In life, there are meetings which seem like a fate.
-Lord Lytton
"Somebody care to explain what's going on here?" Tai asked as his eyes shifted between Matt and Mimi.
"That's what I would like to know," Matt added, turning to look at Mimi. The strawberry-blonde bit her lower lip and grabbed Matt's hand.
"Come on," she demanded, dragging the blond boy forward. The three dark-haired siblings followed after her quickly. Mimi marched into a new sitting room and turned to the left, walking down four steps into the den. She pushed Matt down on the couch and beckoned for the Yagami-Motomiya siblings to do likewise. Once they were all seated, Mimi cleared her throat and began her explanation.
"As I'm sure Matt told you, I moved away from America when I was nine years old," she directed her first comment towards Tai.
"He mentioned it," the teenage boy replied. Mimi merely nodded and continued.
"When I was nine, I was discovered by some company to be a model. Naturally, my mother wanted me to accept the job and I was ecstatic, to say the least. I accepted and I began modeling. However, the company didn't like my name."
"Why not? I think Mimi is a pretty name," Daisuke interjected. Mimi caught the boy's eye and grinned.
"Thanks, Daisuke. The company thought that Mimi was too common of a name. So they asked me to change it to Megumi."
"Oh, like that isn't a common name?" Kari remarked, folding her arms over her chest.
"Well, I know, but I really wanted to continue modeling. So I ignored their logic and changed my name for the time being."
"Didn't you quit modeling though?" Tai asked her.
"When I was 12, yeah. But the name Megumi just stuck with me. Even my parents started calling me Megumi." Mimi shrugged with a lopsided grin.
"So you became Megumi for all of these years," Matt repeated, pondering the situation carefully.
"Yep. I was Megumi Tachikawa, model extraordinaire."
"They let you keep your last name though," Matt continued.
"Of course, due to my parents' wishes," she replied casually. She shook her head briefly and clapped her hands together. "But, that's all in the past! I'm back to being regular old Mimi," she beamed, crossing her arms behind her back. Tai rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Just when we thought things couldn't get any stranger. We're so used to calling you Megumi," he stated.
"Yea, calling you Mimi is going to be so…different. It seems so foreign," Kari backed her brother up.
"Come on, Kar! You're my best friend, it shouldn't be that difficult to make a name change for me in your memory bank!" Mimi chirped.
"She's right you know," Daisuke stepped in. All heads swiveled to stare at the pre-teen. "Megumi and Mimi aren't that different. It shouldn't be too hard to change," he finished, flashing Mimi a charming smile. Mimi reached out and ruffled his burgundy hair.
"That's the ticket, Dais!" she exclaimed cheerfully. Daisuke let out a nervous laugh, attempting to hide the small blush that was blooming. Tai took notice to this and concealed a Cheshire-cat grin.
"So, now that we know all of the story, we can move on to bigger and greater things!" Tai announced, jumping up from his spot on the couch.
"Like what?" Kari asked her brother, raising her amber-brown eyes to meet his mud ones.
"I don't know. Maybe mine, Daisuke's, and Matt's greeting ceremony?" he suggested.
"And what ceremony is this?" Mimi raised a fine eyebrow.
"The one where you two," Tai pointed to Mimi and Kari, "bring us three the biggest ice cream sundaes you can possibly make," he replied playfully. Kari and Mimi met eyes with each other, looked at Tai, and then back at one another. Both girls seized a pillow and pitched them at Tai.
"Go get them yourself!" they yelled simultaneously and stormed out of the den, racing back up to Kari's room. Tai got up to retrieve the pillows and placed them back on the couch neatly.
"I don't think I'm ever going to understand girls," he sighed, flopping down on said couch between Matt and Daisuke.
"What's there to really understand? You say the wrong thing, they get angry. You try to correct it, they get angrier. It's a never-ending cycle," Matt summed up.
"Not all girls are like that," Daisuke denied quietly. The older boys craned their necks once more to stare at him.
"Name one who isn't like that, Dais," Tai challenged his half-brother. Daisuke's gaze fell to his lap.
