A/N: First of all, thanks to Dream-chan and flying monkey for reviewing. I really appreciate it! ^-^' In this chapter, you're going to see a little more Taito in action. (Yayyyy!) I'm going to use an idea that I thought would be funny for our friends' first disaster. flying monkey suggested it. Thank you! Oh, and I don't know if they have many wild cats in Japan, but they do in my fic. Oh yeah, and I decided to make Jyoushiro and Mira also definite couples. Those will be hinted at here and there in this chapter, but nothing much. Mostly Taito. You can still suggest other couples be put in here. R/R, please! On with the fic! (Are you getting tired of hearing me say that? I am.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Leave me alone and read.
Sunday: Cats And Hiking Just Don't Mix
"Oh, my love, I've missed you so. You're the light of my life, the captor of my dreams, the..."
"Dai, get off of the TV!"
Motomiya Daisuke pouted as he slowly let go of the TV and sat on the couch beside Ken and Iori. Sora and Mimi were busily putting groceries away that they had gotten the previous night, on the way over. Tai and Matt were stretched out on the couch along the side of the wall, each with a headphone in their ear, listening to music that was drowned out by the sound of the TV. Jyou and Koushiro were aiding Miyako, Hikari, and Takeru in sorting their things in their respective rooms.
They had already decided on who was rooming with who. On the first floor, there was Jyou and Koushiro, Takeru and Iori, and Tai and Matt. On the second floor, there was Mimi and Sora, Miyako and Hikari, and Ken and Daisuke.
Sora looked over at her friends, who were laying on the couches and watching TV. She frowned, not wanting them to spend their bonding time doing things they could be doing at home. She turned to Mimi and smiled. "Hey, let's do something fun today. Something that we can all do together."
Mimi turned her soft amber eyes towards her friend and wrinkled her brow in thought. Then, her face lit up in a wide, sparkling smile. "I know, let's go on a hike! I brought the cutest hiking outfit just in case someone suggested it."
Sora smiled back. "That's a great idea. That way, we won't spend time being lazy, and we can have a little adventure. Just like the old days." The two friends clasped hands. "This is going to be so fun! The others are going to love it."
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"But why?" Daisuke asked yet again. Yamato and Takeru turned around and gave him twin death glares.
They were just starting out on their afternoon hike. Sora and Tai led the way, both of them obviously enjoying the idea of an excuse to work their legs out again. Soccer season had ended not too long ago, and, though Daisuke was also feeling withdrawal, Sora and Tai didn't still play soccer games out on the field when they got chances. Daisuke often dragged Ken out to the soccer field to have a short game with him, and he didn't feel the need to exercise the way his soccer friends did.
Jyou was muttering about the different dangers of hiking when the sun was positioned so high in the sky and without the proper gear just in case something happened.
"I should have brought my first aid kit," he mumbled. Koushiro laughed at him and told him to loosen up some, and then admitted to feeling reluctant he couldn't have some kind of plug to bring his laptop on the hiking trip with him.
"You're both nuts," Takeru said, shaking his head and grinning. He had an arm looped through Hikari's, as did Miyako on Kari's other side. Kari was looking quite frustrated, but no one could guess as to what.
They turned a corner around a low mountainside, Jyou muttering even more at the slight narrowing of the path before them. Tai slowed his quick pacing to fall in step beside Matt.
"Hey, buddy. Why so glum?"
The blonde looked up at him, looking slightly surprised, as if he had just noticed Tai was even there at all. He slowly took in his surroundings. "How far have we gone?"
"Not very far. We still have about five miles uphill until we turn around and go back down."
Matt sighed and adjusted his pack on his back. It wasn't very heavy, containing only two bottles of drinking water, a notepad (in case he saw something that inspired him to write a song), a pencil, and a small towel. Everyone was carrying similar packs, with similar items, with a few small exceptions.
"Are we even going to rest any time soon?" he asked, being sure to keep the hope out of his voice.
"No, I don't think so. Sora said that we need to make it a quick hike up and down so we make it back before it gets dark."
Matt groaned and leaned against the brunette. Tai smiled and slid an arm across Matt's shoulders. "You're such a whiner."
Matt stuck his tongue out at his friend and grinned. "You're such an as-"
"Guys! Guys! Come look at what I found!"
They looked forward to see Daisuke running towards the group, with something following him, disturbing the shrubbery around his legs.
"What the-? Daisuke, what is that?"
