Hi, hello, good morning/afternoon/night/whatever! I have returned!!!...with
the next story!!! Anyway, thank you to all you lovely reviewers out there.
A little more would be nice…please? Hehe. You don't really have to. I just
like to see the numbers rise.
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"MATT!!" Malcolm (A/N: That's his name, right?) Ishida yelled. "Get up or you're going to be late for school!"
"Five more minutes, Dad!" Matt moaned into his pillow. "Just five more minutes."
"A famous rock star," Mr. Ishida grumbled. "Right. SON! GET DOWN HERE!!!" he bellowed. A few minutes later, his eldest son stumbled down the stairs. They had moved to a better apartment since Matt's stardom. They finally had a couch now. Several actually.
"Good morning, Yamato." Mr. Ishida handed him a plate stacked with syrupy pancakes. "Here's a good breakfast for you. You'll need your health and strength to battle with the teachers today and escape from your groupies." Matt's father shook his head, clucking his tongue. "I can't believe that they have the nerve to follow you around and pester you like that. Maybe I should do something…"
Matt shook his head quickly, shoving his disheveled hair out of his blue eyes. "No, no. I can manage, Dad. In point of fact, it keeps me on my toes." He was positive that whatever his father would attempt to get the fans to leave him alone, it would embarrass him, one way or another.
Mr. Ishida shrugged and said, "Suit it yourself. But don't come running back to me when they start to take your clothes."
Matt rolled his eyes and started to eat his breakfast. It was all right, a little burnt, to be honest, but they tasted fine if you placed enough syrup and butter.
As soon as he finished and got ready for school, Mr. Ishida announced, "Now, we will go and pick up your cousin, Mimi. Her mother told us that we're going to have to bring her to school for a few days."
Matt shrugged. "OK. I'm ready, Dad."
Malcolm Ishida then struck a pose. "Let us be off!" and charged out the door.
Matt gaped.
Dad sure is weird today.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As Sora and Aki turned the corner that would inevitably lead them to Odaiba School, they were greeted by the sight of a massive mob gathered outside on the gates of school (More like the gates of hell, actually…).
They stood there at the crossing sign, gawking at the crowd. A lot of them were carrying signs that basically yelled out, "Yamato Ishida is Mine!" or "Mimi! WE LOVE YOU!" A lot of them were students, but there was quite a good number of reporters and media people mixed in the crowd, too.
Sora and Aki were soon joined by Chloris Erato and Shina Wang. The four of them stood staring in bewilderment at the crowd. There were a lot of familiar faces in the throng. Jun Motomiya, for one thing, was wielding a sign that shouted, "I AM YAMA'S GIRLFRIEND!!!" and pushing screaming girls aside.
Sora turned to look at her friends. "Now how are we going to get inside the school? Any suggestions?" She turned back to watch as the crowd started to sing a song that Sora heard once on the radio. It was by the Teenage Wolves, she decided. After all, Aki told her that Matt was the lead singer of the group.
"Nothing comes to mind," Shina said, nudging her glasses up her nose.
Aki sighed. "OK. We're in for it. Shina's the smartest girl in class and she can't find a solution to a problem. Call the press—wait. No, don't. They're right over there." She pointed at a van with the label of the news channel.
They watched the crowd in gloomy observance.
"There might be a slight chance in getting school canceled today," Chloris commented. "But then, it'll start all over again tomorrow."
Somebody suddenly called out, "Hey, Sora—whoa!!" Sora looked around and saw Taichi Kamiya and a pretty brown-haired girl who looked younger than all of them.
Sora cracked a smile. "Quite a crowd, isn't it?"
Tai nodded. The girl next to him looked irritated. "Tai, how do we get in?"
"Kari, I don't know!" he answered just as exasperatedly. "You can't expect me to know everything!"
"Big brothers are supposed to be able to solve their little sisters' problems, aren't they? You said so last night!" the girl protested. "Shows how little your brain is under all that hair. How do you get it to stand up like that?"
"Excuse me," Shina interrupted. "As interesting as this argument is, would you mind having it some other time? We're trying to get in the school."
"Sorry, this is my annoying little sister, Kari." He shot her an aggravated glance. "Doesn't she look silly with that stupid camera around her neck?"
