Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.
Summery: Au, Taichi yagami has just returned to Odaiba for the first time in seven years to start going to scholl there again, and a wild haired girl named Taiko Yagami shows up as well. Looking so similar and yet claiming not to know the other, both of them grabs the attention of the elite group on the school for various reasons.
AN: Hiay everyone, this isn't the first time I write a story like this. Think of it as an alternate version of the first "Tai's Little secret" I wrote, it also doubles as an somewhat usable excuse for not writing the promised Pair up endings I promised to write, for those who have waited this long for them, I'm sorry the promised endings haven't been written or uploaded yet.
Info. When Tai is dressed as Taichi, she well be referred too as a male, and when's dressed as Taiko, she will be referred too as a female.
Tai's Little Secret (Alternate)
Part II
Friendly next door visits
=============================
Looking into her only mirror as she finished, Taiko Kamiya gave a small smile to the person she saw in it, the same brown hair and eyes staring back at her, the chocolate brown eyes reflecting the sadness as well. But where she knew she should be seeing Taiko Aida, the reflection showed that she was now the person she was expected to be. "Hello, Taichi Kamiya." At that very moment, the sound of the doorbell ringing could be heard throughout the apartment.
Standing up and making sure that he once again really did look like a boy, Taichi walked out of his room, stepping over his shoes lying in the middle of it all and reached out to open the door, mentally smacking himself for the tenth time as he had almost forgotten his fathers very strict orders about not opening the door without checking who it was first, but since it was a little too late, all he could do was shoot a peek around the half open door and out at the smiling woman standing outside it. "Uh, hello."
Smiling when she noticed him look out the door, the woman gave a formal bow before she spoke, her eyes still filled with a lot of kindness in them. "Hello, and welcome to the Apartment complex." Holding out a small plant in a pot, she waited for him to accept it from her.
"Thanks." Taichi replied as he held the plant, staring down at the bud on the green stalk with the three leaves poking out the side, a faint hint of red showing that it was close to blooming. "Um, do you want to come in, my dad's not here, but I don't think he'll mind it."
Smiling at the words, the woman suddenly gasped as she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you my name, I'm Yumi Kido and I live on the floor below." Seeing Taichi's clueless expression, she grinned a bit and smiled even more. "Sorry, but I'm still new with being the head of the resident's committee and all, but I still want to welcome you and your father to the complex on behalf of all the other residents."
Smiling as he looked at Yumi, he gave a small bow back at her. "I'm sorry as well, I'm Taichi Kamiya, my father isn't home right now, but if you want too, you can come in and have a cup of coffee or tea. It shouldn't be long before he's home."
Giving another quick bow, Yumi stood up in her full height and clasped her hands together in front of her. "Way thank you, I would love to have a cup of tea, if it's not to much trouble that is."
Stepping back and pulling the door open, Taichi allowed her to step into the entrance, making sure she was ready to follow him before walking further down the corridor and into the living room. "Sorry about the mess, we're still not finished unpacking yet."
The woman nodded as she looked down at a small box with Taichi's name on the side of it, her eyes growing a bit big and more warm as she pulled out a small white square device from the top of it. "Oh, you have one of those little V-pet things as well."
Taichi blushed a bit as he turned d and gently took the V-pet away form the woman. "Um yeah, I got this from some friends I knew back in Nerima." Putting the V-pet into his pocket, Taichi slowly pulled out a chair for Yumi to sit on as he walked out into the kitchen. "I'm sorry, but all we have of tea is some western brand, Earl Gray."
Yumi looked out at Taichi holding a gray box with a few tea bags in it. "That's okay, I'm always open to try out new tea brands." Seeing Taichi's confused look at her comment, she gave a small laugh. "It's okay, Really, I don't mind it at all."
Taichi nodded as he carried out three empty teacups, putting down on the table with one in front of the guests, one at the head of the table and finally one in front of himself. "The tea should be ready in a few moments."
Shaking her head at the words. Yumi slowly looked around the room with another curious glance on her face, before settling her eyes on Taichi again. "Um, it's not to be nosy, but, do you know the messy haired girl with entered the building a few moments ago, I haven't seen her around here before."
Nearly biting himself in the tongue, Taichi looked up at her as he did his best t smile. "No, I'm afraid I haven't maybe she's the girlfriend of one of the other kids in this building." Speaking a bit hasty in the end, Taichi looked up at the clock over the table, praying for his father to come in through the front door before he said too much to Mrs.Kido.
"Oh." Yumi answered as she looked out into the kitchen, a far away look in her eyes. "Well, maybe Joe is finally getting himself a girlfriend, it would be nice to see him do something outside the building besides school or hanging out with that Izzy boy all the time. "
"Izzy." Taichi mumbled out as he sat up a bit more in the chair, the only other boy he had met so far that went by that name had been the one form the computer store. If he lived in the building, he would have to be more careful about going out as Taiko, a lot more careful. "Um, this Izzy, he wouldn't be red haired and about this tall?" Taichi asked as he held out a hand in the high he guessed Izzy to have.
