He, he, glad you all liked the ending to the last chappie. Enjoy this one.

Pre-Match Contemplations

What the hell did I do? I can't believe I kissed him! Taichi ran back through the wide halls of the stadium to his team's change rooms in a state of emotion akin to panic. What if he thinks I still love him? … well, he wouldn't be wrong exactly, but I'm still pissed off at him … aren't I?

Taichi looked up as he neared the change room.

"I see you managed to make it back in time," Taichi's coach grinned at his star player. "But then you've never let me down before Yagami, why should now be different?"

Taichi returned the grin, his inner confusion not showing at all. "You know me coach, I'm good at prioritising. At least that's what my old gym teacher used to tell me." Taichi walked in to see his teammates preparing for the game in various ways. Some were taking showers or sitting in the steam rooms, or even just getting a massage or consulting with physiotherapists and medical personnel.

"Ryotu's in the second steam room if you're looking for him." Taichi grinned in thanks and made his way to the steam room, shoving his clothes in his locker after he'd gotten a towel and wrapped it around himself.

"Glad you could make it," Taichi poked his tongue out at his friend's sarcastic tone of voice. He made his way over the room and sat beside him. They were the only ones in the room.

"So what's the plan?"

Ryotu shrugged, his eyes closed. He was leaning relaxed against the wall. "Coach just wants us to loosen up and make sure we're completely ready for the game. I was thinking of taking a steam then getting a massage."

Taichi nodded. "I think I'll go head out and take a quick shower first, then I'll join you again."

"I'll be here for a while," Ryotu lazily waved him away and Taichi shook his head, grinning at his friend.

He exited the steam room and walked the short distance to the showers. He greeted his other teammates there before grabbing another towel and heading into one of the cubicles. He quickly turned on the water and got under it, letting the pounding sensation on his neck calm him and let him think a bit more clearly than he could before. Taking a shower always helped calm him down when something was bothering him.

Okay, so I admit, I'm still in love with him, I never said to anyone that I wasn't. I was just so hurt when he left like that. And he never said that he didn't love me … at least not to me. He didn't seem that disturbed or against my actions. Sure, it was more like a slip of habit than anything else, but he didn't pull away in disgust or anything, so that's good. But why is it good?

Do I want him back?

Taichi shook his head at the question to clear his head and turned off the shower, realising he'd been in the stall for a while. He quickly dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist again before exiting the stall to an almost empty shower room. He made his way back to the steam room where Ryotu was lazing about, but stopped when he heard voices. It seems that more people wished to relax in there with him as well. But when Taichi heard his name, he froze and listened in from by the door.

"Look, all I'm saying is he does seem to get privileges that we don't." Taichi frowned hearing this from one of their mid-fielders.

"You know that's not true." Taichi smiled at Ryotu's voice. He was a friend indeed if he would stick up for him against everyone else on the team. "Taichi works his butt off for this team and if the coach thinks highly of him for it, I say he should. Look, when anyone puts effort in and plays excellent we get praised. Hell, most of us should have learned that in high school teams, if not earlier. I don't see you complaining if Shurizu gets special treatment for something done."

"Well, Shurizu's captain."

"Yes," Taichi's eyes widened as he heard the deep voice of their captain, "and Taichi is vice-captain and one of the best player's I've ever seen. You don't get like that without some form of natural talent and a hell of a lot of practice. He's earned everything he gets."

Taichi smiled. It was rare that Jurino Shurizu would enter into any of these sort of discussions. He felt it was bad moral for everyone to partake in gossip sessions. But Taichi felt rather warm inside as he realised that his captain was sticking up for him against the others.

"I'm going to get us all some water. I'd advise that the rest of you keep your mind focused on what's important." Taichi moved away slightly to make it appear that he wasn't eavesdropping, but when Shurizu came out and flashed him a grin, he'd known he was caught.

"Would you like to help me get the drinks?" he asked quietly as he passed and Taichi blushed slightly in embarrassment and nodded. They walked back to the main room.

"I guess you caught me."

"You had every right to hear what was said." Shurizu sighed. "I wish they would get over this fixation with you."

"Hey, it's no big deal."

"It is. Jealousy and resentment is something we should avoid in the team. I've seen what happens when members of a team fight, it affects everything and their game goes completely downhill." Shurizu pulled out a large icebox and opened it. He threw Taichi a few bottles of water.

"I don't think its envy," Taichi disagreed.

"Then what is it?"

"Curiosity." Taichi laughed. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not as outgoing as they are. Not any more anyway. They don't know much about me."

"I guess. I wish you would be though. It dampens the spirit a bit when we want to have a team celebration and a vital part of the team isn't there." Taichi looked up, surprised at the disappointed tone in his captain's voice.

"Shu, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to …" Taichi trailed off as Shurizu started laughing. "What?"

