Hey guys, thanks for the reviews and sorry about the spelling, I'll try to be more careful this time. I heard about this contest from Ixi-Vulpix's story 'Model Behavior'. The rules are there, not to mention the story's cool too. I'm not sure when the comp started but the closing date is by 30th June. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy.

Sincerity's Return and Love's Plan

Taichi sighed mournfully and rested his head on his crossed arms, staring ahead of him at the blackboard and the meaningless scribble he saw upon it.

This is making even less sense than last year. I thought I was supposed to learn and understand more if I repeated this class.

Taichi sighed again and turned his head, trying to catch Koushiro's eye. The red-head glanced over at him quickly and gestured his head to the front of the room, a clear signal that perhaps Taichi should pay more attention. Taichi sighed yet once more and turned his head back to the board and the meaningless mathematics scribbled all over it.

A knock at the door a few minutes later saved him from total insanity as he tried to wrap his head around the first problem they'd been given. The teacher excused himself and went over to answer it. A whispered conversation outside the classroom occurred and moments later their maths teacher led a tall pink-haired girl into the room.

Taichi and Koushiro sat up straighter and glanced at each other with huge smiles on their faces as the teacher introduced the girl. "Class, I'd like you to meet a new student, Tachikawa Mimi."

"Hi." Mimi waved and looked around the classroom. There were a few boys who grinned and waved back, some of them winking in her direction. She screwed her nose up in disgust and looked at the other side of the classroom and spotted two very familiar grinning boys. Her eyes lit up and she grinned in return. "Tai! 'Shiro!" She waved and ran over to them, giving the two boys each a huge hug. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"

"Hey Mimi," Taichi gave her a peck on the cheek. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, how have you been?" Koushiro smiled and returned her hug.

"I've been great, but it's so much better being back here with you guys." Mimi smiled and clapped her hands together in delight. "Oh, you can't believe how glad I am to be back."

Their attention returned to the front of the classroom as their teacher cleared his throat. "Uh, now that Miss Tachikawa has been acquainted, could you all return your attention to the problem —"

Ring! Saved by the bell. The teacher looked at the clock and shrugged. "Well, I'll expect those problems finished by tomorrow's lesson. Class dismissed." Everyone got up and left, talking excitedly about the new student and the end of the torture session that was maths class.

As Koushiro, Taichi and Mimi all exited the room they were grinning like idiots and talking so fast and ecstatically that everyone around them looked at them funny. Mimi finally held up her hands and called out, "Stop!" Taichi and Koushiro looked at her and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Meems," Taichi apologised. "Guess we're just so glad to see you."

"I know, but my hearing can't take too much." Mimi smiled again. "So, where's everyone else?"

"Well, Jyou's attending med. school, TK and Kari are still in junior high with the other new digi-destined and Matt and Sora are in another class."

Mimi frowned as she thought of something. "But, Tai, shouldn't you be with them?"

Tai glowered and Koushiro let out a nervous laugh, answering for him. "Uh, Tai's repeating last years mathematics. That's why he's in our class." Koushiro quickly switched topics as it looked as though Taichi was about to snap in anger. "So, what's your schedule like Mimi?"

Mimi fished around in the small handbag on her shoulder. "Uh, let's see … here it is." She handed over a folded piece of paper to Koushiro, who scanned it and smiled.

"Hey, prodigious! You're in most of my classes, all of them except gym and computers. I understand gym, you're in the girl's class, but you're doing cooking instead of computers." Koushiro looked at her quizzically. "I didn't know you liked cooking."

Mimi pulled a face. "It was either that or computers, and you know me 'Shiro, I'm the last person you'd call on to know anything about that sort of stuff."

The second bell rang for everyone to get to class. Taichi swore in irritation.

"Sorry guys, I gotta run, I've got gym." He then literally ran down the hallway. "It's great to have you back Meems!" He called out as he ran, almost colliding with an innocent group of girls chatting near the corner.

Koushiro shook his head and Mimi giggled. "Same old Tai."

* * *

Taichi changed in record time and ran out of the locker room as fast as he could to be there for role call.

"Mr. Yagami." Taichi froze at the irate tone in the Coach's voice. "Late again I see."

"Uh … Coach, you see, I was, uh …"

"Five laps Yagami, you know the drill."

Taichi sighed and a few people in the class snickered. "Yes Coach." He started running as the others in the class resumed a soccer game started last gym lesson.

