Anyway, thank you once again for your kind words, and I hope that you all enjoy this instalment. Be warned however that from here on in, the story will be worthy of it's PG-13 rating. Oh, and for the Taiora fans, this should be the last chapter without good relations between the two, so stay with me... I promise, there will be some, um, 'cute' scenes soon.
Please review!
CHAPTER 5: 'TIS NOT OURS TO REASON WHY"What do you think we should do? He's just become quiet again, like he was when he first arrived..."
"I don't think there is a lot we can do, Kari. Just wait for him to start talking again, I suppose. We can't force him to do anything."
"Yeah, but... I'm his sister, and he barely says anything to me... Why, TK? What have I done wrong?"
"You haven't done anything wrong... Listen, soon Tai will be back to how he was, trust me. All it takes is a bit of time."
"..."
"He loves you, you know. He'd never do anything to hurt you on purpose."
"...yeah, I know... I know..."
----------
In the east, a young man sat back in his chair, wondering once again where everyone had gone over the last week. They had all made excuses, going to various places with, say, parents or going to see distant relatives.And he, as was the trend over the last two years, had been left out. He snorted, a grin appearing on his face. Eighteen years old in seven days, and he hadn't been out with friends his age for years. No one would ever invite him- he was just forgotten. Kari asked if he would go out with her and TK, but he didn't want to be a third wheel. He didn't want to make them uncomfortable.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are likely to experience some turbulence in a few minutes. For the safety of yourself and fellow passengers, please return to your seats."
The young man sighed at the pilot's announcement. He didn't like turbulence; it always made him feel queasy. He could remember that such an incident –did- make him sick once when he was going on holiday with friends when he was little. Unfortunately, a bag was not at hand, so he had used the closest thing available- namely, Sora Takenouchi's hat. He'd forgotten to tell her afterwards, and well...
That had been unpleasant for all involved.
But to tell the truth, this seemed a bit more than just a common bit of turbulence. About an hour ago, there had been an announcement that a storm was ahead, so they had changed course to avoid it. However they didn't appear to have missed it completely- he just had to look out the window to see the lightning.
Yes, it worried him. Ever since the Digital World, he had developed a healthy dislike of technology- he just didn't trust it, and planes fell under that category. He had begun to think how strange it was that a tube of metal was able to get into the air and –stay- there.
Yes, it was odd. He was finding it harder and harder to believe that he was perfectly safe-
BANG!
There were screams around the cabin as pressure was lost and winds began to whip around the passengers. The young man looked about franticly in the now shaking aircraft, eventually seeing that one of the emergency escape windows had been, for whatever reason, blown open. His eyes widened in horror when he realised that it had taken the two closest aisle seats –including passengers- with it, as well as all those nearby who hadn't put on their seatbelts fast enough.
Cries filled his ears as the oxygen masks dropped from overhead. The cabin lights began to dim and flicker, casting everything into a deep blue light. His head was spinning, his body was shaking, his stomach was queasy... So the young man did the only thing he could.
He held on.
Time seemed to be slow, yet flew by at the same time. He could feel his stomach leaping as the plane descended at a speed too fast to be remotely safe, and he began to get the feeling that he was going to die. As frightened as he was, he calmly put his hand into his pocket as the aluminium tube rumbled around him, moving it to grip onto his silver pocket watch, one which he always kept close to him. It was the closest thing he had to a good luck charm, and he believed that it would always see him through bad times. His best friend had given it to him nearly three years ago, and in that time he had never left it out of arms reach- it was too precious to him.
The plane shook violently. More screams filled his ears, adults and children fearing for their lives. But he did not cry out- after all, he had been a leader of a team who had faced death every day once, and he always led by example.
And he would be damned if he was to be a bad example here.
"BRACE, BRACE, BRACE!" the pilot shouted franticly over the radio, and the young man bent down between his knees, fingers interlacing over the back of his head as he closed his eyes.
Suddenly a feeling came over him, a sense that if he stayed as he was, he was going to die. He could not understand it, even though he had felt it before in the Digital World. It was a feeling of danger, of alert, like he had to move... Now!
Quickly, he unsnapped his belt and leapt into the aisle, just in time to feel the jolt of the plane hitting the water of the Pacific Ocean and to see that same water smashing it's way up the cabin. It hit him with all the force of a brick wall, taking him along with it's flow towards the plane's rear. He was abruptly stopped as it came to the bulkhead that ended the front section of the plane, throwing him into the plastic dividing wall and creating a dent which closely matched his body shape. He fell forward into the freezing water, trying to stay conscious. He had to get out!
