Games are a compromise between intimacy and keeping intimacy away.
-Eric Berne
A quiet giggling sound was emitted from the outside of Taichi's room, causing the teenaged brunet to crack open one eye. He heard it, of course, but his brain was still slightly foggy so he thought nothing of it. He closed his eye again and snuggled down deeper into his pillow.
Back out in the hallway, two girls stood next to the door, peering inside through the small crack provided.
"How do you think they got that way?" the one called Mimi whispered to the other.
"Who knows. I'd like to know why Matt is in Tai's room to begin with," the one named Kari whispered back.
"Who cares? This will most definitely make for good blackmail." Mimi nodded once. The girls looked at each other and identical evil grins crossed their features. Kari pushed herself away from the door and quietly dashed for the door of her own room. She stepped inside of the room and soon reappeared with her digital camera. She padded back over to the strawberry-blonde and prodded the door open slightly with her foot.
"Let's go." She proceeded to march into her brother's room, dragging Mimi along with her the entire way. The two girls tiptoed up to Tai's bed and marveled at the sight before them.
"No matter how it happened it's still kind of cute," Mimi commented, tilting her head to the side to view them from a different angle. Kari looked over her brother and his friend carefully. Tai was lying on his side with an arm draped around Matt's waist and his hand resting on the American's thigh. Matt, on the other hand, had most of his face buried into Tai's chest with his right hand grasping at Tai's shirt. Kari giggled and raised the camera to her eye.
"Good morning boys!" she announced as she pressed the button and sent a flash of light bouncing around the room. Tai's eyes flew open just in time to see his sister's, and in Mimi's case, slipper-covered feet flee the room.
"Hikari! Mimi! I might have to cause permanent harm to you!" he shouted after the two girls. He was interrupted by a quiet groan and a light kick to his shin.
"My god you're loud in the morning," a tired voice grumbled. Tai blinked and looked down beneath him, spotting a tuft of blond. The brunet froze and raised an eyebrow, contemplating how he had gotten himself into this one. After all, it wasn't everyday that you wake up practically on top of a gorgeous blond.
"…Um…what exactly happened last night?" he asked warily, shifting to the right so he wasn't quite on top of Matt.
"I had a nightmare, you decided that you were going to sleep with me, we woke up. Or more like, you woke up and decided to yell in my ear as a lovely morning wake-up call," Matt responded in a drowsy voice, blinking away the sleep in his eyes.
"Oh," Tai squeaked briefly.
"...anyway, why were you yelling to begin with?" Matt questioned while he propped himself on his elbows.
"Oh, Kari and Mimi." The other waved his hand vaguely. The blond nodded in understanding and sighed.
"The joys of being an only child," he mused.
"Haven't you said something like that before?" Tai quirked up his other eyebrow.
"Have I? Maybe...I can't quite recall," the other boy drawled out and pulled his elbows out from under him, lying on his side again.
"Are you seriously an only child?"
"Mmh, for the most part."
"Eh?"
"We-ell...hmm. My mother and father divorced right after my little brother was born, so I don't know if that really counts." Matt shrugged and closed his eyes again.
"Oh, it counts buddy." The door suddenly flew open again quick enough to bang against the wall and bounce back towards its closed position as Daisuke ran in, still clad in yellow pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt.
"Good morning brother of mine and friend of brother of mine!" the mahogany-haired boy bellowed and tackled Tai off of the bed, flying directly over Matt's head.
"What?" Tai shouted in retaliation as he landed flat on his back on the other side of the bed. Daisuke blinked innocently and sat on his brother's chest.
"Breakfast is ready," he replied with wide eyes and pointed out the door to the stairs.
"What is it?" Matt mumbled.
"Pancakes."
"Did Mom make them?" Tai raised an eyebrow.
"Nu-uh, Kar and Meems are and they taste good," Daisuke said enthusiastically.
"Rather good?"
"Rather good."
"…pancake breakfast!" Tai shot up from his position on the floor. Daisuke closed his eyes and shook his head.
"My gosh, you're stupid sometimes," he muttered and waltzed out of the room, bouncing down the stairs for his breakfast. Tai chose to ignore his brother and pounced back onto the bed where Matt was, who at this point had fallen asleep again. Tai rolled his eyes and lightly plucked a hair from the top of the blond's head.
"Tai!" Matt bolted up right away, giving his best friend an offended glare.
"Whoa there, let's not have a climax buddy." Tai winked and knelt in front of Matt.
"What have I told you about touching my hair?" the American spoke through gritted teeth.
"Do it long and often?" The brunet gave off a rather cheeky grin.
"I might have to shoot you," was the only comment given as the blue-eyed boy swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"Aw, don't shoot me! A noose would do quite nicely."
"Shut up, Tai," Matt demanded through a yawn.
"Okay. Wanna head down for breakfast?" Tai offered, already halfway out of the room.
"Sure, whatever. But can I offer you some advice?"
"Sure."
"Put on some pants." Tai looked down and took notice that he was only wearing his boxers.
"Ah, that might help," he chuckled and backtracked towards his dresser.
"Where would you be without me?" Matt grinned and slipped a longer-sleeved shirt over his white t-shirt.
"Naked and stupid?"
"Sorry I asked."
The two boys ended that interesting conversation and headed down the stairs, following the scent of blueberry pancakes. They entered the kitchen and spotted the two girls standing at the stove, both frying up a batch of pancakes.
"Morning boys, blueberry or chocolate chip?" Mimi glanced over her shoulder as she flipped a pancake out of the pan.
"Blueberry," Matt replied at the same moment Tai said, "Chocolate". Both boys blinked at one another and shook their heads.
"How can you eat sugar this early in the morning?" Matt complained as he slid into a chair by the window.
"How can you eat healthy stuff this early in the morning?" Tai retorted and dropped down in a chair closest to the kitchen.
