Dedication: As always, everyone that reviewed, you are my little angels of happy :D

But now, to address the problem pointed out to me by Taiorafan.

No worries friend! I'm not a big fan of Mimi either ^_- I realize Chapter 6 (and perhaps some future chapters) may look like I'm doing the "Mimi pretty; Sora not" setup but that's not at all what I'm aiming for. We've already determined that Sora is attractive. Tai thinks, and I quote, she's "the beauty that is deeper then eyes can merely see" plus she's got James stalking her ;) In Chapter 6, I was trying to demonstrate Sora's declining self-confidence, which will become an important issue in the future. I've been writing almost entirely in Sora's POV instead of taking the "omniscient author" approach so although I did realize that Chapter 6 seemed like I was putting Sora down I couldn't exactly write in "..and this was all just what was Sora was thinking about herself.." because it didn't fit. Also, she was the only character in the scene at the time and when you think badly about yourself, it becomes the truth to you, so it just made more sense to write it down like "the truth"

Anyway, that was a long way of saying: I'm sorry! Don't hate me! (at least not yet) I'm not saying Mimi's pretty and Sora is not! I love you! ;) *giant hugs!*

But now!

Chapter 7

"That'll be 5.85, Mista," grunted the cab driver as they pulled up to a large and intimidating stone building. It looked sort of like a prison or perhaps the front office to hell…either way it didn't sit well with Taichi. Surely it couldn't really be Sora's school? 

 "You're sure this is it?" Tai asked nervously.

"Yeah, this is it," the cab driver answered, tapping his hand on the wheel,"Tokyo Academy of the…yadda yadda yadda…Ya gettin' out or what kid?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Tai said, fumbling through his pockets to find change. "Here," he said, handing him six dollars, "Keep the change."

The cab driver grunted in acknowledgement and sped away, leaving Tai staring frightened at the stone mass. Wow, I guess it's a good thing I didn't come here, he thought and turned away from the building, hoping to stop the ibee gibees it gave him.

"TAI!" Sora squealed as soon as she spotted him and ran up to hug her friend.

He happily accepted the hug, finding Sora a lot more pleasant then "the building from hell". "Sorry it took so long," he apologized, "We had some delays."

"It's fine," Sora smiled but noticed with fear the high pitch of her voice. "I just wish I would have known, I might have had time to change out of this," she lied as she motioned to her skirt, "We had to get dressed up for our English speeches today."

Tai laughed, knowing how much Sora loathed skirts, "Well, I'm pretty sure the next bus to Miyazaki is at 8, but I'll have to check. So that gives us…5 hours."

Sora nodded, "I guess we better get going then, come on, I'll show you my dorm."

Tai hesitated, "Okay, is just me or this place like…completely evil?"

"Nope," Sora smiled, "It's definitely evil, but let us walk, for my rooms not quite as bad."

"Aye, fair maiden," he grinned, "I would follow you to the ends of earth."

~

"Well, here it is," Sora said as they approached the door that read: 247. She unlocked the door and opened it up.

"Sora!" Meichico said as soon as she entered. "Where have you been?"

Sora's face went pale, oh no…they knew she was skipping class, they couldn't find her in her room, they had probably called the authorities… "Wh-what do you mean?" Sora asked innocently.

"James came by right before lunch ended because he had heard something about Miyazaki. You weren't in here or in the lunch room, he couldn't find you anywhere," Meichico said. James, whose hometown of Kagoshima had also been hit by the monsoon, had been a frequent visitor to the commons, monitoring the TV for word on his town with the same reverence as Sora. The two had agreed that if they heard any word on the others city, they would tell them right away.

"James?" Taichi questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, a friend I met here," Sora said, making sure to emphasize "FRIEND".

 

Meichico eyed Taichi with a wicked little smile. "Why Sora, aren't you going to introduce us?" she said, approaching Tai a little more seductively then Sora liked.

"Meichi, this is my best friend, Taichi Kamiya. Tai, this is my roommate Meichico," Sora said in a very civil tone, though she cast a murderous glance to Meichi that said, back the HELL off woman. The glare, however, was unnecessary because the second Meichi heard the name "Taichi", she knew he was off limits.

"So you're that Tai," Meichi said sneakily, "it's nice to finally meet you." Another death glare from Sora. Meichi giggled, "I'll just be going then, I'll tell James you're busy." At "busy" she eyed Tai mischievously and smiled.

Once Meichico had left, Sora became a little more relaxed. Still, try as she might, she couldn't bring her voice back down from its high nervous level. She was using her stranger voice for Tai, something she had never ever done before. She was terrified that she would do something stupid the one time she got to see him and that that's how he would remember her from then on.