"Well, I don't know. But not all of them are like that," the younger boy mumbled. Tai and Matt locked eyes and exchanged knowing smiles. Matt suddenly jumped up and changed the subject.
"Come on you two, let's go unpack or something," he suggested, waiting for the two brothers to follow his example. The two brown-eyed boys stared blankly at the blond before them.
"Dude, it's the first day of our vacation. We reserve the right to be lazy," Tai yawned, stretching his legs out in the spot Matt had just left.
"Not while I'm here you don't," Matt replied, grabbing Tai by the hands and yanking him up.
"Yie!" Tai squeaked, stumbling forward due to the sudden whiplash. Matt smirked at his brown-haired companion and pulled him out of the den with Daisuke trailing along behind them as quick as he could. The trio ran up the flight of stairs to the second floor, stopping in the middle of the landing.
"Okay see, the girls' room is right there," Tai started off, pointing off to the right. On the door at the end of the hall to the right hung a blue, white, and gray football pennant with the name Odaiba Timber-wolves printed on it. Blue and white pom-poms also decorated the door along with other gold ribbon.
"Our room is over there." Tai pointed out a room at the end of the left side of the hallway. The door itself had a piece of lime green tape running down the middle. On the left side were various soccer balls in all different colors and a sleeveless soccer jersey, along with a few scattered anime pictures. The other half of the door was covered in police tape and pictures from different Playstation game manuals. Tai walked closer to the door and stopped in front of it.
"And that is your room for the time being." Tai pointed at a red door across the hall from his room. Matt looked over at the door and walked closer, pushing it part-way open. He opened the door wider and peered inside. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. There was a window directly across from the door and a standard size bed underneath it, decorated with blue covers. On the wall to the right of the bed lay a black futon couch that held different throw pillows and had a blanket draped over the top. Opposite of the futon was the closet, along with a red chest of drawers. As Matt walked in he noticed that to the left of the door was a desk and to the right was a night table that the lamp sat on. He walked closer to the bed and threw his bag down, leaning over to look out the window. He could see a good portion of the neighborhood from the window, but there was nothing relatively interesting out at the moment.
"So what do you think?" Tai asked the blond as he and Daisuke followed Matt into the room.
"It's perfect. Absolutely perfect," Matt replied as he turned around to face the darker boys.
"Hmm, looks like Kari cleaned it before we got here," Daisuke commented as he opened the closet.
"Damn straight she did. And Mom gave her 1113 yen for doing a good job," Kari replied, leaning up against the door frame.
"Is there any reason you're referring to yourself in third person?" Matt quirked his right eyebrow.
"Because she's weird like that!" Mimi answered as she appeared behind Kari's shoulder.
"Thanks." Kari smiled at her friend who in turned giggled.
"Is there any real reason you two are in here?" Tai interrupted them.
"Mom said to let you three know dinner's ready," Kari explained.
"Good! What'd she make?" Daisuke asked instantly.
"Barbeque ribs and rice balls," Mimi announced, grabbing Kari by the arm and dragging her away from the door.
"You better hurry up before Meg-I mean, Mimi and I eat all the food!" Kari shouted over her shoulder as she and Mimi raced down the stairs. The three boys stood in silence, glancing at one another every now and then.
"They wouldn't really eat all that food, would they?" Matt asked cautiously, blinking at the other two.
"Never underestimate the power of my sister and Mimi," Tai replied. Matt merely nodded and stared at the two boys again. The two boys stared at each other and then back at Matt, not moving an inch.
"I refuse to sacrifice my dinner!" Daisuke suddenly proclaimed and raced out of the room with Matt and Tai on his tail. The three boys thundered down the stairs and shoved each other around in haste to get to the kitchen. Tai managed to arrive first, followed by Matt and Daisuke at a close tie and they all collapsed in their chairs. The table was square like a picnic table and sat eight people, three chairs on each side of the table and one at each end. The girls were already sitting in two chairs on the side closest to the kitchen feasting upon the ribs. The boys trooped over to the side closest to the window where their plates were awaiting them. Matt sat down between the two brothers and poked at his rice ball.