"Tai, that didn't even make sense man," Daisuke commented around a mouthful of blueberry and chocolate chip pancake.
"Yeah? Well, blow me," he replied and stuck out his tongue.
"I'm sure Sora could help you with that," the younger boy shot back.
"I'm sure she could too," Tai agreed.
"Okay! Let's stop trash-talking my friend shall we?" Kari yelled loudly as she dropped a plate of pancakes in front of her brother.
"We could always go tell her all the things you're saying." Mimi brought over another plate of pancakes and sat next to Matt.
"Since, y'know, she lives down the street," Kari finished their threat.
"You tell her, I will scream bloody murder and hurt you immensely," Tai murmured and got up from the table, heading back into the kitchen and reaching up into a cabinet next to the oven. He returned to the table with a bottle of chocolate syrup and proceeded to drown his pancakes with it.
"My gosh, no wonder you're so hyper all the time." Matt's eyes widened.
"Oh shut up and eat." A bottle of maple syrup was tossed at the blond.
"Be nice, you guys," Mimi chided and cut one of her pancakes into tiny pieces.
"This is being nice!" both boys cried simultaneously.
"Then I'd hate to see your definition of mean," Kari snorted as she returned to the table with a knife.
"Okay, let's stop talking about the way mine and Matt's friendship is handled!" Tai interjected suddenly.
"Then what else is there to talk about?" Daisuke asked.
"Well...what about what we should do today? It's a nice day outside. We could go somewhere instead of remain cooped up in this house," Tai pointed out and shoved a whole pancake into his mouth.
"We can go to the movies?" Daisuke suggested.
"I think we're all pretty movied-out," Matt spoke quickly. "What about the mall?" he offered an alternative.
"No." Tai shook his head furiously. Kari rolled her eyes and grabbed the syrup from across the table.
"Well, Mimi and I saw that the ice rink opened yesterday. We can go skating," she shared her idea.
"Skating's fun. I vote for that!" Mimi raised her hand.
"We are not voting." Tai narrowed his eyebrows.
"Oh yes we are. I vote skating too!" Daisuke pounded his fist on the table, knocking the chocolate syrup over. Mimi giggled behind her hand and shook her head. Daisuke quickly stood the bottle back up and flashed her a wide grin.
"No, no, no. I say that the oldest gets to choose. And, the oldest would be me!" Tai proclaimed as he rose to toss his dishes in the sink.
"Are you sure about that?" Kari questioned.
"You dare question me? The Great Yagami Taichi?"
"Quite often."
Tai's face fell into a look of disbelief and shook his head. "Okay, fine. We'll do this the fair way. Mimi, when's your birthday?"
"May 21st, 1989."
"Kari?"
"September 24th, 1989."
"Daisuke?"
"Um...I forgot, hold on."
"Dais!"
"I mean, February 21st, 1991."
"And mine is August 22nd, 1988. So it's settled, I win."
"What about Matt?" Mimi asked, pointing at said boy who was still eating. Tai snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Matt's younger then me."
"You sure?" Kari raised a fine eyebrow.
"...Matt, when's your birthday?"
"July 17th, 1988." Matt smirked. Tai's jaw dropped and he raised an eyebrow.
"Since when?" he cried out.
"…July 17th, 1988. Duh." Matt rolled his eyes and walked back into the kitchen to rid himself of his plate.
"That's not fair!" Tai whimpered.
"Well, that means Matt gets to pick where we go today!" Kari spoke in a cheerful tone, trying to hide her laughter.
"Hmm…where should we go?" Matt returned to the table and put a finger to his chin in thought, contemplating his options.
"Anywhere but the ice-skating rink!" Tai hissed to his friend, eyes pleading for Matt to choose any option but that.
"Well. I think that we should…go to the skating rink." Matt nodded in reassurance to his choice.
"No!" Tai moaned.
"Yes!" the other four shouted back. Tai blinked once and stared at his friends and siblings.
"Wow…I feel outnumbered. Matt, you're a bastard." Tai narrowed his gaze and locked eyes with the blond.
"Oh, but I'm a hot bastard."
"Whatever."
"Don't lie, Tai. The sheets were wet this morning and I know it was from you dreaming about me." Tai froze for the second time that morning and stared at his friend in shock. Matt blinked a few times and laughed suddenly. "Tai, I'm totally kidding! Relax." Matt clapped the brunet on the shoulder.
"Right, I knew that." Tai shrugged his shoulders and played it off.
'Thankfully you're joking, Ishida.' He thought grimly and forced a smile back onto his face.
"So I guess that means we're going to be going now?" He stood up and pushed his chair in.
"Sounds great! Let's get going!" the two girls exclaimed and bolted from their chairs and up the stairs. Tai watched them run to the second floor of the house and warily turned back to Matt, expression rather bleak.
"What have you done?" he screamed, eyes nearly popping from their sockets.
"Um…"
"Skating equals bad! Very bad!"
"Tai, just because you're special like that doesn't mean you have to ruin our fun," Daisuke cut in, getting up as well.
"Shut up!" Tai hollered at his half-brother who had darted up the stairs after the girls. Tai turned back to Matt and closed his eyes.
"That was a bad choice, Ishida. Very bad." He shook his head in remorse.
"Why?" Matt got up and headed for the stairs as well.
"You'll see. Just, never mind. Not important!" Tai pouted, marching up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door angrily.
"Stubborn-much." Matt sighed and closed the door to his own room.
So how far is the rink anyway?" Matt asked Kari who was currently leading the group down the street.
"Just a few blocks down, it's a short walk," she replied with a self-satisfied.
"Fun."
"Mimi, isn't the scarf suppose to go on your neck, not in your hair?" Daisuke tilted his head to the side, watching the bright pink scarf swing back and forward as Mimi walked.
"Maybe but I don't want my neck to suffocate!" she protested.