Looking at him and the hand, Yumi nodded to herself as she smiled. "You met him already, wait, you go to the same school as Mimi right?" Seeing Taichi nod, she smiled to herself. "Then you're also in the same school as Izzy, must form there you met him."
Giving a smile to her on the outside, Taichi was in a wild panic on the inside, trying to figure out if it was consider rude to bang ones head into the table at news like that. "That's great, maybe I can become friends with him." Taichi answered as politely as he could and without any insulting tones instead, having decided it was not polite to openly refuse to have anything to do with the children of a guest.
Sitting a bit of silence, Taichi nearly jumped out of his chair as the Tea Kettle gave out a loud whistle, the sound coming as a salvation to Taichi. The silence having nearly driven him to do something stupid, like running out of the room. "Um, I'll go and get the tea."
Stepping out into the kitchen, Taichi stopped when he picked up the sound of the door handle turning, followed by the sound of a pair of shoes getting kicked off and into the small cabinet meant to store them. Ignoring the teakettle for the moment, Taichi stuck his head out the door and gave a grin at his father as he stepped into the living room. "Hey Dad, this is Mrs. Kido, she's the head of the residents committee, I invited her in for a cup of tea as a thanks for the flowers she gave us."
Eisen looked from Taichi and over at Mrs. Kido sitting in the chair, his eyes turning a bit softer as he smiled at her when she stood up. "Please, don't get up because of me, I'll just be a minute." Looking over at Taichi, he grinned and placed his attaché case near the wall and walked over to look at the messy haired boy. "So, is the tea ready?" Seeing Taichi nod, his smile grew even bigger. "Okay, I'll just go and wash my hands, and then I'll come out and join you and Mrs. Kido."
"Okay." Taichi turned and went over to pour the hot tea into the small porcelain kettle and carried it out into the living room. Going back out to get a small plate for some of the let over biscuits. Sitting down in his chair after pouring a cup for Mrs. Kido, after that, he poured tea up for his father and finished by filling his own cup with tea. "Please, help yourself."
"Why thank you." Mrs. Kido responded as she picked up a biscuit and bit into it. Then she lifted up her cup and took a sip of the tea, closing her eyes as she moved it away. "Well, it's different form our native tea, it has a more, powerful taste and lacks the long time flavor of some of the more traditional flavors." Smiling a bit as she put the cup down, she looked over at Taichi and smiled. "But it's not bad, it's quite good. What brand did you say it was."
Staring into his own Tea, Taichi didn't look up at the question, his mind was more busy trying to figure out what mood his father was in, and what it would turn out like later one. But that didn't mean he didn't hear her question he just didn't show it. "Earl Gray."
Then, Taichi's father stepped back out into the living room, his smile still there as he sat down at the head of the table, his eyes briefly moving over to look at his son before returning to stare at Mrs. Kido. "Well, I don't know how much Taichi have told you about me, but I'm Eisen Kamiya."
Taking the offered hand, Yumi offered up another smile at Eisen as she stood up. "Well, it been a pleasure to meet both of you, but I'm afraid I have to get going now." Putting down her empty teacup, Yumi stood up and smiled down at Taichi as she offered out her hand to him as well. "It was nice meeting you as well, I hope you will both show up to some of the board meetings to give your view on the matters around here."
Eisen, smiling at her as he stood up, looked away as he bean to follow her to the door. "Yes, I'll be sure to look in at the next meeting, if I'm not working that is."
Remaining at the table, Taichi head dropped own onto the plate as soon as his father and Mrs. Yumi had left the room chatting together.
"Taichi, Boy, what have I told you about letting people into the apartment without me permission!"
Taichi gulped a he looked up from the Table. The tone of his father's voice spoke clearly of his current mood as he walked into the living room with a dark glare on his face as he waited to hear an excuse for letting someone into the apartment without permission. "Um, I didn't know what else to do, she would have..."
"Spare it." Eisen broke off Taichi as he marched over to stand right next to him. "For your sake, I hope she didn't find out about you." Turning and walking over to his attaché case, he stopped to shoot a dark look back at Taichi. "Clean up that mess, I expect you have fixed our dinner in an hour."
Nodding and quickly grabbing the first cup, he began to walk out into the kitchen, stopping when he could still hear his father's voice coming form the home office. "Stupid female coming in here without my permission, they're all nothing but trouble, just like her." Then the door into the office slammed shut as Taichi placed the three cups on the kitchen counter.
Much later in the day, Taichi sat in his chair and sighed as he pushed the homework away form him, his mind not up to the task of solving the problems in front of him. "Sora?" His mind instead chose to focus on the orange haired girl who he had talked with in the sports shop, but that had been as Taiko, but that didn't stop him from liking her, but not in that way, after all, they were both girls.
