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Last Edited - 11.o1.o5
Kuroi Black Nightingale, Unforgettable, Malcolm Yuy, angewomonandme, lottie11, RogueSummersLover, Book Lover990, PrincesakuraTenshi12, LiLTakariGirl aka Yami Aro, Saiyachick, Xymi Angel Ghost & miaow227:Thanks a whole bunch for reviewing you guys! Much appreciated…and I hope you ain't all mad at me for not updating in a long time…LOL … thanks so much -- lots of love
Before I get this started, Belated Christmas and New Year to you all. I hope you're well and haven't gained too much weight from this break (cause I certainly have). I know that I haven't update for quite some time, but I have my reasons. I also tended in editing all the previous chapters in this story, which is another reason why it took long for this chapter to come out. Hope you like the continuation of the Winters Dance and I'll make it longer since I haven't updated in a while…your's truly
Flipstahhz
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THE MIXUP
Chapter Thirteen
By Flipstahhz
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"Can't believe we missed the desserts!" Takeru groaned over the loud music that was still playing, eyeing the other tables besides them whom had desserts and were deliciously stuffing their faces with chocolate ice cream. " That is what you call unfair!"
When both Takeru and Hikari had hitted it off from the dance floor it was unbelievable how quickly the half hour had faded. And when the pair had grown tiresome from dancing at a pace for thirty minutes, they decided it was best to retire back and relax at their table while watching their friends dancing. Their flushed pink cheeks burning on their cheeks from their exhaustion.
Unfortunately, for them, they didn't up doing that…but ended up jealously glancing at the other people scoffing down their tasty desserts.
In between the half hour, Yamato had finished performing with his band and was enjoying his spare time dancing with Sora. Ken had put the remixed songs in automatic mode, having a strange time dancing with "both" Yolei and Daisuke ( since he didn't want to look like a loner on the dance floor and cause TK and Kari had left him.) While Tai and Mimi, on the other hand, were dancing as the schoolteachers flashed disapproving glances constantly.
Finally responding what Takeru had said, Hikari sighed back in reply, " What do you expect? They were serving desserts as soon as we had left the table for the dance floor. The only thing that is on this empty table is coffee. There's nothing to eat, so I might as well drink something…"
TK watched her mix her coffee and add two tablespoons of sugar into the steaming drink.
From the corner of her eye, the brunette caught his glance. " What, TK? You want some."
"Yeah, pour me one."
"I think you should go back to elementary school and taught how to say the word, please. Golly, you don't even have the manners to say thanks," she muttered as she stared at him as he accepted the mug of coffee and non-hesitantly took a sip from.
In reflex reaction, he spat it out onto the silk tablecloth.
"T-That's ho-ot! I th-think my tong-tongue got burn-burnt!" Takeru stuttered.
"No surprise there," Kari responded sarcastically with a smirk. " You were supposed to stir it. Plus it's probably a punishment because you didn't say a please or thankyou to me."
He glared at her, " It doesn't matter."
"Loser," she sneered, shaking her head at him in disgrace, trying not to laugh at how fast his face had turned even redder from the hot coffee.
Nursing his tongue by pouring himself a drink of cold water, he immediately gulped the liquid down to sooth the burning sensation in his mouth. In boredom, he sunk down into his chair and arched an eyebrow as he watched Kari.
"What are you doing? How many tablespoons of sugar do you need?
She dumped her tenth tablespoon of sugar into the mug and shrugged at Takeru's question. " I can't taste anything. This coffee tastes to plane, it's got no flavour at all. I'm just simply doing the drink a favour and actually making it taste better instead of bitter."
"Bitter, since when did coffee taste bitter?" TK asked. He couldn't believe he was having such a strange conversation with her.
Hikari took a tiny sip from her drink that she had conjured up. And added another spoon of sugar to it.
"I think I'd better take that before you go on a high," TK laughed as he snatched the sugar out of her grasp.
