10 Steps To Make You Mine
Part Two Written & Edited by Hikari-sama





"Gomen ne, Yuriko-san," Sora apologized to the pregnant woman next door. Yuriko had her arms on her hips, not too satisfied with the apology. "It'd better not happen again, Miss Takenouchi, or I'll have to call the apartment manager about all that fuss."

"Hai, I understand, it won't happen again," Sora promised, heading back to her own apartment room. She locked the door behind her and sighed. "Oh my gosh, that was five complaints today," she muttered. Stupid Tai, stupid Tai, stupid Tai!, a voice kept yelling in her thoughts. "Ugh... I should have closed the door before arguing with him..."

Luckily her parents weren't going to be here for the weekend.

Shaking her head, Sora checked the time. Eleven-forty. She still had a couple of minutes to get dressed, since she had already taken a quick shower.

The auburn-haired rushed to her bedroom and quickly stared at the clothes laying on the bed for her, the ones she had already picked out at noon. She had stars of glee in her eyes. Sora was not going to get hurt during the date, and she was pretty sure of it.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Junnosuke Araki arrived at Sora's apartment at exactly eleven fifty-nine. One minute before midnight. Hmm... Room eighty-four..., he thought, trying to look for her room. "Aha!" he yelled loudly.

Okay... make that a little too loudly. Suddenly, a cluster of girls in their bathrobes headed towards Junnosuke with a frying pan and banged his head like a church bell. "Put a sock in it!" an English girl whispered at him.

"Put a sock in what?" Junnosuke asked. The girl stomped his left foot. YEOOOOOW...! Junnosuke wanted to scream so badly. But he couldn't. Not when he was being surrounded by this girl attack.

When they finally left, the jock knocked on Sora's door. Damn teenyboppers, he thought.

After a couple of minutes, the ginger-headed Sora opened the door. She was dressed in a black halter top and a red miniskirt. Her hair was worn as usual, bobby-pinned at the left-hand side. "Let's go, babe," Junnosuke told her, without a greeting. He was probably too rushed about something.

Sora looked quite uneasy, but followed him anyway. "Where are you taking me tonight, Junnosuke-kun?"

"To Aoi Megami-sama's, the most expensive and romantic restaurant in Tokyo." (A/N: No, it isn't. I made the name up. So if you live in Japan, don't go asking me for the restaurant address.)

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Taichi, it is now exactly seven minutes past midnight. Have you alerted Miss Takenouchi about her appointment yet?"

Tai was sitting on the couch, watching a boring, perverted cartoon on the television screen, now that he was back at his home. "Huh? Yeah... whatever," was all he said.

"You failed to do so, did you not?"

"Huh? Yeah... okay."

Sander was at the same position as the first time Tai had met him. Upside down. The teenager's guardian angel was getting pretty much annoyed. As you could have guessed, Sander did have feelings himself. "Taichi, I'd like you back on Earth, please. In other words, WAKE UP!!!!!"

Tai jumped in shock. "Whoa," he said, "Okay, okay, I'm back."

"Good. Now, what was I going to tell you? Oh, right. I'm your guardian angel. You can tell me anything," Sander explained.

Not too entertained, Tai shut down the TV and crossed his arms against his chest, "I know that."

"Well, if you do, then you would not mind telling me what is the matter. Now, what exactly is the matter?"

"Matter is anything you can make out with your senses. Matter can be a chair, desk, or even the air. But light, heat, emotions, ideas, and thoughts aren't matter. Matter is--"

"Oh. Yes. Uh-huh. I see you know your science."

"Well, yeah, I do have a quiz on Monday. It's actually really easy, because I've been learning this since elementary school. I don't know what the stupid science teacher makes us--"

"Um, right. You see, when I was saying about you being able to tell me anything, I meant anything about Sora."

Tai scratched his head. "Well... what about her? I mean, there's nothing really to say, except she's dating Junnosuke," he told his guardian angel.

"Impossible to believe, I must add."

"Hey--wait a minute," Tai said, "I just realized something. If you can't see anyone but me, then how come you know Sora's hair color?"

Sander grinned. "Let's not worry about that yet. But I have to tell you, it's almost half past twelve. Aren't you going to save your friend from serious hazard?"

Taichi sighed. "She'll never believe me."

"Taichi, tune in to Tokyo CNN."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Tune in to Tokyo CNN on your television."

The teenager shrugged and turned on the TV to Tokyo CNN. "...An unexpected explosion. Live in Tokyo, Reporter Anami Chiharu is currently at Fukai Mori street, nearby where the explosion had occurred. Chiharu, are you with us?" a black-haired woman sitting down had said.

The scene at the screen then shifted to another woman with cherry red hair. She had received the message after a few seconds. "Yes, Midori. The massive explosion attack occurred approximately five to eight minutes ago. People say that--" the redhead reporter, Chiharu, was interrupted by a cluster of couples holding hands, running away from the site. "I'm sorry about that. People say that the catastrophe had come from the bushes and trees just behind Tokyo's most expensive and romantic restaurant, Aoi Megami-sama. But, somehow, most people, around 82%, had said it had come from the restaurant itself."

"Chiharu, do you know why, how, or who caused this disaster?" Midori, the black-haired reporter asked.