She was trying (pathetically) to flirt from what she'd seen Mimi do. The hair flip, the giggling; she was giving it her all, trying desperately to win Taichi over in the limited time she had. In truth, she hated it. Tai had always been the one person she had been completely relaxed around. When her father left, Sora was sure she would never be able to trust anyone again. Tai was the only person she was even beginning to trust, and that was only after years and years of friendship.

Now, she was acting like he was some new stranger. She was uncomfortable and uneasy…all because she moved four hours away, all because she didn't want to disappoint him. He was the first person to tell her she was worth something and she didn't want him to realize how wrong he was.

She was slowly becoming more and more insecure. She grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself as they talked. Tai grimaced. "No," he whined, tugging at the blanket, "I want to see you."

"I'm cold," Sora argued, "You can see me,"

"Well, I never get to see you. I want to see all of you," he said.

Sora blushed, stuck her tongue out, and dropped the blanket.  "There, happy?" she asked snootily, very much wanting her blanket back.

"Very," Tai smiled. "But why are you so nervous?"

She blushed again…so he had noticed it. "I'm not nervous!…just really happy to see you."

Sora glanced over at the clock. "Tai.." she blushed, "We're not exactly allowed to have boys in the dorm past 6 and its 5:30 now, maybe we should take a walk?"

"Sure, let me just call the bus station so I check and make sure there's a bus at 8"

Sora nodded and threw Tai the phone.

"Hello?…Yes, I was wondering when the next bus from Tokyo to Miyazaki was scheduled?…There's no early time?….Are you sure that's the earliest?…. Yes, sorry, of course…Thank you." He hung up and looked toward Sora, "Well, the first bus isn't until 11:30 so I'd have to leave here around 11…is that okay?"

"Of course it is! As long as you don't mind walking," she joked.

Tai grinned again, "Not at all."

~

So for the next five and a half hours the two walked and talked about nothing really at all. Occasionally they would sit down and take a break. Tai would plop down somewhere and Sora would nervously make sure she had her distance before sitting. Tai would then get back up and sit as close to her as humanly possible or make her get up and sit tightly next to him. She would do it with a blush, but felt strangely content being near to him.

On one of their stops, Sora, lacking anything better to do, showed Tai a few words in sign language, which she had started taking as her second language this year. Tai, who was in his second year of French, quickly mumbled, "Sora est intelligent, beau, et gentil." Sora caught nothing except…she could have sworn she heard a word that sounded like "intelligent".

"What did you say?" she asked.

Taichi smirked wickedly, "Sora has 'Flowa Powa'."

Sora blushed, punching Tai in the shoulder, "Shut up. It was the only necklace I had."

Tai laughed and continued spurting off random things in French for the next ten minutes.

"If you're not going to tell me what you're saying, just stop," she finally said grumpily

and Tai conceded.

They continued walking, as Sora nervously tried to make conversation and keep Tai from getting bored. She inquired on the status of their friends. He went through Matt, who had a new boyfriend, to Kari who had gotten a new puppy, to Izzy, newly elected computer club president, and finally, to Mimi. As Tai mentioned something about her getting the lead role in the school musical…Sora couldn't help but ask.

"Tai," she said, stopping him mid-sentence, "…do you…like Mimi?"

Tai let out a loud laugh, "No."

Sora wasn't convinced. "Tai, you're my best friend, you can tell me the truth…Honestly, do you like Mimi?"

Tai smiled, "Honestly, I do not like Mimi." He caught Sora's gaze and kept it, letting off a bittersweet laugh, "I wish you could know just how far off you are."   

Trust him Sora, she told herself, finding that she was still very uneasy, he said he didn't like Mimi, so he doesn't. He wouldn't lie to you. She smiled widely at Tai who took the que to continue listing off their friends.

In unconscious nervous habit, Sora had been putting her hair and taking it back down, putting it up, taking it down, putting up, taking it down until finally-

"Sora, stop where you are," Tai said in faked urgency.

Sora froze. Oh…no, there must be a bug on her…remain calm… "Wh…Wha…Whaat iss it?" she squeaked.

"Do you realize you've done that at least 73 times?" he asked.

"Done what?…Oh.." she said, realizing where her hand was. She quickly finished the motion, putting her hair back up in a messy bun.

"I've always liked it better like that," he smiled. Sora made a face, pulled her hair back down defiantly, and stuck out her tongue. Tai blushed slightly and laughed as Sora almost slapped herself. Now why did you do that?!  She asked herself angrily, Do you ALWAYS have to be this difficult? Conversation resumed but shortly after, Sora "nervously" put up her hair. Whether or not Tai noticed…she never took it back down.

