Overprotective.
By Moonlit Sea.
Chapter 1 - Welcome Home!
Three months had passed since he had last seen her and now three months later Taichi Kamiya stood in the arrivals area of Tokyo Airport waiting for Crystal Green to come back from America, she was visiting family and touring the country. While he waited he remembered the first time he met Crystal, it was three years ago that his friend Jamie had introduced Tai to Crystal at his party.
==FLASHBACK==
"Hey Jamie, you my seen sister Kari anywhere?" Tai asked his friend.
"Yeah I think I saw her talking to Jonathan." Jamie Incay replied after eating a sausage roll.
"Jonathan Lee?" Tai asked.
Jamie nodded then said
"That reminds me I want you to meet someone." He looked around the room. Then he saw who he was looking for then shouted "Hey Crystal over here."
"Hey Jamie, what's up" she replied after narrowly missing a collision with the buffet table.
"Crystal I want you to meet someone. Crystal this it Taichi Kamiya, Tai this is Crystal Green." He introduced.
"Please to meet you." Crystal smiled.
*-Whoa! She's cute.-* Tai thought.
They kept in contact after the party and a couple of months later Tai asked Crystal if she'd go out with him she said yes and they had been together ever since.
==END FLASHBACK==
He stood looking at the arrivals board to see which gate to go to when the loud speaker went off bringing Tai out of his thoughts.
***Ding Dong***
"Flight 649 from Miami now arriving at gate 12."
*- Boston? Los Angeles? Miami? Where did Crystal say she was flying from? -* Tai racked his brains and tried to think back to what Crystal had told him last night on the phone. If only he had listened to what she was actually saying instead of just listening to her voice. Then a holiday poster caught his eye it said 'Come to sunny Florida!' it had a picture of a deckchair and a beach umbrella sitting on a sunny beach. It reminded him of something but what? Wait Florida… Crystal had said something about Florida then she mention a state that began with 'M' but what was it?
He looked up at the arrivals board again Miami… why did that sound so familiar? Wait… Miami that was it! Miami was the place she was flying from! He quickly looked at the gate number and headed off in its direction.
He arrived just in time to see the first passengers depart from the plane and he waited and waited and waited as the last few passengers left the plane he heard a familiar laugh then a voice that said "Trust you to leave it on the plane." A voice he instantly recognised as Crystal's.
*- Looks like she's made a couple of new friends. -* Tai smiled, he wasn't really surprised that she had, Crystal was a very friendly and cheerful person always willing to lend a hand if anyone needed or wanted help. But as Crystal rounded the corner Tai saw something that he wasn't expecting the people Crystal was laughing and joking with were all…
"Boys." he said quietly to himself.
He had assumed that they would be girls not boys he stared at them as if it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. He knew that she already had boys that were friends even one of her best friends was a boy but all that was different Tai knew those people as they were also his friends he had even introduced some of them to Crystal. But he knew nothing of the people she was with now and in a way that kind of worried him.
There were five boys huddled round 'his' Crystal, two of them had blue hair, another had blonde, the one next him had ginger and the one to Crystal's immediate left had black. It wasn't long though until Crystal noticed Tai.
"TAI."
"Crystal."
They hugged each other.
"Man I've missed you Tai."
"Have you." he said in a rather skeptical voice.
"Of course now I can do this…" and she kissed Tai lightly on the lips and went a little red, as did Tai.
Then she moved to his right so Tai could see the people that she was talking with.
"Tai, these are my friends Ray, Tyson, Max, Kai and Kenny. I met them during my travels." She smiled, "Guys, this is Tai."
Tai looked at each of them then turned to Crystal.
"So how was your trip?" ignoring the people she had just introduced him to.
"It was amazing Tai you should have come." She replied as they started to walk towards the luggage collection point hand in hand.
"I'm beginning to wish I had." He said as he looked behind him at the five who were still following them then looked forward again. "So what were you guys doing in America?" he asked.
"Competing." Kai replied.
"Oh what sport?" Tai asked intrigued.
"So uh…Tai what kind of job do you do?" Ray asked after seeing a pleading look from Crystal to change the subject.
"I play soccer." Looking at Crystal who looked away then he looked at Ray. He couldn't tell if there was something going on between them but he had a funny feeling about both of them. A feeling that they were hiding something.
When they reached the collection point it was quite full with lots of people from other flights also trying to collect their luggage. At one point Tai lost Crystal in the crowd.
"Crystal." He called.
"Don't worry I'm sure she's fine." A voice said behind him.
Tai turned round saw the ginger and blonde haired boys behind him.
"Do you know where she is?"
"She's around here somewhere." The blonde replied "My names Max by the way. Crystal didn't do a very good introduction"
"Hey." Tai responded but he was concentrating more on looking for Crystal than what Max was saying.
"I wouldn't worry she's probably with Tyson, Ray and Kai getting her and our luggage."
Tai tried not to look too worried at what the ginger haired boy had just said.
"And you are..."
"Kenny but these guys call me Chief." Tai looked confused for a moment "Long story."
"Max is right, Crystal didn't do the introductions very well." Tai said surprised that he even remembered the guy's name.
Then Tai spotted Crystal but he didn't like what he saw one of the guys was following Crystal and she didn't like it, He could tell by the expression on her face.