"The cause, nobody knows--at least yet. I've heard some eyewitnesses say that they have seen a very tall man holding some kind of weaponry," Chiharu answered.

"Were there any deaths or injuries?"

"Yes, there were deaths. Two or three numb bodies have been found at the restaurant. Over thirty people were injured. Firefighters are now heading toward Aoi Megami-sama's to rescue people that are still alive."

"Thank you very much, Chiharu. We'll be right back after the commercial break..."

Taichi turned off the television, but as he turned to face his guardian angel again, Sander was gone. Why had he told Tai to listen to the news about the explosion, anyway?

Realization struck him.

"Junnosuke was probably going to take Sora to Aoi Megami-sama's!"

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Sora?! SORA!?!"

Taichi had arrived at Fukai Mori street a couple of minutes ago. He was still in his uniform. "SORA!!!???" he yelled, hoping to get a response.

Nothing.

And it was all his fault.

Sander had told him to warn Sora about her date with Junnosuke, and Taichi should have listened to him. He shouldn't have failed to stop Sora from going out with the jock. He should have been there for her. But now... she might as well be dead.

Tai stared at the now wrecked restaurant by the name of Aoi Megami-sama. Police and firefighters were scattered around the place, talking to each other. Some were coming out of the restaurant and shaking their heads, as if they hadn't found anyone else alive.

If Sander knew that this was going to happen, then Tai should know who had caused it.

Junnosuke.

That jerk-off, Taichi thought, I'll show him! He pulled up his sleeves, and angrily started to walk toward the restaurant, hoping to find a signal of either Sora or Junnosuke.

"Hey! You! Over there in the green clothes!" a policewoman yelled. Taichi, too frustrated to be able to listen, kept walking anyway. "HEY!" the policewoman kept shouting, until she got a tight hold of Tai's arm. "You can't go in there!" she said.

"But I have to!" Tai talked back.

The policewoman glared at him. "What is your purpose?" she asked. But the way she asked... it didn't even seem like a question. "My, uh... girlfriend... is in there!" Taichi lied.

"Mister, there isn't anyone else in there."

"Then, where is everyone?!" he yelled, impatiently. The policewoman handed Tai a clipboard that had three sheets of paper clipped to it. "These are the people that were found at the restaurant, all in alphabetical order," she told him.

Tai nodded and checked the list for Takenouchi Sora.

No such luck.

"Hey, um, there must be a mistake here," he told the policewoman, "because my girlfriend was in that restaurant." The policewoman glared at him again, as if he were crazy or something. "What is your girlfriend's name?" she inquired.

"Takenouchi Sora."

"We don't recall anyone by the name of Takenouchi Sora. I'm sorry, but she might have left Fukai Mori street before the explosion," the policewoman said.

"No," Taichi answered, "she didn't. She left her house at twelve... um... sharp."

"Once again, I'm sorry," the policewoman made clear, "but there IS NO Sora Takenouchi." Tai wrinkled his nose in annoyance. Then, he glared at her furiously.

Argh!... Someone behind him had an extremely galling grip on Taichi Yagami's shoulder. Why would someone do that when he felt so infuriated?! He wanted to punch that person--whoever it was--so badly.

But when he turned around, with his clenched fist, he whispered one word that had wouldn't have come to his mind, but did anyway. "S-S...Sora?"

He lowered his hand. The ginger haired girl with cinnamon red eyes who was right in front of Taichi, simply narrowed her eyes. Tai could find no trace of injury or damage on her body.

The policewoman who had been insulted, crossed her arms against her chest and gritted her teeth at the puffy-haired guy. "I see you found your girlfriend, mister," she said angrily, then left the two alone.

"Girlfriend?" Sora asked, even angrier. Taichi shook his head, mad at the freakin' policewoman for mentioning that word in front of Sora... even though it was his fault. "No... she meant girlfriend as in a female friend... uh, you know," he lied, forcing a smile. Sora sighed, letting her anger trail off. "Taichi... what are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing... I was just here, because I thought you'd be here... you know... the explosion and all? And besides, I know who did it and you probably know too," Tai responded. Sora gave him a lopsided smile, knowing who Taichi was talking about, "Thanks for caring about me, but Junnosuke didn't do anything. He was the one that actually saved me from the explosion."

Tai took a step back and raised an eyebrow at her. "What?" he blurted out.

Sora nodded. "Yeah."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"M--moshi... mosh--shi...?"

"Hey, man," Taichi Yagami greeted on the other telephone line, not quite excited.

"Hmm...? Tai? It's... three o'clock in the morning," Yamato said half-asleep.

"Mmm...," was all Tai could say. Yamato yawned, then rubbed his eyes. "Dude, what's up? Sounds like you just swallowed some cat's three-inch nail," he remarked, chuckling. "Shut up," Taichi responded.

"Okay, really. What's going on?"

Tai sighed. "Well... you know about that explosion at Aoi Megami-sama? Well, Sora and Junnosuke went on a date there and my guardian angel told me that Junnosuke was going to do something bad to Sora and I thought it was the explosion but then I saw Sora outside the restaurant and she told me that Junnosuke had actually save--"

"So, let me recap all of this... What?"

Tai sighed again. "Have you heard of that explosion at the Aoi Megami-sama restaurant?"

"No."

"You didn't?"

"No... When did it happen?"

"At twelve something."

