Disclaimer: All that was stated in Part one, remains true in Part Three.

Note: Much thanks go to Genevieve for beta-ing this part and the first two. Her penname is Jheen, be sure to check out her work. (When ff.net gets back up to par)

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"Don't go out, okay? I want us to go shopping when I get back. See you in a few hours!"

"Yes, mama. Bye!" Takeru waved over his shoulder, maintaining his zone out on the TV. There was the faint rustling of pocket change and then the door opening and closing. He continued to dwell in the land of daytime programming for a few more minutes until he was sure she was gone.

Glancing quickly at the closed door, Takeru slipped off the couch and padded over to the computer desk. Dropping into the chair with his characteristic lack of grace, he moved the mouse to take it off stand-by. His mother had installed DSL a few months back and he continued to thrill at having all his favorite pages upload in seconds instead of minutes.

With a series of rapid clicks, Takeru had the Internet browser up and was pursuing his favorite sites. He took a minute to check the Digimonweb.com website that Koushiro and Miyako had designed. The main page was all details on Digimon and the Digital World, with some blurbs on the Chosen Children, and message boards where people could ask about Digimon from those who new it best. It was a pretty popular site judging by all the hits and postings. He scanned through the postings quickly to see if there was any he could answer before clicking back to the main page.

All the way down at the bottom there was a little typing field and button link labeled 'go'. Takeru typed 'kibukodomo' into the field and clicked the link. Moments later, a new screen came up. The words "Welcome Takeru" were written across the top in bold letters. Below it, in smaller print, it stated that he had eight new e-mails in his inbox, and further down was a calendar outlining birthdays, anniversaries, and other important events pertaining to the world's Chosen Children. The page also contained special announcements and links to frequently asked questions, the Chosen Children and Digimon database, and the forum board.

This was the main point and purpose of the website, a way to connect all the children destined to be partnered with Digimon. Koushiro was immensely proud of it. Takeru thought he should be, it was quite a massive undertaking.

Scanning through his new messages and seeing none that required his immediate attention, Takeru went on to check his other e-mail accounts. There were five, so it would take some time. Saved in his main account was an old e-mail that he had sent himself from one of his other accounts. He opened it to find a series of website links; the kind of links that had to be hidden because his mother would throw a fit if she knew what he read and looked at when she wasn't around.

Choosing one of the links, Takeru opened the site in a new window, eager to see if his favorite author had posted a new story. He was quite shocked when instead of the expected website, the browser window instead said 'Page blocked due to adult content'. Takeru's hands dropped from the mouse and keyboard in shock.

"You're kidding," he informed the machine, "You have *got* to be kidding!" Frantic now, the blond teenager began checking all his links and also the e-mail accounts that he used for the more 'randy' mailing lists he had joined. He ran into the same problem each time.

Distantly aware of his partner's distress, Patamon allowed himself to be distracted from the mecha anime currently airing on the TV. Climbing up on the top of the couch, he called out. "Takeru, what's wrong?"

Bracing his elbows on either side of the keyboard and clutching his head, Takeru moaned in despair. "She installed parental blocks! Now I can't get to half my e-mail and almost none of my sites! Damn!"

Patamon blinked his wide blue eyes and jumped off the couch, lazily flapping over to his friend. "Why would she do that?" the orange Digimon assumed his favorite landing place, on top of Takeru's head.

Takeru sighed, making a vague gesture with his hand. "Either she found out the kind of 'sites I like, or she figured I was old enough to start looking and wanted to stop me before I did," he sat back carefully, mindful of Patamon's weight, "Actually, I think that's more likely. If she really knew about the sites I visit, she would've done more than just block them. We'd probably be having very long discussion right now about my 'tastes'…"

Patamon fell silent, then said, with obvious confusion, "What does liking chocolate ice-cream have to do with this?"

"Not *those* kind of tastes!" Takeru laughed suddenly and Patamon smiled at the sound. "These tastes have to do with kissing and dating and that stuff." He closed the browser windows and cleared the history folder out of habit.