Closing his eyes and pushing off from the desk, he gave a grunt of frustration as he settled for looking up at the white color of his ceiling, pushing away the sound of his father watching TV in the living room. At the thought of his father, his eyes wandered over to stare at the door, making sure it had been locked when he entered. Knowing that his father would freak out if he tried to enter but found the door closed, but it still beat having to watch his father go nuts if he decided to do a raid on the room like the last time.
"I wonder, how other kids would deal with this." The words were out of his mouth as he stood up, cracking his back and making sure not to look at the half done homework on the desk in front of him.
Settling down on his bed, Taichi grinned as he reached down a hand and pulled out his V-pet. It had been a long time since he had last played with it, but maybe, it could get his mind of his troubles if he played a bit with his digimon again.
"Let's see." Taichi mumbled out as he turned the unit back on, a loud whine filling the room as it showed a low amount of battery from the long sleep at the bottom of his stuff. "Okay, Agumon, reformattered 9 times, 145 victories, 2 losses and 1 tie." Smiling a bit, Taichi grinned as he remembered the only two people who had actually defeated him and his partner in this game. "Heh, Davis, because I wasn't ready for his constant attacks, Ryo, come to think of it, did anyone ever beat him, the guy too good at this." The battle with Ryo had been more then a simple loss; it had been a complete trashing. Agumon, a Wargreymon at that time, had been kicked around by a simple team of two champions, the match had ended with Wargreymon getting deleted and reformatted after a curling 10 minutes of humiliation.
Pushing the depressive thoughts away and playing a bit with his Agumon and getting it leveled up a bit, Taichi finally gave a loud yawn as he rolled over to stare up into the ceiling again, the V-pet turned off and lying on his desk as he slowly tapped one finger on the Madres in a slow rhythm.
--------------------
"Briingggggg"
Smash!
Sitting up and yawning loudly as her fist moved away form the alarm clock, Taiko cast a quick look around the room, spotting nothing out the order as she pushed the blanket back and stumbled down onto the floor, her eyes going over to stare into the mirror placed one the table, a messy haired face staring back at her, dark circle halfway formed around her eyes due to lack of sleep. "Great." She mumbled out as she grabbed a fresh set of clothes, chest bindings and dragged herself front the hallway and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and locking it.
Turning on the knob to the bath top, she grumbled as she pulled off her t-shirt and shorts, picking up the toothbrush and paste as she waited for the tub to be filled with water. Outside, the sound of another clock radio turning on broke past the scrambled thoughts going through her head as a mumbled out curse followed the radio's morning tunes. "Great, better get this bath over with."
Turing around and quickly washing down before the bath, Taichi gave a cry of shock as she washed the soap of with cold water and stood up, if there was one thing she really disliked, it the cold wash before the bath itself. Still, it also went she had the best part ahead of her, even if it could last about 10 minutes or so.
Stepping up into the water, she sighed as she lowered herself down and relaxed, the water helping her do so, as well as washing away some of her concerns. Smiling a bit, she closed her eyes and decided to make sure she got the best out of it, only to blink as her stomach made a small clenching motion, a brief flash of pain running through her. "Wha?" Sitting up, she groaned as stood up, another milder bit of pain flashing through her, ruining her mood for the day.
Grapping a towel and drying off, she quickly dressed and wheezed a bit as the chest binds came on tighter then the before, her eyes watering at the pain as it was put on a bit too tight for her liking.
"Boy, are you going to be done soon or what?"
Looking at the door, Taiko sighed as she picked up the school shirt and jacket, quickly putting it on along with her jacket and tie, staring into the mirror to once more see her alter ego, Taichi Yagami looking back at her, his messy brown hair sticking out in its normal style. "All done pops, I left the water in the tub for you."
Unlocking and pulling open the door, Taichi walked calmly past the rather smashed looking man standing outside the door with an impatient scowl on his face as he looked at the clock on the wall. "Took you long enough boy, remember, a guy spends as little time pampering himself as he can, all that other crap is just for weak girls, and you, are not a girl, right?"
Taichi backed away at the sudden question, as well as the dark glare level at him from his father. "Of course not." The words came fast he pushed open the door into the kitchen, reaching out a hand for the coffee cups and coffee pot. Already having gotten the coffee powder down in order to make a cup. "Only when you're not around"
Pulling out the cereal when the coffee machine had started, Taichi grumbled as he poured up a decent amount and reached in for some milk, staring when all he found was a foul smelling milk carton inside of it. "Great, just what I don't need right now!" Swearing a bit at it, Taichi made sure the milk ended its days in a plastic bag stuffed away into the corner until he left.
Eisen stepping into the kitchen, blinked when he noticed the plastic bag, his coffee still standing on the pot and a very angry boy sitting at the table munching on a pop tart. "Okay." Walking over to look in the refrigerator, he sighed and walked over to get is own breakfast pop tart. "Boy, if I hand you some money, can you handle the shopping today, I have another long meeting with the office idiots to attend."
"Yeah Sure." Taichi mumbled out as he gulped down the last bit of his pop tart with out looking up from the table, his mind focused on the day ahead and what he should be careful of doing. "Hey dad, I'm need you sign this paper before I leave." Taichi mumbled out as pushed a small note over the table. "Gym teacher demands I bring a written note if I want to be excused from that period."
