The Game of Life
By theladyknight
Disclaimer: Digimon—not mine!
Rache: I'm glad you like it!
Moo: I babysat my five year old niece during summer, and we'd play "The Game of Life" everyday. The idea for babies came from the Child Development class at my school, and everything else is basically spur of the moment…
Mrs. Ishida-to-you: No, I didn't get to see it, and it really ticked me off. Desert in California, huh? Well, right now I'm getting snow in the Midwest…lucky me :;rolls eyes;:
Nickygirl: Yes, I agree too…
Scorpion05: Funny story about the Tai thing: one of the girls in my grade locked her baby in her truck overnight and left it there during school. And that was before she spilt beer on it at a party and ruined the internal computer…but I wouldn't have Tai do that. I could see him forgetting the doll in a car though.
Only Secret: Thanks!
Kat: Glad you like it!
Animemistress419: Thanks!
Kuroi Black Nightingale: Queen..:;laughs;: I don't know about that…
Money makes me smile: :;smiles;: Thanks! Have fun with that science subject…I remember studying it last year with my scary bio teacher! Lol!
Kay: Tai is a ham…
Sorato-cool: It won't let me type an equal's sign in your name, sorry...Thanks for the idea, but I've already got the rest of the fic planned out…
Jodi Crystal: Now if only you were Sora's conscience…
Dream-rose/fanfictionist: It does suck to be in suspense; heck, I'm in suspense, and I'm writing the story!
Direwolf1427: Thanks!
Ballet Kitty: Sorta, kinda…but not really…
Sorato-takari: Hope they went well…
Inconnu: Don't worry; Tai's just got one of those innocent lil' crushes that lasts for like a week…you know the kind where the next week you're like, why the hell did I like him/her?
PyRoWiRe: Thanks!
CherryBlossomSky: Hope your exams went well, mine surprisingly did. I got like a 60 on Chemistry but still passed the test with a B and my final grade was an A-. Thank God for large, large curves!
Princessstephanie: My finals weren't that well. Like I said, I did surprisingly well and even got my ranking in the class to jump!
Armitage: Yeah, in my case I go to a parochial school. I go to a Catholic one, but it's nothing like the stereotypical ones. We've gotta wear uniforms and stuff, but from what I've heard from people who went a few years in the catholic school and then transferred to the public one because of cost, my school offers a better, higher education…
Yukina/Maya: Sometime in the three days…
Teehee: Thanks!
SoratoFan: Thanks!
BrnttsDoItBest: I could see Tai suggesting strip spoons…
Crazyamzy: Yeah, thankfully, that's the last of the purple hair thing…
Chapter 10: Day 1—The Amazing Race
Sleep eluded me last night. All night the promise I'd made to Mimi and Hikari ran through my head. I would try to fall asleep, but five minutes after I shut my eyes, they'd flash open.
It was just one of those nights when I had so much running through my head that I couldn't concentrate on one thing or another. First I focused on the kiss. Then my thoughts moved to the game itself, the dolls, the end of class, and finally graduation. One thought led to another and before I knew it, it was time to get up.
Sunday went by incredibly slowly. Everyone was busy and I was incredibly bored. Taichi and Hikari were out shopping with their parents, Koushiro was working on some computer program, and Yamato and Takeru were out of town with their mom. I talked to Mimi briefly on the phone before she headed off to this cheerleading camp with the other cheerleaders.
Thankfully, in the short ten minutes I talked to her, I managed to get the three days I have to tell Yamato to start tomorrow. She was really hesitant, but I convinced her by saying he was out today, and if it happened on a school day, she'd have a better chance of finding out for sure. I definitely don't want her or Kari to tell Yamato. That's so seventh grade, having someone else ask someone out for you.
So with nothing to do, I spent the day tidying up the house and writing some things down in my journal for Child Development. The day came and went. Mom and Dad returned home but there was nothing to special about that.
I went to sleep, and unfortunately faced the same insomnia I suffered the previous night.
"Sora, you look a bit tired." Mom mused as I headed to the kitchen.
I tried to deny it, but I couldn't keep from yawning. "I couldn't get to sleep the past two nights."
Dad chuckled as he gathered up things and put them in his briefcase. "Did you have a lot on your mind?"
Nodding my head, I walked over to get something to eat. Mom laughed. "Our teenage years were exactly the same way, Haruhiko. We were always lacking sleep, cramming for tests, talking on the phone with each other, and those kinds of things. I'm sure you'll figure out your problems and things soon."
Is she psychic? Who knows? "Well, I've got to run," I responded, grabbing a pastry and picking up Megumi, "see you guys later."
