Part 3: Of threats, lies, and big brothers

In which the matchmakers takes some action, and Tai and Matt decide to help their younger counterparts finding love.

"…So I said to him: 'Well I bet you ten bucks I can take you out', and he said 'Oh yeah?!' and then I beat him like nothing, and then he wouldn't give me the money, so… are you listening?"

"No."

"Oh, okay. Anyway, so when he wouldn't give me the money I told Matt to get him 'cause my knuckles really hurt, and then he said 'You have to make your boyfriend get me, Kamiya?' and then both me and Matt hit him, because that's just so totally crap, I mean, can you imagine me and Matt being gay? I sure cannot, it's just, you know, all weird and stuff, and… hey, there's him and TK! Hiya Matt!"

"Mmm…"

"I don't think he heard me… oh well, anyway, I mean, Matt and me? That's just completely absurd, heh heh heh, I mean, how could he get that idea, it's not like we…. You're seriously not listening?"

"No…"

"Davis?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you pining for TK?"

"Yeah…"

"No? Seriously?"

"Yeah… what?! NO!"

Tai stared doubtfully at Davis.

"For some reason I didn't believe you until you said no."

"Can we talk about something else?"

"You're in love with TK?!"

For the second time in his life, Davis actually glared at Tai.

"It's not like I want to, okay?! So just leave it, because that's what I plan to do!"

"Seriously? TK?!"

-----

On the other side of the street, two blonde boys were walking together, the older one occasionally taking a sip from a can of soda in his hand.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" he said at last. His brother wasn't usually wasn't this quiet when he wanted advice about something. Not that Matt really expected it to be anything life threatening, but this hesitancy was slightly unsettling. He didn't really have time to consider that much more, because TK didn't need any more coaxing.

"If you tell this to anybody, and I mean anybody, Dad will know what you and Tai did on his bed last Wednesday." He said, pinning his brother with an intimidating glare that would've helped so very much more if he weren't busy looking embarrassed about it. Ah, the poor kid had so much to learn about the facts of brotherhood.

"Like Mum will know what you were doing on the couch when I ran in on you last spring if the words ever reaches him?" he replied nonchalantly and stuck his hand in his pocket to gain an even more laid back pose to show that the threat didn't bother him one bit, but for once his younger brother didn't seem to think himself inferior of him.

"Matt, 90 of all boys do that, and the last 10 are lying. And at least I didn't do it with my boyfriend on her bed."

"First off, you don't even have a boyfriend, and second, he's not my boyfriend, we…"

"It's hardly like I did anything you haven't done before, but running in on the two of you disturbed me enough to have shit on you for at least ten years more. It's just my brotherly love that keeps me from telling him and make him castrate you both so I don't have to risk it happening again."

Blue eyes glared at each other in a silent duel, and at last the taller one looked away in defeat.

"So what is the problem?" he asked sharply, not happy with having to obey to his little brother. True enough, they hadn't spent too much time growing up together, but he was pretty sure that this wasn't how brotherhood was meant to work.

"I am head over heels for Davis."

Pepsi, he discovered, definitely didn't feel good when coming up through his nose.

"Davis?!"

"Davis." He kept on walking without waiting for Matt to catch up with him, which he eventually did half a minute later.

"Davis?" he asked again, this time looking more like his usual suave self.

"Davis." His brother confirmed yet again, "I can never have him, I don't think I'd ever be able to have a relationship of that kind with him anyway, I don't even want to consider the idea, and he's on my mind twenty-four-seven." TK said with no emotion, still not looking at anything but the pavement in front of them.

"TK…" he started with a concerned frown, but was interrupted when his brother decided it was time to break down.

"Oh Matt, what am I going to do?!" he nearly wailed, causing his brother to flinch and various people around them to look interested in their direction, "I love him so much, and I don't even want to!"

"Um…" Matt quickly looked around in the busy street, and then back down at the case of Desperate Little Brother clinging to his arm, "Well…"

TK didn't give him time to say anything more, once again sobering up.

"No, don't tell me to tell him, because I know perfectly well that he doesn't feel the same way, and no, I will never sink down to your level and start screwing my best friend in lack of anything better, but I have to do something about it, and you have to help me!"

