First things first:

Question by theladynight:

But wouldn't Matt attend Tai's funeral if indeed Tai had died? I don't think he would have automatically assumed Tai was dead because he was in a coma and the doctors said that. Matt's the digidestined of friendship after all…

Answer: I really didn't think it all the way though, I guess… (And using the crest-friendship-ness against me—that's awesome.) I just thought that all the Digidestined went their separate ways after High School, after hearing about Tai in a coma and never getting a response after… eh, I can be over-the-top. It's my writing style. But theladynight gets points for leaving an awesome comment…

Be happy everyone! Yamato and Sora meet! …Again?

Oh, I bet you're wondering about JOE. And IZZY (or Koushiro. w/e floats your boat). I know where I'm sticking Joe, but Izzy… hrm…

(That means if you've got any ideas, feel free to drop me a line )

Sora stared at the dress Mimi held in front of her.

"No…way. Never…I'm…I'm just not going to wear it. Never. Not at the party," She protested, arms crossed in disgust.

"AWWW! Why not! It'll be perfect for you! It's designer…" Mimi coaxed.

"No. I can't Mimi. I just won't work! It's not… this isn't prom Mimi!" Sora cried in dislike.

Truthfully, the dress was exactly what she'd like to wear. Slim, Silky, a deep black color… it was sinfully beautiful. Somehow, she knew she'd look deadly in it… but something was holding her back.

"SORA!" Mimi whined, "I CAN'T wear it. I don't have enough… hips…for…it?"

"So, you're saying I have fat hips?"

TIME LASPE

"I am NOT paying $40 for a pair of pants. I just can't. I don't HAVE money…" Matt complained as he examined the slacks Tai had handed him.

"And why not? If you won't buy designer, then JCPenny™ casual-wear is your best bet," Tai explained, pouring over several polo shirts 10ft away.

"It's not what it LOOKS like or if its fashionable or not… it's the fact that I can not AFFORD it. I'm poor," He whined.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell from your diet of cheap coffee and airline peanuts." His best friend spat back.

"Hey, those peanuts are good…" Matt muttered, offended.

"NO. We are getting you a new outfit, and that's final. I saw your wardrobe, Matt. All you have in your closet is ratty t-shirts, and nasty old jeans. And your uniform, but I don't think you want to wear that to the party… or do you?"

"Well, I suppose I coul—"Matt pondered for a second.

NONONONONO! NO! You CAN'T possibly even ENTERTAIN that horrendous idea. No. You-Me, we need to be chick magnets!

Matt wondered how long his spilt personality was going to keep up.

You should see a shrink about me. I'm not exactly healthy, you know, his conscience advised.

"HEL-LO? Earth to Matt? Are you always lost in your little dreamland or something? Try on those pants… and this shirt," Tai said, throwing a nice polo shirt at Matt, "Kari here can tell you if you look like a chick magnet or not."

"What are you talking about Tai? I am not going to check you him out! Not in a million years!" Kari protested.

As Kari and Tai began to fight, Yamato trudged off to the dressing room bleakly, and Takeru slumped onto the floor. He was never in the loop, always watching life from the sidelines… even worse, she was here, and in her perfection, left him speech-less and dumbfounded.

"Man, they are so lame! I can't believe Tai expects me to do everything he says. I am not his little minion! And this stupid party! I don't even know anybody there, and he's making me go," Kari vented, sitting down next to Takeru.

"Uh, well, you DID agree to skip school to go to his thing… I mean, you do agree to a lot of the things he asks you to do. You always… seem to do whatever he says…" Takeru muttered to his knees.

"What do you mean? I do not do whatever he says! I'm my own person!" Kari fought back.

"Well, if you really don't want to go… then don't. Do something else…" Takeru advised, his voice weakening to a near whisper.

"Okay, smarty-pants, what do you suggest?" Kari spat.

"I don't know. You do what you like. I…I'm going to see a movie…" He muttered, careful to keep for making eye contact.

"Really? You're gonna give up being with your brother for a movie? All by yourself? You're such a dork! That's such a sad occupation!" Kari countered.

Takeru was silent.

"… That's pretty brave, you know."

TIME LAPSE

Mimi gave Sora a cold stare as she stepped out of the bedroom.

"WHY! WHY? Why… what IS that?" Mimi cried, pointing at what Sora was wearing.

"What's the matter with it?" Asked Sora, pulling at the gray blazer with matching skirt, "It matches!"

