What 'Love' Means to Me
Bytheladyknight
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, any of its characters, or the song "If You're Not the One" by Daniel Bedingfield.
A/N: Chapter 5 is up! Yama and the others are back in the real world. We get a look at Yama's more recent memories, and there's a lot of brotherly love between Yama and Takeru in the beginning. Plus Takari and Koumi hints and plenty of humor. Hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers; you guys are so awesome!
Yama-sama: Up till now, Yama is trying to figure out what Sora really means to him, if he's just infatuated or really in love with her. These memories are his means of doing so and are showing him his true feelings. Sora is going to leave for NY, sometime in the next few chapters, and everything else with hopefully come together or be explained soon! Thanks for the review!
ishidas girl: THANK YOU for the reviews! I'm glad you love the story. In regards to the whole rain thing in the first chapter, I love the rain too but I thought the whole depressing mood worked well with the first chapter and it was downpouring outside when I wrote the chapter. Keep writing and updating your fics; I love them!
sorato4eva: we'll just have to wait and see...thanks for the reviews, andI hope you update ur stories soon!
Chapter 5: If You're Not the One
The picnic in the park seemed like a mere memory. I unfortunately got stuck working with my band the rest of the week. The last time I had seen Sora was when she, Taichi, and I caught a late movie a few nights ago. Our group outings were becoming less frequent. Sora always had to help pack up things and close up the shop while the rest of us were all becoming busy with our own activities.
Thursday morning, with only a week to go before Sora left, was my first free time in days. It turned out to be everyone's free afternoon as well, and we decided to take advantage of it by going to the local pool.
I had planned on sleeping in due to the fact that the band started the day early and ended pretty late in order to get things accomplished. However, as you might have guessed, it didn't happen as I had planned. The phone rang at 8:00. I grumbled as I woke p, throwing in a few curses along the way. Rolling over, I grabbed the phone next to my bed. "Yeah," I mumbled still half asleep.
"Onii-chan!" a voice exclaimed. I held the phone away from my ear as another voice joined in laughing.
I growled into the phone. "Takeru, you had better have a really good reason for waking me up at this godforsaken hour!"
"Calm down, Yamato,"A girl's voice added.
"Hikari, what are you doing over at my little brother's apartment?"
"How'd you know we're here?" Takeru asked. I figured they set it up so it was on speakerphone.
"Taichi wouldn't let you make a call this early or be this loud. He's probably still asleep, right?"
"Yep!"A bubbly Hikari answered. I groaned and got out of bed, looking at the mirror as I passed it. I've got small bags under my eyes and my hair; my precious blond hair is sticking up all over the place! I'm gonna need a lot of gel!
"Then why don't you WAKE HIM up so I can GET BACK TO SLEEP!" I roared. "And you never answered my question!"
Hikari giggled again. "Keru and I are working on a project."
"Oh really. And pray tell what exactly is this "project" about? Something I need to mention to Taichi maybe…" I smirked at the thought and could tell my little brother was blushing on the other line.
"We're not doing ANYTHING, Yamato!" Takeru exclaimed.
"Then WHY did you wake me up!" I repeated for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.
Hikari took over. "Koushiro and Mimi called both of us and asked us to find any picture or object we have with Sora in it. Our job was to tell you and the others. They're working on a scrapbook for her and need other pictures. Bring them to Koushiro's before noon. But Sora cannot know about it!"
"Duh," I said rolling my eyes. "Talk to you later. I've gotta go find pictures."
"And we've gotta go call Taichi."
"I take it he's your next victim. Ask him if he wants to join me in dunking our wonderful younger siblings in the pool tonight." They both laughed, and I hung up the phone on them. What happened to our cute innocent little siblings?
And when are they going to get their act together? Sora and both agreed a long time ago they were perfect for each other.
Smiling to myself, I went over to my closet, now fully awake. I would sacrifice my extra three hours of sleep for Sora any day. I walked over to my closet, dodging the things that were falling out at me as I opened the door. There, right in front of me, was the box I was looking for. Inside it were a bunch of pictures and odds and ends from my friends.