The man looked to his right, seeing a collection of boxes built into the wall. He knew what he needed- a life vest of some kind-
There!
Spluttering in the now neck-deep water, he pulled at the box labelled in typewriter print 'life raft', revealing a bright yellow bundle of rubber and plastic. A gasp to the side alerted him to a air hostess, sitting backwards in relation to which way the plane flew, in a cabin crew designated seat. Their eyes met, and he made to call to her to unbuckle her belt. But he was cut off as the plane groaned, and split like a tube of paper above them.
He leapt in shock as it all came apart, sending the front quarter of the aircraft, along with passengers and crew, down into the murky depths. But the last thing he saw was the hostess, looking into his eyes and screaming in terror as best she could in the water as she was pulled down with it. The man barely noticed that he had automatically pulled the ripcord on the raft. It inflated in a moment, pulling him upwards through the newly presented hole towards the surface.
As he broke into the air, he gasped at how cold and dark everything was under the merciless downpour of rain. He pulled himself onto his raft, trying to blot the image of the dying passengers and hostess entombed in the front of the plane from his mind, along with the thought that he very nearly joined them.
For a moment, just a moment, he allowed himself to rest, before a high-pitched whine became known to his ears.
Eyes wide in horror, the young man turned to see a jet turbine engine slowly moving towards him and, just as frighteningly, the water. He knew what the liquid would do to it...
He had just enough time to move his hands up to shield his face before the blades touched the sea. The water shot into the machine, clogging the components and rupturing the fuel lines. A spark was all it took to make the thing explode into thousands of tiny pieces, shooting flame and shrapnel outwards.
The man was thrown from the yellow raft and into the sea, arms flailing by the force of the blast. He screamed in agony as he felt red-hot shards of metal impaling the left side of his face, cutting and melting skin. Just as he hit the water once more, he was sure he could smell burning flesh.
----------
Tai awoke from the nightmare, screaming in terror and phantom pain, clutching at the ruined part of his face. He snapped his eyes shut and grit his teeth, snarling in his will to calm himself down. But it was a pointless battle that he had no chance of winning, not with the content of the dream and the feelings of anger and confusion that had put him turmoil for the last two days since the 'party'. Just as he began to sob, loudly, the door to his room burst open and the lights flew on into a blinding glare.
Eyes still closed, the ex-castaway curled up under what was left of the sweaty bed sheets -most of them being now on the floor- and let himself go. He had been okay when he had initially returned from his island (most likely from not quite believing he was home), but only since the attempted 'welcome back' party on Wednesday had he really begun to think about things- about what he had missed, and about what had changed.
His mind just couldn't handle it- he needed this release.
A pair of fragile arms came down gently on him, shaking him as if they were trying to wake him from sleep. But, lost in his mind, Taichi did not feel them, and he continued to cry.
Kari looked up from where her older brother lay crying like a lost child, turning to see TK clad in boxers and a shirt (his clothes of choice for sleeping in) hurrying in through the door. He looked at the older man, expression mirroring her own, and asked,
"What happened?"
"I- I don't know... You heard him scream too, right? I just came in here, and he was crying..." Kari replied as she moved down to try to comfort the weeping man.
"He must have had a nightmare or something..." TK said as he moved around to the other side of the bed to offer support like she was. "What do you think it was about?"
"I don't know..."
"Something from the island? You know how he avoids telling anyone about what happened there..."
Kari didn't have an answer to that. It was a fair guess, but they couldn't know for certain unless he told them so.
"C'mon Tai!" she whispered into his ear. "Don't cry! Everything's alright, just calm down..."
He appeared to hear her in some way, because his cries began to quiet down. However he did not fall silent, as it soon became apparent that he was mumbling something over and over again.
"What's he saying?" TK asked.
"Listen..."
They stopped, trying to do just that. It wasn't easy, but eventually they could hear Tai's words even though his mouth was partially covered as he clutched at his ruined face.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... Please... I'm... Sorry..." he said, repeating constantly and broken only by an occasional sob.
"Tai..." Kari said, tears running down her cheeks, "Don't worry, you're okay... They'll forgive you, Matt isn't angry anymore, they all want to see you again... They want to be your friends, Tai, listen to me..."
What she didn't realise however was that he was not only referring to his outburst at the other Digidestined. No, he was begging for forgiveness from the passengers who died whilst he lived. Even though there was very little he could have done, his attitude to life had never allowed him to let it go. It had been worse early on when he was on the island, for all he could see when he slept were the terrified eyes of the airhostess.
