Black Rose

by Tyson FoxFlame

[AU][Taito] Rough around the edges: a pure description of Yamato. After his 3rd expulsion, he's shipped off to a special school in Japan in hopes that he'll change. Things seem hopeless and unfair then he met Taichi, the roommate who taught him everything

8. Family

Having a family is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.

-Martin Mull

---

"…excuse me?" Matt blinked once, not quite sure if he had heard correctly. However, instead of answering the boy in words, the younger blond started to chuckle to himself. This chuckle soon turned into a full-blown laugh, causing Matt to jump in surprise. Kari gave a quick glance at her boyfriend before breaking down into peals of laughter herself. Matt looked back at Daisuke and Tai questioningly, only to be rewarded with shrugs and their own questioning looks. Tai placed one hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow.

"Um, what exactly is so funny?" he asked slowly, tilting his head to the side.

"Matt's expression!" Kari choked out through giggles.

"What's wrong with my expression?" Matt hurriedly side-glanced at the mirror hanging on his left.

"Nothing, it was just….oh wow! Dude, I was just kidding," TK said, struggling to control his own laughter. Matt blinked once, looked at Kari, blinked again, and shook his head.

"That was not even cool," the older blue-eyed boy declared, trying to comprehend what had just occurred. TK slipped a hand up under his hat, tucking his hair out of his eyes.

"Well, it's like this. Kari told me that you were here because of her brother, Taichi, so that meant I would have to share the guest room with you so I asked what you looked like and she told me and y'know, it sounded a hell of a lot like me. So we came up with this idea that it would be funny to tell you I was your long lost brother, just for fun. And you fell for it! That was the best part!" He grinned in a cheeky manner. Matt blinked again and ran a hand through his patched hair.

"Okay…wow, just…whatever. Screw it, I'm confused!" he announced, dropping his hand back to his side. Once again, the two younger teens laughed at their joke, apparently understanding something deeper than the other three boys. The two Japanese brothers stood absolutely clueless, looking back and forward between their sister and her 'boyfriend'. The couple stopped laughing and stared right back. Daisuke gave TK a small smile.

"Sorry dude, we're not exactly being friendly aren't we? Just kind of left you hanging there. Anyway, if it's any easier for you, call me Dais. Everybody else does." Daisuke grinned, kicking out the silence of the room. TK returned the smile whole-heartedly and nodded.

"Kari's told me quite a bit about you."

"Good things, I hope."

"Mostly how you get away with everything in the family because you're the baby."

"…sounds about right." Daisuke laughed, giving Kari a look that clearly said 'Why the hell did you tell him that!' Kari merely shrugged her shoulders and draped both arms over TK's, holding her hands together on his chest.

"And do I just call you Tai?" the blond asked the eldest Yagami-Motamiya sibling.

"I prefer you call me Taichi," Tai corrected him. The look on the older boy's face was nothing less than emotionless as he folded his arms and leaned against the back wall. TK shifted his feet and looked away from Tai's unbearable gaze.

"Right, Taichi. Nice to meet you in person," he spoke in a less confident tone.

"Likewise, kid," Tai replied briefly. He pushed himself from the wall and turned around, heading for the kitchen.

"Matt, Daisuke," he beckoned his brother and his best friend. The blue and cinnamon-eyed boys both gave the couple reassuring smiles before following Tai, waving over their shoulders. Once left alone in the room with Kari, TK let out a low sigh and grabbed Kari's hands in his own that were still on his chest.

"I don't think your older brother likes me much," he stated what appeared to be the obvious. Kari shrugged and plucked the bucket hat from his head.

"Well, just wait. Tai's generally cranky in the morning anyway," she replied with a small lie, releasing TK from her grasp and dropping the hat atop her own hair. "C'mon, your room's up here," she called over her shoulder and grabbed TK's bag, taking the stairs two at a time. TK whirled around and spotted his companion running off, breaking into a run of his own to follow her.

"You do realize that if you just ditch me I'll get lost, right?" he informed her, closing some of the distance between them.

"Maybe, but you'll find your way out eventually!" Kari giggled as she reached the top of the landing and turned before TK could reach her. The boy reached the top and looked around.

"Kari! That's not fair!" he whined, starting on his search to find his partner-in-crime and completely forgetting about the stiffness downstairs.

---

"Tai, slow down will you? You're going to choke!" Daisuke warned his brother who was in the process of shoveling Cap'n Crunch down his throat at lightning speed.

"I will not." Tai shoved his bowl away and leaned back in his chair.

"What's your problem? You suddenly got really moody," Daisuke remarked as he drank from his glass of orange juice.

"Oh shut up," the older Japanese boy muttered, folding his arms over his chest and lowering his eyes. The brunet's American companion had nothing to say to the other boy, staring out into the front sitting room instead, waiting for TK and Kari to re-appear. Something was rather unnerving about the younger blond, yet he couldn't quite figure out what it was. Something struck Matt as odd about the boy, and he was hell-bent on finding out what it was. Just as he was about to get out of his chair and go investigate, the young couple entered the room.

"On the bright side, they're not holding hands," Tai mumbled to himself, keeping his eyes half-closed as he examined his sister and her friend. No, not her boyfriend, her friend. He refused to call TK his sister's boyfriend. In his opinion, Kari shouldn't even be dating yet. She just shouldn't. It wasn't because he was over-protective, no matter what others thought. Oh no, the reasoning went much deeper than that.

Why should Hikari get together with a pretty blond before he did?

So, therefore, he felt he had a reason to hold a grudge against the young male. Why? Simply because he could. When things don't go Taichi's way, life for others around him became a living hell. He made sure of it.

TK knew that Tai didn't like him. He could tell from the moment that he looked into the muddy-brown eyes that he couldn't stand the mere sight of him. The question though, was why. It wasn't as if he had offended him, not yet anyway. But, he supposed it didn't really matter. He had his Hikari, and Daisuke seemed to like him just fine. The only one whose feelings he couldn't decipher was the other boy, Matt. The young blond took a seat at the table with Kari, gazing at the pale boy curiously. Now that he actually stopped to look, he began to realize one tiny factor: he really did have a resemblance of himself. There were a few minor details that made them both very different people, such as the fact that Matt's eyelashes were rather long for a male and his hair, or the parts that were still gold, had a silky appearance that TK could only dream of ever having.

"Do I have something in my teeth or something?" the voice came out low and a pale pink tongue instantly began to swipe at perfectly straight white teeth. TK shook his head furiously and flashed another smile.

"Oh no, sorry. Guess I just got lost in thought and started staring into space," he replied, feeling rather foolish for being caught staring.

"He does that quite often, Matt, so you'll have to forgive him," Kari said in a joking manner, lightly poking him in the ribs. TK nodded in agreement and remained silent as he listened to Daisuke, Kari, and Matt converse about how The Sixth Sense was too over-rated. Seeing how he knew nothing about the movie (since he fell asleep 20 minutes into it), he really had nothing to say about it. He switched his gaze over to the left of Matt, which brought Tai into his view. Two eyebrows shot up into his hairline and his mouth couldn't help but quirk up a bit.