They had discussed just about every frivolous topic imaginable, went through a few long silences, and several periods of "…tell me something", "no you tell me something", "no you tell me something." When 11 oclock finally rolled around they were both utterly exhausted. Sora walked Tai to the cab he had called, gathered all her energy, and threw it into the last hug she would get from Tai in a long time. Tai however, barely hugged back. His grip was loose and disinterested, like he was simply going through the motions. Sora pulled back in surprise.

"See you," he said before stepping into the cab. He quickly mumbled something to the cab driver who sped off right away. "Well, bye then," Sora whispered after them. She stood alone in the dark and watched a faint yellow speck fade into the distance. AN: symbolism, perhaps? ;)

~

It had been over a week since she had heard from Taichi. Matt had called a few days after Tai visited to check up and make sure everything was going all right. He had mentioned that that Tai and Kari's electricity was still out and not expected to be fixed for another week. Phone lines were down nearly everywhere and crews were just now beginning repairs. "But on the bright side," Matt had said, "School's still closed."

Sora continued to inquire about Tai. "Sora," Matt had finally sighed, "Why don't you just tell him that you care about him?" She was thrown off by that comment, having previously thought herself as "super stealthy" (which she was obviously not). Matt had teased her about it for quite sometime and though in the end, she swore up and down that she didn't feel that way, he still knew.

"Mimi is a moron…trust me, I dated her. You don't have a thing to worry about," he told her confidently, realizing she was probably worried about the recent competition for Tai's affection. Appreciating the words of encouragement, she allowed Matt to drone on about how hot "Jake and Tommy and Brian…and the whole football team for that matter" were without bursting into giggles.

As well as her strictly platonic relationship with Matt was working out, Sora still felt horrible, unable to get her relationship (or lack thereof) with Tai out of her mind. She knew she did something wrong the day he visited, the slack hug and the fact that he hadn't spoken to her since were proof enough of that.

She had wanted it to be perfect…and because of that, it was far from it. She hoped and hoped he would forget about whatever had made him so unhappy with her and give her a call. He'll call me when his phone line is back up, she promised herself. She swore that she wouldn't get desperate or lonely enough to try calling him before then. No, she simply wouldn't do it.

"…uh, hi Mr.Kamiya, is Tai there?" Sora asked as she nervously twisted the coiled phone cord around her finger. She tried to calm herself down, not wanting to make the situation worse. Relax, she reminded herself, it's not like he knows you swore you wouldn't call.

"Yes, hold on," Mr.Kamiya answered impersonally. Sora could hear him yell "TAI! PHONE!" in the background and then a ruffling of some kind.

"Hello?" Tai answered coolly. Sora cringed. The phone lines were up, Tai was uninjured…but he hadn't bothered to call.

"Hey Tai," Sora said meekly, "..it's Sora."

"Oh, hey," he said without his usual excitement.

Sora paused…what could she say? 'I'm calling because you could care less about me but I still care about you and I'm trying desperately to get you to feel the same'? "I…I was just calling because I hadn't heard from you in a while…and I thought you might be dead or something," she finished, trying to hide hurt with humor.

Tai laughed lightly, "No…I'm alive."

Conversation continued somewhat awkwardly as Sora struggled to keep him from getting bored with her. She paced nervously as they chatted and was proud when she noticed they had hit the thirty-minute mark. Apparently Tai had noticed too.

"Uh, I've got to go Sora," he said, interrupting her story, "I'm not suppose to stay on the phone for more then thirty minutes, in case one of my dad's clients are trying to get through."

"Oh," Sora said with a blush, "Okay…I'll talk to you later then?"

"Yeah," he yawned, "Later."

She hung up the phone with a shaking hand. This was the beginning of something bad.

Dun dun da nah!

*shields herself from things being thrown at her* Ah! Don't kill me just yet! I know Sora was acting rather…stupidly…but she was really nervous, leave her alone! ^_- As I write, I watch myself put in things I know I would get mad at if I was reading this fic and think, "Uh…man, they are going to HATE that sentence…I should take it out…" but then I realize, I can't, because it's building up what will happen later on. So I understand if you hated a lot of this chapter…but I'm trying to use foreshadowing and keep it realistic…so don't get mad! Trust me, it'll all come together at the end! ^_^

Chapter 8 might take a while to get out….its really large and really…poorly written…so I'm going to have to do some MAJOR editing…and I hate editing _ Still, I'll get it up as soon as I can :)

Preview of Chapter 8!:

Homecoming dance approaches…;)