Yamato scratched his head. "You were awake at twelve something?"

"Yeah well, I..."

"Someone told you to turn on the TV to Tokyo CNN."

Now it was Taichi's turn to scratch his head. "Um. No. I mean. Yeah. I mean. Wait. How did you know?"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Well, duh, you never watch Tokyo CNN. You don't even know about any wars or national conflicts that we have."

"What war? We had a war?!"

Yamato sighed in annoyance. "Never mind. Who told you to turn on the TV to the news?"

"...Well... uh, um..."

"Come on..."

"...My guardian angel, okay?!"

Yamato laughed. Okay, he laughed really loud that his father had to go in his room and hit his head with a stick. "Gomen ne, otou-san (dad)!...," Matt apologized. "Your what?" he asked Tai, turning back to the phone.

"My... my guardian angel."

"Okay, Taichi, maybe you should go back to sleep or something, because you're not dreaming anymore."

"But I'm telling you the truth!"

"Riiiiiiiight."

"Fine, believe whatever you want."

"Okay, Tai, get a grip. Now what were you gonna tell me?" Yamato asked, still smiling to himself as if Tai were affected a little too much by Sora's love.

"That I thought the explosion at Aoi Megami-sama had something to do with Sora and Junnosuke's date," Taichi explained, "But I met Sora over there... and she told me that Junnosuke saved her from that explosion."

"Oh, I see," Yamato said. "Well, deal with it, man. I mean, if Sora's alive then you have nothing to worry about."

Taichi nodded. "Well, yeah. But, um... what should I tell her on Monday?"

Yamato chuckled, this time quietly, just in case his father came into his room with a stick again. "You still like her, don't you?"

Tai blushed. "It's not--," he said. "Um. I don't know... I... I don't know."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Hi, uh, Sora."

"Oh...," the auburn haired girl turned to look at her locker partner, "hi, uh, Tai."

"Hey... what happened to Taichi-san?"

Sora smiled. "You're so sweet and cute that sometimes I wish I was going out with you instead," she told him.

"Really?"

Sora blinked. I better be dreaming... I didn't say that out loud, did I?!?! "Did I, uh, did I say something?" she asked.

Tai's grin was so wide, it almost looked like a real worm. "Am I really cute?"

Sora blushed and looked away. "No... you're just... you're okay," she lied. Tai's grin faded. "But you just said I was cute and wished that you'd go out with me," he said.

"I... uh... I..." she started to say.

"You what, darlin'?"

Sora looked at the voice talking to her. "Oh, hey, Junnosuke!! I'm so glad to see you!" she exclaimed, happy that her boyfriend just saved her from making up a lame excuse. Junnosuke put an arm around her waist, looking at Taichi. "What the hell's he doin' here?" he asked. Tai glared at him.

"He has a name, Junnosuke," Sora said. "Tai's my locker partner."

"Locker partner, eh?" the jock said. "Yo, Yagami, how about switchin' locker partners?"

Switching locker partners? That was the last thing Tai wanted to do.

"Switching locker partners?" Sora asked, "Is that even allowed here?"

Taichi crossed his arms in front of him. "Yeah, it is." Unfortunately.

"Well...?" Junnosuke asked, "You gonna move or not?"

Tai looked at Sora. Come on, Sora, he thought, Say something... don't tell me you want me to leave. Sora looked away from Tai's sight. She didn't want him to leave, but then again, she thought it would do good for both of them. She couldn't deny Junnosuke's actions... if she did whatever he said, he wouldn't harm Taichi. If she told Junnosuke that she didn't want him to be her locker partner, he would harm Poor Tai.

Junnosuke cracked his knuckles. "Did you hear me, kid?" he asked Tai. Taichi looked at Junnosuke, speechless. "H-huh?" he asked.

The jock glared at the 'kid', and clenched his fists. "You're making me angry, kid...!"

"Junnosuke!" Sora yelled. She would have slapped him, but it would do her no good. "We... we had a deal, Junnosuke! As long as I'm your girlfriend, you can't hurt Tai! You can't tell him to do what he doesn't want to do! You can't tell him to switch lockers!"

Junnosuke cursed at his girlfriend's locker partner and lowered his fist. Taichi sighed with relief.

"Well, see ya, Sora-chan. I'll getcha after class," Junnosuke muttered, not quite happily, then left. Sora watched him leave and sighed.

Tai smiled at Sora. "Thanks."

Sora blushed and looked away. "It's nothing."

"What do you mean it's nothing? I could have been mashed potatoes for dinner today," Taichi said, walking closer to her. Sora hesitated a bit, but let him take her in his arms as her cheek met Taichi's cozy chest. I wish we could do this everyday, Tai thought, smelling Sora's strawberry-scented hair. He closed his eyes in passion, when...

"Tai?! Taichi? What's going on?"

Taichi opened his eyes, finding himself in front of Sora. What? Wasn't Sora in my arms?, he asked himself. "Nani (Huh)? What happened?" he asked Sora.

"You said something about mashed potatoes, then closed your eyes," she answered, "Tai... have you been eating too many potatoes lately?"

Taichi narrowed his eyes. "No..."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Yamato laughed. "I guess when you're thinking about something too hard, you just feel like it's really happening."

Tai sat down on a chair. He and Yamato were at the school library. "Yeah, I guess."