There was one thing in particular that I wanted to find. Digging through the box, I found a crumpled up piece of paper from last year. I looked down at the paper and remembered what it was from.
Flashback
Sora and I had Japanese History class together, and it just wasn't the most interesting class. However, our teacher seemed to think everyone loved it and paid attention all the time. Three fourths the class and I spent class either sleeping or counting ceiling tiles. By the fourth day of school, I could bet you any dollar amount there were one hundred and thirty nine ceiling tiles in the room with fifty-two beige and the other eighty-seven being cream.
Japanese History was our last class of the day and by far the longest. I was midway through counting the tiles for the fifth time that class period when a folded up piece of paper landed on my desk. I looked over at Sora, sitting just to my right, raising my eyebrow. She just smiled back as innocently as she could. I opened up the note trying to make as little sound as possible.
Yama, this guy talks as much as Gennai and makes about as much sense as him!
I grinned at the thought and grabbed my pen to write back. This was much better than recounting the hundred and thirty-nine tiles again especially because Sora was writing to me! (A/N: What Sora wrote is in normal font and what Yama wrote has a dash in front of it)
-You're telling me, Sor. I bet only Koushiro could understand this.
Why'd we have to take this class in the first place?
-Requirements. If it wasn't required I sure as heck wouldn't take it.
Me either. So how's Keru? I haven't seen him in a long time.
-He's good, I think. Last time I saw him he couldn't shut up about Hikari.
They are PERFECT for each other, Yama. We've gotta play matchmaker.
-I agree, Sor. But we'd better not let Taichi know. Otherwise big brother mode'll kick in. And he'll try to beat up Takeru, which means I'm going to have to step in and kick Taichi's butt for messing with my bro.
Sora read my response and had to fake a coughing fit to control her laughter. Mr. Miyake glared at her but went back to teaching the students he believed were listening.
Go ahead and beat up Taichi. You've got my permission.
-When have I ever needed…you want me to beat him up? I thought you were the one with the crest of love?
Don't give me that Yama! You've got the crest of friendship.
-Well why do you want me to beat Taichi up in the firs…
I was cut off when Mr. Miyake walked over and picked up the note. "Mr. Ishida, Ms. Takenouchi, a word after class."He walked back up to the front of class.
Sora and I looked at each other with guilty smiles on our faces. The rest of the class snickered before going back to their counting.
After class, we went up to his desk as the rest of our classmates hurried out of the class as fast as their two legs could carry them. "Yamato, Sora, I do not appreciate this kind of behavior in class. It is unfair for you to disrupt the class when your classmates are trying to learn." Sora nudged me with her foot. Something on his desk caught my eye as I went to kick Sora back. But I kicked a little bit too hard, and Sora laughed out loud while I bit my lip to conceal my laughter. Mr. Miyake focused on Sora and I took the chance to sneak my arm out and grab what I saw. "Do you have a problem, Ms. Takenouchi?"
"No, sir." She answered. "I just saw something funny in the hall."
"What?" he asked raising his eyebrows. Sora nudged me again.
"Um, I saw it too sir." I said abruptly. "The janitor just slipped in a pile of water underneath the water fountain."
"Oh," our teacher said. "You two are free to go then, but I expect better behavior from the both of you. You are good students, and I expect you to act like it. Have a good afternoon." Sora and I bowed, walked out of the classroom, and sprinted out the doors.
"How did you cook that story up?" Sora asked amidst peals of laughter.
I laughed along with her. "I have no idea. It was the first thing that came to my mind."
Sora suddenly stopped laughing. "If he reads our note I'm in so much trouble! Oh, my parents are going to ground me forever! They told me if I get in trouble again, after our little science experiment incident, I would not leave theapartment until I'm thirty!"
I grinned and fished something out of my pocket. "He won't get a chance." I answered slyly.
