Author: Sparkle Itamashii

Title: Clandestine Revelations

Warnings: Respect the rating. Please see my profile for details.

Disclaimer: Digimon and its characters, settings, and plot are NOT MINE.

Chapter Ten

When Matt gets upset over something his initial reaction is to get so riled up he gets physical. After that he can win or lose but he never, ever forgets. Whatever upsets him boils inside until the next time someone mentions it and he'd start a fight again. It wasn't really the fighting I was scared of- it was the calm between the two storms, like passing through the eye of a hurricane. I'd survived the first storm but somehow waiting for the second one that I knew was coming was worse.

I thought about waiting for him on the corner, like I normally did, but I didn't think he would appreciate being confronted with me that early in the morning and I didn't want to deal with him while he was grumpy. He hadn't called me the day before so I assumed he was still sore about Saturday night. I didn't want to push buttons- I'd done it so many times in the past that I knew how it ended. Just in case I'd forgotten, he'd given me that lovely reminder Saturday night- a reminder that had since taken on a dark purple hue all around my left eye.

Unfortunately I was so busy thinking about Matt's reaction to my presence that I didn't stop to think about what everyone else would think when I showed up without him. I imagine it would have been less of a problem if Sora hadn't accosted me the second I walked in the door. Maybe even that wouldn't have been such a big deal if she hadn't been so bloody loud about my black eye. I think that a lot fewer people would have made a connection. I think the entire situation could have been a lot more discreet if only she'd kept her mouth shut. If only he hadn't seen her.

For a moment I thought I'd been let off the hook when she stopped talking in the middle of lecturing me. I started to leave for my class but she halted me, laying a hand against my chest before I could get past. She gave the slightest motion and I curiously followed her gaze around to behind me.

Matt was standing there, looking quietly between us. He wore a curious, slightly blank expression, as if he wasn't quite sure what was happening. The second I opened my mouth to speak, though, his look hardened and he shot a glare in my direction, brushing past and continuing down the hall without a word. I watched him go, unable to speak to stop him.

I tried several times during class but he didn't respond and all I got for my trouble was a trip to stand in the hall for talking in class. There wasn't a whole lot I could do then- the teacher watched me like a hawk.

Of course lunch was even worse than class. At least in class he couldn't move his seat without getting in trouble with the teacher. At lunch we normally sat right next to each other and I would make him eat more than he wanted to eat and he would chastise me for eating so much and everyone would roll their eyes at our antics. Now Matt sat on the other side of the table, as far away as he could get and still be politely considered part of the group.

I didn't get a chance to talk to him then, either. A flock of people, mostly from soccer, descended upon me and he disappeared. I knew I would have to deal with my soccer buddies sooner or later, but I'd been hoping for later. Much to my irritation, all of them wanted to know what had happened now and none of them would give me the space to escape. In the sudden confusion, I lost track of Matt. There was no helping it- I couldn't get away fast enough to follow him.

Luckily my other friends were watching my back. Izzy extracted me from the throng of people as soon as he was able to, scaring them off with mention of homework and tests. I let him drag me out of the lunchroom grateful for the rescue but guessing he had an ulterior motive. Izzy had always been observant but he was observant in a different way than other, well, more normal people.

Apparently Hikari wasn't the only one who thought Matt and I liked one another.

It took me several minutes to convince Izzy that no, as amusing as it was that he thought so, I was not being abused.

All in all it was an absolutely exhausting day. By the end I'd been asked so many times if I'd had a fight with Matt that I was ready to strangle the next person who inquired, however polite they were. I didn't think I could handle another day of questions and insufferable worry from people who had no idea what had happened. If I had to put up with much more I would go absolutely insane.

There was only one place I knew for sure I could corner him.

"Matt." I said as soon as he closed his locker and realized I'd managed to sneak up on him. Again.

"We need to talk."

Blinking, I gave him a startled look. He'd beaten me to saying it. I admit to staring blankly, anything I'd been meaning to say escaping me at Matt's unexpected words. He'd been avoiding me all day and now this?

"Can you come over tonight? My dad's not going to be home until late." He shouldered his book bag and gave me an expectant look.

"Is that really a good idea?" I asked hesitantly, confused at his very sudden change in behavior. It was like he'd completely forgotten everything.

He rapped his knuckle gently against my forehead. "Don't be dumb." He said lightly, acting like my best friend again. Like nothing was wrong. Like he hadn't been ignoring me the entire freaking day. I felt lost and a little angry- something was definitely going on and it seemed like I was going to be the last to know what.

"Yama, don't you think-" I began in a bewildered, defensive voice.

He silenced me with a very serious look, glancing wordlessly to the sides as if to make sure we were alone. I waited impatiently, glaring as I tried to understand what was going through his head. He obviously didn't want to avoid me anymore or maybe-

Maybe I was wrong and it wasn't that he didn't want to speak to me at all. Maybe he just didn't want to cause a scene here, on school grounds. He didn't want to involve anyone else, didn't want outside interference. That could be why he hadn't spoken to me at all today. That could be why he wasn't speaking to me now.

Perhaps the situation was not as unsalvageable as it first seemed. I felt hope returning at the thought.

"Can you?" He repeated quietly.

Like I had a choice…

How could I say no?

/End Chapter Ten, Clandestine Revelations/