"So tell me, did you use my plan yet? You know, step number--what was it? Oh, yeah--three. Wait. It was three, right? Yeah, three."

"Yeah, I did."

"How'd it go?"

Tai sighed. "Sora called you, I know that. What did you tell her, by the way?"

Yamato scratched his head, trying to remember the phone call. Of course, it was hard for him to do so since he received about thirty-five calls a day from fan girls at school. "Oh! Right. Sora. Yeah, she asked me about you acting really weird about helping her and stuff."

"Yeah? Well, it didn't go as planned. She told me that I was freaking her out... again."

"Really?"

"No, not really," Tai said, scratching his head, "Actually, I don't really remember what she said."

"Well, dude, according to what you told me, I think she kinda has the hots for you."

"But I told you, Matt... she said that I was just okay."

Yamato sighed. "Then I guess we'll see what to do with step num--"

"Don't even think about it, dude."

"Oh, come on! She's starting to like you."

"To like me," Tai repeated. "I want her to love me."

"Love?" Matt asked. "Love? You mean love, as in true love?"

Tai nodded.

"I'll see what I can do. But right now, just stick to the usual--every man's favorite--the winning!"

Taichi scratched his head. "The winning? How do I do that?"

"Well," Yamato sighed, "Just... you know... win her heart."

Tai narrowed his eyes. "But... but..."

"Win her heart over Junnosuke."

Tai raised an eyebrow. "Umm..."

"JUST DO IT!" Matt yelled, lifting his friend up from his chair. Then--ooh, guess what--the boring old librarian rushed over to the blond guy and hit his head with The World Guinness Book of Records.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Yamato stood in front of Sora and Taichi, just in case Taichi made a mistake, so Yamato could save his butt. "Hi, Sora, again," Taichi greeted. "Hey," Sora said.

"So, Sora...," Tai began. Yamato nodded, urging him to go on.

"So, Sora... how do I win your heart?"

Yamato slapped his forehead. "Um, sorry, Sora... excuse us for a second," Matt said, grabbing Tai by his hair and dragging him somewhere the girl couldn't hear them. "ITAI (Ouch)! Dammit, Matt, that hurts, y'know!" Taichi said, rubbing his head.

"Dude! You don't just ask, 'Sora how can I win your heart'," Matt explained.

"Then, what?"

"You have to compliment her on stuff, like, 'Sora, nice hair,' or something!"

Taichi narrowed his eyes. "But that's like... so easy."

"Then, how come it's so hard for you to understand?!?!"

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Okay, Taichi, all you gotta do is compliment her on something, nothing else," Tai reminded himself, heading towards his locker, where the girl of his dreams was placing some binders inside.

"Sora!" Taichi greeted, smiling. Sora smiled back. "Hi Tai."

"So, um," he looked down at her clothing. "Nice... nice legs!" he blurted out.

Sora glared at Tai, looked down at her legs, then looked back at Tai and slapped him across the face. "You perverted freak," she muttered, then headed to her own class.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Jesus Christ," Matt sinned, taking a look at Tai's crimson cheek. He sniffed, pretending to be crying. "My brave man," he said, "You are so brave."

Taichi lifted his hand up to his cheek. "Hey, don't worry--it doesn't hurt that much."

"Yeah, um, okay, whatever," Yamato said, "Say... what did she call you again?"

"A perverted freak."

"Hmm... what did you compliment her on?"

"Her legs."

"HER LEGS?!?! I said hair, stupid!"

"You said hair as an example, butthead!"

Matt sighed and muttered something under his breath, when the worst king out of all worst kings had to interfere with their conversation. Junnosuke Araki. "Hello, Tai," he greeted, mentioning Tai's name with intense anger. "And hello, Tai's friend."

"Uh... my name's Matt, by the way."

Junnosuke smirked, ignoring the blond haired guy that was speaking. Taichi was his only aim. "You," he pointed at Tai, "Let me tell you a secret."

Tai shrugged his shoulders.

"And you," Junnosuke pointed at Matt, "You, leave. Now."

Yamato shrugged his shoulders, like Tai did. Junnosuke rolled his eyes. "I SAID GO!"

"Oh!" Matt said, then hurried to leave.

Junnosuke crossed his arms against his chest. "Okay, Yagami, I guess it's just me and you."

"Yeah?" Taichi asked. "What do you want?"

Junnosuke sighed. "Well, now that that annoying Takenouchi girl isn't here, let me do you the favor of beating you up... little by little," Junnosuke smirked. "Don't be a chick, Yagami."

Taichi glared at Junnosuke. Not because he had called him a chicken, but because he had called Sora 'annoying'. Tai clenched his fist, wrinkling his nose in anger.

"You ASSHOLE!" Taichi yelled, punching Junnosuke in the stomach, only to have his hand withheld by Junnosuke's tight grip. "Who are you calling asshole?" the jock asked, his smirk widening.

With his free hand, Junnosuke punched Taichi's face. Tai blinked, making sure he had no black eyes, as he felt a drip of blood fall on the floor. "Argghhh," he groaned, kicking Junnosuke's shin with all his might.

