A/N: Ok, here's the second chapter of my little fic.  I forgot to mention that in this fic, Sora and Yamato have never met personally before, kay?  Also, I'm not editing this before I post it, so I hope everything is OK.  If there are any big mistakes that make you angry, don't hesitate to tell me.  I deserve it for taking so long to post.  Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To Be Able to Love

By: Valentine Taylor

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Last time…

Yamato thought for a moment.  Was he going to ask her out?  This was only his first day back to school.  Then again, he had decided over the weekend that he would ask her out today.  He did have advanced physics second period.  "Yeah, I think I will.  She's in my second class."

"OK, but I won't see you until lunch.  You'll have to tell me how it goes then."  Yamato nodded, and first bell rang.

~*~*~

First period went by quickly enough.  Yamato walked with Miaro, Takashi and Aki; all four boys were headed to the science wing.  Aki was in Yamato's class, but Miaro and Takashi were headed to advanced Biology. 

"See you guys later," Yamato said as the group split up to go to their own classes.  "Hey Aki, what do you think of Tachikawa Mimi?"

"She's cute, why?  Are you going to take her out?"

"Yeah, Taichi said he thinks she's interested."

"Ishida, every girl is 'interested' in you.  Yamato just shrugged as they entered their classroom.  The two looked in the direction of the pink haired girl.  "Good luck man.  Not that you need it or anything."

Yamato grinned and walked towards the group of girls Mimi was part of.  "Hey," was all he had to say and the entire group of about seven or eight girls dissolved into giggles.  In all honesty, Yamato couldn't stand girls who giggled every time he opened his mouth.  They were just so…transparent?  Was that the word he was looking for?  Or was it fake?

He looked to Mimi.  Though he already knew who she was, he asked, "Mimi, right?"

The girl's giggles lessened as she replied, "Yes, that's me."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"  Mimi nodded and followed Yamato to an empty corner of the room.

"How was the tour?" asked Mimi, genuinely interested.

'See, she's nice and pretty.  I just wish she didn't giggle,' he thought.  "It was great.  We had a lot of fun."  He leaned on the wall.  "Listen, I want to ask you, are you busy Friday night?"  Mimi shook her head, anticipation on her face.  "Great, well, now you are!"  Yamato knew how to play the game better then anyone.  He knew that even if he was rude and demanded a date, girls would still fall at his feet.

Mimi smiled.  "You want to go out with me?"  Yamato casually nodded his head.

"It can't hurt can it?"  Once again, Mimi just shook her head.  "Great, I'll call you."  He knew Taichi could get her number for him, so he wasn't going to waste time getting it himself.  He leaned down to whisper suggestively in the girl's ear.  "We'll have fun, I promise."  As he said this, his lips brushed her ear and she giggled softly.  Yamato quickly kissed her cheek and left her to go to his seat at the back of the room.

"How'd it go?" Aki, who sat next to Yamato asked.

"She's all for it."

"So how many's that Ishida?" A new voice asked.  Yamato and Aki looked up to see Kido Jou standing over them.  "Have you 'been with' every girl in the Junior and Senior classes yet?"

 "No, Kido he hasn't," Aki snapped.  Why do you care anyway?  It's not like he's taking any girls that would go out with you.  Run back to your books."

"Aki," Yamato said warningly, "just leave him alone.  Let me handle this."  Turning to Jou, he said, "That's not what I'm aiming for.  In fact, I'm not aiming for anything."

"So why are you going out with so many girls?"  Jou sounded more confident then usual.  "Tell me, do you enjoy your reputation as this school's biggest playboy?"  Obviously having said what he came over to say, Jou made his way back to his seat at the front of the room.

Aki growled.  "Wanna kill him?"

Yamato was shocked, to say the least, by Aki's behavior.  "Aren't you supposed to be the nice one?" he asked, referring to The Teenage Wolves.

"Well, he's insulting your trademark!"

"Whatever.  I think you just have man-PMS," Yamato replied flatly.  However, Aki's statement made him think.  Was it really his 'trademark'?  Is that how people would remember him- the "Playboy of Odaiba High"?  'Well, what's so wrong with that?' he thought.  'Nothing.' Somewhere in the back of his mind, the annoying little voice of his conscience was ranting about how it showed he had no respect for the female gender, but he refused to think about that. 

As the teacher walked into the room, Yamato forced himself to focus on the lesson.

The lunch bell rang, and Sora packed up her books as quickly as she could.  She had to find Koushiro so she could tell him about her morning.  As she made her way down the hall, she saw her redish-brown haired friend at his locker.  "Hey Kou, what's up?" she asked as she approached the younger boy.

Koushiro took his head out of his locker.  "Not much."  After a moment he added, "But it looks like you have something to tell me."  He read the silly grin on her face correctly.

