AN: Thanks again! I'll never stop thanking you all for your awesome reviews!
I guess I should mention right now that I'm sorry, but I doubt that I'll be bringing any of the other digidestined into the story. Tai, Yama, Sora, and Mimi seem to be a fairly decent amount for me. If there's too many, I just get confused, and then I have to figure out where to put them all… heh… but as always, I'll take suggestions, so if anyone REALLY REALLY wants a character to make an appearance, then just tell me! Thanks again.
Another note, Mimi is NOT one of those flirtatious girls that run around the school. But come on, let's be honest, she doesn't have to be in love with Yama, but how could anyone possibly resist the Ishida charm?
Disclaimer: Digimon = not mine.
Chapter V – Jasmine
The pizza shop was a surprisingly charming and peaceful place. Engraved letters above the large glass front door spelled out "Luigi's Corner." The shop, named after the corner it was located on, was a total of three stories tall, each lined with full-length glass windows. Cozy booths filled the store, lined from wall to wall. Upon entering the eatery, a strong scent of tomatoes, cheese, pasta, and pizza came over the group and bathed them in it.
The nearest waiter greeted them cheerfully, "Was wondering when you guys would show up." He looked over the group and noticed Sora. Walking over to her, he asked, "New?"
How does everyone know that? Sora wondered before nodding in response.
"This is Sora," Tai introduced the girl to the waiter.
The waiter smiled kindly with his light brown eyes. "Nice to meet you." Turning to the rest of the group he said, "Same spot as usual, just go up the stairs. You don't need me to show you guys, do you?"
The guys shook their heads.
"Alright then, I'll be up in a few to take your orders."
The second floor was quite busy, filled with girls who sat at their booths eyeing the guys as they walked by. When they reached their large booth by the windows, Sora took a good look around before collapsing into the soft cushioned seats. "By the looks of things, you guys are popular even here."
Yamato shrugged as he took a seat beside her, "Tai's idea."
"If they didn't have such good pizza I would stop picking this place." Tai defended himself.
"Let's just order something to eat." Jamie offered and pulled up a menu.
Aki and Jeff looked the menu over and placed it back down on the table after choosing their drinks.
Their waiter, Kyo, walked up to their table after a few minutes and took their orders.
"The usual for the pizza, and I'll take a root beer." Tai said.
Yamato followed, "Iced Tea."
Jeff, Aki, and Jamie each ordered a coke each, and Sora ordered a vanilla milkshake.
Jotting it down in his notepad rapidly, Kyo announced that it would take about fifteen minutes and left.
"So Sora, how was the first day at Ishida High?" Aki asked, running a hand through his blonde hair.
"A lot of people have asked me that today. The school seems okay so far." Sora answered.
"That's good."
"I guess so."
"Sorry if I sound like a parent or something, but we all want you to enjoy it here. The school really is pretty nice."
"Thanks. I'm sure I'll get used to it sometime."
"I know you will." Aki smiled at Sora as the pizza came.
"Wow, that's fast." Tai stated.
"I guess they were expecting you." Kyo said and placed the drinks down in front of the one who ordered it. "Alright, you know where I am if you need me." And with that, he left the group alone for them to serve themselves.
The pizza really was delicious like Tai had said it would be and Sora had enjoyed the milkshake immensely too. Yamato, Aki, Jeff, Tai, and even Jamie had insisted on paying for her bill (a grand total of two dollars), out of courtesy, suggesting that she was new and that in addition to that, it was only right for the guys to treat out the girl. But Sora had not relented and insisted that she had at least two dollars to spare. [I mean, come on, two dollars!]
After their bill was paid, they stood in front of the pizza shop. Jamie bid his farewell, and so did Aki and Jeff, since they lived farther from the school than the rest of them did. When they three guys were no longer in site, Tai turned to face Yamato and Sora. "So, where to?"
Sora looked at Tai for a moment before replying, "Don't you decide?"
Tai scratched his head, "I tried, but I really don't know!"
"How about the park?" Yamato suggested.
The redheaded girl looked at Yamato quizzically, "The park?"
"Yeah, the park." Yamato pointed to the end of the block. "It's not far, just walking distance and since you guys don't know where to go, we could just relax or something."
"Why not? That's a great idea, Yama." Sora agreed, leaving the brown haired boy no other option but to follow the two who had already started to cross the street.
Sora inhaled the fresh scent of nature deeply. "It smells lovely."
Yamato stood beside her on the hill. "I like to come here to just take in some fresh air and calm myself sometimes."
Glancing at the blonde, the girl found a part of Yamato that the stardom, the fans, and even the school had not gotten to. She was able to see a peaceful, calm, and worry free Yamato, and though she did not know him long, she knew that this was rare.
The two stood side by side on the hill before Tai ran up to them, breathless as usual. "Hey guys, I just had an idea. Why don't we go row boating?"
Row boating turned out to be a fun experience. With the exception that every single girl in a boat had tried to collide their boat into Tai, Sora, and Yamato's in an attempt to get some attention. During their bumpy ride, Tai had started off rowing, but after dropping the ore into the water seven times, finally switched places with Yamato. The handsome blonde seemed to know what he was doing far better than Tai, but with Yamato rowing, the collisions began to get really rough and much more frequent so in the end, it was Sora who rowed them back to the port.
Sora was laughing as the three made their way up another grassy hill near the boats. "Did you see those girls?! It's just amazing what they do to be near Yama, or just to get some attention!"
The three stopped at the top of the hill. Slightly out of breath, Tai stood next to Sora and put an arm casually around her shoulders. "It wasn't just Matt, you know? Ahem, but I'm sure since they all thought we were a couple they backed off."