Eating his pop tart, Eisen shrugged as he grabbed the nearest ball pen and quickly wrote his name at the bottom in a hurry as he looked up at clock. "Okay, here's 3000 yen, make sure you get breakfast, coffee, some for dinner and the new number of the TV guide." The coins and notes landed on top of the paper as he stood up. "And boy, make sure that you're home before 20PM and have some food ready for me to heat."
Not brothering to look at his father, Taichi nodded as he scraped the paper and money together, standing up himself as soon as they were secure in his wallet, grabbing his school bag from it place on the floor he made a last adjustment to his uniform before walking out of the kitchen. "And so, another day begins."
Stepping out through the front door, he froze as he spotted the same cinnamon haired girl he had met the other day walking out of the door across from his, a piece of toast in her mouth as she turned the key around in the door lock. Then, her eyes locked with his as she turned away. Feeling clearly her annoyed glare at him, Taichi gave a nervous smile as he finished locking his own door.
Mimi Tachikawa stared at the messy haired boy as they made their way towards the elevator her eyes scanning him to see if he was going to do the same thing he had done the other day, but only saw the few nervous looks getting sent her way as they both waited for the elevator to show up.
Taichi sighed as he saw her look at him, the glare not as strong as before, but still getting on his nerves as he wasn't used to someone paying so much attention to him, well, except for those two, but they were back in Nerima, and he was here, in Odaiba.
Hearing the door open, he started to step forward, when he noticed the girl pushing in to the elevator before him, turning to glare at him as she pushed the button to take them down to the ground floor.
Feeling it move down, Taichi leaned on the wall of the small room and settled for following the number flashing as they began to move towards the ground floor. Somewhat ignoring the silence that filled the room as the girl sighed rather loudly at the time it took.
"Hey?"
Looking up as her voice broke through his brooding, Taichi locked eyes with the girl again as she had turned her head in his direction. "Yeah?"
Mimi bit her lips as the boy responded in a rather indifferent tone of voice to her, her annoyance with him rising a bit again as she moved to face him completely. "Are you always so nice to people, or is just me?" Blushing a bit as soon as she had asked the question, she lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed at the bluntness of it.
Taken back at bit at the question, Taichi flushed with anger for a few microseconds, before shaking his head, she was right, he hadn't really been that nice to anyone he had met so far in this district. But, he had to find them, and he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by anyone until he had found them. Besides, no one could ever understand him like Jun and Davis had.
But, maybe, he could be just a bit nicer to people, Davis had always told him that he was to angry and rash to push people away from him, but no one could understand it. No one could understand what his life was like. "I... Just don't like to be near others." Taichi mumbled out half hearted as he turned his head to glare at the metal wall.
Looking up at the answer to her question, Mimi stared in disbelief as the boy before her, having trouble in understanding that someone could feel that way about other people. "But, you must have someone you care about?"
"I did." Taichi replied as the elevator doors opened before him, showing the world just outside the apartment complex and the people who all had a normal life, not like his was, a giant lie that he couldn't get away from, no matter how much he wanted too. "But none of them is anywhere near here."
Staring after him, Mimi blinked as she barely made it out before the doors closed before her. Staring up the street, she spotted the messy haired boy walking through the crowd as he headed towards the school. "How can anyone be so hostile towards the world?"
--------------------
Dropping down into his chair, Taichi sighed as he lowered his gaze to the table as he pulled out the books he would need for the first class of the day, giving them a dark look as he placed them in a messy pile. "English, man, why can't they just learn Japanese instead of having us learn their jaw breaking langue."
"You know, they say talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."
Looking up from his desk as the voice broke into his head, Taichi turned his head to stare at the one who had spoke to him in such a friendly approach, yet still having added in a light hearted jab at the same time. "So, maybe I juts like to talk with myself so I can something intelligent from time to time"
A lighthearted light came form the boy as he shook his head at the reply. The motion giving Taichi the time to get a better look at the boy without looking to curios. Short, well kept blond hair was the first thing he noticed about him, the color standing out a lot in a nation of mostly black or brown haired people.
"So." The boy started as he turned to regard Taichi again, a curious look on his face when he noticed Taichi puzzled look when he regarded him. "Names Matt Ishida." He smiled as he gave a nod at the brown haired boy as he pulled out his own books as well.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Taichi gave a smile as he looked at the boy. "Taichi Kamiya, just started at this school yesterday" He added in as he cast a look at the door to see if the teacher had shown up, or where about to.
Matt nodded as he leaned back in his chair, blue eyes going up to stare at the class black board with a somewhat interested look on his face as he looked at the different class members. "Heh, guess I won't be feeling so left out this time." The words were mumbled out but still loud enough for Taichi to hear as the brown haired boy raised an eye brown at the sentence. "I haven't been to school for two weeks."