"It's HORRLIBLE!" Mimi said, recoiling from the ugliness of it all.

A small knock came to the door, and Mimi raced to get it.

Sora ran into the kitchen, grabbing a cheese platter to put out on the dining room table.

"DARLING! You've come! Oh, I thought you'd never get here! Now you can help us set up!" Mimi squealed from the other room.

Darling? Sora thought to herself as she and the cheese platter entered the living room.

A very tall, blue-haired young man stood in her house, being dragged down by Mimi's clinging to his arm. He looked very clean-cut and professional; something she'd expect to see at an office, nowhere near Mimi and her pulse-stopping grip.

He looked straight at Sora for a few seconds; pushed up his glasses to see better, then finally registered who she was.

"Sora Takenouchi? It's really you, isn't it?" He asked, smiling nicely, "It's good to see you. I suppose you've forgotten who I am?"

Sora wasn't about to forget one of her close friends. "Of course not Joe!" She said sincerely, "I don't forget faces! Are your really Mimi's boyfriend?"

"Of course he is? Who else would I date? We've been an item for like, a year now; you should've picked up on it!" Mimi scolded.

"Sorry," She apologized as she sat the platter down on the table, and then moved over to talk to the couple, "I've just been so busy lately…"

"Yes, well, I can forgive you Sora! You are my best of friends, you realize?" Mimi proclaimed, and then finished with another hug-of-death.

"No, Mimi, don't hug me… you'll wrinkle my outfit," Sora wheezed.

"Pft. Believe me, that gaudy outfit CANNOT get any worse…" Mimi scoffed, "It is BEYOND help… JOE! NO! Leave the cheese platter alone!"

Sora wondered why it was a big deal that Joe had begun to politely munch on some of the cheese-and-crackers, but the doorbell rang, and she had to answer it. She was, after all, the hostess here.

TIME LASPE

"If you're supposed to be professional motocross racer… why can't you DRIVE ANY FASTER?" Matt screamed as Tai drove at an alarmingly slow rate.

"Yeah, well, I can't help it I'm no good at cars. I told YOU! Why didn't you drive?" Tai protested.

Yamato pondered these things in silence, and a half an hour later, they had arrived.

"Why do we have to be here so early? Mimi said that the dinner starts at 7," Tai groaned as Matt rushed to the front door.

"Just because it's a dinner party doesn't mean this thing is centered on it. We're SUPPOSED to mingle with the other guests before we eat anything… you can be so rude sometimes, you know that?" Yamato commented, ringing the doorbell of Sora's house.

A tall young woman opened the door, pink-streaked hair glittering as she greeted them.

"OMG TAI! HOW ARE YOU? OMG, HOW'S THE RACES?" She cried, clobbering Tai with a hug.

Mimi, Yamato registered, she's pretty hard to forget… she's pretty.

NONONONONO! Cried Matt's mind in disgust, EWWWWW. That just doesn't work. Let's focus on the ladies that have little more brain than that.

Matt adhered to his conscience's advice and made his ways through the threshold of the house.

"Who is this, Tai? A buddy of yours? How are you?" Mimi said, holding out her hand for a handshake, "I'm Mimi Tachikawa! And you, you are… wait, you're Yamato Ishida! MMMMAAATTTTT!"

Matt was able to evade Mimi's attack-like hug in one swift moment, and she fell to the floor in a heap.

"Sorry Mimi… I'm just not into the whole personal-touch thing…" He explained as he helped her up, "Thank you for being so kind though."

Mimi continued to stare as Yamato made his way into the living room, and turned to Tai for some answers.

"Since when did Yamato get so polite?" Mimi questioned with a dash of suspicion, "He used to be so… I don't know, so cold and far off."

"Beats me. You should've seen him when we met up a few days ago! He was living off of coffee!" Tai snorted in a gossipy way.

"NO WAY!"

"Way."

TIME LASPE

"Wow Koshiro, you really have your own computer company?" Sora asked, eyes filled with wonder.

"Why, yes. It's very small now, but I've got a lot to offer to some of those big companies. I suspect that in the next 5 years, we'll grow at least 600 in company value—" Koshiro rambled.

Sora found herself nodding off. It wasn't that she didn't think her good friend was boring…it was just…so taciturn. However, Sora was awoken from her half-slumber by some oddly familiar laughter.

Tai, Sora's mind spat with malice, We need to talk to him, Sora.