"Matt, it's not going to bite," Daisuke chuckled as he drank from his glass of milk.
"I never said it would," Matt chided, resuming back to poking the rice ball.
"Matt, relax. My mom makes the best rice balls," Tai reassured the blue-eyed boy.
"That's about all she can make," Kari joined in their conversation.
"I heard that, young lady." Ami appeared behind Kari and lightly swatted her on the head with an oven mitt.
"Sorry Mom, but she is right…" Daisuke trailed off.
"I feel so hurt! Betrayed by my own children due to the persuasion of their taste buds." Ami placed the back of her hand to her head dramatically. Kari and Mimi burst into giggles and the three boys shook their heads.
"I still think you make excellent rice balls, Ami," Mimi repeated Tai and took a bite out of said rice ball.
"Thank you, Megumi." Ami smiled at the young girl.
"Actually, it's Mimi now…" the brown-eyed girl corrected her.
"Right, Mimi. Sorry, I forgot," Ami apologized and sat in one of the end chairs.
"It's perfectly fine, I understand totally," Mimi reassured the older woman and continued nibbling at her rice ball.
"Wait, if you didn't make these ribs then, who did?" Matt asked, breaking off a small chunk of the meat. All five of the other people shared identical glances at each other and turned back to Matt.
"Take-out," they replied simultaneously. Matt rolled his eyes and shook his head as everyone began to laugh.
Dinner was filled with loud chatter and good food. The Yagami/Motomiya family treated Matt and Mimi as if they were family. Matt got to know Kari a bit better and Ami and Mimi started learning more about Matt.
'Dinner here is nothing like at home. If I was at home eating dinner with my Dad and Clarice it would be quiet and orderly. But here…'
"Hey watch it!" Daisuke exclaimed as a piece of Mimi's rice ball flew across the table. Mimi stuck her tongue out playfully and continued eating.
'Here, everything is so chaotic and spontaneous. It's wonderful.' Matt confirmed in his thoughts as he watched Daisuke place a piece of his meat into his spoon. The young boy pulled the spoon back and fired it directly at Mimi. Too bad his aim was weak.
"Daisuke!" Kari yelped at the meat hit her in the neck. She shot her younger brother a death glare. The boy let out a nervous chuckle and slightly waved his fingers at her. Kari narrowed her eyes and raised her glass of water. She drew her arm back to fire just as Mimi got up, knocking her arm askewer and flinging the water all over Tai. Kari gasped and the room fell silent.
"Oh my gosh, Tai, I'm so sorry!" the younger sister apologized. No one said anything as Tai raised his head, meeting his gaze with his sister's. Not bothering to wipe the water out of his eyes, he turned his head to Matt.
"What?" the American boy asked warily, not liking the look Tai was giving him. Tai shook his head and gave Matt a demonic grin as his hand inched towards his broken-up rice ball.
"Y'know, Ishida…you're just too clean to be sitting at this table…" Tai trailed off and he scooped some rice and barbeque sauce into his hand. Matt spotted this and started to rise to his feet.
"Taichi, you are absolutely right. So I think I'll just leave and-" he wasn't able to finish his sentence as Tai reached his hand up and mushed the soppy mix into Matt's golden blond hair. Matt gritted his teeth and slowly turned towards Tai.
"You did not just do that," he growled out.
"Oh, but I did." Tai smirked. Matt gathered up some more of the sticky mess from Tai's plate and lifted his shirt, smearing it all over his chest. Tai's winning smirk changed into a shocked stare.
"How do you like that?" Matt said in a challenging tone. Tai looked over Matt's shoulder and grinned.
"Oh, just fine." His grin grew wider. Matt tried to look behind him but it was too late as Daisuke dumped the last half of his milk down Matt's shirt.
"Cold!" Matt squealed as his back went rigid.
"Ha!" Daisuke shouted triumphantly. His victory didn't last too long as a rib went zooming through the air and connected with his jaw, proceeding to slide down the front of his shirt.
"Double ha!" Kari grinned, twirling one of the ribs between her fingers. It was at this moment Ami decided to sneak out of the kitchen.