'Well now, seems I'm not the only one staring at the two-toned wonder.' He thought in fair amusement, taking the time to sit back and watch Tai's actions closely.

Tanned fingers quivered slightly as Matt ran a hand through his hair, musing it up even more then it had been. A darker pink tongue ran itself slowly and sensually over two dry lips as a silver spoon was repeated popped into the other boy's mouth in between comments. Two chocolate eyes flickered and followed every move the American boy made, dominancy laced around the irises.

Yep, there was definitely something going on underneath that thatch of brown hair; and he had a feeling it had something to do with the tight black tank top Matt was wearing that clung to all the right places.

---

Matt felt slightly self-conscious that morning. He knew TK was staring at him, and he couldn't figure out why. The blue-eyed male involuntarily twitched under the critical gaze, unsure of how to interpret it. Was he supposed to think of it as a form of flattery? Or perhaps TK despised him and enjoyed imagining different ancient techniques that could be used to harm him immensely. He glanced over at the younger boy, who was currently laughing at something Kari had said. Matt came crashing back down to reality soon enough to realize that she had said something about him. At least he assumed so, seeing how all eyes were trained on him.

"…okay, what did I just miss?" he inquired, his curiosity getting the best of him. Kari giggled slightly and set down the slice of toast in her hand, sprinkling the crumbs off of her fingers and onto the table.

"Well," she began slowly, taking a short sip of her apple juice. She paused then after setting the glass down.

"Well?" Matt repeated, starting to become edgy and borderline defensive.

"All I said was that your hair now matches your attitude!" she replied cheerfully. Matt narrowed his eyes momentarily before he realized, and remembered, the one thing that made him Yamato Ishida: he didn't care about others opinions.

"I agree to that." Daisuke nodded and picked up his glass, slurping up the rest of his juice.

"Dais, that's so obnoxious!" his sister complained, covering her ears with both hands. The mahogany-haired boy grinned mischievously.

"Why do you think I enjoy it so much?" He smirked and threw the glass back onto the table. Said glass bounced back and clattered to the floor loudly and most likely would have shattered had it not been plastic.

"Daisuke, you are being such a-" Kari stopped her explosion and tried to think of what Daisuke exactly was.

"I'm being what, Kari?" the youngest male cooed, knowing full-well that his sister didn't have a decent comeback. Kari groaned in defeat and fell silent, waving her own personal white flag. Daisuke flashed her a wide, cheesy grin and picked up the fallen dishware, getting out of his seat to place it in the sink. Matt also grinned and shook his head. He always knew he liked Daisuke for some reason or another and it was finally showing through. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who enjoyed expressing himself without giving a damn.

Then again, Taichi was exactly the same way. Maybe that's where Daisuke got it from. Who knew? Either way, both boys weren't afraid to be who they were, although there were cases where Daisuke would become rather shy, like his situation with Mimi. At least he didn't have to worry about that with Tai. As far as he was concerned, there were no secrets between them and he knew he could trust the psycho to be fully honest with him. Although…for the past few days, Tai had seriously been freaking out on him. Not the kind of freak-out like when he slipped into his schizo fit, but a different freak-out. He was being more social and open, always touching him and saying really dorky things that normally wouldn't even clutter his thoughts. Often times, Matt had to stop and wonder if he was high. He had never seen Tai so…weird.

What the hell was going on inside that boy's head?

He turned back to the idea of what was going on with TK. Somehow, that just seemed…safer. He wasn't too sure if he could handle Tai's weirdness this early in the morning. The younger blond boy was back to chattering with Kari and filling Daisuke in on details of their relationship.

'Good, keep him busy so he doesn't suspect that I'm curious.' He nodded shortly to himself. He watched the boy in front of him closely, analyzing his every move. The way he talked, the way he laughed, the way his nose twitched as Kari flicked at it, all these little details that Matt hoped would lead up to why he felt strange around the boy. But of course, it didn't do anything at all.

"Okay wait, so I can't stare at you, but you can stare at me?" his specimen prodded him with a playful tone, his blue eyes sparkling to meet Matt's own. Matt was about to reply with some sarcastic remark when it finally hit him: his eyes. His eyes were the reason! Over the course of his 15 years on the planet Earth, he had rarely met another human being with eyes that matched the color of his. Most blue eyes he had seen were sky blue, or cornflower blue, maybe even midnight blue or ocean blue. But his own eyes were different. His father had said that the color he possessed was called cobalt and that he had gotten them from his mother.

See, the strange thing was: TK's eyes matched Matt's perfectly.

'How the hell is that possible? They're exactly the same, right down to the shade they turn when the light hits them just right. Okay, slow down, Yamato and think before pulling a Tai. It could be simply because his parents had cobalt eyes. After all, you're not the only one with that color, nimrod.'

'I doubt calling yourself a nimrod is going to help the situation any,' the irrational part of his brain chided.

'He is being one though, so it's only fair that he realizes that. But anyway, point being you're not special. He probably just has a gene that gave him the same color,' the rational side took over, leaving Matt to listen to both sides battle.

'Then how do you explain the same color hair too?' Irrational retorted.

'Uh, duh. He's not the only blond on this planet,' Rational argued back.

'But it's the same gold and texture and everything! You cannot have cloned genes from two completely different people!'

'So what do you suggest is the reasoning?'

'That Matt's inner child was abducted by aliens and took form of the 14-year-old.'

'…wow, that was completely and utterly stupid. Point being, Matt and TK are just two completely different people who sort of look alike.'

'They do look alike damnit because they are!'

"God, shut up and let me think for myself!" Matt yelled, silencing the two parts of his mind. However, he also managed to silence everyone else in the room. Tai blinked once and gently put a hand on his shoulder. Matt looked at the hand briefly and raised an eyebrow.

'Again with the unnecessary touching.' He inwardly sighed.

"Are you okay?" Tai asked him slowly, staring into his eyes. Matt nodded in return and stood up, pushing his chair back against the wall.

"Can I use your phone real quick?"

"Yeah sure, you can use the cordless in the den for privacy," Daisuke informed him, completely shrugging off the discomfort of the previous outburst. Matt turned on his heel and ran into the den, dialing the number of his phone card from memory. After listening to the short message, he punched in the number he wished to call and listened to it ring once, ring twice, and click, signaling that the other person had picked up.

"Hello, Ishida residence."

"Dad!"

"Well, you sound slightly more chipper than the last time I spoke with you."

"Look, no time for discussing my attitude. I need you to tell me something." Matt leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He placed his head in the palm of his left hand and held the phone tightly in his right, listening to his father's voice.

"What could be so urgent that you had to call me at 8:30 at night?" Hiroaki spoke in a slightly amused, yet confused tone.

"8:30?" Matt turned his head to the clock on the wall, reading the time to be 10:30am.

"Yamato, remember, different countries?"

"Oh…right." It clicked that he was still sitting in Japan. He shook his head furiously and a small scowl formed onto his features.

"Dad! Stop distracting me! This is important!"