"Shut up, Tai." She glared darkly at the crowd. "Isn't this just my luck? Middle School is right behind High School…" she muttered to herself.
"So…" Aki continued to look at the crowd. "How do we get through?"
Sora thought hard. Then a smile came to her lips. "I have a marvelous idea, my friends," she announced. "You all just wait here. Once you hear my signal, make a break for it." She slipped away and left them, diving deep into the multitude.
"What's the signal?" Aki asked Tai. Tai shrugged, saying, "I'm sure we'll find out soon."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matt and Mimi stepped off Malcolm Ishida's car a block or so away from the school compound, largely at Mimi's insistence, to walk to school like normal students.
So there they walked, Mimi hiding her obviously pink hair under a large hat. Matt sort of missed the days when her hair was brown. It looked more natural back then.
They knew the directions to Odaiba School so they didn't have to ask any people and alert them that they were famous stars and lost. So they sauntered along, taking in the sights of Odaiba and enjoying the surprisingly fresh air.
"Do you think that we'll be liked in school?" Mimi asked her cousin as she skipped along. "Not as idols or anything, but as the people who we are."
Matt shrugged. He decided against telling her that he didn't really care. After all, it was him who was supposed to do the forgiving that weekend, and she goes and buys him flowers as an, "I'm sorry, Matt," gift. He was touched and rather embarrassed, so he easily forgave her and gave her some chocolates his father had bought.
They rounded the corner and ran smack into a group of people who were standing there staring at something ahead of them.
"Sorry, sorry," Matt said, brushing himself off as he helped a girl with glasses off the ground. Mimi also managed to slam into someone but was not large enough to knock her over.
He saw that one of the group was Taichi Kamiya and was relieved. If he had slammed into somebody else—
"Hey! It's Matt!" Tai exclaimed. "Hey, man! What a great first day of school you have."
"It's our first day," Mimi put in, putting her hat back on. Tai looked at Mimi, a little put off by her pink hair.
"What are you guys staring at?" Matt asked Tai. "Oh, and by the way," he looked at the girls who Tai was with. One girl had glasses and short shiny black hair and another had dark hair and olive skin. A smaller girl had hair the same color as Tai's and another girl had angular eyes and shoulder- length hair. They all wore the standard uniform with the exception of the small girl, who had a camera around her neck. "I'm Matt Ishida."
"Mimi!" the shoulder-length girl cried out. But she didn't do it very loud for some reason. "It's great to see you again!"
"Aki, why are you whispering?" Mimi asked her. "And where's Sora?"
Hold it. Mimi knew someone? Well, Matt supposed, it was only fair, since he already knew Tai.
The girl Mimi called Aki pointed somewhere and we looked and were surprised. An enormous multitude of people were amassed at the gates and calling our Matt and Mimi's names. The two's mouths were hung open.
Matt was the first to get his senses back and said, "Well, it appears that we have a welcoming committee. How…charming. I'm flattered. Sort of. Not really. Well…"
"How frightening fits more, Matt," Mimi muttered.
"You're Yamato Ishida?" Aki whispered in awe.
A little irritation spread on Matt's face. It tickled his ribs and provoked him to say, "Yeah. And?"
"N-nothing." Aki smiled at him, glad that he was irritated. It meant that he had a brain and that he was not so easily swayed by sweet words. Whatever. "You rock. I'm Aki, this is Chloris Erato (she's a Grecian exchange student), this is Shina Wang, the brain, and this is Kari, Tai's sister."
Mimi and Matt nodded.
"Now where is Sora, Aki?" Mimi asked Aki. "I don't see her anywhere! She's not in the crowd, is she?"
Aki bobbed her head. "She's in there somewhere."
"But I thought Sora was too cool for that kind of thing!" Mimi exclaimed. "She doesn't worship the ground I walk on! She's normal! Like yesterday." To explain to Matt, she said, "You see, I was out yesterday with Aki and Sora."
Matt nodded. "Ah."
"No, no," Shina Wang put in. "Sora is in there because she has a plan to get us entrance into school. We're waiting for her signal so we can make it in."
Matt shrugged. "Well, whoever this Sora is, she'd better put her plan into action soon. We're going to be late for the bell."
"Don't hurry her," Kari grumbled. She seemed to be in a lousy mood today. "She'll do what needs doing, all right?"