"You just saved both our butts, Yama!" she exclaimed. The next thing I knew she was right next to me and had wrapped her arms around me. "I owe you one!"
I turned crimson, hoping no one was around to see me blush yet at the same time savoring the moment. I wrapped my arms around her and returned the hug. "You bet you owe me one!" I exclaimed.
Sora let go of me and looked at her watch. "We'd better go before the others wonder what's taking us so long."
End Flashback
I laughed to myself recalling the memory. Those were the good old days. I lugged the humongous box out of my closet, sending up a cloud of dust and made a mental note to make an attempt at cleaning my room on the next free day I had.
With the box in front of me, I sat down on the floor and dug into it like a little child would tear open a Christmas present. Ugh, baby pictures; I am never letting anyone see these! Class pictures, no, pictures of the band, no, here we go. I unearthed the pictures from underneath a photo album with pictures from my father's side of the family.
These are more like it. The first one was a picture my mother had taken right after we'd gotten back from the Digital World. Takeru had begged for a picture with Sora, and at the last minute, decided he wanted me in it as well. In the picture Sora and I were leaning up against each other laughing while Takeru was beet red. I think Sora and I were laughing cause I asked her if we could take a picture of Takeru and Hikari hugging or something along those lines. Mom made us take another one, and I was given the so-called dud. But I sure didn't think it was one…
The next picture was the whole group. Then came some of Takeru and me. Then, bingo! I found a load of pictures with Sora in them. Here was one when we went to the water park. Damn she looked hot in that swimming suit. But man did she get angry after I dunked her one to many times. Hikari had just gotten into her photography obsession and took a picture of us after Sora had dunked me, trying to get even. However, whenever someone went to dunk me I would bring them down with me. If they felt like they could mess up my hair without a penalty, boy were they wrong.
The picture was taken right after we had come back up to the surface. Sora had a large grin on her face and had her arms draped around my neck and head nearly resting on my shoulder. I was glaring at her from the corners of my eye but a smile also played on my lips. I usually would complain when someone dunked me, but believe me, there was nothing to complain about in that picture.
Here was one of Sora, Jyou, Koushiro, andme at one of Taichi's soccer games; Mimi and Hikari dragging poor Sora through the mall; Sora, Jyou, and I throwing water balloons at Mimi; man where did all these pictures come from?
Pulling out the next picture, I had to laugh. It was from Halloween about two years ago. Takeru and Hikari begged Sora and I to take them out trick-or-treating. Tai would have come with us, but he was on some sort of traveling soccer squad and was out of town that night. The four of us collected a lot of candy and went back to my apartment to watch movies when it was all done. Sometime during I Know what You Did Last Summer, (A/N: I don't own anything from that movie! It was the first thing that came to mind!) Sora and I fell asleep sitting on the sofa. Her head was resting on my chest with my head resting on top of hers, and our arms were intertwined. Good ol' Hikari had gotten a picture in case she or Takeru ever needed blackmail. But I got it back from Takeru when I was looking around his room once and encountered a couple pictures I'm sure Taichi would have loved to see. My little brother very happily coughed over the picture of Sora and me in exchange for me keeping quiet about those pictures I saw.
Next was a picture of Sora and I each holding giant cans of silly string, standing on either side of Taichi and mercilessly spraying it at him. I worked my way through the whole box finding hundreds of pictures before I realized how late it was getting. Crap, I've got fifteen minutes to get these to Koushiro!
I stood up and was about to leave my room when I realized I will still wearing my pajamas, and my hair looked like the Bride of Frankenstein's would. I threw on a different shirt and pants, thinking I'd take a shower before we all went to the pool. I looked at the clock once more and discovered I only had ten minutes to get to the computer genius's house. What am I supposed to do about the hair? Finally, I spotted something that would have to do for now. There lying on the floor under a pile of sheet music was one of Keru's white fishermen hats. He'd left it here the last time he visited. Cursing my bad luck and how stupid I looked, I pulled it onto my head quickly, grabbed the rather large stack of pictures and one crumpled note, and rushed out the door.