"Then spit it out," Hiroaki laughed, enjoying his time of taunting his son.

"What's my brother's name?" Hiroaki's laughter faded and Matt's ears were met with silence. It remained silent while his father was thinking, or perhaps hesitating. He remembered that his father tended to offer not a lot of information about his mother or his brother, both of whom he knew so little of.

"Takeru."

"What?" he snapped back, unprepared for the answer the first time.

"His name is Takeru. That was the name your mother and I decided on."

"To rage?"

"Correct."

"Why?"

"You have to remember, that was the period of time we were fighting."

"Oh." More silence came through, father and son sitting on the phone with nothing to say. It was Matt who broke the quiet first, surprising both of them.

"So, um, what do you have planned for Christmas since I'm not there?"

"Clarice is off visiting her parents."

"…what about you?"

"I'm not quite sure. I may very well end up just sitting at home eating a microwavable dinner and watching old holiday movies."

"Dad, you can't be serious. It's Christmas," Matt protested, coming to realize his behavior was becoming stranger and stranger.

"Well, it's no big deal, it's just one Christmas. Plus, she'll be back later tomorrow evening," Hiroaki said casually, knowing very well that his son was now feeling guilty.

"I'm still sorry."

"Don't be; enjoy your Christmas with your friends. You deserve it."

"But I-"

"Am going to hang up the phone and listen to your father," Hiroaki finished for him. Matt closed his mouth and nodded, even though his father couldn't see it.

"Right. Well, Merry Christmas, Dad," He said at last, feeling rather awkward about the whole thing.

"Merry Christmas, Yamato."

"Matt," the boy corrected him without thinking.

"Excuse me?"

"My name is Matt," he announced quietly, coming to the conclusion that the name would be foreign to his father for quite a while.

"Well then…Merry Christmas, Matt. I love you." Needless to say, Matt was stunned by the sudden show of affection from him. Too stunned.

"I…I…bye." He pressed the end button quickly. He stared at the black device blankly, taking his time for his emotions and thoughts to slow down. Why hadn't he been able to say it back? What was so ridiculously hard about saying I love you too? Then to top it off, he finds out his father will be spending most of his Christmas alone. That's no way for someone to spend their holiday! It just didn't seem fair.

Then again, there was nothing he could really do about it. Going down to the airport and requesting a ticket back to New York was ultimate suicide, especially on Christmas Eve, assuming they had any left.

Another thing: he couldn't just pick up and leave Tai. Not after he had pretty much insisted that he come home with him. And besides, while he admitted that it would be nice to spend Christmas with his own family, he was having more fun with Tai's family. After all, hadn't his father said he deserved it anyway? Yeah, that sounded pretty close to what he said.

"Well, Merry Christmas to me," he chuckled slightly and ran up the three stairs back into the sitting room and turning into the kitchen. Only, he soon came to discover that only the two brothers remained in the kitchen.

"Where'd TK and Kari go?" he asked, preparing to take off again.

"Kari went out to the garage to look for her CDs and TK said something about unpacking while he had time," Daisuke answered, knowing very well that his brother wasn't going to.

"Thanks, Dai." Matt waved and ran out of the kitchen, skidding on the linoleum floor in his white socks and barreling up the stairs. He slowed to a stop just outside of his bedroom door, remembering that TK was bunking with him for the duration of his stay. He tiptoed over to the door and gently pushed it open, peering inside. He spotted the younger boy throwing clothes out of his bag and littering the floor. A small snicker escaped from his lips and he forced himself to be quiet. He took in a deep breath and stuck his head into the room.

TK had his back facing the door, having no idea that Matt was watching him. Matt continued waiting, thinking that eventually TK would turn around. Of course, Yamato Ishida didn't have the wonderful little virtue of patience. So he waited for a short while longer, and he would have kept waiting had he not said the one magic word.

"Takeru." TK jumped at the sound.

"Yes?" he queried and turned around. His eyes grew about three sizes wider once he realized who exactly it was who had called him.

"I knew it!" Matt exclaimed and darted into the room, throwing the door shut behind him.

"What?" TK squeaked, no less than bewildered at the sudden movements Matt made.

"Your full name is Takeru, isn't it?"

"Well duh. I wouldn't have responded otherwise, now would I?" TK raised an elegant eyebrow and leaned against the wall next to the window.

"Question is, how did you know that?" he continued, attempting to be intimidating and failing miserably.

"Dad." A fresh wave of confusion fell over the younger blond and he folded his arms, continuing to examine Matt.

"Meaning…"

"Dad told me. That's what he and Mom named you," Matt continued ranting on, picking up more energy and excitement as he went. TK rewarded his efforts with a strange look and shook his head.

"Look, I have no clue what you're talking about but-"

"You and I are related! We really are brothers! Hello, how can you not see that?" the patched-haired boy shouted, nearly in hysterics at the mere idea that he really had a brother and he was standing right in front of him.

"Well very easily apparently. How can you proof that we're really related?" TK decided it was his place to be logical. After all, hadn't Kari told him that Matt attended the same school her brothers did? Yeah…that was the school of the mental. Who knew if he could really trust this?

"Did I not just say Dad told me he named you?"

"That's not good enough, Matt. What else?"

"The fact that you look almost exactly like me maybe?"

"Just the hair color."

"No way, bud." Matt grabbed TK by the wrist and pulled him into the bathroom. He forced the other boy to look straight ahead into the mirror and placed his head right next to him.

"Look at your eyes…and then look at mine." Matt blinked slowly, looking at all four cobalt eyes. TK swallowed briefly and nodded, standing up straight.

"We got them from Mom. Same with the blond hair," Matt said to him.

"You can't prove that." TK's eyes narrowed into a small glare.

"What can't I prove exactly, younger brother?" Matt chose his words carefully, knowing very well that they would rile up the other boy.

"You don't even know my mother. And I am not your brother! It was a joke!" TK yelled, starting to become very angry with the American boy. Why couldn't he just accept the fact that he had been fooled instead of trying to carry out the joke? TK had no answer, but he did know that it was rubbing on his nerves quite well.

"What do I have to say to get you to believe me?" Matt inquired, wandering back to the guest room. TK paused behind him, thinking through his options carefully. He stepped into the room fully and sat on the futon couch with his eyes trained on Matt.

"What is my mother's name?" he finally said, feeling a little better about himself. Unless Matt was a stalker, he could never know that his mother's name was-

"Takaishi Natsuko. Takaishi is her maiden name." TK's eyes widened again and he shook his head furiously, simply refusing to believe any of what Matt was trying to tell him.

"You couldn't have possibly known that unless someone else had told you and I know no one else in this house knows her name."

"Just face the facts, kid. We're related. We're brothers. Parents got divorced right after you were born on September 17th, 1989. You and Mom moved, I'm guessing to here, and Dad and I stayed in New York." Matt carefully sprawled out on the bed, propping his head up with his hands and staring right back. With a small little look of superiority, he grinned at the other boy. "How's that for proof?" His tone had a hint of gloating mixed in. TK chose not to answer.