"Don't worry. It won't matter," Aki snorted. "I'm betting that the teachers are all in there, too. They love Mimi's latest movie."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sora skulked through the crowd, taking great pains to not be noticed. She searched around for a perfect place to execute her plan. It was nearly suffocating in that vacuum, bodies pressing against each other in an effort to win more space. She took a deep gasp of breath and dove back in.
She ran through until she was past the crowd and free into the next street. There, she thought, glancing at a large oak tree with branches perfect for climbing. It was perfect. Not too far away from the school.
She expertly scampered up the branches and perched high on a sturdy and thick. It's now or never, Sora thought and took a deep breath.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" someone suddenly yelled. The voice was loud and reached over the din of the mob. Aki was puzzled. It sounded like Sora! It didn't sound like she was in the crowd. More like she was away from it. Far away. "YAMATO ISHIDA AND MIMI TACHIKAWA ARE COMING IN FROM THE WEST SIDE!!!!!"
"Did you hear that?" someone else in the crowd asked excitedly. "Let's go!"
All of a sudden, the entire mob moved as one and raced down the streets, swarming the sidewalks and preventing cars from passing down the street.
"This Sora, whoever she is," Matt remarked, "must be a smart person."
Aki gave him a look and said, "Oh, yes she is. But a smart invisible person. Where is she?" she asked Chloris, who shrugged.
The mass was gone by now. "Well, it's time for us to make a break for it," Tai said, and they surged down the sidewalk and through the gates. When they reached the front steps of the school, Matt and Mimi went in ahead to have a word with the principal. A few minutes later, Sora came running up to them, panting.
"That was smooth, Sor!" Tai grinned and pounded her back. She grinned at him weakly.
"An intelligent plan, Sora," Shina congratulated her. "You managed to cause everyone to play the townspeople and you are the shepherd. You do listen to our Philosophy class. I pass on good wishes to you."
"Well," Aki put in, "As much as I like patting Sora on the back, we'd better get in school before the people get back here. They might be angry that they've been duped."
Shina agreed. Chloris said, "So come on. It's going to be ten minutes before the bell rings and I'd rather be early than fashionably late."
"'Bye, Kari," Tai said to his sister, who was making her way towards the middle school building. "See you later. Try not to kill TK too bad. I'm sure that he didn't mean to put you off."
Kari gave him a sardonic smile and sauntered off.
"They grow up so fast," Tai commented, grinning. "Now, my ladies," he said with a florid bow. "Would you be so kind as to allow me to escort you all to your classes?"
"Y'know," Shina observed. "For a jock, you're not so bad. Chivalry is still active within you, I see. An admirable trait. Remember that. Girls go gaga for things like that."
"I'll keep it in mind," Tai replied and they all went into the school.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kari walked into her building, a grimace on her pixie-like face. The halls were nearly deserted, although the bell didn't ring yet. She decided not to try to find Yolei, as she knew she would probably be with the mob that Sora had chased off with her brilliant scheme.
She gloweringly stalked through the empty corridors and reached her locker. She had managed to finish her algebra assignment and her project the night before. As tired as she was, she managed to save enough strength to beat TK into a bloody pulp. She banged her books around and angrily slammed the locker with a resounding echo.
A voice rang out. "Hey, Kari! How did you get past that horde?" The owner of that voice, Kari could tell, was moving towards her and stood behind her. Kari flexed her fingers and retracted them, pretending to feel a certain someone's fingers on a certain someone's throat. She turned around.
"TK. You have some explaining to do." She glared up at him. He was a few inches taller than she was.
The tall basketball-playing blonde looked down at her. "What do you mean?" he seemed quizzical.
Kari folded her arms across her chest angrily. Her face was tight. "Well, I seem to recall that the both of us were supposed to work on this certain project due tomorrow. We both volunteered, if I remember correctly." She narrowed her eyes up at him in his face. "And I seem to recollect that we agreed to work on it during the weekend. Do I remember correctly? Or is my memory serving me wrong?" She looked at him straight in the eye. "Answer me, TK."
TK, she noticed, was fidgeting, but he looked honestly sorry. "I apologize, Kari. So many things came up over the weekend that I suddenly found out that my schedule was full. I mean, my brother came back to Odaiba, along with my father."