The redhead giggled, "Shut up, Tai. Don't try to boost that oversized ego of yours even further."
The boy took his hand off of Sora's shoulders and held it over his heart in feigned pain. "Ow, babe, that hurt."
"Taichi! Haven't I told you never to call me that?!"
Looking at his watch, he made an excuse to leave and escape the wrath of Takenouchi. "Oh wow, look at the time, gotta fly!" Tai ran down the hill and waved at the two when he reached the bottom.
"Kamiya you get back here! Who's going to take me home?!" Sora shouted to the brown haired boy.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Tai shouted back, "Matt will, he lives practically a block away from you!"
"Stupid bum, no wonder he looked kind of surprised when I told him where I lived…" The auburn haired girl said softly as she watched her best friend run out of her sight. Turning to Yamato, she said, "you really don't have to; I can go home by the train or something."
Yamato held a hand up in the air to silence her, "It's fine; it'd be my pleasure. Since you live so close by, it won't be trouble at all, but I'd still take you home even if you didn't live close by."
Sora blushed lightly, "thanks, that's really nice of you."
Yamato smiled, "What time do you have to get home?"
Placing a slender finger to her chin, Sora pondered the question. "Anytime."
Raising an eyebrow, Yamato asked, "really?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"It's just that most parents are kind of protective over their daughters. Especially the more pretty they get, and by the looks of it," Yamato looked her over shamelessly, "your parents should be pretty damn protective."
Sora blushed and shoved Yamato on the arm lightly, "shut up, you flirt."
"I'm not a flirt, I'm just too honest." Yamato replied, grinning. After a moment of silence, he spoke up again. "So since you can go home anytime, you wanna spend some more time here?"
"Sure, what do you have in mind?"
Yamato grinned boyishly, "stargazing."
"You? Stargazing?"
"Yes, me. Now come on," Yamato glanced up at the quickly darkening sky, "it's getting pretty dark already." He led her away to another hill in the vast park. A tree stood at the top of this hill. A vast oak tree with branches extended in every direction. About three feet from the ground, an enormous and low tree branch extended from the trunk of the tree, providing a decent seating area. Sora was making her way over to the low branch, but Yamato caught her hand and pulled her back. "No, not the branch."
He whispered his words dangerously close to her ear and she shuddered as she felt his breath on her skin. She barely managed to get out a "w-why?"
Letting go of her hand, Yamato walked over to a clearing and simply lay down on the grass. "You have to stargaze like this."
Sora frowned, "why?'
"The view is completely different. From this perspective, you can really feel the vastness of open space. Plus, it's more comfortable."
Pouting cutely, Sora hesitantly knelt down on the grass. "I don't mean to sound like a prissy idiot or something, but isn't it a bit dirty?"
Yamato shrugged, "I usually bring a blanket with me, but I hadn't expected to do it today, so no blanket." Looking over at Sora, who was currently kneeling on the grass with her hands in her lap and just staring at the grass in his direction, he burst into laughter. Sitting up, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down onto the grass with him. "Come on, it's not that bad."
Sora lay on her back on the grass. Her head almost rested on Yamato's shoulder from when he had brought her down, and he still absentmindedly held her hand. "It does feel nice and all, but still…"
The handsome blonde laughed whole-heartedly, "Okay okay, would it make you feel better if I let you lay on my jacket?"
"No! I'd end up feeling worse, 'cuz then I'd be getting your jacket dirty."
"My jacket is already going to get dirty."
"Still… no."
"Okay then…" Yamato wondered what would be a good solution. "Why don't you use me as your cushion or something?"
Sora stared at the blonde with her crimson orbs. "Huh?"
"Not suggesting anything, really, but if you feel uncomfortable, then you can use me as a pillow."
"Um… okay…" Sora pulled her hand away from Yamato who uttered an apology and blushed when he realized he still held her hand. Sora blushed when she lay down perpendicular to Yamato's position and placed her head on the upper part of his stomach. Though she couldn't explain it, the reason why she didn't want to lie down was because of her clothes, but resting only her head on something clean set her mind at ease.
Yamato enjoyed breathing in her scent as she rested on him, and he tried to find a word to describe it again. He was broken out of his thoughts when Sora spoke up.
"I'm not really a dainty, prissy, and vain girl who can't do anything…" She announced. "It's just that I'm kind of a neat freak so this stuff bothers me… but I wouldn't have trouble doing this in a soccer uniform or anything… just not in my everyday clothing…" Sora didn't know why, but she felt the need to clarify things with Yamato. She didn't want him thinking of her as some idiotic ditsy girl who couldn't do anything.
"I know, don't worry about it, I understand. Besides, I think it's sort of cute." Yamato smiled when he saw Sora blush again. She only blushes when it's just the two of us… He went back to his favorite new hobby of figuring out a word for her heavenly scent.
The stars shone brightly that night. The glittering jewels of the night spread throughout the sky in an array of shimmering lights, each dazzling the two in their own unique way.
Sora stared at the stars, "I never realized how beautiful they were."
"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" Yamato replied. "I come here pretty often. I just love the view from this spot in the park."
"Thanks for sharing something so special." The redhead whispered.
"I wanted to."
A short pause followed before Yamato broke it again. "Jasmine."
Sora rolled a bit to her side to look at Yamato questioningly, "what?"
"Jasmine."
"Huh?"
Taking a lock of her long, wavy, auburn strands into his hand, Yamato brought it up to his face and took a deep breath. "Your scent… is like jasmine."
AN: Thanks to everyone who wrote a review you guys are super super super!! *Sniff* you guys are so encouraging. I love you all!! Lolz, I'm getting sappy… but really, thanks to all of you encouraging reviewers out there, you guys are my inspiration.