Matt found himself wondering about exactly how long TK could talk without breathing.

"Um…" he tried again, "You could start with not screaming it out for half of Tokyo to hear, maybe?"

-----

"…I mean, it's not like I like him or anything like that!"

Davis failed to notice how Ken was slowly clenching and unclenching his left fist.

"We've been over this before, and I thought we decided that you do." The skinny boy said, barely restraining himself from yelling loudly. Ken wasn't the kind of person who yelled unless it was strictly necessary, but three hours straight of Davis repeating the mantra of 'he wasn't gay just because he had a crush on TK because it wasn't like he wanted to so he wasn't gay and what should he do because he really wanted to see him no get rid of this because he so wasn't gay or bi or whatever' was becoming more than a little tiring. Frankly, Ken was pretty sure that even Joe would have blown up on him long ago, particularly with the pathetically whiny tone his voice took when he was complaining over something just to complain.

"Yeah well, but it's not like I want to like him and it doesn't really count then, does it?"

Ken gritted his teeth as he hit the save button and closed the program.

"Why don't you just see somebody else?" he asked instead.

"Because I wanna be with him!" Davis said as if it was the most obvious thing ever, and his eyes widened, "No, I mean I don't, I mean I…"

Ken interrupted, realizing that his best friend was about to start the routine over again. "Look, there's a girl in my school who'd seen us together once and just got this huge crush on you. I can fix a date with her if you want me to. I mean, I don't know her that well but she is rather cute…" he shrugged and gave his friend a curious but not too interested look while he desperately begged any heavenly forces to make Davis agree.

"Huh? A girl?"

No sarcasm, for the love of God don't say it don't say it don't say it…

"Yeah. Blonde, kinda tall and slim…" he said, shrugging again, "She's really interested."

Davis seemed to consider it for a while, thoughtfully looking at Ken's bookcase.

"She's nice?" he asked at last.

"Really nice, at least I think so. And I mean, it's just a date, it's not like you'll have to stick to her if you don't like her or something like that…"

"But I thought nobody in your school had ever been speaking to you…" Davis said confused.

"She's new." It's for a good purpose… Even Cody understood that kind of thing. He hoped. He just didn't have anything better to answer if the boy asked.

"Oh. So she's really nice and not weird and pretty?"

"Yes."

He realized that the chance for Davis killing him just for lying to him would still be present even if he did get it on with TK. Oh yes. First he'd kill him for lying and then for messing with his private business. And if the plan failed, also for ruining his friendship with TK.

And then he recalled the night a week ago, when Davis had spent five hours whining about his lousy love life, and he decided it was worth the risk if it meant he could avoid something like that happening again.

-----

"Tai? Where are you?"

"In our room! Don't come in here!"

"What? What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" he shrieked while rolling of the bed and zipping up his pants before bolting over to the other side of the room, "I'm changing! Don't come in here!"

"Alright, dear, but remember to clean up the mess in the bathroom." His mother said, and the boy sighed loudly in relief as he leaned back against the door and slowly slid down to the floor.

"That," Matt said as he pulled up his pants, "Was too damn close. Do you have any hair gel?"

"Me?"

His companion rolled his eyes and went back to trying to fix his disheveled hair while looking at his reflection in the window. "Kari? Your mother? How can anybody live in a house without styling products? And didn't you say the house was empty for at least three hours?"

"She said she would be staying out all night." He huffed and buttoned up his shirt to get it on the right way. "So what do we do now?" he asked, still sitting with his back leaning against the door. Matt shrugged.

"Dad's at home as well, and…" he stiffened slightly and finally turned away from the window, "Hey, would you have guessed TK's gay?"

"Huh? TK?" Tai didn't really seem too interested.

"Yeah. Said he likes Davis." Matt said, slumping down on the bottom bunk of the bed again, "And he wanted me to help him. But seriously, what do I do? I mean, he's straight to mention one thing…"

"Man."

The blonde lifted his head to look at his best friend, who looked… well, not really surprised, but somewhere between that and confused.

"What?" he asked, rolling over and propping himself up on his elbows in a faint hope to read that look better.