"Your neck wouldn't suffocate." The cinnamon eyes blinked in surprise.
"Are you mocking me?" Mimi said slowly and glanced at the younger boy out of the corner of her eye.
"No, of course not!" Daisuke squeaked and scurried towards the back of the group by Matt and Tai.
"Daisuke I was just teasing, come back here!" Mimi reached backwards and took a hold of Daisuke's hand, yanking the younger boy forward once more.
"If you say so." Daisuke shook his head and said no more. It was at this point in time that Matt realized that he wasn't the only one not speaking. He craned his neck to look behind him and spotted Tai a few feet behind the rest of the group. The blond stopped in his tracks and waited patiently for the other boy to catch up to speed. Tai barely took notice of Matt and walked right past him, not really paying attention to where he was walking.
"Um, Tai?"
"Tai?"
"Tai you're going to run into-" Matt was cut off by the loud 'thunk!' of Tai walking into a telephone pole.
"That pole," the American finished his previous sentence and ran forward. Tai remained on his back in a daze, eyes crossing every now and then.
"Well...that was fun." He sat up slowly and stared at Matt.
"Are you okay?" the blue-eyed boy asked cautiously.
"Sure...it's not the first time!" Tai chirped and sprung to his feet. He flashed a grin and picked up pace. "Hurry up, Matt. We're going to lose them because you're slacking. Move it soldier!" he shouted and broke into a run.
"Are you sure you're only a schizophrenic?" Matt hollered back and raced after his friend. Tai laughed over his shoulder and continued running, leading Matt straight to the ice skating rink. The other three were already standing at the rental counter picking out skates to fit.
"Here, take 'em." Kari thrusted a pair of skates into Tai's chest.
"What size?"
"Ten."
"...How do you know my feet haven't grown since I've been away?"
"Have they?"
"No."
"Then don't worry about it."
"What if I want to worry about it?"
"Then you're just dumb." Kari rolled her eyes and walked away from the rental counter with Mimi.
"Meet ya on the ice!" Mimi yelled and waved back at the boys.
"If you're lucky!" Daisuke called back. Mimi winked and turned her head forward, walking into the dome where the rink was. Tai smirked at his brother and threw an arm over Daisuke's shoulder.
"Aw, Dais, such a young Casanova!" he sighed and shot the younger boy a teasing grin.
"Dai? Casanova? Try casa-in-training and maybe it would be closer," Matt replied.
"Size?" the man behind the counter asked the blond.
"Eight please." He placed a few coins on the countertop.
"Dude, you have small feet," Tai commented and lifted one of the skates into his hand.
"They're only two sizes smaller then yours," Matt scoffed and swiped the skate back. He slung them over his shoulder and turned on his heel. "I'm going; you're welcome to join me if you stop being a dumbass." He nodded once and began to walk into the rink dome.
"Matt, wait for me!" Tai shook his head and jogged after the other boy, Daisuke not too far behind.
"Hey guys, what's a Casanova?" the mahogany-haired boy questioned as he played with the zipper on his jacket. Both older boys glanced at one another and snickered slightly.
"Well?" Daisuke persisted.
"Flirt."
"Sex-master."
"What!"
"Uh..."
"Tai, you're dumb. He's too young to have sex."
"I had sex when I was his age!"
"No you didn't!"
"Daisuke, shush."
"You're so weird, Tai, I swear!"
"I swear too! Have you not heard me cuss out people at the school?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Would one of you answer how I'm a Casanova!"
"Because you keep flirting."
"Who's flirting with whom?" Kari interrupted the circle of argument. The three boys blinked and took in their surroundings.
"When did we get inside?" Tai scratched the back of his neck.
"I have no clue." Matt blinked and looked around the inside of the dome. Lights were bouncing off the walls in small circles of different colors. There were benches spread out on the outside of the rink piled high with people's coats, shoes, and backpacks. Along the back wall of the dome were a few stands selling edibles such as popcorn, chili, pretzels and hot chocolate.
"It's packed today," Daisuke stated the obvious.
"We noticed," Tai spoke dryly.
"We saved us a spot though." Mimi popped up from behind Kari, tugging her gloves onto her delicate hands.
"Where?"
"Come on." Mimi and Kari led the boys to the far edge of the rink close to the food. Kari's yellow backpack sat on the bench horizontally so that it took up more room and the girls' large coats were on either side of it.
"Aren't you guys worried your stuff will be stolen or lost?" Matt said, looking around suspiciously.
"Nah, people are generally good at keeping what's theirs theirs." Kari waved her hand in a vague fashion and sat on the bench to tie her skates up. Mimi dropped Kari's bag onto the cement floor and copied her friend's actions. Both girls got laced up and shakily stood up.
"Are we ready to roll?" Mimi smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Mimi! Wait for me," Daisuke whined as he fought to untangle the large knot in his laces. Mimi giggled and sat back on the bench next to Daisuke, taking the skates from his hands.
"See, you can't tug on the entire knot. You have to find one spot where the knot isn't as tight so that you can begin unraveling it," she explained as she pulled one string away from the knot. Nimble fingers flew as they worked to untangle the shoe strings. Within three minutes, she placed one skate in each of Daisuke's awaiting hands. "Now hurry up and get laced." Honey-brown eyes sparkled and watched the boy quickly kick his boots off and slip the skates on.
"Okay, let's go!" He jumped up.
"Dai?"
"Huh?"
"You might want to tie your skates up before you trip on the laces." She suppressed more laughter.
"I suppose, but they don't like me." The boy poked at the offending strings. Mimi smiled and knelt down, tightly tying the skates.
"There you go!" She stood up to full-height and snapped a bubble from her gum.
"Thanks Meems." Daisuke blinked and looked at his skates.
"No biggie, let's go!" she replied and yanked him to his feet, dragging him towards the ice.