Instead, he reached to his left and picked up the phone, frantically dialing his home. Matt lay still and dropped his head on the bed, watching his little brother panic.

"Mom! Do I really have a brother?" he questioned in a flustered manner, pressing the phone closer to his ear. His mouth fell ajar and he pulled the phone away, tilting his head to the side as though that would help his hearing.

"Are you serious?" he said more as a statement than a question. Matt grinned to himself and laughed, knowing that for once, he was certain of something.

"Why didn't you even bother telling me? That would have helped me, like, a lot!" TK continued ranting to his mother, running a hand through his hair that was fully revealed thanks to the loss of his hat. Matt himself was quite amazed by simple things. As he continued watching his brother, he started to see different little habits that he himself had, so did the other boy. Such as the hair thing. Matt only messed with his hair when he was thinking or frustrated. It appeared that TK did it out of nervous feelings or embarrassment.

"What's his name?" the younger blue-eyed male asked, shooting Matt a look of disbelief. Matt simply shrugged and shot back his own look that seemed to say, 'I told you so.' TK glared again and paused, listening to his mother offer the information he wanted.

"I see. Well, thanks. No, I was just curious. Are you going back to work right now?" Matt's ears perked up as he listened to this end's conversation. His window of opportunity suddenly flew open so fast that the glass shattered. Sitting here across from him was his key to finding out everything he wanted about his mother.

"Oh. Okay well, Merry Christmas if I don't get to see you until the summer. Love you too. Bye." TK hung up the phone and stared at Matt in his own little state of shock.

"Now do you believe me?"

"Only if your name is Yamato."

"It is," a third voice joined them from the doorway. Both pale boys whipped their necks around and spotted Tai standing there, rubbing the back of his neck.

"What are you two doing up here?" the brunet asked, stifling a small yawn. Matt glanced at TK once more, who had moved over onto Matt's bed once Tai appeared. TK's eyes flashed with sudden admiration and wonder. Matt closed his eyes and smiled, giving him his very first hug from his older brother. Opening his eyes, and not releasing TK, Matt turned to Tai with the same soft smile.

"Tai, I would like you to meet my little brother, Takeru," he said for the first time in his life.

And boy did it feel good to say it.

---

After a short-handed explanation and a few odd questions, the Yagami-Motomiya siblings accepted the fact that TK was related to Matt.

"This week is just so full of surprises, isn't it?" Kari said thoughtfully, curling up in her favorite chair in the den.

"What do you mean?" Matt questioned the only female in the room.

"Well, think about it. Megumi really being named Mimi, TK being your brother, what's next? Frosty the snowman being a male stripper from Vegas?" Daisuke voiced his input instead, flipping through the channels on the TV at a rapid pace.

"The strange thing is, everyone we know is someone from Matt's life," Tai put together the connection, picking a piece of imaginary fuzz off of Matt's shirt.

"Well, it is a small world after all, now isn't it?" Matt grinned and laughed. The three younger teens were discussing something about the different TV shows Daisuke kept passing and which ones were and weren't good to watch. Matt watched them in amusement, his smile never leaving his lips. Tai noticed the renewed glimmer in Matt's eye and couldn't be bothered to suppress his own smile.

"It makes me happy to see you so happy," he whispered into his best friend's ear, pulling away from his face to look him in the eye.

"Why do you say that?" Matt turned his attention away from the TV and looked at Tai with one eye.

"Do you not remember who you were only a mere two months ago? You were miserable and lonely. But now…it just amazes me. Really." Tai grinned and looked at the TV, leaving no room for Matt to add anything to the conversation. The patchy-haired boy shook his head at the vague idea, but appreciated it all the same. He knew that Tai would be happy about him being happy. But he knew that Tai would never realize that it was all his doing that made him be a happy person.

'He's too thick to understand the effect that he causes on people.' He giggled softly and turned back to the TV. Suddenly, he sat up from his slouched position and froze. He did not just giggle. Giggling was for girls, and the last time he checked, he was definitely not a girl. At all.

"So, what should we do today?" Kari asked, snatching the remote away from her brother.

"Who says we actually have to do anything? It's Christmas Eve. We reserve the right to be lazy bums," Tai replied, staring at the headlines of the news.

"What if I don't want to be a lazy bum?"

"That's not my problem."

"We should go do something though. That way Mom has time to finish making preparations for tomorrow and wrap our presents," Daisuke explained, stretching his legs out in front of him.

"What's happening tomorrow?" TK turned his attention to the other boy.

"Our grandparents and Mom's sister and her family are coming over to visit," Kari replied, dropping the remote on the short coffee table.

"And how many people is that?" Matt asked tentatively and turned his head to look at the siblings.

"Seven," came the response from both of their mouths. Matt felt his arms tense up and his heart rate increase. Okay, it wasn't like he was majorly anti-social; it was just the fact that he couldn't stand being around people. A few people, he could deal with, no problems. But a large group of people? No. Way.

If he thought about it, it would be the five kids (Tai, Kari, Daisuke, TK, and himself), Ami, Michael (who he still had yet to meet), two grandparents, an aunt, an uncle, and by process of elimination, and some quick thinking, three cousins, coming to a grand total of…14 people! All in one house! On Christmas!

'It can't be that bad. Just remember that it's Tai's family. Just be calm about the whole thing and you can survive.' He reassured himself and plastered a smile on his face.

"Sounds great!" he responded cheerfully in attempt to cover up the pause he created. Kari nodded and gave him her own smile.

"You'll like our cousins, one's a year older than you and Tai, one's about one year older than that, and the other is a college student," she added unnecessary information.

"They are pretty cool once they loosen up," Daisuke cut in.

"Actually, it's just Jyou who needs to loosen up. Poor kid's so paranoid about everything," Kari corrected her brother.

"Snow!" her other brother shouted suddenly, causing the other four to crank their heads back to the TV, which was hard to see with Tai's big head of hair blocking it.

"Tai, move out of the way!" TK whined from behind him. Tai turned his head and gave the blond an evil look, causing him to shrink back.

"Sorry!" he squeaked and shrunk behind Kari, who in turn rolled her eyes and moved over to Tai, smacking him behind the head.

"Stop being so rude!" she demanded and moved him over to the left so they could all see the screen. Tai rubbed the back of his head and muttered something indecipherable. Kari reached out in front of her and pushed the button to raise the volume.

"There is a 60 chance of snow this evening with a high of 42 degrees Fahrenheit and 28 as a low. This is KXLY News on the hour," the announcer reported. Tai shut the TV off with his foot and turned to the others, a wide grin spreading across his features.

"Finally!" he exclaimed and stood up, bouncing on his heels in delight.

"Snow for Christmas, how absolutely perfect!" Kari cheered as she dashed over to the window. She undid the blinds and peered outdoors, being greeted by grey skies and a light breeze that you could only tell was present from the way the bare branches of the trees bent.

"Well, it looks cold enough," Daisuke commented as he peered over Kari's shoulder.

"Maybe we'll have some snow by tonight." TK glanced over Kari's other shoulder. She nodded lazily and suddenly snapped her head up.