"You guys are all cleaning this mess up after you're done." Ami suppressed a smile as she retreated to the living room. All five of the kids stared at each other, each one waiting for someone else to make the first move.
"…Oh this is ridiculous!" Mimi huffed and threw the rest of her rice ball at Matt.
"Every man, er, woman, um….oh hell, everybody for themselves!" Tai declared battle as he jumped over to the other side of the table and spread some of his barbeque-rice mix on Kari's face.
"The perfect mixture to help clear those pores," Tai teased her.
"I'm so sure," Kari replied as yanked his shirt up and stuck pieces of rice onto the mix that was on his abdomen. Mimi walked over to the other side of the table with her plate in her hand, waiting for the right moment.
"Daisuke I'm going to kill you!" Matt hollered as he ruffled some rice into his hair.
"Hey, wait a minute, I'm not the one who touched your hair!" Daisuke protested as he backed up closer to Mimi. The honey-eyed girl smirked and pulled at the back of Daisuke's jogging pants, dumping the remains of her dinner into his boxers.
"Whoa! Nothing should ever go down there!" he insisted and pulled away as he tried shaking the food out of his shorts. "C'mon Mimi, I thought you loved me!" Daisuke whined. Mimi merely laughed and dumped the rest of the sauce that hadn't gone into his pants onto his hair.
"Nope, sorry, fair game!" She grinned cheekily just as a glass of Coke splashed the back of her head.
The food fight continued on until there was no more food left to throw, stuff, mash or squish onto each other. Kari was the first one to recover.
"Boy…look at this mess," she whistled, examining the food-stained kitchen. All five kids blinked guiltily.
"Guess we got a bit carried away?" Matt shrugged. Tai sighed but grinned.
"Maybe, but it was excellent," he replied as he licked some sauce off of Matt's arm.
"Hey, get your own!" Matt pulled his arm away.
"Come on you guys, let's clean this up so we can do something else," Mimi suggested as she started to gather the plates.
"That's a great idea, let's get to it!" Daisuke added enthusiastically. Tai leaned over and placed his mouth next to Matt's ear.
"Anything Mimi suggests is a good idea to him," Tai whispered and rolled his eyes.
"Aw, does Daisuke have a wittle crush?" Matt whispered back with a snicker. The two older boys shared identical grins and stepped apart as they began to help reorganize the kitchen.
Thirty-five minutes and some heavy mopping later, the kitchen was back to being sparkling, almost as if nothing had happened.
"Well, the next step is to shower, then we can watch a movie or something fun," Tai informed the group as he scratched at his chest.
"Well, if we use Mom and Dad's bathroom, there're three showers available: the upstairs bathroom, Mom and Dad's bathroom, and the den bathroom," Daisuke listed off on his fingers.
"Well, Matt and I could save time and just shower together." Tai winked at the blond, who in turn looked rather horrified.
"Tai…that's just plain kinky." Kari raised both of her eyebrows. Tai's lips began to twitch and he soon cracked up.
"Oh man, I wasn't serious! Give me a break here!" he said between laughs. The two girls rolled their eyes while Matt let out a relieved sigh.
"I say Kari and I get two of the showers first. You three can fight over who gets the last one." Mimi waved her hand in a vague fashion and turned around. The two girls rushed back up the stairs and occupied the two bathrooms. Tai sighed and looked at his two companions.
"Well, who wants the shower down here?" he asked. Matt stared down at his shoes, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Daisuke looked at his brother first and then back at Matt. Tai continued to watch the pale boy and a small frown crossed his face. Daisuke bit his lip and clapped his hands together.
"Well, Matt, why don't you take the shower first? Tai, can I talk to you?" the mahogany-haired boy addressed both older boys at once. No sooner had those words left his mouth did he grab Tai by the forearm and drag him towards the stairs.
"O…kay…" Matt said uncertainly and walked into the bathroom, clicking the door shut softly behind him.
Daisuke continued to keep his firm grip on Tai's arm as he marched upstairs and into their room, kicking the door shut with his foot as they walked in. He shoved Tai towards his bed and sat down on his own.