" It needs more!" Kari said a bit hysterically as she stood from her seat to bend and try to take it off Takeru as he amusingly moved it around in the air. " Give it, TK, you idiot!"
" Try and get it," he mocked back.
Interrupting the childish mood, a middle-aged woman had appeared in between the pair, pushing them apart from each other.
" TK, Kari…can you please stop it?" Ms. Takaishi said quietly.
"What's up?" Kari queried as she asked the woman, staring up at her. She had known her well enough for her whole life to know when something was wrong, the creases on her forehead showed the stressed expression on the older woman's complexion.
"Oh, it's nothing darling," she smiled stroking Kari's hair lovingly. "You look lovely tonight, the both of you."
" Yeah, umm... Mom…are you alright?" Takeru asked the question that was on Kari's mind.
"Sure, I'm fine," Ms. Takaishi laughed. " Just wanted to say my farewells to you, I'm going to leave now."
"Already? It's only 10 pm!" Kari frowned. " It's still early."
"I really got to go, have to wake up early tomorrow cause I got a conference," she quickly lied as she put on her long cream coat, giving a swift peck on the each of the teenagers faces and heading towards the exit. " Tell Yamato that I'm leaving as well."
Watching her leave Takeru gazed at his mother in confusion. " Kari?"
"Yeah?"
"Your mom…well, my mom," he remembered. " She doesn't really have a conference for work tomorrow. Does she even work on weekends, I'm sure she told me that –"
"You're right, TK," Kari said. " She lied. She never works on the weekend's cause she'd always stay with me for the whole day. I can't believe she just lied to her face…but mom…she rarely lies. Only when she has to…"
"Ey, TK, Kari…you alright over there?!" Tai yelled as he made his way towards the pair with Mimi close by his side.
"What do you mean, bro?"
" What I mean…you know…with all that happened. You youngsters alright?!"
"With all what happened?!" Kari repeated her older brother.
"What do you mean?! Didn't you see what was happening a few minutes ago?!" Mimi pipped in, questioning and eyeing both of them at the same time.
"No…I was trying to not give Kari the sugar…" TK explained. " So what did happen?!"
"Our parents," Tai stuttered, trying to muster the correct words out of his mouth, " Well…not really my parents. But at the parents table…Mr. Ishida and Ms. Takaishi had a fight…"
"A fight?" TK blurted out. " Another fight?!" Kari said in unison.
" Another fight? Are you telling me that both of my parents always fight?" the only blond headed by of the four questioned the younger girl.
"Yeah," she glowered at him as if she were to threat him. " Why do you reckon they got divorced in the first place?!"
"It's my parents now, you don't have to worry about it…" he tried to calm her down.
" No, TK. Even though you just found out they are your real parents. They are mine as well. I'm not just going to forget everything of what happened when I was younger…alright, you got that?"
" I never said that I wanted you to forget about it and. I can't help what happened in the past and it's no one's fault," Takeru snapped back at her.
" But you don't understand. You'll never understand what we've been through…" she mumbled quietly and angrily leaving them, storming out of the gymnasium with the loud music filling her ears and her dress swishing with every step she took away when she left the three.
Furiously, Takeru shook his head in what he had spoken to her in regret…remembering her diary entry that Daisuke and he had read a couple of days ago. Pushing his hesitation aside, he let his sensitive side come to place, " Tai can I borrow your keys to your car?"
"Eh…sure, TK," Tai handed him his car eyes from the pocket of his blazer.
"Thanks, bro," with that TK ran after Hikari, out of the door.
Taichi was about to go after his brother, thinking it was the best thing he could do as a brother and being the oldest one there to witness what happened but his shoulder was held back by his girlfriend.
"What…Mimi?! I need to go after them…" he explained.
"Tai," Mimi sighed. " Even though I really don't get the whole picture, TK's sometimes needs his own space to grow up. He can do this himself…let him be…he'll be fine. You trust him, don't you?"
"Yeah, I do," he said, " But I don't want anything bad –."
