Disclaimer: Just own the story, not the characters.

Chapter 4

"EARG!" Taichi let out in frustration. The boy looked once more into the mirror and sighed, as if conceding to defeat.  The battle between himself and his hair had raged on for what seemed like forever, with his hair the victor at every turn. He wasn't exactly sure what was causing him to battle in this impossible fight…well…yes he was, he just wasn't ready to admit it. It was Sora, of course. It was always Sora.

Still, he played it off like it wasn't and began picking out his clothes, which were equally as important as his hair for the same "unknown" reason.

An uncertain amount of time passed before Kari, red-eye and weary entered his room. "Tai,"she grumbled, not even half-awake, "Alarm clock." and trudged back to bed.

Tai, confused to what Kari was talking about and why on earth she was awake at this hour, finally became aware of his surroundings and noticed the loud BEEZ! BEEZ! BEEZ! AN: oh, how I hate that sound of his alarm clock. Surprisingly, he was able to wake without it today, a result of almost two weeks of constant struggle to get up at such an early time. He walked over to the clock and turned the alarm off, pausing to check the time.

6:45!?! 6:45!?! How could it be 6:45!?!? He glanced desperately at his clothes one last time, grabbed a shirt and a pair of shorts, and got changed. He scarfed down some cereal, tried (unsuccessfully) to fix his hair one last time, and rushed out the door. Once out, he attempted to walk calmly and coolly four doors over, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

"Hey Taichi!" Sora said, opening the door, which, unbeknownst to Tai, she had been waiting beside anxiously for some time.  "Ready to go?" he asked nervously. "Sure," she answered, closing the door behind her.

Had it not been anyone but Taichi Kamiya and Sora Takenouchi, it may have looked like a date, but they were just friends, after all. Just two friends, heading to a summer job, or at least that's what they told themselves.

The nervousness was certainly unwelcomed but subsided soon enough. It was hard to stay nervous in the presence of someone that you'd spent most of your life with, knew all your secrets, and you know, fought evil monsters with in an alternate universe.

Tai grimaced, he shouldn't be nervous around her, she was his best friend but he was…and he couldn't explain why. He kept promising whatever it was would go away and then, things could finally go back to normal…but even he didn't believe himself. AN: Line courtesy of the author's own shameless self-pity ;) Meanwhile, Sora was thinking almost the same thing.

There was silence as they walked but still, somehow, it wasn't an awkward silence…maybe because they were both so deeply enveloped in their own thoughts…but more likely was that they had just been together so long, silences weren't awkward anymore. "A friend listens when you talk, but a true friend listens when you're silent" Sora remembered Yaeoma Sensei telling the class last year during class discussion. She glanced over at Taichi and smiled. Tai caught her eye for a second, then froze until Sora looked back towards the direction of the shop.

Okay, that was awkard, Sora thought to herself, trying to keep Taichi from seeing her blush. What was I thinking? she questioned. Tai must think I'm some kind of…crazy…smiley person now!

The two entered the shop alone. Ms. Takenouchi had left the house early to pick up a shipment of flowers and talk to the supplier. She had entrusted the two with the shop until she got back later that afternoon.

The day was pretty slow, and the two "worked" (which consisted mainly of talking, sitting, and a little game called "Ribbon-Scissor Baseball Soccer" AN: Better not to ask…I actually spent time planning out the rules and scenario for this game…*sigh* how sad is that? ) in the back until they heard those annoying little bells, at which time, they alternated who had go up and deal with the dreaded "Costumer".

After one particularly taxing game of "Ribbon-Scissor Baseball Soccer" the chimes rang again. Sora quickly tried to silence her giggles, composed herself, and went to the front. Taichi leaned against the counter in the back, exhausted from their game.

Taking this job was defiantly the right decision. Sure, there were some… disadvantages… wearing an apron, smelling like flowers…working at a flower shop… but those were nothing compared to the advantages like…being with Sora…and…then there was…getting to be with Sora…and oh, also, being with Sora. Wait, he wasn't with Sora now! Was she was still in the front? Tuning in to eavesdrop, he heard laughter. Sora, laughing, when dealing with a costumer?! Something was definitely wrong.