"Come find us when you're ready!" he yelped back to the older boys, who were still standing by the bench. Matt blinked once in surprise and they were gone, along with Kari. He shrugged his shoulders and sat down to put on his skates.
"How sad," Tai broke the quiet between them.
"What?"
"They aren't even dating and she's got him whipped," Tai chuckled.
"Whatever." Matt rolled his eyes and stood up, wobbling out to the ice. He soon noticed that his companion wasn't following him and turned back, spotting the brunet still sitting on the bench.
"Are you coming?" Matt motioned to the ice.
"I'll meet you out there…I need to use the bathroom real fast," the mud-eyed boy blurted out and jumped to his feet, weaving through the crowd towards the food stands. Matt stared after him, rolling his eyes and turning towards the ice rink.
"Okay Tai, you're weird," he sighed and stepped onto the ice, gliding over to the other side where his three friends were.
"About time you got out here," Kari commented as she skated in a small figure eight before him.
"Yeah well, blame your brother I suppose."
"Why?" Daisuke questioned as he circled around Mimi and his sister.
"He was stalling to come onto the ice." The other three exchanged glances at these words, glances that didn't go unnoticed by the American.
"What…?" he asked cautiously.
"Well, as you may have noticed, Tai has to be in control," Mimi began.
"Otherwise he will whine, cry, and throw a fit until we all give in to him," Kari added.
"I wouldn't go that far," Daisuke defended the oldest Yagami-Motamiya sibling.
"Kay maybe not, but he still wants to be in control so people look up to him," the middle child corrected herself.
"Tai likes having people's respect." Mimi nodded in agreement.
"…what does any of this have to do with why he was stalling?" Matt spoke with an impatient tone and leaned against the fence of the rink.
"In short, Tai doesn't know how to ice skate." Daisuke smirked slightly. Matt looked behind him and saw Tai walking back from the food stands and sitting on the bench once more.
"What do you mean he doesn't know how? It's not that difficult! Anybody can ice skate!" Matt exclaimed as he faced the others again.
"Well, he knows how to," Mimi replied.
"It's just the fact that he's not very good at it," Kari finished up.
"That's rather…odd." Matt shook his head and turned all the way around. He placed one foot in front of him and started to skate off, heading to the other side.
"Where are you going?" Mimi shouted after him.
"He's getting on the ice whether he likes it or not!" the blond yelled back, skating at a faster pace to get to Tai. He reached the exit in record time and clambered off of the ice, making his way over to the rather bored looking bruneton the bench.
"Hey there!" Matt chirped and sat next to him.
"Hi," Tai replied, staring out at the ice. Matt followed his best friend's gaze and was greeted with the sight of his three younger friends playing a game of crack-the-whip.
"Want to go join them?" he offered. Tai shook his head and gave Matt a rather weak smile.
"Nah, that's okay. I don't really feel like skating today." He shrugged and looked at his feet. Matt frowned slightly and rested his elbows on his knees with his head in his palms.
"I assume that you don't want to go skating tomorrow either. Or the next day. Or even the day after that," he approached the subject slowly.
"Hmm, who knows?"
"Tai, I know what's going on. It's all right that you can't skate."
Tai's head shot up and his eyes narrowed slightly. "I can skate!"
"Not very well, apparently," Matt countered, watching the glare fade from Tai's features.
"…So? Skating's stupid." His frown grew deeper, almost forming into a pout.
"No it's not. I think it's kind of fun myself."
"That's because you can skate."
"You can too, remember?"
"Not well enough," Tai sighed, admitting defeat. "Besides, skating takes grace. Something that, to be blunt, you have and I don't."
"I have grace?"
"Matt, you're more feminine than you realize."
"I am not feminine!" the blue-eyed boy shrieked.
"You just proved my point."
Matt glared at the other boy. "Okay, so are you saying that you have to have grace to skate well?"
"Pretty much." Tai nodded. Matt shook his head and averted his gaze back to the ice, locking it on the other three teens. Daisuke was skating circles around Mimi, obviously taunting the young girl, while she stood there and yelled at him about something. He stuck his tongue out at her and started to glide away, but suddenly tripped over the front of his skate and fell flat on his stomach, skidding to a halt. Mimi laughed at her sudden victory and placed her skate gently on top of Daisuke's back, pinning him down.
"Have you ever told Dai that?" Matt raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm." Matt clenched his fists together and stood up, towering over Tai.
"Put your skates on," he demanded. It was Tai's turn to raise his eyebrow.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Put your skates on. Now," Matt ordered again, folding his arms over his chest. Tai gave him a confused look but did as he was told.
"Okay…"
"You are going to go skating if it's the last thing we do." Matt nodded to himself and grabbed Tai by the wrist, proceeding to pull him off the bench and out towards the ice.
"Matt, no. No! I don't skate! Let go!" the brunet screamed in protest. Matt stopped tugging on his wrist and stared at him in surprise.
"Jeeze, you are worse than a two-year-old being led through the mall. Get over it!"
"No!"
"Tai?"
"What?"
"You're on the ice." Tai looked down and gasped, feet immediately starting to slip from under him. He grabbed onto Matt's upper arm and struggled to stand up. Matt chuckled softly and held Tai up until the boy was stable enough to stand on his own.
"I really don't like ice," he admitted as he loosened the death-grip on Matt's arm.
"Couldn't tell." Blue eyes twinkled in amusement.
"Ass."
"Possibly."
"Hey, you got him out here!" Daisuke cheered as he, Kari, and Mimi skated up around the duo.
"Yup. Almost fell on his face like you did, but he's out here." Daisuke's cheeks turned a light pink once he realized that his slip-up had not gone unnoticed.
"How does it feel to be back on your feet, Tai?" Kari asked, twirling in little circles.
"Shaky. Very shaky," he replied in a nervous tone, knees wobbling every now and then.