I arrived at school fifteen minutes later, just in time for first period. Dropping Megumi off in Ms. Greene's room, I managed to sit down at my table just as the tardy bell rang.
"Wow, Sora, you look kind of tired." Mimi mused.
"Class, continue working on your projects. Seniors, you have officially six days, counting today, to finish your project and present it." Our art teacher drowned on.
"You could say that." I replied, taking out my paper and charcoal pencils.
"Didn't you get any sleep?" Mimi replied, as she grabbed her watercolors and painting.
I shook my head. "Unfortunately not for the past two nights." I sighed. "I've had too much going on in my head."
"Yamato?" she murmured, just above a whisper.
I only had to look at her, and she knew it was true. "I'm trying to muster up the courage to tell him."
Mimi laughed. "Well, you could make things easier on yourself by not telling him. Then Hikari and I will do it for you!"
"I think I can handle it." I grumbled. This isn't turning out to be the best day.
I spent the rest of class ignoring Mimi's teasing about Yama and trying to concentrate on finishing my drawing. For my end of the year art final, I elected to make a charcoal drawing of a group of familiar people.
The subjects of my drawing were my friends, all hanging out by the big oak tree in the park. I had finished with Taichi and Yamato but still had the other four plus myself to finish in the next six days. The brunette was standing up and juggling a soccer ball on his knee. Our other best friend was resting against the tree with his arms behind his head, carefree, cool, and collective.
I had ideas for what the others would all look like, and now it was just a matter of finishing up the project. I became lost in my work, so wrapped up in the drawing that I didn't realize the time until Mimi tapped me on the shoulder. "Sor, we've got five minutes to clean…oh my God!"
"What!" I exclaimed, seeing her face looking down upon my drawing. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing! That looks just like me, and that's so awesome Sora!" I had managed to finish Mimi inside the drawing. She was holding up a shopping bag and showing off her newest purchases to the group.
I smiled a bit. "It just seemed like something you'd do."
She gave me an evil grin as I put the drawing away and went over to the sink to wash my hands. "You really could do that job you ended up getting in Child Development." I raised an eyebrow. Fashion designer? "Of course!" she exclaimed, sensing my doubt. "You were so detail oriented in the portrait. If you look closely at the outfits you put us each in, you'll see they're all your own inventions."
Not believing her, I headed over to check out the drawing and sadly had to agree with her. Art was something I'd always considered going into. Truthfully, at this moment, I wasn't sure on what I wanted to study in college. Maybe I could do that…
I carelessly wandered from class to class, still incredibly tired. Finally it was time for Child Development. "Sor, you look…"
"…tired, yeah I know." I replied, sitting down next to Yamato. "You're not the first person to tell me that."
"Did Megumi keep you up all night?"
I had to smile. "Megumi was a…doll…no pun intended. She really wasn't that bad. She cried a lot during the day yesterday, but she only woke up once during the night."
"So why are you so tired?" He wouldn't give up.
"I have a lot of things on my mind."
"Like what?"
I looked into his cerulean eyes. "Why are you asking so many questions?"
"Because, I'm a little worried about you."
"Why?"
He groaned. "You're making things difficult; you do know that, right?"
"I don't see what you're so worried about."
"The fact you didn't get any sleep." Yamato answered.
I rolled my eyes. "Well don't worry about it."
Our little debate was cut off when Ms. Greene walked into the room and the bell rang. "Good morning to all of you. I hope your weekend with your children went well."
Groans echoed all across the room, and I could tell there were plenty of sob stories to be told. "I can't wait until this class is over," I heard Taichi mutter.
"Given the response I just received, I would like to inform you we will be taking it easy today. It's time for another game." This time cheers greeted her response. Ms. Greene held up a hand. "Please let me finish. We're going to need a lot of time if we want to get this game finished today. We may even end up going into the next class period."
"So what's the game?" Someone called out.
Ms. Greene grinned. "Before I get to that, I'd like to first hand out some forms to each of you. Tomorrow you will be job shadowing a person who holds the same career you have chosen for this class. I've called up a bunch of different people and you will spend three class periods, this, the next one, and lunch hour at your chosen occupation. Please take this form home to your parent/guardian and have them sign it, stating you are allowed to go. Transportation will be provided."
Our teacher went down the rows, giving each one of us a piece of paper with our location. "Some of you may be wondering why the places you're going don't exactly match up with the careers you received. The answer to that question: some of those jobs couldn't be found in this city so I matched you up with the closest thing."
"Where are you at?" Yamato whispered.
"Ayami Tanaka, she's a fashion designer/artist."
