Tai & Sora

By Kumquat Queen

of

FREAKSHOW

A/N: Hi all! This story has gotten very good reviews, and I hope they can only increase in number. I'm trying to update frequently, but this chapter per day motif won't last forever. I do hope to reach the 10,000 word mark before my updating slows, though.

Also, I'm introducing a new opening sequence to this story. It's pretty simple, but I think it'll add something, if only for my benefit.

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CUE OPENING THEME, JAZZY, PIANO

A MONTAGE PLAYS ACROSS THE SCREEN:

TAI AND SORA

STARRING:

TAI KAMIYA (A CLIP OF TAI LAUGHING GOOD-NATUREDLY)

SORA TAKENOUCHI (A CLIP OF SORA MAKING CRAZY GESTURES WITH HER ARMS)

KARI KAMIYA (A CLIP OF KARI LAUGHING IN AN ELEVATOR)

MATT ISHIDA (A CLIP OF MATT MAKING AN ENTRANCE INTO TAI AND SORA'S APARTMENT)

TAKERU "TK" TAKEISHI ( A CLIP OF TK DOING A SPIT TAKE)

(FINALLY A CLIP OF THE FIVE EATING PIZZA, TALKING AND LAUGHING)

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EPISODE 3: BROTHERS AND BOOZE, Part 1

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It was yet another typical day in the home of our two favorite people. but it wouldn't be for very long.

"Oh, my god." Sora walked into the kitchen from her room reading a magazine. "Tai, look at this: The radio station is holding a contest for two free tickets to see Elvis Costello. All you have to do is enter your name, and then be the first person to eat a wedding cake in under an hour. Can you beliver this?!"

"Can I believe what?" Tai looked up from his copy of The Tokyo Times, "That there's a contest that you can actually win, or that you're getting excited over Elvis Costello?"

"I don't care about Elvis Costello. I care about the free cake, you numbskull!" She playfully swatted him in the head with her magazine. "For once in my life, I can actually win something!"

"Well, that's not true. There was that time in college during that Frat party, you won-" Sora rapidly put her hand over his mouth and fixed him with a steely glare.

"We agreed on pain of death that we would never speak of that again!" Sora hissed.

"Whatever you say. I have to get to work. If I'm late again, all the donuts in the employee lounge will be gone, and I'll get stuck with the nasty custard-filled ones." Tai got his jacket and left the apartment.

A few minutes later, Sora was getting ready for work herself, when Kari and her new soulmate, TK walked through the door.

"How you doing, honey? Have you met TK yet? He's my new best friend." Kari introduced the two. "Now, while you two get aquainted, I'm gonna find Tai's stash of champaign he keeps hidden in the small space in the back of the cupboard." Kari wasted no time in hurrying to the kitchen.

"Hi, I'm Sora." Well, she had to admit, he was cute.

"Hey."

"So," she fished, "How'd you meet Kari? You don't look like a dealer. And you can't be a bartender, because you're too small for that."

"Well, I was looking for my brother, found her instead, and we've been together for the past three days."

"Ah. Has she showed you her boobs yet?"

"Um...yes..." He was visibly embarressed.

"Oh, well don't worry. She shows 'em to everybody. She let Ed Coch cop an eyefull just last week in a deli."

"Yeah, she's certainly weird."

"Don't sweat it. By the time you wake up spooning her, you'll barely even notice. Oh, I gotta go. Nice meeting you." and with thatm Sora also left.

But as Sora was leaving, Matt Ishida walked through the door, reading a pamphlet. "Hey, Sora, do you guys have any..." and as he looked up, he came face-to-face with TK, and he put on a hateful scowl. "What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded, "I Told you I never wanted to see you again!"

Unfortunatly, Kari chose that moment to come back from the kitchen, holding a bottle. "Good news, poodle, I found his stash of gin..." she looked up at the scene, confused. "What's this, what's happening, what's going on?"

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Tai was busy at work in his office, when he heard a voice outside his door.

"Well, of course he is, like a three dollar bill!" And his sister was here. His day just kept getting better.

"Kari, what are you doing here, besides outing me to the staff?"

"Listen, Tai. I've got a problem, and only you can help me."

"Ok, shoot." Hopefully this would just take a second. He had work to do.

"Well, y'know Matt's brother is in town, and as it turns out-"

"Wait a second," Tai cut her off right there, "Wait one second. Matt's brother is in town? And nobody told me?"

"Well, I guess not. I think I may have actually been the first to know, but you see, he's my new best friend, so I've been getting to know him lo these past three days..."

"What?! He's been here three days, and you haven't even told his own brother?"

"Well, that's the thing, you see. About ten years ago, they had this big blow-out fight. They haven't even spoken in all this time. And then, when I went over to introduce you, Matt walked in and it's WWIII! Now, my poodle's all upset, and I don't know what to do."

Tai gave an exasperated sigh. "That's because you don't know the whole story, Daffy Drunk! Ten years ago, Matt was engaged to this woman. And before you comment, it was before he came out. One night, TK was in a bar and caught Matt's fiancee with another man. When he tried to tell him, Matt got angry and told TK he never wanted to see him again. They haven't spoken since. In fact, they haven't even been in the same room together since the disasterous Christmas party nine years ago when Matt finally did come out. After that, Matt moved here to Tokyo, and they've been estranged for all this time."

"Well," Kari spoke up impatiently, "It's time we got them back together! TK's my soulmate, and I'll be damned if he goes one more day living with this uncertainty. Come on, Tai, were going to go reunite a family!" And with that, she grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him from the office.

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Less than two hours later, Tai and Kari were standig outside of a room in Kari's mansion Apartment. Since she had insisted that TK stay with her until her found his own place, the room they were outside of was the guest room where he was staying. At that moment, Matt ran up to the pair for down the hall.

"Tai, i got you messege. But you know "Papa bear needs Mama bear" is only supposed to be used in a gay emergency."

"Well," Tai lied, "This is an emergency. Here, walk with me." Tai put his arm around Matt's shoulders and started to lead him into the guest room, when he suddeny pushed him inside, as Kari shut and locked the door.

"Ha!" Hari yelled, "Now you two will stay in there until you work out your emotional baggage!" But Tai had an uneasy feeling. Could the two bothers really work it out?

END PART 1

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