And then, of course, was the chaos that he had caused with his return. He was truly sorry for the mess he had made in people's lives, but it was not as if his time alone had shown him nothing.
Because the... incident... at the summit of the island had taught him one thing- that he should never give up.
----------
The next day flew by, leading quickly up to the show in which Sora's products would be displayed. It had been a quiet day, one which Kari and TK had spent reading, watching TV, and even playing Monopoly. Tai remained staring at the television with empty eyes, lost in memories.
Indeed, he had often been dreaming of events over the past six years, but never had it been so intense. He could still hear the cries of people on the plane, and the whine of the engine...
His flatmates had, of course, asked about the events of last night. They wanted to know what had scared him so much, and eventually (though with great reluctance), he had told them.
Tai sat at the dinner table, hands clamped tightly around a mug of tea, ignorant of how it burnt. The glove, still on, protected his right hand anyway.
"So... what happened?" asked Takeru from his position to Tai's left, concern evident in his eyes. Tai looked up from contemplating the bubbles on the surface of his warm drink, and stared at the younger man in the manner that he had done so when he had met him once more back in the hospital.
But, he lacked the strength at this moment of time to keep it up, and soon his head dropped back down to focus upon his tea.
"Tai," Kari said in support, "please tell us... We can't help you otherwise."
They had asked him many times about the island, what he had done there, how he had survived, but each time he had either avoided the question or simply replied with 'I'll tell you later'. It were as if he were trying to forget it, but now... they would not let him.
But he couldn't forget right now. And he had to tell –someone-.
"Do... Do you think I'm ugly?" he asked as the index finger of his left hand began to lightly trace the scars on his face.
"No!" they had immediately responded, rushing with negatives to answer the question. He almost grinned at their vehemence, such loyalty...
"I know I am," he said quietly. "I'm hideous... Do you want to know why? Why my face is like this?"
The other two quickly fell quiet, waiting for him to continue.
"I dreamt of when it happened. It was when the plane crashed... There was a storm, I think it did something but... No one seems to know. We fell thousands of feet, people, children, screaming all the way. Before we hit the water, I released my belt and grabbed a life raft, and then the plane fell apart around me. Everyone else went down with it, only I got out... I could see all of them looking at me, and their eyes... I feel like they are accusing me of letting them die...
"I surfaced before one of the engines. It hit the water and exploded... The heat and shrapnel did this to me."
He slowly looked at Takeru and Kari steadily.
"I don't care if I'm ugly... In fact, I want to be. I deserve to be, because I lived whilst everyone else died."
He was hit with reassurances that it was not his fault that everyone had died, but then it wasn't just seeing them falling into the blackness. No, because it had been reinforced by an event a few days afterwards.
He told them then of the body of a young woman, and how it had been washed up on the shore of the island. The corpse was hideous- floating in the freezing waters for four days had caused it not only to begin to decompose, but to turn a sickening blue.
He had taken various garments off her (with a rule not to take anything to 'reveal' her –he held a great deal of respect and pity for this woman- followed by checking her pockets for anything useful. About the only thing worthwhile that such an activity had produced was a small torch which, by some miracle, still worked. It appeared to be a special present because engraved on the side were the words,
"Lisa,
May this help you find your way in the darkest places.
Love,
John"
He had also found a wallet/purse type item that held some money, an ID card, and a family photo.
Tai had assumed that the person whom she was standing by was this 'John', and that the young boy in front of them was their son.
Following this, he had done everything he could to give her a decent send-off. He'd dug a grave (which was unfortunately a little too short, making him fold her legs up to make her fit- he couldn't help but notice how, rather than fold, they sort of 'flopped' as though they were broken) and scratched her name into a large nearby rock. Crude, but then it was the best he could do.
"Tai, the engine exploding..." Kari asked, putting two and two together, "is something like that why you keep covering your hand?"
"Partially... But I find doing so comforting. Please don't take it away from me," he had replied cryptically. And on the subject of the time on the island, he would say no more.
Of course, there were other reasons for his breakdown- but how could they even begin to understand how strange everything was for him? How different everything was? He could not tell them. Not yet.
But perhaps someday...
That had happened early before breakfast, for which the Takashis had been thankful, because it had given them time to recover from the disturbing story. But the fact that there was obviously more like that locked away in Tai's head did not help matters.