"Oh, there's another thing I want to settle with you," Kari interrupted. "If you were so busy, why did you call Yolei to tell her that Matt was back and not me?" Kari tried to conceal the hurt in her voice but TK still noticed it.
His expression became perplexed. "What do you mean, Kari? I never called Yolei this weekend. In fact, I stayed away for the weekend. I was hanging out with my brother."
"So how is it that Yolei knows that your brother came to Odaiba if you never informed her?" she snapped. "Is she psychic or did she just read it in the newspaper?"
TK looked pensive. "Yes, I think that she did read it on the newspaper."
A tic grew in Kari's forehead. "Don't make fun of me TA. I'm already frustrated," she warned.
TK grinned. "It's TK, no TA. You should know that. Only Davis calls me that."
"TK…"
"Yeah, yeah, all right, enough with the jokes. Kari, didn't you know who my brother is?" TK asked her curiously. "I mean, you hung out with us a lot before, but Tai never met him."
"I met him only once, before he left Odaiba. What do you think? Tai couldn't have met him the day before he left Japan! Why did he leave, anyway? Off to the army, perhaps?" Kari rolled her eyes, hands on her hips.
TK looked shocked. "So you don't know who my brother is…"
Kari nodded impatiently, tapping her foot. "Yes. Why? Is he some big shot movie actor who I should know about?"
TK suddenly burst out laughing. "You don't know who my brother is? You don't know who Yamato Ishida is?"
"Yama…" It suddenly dawned on her about everything happening in the past few days. The reason why TK hadn't been that in touch with her for the past few days, the reason why Yolei had known that Matt was in town before she did, and the sudden thought that came to mind when she realized that she had met Yamato Ishida in person and actually talked to him without realizing who he was…
Oy.
Kari abruptly slapped her forehead. "Oh…I get it now…argh…"
TK seemed concerned. "What's wrong, Kari? Did I say something?"
Kari smiled at him sheepishly. "No it's nothing that you said. It's just that—it's just that you and your brother look alike," Kari said quickly. She apprehended that she had treated TK's brother very rudely when they met a while back. She decided to tell him about that later.
TK looked happy at that comment. (A/N: Of course. What guy wouldn't be happy to be compared optimistically to the Great Yamato Ishida?) "Not really, Kari. Our eyes are quite different."
Kari rolled her eyes. "Whatever, TK. Don't get too flattered."
Someone unexpectedly came bouncing around the corner, lavender tresses flying behind her in a wild pattern. (A/N: 10 points!) "KARI!!! TK!!!" her voice echoed down the empty corridor.
TK and Kari turned around and smiled. "Hey, Yolei," TK greeted.
"GUYS! I can't believe it! The lead singer of the Teenage Wolves is coming to our school! Our school!" Yolei Inoue practically burst with excitement. "I can't wait to see him! TK, you are so lucky to have a brother like him!!"
Kari let out a little laugh. "I've met him, Inoue. He's a nice guy, but I apparently grouched him." Her eyes twinkled with mirth at how she knew Yolei would react to this. TK, too. Her friends were so predictable.
Yolei's reply was earsplitting. "WWWHHHAAAAATTTTT???? You met him??? Spoke to him??? GROUCHED HIM???" Kari burst into laughter. "Yep."
TK looked confused. "You never grouched him when we were little, Kari. We just played a game of Monopoly and then he left. We were too young to snub people back then."
"WWWHHHAAAAATTTTT???? You knew each other when you were kids??? And you've never told me? What kind of friends are you two?!"
Kari shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. "No, no, I met him just a while ago. We were kind of stuck because of that humongous crowd back there cheering for him and for that Mimi Tachikawa."
Yolei's voice was deafening, but TK and Kari still managed to ignore her.
"So WHY IS IT THAT I'M THE ONE WHO'S YELLING MY HEAD OFF AND NONE OF YOU ARE LISTENING???" Yolei hollered, her voice making Kari's and TK's hair fly back at the force of it.
TK and Kari continued on with their conversation, still trying not to notice her. "So, how did you get out?" TK yelled, wincing a little from the bellowing purple-haired girl nearby.
"Could you yell that again?" Kari had her hands over her ears. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"WHAT???" TK screamed back.