"Oh." Taichi mumbled out as he gave an embarrassed smile at the blond haired boy at being so easy to read trough his expressions. "Matt, I think I heard that name before..." Taichi stopped when he noticed a slightly annoyed expression on Matt's face. "Uh, something wrong."
"Nothing." The reply were a bit icy as Matt kicked back in his chair and tapped his finger on the desk as he closed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath before turning to regard Taichi. "Hey?"
Looking a bit confused at the mood swings of the blond haired boy, Taichi turned his head to regard Matt again as he fiddled around with the book on the table in front of him, trying to keep the curiosity out of his voice. "Yeah."
Matt opened his mouth to say something, when the class door opened with a bang and the class representative walked in with a look of urgency around him. "Talk to you later." Matt mumbled out as he stood up along with the rest of the class.
Stepping up to his own desk, the class representative looked over at the door as it opened with a much gentler bang then before, an elder teacher walking in with a cup of coffee and a look that had most of the class groaning on the inside at the look of it.
"Class, bow!" At the command form the Class representative, Taichi, and all the other students gave a formal bow at the teacher as he placed his stuff on the desk and sat down, giving them a wave with a hand to show it was okay for them to sit down.
As the final students sat down at the table, he nodded and stood up before walking out in front of the desk to look at them with a glare with little to no care in it. "I see we have a new student, and that Mr. Ishida has returned to grace us with his presence again."
Hearing the badly hidden resentment in the teacher's voice, Taichi stared at the blond haired boy next to him, noticing the tense way he sat in the chair, and the barely hidden hate in the blue eyes as they focused on the teachers. Then he shook his head and returned to his own table, looking up as he felt the glare from the teacher shifting to him, the angry brown eyes looking into his as he clashed with the teacher in a staring match, ending it when the teacher finally turned his head to stare at another student.
Slumping back into the chair, Taichi looked to the side to see if the blond haired boy felt just as tense as he did over the teacher's behavior towards them. Then again, maybe the teacher just had a problem at home and took out his anger at the students, wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened.
Shuffling into a relaxed way of sitting, Taichi grinned a bit as he plopped a book open and placed it front of him as a way to hide is desk from the teacher, and the comic book he had pulled out along with the books, smirking as he turned the last page he had read.
Next to him, Matt shot a quick look over and stifled a grin of his own when he noticed just what the new kid in the class was up too, shaking his head as he focused on his own book in an attempt to catch up to the rest of the class, but still paying enough attention to the other to noticed Sora smiling at him from the second chair row from the fronts, seconds before he had to duck the teachers eraser thrown at him. "Sorry Sir. What was the question again?"
Getting the look from the teacher in reply, Matt began to lower his head down again as he felt his cheek blush in embarrassment. "I said, Mr. Ishida, read the next paragraph in the book."
Looking down a tit, Yamato sighed at it, already feeling that it hadn't even been a problem if he had been sleeping through the class. "Sir. The sheep's have run off from the farm again and we can't find your daughter, I also think that Mr. Günther have set the car on fire too." {What kind of school hands out a cheap romance novel for the students to read as homework} Matt wondered on the inside as he continued to read from the book.
Looking up as the class representative yelled out more orders, Taichi sighed and closed his comic before getting up to bow at the teacher as he walked off to torment the next group of students. Then he dropped back down to find the next large amount of books and hopefully something better suited to hide his comic with.
At least that was the plan, until someone snagged it from him as he was busy stuffing the English books into the book bag and pulled out the Biology books at the same time. "Hey?"
Matt ignored the cry from the messy haired boy, as he looked at the comic in his hands, one eyebrow rising up a bit as he stared at the title of it. "How did you get a hold of this comic." Matt asked as he turned over the latest issue of the American comic Ultimate Marvel Team Ups.
Tai, looking a bit angry over getting his comic taken away form him, quickly reached out and tore it away form the blond haired boy and brought it back into his protective care. "Through the import store, why?"
Looking a bit put of by the show of anger from the messy haired boy, Matt leaned back in his chair and sighed a bit as he rubbed the tip of his nose. "Well, I'm kind off, interested in reading it, if I may."
This time, Matt noted that he got the look form the boy as he slowly placed the comic on his table, keeping a hand on top of it as he continue to stare at him. "Look, if it means that much to you, I'll let you watch me as I read it."
Removing his hand from the comic, Taichi gave a dark grin as he heard the words. "Well, in that case, I may let you look at it." Holding up the comic, he gave another shout as it was plucked from his hands again, this time as a very familiar girl stepped up to the both of them. "Hey..." Stopping himself, Tai gave a nervous grin as the girl focused her attention on him.
Then he was saved as the blond haired boy reached up and grabbed her hand in a soft hold. "Hey... Sora, sorry I didn't call you or anything, but the tour took up a great deal of my time and well." Smiling at her in an attempt to get a quick forgiveness out of her, Matt saw the messy haired boy grab his comic book and grinned as he reached out a hand and grabbed his shoulder. At least he could avoid talking about the lack of phone calls for a little while. "So, have you met Taichi here?"