"Oh, I'm with Ichiro Oshiro. He's an astronomer. I guess that's the closest thing to astronaut, huh?"
"Apparently. It should be interesting though." We were both silent, and I felt my heart begin to beat. This is it. "Yamato?"
"Yeah?"
"I need to tell you something."
"What?" he asked voice full of concern. "Is something wrong?"
I shook my head. "No, I just…"
"Class, can I please have your attention!" Ms. Greene yelled to be heard. "We don't have much time."
"Tell me later, okay." Yamato commanded, squeezing my hand lightly.
"Make sure you bring these slips back tomorrow or you will not be able to attend the job shadow. But moving onto today, we're going to play a rather…interesting game. The prize for winning is that the winning pair will NOT have to take care of their baby/babies over the coming weekend." Immediately the class began to clap and cheer.
"We've got to win this one!" Yamato exclaimed.
"You're telling me." It would definitely make any date we may go on much better.
"How many of you are familiar with The Amazing Race?" (Not mine, obviously!)
A great deal of my classmates' hands shot up. Ms. Greene smiled and started to talk again. "Instead of just being off in search of random things and clues, you all are off in search of different items for your babies. Each of you will be given the same clue, a riddle, and from there you will have to figure out where it leads you."
"Isn't that just a bit different then the actual television game?" Koushiro asked.
"Yes, I'm making some alterations for our lack of time and location. The first clue leads to a specific location. At that first pit stop you will find an item for your child/children. There are fourteen different items, in example baby bottles, at the place. Take only one of them, with the exception of those who have twins, and pick up one of the twelve clues. The next clue will direct you somewhere different. Any questions before I continue?"
Tai raised his hand. "So basically we're on a big treasure hunt. That doesn't sound too challenging to me."
Mimi groaned. "Great, Taichi, you just jinxed us! There's ALWAYS a catch."
Ms. Greene laughed. "You're right, Mimi, there is a catch, actually two. Both partners have to go to the location the clue states. If, for example, it told to go into the gym, both of you would have to go inside. One person couldn't wait outside while the other went in. And the second catch: once you are able to crack the second clue, you will be led to another destination. It is there that you will have to pass a "roadblock". It is a specific task only one person gets to do. A couple of the teacher's who have free periods at the moment are awaiting each group's arrival there. You may not leave the area until the task is completed nor may you switch partners."
Yamato and I looked at each other. "What kind of task do you think it'll be?" I asked, now completely absorbed in the game and its enticing reward, forgetting about telling him I like him. I do have three days. I'll just do it tomorrow…
"I'm not sure, but knowing Ms. Greene…" he trailed off, and we both knew he didn't need to finish the sentence.
"Once you manage to pass the roadblock, the teachers will give you the final clue and another item to take with you. The first team that cracks it and makes it to the destination will be declared the winners." She paused. "The clues aren't that hard to crack, and if you really think about them, shouldn't be bad at all. But some of you might get lucky and find a pit stop/destination by stumbling upon it. I'm going to pass out the clues right now. You may not open them until everyone has them."
She walked around the room handing out envelopes. "There will be a teacher at each check point to make sure all groups and both partners stop there. On the count of three then," the teacher stated after each group had their envelope. "One…"
"Good luck, you're going to need it." Taichi snickered to us.
"Two."
Mimi nodded. "We're going to win."
"We'll see about that." I replied.
"THREE!"
All over the room people tore open the envelopes and began reading the clues. I ripped open the envelope and pulled the paper out. "I'm willing to bet that one in the pair will refuse to let themself go inside there. Watch for little stick men and women in dresses; enter one of these places and then look for the clue, don't stop to admire your tresses."
We both stared at each other. "Ms. Greene should never quit teaching to be a poet." The blond bluntly stated.
"I agree," I answered, "but I do know where we are headed."
Yamato raised and eyebrow before reading the clue over. "I got it too. Now we just have to figure out which one it is."
We both stood up and headed out the door. Our classmates were already barreling down the halls, and many teachers walked out into the hallway to see what all the commotion was. "You're telling me. We've got like six or eight to choose from."
"Let's head this way first…"
"YUCK! There's no way Ms. Greene would hide the clue in there. How can you guys stand those conditions?" I didn't even need to go into the room. The smell turned me away. Yamato plugged his nose and darted out of the room as fast as he went in.
"It's not in there." He sighed, gasping for a breath of fresh air. "We live. And we learn to avoid the bad ones."
"Obviously." We wandered down the halls, still in search of the first clue. We'd tried two possibilities but both weren't it. "The rate we're going, everyone else is going to find the clue before us."