Kari sighed. This would be a long day
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Well that's done and over with. Is it just me or am I prolonging the big "meeting"? Well, I myself don't know what's happening next. Let us see…well, anyway, review!! GRADUATION, HERE I COME!!
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"MATT!!" Malcolm (A/N: That's his name, right?) Ishida yelled. "Get up or you're going to be late for school!"
"Five more minutes, Dad!" Matt moaned into his pillow. "Just five more minutes."
"A famous rock star," Mr. Ishida grumbled. "Right. SON! GET DOWN HERE!!!" he bellowed. A few minutes later, his eldest son stumbled down the stairs. They had moved to a better apartment since Matt's stardom. They finally had a couch now. Several actually.
"Good morning, Yamato." Mr. Ishida handed him a plate stacked with syrupy pancakes. "Here's a good breakfast for you. You'll need your health and strength to battle with the teachers today and escape from your groupies." Matt's father shook his head, clucking his tongue. "I can't believe that they have the nerve to follow you around and pester you like that. Maybe I should do something…"
Matt shook his head quickly, shoving his disheveled hair out of his blue eyes. "No, no. I can manage, Dad. In point of fact, it keeps me on my toes." He was positive that whatever his father would attempt to get the fans to leave him alone, it would embarrass him, one way or another.
Mr. Ishida shrugged and said, "Suit it yourself. But don't come running back to me when they start to take your clothes."
Matt rolled his eyes and started to eat his breakfast. It was all right, a little burnt, to be honest, but they tasted fine if you placed enough syrup and butter.
As soon as he finished and got ready for school, Mr. Ishida announced, "Now, we will go and pick up your cousin, Mimi. Her mother told us that we're going to have to bring her to school for a few days."
Matt shrugged. "OK. I'm ready, Dad."
Malcolm Ishida then struck a pose. "Let us be off!" and charged out the door.
Matt gaped.
Dad sure is weird today.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As Sora and Aki turned the corner that would inevitably lead them to Odaiba School, they were greeted by the sight of a massive mob gathered outside on the gates of school (More like the gates of hell, actually…).
They stood there at the crossing sign, gawking at the crowd. A lot of them were carrying signs that basically yelled out, "Yamato Ishida is Mine!" or "Mimi! WE LOVE YOU!" A lot of them were students, but there was quite a good number of reporters and media people mixed in the crowd, too.
Sora and Aki were soon joined by Chloris Erato and Shina Wang. The four of them stood staring in bewilderment at the crowd. There were a lot of familiar faces in the throng. Jun Motomiya, for one thing, was wielding a sign that shouted, "I AM YAMA'S GIRLFRIEND!!!" and pushing screaming girls aside.
Sora turned to look at her friends. "Now how are we going to get inside the school? Any suggestions?" She turned back to watch as the crowd started to sing a song that Sora heard once on the radio. It was by the Teenage Wolves, she decided. After all, Aki told her that Matt was the lead singer of the group.
"Nothing comes to mind," Shina said, nudging her glasses up her nose.
Aki sighed. "OK. We're in for it. Shina's the smartest girl in class and she can't find a solution to a problem. Call the press—wait. No, don't. They're right over there." She pointed at a van with the label of the news channel.
They watched the crowd in gloomy observance.
"There might be a slight chance in getting school canceled today," Chloris commented. "But then, it'll start all over again tomorrow."
Somebody suddenly called out, "Hey, Sora—whoa!!" Sora looked around and saw Taichi Kamiya and a pretty brown-haired girl who looked younger than all of them.
Sora cracked a smile. "Quite a crowd, isn't it?"
Tai nodded. The girl next to him looked irritated. "Tai, how do we get in?"
"Kari, I don't know!" he answered just as exasperatedly. "You can't expect me to know everything!"
"Big brothers are supposed to be able to solve their little sisters' problems, aren't they? You said so last night!" the girl protested. "Shows how little your brain is under all that hair. How do you get it to stand up like that?"
"Excuse me," Shina interrupted. "As interesting as this argument is, would you mind having it some other time? We're trying to get in the school."
"Sorry, this is my annoying little sister, Kari." He shot her an aggravated glance. "Doesn't she look silly with that stupid camera around her neck?"
"Shut up, Tai." She glared darkly at the crowd. "Isn't this just my luck? Middle School is right behind High School…" she muttered to herself.
"So…" Aki continued to look at the crowd. "How do we get through?"