"Something bad will happen if you don't let him grow up and venture through his own problems as well," it was her time to explain. " I know how much you care for him as you care for Kari, just let this solve with only them two."
Taichi smiled at her, " Thanks a bunch, Meems…For making it all clear now…"
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Why…why…wherever I turn, I bump into so many problems?
She ran as fast as her heels could possibly carry her, her hazelnut eyes adjusting to the darkness of the night. Trails of black lines appeared on her face, evident that from her tears had smudged her mascara. But…she didn't care…all she wanted to do was get out from this place…she wanted to run away…and she didn't care where…she just wanted to get away from everything
When it couldn't get any more badly, a grumble of thunder and suddenly droplets of rain sprinkled over her from the sky. She shivered. Trust the night of the winter dance, for it to rain. And she was even more stupid to forget her shawl, wearing a silk strapless gown in the rain was not her idea of having fun. She continued running, her feet thudding in the puddles as the water splashed everywhere.
Just when she needed it the most, she slipped in a puddle, her right foot stumbling over as dirty murky water splashed onto her. It couldn't get worse than this.
"Kari?!!!!!!!!!" a voice echoed, as the rain began to hail down even more, dampening her dress and making her colder.
The girl shook her head, was she hearing voice…yeah, she had to be…right?! And who would go about looking for her?!
Instead of getting up, she stayed there…sitting in the rain, clasping her ankle ,which she was sure she had sprained, and didn't bother to get up from her position. Warm tears of pain, both physically and mentally, crawling down her face and mixing with the chilling rain.
Suddenly a bright light flashed at her, a vehicle travelling straight at her direction. She had to narrow her eyes to avoid the brightness from hurting her eyes. If she were to die…fine with it…
She patiently waited for the car to come…but it stopped
Instead, a boy, dressed in a suit opened the vehicle's door, went out, and walked towards her.
"Kari?!" he stared down at her with obvious concern. This time the boy wasn't hiding it. Panic and rage was blended in his emotions as he began to yell angrily, " Where were you? Where did you go? I could have hit you in the rain!! I've been looking for you all night…"
The brunette stared at the ground…why did he care?!"
" I – uh," Takeru Takaishi recovered. " Are you okay?"
Trust TK to ask some ignorant question like that…stating the obvious. Kari rolled her eyes, this time she was making an effort to stand up to head away from him. But as she got up, she collapsed back into the puddle.
"You're hurt…" he observed, " Kari…stop running away…don't walk away…you can't keep doing this. You can't keep hiding everything, Kari."
You're such a hypocrite, Takeru…you know?! How would you know…how would you know how it was like….?
She sniffed, and stubbornly tried again to get onto her feet and get away from him. But she couldn't…her body was failing to respond and she stayed on the ground. Takeru tried to assist her and help her up, but she shrugged him madly off. She chocked into more tears and sobs.
This wasn't how her night was supposed to end…
She let the blonde headed boy pick her up, and help her move to Taichi's car as she weakly took a step by step, he patiently supported her. He clicked the belt around her waist as soon as she was sitting on the seat. Knowing it was best not to talk yet, he took of his blazer and placed it around her vulnerable body and walked over to the driver's seat and started the engine. She stared numbly out the window, avoiding Takeru's constant worried glances.
" I want…I want to go home," she said quietly, the first time she had talked…
"Home?"
"My real home. Where you live…" she said simply, pulling the blazer around her for more warmth.
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When the duo had arrived back at the Takaishi household, Takeru's mother wasn't there. Ms. Takaishi said that she would be going home for a rest, yet she was out…somewhere else. It made Kari feel worse.
Takeru ordered her to have a shower. She decided to obey him, for once, and grabbed some spare extra dry clothes from the closet, which she didn't bring to the Kamiya's Residence.
As soon as she had finished her hot shower, she went into the kitchen and accepted a warm drink that he gave her.