"Crap!"

"No, snow," Daisuke corrected her.

"No, I just remembered I need to buy presents!" she exclaimed, closing the blinds and racing towards the stairs to go back up to the main level.

"Presents? Presents for me?" Tai's ears perked up and he rose to his feet, following his sister out to the hall.

"Yes, presents for you! And presents for Dais, Matt, and TK," Kari replied from her place on the floor, where she was trying to tug on her black and pink skater shoes.

"Presents!" Tai clapped his hands. Daisuke, Matt, and TK had appeared in the front hall by this point, looking questioningly at the Yagami siblings.

"What about presents?" Daisuke asked first.

"Oh, I forgot to buy yours and Tai's presents, and I was going to buy Matt and TK something too, so I have to run to the mall for a little bit," Kari explained and rose to her feet.

"I'll come with you. I need to buy a few things too," TK remembered and slipped on his own white tennis shoes.

"Presents!" Tai bellowed again and dashed up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door shut. Matt and Daisuke looked at each other, up the stairs, and back at each other, shrugging their shoulders and deciding not to worry.

"That translates to he wants to come too," Kari sighed and slipped on her black jacket.

"Then I might as well get dressed and go too!" Daisuke grinned and darted up the stairs after his brother. A few strings of curses were heard and the door slammed one more time, signaling that Daisuke had gotten into the room to get dressed.

"Well Matt, I doubt you want to stay in our house alone, so why don't you go get ready too?" Kari suggested and motioned up the stairs. Matt nodded and began his ascent up the stairs into the guest room. Closing the door behind him, he walked over to his suitcase and unzipped it, rifling through his different articles of clothing. He closed his eyes and shoved both hands deep inside the bag, deciding that he would wear whatever he pulled out. To his delight, when he opened his eyes he found an outfit he approved off. Making sure the door was closed, he stripped off his jogging pants and slid into the other pants he had on the bed. Slipping off the black tank top, he replaced it with another shirt. Adding a few more accessories to his outfit, he examined himself in the mirror thoroughly.

For a top he was wearing a black short-sleeved short with white letters that were purposely cracked in some places.

"American Idiot," the American read with a smirk.

'Indeed I am.' He thought in amusement as his gaze moved down to his pants.

The pants themselves were something that he himself couldn't have even imagined if he tried. The detail on them was incredible right down to every last stitch. They too were black and the stitches were an electric blue, running along the edge of the pockets and down the sides of the legs, amongst other places like his belt loops. Attached to the front two belt loops were two chains, each going down the side of his leg and attaching to his side pockets. Said pockets were squares with flaps the came down to keep them closed.

Adorned with the same blue stitching, there was a single row of spikes on the flap of the pocket and two strips of ten pyramid studs on the actual pockets themselves. The bottom had a few more pyramid studs and a zipper and drawstring to change the length and width of the opening. The back of the pants had a loop in the center that held onto two straps of fabric that matched his pants, hanging down behind him. The back pockets were rather deep and the back of his thighs had two little zippers. Why they were there, Matt had no clue.

"They just rock. That's all there is to it." Matt nodded to himself once and ran a hand through his hair, watching the spikes gracefully fall back into place. He had to admit, Kari was right. His hair did match his personality, or at least his clothes. His pants were being held up by a simple black belt, and of course, in his back right pocket was his black wallet with the blue flames, attached to another belt loop by the chain closure. His fingers were itching to reach into the bag to put on his black choker, but he decided that what he had on was just enough. He closed the door to his room (a habit he had picked up by the time he was eight) and headed downstairs, where the others were already waiting. Tai heard the jingling of the chains and turned towards the stairs with a smile, which quickly changed to a look of surprise when he got a look at what his best friend was actually wearing.

"Well…don't you look…um…" Tai couldn't really find a way to describe what he was looking at. Sure, he knew Matt had his dark side, but this? This was just too much.

"Gothic comes to mind," Daisuke filled in the blank. Now that Matt thought about it, it was rather gothic. But in a way, it wasn't gothic. At least he wasn't wearing make-up this time.

"It's not gothic; it's just how I express myself," Matt said in an airy tone, sticking his hands into his pockets. He looked over Daisuke's chosen outfit briefly, noticing that it was just something simple; a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with yellow designs on the front and left sleeve and jeans that somewhat flared out at the bottom. His gaze then flickered onto Tai.

The brunet was sporting a pair of tight-fitting navy-blue jogging pants with two white wolf paws, one on each side of his bum. On the front of his left thigh it said OHS T-Wolves in grey lettering. For a top, he wore a plain white t-shirt and a blue zip-up jacket to match his pants. On his feet were his regular shoes.

More reasoning for Matt to keep his hands in his pockets: to restrain himself and possibly relieve some tension he would most definitely feel by the end of the day.

'Thank you Dad for accidentally ripping a hole in my pocket.' He thought as his fingers itched closer to go through the hole. He stopped himself and let his hand hover over the hole, making the decision to test himself and see how long he could last.

'And judging by how things are at the moment, it won't be for too terribly long. Damn his tight, firm ass.' Matt reprimanded himself.

"Okay, express yourself, whatever. Point being, at least put a jacket on, it's cold out there!" Tai reminded him and shoved Matt's black light-weight coat into his arms. Not wanting to protest (and the fact he didn't trust his voice not to squeak), he slid the coat on wordlessly and slipped into his black and white converse high-tops.

"That's better. Now let's get going!" Tai instructed the group and they all headed out the door, walking the few blocks to the shopping mall.

Well, if you consider 36 blocks a few.

"Somebody please tell me why we decided to walk. Seriously," Daisuke whined, panting all the way.

"Dais, it's only three miles," Kari replied, showing no signs of being exhausted.

"Kari, it's cold. It's December. I'm freezing. It's a pretty damn long three miles!" Daisuke exclaimed, flailing his arms around.

"Quit whining, we're there," Tai intervened his siblings' bickering and pointed at the large building in front of them. The five kids raced towards the entrance and burst inside, immediately feeling the temperature change. Daisuke sighed contently and snuggled deeper into the top of his jacket.

"Warmth," he mewled and followed his friends through the mall.

"Okay, so here's what we're going to do. I'm going to go shop by myself so that I can buy all four of your presents. Matt and Daisuke can go shop for presents for Tai and TK, and vice versa, got it? Good," Kari said in one breath and took off, popping into a shop about 15 feet in front of them. The four boys blinked at each other and shrugged.

"Guess she knows what's best. C'mon Dais," Matt said and grabbed Daisuke's upper arm gently, pulling him in the direction opposite of Kari. Tai and TK stood still and continued to look at one another; TK feeling slightly fearful of Tai, and Tai feeling slightly jealous of TK.

Why did everybody else get to be close to his Yama?

"Look, I know you don't like me. I don't know why, and I'm not sure I even want to know why. All I know is that the only reason I haven't flipped out yet is because of Hikari. You can try and freak me out as much as you want but it's not going to change the fact that I care about your sister, very deeply I might add, and that I'd do anything for her, including putting up with a monstrous big brother such as yourself. So get over it, 'cause I'm not leaving," TK boldly interrupted his musings. Tai took the time to blink at the younger boy and let his words sink in. A smirk came across his lips which turned into a smile, followed by a hearty laugh.