The jock yelped in pain as he bent down to rub the area below his knee. "You goddamn--"

This time, it was Taichi that cracked his knuckles. Junnosuke slowly stood up. "You think you can beat me?" he challenged. Taichi groaned louder and punched the jock in the stomach, only this time he succeeded. "You don't call Sora 'annoying', you hear me?!" Tai shouted. It was as if he was becoming, once again, the old, jerk-off Taichi.

Junnosuke took a deep breath, holding his stomach in pain. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I did!" He gritted his teeth, and tried kicking Taichi's stomach. Only Taichi scooted a little to the left, so he ended up hurt on the right-hand side of his stomach. Tai placed his hand on the area Junnosuke had kicked him. Junno saw this as a sign of advantage, so he punched Taichi's nose.

Tai squeezed his eyes shut, falling onto the ground, holding his nose. "I thought you saved her from the explosion at the restaurant!" he said.

Junnosuke laughed. "She's stupid. She thinks I saved her, but I didn't."

"What do you mean you didn't?!" Tai asked, wiping his nose, only to find blood dripping all over the place.

"I didn't, that's all I'm saying. I didn't save her!"

"THAT'S BULL!" yelled Taichi, standing up and quickly grabbing Junnosuke's shirt collar. Twisting it, he gritted his teeth at the enemy. "If you didn't save her, then how's she still alive?!"

"I don't give a shit!" Junnosuke yelled, grabbing Taichi's wrist--the one that was holding his shirt collar with a lot of force. He tried to push it aside and twist his arm, but Tai's fierce feelings had taken a great effect to his body strength. The jock glared at the brunette, kicking his shin.

Tai yelped in pain, but laughed afterwards. "Come on, Araki, I've been waiting for this all my life," he challenged. It was a lie, though, but he wanted it; he wanted it since the bomb incident at the restaurant, he wanted to see for himself if Junnosuke was a real, true bully.

Junnosuke laughed out loud. "You think you can beat my muscles?" he asked--more like stated--watching Taichi prepare his body in a karate-like pose.

Taichi nodded, half-smiling. The jock walked towards him, so that they were around one foot apart.

Tai was confused, so he took a step back. "What's the matter, Araki? Not such a brave heart after all, huh?"

Junnosuke smirked, and took a step forward, sighing and shaking his head. "You know what, Yagami?"

Tai blinked in confusion and dropped his hands beside his hips, then said, "What?"

"I WAS JUST WARMING UP!" the jock shouted, throwing an intense punch on the brunette's face.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"He's okay, he's okay. He'll wake up in a few minutes. Yeah, mm-hmm," someone spoke. Tai heard a click, as if that someone had just hung up on a telephone. The person had a girl's calm voice... beautiful auburn hair and... Sora.

"S-sora?" Taichi whispered, trying to pry his eyes completely open.

"Oh my gosh, Taichi!" said a surprised Sora, running over to the white bed he was laying on, "How are you feeling?"

Tai slowly tried to touch his own face, to feel if there were any signs of injury. It felt like he had lost his face or something similar.

"Don't... don't touch your face," Sora told him, taking his hand away from his face. She blushed at the sudden contact with Taichi's hand and smiled. Sora was about to let go of him, but he didn't let her do so. Tai was grabbing on to her hand this time.

"Tai, what happened out there? What did Junnosuke do to you?"

"Shhh," Taichi hushed her. He unexpectedly placed her hand on his warm and cozy chest as he closed his eyes to sleep.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Several minutes later, Ms. Akimoto, the school nurse, walked into the clinic room.

"Ms. Takenouchi? What are you doing?"

Sora looked up from her position, her eyes wide at the sudden appearance of Ms. Akimoto. "Um, I... I..."

"Oh, I see. You probably helped Mr. Yagami fall back asleep. Thank you."

Sora was about to say something else, but decided to keep it to herself. She had lost track of time and had spent fifteen whole minutes sleeping on Tai's chest.

"Ugh! I am so late for history class!" she said to herself, although Ms. Akimoto had heard her.

"Hmm, well, since you helped Mr. Yagami, I'll give you a late pass just this one time," the school nurse told Sora, handing her a red card with Late Pass typed on it.

Sora took the pass, happiness plastered all over her face. "Thank you so much, Ms. Akimoto!" she thanked the woman as she left.

Hearing the door close, Taichi opened his eyes finding no trace of Sora on his chest. "Sora...," he whispered, mumbling something else under his breath.

"Ah, Mr. Yagami, glad you're awake," Ms. Akimoto announced, walking towards her young patient, "Would you like to see your face?"

Taichi nodded slowly, taking a circular mirror from the nurse's hands. He was a mess; his left eye was puffy, the right one was almost hanging out of its socket, his nose was red, as if it had just stopped bleeding, and part of his cheeks were swollen, he could even feel it. That Junnosuke was s-t-r-o-n-g, strong. He stared at the monster in front of him for more than a minute, thinking, who am I now? What have I done to myself? Did I really deserve this?

Yes, I did, Taichi thought to himself, trying to press his lips together, preventing himself from crying. I wanted this, I chose this; I love Sora... I am no doubt in love with her.

He handed the mirror back to Ms. Akimoto, as she said, "You probably want some quality time alone," and left.

Tai nodded. Even if it wasn't really Junnosuke who saved Sora at Aoi Megami-sama's... I still should have been there for her. I still should have protected her. I... I should have listened to Sander.

