A/N: Has anyone but me noticed that around 80% of the shrines out there are to Matt? There are eleven other people to make shrines to, you know. I'd make a few if I could, but unfortunately, I suck with stuff like that, so I stick to writing fanfics. I'm not saying Matt doesn't deserve all those shrines, I'm saying the rest of the characters deserve them, too. Oh well, I'm done with that mini-rant. Enjoy this chapter. A little slow, but lays down little hints for things that will become significant later in the story. (Hint-hint.)

Note: This chapter is from Matt's POV.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, the characters I use, the song "Tiny Dancer" (Elton John owns it), or the movie Almost Famous (though it is a very good movie).

The hard wood of the bench was starting to make my back uncomfortable. I shifted a little on my seat and Hikari made a small noise from where she lay with her head on my lap. I settled back again, and my head bumped back into Miyako's. She leant forward and turned around, leaning over the back of her bench and into mine. We were sitting outside of a tattoo and piercing parlor in the mall, on a hard, uncomfortable bench.

"How long has it been now?"

"Ten minutes."

She sighed and dropped her arms over the bench to rub Hikari's head. Hikari breathed in and slowly opened her eyes. She gave us a slightly confused look.

"Did I nod off?"

"For a little while."

She sat up, smiling and blushing slightly. "Sorry."

"For what?"

"Using you as a pillow."

I smiled at her. "Don't worry about it. Man, Jyou takes forever."

He had gone in nearly fifteen minutes ago, and he still hadn't returned. As if on cue, the door swung open and Jyou stepped out, looking slightly pale.

"I cannot believe you blackmailed me into doing that."

I grinned at him. "Well, let's see it."

Jyou glared at me. "This is all your fault, Matt. That hurt like hell, you know."

"Of course it did, you're a wimp, now show us."

He reluctantly lifted his shirt and showed us the small bellybutton ring he had just gotten. The three of us burst out laughing at how ridiculous it looked on him. He narrowed his eyes.

"I'm just glad no one will be able to see it."

"Well, you'll know you have it, and that'll be enough for me."

He shoved his shirt back down and we got up from the benches. I stretched my arms out and then slipped one around Jyou's shoulders. I leant in and whispered to him, "You'll get over it, don't worry. I did."

He blushed slightly and I let him go, smiling. He always blushed when I touched him like that. I have that effect on people. I slid my hands into my pockets and walked alongside Hikari as we made our way to the bookstore next. We went in and Miyako and Jyou went straight to their favorite sections.

I let Hikari lead me to the poetry section, where she loved to browse for good poetry collections. I leant against the bookrack, sighing. Bookstores never did captivate me the way it did my friends, but I liked it when Hikari read me a very good poem. I was close to Hikari because of how often I went over to her house to see her brother. I was sort of like a second older brother to her, I guess.

"Are you going to Takeru's party?" she asked me quietly, her eyes still looking over the book spines.

"Of course I am, he's my brother."

She turned and smiled at me, actually looking at me. "Taichi's going, too."

"I'd expect him to," I answered easily, even though my heart beat a little faster at the mention of that name.

She giggled a little at me and shook her head, and I got the weird feeling she knew what I was thinking. When she really got to know you, she started reading your mind as well as your actions like a book. I believe she's secretly clairvoyant, but she denies it. I know better.

"Are you guys almost done?" Miyako asked us, walking into our aisle, carrying two books. Jyou followed shortly behind her, frowning. I knew he hadn't found his book by the look in his eyes.

"Maybe next weekend," I told him, and he smiled slightly at me in understanding.

"Yeah, hold on," Hikari said, selecting a poetry book and pulling it out, clasping it to her chest. "I'm ready."

After we'd paid and were already on our way out of the mall, we started debating where to go to eat. That's when Miyako got a call on her cell phone. It was Sora. Apparently, she, Tai, and Daisuke were somewhere in town and they wanted to get together at a restaurant.

"That sounds fabulous," Miyako told her, smiling. "We'll meet you there. Of course. You too, Sora. Bye."

I chanced a look at Jyou. He was hanging his head. I poked his arm, silently telling him I'd be there with him, and he poked me back, telling me he already knew.

He had been the one to break up with Sora, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her anymore. The past few days had been hard on him, and we'd gotten closer together over it, trying to help each other out. I knew he liked Sora, but he couldn't be with her that way. He knew I loved Tai, but it was a love that was never meant to be. An accident. Then again, isn't all love an accident? Who really means to fall in love with their soulmate?

We got to the restaurant right on time, and we saw our friends just getting out of their vehicle. We waved them over and they followed us in. I fell into step beside Tai. We looked at each other and smiled.

"So where have you guys been?" Hikari asked Tai from his other side.

He rubbed the top of her head. "Oh, around. We went to the mall earlier, but then we decided to go shopping downtown. Sora's idea."

"Buy anything?"

"Some more blank CDs. I need to build my collection."

Tai has a collection of mixed CDs. They're really cool, and very handy when you want something to listen to but are tired of all of your own stuff.

"What about you?" he asked her.

"Another poetry book."

They shared a smile. They were both collectors of something artistic. Music and poetry went along nicely together. It was one of the things they could talk about for hours at a time, one thing they could always agree on.

One of the things I could grasp and understand about them, among a sea of things I couldn't.

"And what did you get, Matt?"

"Nothing at all. Just the satisfaction of having Jyou surrender to me."

He gave me a questioning look. I smiled and winked at him. "I'll tell you all about it later."

He gave me a what-did-you-do smirk and shook his head slightly. "Ishida, you are amazing."

"Oh, don't make me blush," I told him, sitting down on the chair that I claimed at the table.

We ordered and ate in the usual fashion: delirious.

After we were done, we decided to move around, and I ended up taking Jyou, Tai, and Hikari in my car. I felt more comfortable with them three. I was always such a nervous driver, and I avoided it when I could, but it was my turn, and my car, so I figured it was better with me driving.

As we drove along, Tai slipped his hand into one of his huge pockets, pulled out a CD case, and put the CD in my car's CD player.

I noticed it was one of the more mellow of Tai's CDs, and I smiled gratefully at him. He was trying to make the driving more bearable. He smiled back and looked forward. Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" began playing. It reminded me of the movie "Almost Famous", and the time we all went to watch it in theatres. As the song played, one by one, we all began singing along.

It was one of those moments that you like to keep in your head for when you feel sad and need to remember something nice.

I was going to need it later on.

~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: I've always wanted to make Jyou pierce his belly button. And I did! Yay! I like the thought of Jyou and Yamato being good friends. Not as much Tai, Sora, or Dai in this chapter, and I dunno if they're gonna be appearing much in the next chapter, since I think it might be in Matt's POV again. I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do. I might even make it Takeru's POV. Who knows? Well, see you guys in the next chapter.