"Oh," Patamon responded softly. If he'd learned anything in the past three years he'd been living in-and-out of the human world, it was that humans had bizarre ideas about love and relationships. Digimon were much more practical about such things. He decided it was best not to comment.

"Yeah. Well, I guess I'll have to use someone else's computer," Takeru grinned thoughtfully, "I wonder if Daisuke's computer has parental block."

"But he lives down the street," Patamon protested, "Your mama asked you to stay in the building today."

"I know, I know! I was just kidding," he shut down the computer and stood; looking around for his hat, "Let's go bug Miyako. I know for fact that she's already broken any blocks on her computer. I can at least check my e-mail."

"I think I'll stay here," Patamon started uneasily. He didn't know what it was, but whenever Takeru spent long periods of time with Miyako, the blond boy started behaving very strangely. Instead of being his usual polite, unobtrusive self, Takeru would become loud, out-spoken, and prone to outrageous acts. Much like Miyako herself. Patamon couldn't explain it; he just knew that he wanted to avoid witnessing it.

"Don't be silly! You want to see Poromon, right? So lets go!"

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"Neechan, I'm using the phone!" Miyako yelled down the hall at her older sibling as she dialed with one hand. There was a distant reply, but the lavender haired girl wasn't listening anymore. She was going to talk to Mimi! Settling herself comfortably more comfortably in her chair, she waited eagerly while the phone rang.

Finally, "Hello, Mimi speaking!" Mimi chirped happily in accented English.

"Moshi moshi, Mimi-san!" Miyako squeaked back, with a kind of bliss obtained only by the young and air-headed.

"Oh! Miyako-chan! I haven't talked to you in ages!" Mimi slipped back into Japanese gratefully, "What's happening on your side of the world?"

"Tons! I haven't the time to go through it all, just the highlights---" Miyako instantly launched into a edited telling of the most recent events. She knew Mimi and Sora talked frequently, but Mimi said that Sora wasn't one much for gossip, so her contribution usually amounted to 'everyone is fine'. Mimi and Miyako both liked *details*.

That fact gave Miyako a warm, special feeling. She loved it when she and Mimi had something in common. Even better, Mimi got something more from talking with Miyako than she did from talking with Sora.

"----but I haven't got to the best part yet!" Miyako paused for a breath while Mimi let out an inquisitive murmur. "Your bet was right! Sora-san isn't going to go back with Yamato-san *or* with Taichi-san."

"Really!" Mimi gasped and Miyako's heart warmed at the thrill in her voice. She'd made Mimi happy! "Are Yamato and Taichi dating?"

"No, they're single. Oh! You mean *each other*," giggle, "Of course not! Actually, it's Sora who is dating someone else."

There was a sudden complete and utter silence on the other side of the phone.

Miyako hesitated, a sinking feeling in her chest. What happened? "Mimi-san?"

"Who?" came the quiet question, Mimi's voice lacking in its usual happiness and bounce.

"Um, Jyou-san. Mimi-san, what's wrong?" Miyako sat up straight, free hand clenched fearfully at her chest. She ran through their conversation in her mind, trying to figure out what exactly she had said wrong.

"I'm going to put the phone down and be right back, okay?" Mimi said very politely, but still somewhat flat. Before Miyako could respond, there was a click as the phone was placed on something hard.

Distantly through the headset, separated by an ocean and then some, Miyako could hear a faint sound very much like screaming.

Miyako blinked at the wall across from her in blind confusion. She would readily admit that she wasn't the deepest person in the world. Her friends had pointed out, an annoying number of times, that she was a lot like Daisuke in that she tended to ignore things that didn't interest or concern her. Every now and again, she would really start paying attention, only to come to the unpleasant realization that she had missed something vital.

She was having one of those moments.

Seconds later, before Miyako had the chance to totally evaluate her revelation, Mimi came back on. "Whew! What a shock," the older girl gasped, sounding somewhat closer to her normal self, "But really, Miyako-chan, just how *much* are they dating?"