"Uh, hey, Izzy," Sora interrupted using her friend's long-since-used nickname, "I must got greet a guest, but I'd like to continue this conversation… uh…later? Be back in just a second."

Sora had to use much self-control to refrain from sprinting over to Tai and choking him.

"SORA! Did you see! Tai's here!" Mimi said, tearing herself away from her conversation with him.

Sora glared at Tai.

"You. You gave her my phone number!" She spat pointing violently at Mimi, "And now I have to host this party with all these people I really don't care about! I HAVE PAPER WORK TO DO, AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT I CAN'T DO IT!"

"Uh…well…why didn't you say no?" Tai asked, slightly scared.

"Well, I couldn't just say no to Mimi!" Sora defended.

"Yeah, I'm just too cute to say no to!" Mimi cried, backing Sora up.

"Whatever. So its my fault. I'm sorry," Tai apologized half-heartedly, "I'm going to get some food."

"Uhg! He can be such a BUTT! Sora, I am so sorry I had no idea he—" Mimi began, but then she saw Sora was no there anymore.

TIME LASPE

"A doctor, eh? Sounds like you Joe, totally," Matt commented as he and Joe loomed over the cheese platter.

"Well, it's something I thought about doing for awhile now. So, what are you going for, Matt?" Joe asked politely.

"Oh, well, I'm a photographer…" He pieced together.

"Really?" Joe said, brow furrowed, "Doesn't fit you, does it…"

Mimi came up behind Joe and slapped his hand, which was reaching down for another piece of cheese.

"How many times do I have to tell you! You are not to eat too many dairy products! The doctor said so… and I don't mean YOU!" She cried, obviously trying to make a point.

"I'm not that lactose-intolerant... I'd be more worried about what you're doing to your hair," Joe refuted.

"You mean my pink-ness?" Mimi said, twirling some around her finger, "It's fine. I thought you liked it… well… what about you. YOU dye your hair!"

"I most certainly do not!" Joe protested.

"Oh, yeah, and blue hair is natural! I say that blue dye in your medicine cabinet!"

Matt backed away from the feuding couple and suddenly had the urge to use the restroom.

TIME LASPE

Sora poked her head out of the bathroom door to see if the coast was Mimi-free. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk to anybody… it was just, sometimes, she needed a break, to get away from everyone, and think. Seeing that the coast was clear, she shut the door gently. Her pale yellow bathroom looked so alien in her deep thought. Sora wasn't comfortable at parties; it wasn't like she didn't like people… she just felt so uncomfortable.

I have a mental problem… Sora's mind threw at her.

A small knock to the door, followed by a wickedly beautiful voice: "Uh, yeah, anyone in there? I would like to use the restroo- "

NOOOO! Matt's mind spat at him from outside the bathroom, Say powder your nose. This is a CLASSY party!

"I mean, I would like to powder my nose, uh, if you would be so kind?" Yamato asked through the door.

Sora pressed her head against the tile one last time before mumbling a, "Sure."

She opened the door lightly and rubbed her head softly. This party was draining. But something lifted her spirits.

He was GORGEOUS.

It wasn't practical. He had uncombed hair, a slightly wrinkly shirt, pants that were much too long, shoes that didn't match his outfit, and a giant red pimple had developed on the underside of his chin. But she was in fact, infatuated, and there was nothing she could to about it.

"Oh, uh, thanks… um… I'm sorry… your name is?" He asked in his delicious voice.

"Oh… me? Yeah, me. I'm Sora… Takenouchi?" Sora stammered, her brain falling apart, leaving her with nothing.

"Sora? Really, is that you?" Matt cried, happy to meet someone he was positive was sane, "How are you? I thought you weren't here!"

"Oh, yeah, well, this is my house, so I'm sort of hosting it…" The redhead squeezed out.

You're losing it Ishida! Matt's mind commanded, you can show her the picture, from France. It looks like her. Conversation starter for the hot chick.

"She's not hot! Just… cute?" Matt yelled mentally.

Sora tried to make a run for it. This always happened around guys… at least, the cute ones…

"WAIT! Sora, I have this picture you in France…!" Matt put together badly.

When were we in France? Her mind spat as she turned to see what he was up to.

As Matt opened up a disorganized portfolio, and Sora watched speechless as he filed through seeming hundreds of ugly photos. Finally, he found what he was looking for, a pulled it out proudly.

"When…when was I in France?" Sora asked tenderly as Matt held the picture up.

"You weren't… al least, I didn't SEE you. But this lady, she looks like you!" He said, pointing to the woman sitting in the picture, eyes looking off into the distance.

