay but it's something that happens every now and then."
"Oh," Tanoshii said.
Sora sensed that there was something else that he wanted to ask. She waited patiently.
"If a man's gay, does that mean that he doesn't kiss girls?"
"No," Sora said slowly "They sometimes kiss girls as well. Why do you ask about this?"
Tanoshii paused.
"Sento said that Mr Yagami sometimes kisses men," he said at last.
Sora managed to stifle a startled gasp. Tai? Kissing men? There had to be some mistake there.
"He said that sometimes he used to kiss Dad," Tanoshii said.
Sora froze. She actually felt the blood freeze in her veins.
"What?" she said.
"Sento said that Mr Yagami used to kiss Dad," Tanoshii repeated "He says that they've stopped now and maybe that's why Dad left. Is that true?"
Sora said nothing. Tai used to kiss.....Matt? No. No, this was all a mistake, a horrible, horrible mistake....
"Mum? Mum!"
She blinked. Tanoshii was staring at her, his eyes wide.
"Yes?" Sora said, her voice sounding distant.
"Are you all right?" Tanoshii asked.
"I'm fine," Sora said "I'm fine. You run along and play with Shinji now, there's a good boy."
Tanoshii left, feeling worried. He'd obviously upset his mother badly but he wasn't sure how.
Sora sat at the table. She sat quite still, staring at the wall. This had to be some horrible, horrible dream. It couldn't possibly be true, it just couldn't be. There was absolutely no way....
Was there?
* * * *
Tai sat quietly in his normal place, staring at the wall.
"Dad? Daaaaad? DAD!"
He blinked. Sento was yelling at him.
"Yes Sento?"
Sento scowled.
"You haven't eaten anything," he said.
Tai looked at the table, as though expecting to see and plate of uneaten food there. Sento scowled crossly.
"You need to go and make some," he said patiently.
"Oh....I don't want anything," Tai said.
Sento stamped his foot.
"What if I did?" he yelled "You're supposed to make me dinner remember? I'm only eight-nearly-nine! You're supposed to be my Dad!"
Tai blinked. Before he could say anything, Sento carried on, his voice tearful and accusing.
"You don't love me!" he wailed "You don't love me anymore! You never did! You just love everyone else!"
Tai reached out but Sento ducked away. Turning, he ran into his room, slamming the door behind him. Tai groaned. That was just wonderful. He'd lost Matt and Sora and managed to alienate his own son. Just fabulous.
The phone rang. He picked it up.
"Hello, Yagami residence."
"Well thanks a bunch Taichi. Thanks a whole damn bunch!"
It was Kari. She sounded like she'd been crying. Or drinking. Or both.
"Kari?" Tai said, a wave of apprehension washing over him "Kari, what's wrong?"
"Thanks to you," Kari said, her voice bitter "I'm having trouble with my marriage. Thank you so much Tai, thank you so very, very much."
"Kari," Tai said "Kari, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to but I don't really understand..."
"No," Kari said "Why would you? Well thanks Tai. You never think of anyone but yourself do you? It's always 'me, me, me'. And now you've split Matt and Sora up and your idiocy is upsetting things with me and Davis. And if you believe TK, he's having troubles with Shinoko because of you making Matt unhappy. So nice one 'oh fearless leader'. Way to go."
She hung up. Tai sat there, staring at the phone in his hand.
She was right. He couldn't deny it. Thanks to him, everything was going wrong. Everything was just falling apart for everyone and it was all his fault.
Tai rested his head despairingly on the table top. He might as well just go and end it all now. Buy a gun and shoot himself. Hang himself from the ceiling rafters. Take an overdose of tablets. Everyone would be glad he'd gone. He was just spoiling everything for everyone.
Someone knocked at the door. Tai ignored it, barely even hearing it in his misery. The knocking grew more forceful.
"I'll get that shall I?" Sento called sarcastically "Thank you Sento," he added, mimicking his father's voice "That's most helpful. Oh not at all Dad," he said, switching back to his own voice "I love to help, you know that."
He opened the door.
Mr Ishida was standing on the doorstep. He looked cold and almost scared.
"Dad's being stupid," Sento said "Feel free to come in and invite everyone over for a party 'cause I doubt he'd notice."
Matt walked in and went into the kitchen. Sento stomped back into his bedroom. Tai didn't even look up. Matt stared down at his best friend and once-lover. Then he gently placed his hand on Tai's shoulder. Tai jumped and looked up.
"Matt?" he said, his eyes growing wide in his head with shock "What're you doing here? I thought..."
Matt put a finger on Tai's lips. Then he bent down and kissed him very gently. Tai instantly kissed back but then drew away.
"Matt?" he muttered "I though you said..."
"Maybe I've changed my mind," Matt said softly.
Tai stood up so Matt could stop bending so much. They looked at each other.
"This doesn't really change anything..." Tai said uncertainly "Maybe we should talk....discuss what happened."
Matt leaned forward and kissed him again, pulling Tai nearer to him.
"Screw talking," he whispered.
"Yeah," Tai agreed and kissed Matt hungrily, remembering all the good times they'd had together, enjoying Matt's warm body against his....
Neither of them heard the knock at the door, or Sento irritably going to answer it again. In fact, they only realised someone else had come in when there was a horrified gasp.
"Tai? Matt?"
The two leapt apart, whirling round in horror.
Sora was standing in the doorway, her face white with horror.
"Oh God Sora," Tai said, feeling like he was going to be sick. Oh no......
"You two were...." Sora's voice broke off "You....you were....."
"Sora," Tai said "I am so, so sorry. This is...I know that you must be...."
"You BASTARDS!" Sora screamed. She grabbed the nearest thing which came to hand (which happened to be a large plate) and threw it at them. Matt jumped to one side, Tai (wisely) leapt under the table as Sora continued to throw things at them. Sento peered out of his room, his face pale with fright as Sora shouted insults and threw everything which came to hand at them. Eventually, she ran out of things to reach. Sento was crying and both of the men were staring at her, wide-eyed.
"This is not over!" Sora shouted "I'll get you for this! Both of you!"
Turning, she stormed out of the house, leaving a very frightened group behind her.
The End of part 3.
Review me, review me, review me! Comments, suggestions, ideas and even flames are all welcome, just review okay!?
Don't forget to vote!!!! I can still salvage a Taiora but I think Sorato is a bit bollocksed. But I can still try!