"What's up, Dais?" the mud-eyed boy asked his younger brother.
"Don't give me that, Tai. I should be asking you the same thing," Daisuke shot back, folding his arms over his chest.
"Huh?"
"You're hitting on Matt."
"Am not!"
"Well, Matt and I could save some time and just shower together," Daisuke mimicked Tai's comment from earlier.
"Oh quit it. You know I was just screwing around."
"And if you had your way, that wouldn't be the only thing you'd be screwing with."
"…"
"You like him, don't you?" Daisuke asked, tilting his head to the side. Tai sighed and ran a hand through his hair, dropping some pieces of rice on the floor.
"I-I'm not sure yet…there might be something there…but I don't know for sure," Tai replied quietly.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, I can't tell if it's strong friendship or love. Or lust, one of those three."
"Does Matt even know that you're bi?"
"…I'll tell him eventually. Besides, I'm not sure if it's even bi now…I'm more attracted to guys anyway at this point…but I still like girls…I think…well, yeah…um…yeah we'll just say bi."
"Tai!"
"What!"
"That's not fair to him; he's going to end up thinking you're just really weird!"
"Dai, he already thinks I'm really weird."
"Well okay, more so than usual. Look, at least tell him. Please?"
"So that he can be uncomfortable sharing a room with me and change his total opinion." Tai rolled his eyes.
"I don't think he would mind."
"Well I do. Matt's just not like that. So I'm safer just keeping my flirty charm that I use on everybody."
"Tai, just let him know."
"Let who know what?" Kari's head poked into the doorway.
"Never mind, Kar. Are you and Mimi done with the showers?" Tai sidestepped her question and got off of his bed.
"Yeah, go for it," she replied and disappeared into her bedroom again.
"Tai…"
"Drop it, Daisuke," Tai cut him off sharply and walked across the hall, slamming the bathroom door behind him.
"I wish he wasn't so stubborn," Daisuke muttered as he grabbed a pair of yellow pajama bottoms and headed into his parents' bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, Tai came out of the bathroom and stepped across the hall towards his bedroom. He opened the door and slowly closed it behind him, not bothering to look inside first. He turned around and let a cry of surprise, as did Matt who was currently standing in the room with nothing but a pair of baby-blue boxers on.
"Can I help you?" Tai glared at the blond boy.
"Daisuke for some reason decided to go change in my room so I came in here to change." Matt shrugged and bent down to reach his duffel bag.
'He really thinks that by placing Matt in his boxers in my room will make me crack huh?' Tai snorted in annoyance.
'Nice try, Daisuke.' Despite his thoughts, Tai couldn't help but let his eyes wander a bit.
"Hey! You make fun of my Spongebob boxers and yet you're wearing a pair with a green-haired fairy on them!" Tai pointed accusingly at Matt's right leg.
"His name is Cosmo. And he's a ton better than the sponge. Besides, they fit my personality," Matt replied rationally as he tugged a white T-shirt over his head.
"Eh?" A clueless look crossed Tai's face. Matt turned and faced his left leg towards the brunette.
"'I'm on fire, baby!'?" Tai read off of Matt's leg.
"Yep. That I am." Matt nodded and grinned.
'Well, he's right about that.' Tai thought off-handedly as he searched for his own navy blue tank top. Finding it buried at the back of his closet, he shrugged it on and turned to the American boy.
"Let's go see what everybody else is doing," he said and grabbed Matt's arm, pulling him out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Matt wrestled his arm away from Tai and followed him into the den where the other three were sitting and looking through the collection of DVDs the Yagami-Motomiya siblings owned.
"What about this one?" Mimi asked, holding up a copy of The Princess Diaries.
"No way! If that doesn't scream chick flick then I don't know what does. This one?" Daisuke showed the two girls Pirates of the Caribbean.
"Seen it enough times that I've memorized it. What about this?" Kari pointed to Josie and the Pussycats.
"No way. That one has great music but it's so boring," Mimi retorted. The two older boys stood next to the stairs and shook their heads, observing the younger teens.