By the time he finished, he was panting a bit and the game was already underway. Coach got up off the bench and walked over to him. Taichi readied himself for the lecture that was sure to come and bowed his head slightly.

"Taichi," the Coach sounded disappointed. "Really, I expected better of you, you should know that even though you're the best soccer player this school has, it doesn't excuse you from turning up on time …"

Taichi let his mind wander, he could probably recite this speech from memory, he'd been late that many times, but still not only did he manage to pass gym, but he passed with flying colours. Punctuality wasn't something Taichi usually concerned himself with, even with his favourite class. Taichi could be punctual, he knew all to well the danger of being late when lives are on the line, but this was school, so he could relax a bit if he wanted.

" … And I don't want you making a habit of it." Taichi caught the last sentence and nodded dutifully.

"Sure Coach, I'll try to be on time next time." He really did try and he was getting better, but he still had a bit of a reputation for being late on occasion.

Coach sighed and gave up. Taichi was never late for a game or for training and he knew that when there was a class practical test he always showed up on time for that too. It wasn't that Taichi was lazy exactly, he just had his priorities set out differently to most.

"Tai, you're gonna have to sit on the bench until I call a break."

"Sure." Taichi walked over to the bench and sat down beside Yamato, who was leaning against the wall and dozing slightly, not at all paying attention to what was happening on the field.

"Hey, Matt guess what." Yamato opened his eyes to look at his friend who was visibly bouncing with excitement. He raised and eyebrow and smiled slightly. Must be important if Taichi was this thrilled. Taking the slight movement as assent to continue Taichi started to speak when he was interrupted by someone addressing him nearby.

"Hey, Tai, who was that girl you were with earlier in the hall?" It was one of Taichi's teammates who had just come off the field. "She was hot. Is she a friend of yours, do you think maybe you could set me up with her?"

Taichi gave him a weird look. "I'm not sure if Mimi's into jocks all that much."

"Mimi's here!" Yamato opened his eyes completely and looked at Taichi with a smile on his face, irritating the jock by interrupting his and Taichi's conversation. "She's arrived already?"

Taichi ignored his teammate as Yamato spoke. He smiled and replied, "Yeah, she walked into mine and Izzy's maths class. She was asking about everyone. We'll meet up with her at lunch next."

"Man, I can't wait to see her. It's been so long."

"Yeah, I —" Whatever Taichi had been about to say was cut off when the annoying jock from before interrupted their conversation again.

"Hey, Yamato, you want a piece of her too? No biggie, we can share her, I'm sure she'll like that, two's always better than one."

Yamato's eyes glazed over with fury and he was about to knock him unconscious, but before he could, Taichi's fist had already connected with the guy's jaw.

"What the hell was that for Yagami?!" The guy held his chin tenderly and spat a bit of blood out of his mouth. Taichi's punch had split his lip.

"No one talks about my friends like that!" Taichi's voice was an icy cold fire of rage.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?" He stood up, majorly pissed that someone he called friend and teammate would throw a punch at him.

Yamato spoke this time. "We are going to make you sorry if you ever say something like that about her again." He cracked his knuckles in a threatening manner. "Got it? No one insults our friends."

Now jocks aren't necessarily as stupid as most people think, and this guy certainly got the point very quickly. He nodded reluctantly with a dark glare for the two of them. No one was stupid enough to mess with Taichi and Yamato. Hell, the fights they had with each other were just as legendary as those with people who pissed them off. Neither really looked it, but they were fiercest fighters at their school, but it took a lot to piss them off, so everyone was careful not to agitate them too far.

Although, that didn't mean that everyone feared the two of them, Taichi and Yamato only ever fought if someone had done something really despicable. Everyone knew that anyone who crossed them deserved everything they got. Like this guy.

Of course, fighting for the right reasons didn't excuse the two of them for fighting at all. As the Coach soon demonstrated by coming over and calling out, "Yagami, Ishida! Over here now!" The two glanced at each other and sighed then walked over to Coach to receive their punishment.

* * *

Yamato leaned heavily against the lockers and winced. "Ouch, my muscles are killing me."

"I know what you mean." Even being the fitter of the two, Taichi still felt the aches in his muscles from their punishment. "Coach was pretty harsh this time. Twenty sprint runs, ten laps — running, not jogging — and fifty push-ups."

"Don't forget the sit-ups," Yamato interjected dryly, pulling of his shirt with a cringe.

"How could I?" Taichi pulled of his own sweaty shirt and stretched himself out a bit, wincing slightly. He was perhaps a bit more used to this than Yamato, who was now lying on the bench, without a shirt, breathing heavily. "You okay Matt?"