He took a deep breath. I feel so empty, I feel so clueless inside. I feel like I've failed to do something I've longed for all my life.

"But it has already passed."

Tai looked up at his guardian angel, who was in the same position as he was the first time he had met him--walking on the ceiling. "Focus on events and precautions that are happening right now, my child. You need not to worry about the past," Sander told him.

"What are you doing here?" Taichi asked out loud.

Ms. Akimoto came rushing in, wondering what was going on. "Taichi, is something wrong?"

Tai's mouth hung open, thinking of what to say. "Uh... no, it's nothing."

Ms. Akimoto nodded, and left the patient's room.

"What is nothing? Don't get me wrong, Taichi. I am seldom ever wrong," said Sander.

Just in case Ms. Hiroshi came in again, Taichi decided to speak in his thoughts. Well, get this, I wasn't talking to you.

"I understand. There was another soul besides us in this room," Sander supposed, nodding.

Yes, Tai thought, what are you doing here? Why don't you go away? I need to think about some things!

Sander crossed his arms. "You are rather harsh, Taichi. I am simply assisting you--getting a wrong source is never good."

Taichi shrugged, and thought, How can you help me get the right source? It's not like you know absolutely everything about me.

"So maybe I don't," Sander admitted, "but you can't expect a guardian angel to know absolutely everything about you either. If I'm willing to assist you and somebody else out, I only get to distinguish fifty percent of your life."

Tai's jaw dropped. He shook his head in disbelief, then thought, Wait, wait, wait, wait! So are you saying that you're somebody else's guardian angel, too?

"Ah, look at the time! I must go now immediately!" Sander exclaimed, waving his hand as he faded into the darkness.

WHAT?!, thought Tai, looking around the room, trying to spot traces of his guardian angel. "I thought you were supposed to help me out," he yelled, "DUDE!"

Ms. Akimoto ran towards Tai right away. "Yes, yes, Mr. Yagami! I'm here to help you out. Sorry, what did you need?"

Taichi scratched his head and blinked a few times. "Uh... no, nothing. Never mind."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"...and so Camilla sat on the dock, waiting for--"

A sudden, loud knock interfered with Mr. Saeki's writing class. The teacher did not look satisfied. I mean, he did not look satisfied at all.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU'RE INTERRUPTING MY CLASS!" Mr. Saeki shouted angrily, turning the doorknob to open the door. Taichi walked into the classroom, hearing gasps and chuckles around him coming from his classmates.

The writing teacher stared at Tai's face in disgust before saying--actually, he didn't say anything, he just kept staring.

"Whoa, dude, you got in serious shit!" this blond guy yelled at Taichi.

Tai looked down and handed Mr. Saeki the late pass that Ms. Akimoto gave him, and simply proceeded to his seat.

Mr. Saeki cleared his throat. "Well, since... uh... Mr. Yagami is here, uh... would anyone like to tell him what happened in the story so far?"

No one raised their hands.

Tai looked down at his desk, covering his face with his hands, wishing the day was over.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Man, what the hell are you doing? If you don't get your stuff right now we'll be late for class," Yamato urged.

"I can't go to my locker!" Taichi responded, "Sora will see me."

"So?"

Tai sighed. He released his hands from his monstrous face and showed it to Yamato.

"Whoa," Matt stepped back.

Tai put his hands back on his face. "I told you."

"Who cares, we're gonna be late! The teacher'll probably send us to detention! Go!" said Matt.

"No! I don't care! I'm not going!"

Yamato thought about it for a while, then told Tai, "Fine. Since I'm such a good friend, I'll go get the stuff for you."

Taichi smiled, although it wasn't visible to Matt. "Thanks, man."

"No prob," Yamato said, hiding a sly smile from Taichi as he turned around to head for his friend's locker.

"Takenouchi-san!" Yamato yelled as he saw Sora about to leave her locker.

"Oh, hi Matt," Sora greeted, "what's going on?"

Matt looked around, then said, "You saw Tai at the clinic a while ago, didn't you?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah, why?"

"So you saw his face?"

Sora blinked. "Yeah... why?"

"No reason," Yamato replied, opening Tai and Sora's locker. He picked out the supplies Taichi would bring to an everyday technology class.

"Uh, okay, thanks. Eh, wait! I need to ask you something else," Yamato told Sora.

"What is it?"

"Well... is Tai, you know, nice to you? Does he make you think that he's a great man?"

"Um... I don't know... what kind of question is that?"

"Look, just answer me, because I don't know if questions can actually be classified."

Sora had a confused look on her face that said, 'What are you, like, crazy?'

"Hello?" Matt inquired, waving a hand in front of Sora's face.

"I don't know, I don't know, okay? I just think he's a very nice guy and that's it."

"Oh... so you like nice guys?"

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Uh... I guess."

"Hmm...," Matt thought, "So, do you like guys who make you feel... good?"

"Uh... I guess," Sora answered.

"Hmm...," Matt thought, "Alright."

With a quick run, Matt left Sora with a very confused look on her face.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

Notes passed between Taichi and Yamato at Technology class:

DUDE,
thanks for getting me the stuff for class. so did Sora like say something to you or something?
your friend,
Tai

DUDE,
yup and guess what. I just thought up of step #5!
right back at ya,
Matt :)

Tai gives Matt an unaware face and keeps writing.