He wrapped his arm around me. "Sora, Sora, Sora, you aren't giving up all ready, are you?"
"Of course not! I just do not want to stand around here any longer. Let's keep going!" The two of us continued to walk down the halls until something spotted my eyes. "I found it!"
"How can you be sure?" he asked as I stopped in front of the wooden door.
"Out of order, I stopped in here before it was time for Child Development."
"Oh. I'd say you've got a good basis for proving me wrong."
I smirked and pulled on his shirt. "Let's go inside."
"Do…do I have to?"
I put my hands on my hips. "Were you not listening in class?"
"I was," he defended, "but do I have to?" Groaning, I pushed open the door and dragged the blond into the room. "At least there's no pink."
"You sound like Taichi!" I exclaimed as we spotted our PE teacher. "And it looks like we've found the clue."
"Sora, Yamato, good to see you to in here." She smiled at us.
Yamato rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's just GREAT to be in the girl's bathroom!" He exclaimed sarcastically.
"Ignore him," I told the teacher, "he tends to get a bit moody."
"Apparently. Here's your clue."
"Thanks, now can we get out of here?" Yama pleaded, blue eyes growing large.
I ignored him, making him suffer, the lone male in a girl's bathroom. "Isn't there some sort of an item we're supposed to receive?"
"Oh yes," our PE teacher nodded, "do you have one or two kids."
"Sad to say…"
I clamped a hand over the blonde's mouth. "Two,"
"Here you go then." She replied, handing me two pacifiers. "Good luck you two."
Yamato grumbled a response, and I winked at her. "I think he's PMSing for a guy."
"Sounds like it," the woman smiled, and we walked out of the bathroom.
"That was embarrassing." Yamato hung his head as I opened up the next clue.
"Oh get over it. It would've been much worse for you had the bathroom not been out of order."
He reluctantly shook his head. "Very true. And at least it didn't smell in there. I'll read the clue. Good for you, it's time to go onto the next task and room. Get ready to look high and low, left and right with your bride or groom. The next clue lies somewhere plants, organisms, and bacteria all stay. The birds and the bees are there along with the skeleton and diagrams in black, white, and gray."
"She's not that great of a poet." I stated again while we both cracked up over the forced rhyming in her poetry.
"I think she better not consider a career as a poet." Yamato answered.
"I agree." I smiled. "I know where the next clue points."
"Me too. Damn, I hated that class."
"I just hated the teacher…"
"How do you think everyone else is doing?" I asked as we headed up a flight of steps to our next destination.
"I saw a couple of the other groups looking at clues when we were in search of a bathroom," he paused and ran a hand through his golden locks. "I'd say there's a pretty strong chance we're not going to win."
We walked in silence and finally approached the biology room. "Yamato, Sora, good to see you two." Our physics teacher smiled. "Which one of you will be performing the "Roadblock" stop?"
Yamato and I looked at each other. We hadn't discussed that yet. "Rock, paper, scissors?" I asked.
"Sounds good," we both chanted the phrase and…"Damn it! I guess it's me. Best two outta three, Sor?"
"Nope, you're stuck with it, Ishida. Good luck."
The man laughed at Yamato and me and led us into the biology room. Three other groups of classmates were already in there, and the majority of them had their noses wrinkled at the things in front of them. I wonder what Yama is going to have to do. While two other teachers supervised the groups in action, our physics teacher guided us to one of the tables.
That's all the bio room usually held. There were twelve long, black tables set up all over the place. "This is your task." The man pointed to the table, and Yama let out a vehement reply. "There are five dolls with dirty diapers in front of you, Mr. Ishida and all the supplies needed to change them. Go right ahead."
"You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed, sounding a bit like Mimi.
"Come on you wimp!" I goaded. "If we stand any chance of winning, you're going to have to do this."
"Fine." He finally said after a long, heavy silence. "But you'd better make it up to me if we do win."
I winked at him. "Of course." If only you knew, Yamato…
Yamato sighed, took a deep breath, and headed up to the first doll. "The blond carefully removed the diaper, but suddenly jumped back in horror. "What is that?"
Our physics teacher cracked a smile. "No, it's not what you think. The diapers are full of melted chocolate and water dyed by yellow food coloring."
"Then where the hell is this smell coming from?" Yama demanded while he pulled out a baby wipe.
"Ms. Greene sprayed them all with a mixture of different colognes and perfumes."
I waved a hand back in forth in front of my face. "Well, that definitely explains the stench."
The blond slowly made his way from doll to doll. "Thankfully Ms. Greene explained all this to us."
"Otherwise?"
He grinned. "Otherwise I'd have absolutely no idea what I was doing."