"Yup!  Come on, I'll tell you over lunch!"  The two friends headed towards the cafeteria.  When they got there, they sat together at their usual table with their brown bag lunches.  They had first become friends when Koushiro had gotten sick from eating school food.  Everyone else just laughed at or ignored him.  But Sora helped him to the nurse's office, and they had become inseparable since then.  Over the past year, Sora's other friends had accepted him, and now he was just one of the gang.  However, Sora and Koushiro were the best of friends.  They had vowed to each other never to buy a school lunch again.

"So what is it?" Koushiro asked once they were both eating.

Sora's eyes danced.  She recounted that morning's events to the boy.  "And then, when I got to school he…Kou, are you listening?"  The boy's eyes had drifted from her face and he was now staring over her left shoulder.

"Don't look now, jerk alert."  Regardless of the fact that Koushiro had said 'don't look,' Sora turned to look in the direction that he was looking.  Into the cafeteria marched the self-proclaimed "Beautiful People"-the ten most gorgeous, popular people in the entire school.  "Oh look," Koushiro continued, "Their fearless leader is back from his trip."

Sora's stomach jumped when she realized the leader of the group was none other than the boy who had helped her that morning.  "Why didn't I notice it before?" she said out loud, more to herself than Kou.  She knew he had looked familiar.

The group started through the cafeteria, making their presence known while making their way to the 'cool table' on the other side of the room.

As they walked towards Sora's table she and Koushiro couldn't help but stare.  As they walked by- to Sora's surprise- the boy caught her eye.  He flashed her another million-dollar smile, then he winked, then the entire group walked past.  No one seemed to notice the boy's behavior.  Then a thought struck her- she didn't know his name.  Everyone knew his face, but she didn't know his name.  'I'll find out later,' she thought.

"Do my eyes deceive me," Kou asked, getting Sora's attention, "Or did Ishida Yamato, most Beautiful of the 'Beautiful People' just smile and wink at you?"

"Ishida Yamato," Sora repeated, "is the boy I was telling you about; the boy who helped me."

"You mean, you were driven to school by the most popular guy in Odaiba?"

"It's not that big a deal Kou."  Koushiro just shrugged helplessly.

"Are you guys talking about Yamato?" Naomi, another of Sora and Koushiro's friends, asked.  When Sora nodded, the girl continued.  "I heard he asked out Tachikawa Mimi in Physics.  The school playboy is moving right along; today was his first day back, and he already has a new girl on his date list!"  After this was said, the topic of Yamato was dropped, and Kou and Sora joined the other occupants of the table in a different conversation.  However, Sora couldn't completely forget Yamato's smile.

As the group sat down at their table, Yamato and Taichi grabbed seats next to each other.  "Who were you smiling at?" Taichi asked.

"Just some girl I helped.  The girl you saw me with this morning; some guys were giving her trouble."

Taichi nodded.  "Yep, 'just some girl'."  Taichi was Yamato's best friend, which meant two things: 1) He was the most popular boy in school's best friend and second in command-how could he not be? He was smart, Captain of the soccer team, adored by almost as many girls as Yamato- and 2) He knew Yamato better than anyone else.  "She didn't bow down at your feet, did she?"  It was more of a statement then a question.

Yamato scowled at his long-time friend.  "No, she didn't.  In fact, if she recognized me at all, she didn't show it"

"Huh, that's weird.  She goes to this school, how could she not know who you are?"

"Maybe she's not a sheep Yagami," Yamato shot back, referring to the rest of the girls in Odaiba High.

"Not a sheep?" Taichi questioned.  "She must be a rare find then.  I can't think of one other girl who isn't a sheep."  The amusement in his voice was unmistakable. 

"Whatever Taichi.  I'm telling you, she had no reaction to me whatsoever except gratitude."

Taichi looked over in the direction Yamato was now looking.  "Which one is she?  Auburn?"  Yamato nodded.  Taichi analyzed, "She's pretty.  Doesn't really look like your type though," he joked.

"Who said anything about her needing to be my type?  I just helped her out, it's not like she's my girlfriend or anything."

Taichi shrugged.  "No, I guess not, you're going with Mimi."  Yamato nodded his head affirmatively.  "So she said yes?"  Another nod.

After a few minutes of silence, Yamato said, "She's actually not that bad.  She didn't seem nervous, and she didn't giggle.  She's the first girl to act normal around me in a while."  Yamato took a bite of his sandwich.  "She was pretty cool."  He noticed that Taichi was still gazing over at the girl.  "Maybe you should go ask if she wants to hang out over here for lunch Taichi," Yamato stated, not able to hide the amusement from his voice.

"You think?"  To the other people at the table he asked, "Is it cool with you guys if I ask someone to sit with us for today?"  Though he already knew the answer would be yes.  Who would dare contradict the second most popular person in school?  "Great!  I'll be right back; make room."

TBC…

A/N: Grr, I don't like school and teachers are evil.  That is all I have to say.

~*Val*~

P.S.- Sorry if the school is beginning to seem like hierarchy.  I'm trying to fix it, but it's hard considering the 'popular' people are sort of supposed to 'rule' over the less-then-popular students.  Sorry if this bugs you…