Sora turned her head to stare at the messy haired boy as he closed his book bag with a somewhat strained smile on his face as he looked at her. "You're the new kid right?" Seeing the annoyed look that briefly flashed over his face, Sora looked towards Matt to see if he had seen it as well. "Well, anyway, Matt, could I talk with you for a minute."
Giving her a puzzled look, the blond haired boy stood up form his place and followed after the orange haired girl as they made their way towards the classroom door, Matt shooting a quick look at the messy haired boy whose brown eyes had turned to stare out the windows of the class room. Then he refocused his attention on Sora as she stopped and leaned on the wall outside the room. "What is it Sora, if it's about the missed phone calls, its because I had to work extra hard on this tour, and you know TK got that flu just before I left, so I was mostly in contact with him and mom."
Shaking her head, Sora placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Matt, I just wanted to hear, if we could go out sometime today, just the two of us." Seeing his smile, Sora smiled herself as she pushed away from the desk. "You know I trust you, and I don't mind the missed phone calls, I got the rest of the band to keep a look out for you."
"Great." Matt replied as he heard the words from her. "But seriously, I couldn't wait to get back and spend some time with you."
Standing up on her toes, Sora gave him a quick kiss on the lips at the words "I know. And I felt the same way."
"Oh get a room you two"
Turning their heads, Matt and Sora grinned as they spotted Mimi standing before them, her face still showing some anger over having to wear the school uniform. Behind her, the other member of their group was standing as well. Both unlike Mimi, he wasn't paying much attention to them; he was busier staring at the classroom.
Turning away form Matt, Sora grinned as she saw her friends standing there, even if they were a bit too different for their liking. "Mimi, Izzy, what brings you two up here?"
Izzy, hearing his name turned away from the doorway and gave the other three his attention. "Some announcement my mom told me about, apparently the principle wants us all to meet outside after classes are over."
Matt shrugged as he stood up. "I guess he just going to give us the usual pep talk on how we should study to meet the demands of collage and universities."
Both Sora and Mimi got a sour look on their faces at the mentioning of it, Mimi leading them as she dropped her head down to stare at the floor. "As if we didn't study enough already."
Izzy gave a small shrug as he looked around at them, his mother having already informed him of the extra hard work he had to do if he ever wanted to get into the collage he wanted to attend. "Well, no matter how much you dislike it, you have to admit he knows what he's talking about."
"I guess." Matt replied as he pushed off the wall and looked down the hallway to see the familiar brown hair of their biology teacher headed towards the class. "Well, I see the next teacher is coming, we'll talk later okay." Stepping away from them, Mimi and Izzy nodded before they began to head back to their own class.
Stepping back into the class, Matt settled down in his chair and sighed as the teacher stepped in, already handing out a large amount of homework for him to do. "Great, just great."
--------------------
Lunchtime, a glories whole hour with nothing to do but eat what he had brought along with him, or what he could find at the schools cafeteria. Both cases had a lot of danger to it as he could clearly see now that it was lunchtime. If he had brought something along with him, it would have to be nothing but junk food, which would drive him sick sooner or later, or he could go for the food getting sold by the cafeteria and face getting crushed by the masses trying to get something to eat.
Giving those choices, it was no surprise that he had gone for the least evil and got something from outside the school to eat, even if went against the school rules. Looking down at the small bag of sandwiches he had gotten, Taichi shrugged as he looked around for a place to eat.
The weather was nice, and a lot of students had drifted out to eat at the various places they could find a place to sit in their same groups of friends and chat just like they did everyday.
Stepping past them, Taichi sighed as he looked for a quiet place, spotting nothing but occupied places. Then his eyes drifted back to the school building, maybe he should just stay inside and eat. Or, he could go over to the school fence. No one ever walked all the way out there to eat, if the school was anything like his old one that is.
"Where's he going?" Mimi asked out loud as she watched the messy haired boy walk away from the schoolyard, her eyes following him as he began to head towards the outer parts of the schools area.
"Don't know." Matt mumbled out as he chewed on his mom's homemade lunch, taking care to enjoy it as much as he could since it was one of the first real meals he had gotten since the tour had ended.
Sora stared after Taichi as well before she returned to smile at Matt. "Maybe he just wants to be alone."
Hearing the comments, Mimi shrugged as well, taking another bit of her food; it wasn't really her problem if that boy didn't want to have anything to do with anyone. For now, her food mattered the most to her.
Matt looked up as he stared in the direction that Taichi has walked. "Do you think we should try and talk with him Sora? He sounded like a nice guy when I talked with him today."
Rising an eyebrow Mimi looked at Matt and tried to get the image of the messy haired boy he was talking about to fit with how he had acted around her. "Can't it wait until later?"
Sora shot Mimi a glare as she stood up from the lunch table. "Well, you can always sit here if you want too." Looking over at Matt as she began to walk off, she smiled. "So, any reason why you seem to focus so much on him?"