Sora thought hard. Then a smile came to her lips. "I have a marvelous idea, my friends," she announced. "You all just wait here. Once you hear my signal, make a break for it." She slipped away and left them, diving deep into the multitude.
"What's the signal?" Aki asked Tai. Tai shrugged, saying, "I'm sure we'll find out soon."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Matt and Mimi stepped off Malcolm Ishida's car a block or so away from the school compound, largely at Mimi's insistence, to walk to school like normal students.
So there they walked, Mimi hiding her obviously pink hair under a large hat. Matt sort of missed the days when her hair was brown. It looked more natural back then.
They knew the directions to Odaiba School so they didn't have to ask any people and alert them that they were famous stars and lost. So they sauntered along, taking in the sights of Odaiba and enjoying the surprisingly fresh air.
"Do you think that we'll be liked in school?" Mimi asked her cousin as she skipped along. "Not as idols or anything, but as the people who we are."
Matt shrugged. He decided against telling her that he didn't really care. After all, it was him who was supposed to do the forgiving that weekend, and she goes and buys him flowers as an, "I'm sorry, Matt," gift. He was touched and rather embarrassed, so he easily forgave her and gave her some chocolates his father had bought.
They rounded the corner and ran smack into a group of people who were standing there staring at something ahead of them.
"Sorry, sorry," Matt said, brushing himself off as he helped a girl with glasses off the ground. Mimi also managed to slam into someone but was not large enough to knock her over.
He saw that one of the group was Taichi Kamiya and was relieved. If he had slammed into somebody else—
"Hey! It's Matt!" Tai exclaimed. "Hey, man! What a great first day of school you have."
"It's our first day," Mimi put in, putting her hat back on. Tai looked at Mimi, a little put off by her pink hair.
"What are you guys staring at?" Matt asked Tai. "Oh, and by the way," he looked at the girls who Tai was with. One girl had glasses and short shiny black hair and another had dark hair and olive skin. A smaller girl had hair the same color as Tai's and another girl had angular eyes and shoulder- length hair. They all wore the standard uniform with the exception of the small girl, who had a camera around her neck. "I'm Matt Ishida."
"Mimi!" the shoulder-length girl cried out. But she didn't do it very loud for some reason. "It's great to see you again!"
"Aki, why are you whispering?" Mimi asked her. "And where's Sora?"
Hold it. Mimi knew someone? Well, Matt supposed, it was only fair, since he already knew Tai.
The girl Mimi called Aki pointed somewhere and we looked and were surprised. An enormous multitude of people were amassed at the gates and calling our Matt and Mimi's names. The two's mouths were hung open.
Matt was the first to get his senses back and said, "Well, it appears that we have a welcoming committee. How…charming. I'm flattered. Sort of. Not really. Well…"
"How frightening fits more, Matt," Mimi muttered.
"You're Yamato Ishida?" Aki whispered in awe.
A little irritation spread on Matt's face. It tickled his ribs and provoked him to say, "Yeah. And?"
"N-nothing." Aki smiled at him, glad that he was irritated. It meant that he had a brain and that he was not so easily swayed by sweet words. Whatever. "You rock. I'm Aki, this is Chloris Erato (she's a Grecian exchange student), this is Shina Wang, the brain, and this is Kari, Tai's sister."
Mimi and Matt nodded.
"Now where is Sora, Aki?" Mimi asked Aki. "I don't see her anywhere! She's not in the crowd, is she?"
Aki bobbed her head. "She's in there somewhere."
"But I thought Sora was too cool for that kind of thing!" Mimi exclaimed. "She doesn't worship the ground I walk on! She's normal! Like yesterday." To explain to Matt, she said, "You see, I was out yesterday with Aki and Sora."
Matt nodded. "Ah."
"No, no," Shina Wang put in. "Sora is in there because she has a plan to get us entrance into school. We're waiting for her signal so we can make it in."
Matt shrugged. "Well, whoever this Sora is, she'd better put her plan into action soon. We're going to be late for the bell."
"Don't hurry her," Kari grumbled. She seemed to be in a lousy mood today. "She'll do what needs doing, all right?"