"You'll be fine. Let's start with something easy," Matt suggested.
"Such as?" Mimi spoke up, quite curious at what had developed under the mass of gold hair.
"Well, how about writing our names in the ice? That seems simple enough." He grinned and pulled Tai's hand away from his arm.
"Matt, don't leave me! I'll fall over!" Tai squeaked as he reached out to grab onto Matt once more. Matt dodged the flying hand and stood in front of Tai a few feet.
"Tai, you can't fall over if you jus stand perfectly still until it's your turn to write your name. Just remember that," he reassured the obviously petrified boy and skated over to a clean patch of ice. He stood in a straight line and began to carve his name.
"M." He stopped every now and then to change the direction of his lines.
"A." The 'a' was a little harder to skate just because of the way it was shaped.
"T." Two lines. Simple enough.
"T." Again, two lines. Matt skated over to the rest of his friends and looked back to admire his work.
"Not too bad. Who's next?" he asked.
"Me!" Kari slid over to Matt's name and stood above it.
"K." She skated above the 'm' in Matt's name, forming a straight 'k'.
"A." Her 'a' turned out slightly better then Matt's.
"R." The 'r' was hard to write in skate, basically because one's foot cannot turn that way. So she had to resort to carve a square and then adding two lines onto it.
"I." Three smooth lines. She came barreling back towards the group and beamed at her name.
"Next contestant!" she giggled and looked at the remaining three.
"I'll go." Mimi skated forward and stopped under Matt's carving.
"M." Now for Mimi, ice skating was something she was naturally good at. She could do all sorts of fancy tricks and showy things, including writing her name in cursive.
"I." Little curvy 'i' was formed and connected to the 'm'.
"M." Another 'm', smaller then the first, was carved and attached to the previous 'i'.
"I." The last letter was formed, just as loopy and curvy as the first three. With a satisfied grin, she practically leapt over to the group and studied her work.
"I suppose it could have been better, but I like it!" She smiled and turned to Daisuke. "Are you going to go next?"
"Oh, yeah sure." Daisuke nodded and sped away, coming rather close to skating right over the top of Mimi's name. He managed to stop himself just in time and stood still, thinking something over.
"Wait a minute! My name has seven letters in it!" Daisuke protested.
"Shorten it then!" Kari rolled her eyes at her younger brother's naïve qualities. The mahogany-hair boy nodded in agreement and began to spell.
"D." The 'd' turned out to be a rectangle with slanted corners.
"A." The letter 'a' seemed to be the hardest for the group to carve.
"I." Which would make the letter 'i' the easiest.
"S." Now, Daisuke wasn't as good at this as his sister and her friend. So in the end, his 's' looked like a backwards 'z'. He didn't seem to notice this until he reached the beginning point with the rest of them.
"That is a very screwy s," he commented and stuck out his tongue in disgust.
"Aw, you tried. That's all that counts, right?" Mimi ruffled his hair.
"I suppose." All eyes locked onto Tai, who was still standing perfectly still.
"You have got to be kidding me!" he said exasperatedly.
"Come on, you'll be fine." Matt nudged him forward, causing him to stumble and nearly lose balance. Tai gave his best friend one last pitiful look and gingerly skated forward, stopping on the side of Matt's name. He took in a deep breath and swallowed.
"T..." He started to skate forward carefully. However, carefully wasn't good enough and he soon slipped, landing on his back with a rather loud 'thud'. Matt jumped in alarm and quickly rushed to Tai's side, staring down into his face.
"Are you okay?"
"…this is why Tai does not ice skate," the other boy replied, opening his eyes to look at Matt. Matt smiled and held his hand down, allowing Tai to quickly latch onto it and pull himself back up.
"Maybe we should just go home," the blond suggested. In response, Tai shook his head furiously and stared at the partial line he had created.
"No. Not until I finish my name." The determined boy focused on the line.
"That might be a while," Daisuke said under his breath.
"I heard that!"
"Can you finish it by yourself?" Matt asked, bringing Tai's attention back to the task at hand.
"I don't know…probably not." A sheepish smile crossed the olive-skinned boy's features. Matt shook his head and laughed lightly.
"All right, I suppose I could help you. Hold onto my arm and we'll skate together to finish your name, 'kay?" Tai nodded enthusiastically and grabbed Matt's shoulder, waiting for the other to guide him.
"Okay, let's finish up this T," he instructed and led Tai in a straight horizontal line, completing the first letter.
"A." Matt's hands slid down to Tai's ribs to control which way the boy was going to turn, creating a straight and solid 'a'.
"Can I try the 'i' by myself?" Tai asked softly, releasing his firm grasp on Matt's arm.
"Sure." Matt let go of his friend and skated back to the group. Tai set his face and bit his lip, ready to prove to the world that he could skate perfectly fine.
"I." One vertical line. Two horizontal lines. Zero slip-ups. Tai grinned widely in pride and skated back to the group in a sloppy manner.
"Look!" He pointed at his name.
"Well, guess you can teach an old dog new tricks." Kari and Mimi giggled at the goofy look that had been painted onto Tai's face.
"Hey! Who are you calling a dog?"
"You. Duh." Mimi stuck out a playful tongue.
"Well, now that that's over with, I think we should just go home. It's about time for dinner after all." Matt looked at his silver watch.
"Where did all that time go?" Daisuke blinked as he looked over Matt's shoulder at the watch.
"Well, you three didn't wake up until about 12:30 this afternoon," Kari started off.
"Breakfast took about an hour to make, eat, and clean up," Mimi continued, skating back and forward in an idle fashion.
"Another half an hour to shower and get dressed."
"Fifteen minutes to walk here."
"And we spent three hours here, what between renting skates, fighting the shoelaces, fooling around, and teaching Tai how to stay on his feet," Kari finished up, beaming at her brothers and Matt. Mimi nodded in agreement and smiled as well.