"Davis likes him, too, I think. He was all zoned out when I was talking to him, and then I asked if he liked TK as a joke, and he said yes, and when I asked again he said yes again, and then he didn't want to talk about it… isn't that weird?" Matt more or less lost track after that point. "TK and Davis… who'd seen that coming? I always thought at least one of them would get together with Kari sooner or later, and…"

"Davis likes TK?"

"Yeah." Tai nodded, still too zoned out to notice what Matt was pretty sure was a very pathetic look on his face. "And I thought that at least he was straight, but then again he hangs out with Ken, and he's not exactly of the…"

"No? You're not kidding me?"

"No, I'm not! I'm serious, he does! What's wrong?" Tai finally seemed to notice the more than a little horrified look on his not-boyfriend's face.

"Davis." Matt whimpered and let his face drop into his hands, "If he likes Davis and Davis likes him, they may get together and really fall in love and never break up and get married or whatnot and I will be related to Davis and..:" his eyes widened more, and he buried his head in Kari's pillow, "I'll be related to Jun…"

"Because her brother will be dating your brother?" Tai sounded confused, "I thought she left you alone after you started seeing Sora, anyway."

"Yeah, but it's not like I do that anymore, is it? And she's scary! Who knows what kind of ideas it may set in her head…"

"Incest?"

He blinked, and raised his head to look at the other boy. "Incest? Incest how?"

Tai shrugged. "If TK and Davis got married the two of you would practically be family, and that would be icky."

"If TK and Kari got married one could say just the same about me and you." Matt pointed out, but Tai rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's not like that'll happen anytime soon considering your brother seems to prefer other little boys, and I thought we agreed that there wasn't a 'me and you'."

"We did, and I meant it theoretically."

"She doesn't know that. And she isn't among the smarter ones around, she's Davis' sister. If worst happens you just tell her that it would be like dating your own sister and she'll probably leave you alone."

Matt stared blankly into the wall in front of him, his brain going at top speed. "That can work." He said at last, and abruptly sat up in the bed, "It may work! If Davis and TK starts dating there's no way she can date me!"

"I said so all the time." Tai said, idly picking on some lint on the carpet.

"Yes!" Matt said, "It can and it will work! If her brother and my brother hooks up there is no way in hell she can come after me ever again!"

"Actually…" Tai started, but was interrupted.

"Do you have any idea about how I suffered?!" Matt asked.

"It was kinda hard not to considering the way you could go on and on about it for hours." The brunette replied.

"Tai, these last years has been the best ones in my life. You have no idea…"

"Yes I do. And it's been three years. Shouldn't you start getting over her? She hasn't even talked to you since last year sometime as far as I'm concerned."

"To be on the safe side, at least." Matt whined, "Please? Help me?"

Tai shrugged without really seeming to consider it.
"Why not? It may be fun."

-----

"TK, I think you need to get your mind of Davis."

"No, really?"

Cody ignored the sarcasm and continued without showing his annoyance.

"So I think you should date somebody else."

"Like who?" The blonde muttered from his seat in the other end of Cody's bed. The younger boy had asked him over with the excuse of needing help with his math homework and that Yolei wasn't at home, and it had taken him exactly thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds to get the conversation over to the trail of 'Davis'.

"Like somebody I know."

"Who?"

"You'll like him." Cody said simply, "And if you don't go, I will tell your mother just what kind of magazine you are selling your stories to."
"They pay good!" TK replied, but not without blushing badly.

"And they think you're 35." Cody added, "I don't think she'll be happy about it."

TK slumped back, almost killing Upamon who had been napping behind him in the process.

"There's nothing wrong with Playboy." He muttered, "If I was straight, I'd even read it…" Cody gave him a dirty look, but the older boy only rolled his eyes. "And many professional writers start with selling their stuff to magazines!"

"But porn?"

"It's erotica! It's totally different!"

"It's filthy." Cody muttered, "I will still tell her unless you go. And you won't regret it."

"If it is so, why do you have to threaten me to meet him?"

"Because you're stubborn." Cody said matter-of-factly, "And I'm tired of hearing you talk about Davis all the time."

TK looked away dejectedly.

"And there is absolutely nothing I can bribe you with?"

Cody did not appreciate the joke.