"I didn't mean to make you feel guilty. I guess I'm just a bit curious too as to why you don't socialise with us." Shurizu finished grabbing enough water for everyone and pushed the icebox back under the table where he found it.

Taichi shrugged. "No real reason I guess. I just never really felt like going out that much."

"I wish you would though, it'd make me feel a bit better and I'm sure I'd have more fun." Taichi stopped as he heard these words, a sudden strange feeling surging through him. He turned around, his eyes slightly wide, and noticed that his captain was standing rather close, a little closer than he need be. "I know slightly more about you than you think Taichi. I have to, I'm your captain." Taichi edged away slightly as Shurizu took a small step closer.

"Shu, I don't really know what …"

Shurizu shook his head. "Look, Tai, I'm not asking you to tell me anything, or let me in too close, but, if you'd like to, just give me a chance. I'd like to at least get to know who you are. Can I ask you that as your captain and, hopefully, as a future friend at least?"

Taichi hesitated slightly. "I can't promise you anything Shu. I'd like to be friends, but … I just don't know about anything else."

Shurizu nodded. "Sure." He grinned. "But, this is just something for you to ponder over." Taichi didn't think he could be more shocked as Shurizu leaned in and gently brushed his lips against Taichi's for a mere second. "We should get these drinks in now."

Taichi stared after his captain's retreating figure and let out a huge breath. He followed him, taking the time as he walked to regain his composure and get his thoughts in order.

"We're back." The conversations stopped as everyone turned to the door as both Shurizu and Taichi walked through, the later with a grin that managed to hide all his feelings.

"Glad you could join me again Taichi." Ryotu was still leaning against the wall he was before. The only thing he seemed to have moved was his eyelids, because now he was looking over at Taichi with his eyes open. Taichi poked his tongue out again as he passed around the bottles so that the team didn't dehydrate in the room.

"You know you're going to actually have to move your arm to get the bottle." Taichi held it teasingly above Ryotu's head, delighting in torturing his friend. Ryotu just glared at him and reached up to grab the bottle, much to Taichi's sadistic enjoyment.

"I hate you, you know that, don't you." Taichi grinned as he sat down beside his glaring friend.

"Everyone who loves me says that." Taichi took a drink of water and looked around at everyone else in the room who had returned to their previous conversations. Taichi allowed Ryotu to get back to relaxing as he was silent, considering things with a glance every so often over to Shurizu.

Great, now I'm even more confused than ever. What the hell did Shu think he was doing? He knows we all need to concentrate on our game and given a little time I would have been able to figure out my problems with Yama, but then this ... Taichi sighed softly. Ryotu glanced at him curiously, but it seems that no one else had noticed a thing.

"Thinking about Ishida?" he asked in a whisper.

Taichi nodded. "I'm confused about everything. I thought he didn't love me, but now I'm not so sure."

"What do you feel?"

"I don't know. I love him, but I'm not sure I can totally forgive and forget. And then of course, there's the possibility I could always move on and find someone new."

"Do you really want to do that?"

Taichi stared at Shurizu as he answered. "I'm not sure." Taichi turned to his friend, but paused as something else caught his attention. He turned back around to stare at a small group nearby. "What are you guys talking about?"

Everyone was either talking with or looking over at them now.

Ayoru, one of the mid fielders, and one of the ones on the team that was slightly resentful of Taichi's position, answered him. "We were talking about those two rookies on the Tokyo side."

"What about them?"

"I saw them kissing in one of the hallways on my way back from training." Everyone stared at him in shock as he related this.

Taichi shrugged. "So?" Everyone looked over at him.

"You don't find that weird?"

"No."

"But aren't they your old friends or something?"

"Yeah. They've been dating for five years." Eyes widened at this statement. "Do you all seriously have a problem with that?"

Some of the team members looked a bit uncomfortable, but some shrugged and looked unconcerned. Ayoru was one of the uncomfortable ones. "I dunno. It's just a bit of a surprise."

Taichi stared at him. "Does the very concept offend you?"

Ayoru picked up on the chilly tone to Taichi's voice. "Don't get defensive Yagami, I was just telling them what I saw."

Taichi nodded. "Sorry, force of habit." Ayoru nodded, though there was a suspicious look in his eyes that Taichi ignored for now.

Ryotu decided to distract Taichi and lower the degree of tension in the steam room. "So, who was that reporter earlier today you were talking to? You seemed pretty friendly with him and the photographer."

Taichi turned to him and smiled. "That was Takashi Takeru, my future brother in law. And the girl was my sister, Hikari."

"You never told me your sister was engaged." Ryotu glared slightly.

"Hey, I didn't find out until yesterday. I was about ready to kill TK, but Kars and Yama managed to calm me down a bit saying I'd regret it if I killed him." Taichi thought for a second. "I probably would have. TK 's a nice kid, I know he'll treat Kari right. But, if she comes to me saying she's pregnant, nothing will prevent me from ripping his throat out."