"We could watch this." Daisuke pulled out a copy of Anger Management.
"Lame!" the two girls yelled simultaneously.
"If we really wanted to we could watch this…" Kari showed them Finding Nemo.
"No. Way." Daisuke sounded out each syllable.
"How about Spiderman?" Mimi grabbed for the DVD.
"Nah, that one's dumb too. Shrek?" Kari poked at the box.
"How about," Tai interrupted them and headed their way, standing in front of the glass movie cabinet. "You let older brother decide," he finished his sentence and peered into the cabinet.
"Fine," Kari sighed in defeat. "Come on Mimi, let's go make some popcorn," she changed the subject and motioned for her friend to follow her. The two girls hopped up the four steps and headed for the kitchen.
"Oh, this one would be good." Tai smiled wickedly as he clutched The Exorcist in his hands.
"Awesome choice, Tai!" Daisuke nodded and flung himself onto the couch. Tai grinned again and placed the disc carefully into Daisuke's Playstation 2.
"Where's the remote, Dais?"
"I don't know. Why don't you just use the regular DVD player?"
"Because Mom said that Miko chewed up the wires."
"Well Miko's stupid. He's not even our cat, he's Kari's!"
"That's not the point. The point is that the DVD player is busted and if we don't find the remote to the Playstation, we can't watch anything," Tai argued.
"Well, I don't know where the remote is, damnit!" Daisuke shot back.
"Hey Dai, what's that right next to your elbow?" Matt asked, pointing at the small black object on the arm of the couch. Daisuke turned his head and gave the two older boys a sheepish grin.
"The remote," he replied, handing the black remote to his older brother. Tai snatched the remote from Daisuke's hand and swatted the back of his head.
"Idiot," Tai mumbled as he turned on the Playstation and began to fiddle with it, trying to make it work. Matt shook his head and dropped himself down into a big chair next to the couch. The two girls appeared at the stairs again, each carrying a big bowl of popcorn and three cans of Coke.
"What'd we decide on?" Mimi inquired as she swept a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"The Exorcist," Daisuke replied with a wide grin.
"Excellent!" Kari's face spread with an identical grin and placed the popcorn and soda on the coffee table in front of them, plopping herself down on the couch.
"You can't be serious," Mimi groaned as she nestled herself in between Kari and Daisuke. Matt gave Mimi a questioning look. "All three of them are obsessed with horror movies," she explained with an eye-roll as she reached for some popcorn. Matt nodded and turned his attention back to Tai who had finally gotten the Playstation 2 to work.
"Ta da!" He gave them a cheesy grin and waltzed across the room, allowing himself to fall into Matt's lap.
"Hey, move!" Matt demanded half-heartedly and pushed Tai to the side. The blond scooted over so that both boys could sit in the chair comfortably.
"Ready?" Tai asked the group.
"Just start the movie, knucklehead," Kari replied, chucking a piece of popcorn at her brother.
"Hey now, let's not have a replay of what happened at dinner." Tai caught the popcorn and hit the play button on the remote. Daisuke reached over and flicked the light switch off, plunging the group into total darkness, save for the light from the screen.
At first, the movie seemed pretty tame. The three dark-haired siblings were absolutely glued to the screen, even though they had seen the movie many times before. Matt himself had never seen it and was actually beginning to wonder what was so scary about it. He snuck a peek at the three younger kids on the couch. Kari wasn't paying attention to anything other than the movie and Daisuke was keeping one eye on Mimi and the other on the screen. Meanwhile, Mimi kept inching closer and closer to Daisuke as the scene begun to play out on the screen. Matt turned his eyes away and looked at Tai from the corner of his eye. The oldest brunet was watching the movie through half-lidded eyes, his head bobbing every now and then as he caught himself before he fell asleep. Matt smiled a bit and turned back to the TV.
The priests in the film raced up to Regan's room and burst in. She was lying on the bed thrashing violently. Slowly, she started to levitate. Matt bit his lower lip and inched closer to Tai subconsciously.