"Well then. That's great to know. We pretty much wasted our day being on ice," Matt snickered and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Whatever. Let's just go home okay? I am starving!" Daisuke announced and started to skate towards the other side.
"Sounds good to me!" Mimi chased after the younger boy. Kari just sighed and followed her best friend. Matt turned to leave as well when he noticed that, once again, Tai wasn't following him.
"Are you coming?" he asked his friend. A sudden sense of déjà vu washed over him. He shook his head and stared into Tai's eyes.
"Yeah, in a minute. Now that I've sort of got a sense how to skate, I want to do it some more. I'll be right there." Tai waved a hand casually. Matt shrugged and turned around again, skating off and joining the other three on the bench. Tai looked back to make sure none of them were watching him. He stared at the two names carved in the ice, side-by-side. With that, he began to skate very carefully. One horizontal line, with a vertical line straight down the middle of it.
"Matt plus Tai," he whispered to himself and skated off to join the others, leaving those markings to rest on the ice.
Upon entering the house, the five children were greeted by silence.
"Where is everybody?" Tai questioned as he flipped on the lights.
"Well, everybody being Michael and Mom, I don't know," Kari replied and threw her bag down by the front hall closet.
"Mom and Dad went out to dinner and they left money for pizza," Daisuke informed his siblings.
"Pizza sounds good…" Mimi sighed happily and threw her coat on a nearby chair.
"So, let's order already," Matt cut in.
"Already did. Two large pizzas, one pepperoni, one Italian."
"What's Italian, Dais?"
"Sausage and pepperoni."
"Why didn't you order something without pepperoni then?"
"I happen to like pepperoni, Tai. Deal with it!"
"You know that I like Hawaiian."
"Eww, Kari, pineapple on pizza isn't that good."
"Have you ever tried it?"
"Yes and it was disgusting."
"Mimi, you find a lot of things disgusting."
"Shut up, Tai!" The five teens' squabbling was interrupted by the doorbell. Daisuke broke away and ran to answer it, a few notes in his hand.
"Thanks, keep the change," he told the delivery boy and slammed the door shut, marching back into the kitchen with pizza.
"Okay, now that we have food, what else should we do?" Tai asked as he swiped a slice of pepperoni from the box.
"What do you mean?" Matt replied with a question.
"Well, you don't just eat. You multitask."
"Why?"
"Because just eating is boring. Now what should we do?"
"Ooh, I have an idea!" Mimi waved her hand around in the air, trying to get Tai's attention.
"What is it?"
"Truth or Dare."
"…sounds great. All in favor say I."
"I," All five voices sounded off. Tai grinned and picked up the pizza boxes.
"Then I think we should move this game to the den. Kari, you grab some soda and Mimi, the box is upstairs in Kari's closet," he directed everybody. The two girls went their separate directions while Daisuke and Matt grabbed napkins and plates. Everybody gathered in the den and sat on either the couch or the floor, waiting for somebody to make the first move.
"Now, since Matt is the only one who doesn't know how we play this game, we'll review the rules," Mimi began, setting a shoebox on top of the coffee table.
"If you ask a person and they pick truth, you pick a card from the shoebox and ask them the question that's written on it," Kari explained, biting into a slice of Italian.
"However, if they choose dare, it's all fair game," Daisuke added.
"Mostly fair game, that is. Nothing like having sex. Keep it only at PG-13." Tai glared at his brother.
"Tai, man, you take the fun out of everything." Matt shook his head with an amused grin.
"That's because he's a fun-sucker." Daisuke stuck his tongue out.
"I am not."
"Fun-sucker!"
"Argh!"
"Shut up guys and let's just play, all right?" Kari broke up the fighting between her brothers.
"Fair. Kari, truth or dare?" Tai faced his sister.
"How did I know you were going to ask me?" she snorted and took a sip of her Sprite.
"Just pick!"
"Truth."
"Goodie." Tai's hand dove into the box and felt around, searching for one card. He plucked it out and read it, smile growing wider by the minute.
"Okay, Kar, what's the furthest you and your boyfriend, who's name I don't know since I only became aware that you had a boyfriend a few days ago, have gone?" His Cheshire-cat grin spread even further.
"Sex last week before you got home," she replied without blinking an eye.
"Say wha!"
"Kidding. But no, for real, just kissed okay?"
"Promise?" Daisuke cut in.
"Yes!"
"Chill, Hika, they're just curious since they haven't been around much." Mimi winked and poked Kari in the arm. The brunette girl swatted Mimi's hand away and grinned suddenly.
"Well, since you're so keen on defending them…Mimi, truth or dare?" She grinned.
"Truth," the honey-eyed girl said without hesitation. Kari reached in and pulled out the first card her fingers wrapped around, reading it slowly.
"Well Ms. Tachikawa, it says I can choose any question I want. So…what do you think of Daisuke?" she blurted out, throwing the card carelessly over her shoulder. Mimi blinked and tilted her head to the side.
"Well…I do like being around him. He's very…sweet and just kind of adorable. And I'd probably be dating him if he wasn't so young." She shrugged.
"Young!"
"Dais, there's like a year and a half difference."
"And?"
"I just…I don't know. It'd feel too odd. Like being a pedophile."
"Girls can't be pedophiles, can they?" Kari questioned.
"Kari, you're 14, you should know better. Anybody can be a pedophile," Mimi replied airily. Matt raised an eyebrow and jerked his head towards Kari.
"You're 14?"
"Yes. Why?"
"You look…younger."
"Gee, thanks."
"Can we get back on the subject of me and Mimi please?" Daisuke shouted, waving a hand in between Matt and Kari.
"What's there left to discuss?" Mimi's eyes bore into pools of cinnamon. Daisuke looked back into hers, his eyes holding a strange mixture of confusion and hurt.
