like the way this story goes…But don't worry, I won't have any yaio couples in here (I just can't write that way…) But I may have some skipping around and some really weird incidents.

As a note: O-DAI-BA. There, happy now? But still, I prefer to spell it O-DI-VA, just because it looks better in my eyes. Not to mention, I don't want to reprogram my spell check again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Marmalade Boy for that matter. I just write this stuff for kicks.

House Mates

Chapter 2: Brotherly Advice

T.K. sighed a bit, leaning back on his cot. It all seamed…so fast, the actual moving in part, that he still couldn't believe it.

Tai's room was messy, as usual, but he'd cleaned out half of it to make room for T.K.'s stuff. He'd cleaned out the bottom two drawers of the chest and already had the cot set up when T.K. arrived with his stuff. He'd even moved a few of his soccer posters over so T.K. could put up a couple of his own over his head, where he'd put a basketball shot and some photographs of family and friends.

It was about 9:30 that night. Tai was in the bathroom, showering before bed. T.K. was already dressed in his pajamas, pale blue flannel pants and a matching long-sleeved, button-up shirt. He was already sleepily lying back against the pillow, waiting for the other boy to return and turn out the light.

A giggling, enchanting voice rang suddenly from the door: "I see you're ready."

T.K. jolted up-right. "Kari!" he gasped, turning a slight tinge of pink at the sight of the girl standing in the doorway.

She giggled at him, fetchingly leaning on the door while balancing on one leg. She was dressed in her nightclothes, too, an ankle-length pink nightgown and dark red robe. "You sure you're okay in here?"

"Oh, I'm fine." T.K. assured her, still nervous just a bit at the sight of her in sleepwear. "Really…"

"Alright…" Kari nodded. "If you're sure…Goodnight, T.K." she leaned back towards the closed bathroom door. "'Night Tai. Sleep tight, the both of you."

"Yeah…Goodnight…" T.K. called, then felt his cheeks turn pink with a gentle blush. He leaned back on his cot again, closing his eyes as his head went wandering into space.

Tai came into the room, still dripping wet from his shower. He had on green pajama bottoms, but no top, just his damp towel draped over his shoulders. Entering in, he suddenly realized it was just much too quiet in here.

He leaned over his new roommate, examining his face. He noticed the slight blush crossing T.K.'s cheeks, and the dreamy smile on his lips. Even Tai only took a few seconds to figure out what that combination meant. "Well well well…" he laughed. "I should've known.

T.K.'s eyes flew open and he nearly gagged on his own tongue. "Tai!" he exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that!"

Tai was cocky, as usual, flipping on the lamp by his bed and closing the door. "I knew there was something going on with you!" he chuckled with a tease to his voice. "You like my sister, don't you?"

"W-What?!" T.K. gasped, now turning a dark cherry red. "N-No! I-I-I'm really…"

"You're blushing." Tai pointed to the younger boy's cheeks, then flipped off the overhead light. The lamp still illuminated their faces as he slid under his own covers. "What's up, you shy or something?"

"I guess…" T.K. sighed, defeated, pulling covers over himself. "I'm just…not very good at talking to girls…"

"Say what?" Tai snickered. "With your brother attracting all the ladies? What, he never taught you any of his secrets?"

"Well…no…" T.K. sounded kinds of sad. He leaned back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. "Since…since our parents split…we've never really shared anything…" he sighed. "We were never close enough for stuff like that…"

"Ouch." Tai grimaced. "Family problems. Uck."

There was a bit of silence, then Tai perked up, care-free as ever. "Well, alright then!" he exclaimed. "I'll be glad to help!"

T.K. nearly fell off his cot. "What?!" he cried. "Help out with what?!"

"Winning Kari over, of course-" Tai was suddenly cut off when T.K. clamped both his hands over the older boy's mouth.

"Would you just keep it down?!" he insisted in a whispered. "I don't want the whole building to know about this! Davis lives here too, you know!"

"Well, duh…" Tai pulled his hands off, dropping his voice down to a whisper. "That's why I wanna help. I like Davis and all, but he's not exactly the type I'd want for my little sister."

"And I am?" T.K. asked questioningly.

"Don't question my reasons, okay?" Tai snickered. "Do you want my help or not?"

T.K. thought a minute. Tai wasn't exactly the best you'd want to come to for love advice. He never had too many girlfriends, but that was mainly because they didn't like his hair, and he refused to change it for some chick. "I don't know…"

"Look." Tai leaned forward. "I may not know girls as well as your brother does, but I know my sister better than anybody. There's a whole load of competition, yeah, but she don't give a lick for any one of them. You've already got a good head start, just by bein' her best friend. And you live with her, that makes it twice as easy…"

"Why did you have to include the 'live with her' part?" T.K. muttered under his breath. "Just 'cause I like her, doesn't mean I'm a pervert…"

"Well?" Tai sighed, lifting himself up to one arm on his bed. "Do you want my help, or not?"

T.K. thought a moment, then nodded. "Thanks, Tai…"

"No prob." Tai smiled. "I'm glad to. Now listen, what you've gotta do is…"

~ * ~ * ~

Matt his navy blue chrome motorcycle pulled up to the curve. Pulling off the dark blue sunglasses and the silver helmet for a moment, he looked up at the window of the Kamiya's apartment. He could see T.K. moving inside the window, talking excitedly with Tai.

Matt felt a pang of jealousy when he saw Tai mussing his little brother's hair, and T.K. didn't even complain about it. He just laughed a bit, one of the only things he'd ever done with him.