"Don't worry. It won't matter," Aki snorted. "I'm betting that the teachers are all in there, too. They love Mimi's latest movie."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sora skulked through the crowd, taking great pains to not be noticed. She searched around for a perfect place to execute her plan. It was nearly suffocating in that vacuum, bodies pressing against each other in an effort to win more space. She took a deep gasp of breath and dove back in.
She ran through until she was past the crowd and free into the next street. There, she thought, glancing at a large oak tree with branches perfect for climbing. It was perfect. Not too far away from the school.
She expertly scampered up the branches and perched high on a sturdy and thick. It's now or never, Sora thought and took a deep breath.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" someone suddenly yelled. The voice was loud and reached over the din of the mob. Aki was puzzled. It sounded like Sora! It didn't sound like she was in the crowd. More like she was away from it. Far away. "YAMATO ISHIDA AND MIMI TACHIKAWA ARE COMING IN FROM THE WEST SIDE!!!!!"
"Did you hear that?" someone else in the crowd asked excitedly. "Let's go!"
All of a sudden, the entire mob moved as one and raced down the streets, swarming the sidewalks and preventing cars from passing down the street.
"This Sora, whoever she is," Matt remarked, "must be a smart person."
Aki gave him a look and said, "Oh, yes she is. But a smart invisible person. Where is she?" she asked Chloris, who shrugged.
The mass was gone by now. "Well, it's time for us to make a break for it," Tai said, and they surged down the sidewalk and through the gates. When they reached the front steps of the school, Matt and Mimi went in ahead to have a word with the principal. A few minutes later, Sora came running up to them, panting.
"That was smooth, Sor!" Tai grinned and pounded her back. She grinned at him weakly.
"An intelligent plan, Sora," Shina congratulated her. "You managed to cause everyone to play the townspeople and you are the shepherd. You do listen to our Philosophy class. I pass on good wishes to you."
"Well," Aki put in, "As much as I like patting Sora on the back, we'd better get in school before the people get back here. They might be angry that they've been duped."
Shina agreed. Chloris said, "So come on. It's going to be ten minutes before the bell rings and I'd rather be early than fashionably late."
"'Bye, Kari," Tai said to his sister, who was making her way towards the middle school building. "See you later. Try not to kill TK too bad. I'm sure that he didn't mean to put you off."
Kari gave him a sardonic smile and sauntered off.
"They grow up so fast," Tai commented, grinning. "Now, my ladies," he said with a florid bow. "Would you be so kind as to allow me to escort you all to your classes?"
"Y'know," Shina observed. "For a jock, you're not so bad. Chivalry is still active within you, I see. An admirable trait. Remember that. Girls go gaga for things like that."
"I'll keep it in mind," Tai replied and they all went into the school.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kari walked into her building, a grimace on her pixie-like face. The halls were nearly deserted, although the bell didn't ring yet. She decided not to try to find Yolei, as she knew she would probably be with the mob that Sora had chased off with her brilliant scheme.
She gloweringly stalked through the empty corridors and reached her locker. She had managed to finish her algebra assignment and her project the night before. As tired as she was, she managed to save enough strength to beat TK into a bloody pulp. She banged her books around and angrily slammed the locker with a resounding echo.
A voice rang out. "Hey, Kari! How did you get past that horde?" The owner of that voice, Kari could tell, was moving towards her and stood behind her. Kari flexed her fingers and retracted them, pretending to feel a certain someone's fingers on a certain someone's throat. She turned around.
"TK. You have some explaining to do." She glared up at him. He was a few inches taller than she was.
The tall basketball-playing blonde looked down at her. "What do you mean?" he seemed quizzical.
Kari folded her arms across her chest angrily. Her face was tight. "Well, I seem to recall that the both of us were supposed to work on this certain project due tomorrow. We both volunteered, if I remember correctly." She narrowed her eyes up at him in his face. "And I seem to recollect that we agreed to work on it during the weekend. Do I remember correctly? Or is my memory serving me wrong?" She looked at him straight in the eye. "Answer me, TK."
TK, she noticed, was fidgeting, but he looked honestly sorry. "I apologize, Kari. So many things came up over the weekend that I suddenly found out that my schedule was full. I mean, my brother came back to Odaiba, along with my father."
"Oh, there's another thing I want to settle with you," Kari interrupted. "If you were so busy, why did you call Yolei to tell her that Matt was back and not me?" Kari tried to conceal the hurt in her voice but TK still noticed it.