"Tai? I didn't know you worked here too…nice apron." Yamato said in a rather suave tone, standing coolly in the front of the shop. Tai's eyes narrowed. Yamato had that dark, bad boy allure about him. He seemed to be 'shrouded in mystery' and girls went crazy over it. However, for some reason…they seemed rather uninterested in guys who wore aprons and smelled like flowers.

"Yep, he does!" Sora said, with a bright smile that seemed to display some strange sense of pride and appreciation that allowed Tai to smile smugly at Matt. Matt did a poor job of hiding his disapproval, looking over Taichi like some kind of inspector, and showing by the look in his eyes that he had judged him unfit.

 "I just came by to ask you to lunch Sora," he said, choosing to ignore Tai's "unworthy" presence. Sora looked surprised, "Uh...oh well, that's very nice of you Yamato, but…I've got tons to do here…we're really busy….and my mom would murder me if I left," Sora lied; the shop had been nearly empty all day.

"Oh come on! Tai'll cover for you! Won't you Tai?" Yamato said. Sora flashed Tai a desperate look.

HELP TAICHI! I DO NOT WANT TO GO! was the message she was trying to send; HELP TAICHI! I REALLY WANT TO GO! was what Tai's warped mind interrupted.

"Yeah, no problem," Tai said quietly, brokenhearted. "No Matt, really, I couldn't. Tai's just started and…" Sora continued desperately, shocked that Tai refused to help. "Oh no you don't! We are going out to lunch and Tai will take care of the shop." Matt stated plainly. Sora, now absolutely frantic started again, "But!-" "Ssh! Let's go." Matt said, putting his finger to her lips. Sora stopped, stunned. Tai glared, appalled. Sora still shocked by Matt's actions, was then dragged out of the shop. "Have fun Tai," Matt sneered as they left.

Tai stood in the same place for quite sometime. What was that? Wait, no, he knew what that was, you only asked a girl out to lunch if your interested in her. He sat there glaring into some distant image of Yamato. He had touched her, came on to her!! That jerk! He had no right!! Tai breathed more heavily, trying to calm himself down. Why was he so furious? If Yamato likes Sora…good for him, right? That might stop whatever his own feelings for Sora were.

She wasn't happy about it, that's for sure, Tai noted as he thought back to Matt "sshing" Sora. But why had she been so desperate to go out then? Did…she…no…she couldn't. Sora wasn't like all those other girls, she wouldn't fall for the bad boy act…would she?

His stomach lurched as he imagined the possibilities. Yamato was more charming than him, no contest. He would never beat him out for Sora's affection. Eurahghh! Hold on!? I'm competing for her affection!? Tai thought as he realized he was summing up Matt as "competition". No, no, no… no competing, this is crazy, Sora's my friend, I should be happy for her… What's happening to me? He thought desperately. It was a question he wasn't ready to answer. Hoping for distraction, he turned toward an unfinished arrangement, and hoped Sora would get back soon.

AN: Whee! Hurray! Another chapter done *happy finished-with-chapter-dance* Well, the story behind this one was that originally, it was suppose to go in chapter 3, then I moved it to it's own chapter, and then that made chapter 4 too long so I spilt up chapter 4 to make chapter 5 and a sort of…back up chapter…for if I get to overwhelmed with homework and stuff and can't write something better ;) Phew! Fun stuff! Also, when I first started thinking about this story, I had wanted to make Matt a good guy…because I'm always so mean to him, but I needed a villain! Sorry Matt fans! :( I'll try to make him more likable later on ;) As you can see, things are getting more 'shippy' and a lot more fluffly, in these chapters…meaning? Well, I'm not exactly sure ;) Just letting you know that I realize it's happening and I haven't gone completely insane ^_- Anyway, thanks for reading, please review!! :D

Lots of love,

Soragirl