"What?" Damn, she just knew there was something very important about all this, but it kept eluding her.

"Details, Miyako-chan," Mimi insisted, the cheer in her voice managing to give an impression of 'determined' rather than 'happy and carefree'. "I want details."

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There were few people in the world that Hikari loved more than her brother.

He'd protected her and watched after her for as long as she could remember. He had chased away monsters both real and imagined and did it all with a grin. When she was weak, he fought with her and made up for her weakness. When she was strong, he stood back and let her fight on her own, but was always there, just in case. They'd stood together and faced the final darkness, strong and proud, just like their parents raised them. Their spirits had added to the unbreakable power of simple children that were so much more; strangers united into family by their heart-drive urge to protect. Through out it all, he was there.

He was also the same brother who teased and nagged, and passed his chores to her when was feeling lazy or wanted to hang with friends. He left his clothes on the floor until their mother yelled at him or Hikari got tired of tripping over them and picked them up herself. He was not above playing on her devotion to him when there was something he really wanted and had the nasty habit of embarrassing the life out of her whenever it amused him. But most importantly at that moment, he was attempting to set her up with her best friend, who she loved dearly but *really* didn't want to date.

There were few people in the world that Hikari loved more than her brother, but that didn't stop her from occasionally wanting to beat him senseless with something blunt and heavy.

"Oniichan, please…"

"But you've been wanting to see this movie! I know you have," Taichi insisted, "And I told you I'd be paying. I don't see the problem."

Hikari closed her eyes in quiet suffering. It was hard to explain something even she didn't fully understand. Her feelings for Takeru went beyond the love of siblings, but were not the sexual kind found between lovers. Honestly, the thought of doing anything remotely sexual with Takeru made her faintly sick. She simple knew it wasn't meant to be. Experience had taught her to never distrust her premonitions; they were always true.

But how do you explain a gut feeling?

"Oniichan, there is nothing wrong with your hearing---"

"I know, I know," Taichi interrupted quickly, "You don't want to date Takeru. But it could be just a friend thing---"

"The point," Hikari stopped him, "Is that you want Yamato to think it's more and you want me and Takeru to at least act like it's more." She sat next to her brother on the lower bunk bed and sighed. "Don't you see something wrong with a relationship that starts with a scheme like this?"

Taichi groaned and fell back on the bed, hands laced together behind his head. "It's not that big a deal! This is just a little something to make it, umm, easier for me."

Hikari rubbed at the building pain in her temple. "And if it doesn't work?"

Her brother was silent then, scratching the sunburned skin on his forearm. Finally, softly and with a measured amount of resignation, "Then it doesn't work."

"No kidding. But it could get worse than that," she persisted firmly, "What if Yamato finds out about this deception, hmm? What if he gets mad?"

"Then I'll just stand in one spot and let him hit me around for a while! Always makes him feel better," The brown haired boy announced with returned exuberance, bouncing up into a sitting position.

The sad part was, that statement was entirely true. Her brother and his best friend/current crush solved an amazing amount of personal differences by beating each other up. It was the one dynamic of their relationship that didn't change, and maybe that was a good thing, even if it did freak out people who didn't know them. Because if Hikari knew Takeru, then it was almost certain that he would bring this up with Yamato, so Taichi really had no hope of hiding his little plan.

Just then, an idea came in contact with a stray thought, joined a piece of knowledge, before being spiced with possibility and finally, was ignited by inspiration.

Takeru…crush…movie…date…

And like that, Hikari had a plan.

It should be noted that Hikari having this plan was not a great disaster, for she was, at heart, a careful and loving person who would never do anything to harm her friends. She would certainly handle her plan far better than her brother ever could and with less property damage. But all that aside, she was still a Yagami, and the Yagami family has been, and always will be, a force to be reckoned with.

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As Gen says "People, we have achieved soap opera" Yikes.

TBC....