Ryotu moved away slightly. "It would seem that you're rather protective of your younger sister."

"I am. But she's my angel, she always has been. She's just as protective as I am. Trust me, if there was someone I dated that she didn't like or trust, she'd drive them away." Taichi concentrated, thinking about something. "That would actually be all of my relationships except for one that she opposed."

"Really?" Taichi nodded. "So who was the lucky ... oh." Ryotu trailed off as Taichi looked away. Ryotu frowned suddenly as he noticed something odd. "Hey, where's your necklace and ring?"

Taichi looked down at his ring-less hand so that he could avoid not only Ryotu's stare, but some of his other curious teammates' as well. Shurizu was among those glancing at him curiously. "I gave them to Yama to take care of while I played this game. I didn't want something serious to happen to them."

"Right. Is he here already?" Taichi nodded and he noticed the change in Ryotu's tone of voice. He looked up curiously and groaned as he saw the hopeful expression on his friend's face.

"Please don't ask me to get you an autograph."

Ryotu's face fell. "But ... Ishida Yamato! Tai, come on, just this one teensy favour?"

"Can't you like some drinking with us or something? Yama gets seriously creeped out when friends ask him for autographs, but then, I guess that's my fault. One time, I acted like one of his fan girls for a week as revenge for something he did to me. By the end of it, he was ready to kill me. Since then he's refused autographs for us and almost refused his fans, but he was homicidal, not crazy. Had he done that he would have lost so many fans."

"So no autograph?'

"Not unless you get it yourself. If I suggest it, I think he might react rather violently and unpredictably."

Ryotu sighed then narrowed his eyes. "You acted like one of his fan girls? When was this?"

"In our last year at school. There's photos and everything of it. Some are even framed and situated in the school awards room."

"How far did you go?"

"The whole way. Short skirt, makeup, portable shrine for him, everything." Taichi grinned. "He's never lived it down. For the rest of the year, everyone reminded him of it constantly. I, on the other hand, was a living legend. No one has ever managed to fluster Yama that much and no boy I knew at our school had enough courage to dress as a girl for an entire week. My teachers didn't know what to think of it. But my social studies teacher got everything mixed up and managed to convince the other teachers that I was protesting against the treatment of women in history or something. She was so cool. I was looking at a suspension before she came along."

Ryotu laughed at this and Taichi grinned, seeing the rest of the team snickering and grinning along with him. "So what else did you get away with in high school?"

"Quite a bit. Most of this is due to our social studies teacher. Um, I kidnapped the team mascot for one of our major opponents. That was in my senior year again. Protesting against animal rights got me off that one. Almost blowing up the school lab in my second last year, that one was an environmental protest against the burning of fossil fuels. For that I was actually not allowed to go into the science storage room for a while."

Ryotu grinned. "So, how did you manage to get away with everything?"

"Well, I suppose that it was because of my supposed actions for standing up for homosexuality with Yama in my second last year. Since then, everyone's been convinced that Yama and I are various rights activists. Human, animal, environmental. You've got something oppressed we were fighting for it." Taichi grinned and sighed in remembrance. "Those were good times. Those poor deceived people. I almost feel sorry for them."

"Almost." Ryotu grinned with Taichi. "That would have been great to see all of that."

"It was fun to do it. Yama was my sidekick in all of my ventures. I suppose he was there to be my conscience, but he didn't do a very good job. Half of the ideas were his anyway. There was this one time ..." Taichi trailed off with a blush. "On second thought, I won't tell you that story." He ignored Ryotu's look and got up. "Time to work out these kinks in my muscles. You coming Ryo?"

Ryotu nodded. "Yeah, I think I've sat here a bit too long." He got up too and stretched then followed Taichi out of the steam room.

"You all right?" There was only one reason Taichi would want to get out of there so quickly.

"Not really. I'm just ..." Taichi sighed. "This is so pathetic. You must hate me talking about all of this with you."

"Not really. I know you need someone to talk to."

"Thanks. Things are still a bit confusing for me. I just need a bit of space and time."

"You want me to leave?"

Taichi shook his head. "No, you can stay if you want. I'm just warning you in advance if I don't talk much."

Ryotu laughed. "Thanks for the warning, I'll try not to feel insulted." They entered the room where a few of their team members were consulting some physiotherapists. They quickly talked with one and were soon having any sore muscles rubbed hard. Taichi sighed contentedly and let his mind drift.

I almost let slip about Yama and me. Yama. Why do I still call him that? I really do still love him, but I don't know if I can go back to him unless I know for sure he won't run from me again. I couldn't stand it if he hurt me again. But do I really want to forget about him and move on? Am I willing to risk him hurting me again in forgiving him and getting him back?

Taichi pondered all of his options and finally decided, smiling, his mind finally clear after three years.

I would do anything for him, or to get him back.

AN: Yay! Tai-chan's all figured out now! Next chappie is the big game and some Yama too! :D