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Last Edited - 20.o8.o5

Let's just get into this chapter…or should I say… the 'second' last. Haha.

(double update!)

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THE MIXUP

Chapter Sixteen

By Flipstahhz

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" I think…" Kari began. She never liked staying quiet too long. " Tai should have come back by now, what's taking him long?"

" Same here." Takeru eyed their quiet surrounding to look for any sign of life. " Yamato should have too. It doesn't take that long for him to pick up Daisuke. Especially, when Dai only lives five minutes away from here. We've been waiting for almost twenty minutes already!"

" Hmm," she agreed. She pressed her knees against her chest, the coldness was getting to her. She could feel her hands turning purple.

They sat there in awkward silence, like they had been for the previously.

Trying to start a conversation again, she spoke up, " I received something in the mail today, right after arriving home from the tournament."

He stared at her, unsure what she was talking about and whether it included that he should know about it. The only thing that struck him was –

" … from Elsa. That fake nurse…that caused the mess in the first place."

" Elsa? Oh…her…but then again, if it wasn't for her we wouldn't know our true families."

" You do have a point," Kari shrugged. " But she did lie to us in the first place…"

" Guess so," he replied. " So…what about Elsa?"

" I read a letter from her," she paused. " You probably received one too. It said…it said that we've got a choice. Whether to stay with our current real family, or go back to the family we had been brought up with. It said that we had already exceeded our limit and had to make a final decision."

He frowned in response. After going through all this, more troubles and problems were about to begin all over again. He had adjusted to Hikari's old lonely lifestyle, living with just his mother since his parents were divorced. He had become accustomed to being alone. He enjoyed having the house to himself, and doing whatever he like (well…before Ms. Takaishi would come back from work, off course)… and she had found out that he had a new desire. That he loved…to write.

Perhaps he found his new passion because he never had time for himself when he stayed in the loud noisy Kamiya household. He could never concentrate in writing…why did his life (as well as Hikari's ) had to be so darn confusing!

He sighed. " So, when do we have to reply to the letter by?"

" In two days," she filled in as she started playing with the grains of sand surrounding her, attempting to build a castle with only her hands as equipment. " What are you going to do?"

" I have no clue," he answered truthfully.

" Neither do I."

It was depressing. It was like that the decision they each chose would lead to how their future would be folded out. They weren't ready for this.

The mood turned to shock when flashes of light showered over them. Caught in surprise, the pair gazed at where the light source had come to notice that there was a small boat there.

" I think that's them, we'd better get going there," TK said and stood up. He held a hand out to her.

Kari stared at it hesitantly. TK being courteous, to her?

" Come on, we don't have all day. I need to shake the sand off my blazer to, ya know."

" You mean night," she corrected, as she took TK's hand as he hoisted her up from the ground. " You don't have all night."

With a shake of the blazer, he put it around her. It didn't take an idiot to realize she had been shaking for the past half hour.

She gave a tiny thankful smile. She felt touched that he had given her his blazer, knowing since TK wasn't the type of person to show his emotions so clearly. He walked ahead of her, as if the gesture was nothing at all.

They carefully paced on the wooden dock. ( Kari, trying her best not to let her heels slip in any of the cracks). They knocked on the door.

Immediately, the door was thrust open to reveal a rather furious looking Taichi.

" Didn't I tell you to head for the dock, Hikari?" he glared. " And you…yeah, you, TK! What exactly were you two doing out there…all alone by yourselves!"

"Eh …" they managed to splutter out, uncertain how to respond to the vicious looking Taichi. All of a sudden, Tai's angry appearance disappeared and a cheeky mischievous grin replaced his face.

" But other than that….do come in."

" I think he's drunk," TK whispered to Kari in warning, as she gave a little laugh.

As the two entered the dimly lit boat, loud noisy music suddenly bloated out of the quiet atmosphere and Yolei, Dai and Yamato popped out of their hiding positions.

" HAPPY BIRTHDAY TK AND KARI!"

The pair blinked. All along…they hadn't even realized it was their own birthdays! The insanity! They had been so caught up with all the drama lately, that they didn't even notice?

" Well…aren't you going to say anything?" Matt grinned. " We've been preparing this for a while. And all you do is just stare."

" No…this is beautiful," Kari laughed. She glanced at the cake and laughed harder. " Thanks so much, you guys!"

" Yeah, it was my idea!" Daisuke announced proudly. " There was no other left, and for a double party…I thought it would be interesting…"

" I don't get why you all are laughing…" TK stated, eyebrow raising in confusion.

" The cake, dear bro." Tai chuckled.

TK's azure eyes focused on the cake that was sitting on the coffee table. Expecting a typical birthday cake, there in the middle of the room was a wedding cake. It had the small figurines of a married couple. He felt like punching his best friend out at that particular moment.

The boat was decorated beautifully. Streamers and balloons covered the ceiling, floors and walls.

" You guys must have spent a fortune on this…hiring a boat…"

"No, actually…" Yolei laughed. " This is my parent's boat… so I got to use it for free."

" And the cake…you actually got a wedding cake!" Kari declared.

" NO," Daisuke objected. " It had 50 percent discount cause a couple didn't like the cake."

" Great. You guys are cheap," TK commented.

Taichi, Yamato, Daisuke, Yolei, Hikari and Takeru played around for the remainder of the night. Having a feast of fish and chips ( Yamato had bought the take away earlier) and playing a good game of billiards on the pool table that was a luxury component of the boat. The night closed and all six of them were lounging about in front of the television, singing karaoke all off key. They were never going to forget the fun they all had that night…

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Another short chapter! Haha…that was the second last chapter. And I know it sounds really rushed…but…arghh…I'm really over this story. So, I simply just wanted to finish it for all you guys who are still into it…and not leave you dragging with no ending at all. Bleh. I'd better get going. Take care!

Flipstahhz

p.s the next chapter will be long! Considering it's the last chapter. Haha

p.ss I hope you all liked the double update! (my first time to do such a thing, haha)

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