"I didn't let you decide because after seeing you add all that sugar in your coffee I thought you'd be more of a hot chocolate fan. Plus, I don't think your mother would be happy to see all the sugar empty by the time she comes home," he smirked, but Kari was sure it was a warm tease not an insult that he usually would jeer her with. " On the table there's roses and a box of chocolates…I didn't get to give you, earlier…"
She sipped the drink.
" By the way, you can sleep on my bed – well actually…that would be your bed…right?! Hmmm…I'll just sleep in the sofa in the lounge room," he stated as he was about to head to the bedroom to change out of his drenched suit he was still presently wearing at that moment.
"Takeru?"
He turned around.
"Thanks…"
" It's all cool. No problems. But I don't think I can give you a goodnight kiss because I think my tongue's still burning from that coffee you made. You're a horrible chef at making coffee…you know?! I was supposed to take you home anyway…after all…you are my date," he winked cheekily and walked off.
"A date?!" she questioned herself, staring at the roses and chocolates that were placed on the table…
She forgot about all the problems, and beamed brightly.
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..The next morning..
"Hello?! Takaishi Residence, Takeru speakin-."
"TK, BUDDY! WHERE WERE YOU?! EVERYONE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU ALL NIGHT?!" Daisuke yelled at the other end of the phone.
"Keep it down, Dai!" TK yelled back, swearing to himself that he was going to be deaf by the end of the call. " It's obvious you had a hangover by the volume you're speaking at! I thought it was a non-alcoholic function?!"
"TK that's SHAMEFUL! YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW THAT I WOULD HAVE SNEAKED SOME IN! WAIT…TAI'S WANTS TO SPEAK TO YOU!!!!"
"TK?"
"Tai! What?! What's going on I'm confused?" he asked. " Where are you?!"
" I'm at home with Daisuke and Matt. Daisuke had a hangover, so I took him home so that he wouldn't get busted…as in doing a favour. And Matt just dropped by to look for his sister – my sister…We've been looking for both you and Kari all night, right after the winter dance!" Taichi growled. " So fill me in, did you find Kari?! If you did or didn't … you could have at least contacted me, bro!"
"Alright…okay…sorry," he murmured," Yeah, I found her. She's in bed right now..."
"What did you to her? I can't believe you did it"
"What do you mean…!??!"
"You know what I mean!" it was Yamato's turn on the phone.
" I didn't do anything…! I swear," TK explained then hit his head when he realized what his brother was going on about and cursed in embarrassment. " Yamato. OH MY GOD! I DIDN'T HAVE SEX WITH HIKARI…are you crazy?!?!!?"
"I was just making sure, bro," Matt replied on the other line. " A brother's duty to his younger ex-sister. If that makes sense…"
"Yeah, sure does," TK rolled his eyes.
"TK, what are you on about…me and you having sex?!"
From the looks of things, Hikari had woken up. She was rubbing her eyes, and was staring angrily at TK to spill the beans.
"It's no-nothing…You shouldn't be up, you should be resting…in bed"
"Get Kari on the phone, pronto!" Tai yelled. " What….RESTING? IN BED?!"
"Matt? Tai?! Who? What!?.. hold ups," TK replied in confusion thrusting the phone at the brunette headed girl. " I don't know who it is…it's either Matt, Tai or drunken Daisuke. You'd better clear things out…"
"Good morning?!" Hikari yawned into the phone.
"What did Takeru do to you?!" exclaimed Tai, still lost in confusion.
"He found me and took me home," she said simply.
"You didn't do anything else?!"
"HELL NO!" she cried the explained. " He took me home cause I sprained my ankle…I swear, to God, that we didn't to anything else…"
"Good, that' s what I like to hear and know. My innocent younger little brother and sister are alright and safe…and did nothing else," Taichi repeated, still not one hundred percent sure he was certain. " I'm coming up at 11pm to pick up my car, Takeru better not have scratched it. Take care…See ya Kari. Give TK a kiss for me…"
With that he hung up the phone.