"Why don't you want me?" he spoke quietly, a tone not heard often from the boy.
"Daisuke, you're just too young. That's all. It wouldn't be-"
"Right? Whatever," he snorted.
"…look, Daisuke, it's not that I don't love you-"
"Then why are you protesting this? Why can't we just be together?" Silence fell upon the room. Blue eyes shifted to meet brown, both pairs filled with concern for the younger.
"What do you want me to do, Dais? Date you for a trial run?"
"Yes," was the answer whispered, blinking back tears that had appeared from nowhere. Mimi swallowed and folded her arms over her chest.
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Daisuke nodded and averted his eyes. The strawberry-blonde licked her dry lips and nodded once.
"I agree to a trial."
"Fine…" Daisuke sulked. Mimi smiled softly and brushed a gentle kiss on the tan cheek.
"Now that we figured things out…Taichi, truth or dare?"
"Why do you call me by my whole name?"
"Just pick, gosh." Tai's eyes lit up and a smirk played on his lips.
"Dare me, Beautiful." His smirk grew wider. Mimi and Kari shared identical glances and stood up.
"We'll be right back." Kari waved and ran out of the den with Mimi hot on her heels. The three boys shrugged and stared at one another.
"So, Daisuke's got a girlfriend," Tai broke the silence, as usual. Daisuke sniffed and shook his head.
"It's a trial, remember?"
"In other words?" Matt questioned.
"In other words, it doesn't mean anything." Daisuke swiped at his eyes, evidently not wishing to be seen in this state. The reaction itself made the blond boy uneasy. After all, he had never seen Daisuke in any other mood than happy. Wait, correction. He had seen him somber the day Tai fell into a fit. Sudden thoughts changed the direction of his train of thought and blue eyes shifted over to his partner-in-crime, who in turn had sympathetic eyes trained on his brother.
"You're no Casanova."
"So I've noticed," Daisuke replied bitterly.
"You're a true Romeo. Willing to do anything to be with the one you love."
"Damn straight." The younger boy nodded firmly. Tai tilted his head slightly and cast a soft smile.
"That's the best way to go." He nodded as well and ended the conversation, just as the girls came back into the room.
"Well Tai, we have the perfect dare for you," Kari giggled and stood by the stairs.
"Really now. Go for it."
"Tai, I dare you to…go down the street to the tattoo parlor and pierce your bellybutton!" Mimi looked proud of herself and her genius dare.
"Fine." Tai shrugged and stood up, not bothering to put on proper shoes.
"You're not really going to get it pierced are you?" Daisuke asked, standing up as well. Tai didn't reply as he ran up the four stairs and headed out the front door, the other four following closely.
"I do not believe you're going to get it pierced!" Matt exclaimed.
"I can not believe you got it pierced," Matt moaned.
"Well, it's the game. You can't back down from a dare!" Tai gave the other a cheesy smile, admiring the silver navel ring he now wore.
"Mom will shoot you if she ever finds out," Kari attempted to stay serious, but found it rather hard to be since Tai had rolled his shirt up to his ribs.
"This is why she won't find out." Tai's eyes twinkled with mischief. He turned to Matt and bore that same wide smile.
"Truth or Dare, Blondie?"
"Well, you're not the only badass here. Dare!"
"Oh, you are going to regret that, I swear on it. I have the perfect dare."
"…"
"I dare you to dye part of your hair black."
"No! No, no, no!"
"You said dare man. It's your own fault." The group walked back into the house, the three younger teens watching the older ones.
"How much of it…"
"Just a bunch of chunks."
"Tai…" Matt whimpered.
"Be glad I didn't say all of your hair. Now come. We shall dye it black."
"No!"
"It'll all be over soon, Matt." Mimi took a hold of his right arm.
"Just try to be calm." Kari grabbed his left arm. The two girls dragged the protesting American to the kitchen where Daisuke stood waiting with a box of black hair dye and Tai with a bottle of shampoo.
"Would you like a blindfold?" Tai offered.
"I hate you," Matt said once more, tying the blindfold tightly over his eyes.
"Good morning Matt!" Tai's voice sang, bouncing on the bed. Matt groaned and opened his eyes.
"Did I fall asleep?" he spoke with a groggy voice.
"No actually, you passed out once you looked at your hair." Tai grinned. Matt's eyes widened and he ran into the bathroom, screeching to a halt in front of the mirror and staring. His once perfect blond hair now had large chunks and patches of black thrown in everywhere. He opened his mouth once, twice, and then screamed with all of his lung power. He stormed out of the bathroom and flung himself on his bed, pulling the pillow over his head.
"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Tai crawled closer to Matt's head.
"Bite me! This is all your fault, you stupid idiot!" Matt shouted, although it was a tad muffled from the pillow.
"You chose dare.
"Don't care."
"That rhymed."
"Shut up."
"Aw, Matt come out from under there. I think it makes you look sexy."
"You're stupid!"
"Well it does."
"God shut up." Matt pulled his head out from under the pillow.
"You don't want me calling you sexy?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"…because you're a guy? And you're my best friend?" Tai looked a bit taken aback by Matt's wording but let it slide.
"Whatever, let's go downstairs. Mimi's leaving soon."
"Where to?" Matt swung his legs over the side and stood up again, following Tai down the stairs.
"She's just going home to be with her family. It's Christmas Eve after all."
"…wow, it is!" Blue eyes blinked rapidly at the realization.
"Yet, you complain how slow I am."
"Stop picking on me!"
"Stop whining and say a proper goodbye," Mimi interrupted them. Matt and Tai both grinned and hugged Mimi tightly.
"Have a good Christmas, Meems." Tai let go first.
"I will. You guys have a nice holiday too."
"Will we be seeing more of you during the winter break?" Matt questioned, unsure of whether to hold onto her or let go.