MAN,
you're not serious, are you? you know your stupid plans don't work. you know they'll never, ever work. you know you're not the professional advice-giving person -- you know you suck at it, so stop it because I don't wanna follow your stupid, senseless, useless advice anymore.
I'm thinking I don't wanna be your friend anymore,
Tai
PS: what did Sora say?

Taichi rereads his note. He thinks it sounds too harsh, but decides to show it to Matt anyway.

Before he gets to fold the note, his teacher takes it from his hands and hands him a detention form.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Okay, okay, dude. Listen -- this is what you have to do," Yamato explained.

Taichi rolled his eyes, but still paid attention to his friend.

"Compliment her. Tell her how nice she looks to you, that the beauty of her eyes match her hair, tell her anything you want her to hear. Tell her anything that will make her sound like a princess, anything that'll make her feel like a queen. Oh, and be extremely nice."

Tai looked down at the floor. "How am I gonna do that if my face looks like Godzilla's?"

Yamato sighed. "Remember when you were at the clinic?"

Taichi nodded.

"Sora saw you, right? She saw your face. Did she make any rude remarks?"

Taichi thought back, then shook his head.

"Then that means she doesn't care how you look, as long as you're nice to her!"

Taichi thought about it, then shook his head. "No! I don't wanna see her... I don't want to, I just don't."

"Hey, dude, look. I'm not gonna get your supplies for the next class, okay? So you better go get them by yourself right now."

Tai sighed. "I don't care, I already have detention anyway."

"If you go, I'll accompany you to detention after school."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"O-negai? (Please)"

"Iie. (No)"

"WHY!? OH, WHY? OH, WHY? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS, TAICHI? WHY???"

Tai sweatdropped, then shrugged. "No."

"Oh, it was just you, Matt. I thought I heard someone crying," Sora said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Sora! Hey, I'll leave you two alone, alright?" Yamato told Tai, chuckling to himself as he quietly left.

"Um...," Taichi stammered once again, covering his face with his hands.

"Tai! What did I tell you about not touching your face?" Sora told him, "If you do that again, I'll have to slap you."

Taichi had actually smiled, although Sora couldn't see. "I'd... I'd pretty much like to be slapped right now."

Sora laughed to herself, until she noticed Tai was serious. "Oh my, you're not serious, are you?"

"Sora... anything that comes from you, I will adore," Taichi said, thinking the phrase would make her feel like a queen, "I'm actually kinda used to it, now that Junnosuke gave me such a bad headache."

The auburn haired girl smiled. She took Tai's hands away from his face into her own, placing them on her own chest this time.

Taichi was blushing like crazy, he wanted to leave at that instant, although there was something about the feeling he was having that stopped him from running away.

"Tai... you're a really nice guy. Don't ever change," Sora told him, which made his cheeks turn into a deeper shade of red.

"Sora, what the hell are ya doin' with that freak-o Yagami?" Junnosuke shouted, making his way towards Sora and Tai.

Sora dropped Tai's hands and backed away. "Nothing, I was just giving him a... palm-reading session," she lied, grinning like an idiot.

Taichi smiled as well, with a content sign on his face. He watched Junnosuke and Sora leave as he believed in himself, that somehow, someday, he'd have a chance with Sora.

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Strike!" Yamato shouted in total excitement, giving Taichi two thumbs-up. "Lucky bum, lucky bum. What did I tell you? Step number five was a success!"

Taichi raised an eyebrow as Matt began shaking his butt in a hula kind of dance. "Is that... um, is that your victory dance or something?" asked Tai.

Yamato stopped dancing, then eyed Taichi. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Um, well... no," Tai responded, "I just think it's, you know, bizarre."

"Yeah, I know. You're embarrassed to have a friend that shakes his butt whenever he's excited," Yamato said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"No, that's not what I meant, really," Taichi covered up for himself, not wanting to hurt his friend's feelings.

"Oh, I know what you meant," Yamato told Tai, nodding.

"Okay, fine. You look like an asshole, okay?" Taichi snapped. Matt's excited expression faded as he produced a noise sounding something like, I knew it. Tai continued, "Although..."

"No... no more. I hate you, man," Yamato interrupted.

Tai sighed as he kept going, "Although she still doesn't love me the way I love her."

"What?! What are you saying, man? Look, she said you were nice, that she didn't want you to change, she took your hand, and your saying she still doesn't like you?"

"Dude, maybe she likes me, but I want her to love me."

Matt shook his head. "You're so greedy. You want this, you want that. Sooner or later you're gonna say, I want my mommy."

"It's not being greedy, I'm serious!"

Matt shook his head once more. "So, what, you want me to be serious now? So greedy!"

"MATT!!"

"Alright, alright," said Yamato, "Jeez."

"Help me. Dude, you promised."

"Okay, I will. Give me some time, okay?"

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Alright, Taichi, I'm just going to put this liquid on your skin, okay? Whatever you do, don't move. Oh, and try not to scream so loudly," Ms. Deguchi, Tai's personal doctor, told him later that day. Mrs. Yagami was so upset that after she took her son to his doctor appointment, she'd have to send him to psychological therapy or something.

But why would he need such a thing? It's not like he was suffering mentally. It was just his physical body. His heart was only secretly yearning for a certain girl named Sora.