Matt flushed at the tone of voice she used, knowing full well what she was hinting in a playful manner as she leaned in close to him. "Hey, it's not like that, I just think that he will be a good friend."
Sora nodded as she had walked next to him, a silly grin on her face as she stepped from the blushing Matt next to her. "I was just kidding Matt." Then her face turned serious as she looked at him. "It's just, I feel like I know him from somewhere, but I can't figure out why."
"Well, you could have know each other in the past." Matt replied as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, holding the empty bento box close to him with the use of his arms, his eyes moving over the area and the students. "Got any idea where to look for him?"
Sora shrugged as she walked din the same direction Taichi had taken, her eyes moving to stare down the path behind the bushes. "I think he headed towards the fence."
Mimi stared at the confused as she was still eating some of her food, her eyes moving over to stare at Izzy who had decided to follow with them as well. "Why would anyone go there? There are no benches there, just a few trees and a lot of grass."
Izzy stared at her as she talked, his eyes half closed as he strapped his laptop onto his back. "Well, he might be looking for a place to be alone." Izzy's voice made the others look at him with a confused look. "No one ever goes there, well no one but the smokers or kids skipping a class."
"He didn't look like a smoker." Matt pointed out as he looked back at them, turning and walking of the path just like Taichi had, pushing aside a low hanging tree branch. "Geez, I can't believe the school has an area this big." He muttered out as he came to a stop, staring out overt a large of less then well-kept grass field leading towards the trees and fence surrounding the school property.
Sora nodded in response to it as she also looked out over it. "I think they had planned on building something here once but never got the funding for it. Now it's just an area used by the various school clubs when they can."
"Can we please just find this guy?" Mimi complained as she placed her free hand on her hip, her eyes going over the area they had ended up in. "I'm not so happy to be out here you know."
Matt sighed at the complaint and returned to the task of finding the messy haired boy. Stepping out into the less travel parts of the school area. "Yeah, yeah, I think he went that way." He mumbled out as he stepped into the longer grass.
Behind him, Sora did the same as she walked up a bit closer to him, taking care to stay near him in case they ran into some of the more unfriendly students. "Look Matt, are you sure it's a good idea, he might have gone out here to be alone."
Still headed towards the small path of trees up ahead, Matt stopped as he lifted up a hand. "I think he over there, behind those bushes."
Turning their heads in the direction, the other three kids nodded their heads, as they too became a where of the sound of footsteps and slightly hard to hear words. "Well someone's there." Mimi pointed out as a loud snap was clearly heard as someone stepped on a dry twig.
"Come on." Even as he spoke, Matt had already reached out a hand and brushed the foliage out of their way as he stepped forward. "Hey Taichi, that you over there..." Freezing, Matt stared at the scene in front of him with big eyes.
--------------------
Taichi sighed as he pushed the last bit if foliage out of the way as he had finally reached one of the few places where he could be alone on this stupid school. The school fence was rising a good deal up over his head as he stepped up to it. "Geez, you'd think it was a prison and not a school."
Turning around and leaning on the fence, he gave a small smile as he pushed some of his hair out of his eyes, taking a small relaxed stance as he cast first a look to the right, and finally to left, trying his best to see if anyone was hiding or spying on him.
Seeing no one, or hearing anyone for that matter nearby, the messy haired boy grinned as he reached up a hand and began to undo the first of the buttons on his school jacket. "I don't care how much of a secret he wants it too be, I need air, stupid chest bindings are too tight." Getting the buttons undone, he sighed as he reached down and began to fiddle a bit with the white cloth under the shirt until it were a bit loser. "Much better."
"Hey, anyone over there!"
Pushing off form the fence, Taichi hissed as he cast a look to his right. The sounds of footsteps getting louder as several people were clearly coming towards him. "Not now."
Not brothering to redo the chest bindings or walking away as quietly as he could before getting seen. Taichi breathed out in relief as he slipped into the safety offered by the trees again. "Stupid, I should have expected that to happen." Daring a look back, the messy haired boy stood completely still in his hiding spot as two students stepped out into the clearing and stared around the place.
The first one had a wrinkled uniform on that clearly hadn't been cared much for as a few stains could also be seen, in his hand he held a lit cigarette as he looked around the place. "I told you Masuya, ain't anyone here." Turning around, he slapped the second boy on the shoulder as he began to head back in the direction they had come from. "Now come on, I wanna enjoy this cig while there's still time."
Masuya grumbled a bit as he rubbed his shoulder with a dark frown on his face. "I'm telling you, I heard someone." Turning around as well, he began to follow after the first boy. "Hey, Hojo. Why are we out here anyway, can't we just use the bike shed for a smoking spot?"
Hojo grumbled a bit as he stopped and looked back at Masuya with a glare. "You know how stupid this place is, we aren't allowed to smoke on school grounds, rules and all." Shaking his head as he took a deep drag, he grinned. "Besides, you can at least pretend that you're out of the schools area back here."