But now was the time to put it aside, because the three, along with Davis, were now sitting in a taxi and were well on their way to the Odaiba concert hall, to meet Sora and the rest of the Digidestined for the presentation. TK and Kari were attempting to make light conversation, whilst Davis nervously fidgeted with an occasional glance over to the man who, he could not deny, was still his idol. As for Tai himself, he merely looked out of the window for the entire journey, not saying a word. His mind was a million miles away, lost somewhere out in the Pacific.
Soon, they pulled up near to a large cylindrical building, stopping outside the main doors. They got out of the taxi, the two goggle boys and the brown-haired girl moving around to look at the entryway whilst TK paid the driver. It drove away, and the blonde moved up by them.
They were dressed smartly for the occasion, Kari wearing a rather flash red dress whilst TK wore a suit and Davis a tuxedo (of course, the Takashis did not fail to point out that it was the exact same tuxedo which he had worn to the last school dance, nearly three years ago- the cheapskate). Tai was reluctant to part with his adopted clothing, so a compromise had been reached with smart-ish black trousers, white shirt and tie, accompanied by the warm green coat.
At least, that was what he had worn at first, before he had replaced the tie for a black sweater. It wasn't that he didn't like the tie though, it was just that the mere idea of wrapping anything around his neck right now made him feel physically sick.
The four moved towards the doors, going with the flow of people who were now going in. Upon getting there, they were met by the sight of the Digidestined and friends gathered in the lobby, all of who looked up from their various groups to see them.
They appeared pleased at the sight of Davis, TK, and Kari but at the same time somewhat distraught regarding their old leader. Whilst the former three moved towards the large group quickly, Tai lagged behind with his shoulders slumped. They were all there, unlike at the party, for now as well as Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Ken, Yolei, and that new girl, there was also Joe (tall as ever, complete with wire-rimmed glasses, though his hair was once again short as it had been when he was first in the Digital World), Cody (looking refined and calm as always with his classic closely cropped hair), and Jun (who took him a moment to recognise- she was taller now, and had longer hair reaching down to her shoulders rather than those odd spikes). However he refused to meet the eyes of anyone, until his sister, accompanied by an extremely nervous Sora and a man who he had never seen before, moved directly before him.
Slowly, his eyes rolled upwards to look the three with what almost appeared to be a cross between boredom and confusion.
"Hey Tai?" Kari said, catching his full attention. "Sora has someone here she wants you to meet."
A slight frown appeared on his brow as he looked to the red-haired woman. She hesitated, as though for a moment she was unable to speak, before finally saying,
"Tai... Um, this is Aoba, my manufacturer. He takes my designs and makes them for me..."
His eyes quickly switched from her to the man designated as Aoba. Indeed, he looked as he had been described in the café- shoulder length brown hair and a clean, thin, smiling face.
"Mr. Kamiya!" he greeted with a short bow, "I am honoured to meet you! I've heard a great deal about your story on the television, and I must say, you are a hero! A man victorious over nature and her elements!"
Tai found himself zoning out as the man rambled on how he had inspired him to make a song. He really didn't care much, but he was in no mood to waste the effort in getting him to shut up. Thankfully, he was soon interrupted as another new person turned up.
"Hey Sora!" she said smoothly, "Who's the cutie?"
His head turned to the right to look directly at her, and he noted with a hint of amusement that she recoiled slightly when the scarred side of his face became visible. She was about Sora's height, and had reddish-brown hair reaching down to her neck, accompanied by bright blue eyes. Sora grimaced in badly hidden annoyance at the appearance of her flirtatious rival.
"...Taichi, this is Mana Kirishima, my main competitor. Mana, this is Taichi Kamiya, an... Old friend."
"Oh! Mr Kamiya, from the news, right?"
He responded by deepening his frown slightly, followed by a quiet "Yes".
"Wow, I'm so glad to meet you! You're like a celebrity!"
Tai could feel a headache coming on at this woman's annoying tone of voice.
"You must have been quite a man to have survived so long by yourself..." she said with a wink.
'Oh yes, a headache alright,' Tai thought to himself.
"So... Are you here by yourself tonight? Single, Mr. Kamiya?"
'Scratch that, make it a migraine.'
He could have said that he wasn't interested of course. He could have moved a bit closer to the now angry looking Sora, who was busy glaring at her rival. He could have shot out a nasty remark. But he knew that, with someone like Mana, none of those ideas would have worked, and besides, he didn't want to give Sora the wrong idea with the second option.
So, he did something different.