"Crystal's over there." he pointed out to Max and Kenny.
"Over where? I can't see her." Max Stated.
"Over… hey where she'd go?"
He had only turned away for a second and she had gone.
"Come on." As he walked toward the place where he last saw Crystal followed by Max and Kenny.
"So how did you meet Crystal?" Tai asked curiously.
At that moment Max and Kenny looked at each other then they both looked at back at Tai.
"She helped us with something." Kenny said.
"Right." Max added with a smile.
"That sounds like Crystal all right." Tai remarked.
"We'll never find them in here there's to many people."
"Yeah we're better off staying somewhere where they can actually see us." Kenny said.
"But what about Crystal? We have to find her." Tai said worriedly.
"She'll find us and who knows she's probably waiting somewhere for us with the others." Max replied.
"I suppose your right." Tai said with a sigh.
And with that they went off to a quieter part of the arrivals lounge.
A few minutes later Tyson and Kai appeared their luggage.
"Where's Ray?" Kenny asked.
"And Crystal? You didn't leave her in there did you?" Tai added with urgency in his voice.
"Crystal's having a problem with her luggage and Ray's helping her." Tyson replied answering both questions at the same time.
Tai didn't like the sound of that answer and was about to go back and check on them when they both appeared laughing.
"What was the problem?" Tai asked moodily.
Crystal knew that when Tai spoke in that tone of voice that he wanted them to be alone so she got straight to the point.
"I lost a piece of luggage and Ray offer to help me look for it. It turns out that it was still on the plane right at the back of the luggage compartment."
"Yeah it was a good thing the plane was still on the ground." Ray joked.
Crystal smiled, then went over to Tai and asked
"Tai, are you okay?"
Tai sighed and replied
"Yeah I'm fine."
Crystal gave him a disbelieving look.
"I'm just glad your back." He said with a forced smile.
"Yeah me too." And kissed him on the cheek. "Let's get out of here it's starting to get me down."
Anyone who knew Crystal knew that when she said something like that she wasn't kidding. She was normally a happy smiley person that was her nature, so when she was sad or whatever everyone always took her seriously.
"Right the cars this way." Tai said walking out of the airport followed by the others.
"So where do you guys live?" Tai asked hoping they didn't live anywhere near them, but he had a strange feeling that they did.
"They only live one or two blocks away from us." Crystal answered she thought it would be better if Tai heard it from her rather than the others.
"Really what a coincidence." He said sarcastically. "And how are you guys getting there… wait let me guess you said we could take them right."
Crystal sighed she hated it when Tai was in this mood but thankfully he wasn't in it very often.
When they arrived at Tai's Ford Frontiera they started to load the luggage in the boot, then Tai went up to the front and Tyson asked Crystal.
"Is he okay?"
"Nope."
"What's wrong with him?"
"I think I've annoyed him."
"How?"
"Isn't it obvious Tyson." Kai answered.
"Us?"
Crystal smiled "Don't worry he just wasn't expecting me to come off the plane with five boys I expect he had something planned."
"And we ruined his plans."
"Don't worry about it Tai will get over it." She hoped.
They all jumped in the car and drove off. It was quiet on the way back no one wanting to say anything that might annoy Tai even further, but it only made him more suspicious of them all. Every now and then Crystal would asked the guys if they were all right in the back, the answer was always the same ' yeah we're fine.'
"So where can I drop you guys off?" Tai asked
"Don't worry about us we'll just walk the rest of the way from yours." Max replied.
"Don't be silly Max we don't mind dropping you off." Crystal said.
Tai glared at her through the rear view mirror.
"You sure it's okay?" Ray asked catching the way Tai glared at Crystal along with Kai.
"Yeah." Tai replied a little annoyed, and after that Crystal said nothing more she just stared out the window until they reached where the others lived.
She then got out and helped them with their luggage while Tai Stayed in the car.
"You're sure you guys will be okay." She asked.
"We'll be fine but I don't think it's us you should be worried about." Kai replied.
Crystal sighed she knew he was talking about Tai and he was right she should be more worried about the way Tai was acting more than anything else and she was, but she wanted to see them settle in first.
"Well if you guys ever need any help you know where I am." She smiled.
"Thanks Crystal we'll call if we ever do." Kenny said.
Then they all turn to go into the building, but before he entered the building Ray turned back to Crystal and looked at her, she knew what he was thinking and answered his unasked question.
"Don't worry I'll be fine." She said.
He gave a nod and headed into the building. Crystal sighed and headed back to passenger side of the vehicle and got in.
"What was that all about?" Tai asked as they drove away.
"I was only saying that they could call if they ever needed help." She replied.
"Huh" he said moodily "oh by the way Kari said she'd come round later to see you."
"Great how is she? Is she still with TK?"
Tai didn't answer which made Crystal think she had asked the wrong question and upset him even more. They pulled into an apartment buildings parking lot, got the luggage out of the boot and headed up to their apartment, which was on the fifth floor. It's a good thing there was elevators.
As they reached their front door Crystal said.
"Tai we have talk, I know you weren't expecting me to come off the plane with five boys. I expect it startled you a bit."
But Tai remained silent which made Crystal even more worried, but she had a feeling that they had planned a welcome home party for her maybe that was the reason he wasn't saying anything at least she hoped it was.