Just as Yama was starting doll number five, Mimi and Tai burst into the room. By now, all but one of the groups, oddly being Koushiro and Gwen, were in the room. Two were done and off to the finish line. Yamato and I were either third or fourth, I'm not too sure.
"So which one of you is going to perform the task?" The home ec teacher addressed Tai and Mimi.
"Him!"
"Her!"
They looked at each other. "No way!"
"How 'bout we flip a coin? Since it's my coin…"
"Damn it," I turned to Yama, "he stole the coin back from me!"
"…I call tails!" Taichi flipped the coin before Mimi had a chance to react. "Ha! It's tails."
"That's so not fair!" Mimi cried indignantly. "He cheated! Tai's got a coin with tails on both sides."
The teacher shook her head. "That's not my problem. Make up your mind on who's going to take on the task and follow me please." She started to walk off.
Taichi pointed at Mimi. "You lost either way, Meems. Just get it over with."
The brunette's mouth dropped as Mimi hastily followed the home ec teacher. "Fine." The girl's face turned a little, well very, green at the instructions, but she didn't make any comment regarding it.
"Done!" Yamato called out, washing his hands off in the nearby faucet.
"Very good, Mr. Ishida." Our physics teacher checked each child, and from having us in class, handed Yama two baby bibs and gave me the last clue.
We darted out of the room but briefly paused upon passing Taichi and Mimi.
"I can't believe she's doing it," Yama's deep blue orbs were widened in shock."
"You're telling me." Taichi replied very dumbstruck. Mimi was working like a madwoman, not at all complaining about what she had to do.
I looked at the clue in my hand before tugging on the rock star's sleeve. "Let's go."
We exited the room, and I opened up the final clue. "I'm waiting for you here somewhere you know well. Your children are awaiting you too. So the first group here wins as long as they're here before the ringing of the bell!"
"At least that was better than her other failed poetry attempts." Yamato mused.
I laughed. "Yep, hopefully we don't have to read anymore poetry she's written ever again." We both knew where this clue led to; it was just a matter of getting here. "So how was your fun experience changing diapers?" I asked the blond.
He chucked a bit. "It could have been worse. I saw some of the others' dolls and man, they got it bad. Some of the dolls I got…I'm glad they weren't real!"
"You sounded more grossed out than Mimi," I replied.
"That's because I'm a guy and not used to the whole changing the diapers thing. I've never babysat babies, other than Megumi and Ryo. And when T.K. was little, yeah…don't get me started."
I laughed again, and we neared the door to the last room. Rounding the corner, we ran smack dab into two people. "Gwen? Koushiro? What are you guys doing here?"
"Which bathroom is it?" Koushiro cried. "We've been searching this whole period! And then we got yelled at by two teachers for running in the hall, the lunch ladies made us stop in and test the mystery meat, the…"
Gwen sighed. "To sum it up, we've been through hell and back."
"It's the girl's bathroom with the "Out of Order" sign on it." I provided.
"Thanks!" they both darted off through the halls while Yama and I went back to our own task.
"Here we are." Yama opened the door, and we walked in to see Ms. Greene standing in the child development room with three groups already in here.
"Glad you two made it; congratulations, you're group number four." She smiled at us. "The bell's about to ring, so you can go ahead and grab your stuff. Tonight's homework is to journal about this activity. And you need to come pick up your children after school today. I'm going to go put a message on the announcements about people being late. Tell your classmates to look at the board for their assignment."
"Okay," we chorused, sitting down in our seats and gathering our things.
"You're watching the kids tonight, right?"
I nodded. "Yep, I'll drop Megumi off at your place later this evening."
"Sounds good." He replied as another group entered the room. The bell rang, and Yamato and I left the room. "So, what were you going to tell me earlier?"
"Oh, that…well…I…I forgot." I lied. "I'll tell you later, okay."
"Sure." He gave me a questioning look as we headed into the empty physics room.
Okay, so I had the opportunity, but…the moment just wasn't right. That sounds like a good excuse. I'll just ask him tomorrow. Tomorrow'll give me more time to think about what I'm going to say. Too bad we didn't win the competition and be able to not have the kids this weekend. If we do go out together, I guess we'll have to bring the kids. Oh well, I'll figure it all out…tomorrow…
A/N: Please review! I apologize for the bad poetry; I'm not a poet. And I haven't watched very much Amazing Race. I'm never home on Tuesday's, and my VCR's set to tape One Tree Hill. But…yikes! It's snowing harder out; and we're supposed to get 5 inches :;bites lip;: uh oh, I'm supposed to be out of town the next two days—hope I don't get snowed in…please review!