His expression became perplexed. "What do you mean, Kari? I never called Yolei this weekend. In fact, I stayed away for the weekend. I was hanging out with my brother."
"So how is it that Yolei knows that your brother came to Odaiba if you never informed her?" she snapped. "Is she psychic or did she just read it in the newspaper?"
TK looked pensive. "Yes, I think that she did read it on the newspaper."
A tic grew in Kari's forehead. "Don't make fun of me TA. I'm already frustrated," she warned.
TK grinned. "It's TK, no TA. You should know that. Only Davis calls me that."
"TK…"
"Yeah, yeah, all right, enough with the jokes. Kari, didn't you know who my brother is?" TK asked her curiously. "I mean, you hung out with us a lot before, but Tai never met him."
"I met him only once, before he left Odaiba. What do you think? Tai couldn't have met him the day before he left Japan! Why did he leave, anyway? Off to the army, perhaps?" Kari rolled her eyes, hands on her hips.
TK looked shocked. "So you don't know who my brother is…"
Kari nodded impatiently, tapping her foot. "Yes. Why? Is he some big shot movie actor who I should know about?"
TK suddenly burst out laughing. "You don't know who my brother is? You don't know who Yamato Ishida is?"
"Yama…" It suddenly dawned on her about everything happening in the past few days. The reason why TK hadn't been that in touch with her for the past few days, the reason why Yolei had known that Matt was in town before she did, and the sudden thought that came to mind when she realized that she had met Yamato Ishida in person and actually talked to him without realizing who he was…
Oy.
Kari abruptly slapped her forehead. "Oh…I get it now…argh…"
TK seemed concerned. "What's wrong, Kari? Did I say something?"
Kari smiled at him sheepishly. "No it's nothing that you said. It's just that—it's just that you and your brother look alike," Kari said quickly. She apprehended that she had treated TK's brother very rudely when they met a while back. She decided to tell him about that later.
TK looked happy at that comment. (A/N: Of course. What guy wouldn't be happy to be compared optimistically to the Great Yamato Ishida?) "Not really, Kari. Our eyes are quite different."
Kari rolled her eyes. "Whatever, TK. Don't get too flattered."
Someone unexpectedly came bouncing around the corner, lavender tresses flying behind her in a wild pattern. (A/N: 10 points!) "KARI!!! TK!!!" her voice echoed down the empty corridor.
TK and Kari turned around and smiled. "Hey, Yolei," TK greeted.
"GUYS! I can't believe it! The lead singer of the Teenage Wolves is coming to our school! Our school!" Yolei Inoue practically burst with excitement. "I can't wait to see him! TK, you are so lucky to have a brother like him!!"
Kari let out a little laugh. "I've met him, Inoue. He's a nice guy, but I apparently grouched him." Her eyes twinkled with mirth at how she knew Yolei would react to this. TK, too. Her friends were so predictable.
Yolei's reply was earsplitting. "WWWHHHAAAAATTTTT???? You met him??? Spoke to him??? GROUCHED HIM???" Kari burst into laughter. "Yep."
TK looked confused. "You never grouched him when we were little, Kari. We just played a game of Monopoly and then he left. We were too young to snub people back then."
"WWWHHHAAAAATTTTT???? You knew each other when you were kids??? And you've never told me? What kind of friends are you two?!"
Kari shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. "No, no, I met him just a while ago. We were kind of stuck because of that humongous crowd back there cheering for him and for that Mimi Tachikawa."
Yolei's voice was deafening, but TK and Kari still managed to ignore her.
"So WHY IS IT THAT I'M THE ONE WHO'S YELLING MY HEAD OFF AND NONE OF YOU ARE LISTENING???" Yolei hollered, her voice making Kari's and TK's hair fly back at the force of it.
TK and Kari continued on with their conversation, still trying not to notice her. "So, how did you get out?" TK yelled, wincing a little from the bellowing purple-haired girl nearby.
"Could you yell that again?" Kari had her hands over her ears. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"WHAT???" TK screamed back.
Kari sighed. This would be a long day
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Well that's done and over with. Is it just me or am I prolonging the big "meeting"? Well, I myself don't know what's happening next. Let us see…well, anyway, review!! GRADUATION, HERE I COME!!