"Not sure. I have to get my breath back, but I'm not sure I can move properly." Yamato winced and cried out slightly in pain as he tried to sit up. "Guess I should have stretched before, like you said."

"Yeah, but you're not really used to this any way. Coach should have been a bit lenient on you because of that, and because you didn't actually throw a punch."

"Doesn't matter, everyone knows that I'm always involved when it comes to things like this. I'd never let you stand alone, even to get punishment." Yamato managed to get himself into a proper sitting position. "Man Tai, how can you do this three times a week?"

"Well, usually we don't do quite that much, and we have a longer time to do it in, so it doesn't put as much strain on us as this." Taichi noticed that Yamato was in more pain than he was letting on. He sat on the bench behind Yamato and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"Tai?"

"Don't worry Matt, I'm just giving you a massage. You're muscles are really sore and strained."

Taichi couldn't see it, but he could feel Yamato's smile of gratitude. "Thanks Tai."

Taichi grinned in return." No problem man." Then he started rubbing away the soreness in Yamato's shoulders and back, relaxing them both with his soothing actions.

* * *

Yamato rolled his head around as he walked out into the main corridor. "Thanks Tai, it feels a lot better." He looked at his friend walking beside him. "Where exactly did you learn how to do that?"

"I took a course last summer on basic physiotherapy and first aid. I figured it would probably be beneficial in an emergency situation, or even for everyday stuff."

"Well, it certainly was. Are you sure you don't want me to return the favour?"

"No, I'm all right, I'm used to straining muscles, I'll just take things a bit easier today. Thanks though."

"Sure." Gym class was on just before lunch, so Taichi and Yamato weren't late for another class, just late for a meeting with their friends. As they reached the cafeteria and the loud noise of hundreds of kids eating and talking washed over them, the two of them peered about in an attempt to find their friends in the huge mass.

"Damn," Yamato muttered, only loud enough for Taichi to hear. "Where could they … oh no!" Yamato froze and tried to hide behind Taichi. The brunette turned his confused face in the direction that Yamato was last looking and groaned.

"Man, I do not need this now."

"You don't need it? How do you think I feel, I have to put up with this every day." Yamato snarled just before he and Taichi were engulfed in a huge mob of yelling, screaming, giggling, love-struck girls.

"Oh, Yamato, I've missed you!"

"Yamato, why don't you ever return my calls?"

"Darling Yamato, won't you go out with me?"

"Yamato, I made these cookies just for you."

"Yamato, why were you so late to lunch?"

"Did you miss me Yamato?"

"Yamato …"

"Yamato …"

"Yamato …"

On and on it went until both boys were ready to snap. Until they heard:

"Matt!" And a blurry pink figure leaped into Yamato's arms.

"Mimi!" Yamato laughed and clung to her in delight, whirling her around. He gave her a small kiss on the cheek and set her down. "I've missed you. When did you come in?"

"Last night at about seven. Oh, I'm so glad to see you Matt!" She grabbed him in a tight squeeze and Yamato couldn't help letting out a small cry. Mimi looked at him in surprise. "Yamato? Is something wrong?"

"I just have a few sore muscles that's all." He smiled. "Don't worry, I'm fine." He placed his arm around her waist and walked off with Taichi close behind, sticking his tongue out at the distraught and envious fan-girls who were being completely ignored by their idol.

Mimi led them back to the table where Sora and Koushiro were sitting already, waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Koushiro asked.

"We had a bit of a fight in gym and had to stay back for a bit of 'discipline'." Taichi sat down next to the younger boy. Mimi took a seat next to Sora and Yamato sat at the end of the table between Taichi and Mimi.

Koushiro winced. "Ouch."

"Yeah." Yamato leaned back in his chair and reveled in not having to move for a while.

"So," Mimi struck up a conversation. "Tell me all the gossip. What's going on with everyone."

"Well, we're still in school, obviously," Koushiro answered, "Jyou's still studying to be a doctor, Sora's the school's tennis champion, Taichi's still the captain and best player on the soccer team, Matt's still lead singer of his now even more popular band. I suppose I'm just concentrating on school and on trying to pass my classes, however, I have become the high school's head of computer club. The younger kids are being kids, breezing through school and having fun. Davis is still playing soccer. He and Ken are best friends and are now on Taichi's out of school team. Ken's become a lot less paranoid about being a genius and is enjoying his life now. Miyako's become the junior school's head of computer club and is a vital part of the high school's club as well. Iori entered a martial arts competition a little while ago and is now Odaiba's junior kendo champion. Kari has won a few prizes for some of her photography work and TK lead his junior high team to victory in the last basketball championships."