She does look like us, Sora's mind pondered in awe, Only… she's really REALLY old.

"How… do you remember me that well? That you found my look-alike in France? Did you have any classes with me? I don't even remember your name… you did to Bayside High School, right?" Sora interrogated, trying to weed him out if he was indeed a party-crasher.

OH, BURN. That's gotta hurt. She doesn't remember us, His mind announced, Not like she would. She's too pretty for that… still, we were close… THIS IS AKWARD.

"Uh… oh. You don't remember me… it's me, Yamato Ishida?" Matt stung together, hurt.

GRRREEAAAT. Now you blew it. HEL-LO? Isn't it obvious? Sora's mind spat.

Well, Sora thought back, He wasn't this good-looking before.

"M-m-matt? Is that really you? You… don't look the same?" She pulled together.

"In what way?" He asked, prying his picture from her fingers.

"Well," She mused, letting Matt take his picture back and trying to find the words to support her argument, "You just… seem… you look so much OLDER… but, but in a good way! Is it really you?"

AHAHAHA… I think the plane rides have gotten to us, His mind mused, Maybe we're gonna get gray hairs. Ouch. That would suck.

"WOAH. Matt, there you are! I was wondering where you went," Tai said, coming down the hall at an alarming rate. He took a second to analyze the situation noticing his friends frightened stares, then spoke again, "Oh, hey, if I'm interrupting anything—"

"Nothing at all. Just was heading to the bathroom," Matt said quickly and attacked the bathroom door like there was no tomorrow.

"Is he okay?" Sora asked quietly as she and Tai made it back into the throng of party guests.

"Yeah. He's just really uptight, know what I mean?" He explained, running his hand through his hair smoothly, "He's not what you'd like though. He's not like he was in high school. Uber unorganized."

EWEWEWEWEWEW. Is he trying to pick me up? Ew. Sora's mind warned.

"I can handle someone being unorganized. I was just talking to him. He's a friend of mine as well as yours," She defended.

"Whatever," Tai said, shrugging and dissipating into the party.

"HELLLLLLO EVERYONE!" Mimi cried, unusually loud, "This is Mimi Tachikawa welcoming all Bayside High School alumni! And now, its time for KARAOKE!"

Sora raced over to stop her friend; Karaoke was too much for her brain right now.

"Mimi, no! We can't… this is not…" She tried to explain to her pink-haired friend, but was pushed off-stage by a thin man and his golden-haired counterpart.

"Okay guys, know you all remember Yamato Ishida, right? Well turns out he's not dead, he's just spent the last three years thinking I was dead. So, to prove to you all he's a musically genius, here's Matt!" Tai cried with way too much enthusiasm, throwing his arms up in the air wildly.

Matt walked tenderly up to the mike carefully and spoke in it, "Uh, hey guys. Sorry for the rude introduction… I think Tai here needs to calm down… uh, anyways, I think I'm gonna be singing… What am I singing?"

The room erupted into polite laughter, and Tai pressed a button on the karaoke machine.

Oh no. MATT! NO! He's sabotaged us! We're to be branded as… as… His mind stammered.

It CAN'T be… can it? Sora's mind wondered.

"Tai, you son of a—"The should-be-singer cried.

"AHAHAHA," Tai guffawed from the machine, "You always said you were a Britney Spears fan."

Matt thought, for the sake of being mature, sang along to the song, trying to follow along with the nasty, repetitive beat… though it wasn't hard, being talented musically like he was.

Sora stared in awe. It seemed almost impossible, but she had become even more infatuated… with a man who had no life, with a man who had a huge pimple on his nose, with a man that had almost disappeared from the social scene for 3 years…

But he was singing her favorite song, so in her eyes he couldn't be any cooler.

"Oops, I did it Again"? Listen, dear, we need a better song, Her mind suggested.

Hey, this took forever, huh? I'm sorry?

Oh, to KoumiLoccness: I had no idea what "Koumi" meant until Lina told me… I'm so sorry. I wouldn't of picked the pairing I did if I would of known before-hand… but I'm fond of JoexMimi. So to make it up to you... uh… I love you? Please keep on reading!

I now know that Matt plays bass… so any previous times I said "guitar", I meant bass?

The more I look, the more Sora's and Matt's internal conversations look like the ones in one of my favorite books : Be More Chill. It's by Ned Vizzini. Who is like, the best dude EVAR.

Next chapter: Let's Date?