Weird noises started rising in volume from the screen as the priests began to pray. Their praying didn't do anything however because then Regan's head started spinning around 360 degrees. Mimi screamed and practically sat on Dais as she buried her face in his chest away from the screen. Daisuke, despite how scared Mimi was, allowed a goofy grin to cross his features. Matt was having his own battle trying not to look away from the screen. Kari remained motionless as she continued to watch the movie, while Tai nodded off once again.
The priests continued to pray and spray Regan with holy water as she began to vomit. Matt felt his own stomach lurch and tried to pry his vision from the screen. He looked over to Tai who had once again woken up. Matt heard the retching stop on the TV and gingerly turned his head back. The priests were back to praying and spraying holy water. Mimi's hand crept down towards Daisuke's and took a hold of his, squeezing his fingers gently to take her mind off of the movie. Daisuke in turn laced his fingers with Mimi and stared at the screen. Kari looked over to her brother and her best friend and took notice of their position.
"Oh please," she whispered under her breath and returned to the movie. The priests kept praying, but in the end, one of them went mad and jumped through the window, instantly killing himself. This was about the point in time that Matt jumped up and briskly walked out of the den.
"Dude, where are you going?" Tai finally woke all the way up and followed his friend.
"Bathroom," was the short, crisp reply. Tai said nothing and followed the other boy up the stairs and into his room.
"Bathroom huh?" Tai gave him a small smile.
"…so sue me, I hate movies like that."
"How can you hate horror movies?"
"I just do…besides you're the one who was falling asleep!"
"You just don't want to admit you were scared." Tai smirked and curled up on his bed. Matt jumped up onto Daisuke's bed and stretched out.
"Well, that's a freaky-ass movie! You can't tell me you weren't scared when you first saw it," Matt shot back as his features melted into a defined pout.
"Well actually no…I don't scare that easy."
"Jerk."
"Why thank you," Tai yawned and switched his focus onto his digital clock.
"Damn, it's already 11:30pm," he commented as he rubbed his eyes.
"Late…" Matt trailed off.
"Mm…hey…you wanna sleep in here t'nite? I doubt Dai would mind," Tai's words began to slur as his brain started to shut down for the night. Matt didn't mind how he said it though and was just grateful that he had even offered.
"Sure…too tired to walk across the hall anyway." Matt blinked and crawled into Daisuke's bed, pulling the covers up to his collarbone.
"Mmhmm," Tai replied as his eyes finally shut for the last time that night.
"Good night, Tai," Matt chuckled and reached over, tugging on the cord to the lamp and sending the boys into darkness.
It was still dark outside when Tai woke up. His first idea was to check what time it was. He propped himself up onto his elbows and glanced at the clock.
"1:37am?" he hissed in a sleepy tone, rubbing his eyes to view the numbers more clearly. The numbers remained the same however. Now that that was taken care of, the second thing to do was figure out why he had woken up to begin with. He sat all the way up in his bed and stared at the wall, pondering the very reason that awoke him. A small whimpering sound intruded his musings suddenly. Tai turned his gaze towards the other bed in his room and spotted Matt.
'How the hell did he get in? …Oh right…I said he could sleep in here.' Tai gave himself a mental slap for his short term memory and swung his feet over the edge of the bed, climbing out and walking over towards the blond boy. In the pale moon light, Tai could see the other's frightened expression, along with the gritted teeth and the knuckles that were slowly going white due to his grip on his covers. The whimper escaped from his throat again as he rolled over onto his other size, kicking at his sheets.
"Nightmare?" Tai wondered softly as he reached out for Matt's shoulder. He gently placed his hand on the shoulder and began to shake it back and forward.
"Matt…Matt…Matt, wake up," he whispered into the American boy's ear. Matt paid no attention however and rolled over again back so he was now facing Tai. Tai placed his other hand on Matt's other shoulder and shook harder.
"Matt, wake up. Snap out of it," he spoke louder and poked Matt's cheek. Matt groaned and swatted Tai's hand away as he curled up even tighter, whimpering still. Tai sighed and tightened his grip on Matt's arms.