Luckily, Koushiro lived a whole minute and a half from my place. I ran up to the door to his apartment pausing to catch my breath before knocking. His mother let me in and ushered me into his room. I knocked on the door once before walking in.
There in front of me was Koushiro and Mimi both sitting at his computer and each with a hand on the mouse. They were gazing into each other's eyes faces edging closer together. I smirked and coughed rather loudly. They both looked over at me startled. "Oh hey Takeru, did you forget something or bring more pictures?" Mimi asked moving away from Koushiro and blushing bright red.
"Takeru?" I asked, glaring at her from underneath the hat, andfolding my arms.
Mimi and Koushiro both looked at me and shot double takes. The next thing I knew they were rolling on the ground laughing. "Ya..Yam..Yamato," Koushiro finally got out, "you look ridiculous!"
"Why are you wearing your brother's hat! It barely fits your head!" Mimi giggled. I rolled my eyes. It was true. The hat barely covered my hair, but it was better than walking around with my hair the way it was.
"Would you just leave it alone?" I growled, frustrated, not in the mood for this.
Mimi stopped laughing but still was smiling. "Somebody's cranky!"
"Well, you'd be too if two little brats woke you up early in the morning when you were trying to get some sleep!" I retorted.
"He's grumpier than Taichi is in the morning," Koushiro whispered to Mimi, recalling our early mornings in the digital world.
I unfolded my arms and turned to leave. "Look, I came here to give you guys some things but it looks like you really don't want them."
Koushiro and Mimi immediately recovered from their laughing and nodded their heads. "What have you got for us?" Mimi asked. I set the stack of pictures down on the boy genius's desk and stepped back as Mimi's eye widened. "Wow, you really have a lot of pictures." She began looking through them and handing them to Koushiro to be scanned, every now and then making comments like, "I remember this" and "look how cute that blouse looked on Hikari!" Koushiro and I both looked at each other and sighed. We would never understand the minds of women.
He worked at scanning the pictures and Mimi brought out one more pile. She explained that Sora's mom had dropped them off to be added to the book. After about five minutes, Koushiro spoke. "This should do it! Mimi, you have the last one in your hands. Can I have it?" When Mimi didn't respond he looked over at her very confused. She was staring at one of the pictures Mrs. Takenouchi had brought, an evil genius smile plastered on her face. I looked over her shoulder at the picture. I immediately blushed and heard the other two snicker.
It had been taken about a month ago, yet I doubt Sora or I knew it had been taken. After I had been playing the guitar for about a year, Sora expressed interest in learning it. I was giving her a lesson at her place in her room. Her mom must have taken it while we were practicing.
Sora was holding my guitar and sitting on the edge of her bed. I was kneeling on the floor, her hands interlocked with mine as I arranged her fingers on the right strains and frets. Noticing the next part of the picture, my face turned, if even possible, a darker shade of red. Instead of being focused on where each note was and finger placement, our eyes were locked with each others', and our facial expressions were those of serenity and contentment.
"This would be the perfect picture for the front cover." Mimi said slyly. "I'm sure Sora definitely wouldn't mind..."
I regained my composure and cleared my throat. "If you say so, Meems." I looked at the clock on Koushiro's computer and headed toward the exit. "I'd better get going; places to go, people to see. You two behave! I'll shut the door just in case the two of you decide to continue what you were doing when I got here. See ya!" I exclaimed giving them a cheeky smile. I shut the door with one last look at their crimson faces.
I went back to my apartment to get ready for our outing this afternoon. A disposable camera, lying on the kitchen counter surrounded by dirty cooking utensils caught my eye. It might be a good idea to take this with me. You never know when you'll find a photo op. Especially when your subjects, namely annoying little siblings, a computer genius, and girly girl, aren't paying attention to the camera…
A/N: How was that? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will be soon so until then please review and I'm open to any suggestions! Thanx!
Theladyknight