"You've got guts, kid, quite a character too. And I know you love my sister. She's told my mom, who's told me, many of the things you've done for her and I do say, I'm impressed. I mean, pulling the fire alarm to make everyone else soaked just so she wouldn't feel embarrassed for falling into the pool and going to class sopping wet? Classic." Tai switched personalities and began chatting with TK like they had been long-time friends.

"I would hope she appreciated it. I got suspended for three days!" TK grinned back at the brunet. Suddenly, he didn't seem so bad. He was just your typical, out-going teenage boy. The two boys headed in the direction that Kari had gone, keeping their eyes out for anything that seemed interesting.

"You're a pretty decent guy, TK. I know you're the best for my sister," Tai complimented the blond, looking in the window of a pet shop they passed.

"Glad you see things my way, Taichi." Tai waved his hand at the name and grinned again.

"Call me Tai. All of my friends do."

TK nodded and laughed. "Right, Tai. Sounds nice."

---

"What do you think Tai would like?" the American teen asked his younger friend, looking in different windows.

"Well, that all depends. What would you like to buy him?" Daisuke replied as he glanced at the different kiosk stands apathetically.

"Well, something he would really like would be a good thing. But I've only known him for a short amount of time. And seeing how you're his brother…" Matt trailed off, leaving Daisuke to come to his own conclusion. Feeling that he was going to be okay, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and let them drop to his sides as they continued walking.

"Well, the most I can do is offer you hints."

"Meaning?"

"Well, let me tell you a few unknown things about Taichi Yagami that not many people know." Daisuke stopped walking and sat on a bench.

"Um, why are we stopping?" Matt asked and sat next to the rusty-haired boy, who currently had his head between his knees. Matt's features were suddenly flooded with a suspicious look and he leaned down further so Daisuke could hear him.

"Are you okay?"

Daisuke responded with a short shrug and a deep breath, slowly lifting his head up a little ways. "Truthfully, I'm not feeling so great." The Japanese boy rubbed at his eyes and sat up the whole way.

"What kind of not feeling so great…?" Cobalt eyes blinked with concern, suddenly realizing that he would probably have to be responsible for what to do with Daisuke.

"I just feel kind of nauseous…it's nothing, forget I said anything." Daisuke shook his head and offered Matt a weak smile. Matt bit his lip and also shook his head.

"Nope, can't forget it now."

"Matt, don't worry about it. Just give me a few to catch my bearings." Daisuke curled up onto the bench, tucking his legs under him and wrapping his arms across his stomach.

"Dais, if you're sick we can just go find your sister and our brothers and go home," Matt brought up a point that Daisuke had already considered. Then he remembered why he had decided against it.

"No, I'm fine. It's starting to die down anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Tai and Kari don't need something else to worry about and neither do my parents. I think it's just because I haven't eaten today. So why don't we go get something from the food court and then we can continue shopping around?" Daisuke babbled senselessly and bounced to his feet, almost falling backwards due to the sudden movement.

"Right…food court. Let's go," Matt agreed and waited for Daisuke to lead him there.

The two boys entered the busy food place five minutes later, Daisuke stepping in line for fries and Matt sitting on a bench not too far away. The gothic-looking boy sat still, thinking about the many possible things his friend would like. He also had to find something to buy for his brother and then maybe two small things for Kari and Daisuke, just because he felt like being nice.

Speaking of Daisuke, where was he? It doesn't take someone 15 minutes to buy fries when the line was so short. He was about ready to get up and try to find him when he spotted the tanned boy walking towards him with a small container of fries in his hand.

"That's all you got?" Matt gave the younger boy a skeptical look.

"That's all I had money for. I want to buy Tai and Kari something really nice this year, so I kept a ton of my money," he replied and slowly munched on a few of his fries. He resisted the urge to spit the food back out since he knew Matt was watching him closely. He couldn't help but gag as he swallowed the fries though. He just was not in the mood for food, which was rather odd if he thought about it. He shook his head and sat on the bench next to Matt, setting the container down.

"Well anyway, Tai is going to like anything you buy him. Just remember that much," he began talking again.

"I know, but I still want it to be special and something he'll appreciate, y'know? I just want it to be something that can help express my gratitude for his friendship and all that other crap," Matt clarified as he played with one of his chains.

"I think he would appreciate it if you never went out in public wearing those pants ever again," Daisuke chuckled slightly. Matt grinned and shrugged.

"Yeah, probably, but they're what I wore back home. Besides, I think they're kind of hot."

"He probably thinks so too," Daisuke murmured under his breath.

"What'd you say?" Matt asked since he didn't hear it clearly.

"Never mind. Anyway, Tai is more then sports, although that may be hard to tell."

"Of course it is. But what else does he like?"

"Art."

"…are you kidding?" Matt stared at him in disbelief. Daisuke shook his head and popped one more fry into his mouth.

"Tai's always been big on drawing since he was a kid. He's got about eight sketchbooks somewhere in our room just filled with different sketches and finished pieces he's made over the years."

"Never would have guessed it."

"Neither would we until his junior high art teacher called just to let us know that she thought his work was remarkable. He denied it, of course, and then Kari came bouncing in with three of his books."

"Wow…that kind of gives me a vague idea."

"I think you should get him something artistic. He'll genuinely be surprised, I can tell ya that." Daisuke stood up and threw away the fry container, which was still half-full. Matt chose not to comment on that fact and stood up as well, stretching his arms behind him.

"So where's the nearest artsy place?" he asked. Daisuke turned to his left and started walking, expecting Matt to follow him. The two walked along at a steady pace, stopping in front of a medium-sized store called The Canvas. They walked inside and began browsing through different tools of trade. Daisuke had wandered off somewhere else in the store, leaving Matt to fend for himself. He found himself in front of a rack of sketchbooks, hundreds upon hundreds of different sizes, shapes, and designs. He began to paw through the shelves, looking for one that generally screamed Tai. Everything he had found so far had been too plain, too weird, or too girly to fit his friend. Then it hit him. Literally. The phonebook-sized sketchpad was hard-covered in black with orange and yellow flames, along with a giant red dragon circling the front. He flipped it over to look at the backside and was rather pleased to see that it was the same image. He stepped to his right a few feet and noticed a new stand.

"Engraving?" he said to himself. He reached into his pocket and counted his money. He had enough to buy the book, have it engraved, buy TK something really nice, and the two small things for Tai's younger siblings. Perfect.

"Excuse me?" he called to the engraver. "How much would it cost me to have the name Taichi engraved?"

---

On the other side of the shopping mall, Tai and TK were inside a gaming store.

"Soul Calibur 2!" TK grinned and flipped over the box, reading the description thoroughly.

"Hey check it out! I'm on fire, baby!" Tai quoted Matt's boxers as he followed the colored arrows in the Dance Dance Revolution game he was playing with.