"OW! What are you doing? Trying to kill me?!" Tai wanted to know, screaming in pain at the sudden liquid flow to his cheek. His own skin felt like burning lava wandering about. It sizzled everywhere it stopped.

"It's for your own good," Ms. Deguchi responded. "The damage on your cheeks should be gone after a couple of weeks. About the eye, it might take a longer while. Your nose should be good by tomorrow."

Tai nodded in comprehension. "Ms. Deguchi...?"

As the doctor placed the needy tools back onto her desk, she looked back at her patient. "Yes?"

He looked down in embarrassment, causing his cheeks to turn a visible shade of red. "Umm...," he stammered, "Are you married?"

Ms. Deguchi laughed out loud. "No, I'm still single, but don't you dare try to set me up with anyone! Men are so foolish these days."

"Well... um, I just wanted to know what you'd look for in a guy."

"What I look for in a guy?" Ms. Deguchi thought about it, then continued, "Someone loyal of course. Someone who'd care about me."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Thank goodness!" Yamato whispered in relief that morning at the school library. Oh, no. No way was he ever going to get hit on the head by the librarian with the Guinness Book of Records again. "If you would have taken that psychological treatment, Junnosuke would be laughing at you everyday at school. Talk about nightmares."

"Yeah, and talking about nightmares, I'm going to stay a physical nightmare for weeks," Taichi pointed out, indicating towards his face.

"You can deal with that. Good thing you fell for someone who doesn't mind how you look. Imagine if you fell for the cheerleader-type," Matt informed.

Taichi nodded. "Nightmare, alright."

"Anyway, anyway. I think I know what step number six should be."

"Oh, yeah! My doctor, Ms. Deguchi, told me that she loves guys that are loyal and care about her. Maybe Sora does, too."

Yamato thought about it. "Um... that sounds gay, dude. Hey, no offense. Guys should act aloof and keep their cool."

Tai disagreed, though. He thought back at what Ms. Deguchi had told him earlier, then told Matt about it. "Maybe that's why she's single. Because we, men, are being so disloyal these days."

"Tai, are you all right? I thought you were a man, too," Matt wanted to know, scratching his head.

"I know, but I just think... well, maybe we should be more loyal to women."

"And how will you do that?"

"Isn't that what you should be telling me?" asked Tai.

"What? I should tell you to act gay?"

"I'm serious, Matt. If I love Sora, then I care about her. It's not being gay, alright?"

Yamato sighed. "Alright, I'll help you out."

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~

"Sora, what are you doing here?"

Those cinnamon eyes grew wide in shock, staring straight at Tai. Sora jumped out of her position, causing her to fall back on the floor.

"Whoa, are you okay?" asked Tai, extending his hand to her.

Sora took his hand, getting back up and nodded. "You scared me! I... I wanted to see you."

Taichi had just returned home from school, and had caught Sora ringing the doorbell at the front door. "What is it?" Tai wanted to know.

"Onii-chan," Hikari opened the door for both Tai and Sora, "and...?"

"My name is Sora."

"Sora...?" Hikari repeated, wondering where she'd heard that name before.

"Hikari, get out of the way," Taichi stepped inside, pushing his sister aside. Sora followed.

"Your house is beautiful," Sora told Tai in awe.

"Yeah, well, I do all the cleaning!" Taichi lied. He looked down, then back at Sora, deciding to rephrase his saying. "I'm just kidding. Okaa-san does all the work here."

Sora smiled, then nodded. "Oh."

Taichi led Sora to the bedroom he shared with his little sister, then sat down at the edge of his bed. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Sora looked away from Tai's sight, then said, "I thought I saw a ghost today. I just needed someone to talk to."

"A ghost?" Tai wanted to know.

"Y-yeah..."

"Where was it?"

"At home," answered Sora.

Taichi thought about it for a moment, as an awkward silence filled the room. Deciding to prevent it, Tai motioned Sora to sit down on the bed next to him. Sora gladly did so, although her uncomfortable expression still remained.

"So...," Taichi continued, looking at Sora, "Why did you come to me? I mean, you could have gone to Mimi's, right?"

Sora escaped from Tai's sight. If she were capable to face him again, her eyes would be trapped in his own maze-like eyes. It'd be hard to get out of it. "Yes, but I think she's with her other friends."

Tai grinned. This is so great! Step number six ahoy!

"What do you mean, you think?" inquired Taichi.

Sora blushed. "I... I just think it'd be more appropriate to talk to you instead of Mimi. She'd probably just laugh at me and cheer me up by telling me countless jokes. But you're special and I think that you'd be able to tell me something about you."

Taichi nodded. The awkward silence filled the room once again.

Tai kept staring at Sora, who still had her eyes away from him. He wanted to hold her hand and tell her that she'd be all right, but never had the guts to do just that.

"Sora," Taichi interrupted the silence. After all, what would silence do? Cheer her up? She had come to him, so he had to do something to grab his chance.

Sora still wouldn't look at him. Tai sighed, deciding he'd ask her about the ghost she had possibly seen earlier. "About this ghost... did it say or do something to you?"

Sora pressed her lips together, her throat hardening, making it hard for her to swallow. Her eyes began to sting with tears, but she wouldn't let them flow down her cheeks.

"Sora?"

"He said he was my guardian angel."