"I found," he panted, pointing at the thing emerging from the grass beside him, "a kitty!"
They all froze as they saw what looked to be a baby mountain lion walking towards them, no longer covered by the brown, dried grass.
"Dai, that isn't a kitty. That's a small mountain lion," Jyou informed him shakily. Mimi screeched and latched herself to Sora's side. The screech seemed to alarm the feline, and it gave a small roar.
They all heard a low, rumbling sound answering the cub, and slowly glanced up at the thing emerging behind Daisuke. One by one, they paled and dropped jaws.
Daisuke stopped smiling and slowly frowned. "There's something big and scary behind me, isn't there?"
He didn't wait for their answer and glanced back over his shoulder, jumping when he saw the full-grown mountain lioness growling behind him. He leaped towards the others and grabbed Ken's arm, shrieking. The ears on the lioness perked up, and she growled even fiercer than before.
"J-Jyou? Your genius suggestion, p-please? Hurry!" Tai squeaked, squeezing the life out of Matt.
"R-Right. I say we all-RUN!"
They all sped off in the opposite direction, running for their lives. The mountain lioness, amused by their behavior, loped after them. They screamed and stampeded down the mountainside, creating a storm of dust in their wake. The lioness trotted through the dust, unfazed. They passed their cabin completely, and had to back up about half a mile to get to the cabin door. When Takeru turned around to look for the feline, he screamed and tugged at Tai's shirt.
"TAI, HURRY UP! IT'S COMING, AND IT LOOKS HUNGRY!"
The mountain lioness perched on a rock nearby and yawned, watching them with calm green eyes. What could have damn well been a smirk curved her lips, as Tai again and again fumbled and dropped the cabin keys. She stood and hopped off of the rock, sending all of them screaming and running in different directions around the house. She went along the right side of the house, until she met them at the back and they ran around to the front on the left side of the house, still screaming. She played this game with them for a few more minutes, before growing tired and leaving them be.
When they finally stopped running around and Koushiro stopped to point out they weren't being followed anymore, they collapsed on a floor in a heap.
After they had caught their breath, Matt began to crack up. They all turned to stare at him with identical confused looks in their faces. "You're right, Sora and Mimi! That really *was* fun!"
Sora and Mimi groaned and slumped even farther towards the ground, as a few shoes promptly hit the sides of their heads and were then sought after by a few digidestined hopping on one foot.
"Maybe we shouldn't pick the activity next time, Sora."
"I think you're right, Meems. I think you're right."
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Matt gently held an ice pack to Tai's right eye. All of the digidestined were sporting some type of wound or bruise, not from the mountain lioness or cub, but from knocking each other over, punching, kicking, biting, and scratching in the fit to be the first in the stampede, and the first inside the door.
"This wasn't much of a bonding experience, huh, Tai?"
Tai grinned and weakly punched Matt's arm. Matt cringed and rubbed the now-worsened bruise. "Ow."
"Sorry, Matt." Tai suddenly realized that Matt was standing in between his legs as he tended to his wounds, and that Matt's arms kept brushing against him as he washed the cuts clean. He tried his best not to blush, which of course made him blush even more, and he hoped Matt didn't notice. Unfortunately, Matt stopped paying attention to what he was doing as he caught the look on Tai's face, and Matt began to get a little red in the face, also. Soon, Matt was washing the same spot over and over, and it was starting to hurt the scratch on Tai's arm.
"Matt," Tai whispered, cringing, "can you maybe move to another place now?"
"Eh, yeah. I knew that." They both laughed awkwardly, and then stopped to stare at each other.
Then, Miyako burst into the room and they quickly pulled far apart, staring bewilderedly at the door. "You guys, we're all going to bed. Can you turn the lights off everywhere before you go to bed? Thanks!"
Before they could protest, the door was shut again. Tai looked at Matt again, his eyes softer now as he watched the blonde teen. Matt quickly moved to put the first-aid kit away and went to the door. "I'll go turn all the lights off. You get some rest, Tai."
Tai slowly nodded as he watched his friend close the door behind him. He sighed and turned over, cuddling his pillow close to him. He then nuzzled the pillow, smiling dreamily, and then stopped.
"This is just ridiculous."
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A/N for the end: Well, what did you all think? Better? Hoped you liked it. If you all suggest more funny things to happen to them, I'll do my best to put them into the fics! (Hint hint, review please!) Sorry it was so short. I didn't know what else to write in here. Until the next chapter, see ya!