Hikari suddenly stared at Takeru dangerously.
"What?!" he questioned in wonder what Kari was angry about now…
Interrupting them, the phone rang once again. Takeru picked it up.
"Takaishi Residence. Takeru speaking," he spoke…
"TK?! What are you doing at Kari's house? Did you do anything?!" Yolei's voice piped on the other line.
He frowned. Not this again…
Kari hasn't told her about how we were separated from our families at birth and still thinks that Kari lives in this house…, which was why she rang up …
He found an excuse, " Oh…well you see, I came to drop off her handbag she left at the dance."
"Oh I see…" Yolei said. " I still don't believe you…you did something…"
"Yolei I didn-."
"Get Kari on the line!"
Rolling his eyes he handed the phone to Kari yet again.
"KARI! Oh My God!! Where were you last night?!? Guess what?!"
"What?!" Kari yawned.
"I won best dress!" she squealed. " And guess what…it's about you and Takeru?!??"
"What?"
"You won BEST COUPLE AND DANCERS when you were dancing last night. I was sure that Tai and Mimi had it in the bag with their dancing…but I guess you won the judges hearts with the two of you screaming and dancing with each other like total idiots!" Yolei chattered on.
Kari gaped, but recovered…probably thinking it was best not to tell Takeru what Yolei had said but then again suspected that he had overheard since Yolei was practically screaming on the other line. " Anyway, Yolei…I gotta go…need to talk to Takeru about something…"
"What?! You don't have time with your best friend anymore, now that you found him?!" she scoffed. " I can't believe you did it…"
"YOLEI! HE JUST CAME OVER TO GIVE ME MY PURSE!" Kari yelled in frustration.
"Huh! Caught you…you got busted by Yolei Innoe!" Miyako replied back, " TK said that he came over to drop off your handbag…but you said purse…"
"Yolei…" she started losing her patience. " Who cares…whatever…it's the same fricken' thing…"
"See you tomorrow, at school…since you are PMS today," Yolei snapped and hung up the phone.
Kari deeply sighed, then caught Takeru standing still there.
"Any you!"
"And me?!" TK queried, wondering what the hell was going on that morning…
" TK…I found my diary sticking out of your school bag. You'd better tell me something good," she glared shoving her diary right in front of his face, and pulling it back into her arms, " A good explanation, perhaps?! NOW?!"
"Huh ?! Uh…" he stuttered, then recovered, " Well…I … I found out that you left your diary here when I came…and I decided that you might need it at my old house … so… I was about to give you your diary back at school…"
"And how bout the other days? You could have given it to me then?!"
"Well…I kept forgetting."
"TK, you seriously are a bad liar," she frowned. " Did you read it, tell me the truth now, look at me!"
"Well…the journal may have flicked open on some pages…" he said.
"Journals don't flick open by themselves…" Kari barked. " Just stuff this lying, TK. Just stuff it all…stuff you. I thought I could actually trust you with everything, seeing how nice you were last night…I guess I was wrong. I guess you were the dickhead I've known, from the beginning. You monkey!"
Within seconds she had taken a bag of her evening gown she had worn the previous night and her diary, heading out of the door and leaving Takeru totally speechless.
What had just happened?
She was nice and thankful the other night, and now she's all pissed off at me. But then again, I kind of understand why…I should have not kept her diary in the first place…I guess I deserved that for being such a jerk to her…but...why? Why do I care...why am I starting to care about her...? Why was I worried when I couldn't find her last night? Do I... like her...as in ... like?!
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And that's chapter Thirteen for you! Please review and tell me what you think. Truthfully, I think this was probably the most dramatic chapter in the whole fanfic so far…just hope you like it o-0 … If you're wondering why Kari ran off from the winter dance…it's because of how much she's been through coping with the divorce and all…even with finding out how she's not really part of the family. Everyone's gotta break sometime…if you know what I mean? (shrugs) I'd better go before I go rambling on, take care and lots of love
Flipstahhz
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