"Wow, nice score," TK remarked and leaned against the wall, watching his friend enjoy himself. Tai did a suave spin and jumped off the gaming platform, which announced that he was the winner.

"Well, that was fun," Tai panted and tried to catch his breath. TK laughed slightly and the two boys walked out of the store with their bags in their hands.

"When do you think we'll meet up with everybody else?" the blond asked as they sat by the fountain that stood in the middle of the mall.

"Kari said that we'd all meet back here at 3pm. And it is…2:55pm right now," Tai replied with a quick check of his watch.

"Nice timing."

"I think so too." Tai dipped his hand into the water and scooped up some, splashing it on his sweaty face.

"Hey, there's Kari." TK pointed down the mall as he spotted his girlfriend walking towards them at a rapid pace. She arrived next to them in no time and sat down.

"Find everything you wanted?" Tai asked his sister as he kept his eyes out for his brother and best friend.

"Yes I did. Did you?" she shot back.

"Yeah mostly," TK replied for the both of them.

"What should we do when we get home?" he continued, seeing how Tai wasn't really going to participate.

"Who said we had to go home?" Kari grinned.

"You raise a very good point, miss." TK grinned back. Tai resisted rolling his eyes and perked up when he spotted the tuft of black and blonde hair.

"There they are." He stood up and started walking towards them. Only when he got there,

"Where's Daisuke?" he asked the instant he realized his brother wasn't with Matt.

"He said he was going to use the bathroom real quick before we left."

"Why, we're only three miles from our house..."

"Don't ask me, it's your brother." Matt shrugged and the two oldest teens headed back towards their siblings.

"What's our next step you guys?" Tai asked as he sat down again.

"We were thinking a movie," TK responded and readjusted his hat that he took back from Kari.

"Which one?" Matt asked warily, not about ready to fall for the same thing twice.

"Polar Express," Kari beamed.

"It was her idea, not mine," TK defended himself.

"Oh come on! You know you want to go see it too," Kari giggled as a small pinkish tinge made its way onto TK's cheeks.

"Sounds fine to me. And no Matt, it's not a horror movie," Tai teased his pale friend.

"I know that!" Matt pouted slightly, knowing that Tai was picking on him. Tai draped an arm over Matt's shoulders and grinned.

"You know I'm just teasing you."

Matt grinned and poked Tai in the side. "I know. But it amazes me that you can think of things to tease me for."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, I am the Almighty Perfection. I can do no wrong!" Matt declared and stood in a Super Man pose.

"Well Almighty Perfection, your fly's undone," Tai snickered. Matt looked down and made a small sound that was a cross between a yelp and a squeak. His hand quickly flew down and zipped up his pants, sending a glare at Tai.

"When did you plan on telling me that?"

"I didn't actually," Tai answered honestly. Matt groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Meanie. I'd tell you if your fly was undone."

"Probably because you'd be the reason it was undone to begin with."

"You wish!" The two boys broke into laughter and stopped insulting each other. Kari looked at her watch and sighed.

"It's 3:15pm now. The movie starts at 3:35. Where the hell is Daisuke?" she came to her point, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

"Want us to go look for him?" Matt offered, already turning around to walk off.

"Don't bother, he's right there." Tai pointed out his brother who was dragging his feet through the crowds. He reached the other four in a short amount of time and pasted on a smile.

"Hey sorry I'm late, I got sidetracked," he said lamely, knowing full well that his brother wouldn't buy it. Matt didn't buy it either. The boy in front of him was shaky and a little paler than usual. He watched him closely as Tai gave him the once-over and shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't worry about it. We're going to watch a movie, sound good to you?" Tai turned around and started following his sister before he could get an answer.

"Yeah sure!" Daisuke mustered up as much enthusiasm as he possibly could. Even though in reality, it didn't sound too good. All he could really think about was going home and taking a short nap. But if he told his brother that, Tai would most definitely tell his Mom and then he'd have to spend the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in his bed. There was no way he was going to allow that to happen. So what did he do?

He followed the older teens into the movie theater. He was at least allowed to sit on the end so he could make a clean exit if he had to. Then again, it wasn't really his choice where he sat. TK was sitting on the other end, simply because he had walked in first. Kari wanted to sit next to him, since they were dating after all. Tai decided that he wasn't going to tolerate that and chose to sit next to Kari to make sure they didn't start making out in the middle of the movie (which struck Daisuke as odd, seeing how he hadn't even seen his sister kiss her boyfriend yet). Then of course, he had dragged Matt along and made him sit down next to him, which left Daisuke to sit on the very end.

Not that he objected. Nope, not at all.

The movie began playing on the big screen and all five of them were hushed, intently staring at the moving picture. They had been forced to sit towards the front right in front of the screen because the theater was crowded that day. The sound was rather loud and it hurt Daisuke's ears. Like once before that day, he tucked his legs under him and wrapped his arms around his abdomen. Matt was watching him from the corner of his eye and turned suddenly, leaning over so that Tai couldn't hear a thing.

"Awfully long bathroom break, don't you think?" he whispered quietly to the younger male. Daisuke blinked and shrugged, shrinking back from the loud sound of the movie.

"No big deal," he finally replied.

"You puked didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"Daisuke…"

"Mostly dry-heaves though."

"Daisuke…"

"It's not a big deal."

"Daisuke!"

"What?"

"I can smell it on your breath."

"…please don't say anything."

"You're going to have to though." Daisuke shook his head and tuned Matt out, laying his head back on the seat. Matt sighed and dug through his pockets, coming up with a piece of mint gum. Reaching over, he shoved it into the other boy's hand and gave him a firm look.

"At least chew on that. It'll make your breath smell better and possibly make you feel better too," he told him and looked back at the screen, not needing to watch to know Daisuke would listen to him. The younger boy looked at Matt in surprise, put the gum into his mouth and began chewing on it, closing his eyes briefly.

---

The lights of the theater blinked on, flooding the room with bright light. Kari was the first one to recover from the temporary blindness and stood up, pulling TK to his feet.

"That was cute, seriously," Kari gushed as she attempted to pull her brother up too.

"Hey, hey, hey! I can get up myself, thanks kindly," Tai protested and got up on his own, bending backwards to stretch out. His shirt rose up slightly, revealing nicely ripped abs. Matt shook his head to delete his fantasies. First of all, he shouldn't even be having fantasies about boys to begin with. Secondly…

It was Tai. His best friend. His roommate for crying out loud! That could turn into a very bad thing if Matt suddenly started fantasizing about him and Tai while Tai wasn't aware of it.

"Hey, is he sleeping?" Tai suddenly popped back into his world, nodding at his younger brother, who indeed was soundly sleeping.

"I believe he is," Matt replied, somewhat relieved that the boy had found some time to rest. Tai walked over and crouched down in front of Daisuke's seat, shaking his shoulder softly.

"Hey, Dai, wake up. Show's over," Tai said briefly. The youngest boy's eyes fluttered open slowly and blinked.

"Say wha?"