"No, thank you Miss Kirishima, but I am not here alone." He looked up from her and over her shoulder. "Hey Davis," he called as he brushed past the outgoing woman, smirking slightly as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the implication sink in.
Taichi moved to the younger man who, oblivious to the conversation with Mana, looked up at him with hope that his role model wasn't angry with him.
"Do you know where I could get a glass of ice around here?" the ex-castaway asked.
----------
Thus, Tai had managed to engross himself in a conversation with Mr. Motomiya, not simply to catch up with the events in life of the younger version of himself, but as a tactical solution to avoid talking to anyone else. He just knew that, were he not talking to Davis, then Matt or Izzy or someone would have come over to talk. And he didn't want to deal with them, not yet, anyway.
Regardless of such matters however, it had been quite an interesting conversation. Davis was, after all, an interesting person, and it had certainly been amusing to hear about how he had got his job at the café.
'I can cook! I can cook! I can cooooook!!!' his mind called to him, giving the nineteen year old Davis an enormous sense of well being as he strolled through the streets of Odaiba.
Well, strolled was a very lose term.
You see, he had just learnt that he had a talent in the kitchen, for which he was very grateful- he was a better cook than TA! –um, TK! And he intended to make the most of it, so he had decided to show his happiness in the best way possible.
Strut!
He moved down the streets in much the manner of John Travolta in the opening scene of 'Saturday Night Fever', ignorant of the strange looks he was getting from passers by. Because, he was Davis, he had his goggles, and he was God in the kitchen!
Surely he could get a good job now! Like... In a restaurant! Or maybe he could get his own restaurant!
It was then that he came across the café built on a street corner, posted with a 'help wanted' sign. He debated with himself whether he should take it or not, finally deciding that he had to start somewhere.
With a grin rivalling that of the Cheshire Cat, he entered the building.
Shortly after Davis had finished his story, they had entered the main hall. It had been arranged with a catwalk down the centre as an extension from the normal stage. Seats had been placed around it in a horseshoe-crescent pattern, going back to fill the hall. At full capacity, there would be hundreds of people watching.
Their designated seats were placed three rows back and near an aisle, just behind where the businessmen with their contracts would be. It was apparently as far forward as Sora had been able to get them due to how so many of the Digidestined had turned up at the last minute. She had apologised repeatedly for it (most of the time, Tai had noticed, when she was around him), before disappearing backstage once they had all sat down.
Tai had positioned himself with Davis to his right and Kari and TK to his left. The others he took no notice of.
"Hey Tai," Davis' voice came from his side as the lights began to darken and the presentation began, "why do you think that Miss Kirishima keeps looking at us like that?"
Tai didn't answer for a moment, instead looking at where the lad was gesturing. He could see Mana, heading towards the backstage door, who was looking at them as if their faces had just turned green.
"Oh," he said easily, "I made her think that we were gay."
"WHAT?!? Why did you do that?! She's HOT Tai!" the younger man spluttered. Tai looked down at him tiredly.
"I'm sorry if that offends you, Davis. But there are more to people than their appearances, and the way she was coming on to me earlier tells me that she is quite a player. Someone I would not want to be involved with.
"The only thing I could think of that would get rid of her was to give the impression that I was gay, and... It worked."
"But... You could have suggested TK, couldn't you? I'm not like that..." Davis responded quietly.
"Nah, Takeru's married. She would have seen his ring. I didn't want to risk it. I know that you aren't attracted to men though, and no one will hear of what I did. I won't tell anyone."
"Yeah, well... Jeez, I need a girlfriend."
Tai chuckled quietly, and replied,
"Don't worry Davis. You will find someone." He paused, then added with a wink, "And don't be so homophobic."
Tai could only chuckle as the younger man punched him lightly in the shoulder, but soon a smile hit Davis as he realised that his idol appeared to have forgiven him about the party incident- otherwise he wouldn't be teasing him so.
Things were looking better for the two old friends.
----------
If Tai were to describe the show, he would have done do in three words: loud, bright, and confusing. Models had walked up and down the catwalk under flashing bright lights, to the sound of music of which Tai had never heard. That, combined with noise from some of the crowd, made him feel dizzy.
So, he had snuck out with the excuse that he was going to the toilet. It was a lie, of course, for he had no intention of going there- all he wanted to do was go somewhere quiet for a while.
Tai had wondered around the building, finding all sorts of passageways and corridors. Six years ago, he would have stayed around the lobby, but this place was so fascinating. It was huge to him, for he had not been anywhere like this for over seven years. Not surprising then that he found that he couldn't help but wonder wherever his eyes took him.