Mimi grinned. "Wow, I'm so proud of you all."

"What about you Mimi?" Yamato asked.

"Me? Oh, there's nothing much to tell. I've been shopping a lot and going to parties, meeting new people, having fun. Uh, but there was one thing. Just recently I was offered a modeling job for a teenage magazine, but by that time I knew about the move, so I couldn't take it up. But they told me they'd put in a good word for me and asked me to go to the Japanese branch of the magazine if I was still interested in the job."

"That's great Mimi." Sora embraced her friend. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Sora. Do you think I should go?"

"Definitely!" Taichi grinned. "You'd blow them away with your style."

"What magazine is it?" Yamato asked. "My dad has a few connections, he could put in another good word if you wanted."

"Really? Thank you Matt. Thanks all of you, for being so nice. I really missed all of you and I know I've said that a lot, but really, it's hard to find such true and caring friends." Mimi wiped away a tear and smiled again.

"We'll always be here for you, Meems." Sora gave her another squeeze. "You know that."

"Yeah. Anyway, what about other gossip. How are you love lives going?" Mimi grinned as Koushiro and Sora blushed and looked away. "'Shiro?"

"Uh … well … uh … Miyako and I … well … we … uh … we're sort of … seeing each other … as of yesterday."

"Way to go Izzy!" Taichi clapped him on his back. "I knew you two would get it together eventually."

"Congrats man." Yamato smiled at him. "You deserve a good relationship like that."

"Oh, that's so adorable," Mimi squealed. Then she looked a bit thoughtful. "I never really picked it, but I wish you luck anyway."

Sora wasn't grinning, but she was smiling softly. "That's great 'Shiro. I wish you the best."

"Thanks guys, but I'm not to sure how long this may last … you know what Miya's like and I'm not quite sure how to act in a relationship. I've never really been in one before."

"Don't worry Izzy, you'll do fine." Taichi grinned again. "You're a smart guy, you'll be able to figure things out."

"I hope so," Koushiro muttered, slightly embarrassed still about telling them.

"Sora?" Mimi asked, turning her attention away from Koushiro so he could regain his composure.

Sora blushed slightly. "I don't really like anyone right now. But this morning I found a letter addressed to me in my mailbox. It's from an admirer and it's so sweet, but I don't know who sent it."

"Was there a return address?" Mimi asked curiously. Romantic things like this had always intrigued her.

"No, it didn't even have my address, they must have actually come to my apartment and put it in the box themselves." Sora brought it out and looked at it, a soft expression on her features. "I wish I did know who sent it, so I could at least thank them for being so sweet."

"I'm sure you'll find out eventually," Mimi told her.

"What about you Meems," Sora asked before Mimi could open her mouth to ask Taichi and Yamato. It was only a few days since they had both been dumped and though they acted like they usually did, they were probably still sore about the situation.

"Me?" Mimi looked around curiously, picking up that there was something going on that she didn't know about. She blushed and looked down. "There's someone that I like, but I'm not sure if they like me back."

"Why don't you just ask? I mean, the worst thing that could happen is you'd get completely shot down." Taichi blurted out. Sora and Mimi gave him a withering look.

"That's the sort of thing I would expect from you Taichi," Sora glared at him. "You don't know anything about how to deal with a girl that likes you."

"Hey, I resent that."

"It's true though. You haven't been able to keep a girlfriend for longer than three weeks."

Taichi looked hurt that Sora pointed this out. Yamato glared at her and defended him. "Hey, that's not all Taichi's fault."

"Don't bother sticking up for him Yamato, you're not much better."

"Sora?" Mimi looked a bit worried. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching them a lesson. I'm a bit sick of how inconsiderate they can be. The fact that they can't hold a relationship together for longer than a month only proves that they're both completely unaware of how to deal with other people's feelings."

"That's not true!" Both Taichi and Yamato spoke out in anger.

"I'll bet you couldn't even hold a relationship with each other together for longer than a month."

"Oh yeah?" Both Yamato and Taichi were so riled up that they didn't quite take in the terms of the bet before accepting. "You're on."

Sora grinned, that knowing glint in her eye again. "Good. Prove me wrong. As of tomorrow, you two are officially a couple."