Matt leaned on the horn, honking it three times. T.K. glanced out the window, then opened it to wave down at his brother. "Hey Matt!" he called, all smiles. "I'll be right down!"

He shut the window again, turning to leave. Tai shooed him out the door, then waved to Matt before sitting down to work on the computer a minute. Matt sighed, annoyed. This was the only thing he didn't like about his brother moving in with the Kamiyas. It was great that his mom didn't have to worry about money anymore, but T.K. and Tai were getting awful…close. Matt hated to admit it, but he was dastardly jealous of his long-time friend.

At least the two real brothers got a chance every month or so to get out together. It was usually an afternoon that included a movie, lunch at one place or another, then one-on-one basketball until Matt got tired of loosing to his brother, who'd gotten their dad's height and their mom's agility, and so had more skill for the game.

T.K. ran out of the building's double doors. "Hi, Matt!" he laughed, jumping effortlessly into the side car of his brother's cycle. "What's with the look?"

Embarrassed, Matt quickly wiped the thoughtfully-jealous expression off his face, replacing it with an excited grin. "It's nothing." he finally shrugged. "Just thinking about school next year."

"Ew, don't do that!" T.K. made a face, sticking his tongue out. "It's summer vacation! School can wait!"

Matt laughed as he brother put the spare helmet on. He revved up the engine and the two sped away down the street. Matt, his eyes hidden behind the dark blue sunglasses, was still thinking that same thought:

"There's no way I'm letting Tai take my place." he thought, the green monster of jealousy perking up in the back of his head. "T.K.'s my little brother…And it's gonna stay that way…"

~ * ~ * ~

Kari took a deep breath, rubbing her hands together. She rushed forward and leapt out, hands-first, and hit the mat for her front flip. She landed on her feet, but fell flat on her back afterwards.

"Ow…" she groaned sitting back up.

"Gymnastics not your strong point, Kari?" Nami asked, helping her friend up.

"I hate gymnastics." Kari groaned, rubbing her back. "I'd rather be dancing."

"Hey, we're done, right?" Akane asked, looking mischievous. "Let's go watch the guys play!"

It didn't take long for them to be over at the boy's court. They'd been doing soccer lately, but since it was wet and stormy outside, they'd moved in for a basketball game.

"Look!" Nami called. "It's already started!"

And it had. The boys, half of them in white and the other half in red, were dodging in and around each other, bouncing the ball and trying for the basket. One certain blonde-haired player stood out pretty well, running into long face-offs with a certain goggle boy.

"Takaishai does it again." Akane sighed, watching him score a basket. "You're really lucky, Kari, he's so cool!"

"Huh?"

"And he's a hottie, too!" Nami swooned. "Strong, sweet, cute…What a guy! But he's totally got the hots for you…"

"Now, hang on a minute!" Kari exclaimed. She looked between her two friends wildly. "Whattya mean by that, we're just friends!!"

"Really?" Akane asked. "But he's been walking you to school, hasn't he?"

"Well, ya…" Kari hesitated, thinking quietly. "There's no way I can tell them we're living in the same apartment! What'll they think?!"

"Girls, watch out!" someone called from the court.

Kari looked up, just as a missed shot from the game went flying into their group. It hit Kari square in the face, knocking her senses for a loop. She fell backwards, accidentally hitting the back of her head on the hard bleaches, just enough to knock her out cold.

"Kari!!" Nami and Akane exclaimed together. Their friend didn't respond.

T.K. and Davis ran over. "Hey, Kari!" Davis cried, shaking her. "Wake up, would ya?"

"Oh, smooth move, Davis!" somebody in the background called.

"Whattya mean?!"

"That was your stray ball!"

"Was not!"

"Just shut up, would you?" T.K. snapped. He bent down and very gently picked the unconscious girl up off the floor, letting her arms dangle over one side and her legs on the other. He looked at her a moment, then started carrying her towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going, T.A.?" Davis demanded, turning red.

"I'm taking her to the nurse's office." T.K. muttered calmly. "We wanna make sure she's not hurt too bad." he thought a moment, then looked up again. "Hey Nami, would you get her uniform?"

"S-Sure." Nami nodded, then hurried to the locker room to fetch Kari's clothes.

With that, T.K. hurried out of the gym and down to the stark white office of the school nurse.

~ * ~ * ~

"Thank you for bring her down her, Mr. Takaishai." the nurse sighed as the boy tucked the girl into one of the free beds. "She should wake up in a moment, but I'll go get some ice to help with the ache she's bound to have."

"That's good, Nurse Hamiki." T.K. sighed. He was sitting by Kari's bedside, waiting as the nurse disappeared to tend to other patients.

T.K. looked down at Kari thoughtfully. "She looks really…pretty…" he thought. "She's…still out, right…? I mean, she wouldn't know if I…"

He looked back. The nurse was still working on someone else, she wouldn't be back her for a little while. T.K. took a deep breath, then leaned over the sleeping patient and gently touched lips…

Kari stirred a bit, opening her eyes slight. "Oh…my head…" she groaned in her mind. Then she realized what was happening and snapped her eyes closed again.

T.K. straightened, looking down. She hadn't moved, not an inch. He gazed at her thoughtfully again, then turned and left.

As soon as he was gone, Kari sat up in surprise, cupping her hands over her mouth and blushing beat red. "What…was that?!" she thought with a gulp. "What did he just do? T.K., what the heck were you thinking?!"