A/N: I love vacation! That's basically all I have to say, so on with the story!
~Her Injured Heart~ Chapter 6
The two girls whipped around to face the newcomer. Matt looked from one girl to the other. "Ask me what?" He repeated.
"Matt, you scared us. Give us a sec," Mimi replied. The two turned away from their friend again. To Sora, Mimi whispered, "Are you gonna ask him or wait, 'cause if you do it now, I can help."
Sora looked over her shoulder at Matt's genuinely confused look. "I don't think I can do it. What if the song wasn't even meant for me?"
"Well, that's why you're going to ask!" Mimi pulled Sora around again to face Matt. "Sora wanted to know-"
"How you sang that song so well, when you had never performed it before!" Sora cut Mimi off. "It was great," she finished not displaying any emotion.
"Sora…" A look of concern flashed across his eyes, but was gone as quickly as it had come.
Sora caught it, however. "Matt, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Matt looked over her head at the others waiting for him. "It'll only take a minute, I promise." Matt nodded and the two walked away from Mimi.
"Well then," Mimi said to herself. "Maybe he'll admit it!" Smiling, she walked towards the larger group. "Oh Tai…" Tai turned to look at the girl.
"Oh what?" He replied.
"I think I can resume my stalking of you. I haven't done it for over a week."
"Mimi, I thought you were joking…" Tai said unsurely, remembering how the girl was trying to get him to tell her what was wrong.
"I am, don't worry." Mimi's eyes glinted evilly. "I already know what's going on."
~
"Matt, I just wanted to tell you that I'm ready to break up with Troy. I didn't feel anything the last time he kissed me." Sora looked at the floor, remembering the kiss in History.
"Sora, I don't-" Matt started to reply.
"Yamato Ishida! What the in Hell do you think you're doing?" An angry voice interrupted the blonde. Troy stalked furiously towards the two.
"Troy, I was talking to my friend. What are you doing?" Matt replied calmly. Troy stopped right in front of Matt.
"Wow Ishida, I'm impressed. First you get all buddy buddy with me and my friends, then you give my girlfriend love notes in the hall. THEN, you have the nerve to sing a song to her. Tell me, are you begging to be killed?"
"Troy, leave Matt alone!" Sora whispered from the side. Matt held up a hand to stop her from saying any more.
"I'm just watching out for a real friend, like I have been all along. Do you think I enjoyed hanging around you and you're stupid posse? I was drifting from my real friends while I was hanging out with you! But I guess it was worth it because I could keep an eye on you and Sora. You know, make sure you only hurt her enough to make her realize she was too good for your playing ass!" Matt narrowed his eyes. "Yeah I gave her a note in the hall, I give lots of people notes. Granted hers wasn't like those ones, but still. Then, I sang a song at a concert, strangely enough. Singing at a concert, now that's out of the ordinary."
"Why you…!" Troy's eyes shown with a rage unlike any Sora had ever seen.
"Matt, let's go, please," Sora pleaded. She was shocked by the complete confession of everything just given by Matt. All along. He was protecting her all along. She didn't want him to fight Troy. She stepped between the two boys. "Both of you, just stop!"
Troy shifted his hate-filled eyes to Sora. "Get out of the way," he growled menacingly. "MOVE, you little slut!" With that he shoved her out of the way. Her head hit the wall with a sickening thud.
"THAT IS IT!" Matt charged at Troy punching the shorter boy in the jaw, and knocking him off balance. "No one calls any friend of mine a slut." Matt shoved his fist into Troy's stomach. "And no one pushes a friend of mine!" Matt kicked Troy in the chest and the boy groaned in pain. This attracted the attention of the other Digidestined, who had walked around a corner, so they couldn't see what was going on. However, they heard Troy's loud groan and came running.
"Matt!" Tai bolted to his friend's side. "What are you doing?"
"Teaching this piece of shit a lesson." Matt hit the boy once more in the face and backed off. "I think he gets it." Matt reached down and grabbed the boy by the shirt. "If I were you, I would stay away from Sora from now on." Troy nodded his head to say he understood. Matt dropped him, walked to Sora's unconscious form, picked her up and walked away. Soon, the rest of the Digidestined followed him.
~
"Matt, I don't think that was a good idea," Izzy commented, bringing the now conscious Sora an ice pack. They were all seated in the Izumi apartment.
"I think he gave up too easily," Tai put in.
"I think you beat him up pretty bad. His nose looked broken, and he lost quite a lot of blood," Joe said in a tone that screamed 'Doctor'.
"What will Mom and Dad say?" TK asked.
"I think it was for a good purpose, but did you really have to hit him that much?" Kari asked.
"I think I agree with Tai," Mimi stated. "He gave up too easily. What do you think Sora?" Sora didn't say anything, just shrugged her shoulders. Matt moved to sit next to her.
"Sora, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I just lost control."
"It's ok. You didn't inflict any permanent damage, and you got me away from Troy for good, hopefully." Sora tried to smile at him, but couldn't. She had been through too much.
"Tai, can I talk to you?" Matt asked suddenly.
"Sure Matt." The two friends walked out of the apartment and leaned against the railing. "What's up?"
"Well, phase one of my plan is complete. I got Sora away from Troy. I can stop pretending to be his friend and start hanging out with you guys again, thankfully." Matt sighed. "But I think I'll have to wait to tell her how I feel about her. She seems too broken right now. The problem is, I don't know how long I can last without losing control over my emotions and spilling everything. What should I do?"
Tai glanced out the corner of his eye at Matt. The older of the two was obviously battling within himself over what he had just said. "Matt, I love Sora, you know that. But it's a different kind of love. I love her like a sister. I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt her, but you have to hold out just a little longer. When you first told me about this plan was the first time you admitted what I had already assumed: that you love Sora. When you told me that, I got a little jealous. Why? The same reason I got mad at TK. Both of you had feelings for my sisters. I'm just very protective and I don't want either of them to get hurt. So please, no matter what, wait to tell her until her heart is mended."
"I'll try."
"Good, `cause I don't know how much more of this advice stuff I can give!" Matt laughed at this, and the two headed back inside.
TBC…
A/N: Aww, a fight AND a heart-to-heart. Tai giving Matt girl advice, there's a new one. Ah, a week without school, how great it is! Please R&R!
-Val ^_~