"Yeah, yeah." Masuya mumbled out as he stomped after Hojo with a less dark frown on his face. "I'm just saying I much more prefer to find a better place to hang out at, that's all."
Hearing the boys walk away, Taichi gave a small sigh as he turned around to head back to the school before someone else came along and spotted him. "Stupid bindings." Mumbling out the words, the messy haired boy reached down to redo them as he took a step forward.
Only to stumble as his foot got stuck in something, the sudden lack of forward movement making him stumbled forward and right into the ground with a crash. "I hate my life." Spitting out the words as well as some dirt, the messy haired boy placed his hands on the ground and pushed off as a tearing sound filled the air. "No."
Looking down, his eyes locked onto the hand he had placed on a slightly thick twig, a twig that had been holding onto the middle part of his shirt, a shirt that was now torn almost completely open from the top to the middle of it. Luckily, her chest bindings hadn't taken any damage other then a bit of discoloring from the dirt itself.
Still, with the shirt ruined like it was, it left little doubt as too what gender he really was. Not even the chest bindings could completely hide his true gender. "Dammit." Mumbling out the curse, Taiko looked around the area as she began to fiddle with the shirt and jacket, trying to get it to close up enough to hide the chest bindings at least.
Staring glumly at her uniform after trying to get it fixed for the fifth time, Taiko groaned as it became rather clear to her that she couldn't close the last two buttons on the shirt or jacket, leaving far to much of her chest bindings exposed for her to at least pretend that she was a boy.
Sighed as she slumped down a bit, she accepted the fact that she really couldn't return to the classroom like this, no one knew who she was here, and there was no way she intended for anyone to find out about... She would just have to wait for the lunch break to end before she could sneak in and get her stuff. After that, she could return home and replace the chest bindings and forget this ever happen.
Looking around for a place to sit while she waited, the messy haired girl reached up and tucked on the mop of brown hair on her head. If she didn't want to be recognized, she had to try and look like Taichi as little as possible. And that meant she had to get this hairstyle into a more feminine one.
Looking down at her chest bindings. Taiko closed her eyes at she gave into it. Slowly undoing the knot and unwinding it, she pulled it lose from her until she had enough to work with. "I really hate my life right now." Mumbling out the words with a lot of venom, the messy haired girl tore the chest bind over. Retying the remaining bit as well as she could.
Pulling her hair down into her neck, she struggled a bit as she tied the chest binding around the hair at her neck in an imitation of a ribbon. Turning her messy mop of hair into a messy ponytail. "Great. One problem solved, now all I have to do is..."
"Hey Taichi, that you over there..."
Snapping her head up at the words, Taiko froze as her eyes locked onto a pair of blue ones staring right at her, but more precisely, they were staring at something a bit further down then her face. "You... You!" Opening her mouth with a beat red face, the messy haired girl pulled the remaining part of her ruined jacket and shirt together as she gave a loud cry of surprise and embarrassment.
Snapping out of it, Matt stepped back as he recognized the look in the messy haired girl's eyes, a look he had seen in some other students eyes when they got mad at him for some reason. "Uh, sorry about that, I was just..."
"Taiko, what are you doing here?"
Freezing at the words. Taiko slowly turned her head to the side to see a smiling Sora standing there next to Matt, Mimi and the red haired kid form the computer shop the other day. The three of them looking at her in a rather confused manner as they turned from her to stare at Sora still smiling at her as she stepped forward. "Uh... Sora?"
"Yup." Sora beamed as she stepped forward to her, her face getting a little frown as she stared at the school uniform the messy haired girl was wearing. "I didn't know you went to school here."
"Ah." Taiko replied as she pulled the top parts of her uniform together and began to try and get the ruined pieces of it to stay together in an attempt to at least cover her up. "Um, I... I..."
Matt and Mimi shared a look at the rather familiar way Sora acted around the girl, while behind them, Izzy was staring rather hard at her in the background, his eyes narrowed a bit as he tried to recall the last time he had seen her. "It's her." Izzy mumbled out as he recalled the incident in the computer store with her. "I didn't think Sora would know her."
Turning to the others, Sora smiled as she pushed Taiko up in front of her. "Guys, meet Taiko Aida, I met her yesterday at the sports store." Pointing a finger at Matt, she slowly pushed Taiko forward. "The blond haired boy's Matt, that's Mimi and the red head's Izzy."
Blushing a bit, Taiko lifted up one hand and waved at them as she gave a nervous smile at them. "Hiya." Her eyes looking at Matt as she waited for him to say that he recognized her, or if he didn't do, then Mimi would be more then likely to recognize her.
TBC: Taiko and Taichi.
AN: Second chapter done and ready. Now, I wanna hear what you, the readers think of it so far. Come on; give me your honest opinion about it. Also, I'm taking the same direction with this story as I did in the last version. There won't be any chosen couples or pair ups, but there will be hints about some through out the story.
Read a manga where they gave the teacher a bow to show respect when he enters the room, thought it would be fun to add it in this story as well.