"Of course, goofball. I don't live too far from here." Mimi winked and tapped Matt on the nose. Matt wrinkled his nose in response and flicked Mimi in the ear.
"Good, you better come back."
"Oh, I will. After all, I have a week-long boyfriend living in this house," she replied, draping an arm over Daisuke's shoulders. Daisuke didn't respond in any way, merely looking at Mimi. The girl sighed and looked him directly in the eyes.
"Let's not be upset during the holidays okay?" she said quietly, taking his hands into her own.
"…fine." He shrugged.
"Please?"
"Yes." Daisuke nodded and leaned forward, shyly planting a chaste kiss on the soft pink lips.
"That's better." She smiled again; this time, with the boy returning it.
"Where's Kari at?" Tai asked, checking the foyer for any sign of his sister.
"She's been on the phone for about half an hour, with TK."
"Who's TK?"
"…I gotta go, see you guys later!" Mimi spoke quickly and practically ran out the door, jumping into the car that had just pulled into the driveway.
"I'm going to assume TK is Kari's boyfriend." Daisuke shrugged.
"Yep." Tai nodded. Suddenly, Kari came thundering down the stairs with the cordless phone in hand, clad in a pair of Tai's old boxers and an orange tank top.
"Where's Mom?" she panted, leaning on the railing to catch her breath.
"Good morning to you too," Tai huffed.
"Tai. I'm serious!"
"Living room," Daisuke replied instead. She raced past the three boys and into the living room, not bothering with thanks. The three stunned teens stared wide-eyed after the human tornado and walked after her.
"And his parents are fighting again and he doesn't want to stay there, so his mom said that he could leave since she was thinking about going back to work for the holidays. But he doesn't have anywhere to go for a few days so can he just come early?" They caught the tail-end of Kari's ranting, standing in the doorframe.
"I don't see why not. It won't make too much of a difference," Ami pointed.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kari threw her arms around Ami's neck and returned to the phone.
"She said yes. Okay, see you then. Bye." She hung up the phone and walked out of the living room, passing by the boys once more. She suddenly stopped and looked at Matt, grinning slightly.
"Love the hair, Matt," she teased him and darted up the stairs.
"Argh!" Matt growled, pulling at fistfuls of his patchy mop.
"Matt, what on Earth did you do to your hair?" Ami asked, finally taking notice of the additional black.
"I chose dare," he grumbled. Ami laughed quietly and rubbed his shoulder.
"Oh, sweetie, it doesn't look too bad. As long as you used the stuff that washes out after a good number of shampoos," she said to him. He glanced at Tai quickly, eyes silently pleading that this was the case.
"Well, if I wanted to, I could be mean and say no, but I won't." Tai smirked.
"It'll take about 15 washes to get it all out, Matt," Daisuke gave out the information Matt wanted while hitting his brother in the back.
"What was that for?"
"You're being a dick."
"Am not!" Kari re-entered the room, now dressed in a black t-shirt and bright pink pants with hair hanging down to just above her shoulders. She gave her brothers a stern look and pointed at two chairs, indicating that they sit.
"Now, TK will be here very soon, so we'll lay down some rules now," she began.
"Kari…" Ami warned her lightly.
"It's nothing bad, Mom, promise," she reassured the older woman. She returned her gaze to the two brothers in the chairs, eyes filled with curiosity on Daisuke's part and amusement on Tai's.
"So, first of all, no beating him up," she directed to Tai, eyes narrowing a bit.
"I'm not that over-protective, am I?"
"Yes. Secondly, no interrogating him to kingdom come," she spoke towards Daisuke. Matt couldn't help but snicker. It was just an amusing sight to see a petite little girl demanding things from two boys who were more rambunctious than a pack of rotweilers.
"Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The doorbell rang, echoing throughout the large house.
"Good." She nodded once and dashed out to the foyer once more. The two brothers gave each other one look and soon sprinted after her. Matt merely sighed and followed behind. Kari opened the door quickly, revealing a blond boy with bright blue eyes, much alike to Matt's own. The boy had a large backpack with him and a strange white bucket hat on his head, a tad too large for him it appeared, for it kept slipping over his eyes. Kari stepped aside and let the boy come inside, taking his coat and bag from him. She was practically bursting with excitement as she turned to her brothers and Matt.
"Guys, this is TK. TK, this is Tai, Daisuke, and Matt," she introduced them and pointed out each of them.
"Nice to meet you." TK smiled, bowing his head slightly in respect.
"Likewise." Tai nodded.
"He doesn't seem too bad, Tai," Daisuke whispered loudly, tilting his head forward to get a closer look. Kari's face fell into a look that clearly said 'what did I do to deserve this?' and Tai bopped the younger on the head.
"Idiot." Tai withdrew his fist. Matt blinked and also peered at TK closer.
"You seem familiar…have we met?" he asked carefully, choosing his words just right. TK turned to Matt and his grin widened, laughing slightly despite himself.
"Have we met, Matt, you're such a kidder! Of course we've met!"
"…"
"Don't you recognize me? I'm your long-lost brother!"
Just about 31 pages all together, folks. So yeah, hope you liked it.
Thanks to: Sei Kou Ki, DarkMetalAngel of Destruction, SnakeMistress, Lil Gold Fishie, Death Phoenix, shadow-seraph, KitsuneAkai13, KraziKrysti, inu400, DawnAurilain, Puppeh, the author, faye, hipa, nEo-cHaN, Squrlie Jack, Aero-Grrl, DSC, sakura blossoms4, babymar-mar, Bosabe, Mistress of Weird, LadyK Na-No-Da, Burning Angemon, a swedish dish, Kelset, kalizuta, Gondawara Saburota, Angel Spirit, Du S'undavar Freohr n' Zar'roc, Tammy, and Shakia.
Again, it's edited, so yeah, woot.