"Damnit, Matt, wake up!" he finally shouted. Matt shot up instantly and examined his surroundings with wide eyes. He also managed to collide foreheads with Tai, who had been sitting a little too close for his own safety.
"Ouch," was all that came to Tai's mind at that moment. The other boy bit his lip and rubbed the tender spot on his head.
"Sorry, Tai," he apologized, letting his hand slowly drop down onto the bed.
"It's okay. Just try not to ever do it again, all right?" Tai replied as he met eyes with Matt. "Nightmare?" he repeated his thought from earlier. The blond stiffened at the word but nodded once. "Wanna talk about it?" Tai offered, stretching himself out at the foot of the bed.
"Let's just say this…Mimi and Kari were praying over you and your head began to spin like Regan's, only yours came completely off and Daisuke used it as a soccer ball. I was the goalie and I caught your head and you had the demon eyes…and now that I'm trying to explain it, I sound like a dumbass," Matt sighed, avoiding Tai's strong gaze.
"Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about. It was a nightmare…everybody has them." Tai shrugged and smiled in an attempt to cheer his friend up.
"Well, I know that. This is why I avoid horror films." Matt gave the other boy a pointed look.
"Well, if you had told me this earlier," Tai started to say but was cut off by a sniffling sound. He looked at Matt closely and saw one tear fall down his cheek.
"Oh come on now, don't cry…it was just a dream…it didn't really mean anything," Tai consoled the blond gently and wrapped his arms around his waist. Matt shook his head and looked at Tai once more.
"Dreams do mean stuff, Taichi, we just don't know what." Matt swallowed hard and blinked away his tears.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, what if it interprets that we shouldn't be friends?"
"Oh come on, you and I both know that's not what it means."
"You never know," Matt simply stated. Tai sighed and ran his fingers through the sunshine locks.
"Do you want us to stay friends?" he chose his words carefully.
"Yes," Matt replied instantly without any second thoughts.
"So do I. That's all we need to remember in order to stay friends…who cares if some 'dream' says we shouldn't be. We control our own lives remember?" Tai explained. Matt nodded and gave Tai a small grin.
"For once, you're absolutely right," he complimented the other.
"Than-Hey! What do you mean for once?" Tai gave him a mock look of insult.
"Oh, nothing," Matt teased the mud-eyed boy.
"If you weren't so freaked out, I'd pummel your ass right now," Tai threatened.
"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Matt fought back a yawn. Tai noticed the change in his voice and looked over at the clock again.
"Look, it's 2am. Let's just go back to sleep okay?" Tai voted and curled up beside Matt, pulling half of the covers over himself.
"What are you doing?" Matt asked, pulling the other half of the covers over his waist.
"Sleeping with you so you don't freak out again," Tai mumbled. Matt nodded and faced away from Tai, snuggling up into his chest.
"Thanks, Tai," he whispered and closed his eyes again.
"Don't mention it," Tai replied and draped an arm around Matt's waist. Both boys soon drifted off to sleep in the safety of each other's company, where they would remain like so until morning.
For the record, I don't own Simple Plan, Linkin Park, Nirvana, Three Days Grace, the Cosmo boxers, the Spongebob boxers, The Exorcist, Gameboy, or any of the other assorted crap in here.
Thanks to: LadyK Na-No-Da, Sillie, SnakeMistress, Tenshi Kaprio, Mrs. Passionate, shadow-seraph, nEo, Savoan Locc, Tsuki no Lomelinde, Melissa-O, onlyHAUNTED, 123, Kayanna, Phunky Phish, Raku Ozzarian princess, Sen-Tay, sakura blossoms4, figaro, LGF, Copycat4, lupusetcanis, Kitsune, Cay, Heaven's Angel Chick, Yaoi Obsessive, Siyengo, TerrierLee, Redrum, Kelset, Keiran, Aero-Grrl, acern, MOMOLA, Sei Kou Ki, GtaJake MK-II, puppy-eyes58, Ace-Pilot-Wolf X, Yamachi Rainbow, and KraziKrysti.
You guys rock, seriously. Anyway, this chapter has been edited, just like the rest of them. So yeah, hope you enjoyed it!