But all good things must come to an end, and soon he turned to find his way back.
After ten minutes of that, Tai decided that he was lost.
'Damn', he thought, 'and to think that I found the island hard to get around...'
He was heading down a service corridor, littered with boxes containing what appeared to be costumes for performances. There were no signs signalling where he was however, so he decided that he should just follow the passage- it was sure to take him somewhere. Hopefully somewhere where someone could tell him how to get back to the main hall.
As he neared a corner, a smile touched his lips as voices became apparent. People! He could ask them!
The ex-castaway's pace increased and he sped up. He turned the corner, opening his mouth to ask a question, when he abruptly recognised who was talking.
About ten metres away stood Mana and Aoba, talking in hushed voices.
His face immediately took on a frown as he quickly moved into a shadow behind a large cardboard box, and strained his ears to hear them.
He could barely make out their voices, and he realised that if he were to find out what they were speaking of, he would have to get closer.
For a normal person, such a feat would be next to impossible. But then, Taichi Kamiya was not normal, for not only was he a Digidestined, but he had also learnt how to move silently whilst not being seen over the past six years. After all, what use is being able to kill a fish if one couldn't get close to it?
Silently he drew up his coat's hood over his head, allowing it to cast his face into darkness, and dropped onto all fours. Then with cat-like grace, he crept forwards whilst keeping to every shadow available to avoid being detected.
When he judged he was close enough, Tai moved next to a small box, one that whilst not large enough to render him invisible behind it, would provide adequate cover for him to merge. He crouched so that his coat covered him completely, casting it around himself to make it look like no more than an old dark green tarpaulin, whilst allowing himself a small gap to see the pair.
Then... He listened.
"So you've done the work then?" Mana asked sharply in a tone completely void of the playfulness of when she had spoken to Tai earlier.
"Yeah. I altered some of the designs to make them... dangerous. The results should be appearing anytime now." Aoba answered quietly.
"Good. Here."
She reached out with a wad of money, handing it quickly to the longhaired man, and said,
"I trust we will be doing business again soon, Mr. Aoba?"
"Of course, Miss Kirishima. I always enjoy doing business with you."
They separated, quickly moving in opposite directions and leaving Tai to ponder this odd bit of information.
'Alterations? What did he mean?'
He decided to find out.
Once the two had moved out of sight, he stealthily ran after Aoba to find out where he was going. He soon caught up and melted into the shadows, following him like a stalker.
And after four minutes of doing so, Tai noted with surprise that they were back by the main lobby. He continued to follow Aoba, and watched as he walked into the main hall where the show was being held.
Tai found himself frowning as he looked at where the man had disappeared.
"There you are!"
The call made him blink, and he looked to his right to see TK jogging towards him.
"I've been looking all over for you!" he said as he got close. "Come on," he continued, "Sora's stuff will be on soon."
Takeru waved him towards the hall entrance, to which he walked still frowning.
'Alterations...'
As the pair moved towards where the rest of the group was seated, Tai noticed that Sora had joined them, and was sitting next to the aisle. She looked around at them, and gestured to the catwalk.
"Looks like it's her part of the show," TK said as they stopped by her.
Tai looked to where she had gestured, and watched as new models began to appear. They were wearing dresses which, he noticed with slightly raised eyebrows, looked a lot like the one Kari was wearing. He leant closer to Takeru to ask if indeed they were of the same make, when he was interrupted by a shrill scream.
His head snapped back to the models, only to witness a sight which he thought he would never see.
Hell, he'd never imagined such a thing anyway.
The dresses were literally falling apart as they moved, tearing with all the ease of tissue paper. The models who had already fallen victim to this were screaming whilst doing their best to cover their underwear-clad forms.
"Oh my God..." TK murmured as the presentation fell into chaos.
Tai could only agree. He looked down and to his right to see Sora, first watching her designs fall to ruin, then looking up at him with tear stained eyes.
She let out a strangled sob as she leapt up and shoved past him, running out of the hall without looking back.
"Sora!" he shouted, "Wait!" but she did not slow, and was soon out of sight.
He turned back to see the rest of the group, some standing and some not, looking at him as though they did not know what to do.
His right hand began to twitch violently, but he clenched it in an effort to calm it. 'Adjustments indeed', he thought as he looked back to the door through which Sora had run.
Eight years ago, he would have followed her.
Seven, he perhaps would have gone to look for her later.
But now... He did nothing. Nor did he plan to because, after all, it was none of his business.