"Was it really that dull for you?" Kari asked, wandering over with TK holding her hand.

"Sorry. I was just really tired…" Daisuke trailed off and stood up, grabbing his bags off of the floor and following the others out into the main mall.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, shall we grab dinner here?" TK questioned as they walked by the food court.

"Might as well, it's like 6pm," Matt answered.

"Are you going to call Mom?" Kari asked her older brother.

"Do you have any spare change?" he bounced back a question.

"I have a cell phone." TK reached into his pocket and took out a small silver flip-phone.

"Awesome, save some change!" Tai cheered and swiped the phone and dialed the home number all in one fluid motion.

"Hey Mom, Tai here. All five of us are at the mall, we're grabbing our own food so don't worry about us and we'll be home before eight or nine. Bye." Tai hung up the phone and handed it back to the younger blue-eyed.

"Nobody there?" Matt asked.

"Nope, got the machine, which means that she and Michael are probably out. Again."

"Mom said that they were going to go visit Dad's parents tonight," Daisuke informed his older brother.

"Good, at least she didn't drag us along this year," Kari muttered and sat at an empty table.

"Yeah, that is a plus. Anyway, what are we doing for food?" Tai changed the subject easily, not wanting to talk about his stepfather.

"I want Burger King," Kari replied and leaned back in her chair.

"That sounds good," TK said thoughtfully.

"Whatever, I claim pizza." Tai shrugged and fished around for his wallet in the bags of purchases he bought.

"We just had pizza," Matt snorted in disgust.

"So?"

"Never mind. I want Taco Bell," the patched one decided.

"Ooh, that sounds good too. I want that!" Tai changed his mind suddenly.

"You are the most indecisive person I've met, you know that?" Matt asked rhetorically. Tai nodded and looked at his younger brother, who was sitting in a chair across the table from Kari.

"What kind of food do you want, kid?" Tai asked gently, knowing that there was something going on with the boy, but unsure of what it was.

"I don't have any money left," Daisuke lied through the skin of his teeth.

"That's okay, I'll pay for it," the older brother offered. Daisuke opened his mouth, and then closed it, trying to think of something to say that would get him out of eating other than, 'Tai, I'm sick.' There was no other way however, so he did what he could.

"Taco Bell sounds fine. I'll come with you. TK can stay here with Kar." Daisuke shrugged and got to his feet, following the older boys to the Taco Bell line. TK got up from the table and with a few words to Kari, jumped into the Burger King line.

"What can I get for you?" the cashier at Taco Bell asked Tai.

"Let's see, I'll take four Chalupa Bajas, a Mountain Dew, and…what do you want Dais?" He turned back to face his carbon-copy.

"Nachos," was the short reply.

"And an order of the Nachos BellGrande," Tai finished off.

"No."

"What no?"

"Just plain nachos."

"That's it?" Tai gave Daisuke a questioning look. Daisuke nodded and folded his arm back across his stomach.

"And a 7-up would be a good thing too." The cashier totaled everything and Tai handed her the money. They took their order and stood off to the side, waiting for Matt to order and grab his meal. Tai leaned against the wall and gave his brother another skeptical look.

"…what?" Daisuke asked slowly.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You lie. You didn't have breakfast this morning and now you ordered a small dinner. What's up?" Daisuke sighed and avoided Tai's eyes.

"If you're going to interrogate me, then I'm going to go sit down," he shot back and grabbed his food, walking away from him and back to his sister. Tai scratched his head briefly and turned to Matt, who had suddenly appeared by his side.

"Troubles?" Matt smirked and the two began to walk back over to the table.

"Yeah…he's not telling me something. And I don't like it."

"Tai, you can't have complete control over both of them."

"You don't get it. You haven't been an older brother for more then what, seven hours? Trust me, it's hard. And I just naturally worry about their well-being is all."

"That's deep man."

"Shut it!" Tai laughed and sat down next to Daisuke, who was across from Kari, who was next to TK who was across from Tai who was next to Matt. Conversation switched around a few times during the meal, all the while both older boys keeping an eye on Daisuke. The youngest was poking at his food blankly, only eating it every now and then when he knew Tai was watching him. Tai's face was suddenly set and he forced Daisuke to look at him.

"All right, what the hell is the matter with you? You are so out of it!" he snapped, the suspense getting to him. Daisuke struggled out of Tai's grip and glared back.

"Just shut up, Tai! It's nothing! For the last damn time, it's nothing!" Kari stood up and moved next to Daisuke, sitting in Tai's lap to look at him.

"You seem stressed out…are you sure everything's okay?" she spoke in a motherly tone, something she apparently had been practicing. Daisuke stared at her and blinked.

"I…I just…" he started to choke out but couldn't get very far in his sentence before all dams broke and he burst into tears. Both Yagami siblings jumped in shock and Kari got off of Tai's lap, allowing Daisuke to have that spot instead. Daisuke toppled into Tai's lap and continued sobbing as Tai instinctively wrapped his arms around him.

"Hey, calm down…what's the matter?" Tai brushed parts of Daisuke's hair out of his eyes.

"He's sick," Matt said from behind him, leaning over Tai's shoulder suddenly.

"Really?" Tai looked at the boy sitting on him and realized that he did look rather pale and drained. "And you couldn't tell me this why?" Tai raised an eyebrow. Daisuke shrugged and sniffed.

"Didn't want you to worry. And it's Christmas…I don't wanna be sick on Christmas." He wiped his eyes and started to catch his breath.

"Like we weren't going to worry when you reacted like this," Kari chided. Tai sent her a look signaling her to hush and looked back at Daisuke.

"Despite how she said it, Kari's right. We would probably worry more about you totally breaking down than if you had just told us," Tai said quietly. Daisuke blinked a few times and nodded.

"Okay then. Tai, I don't feel very well," he moaned slightly and rested his head against his brother's chest. Tai sighed and ruffled Daisuke's hair.

"I think that means it's time to go home," Tai announced and stood up, helping Daisuke stand on his own two feet. His sister, her boyfriend, and his boyfriend also stood up and they all began to walk out of the mall.

Wait…Matt wasn't his boyfriend. Not yet at any rate. But it was nice to dream, wasn't it?

---

As soon as the five kids entered the large, and still empty, house, Tai helped Daisuke upstairs and got him settled into bed.

"And if Mom asks why I'm asleep so early?"

"I'll tell her it's because you want to have enough energy to be a nuisance tomorrow morning." Tai smiled at the tired cinnamon eyes and ruffled the mahogany hair once more.

"Thanks, Tai." Daisuke closed his eyes and snuggled deeper into his pillow.

"Night Dais…hopefully you'll be feeling better by tomorrow," Tai said to him and turned off the lamp, closing the door quietly behind him. Matt was waiting for Tai outside of his room, patiently looking at things on the walls.

"How's he doing?" Matt asked, heading downstairs with Tai.

"He says his stomach's still kind of upset but he feels slightly better now that he's in his own bed. He doesn't have a fever or anything though, so I think he's just stressed about the holidays," Tai repeated the same thing he had told himself earlier.

"What does he have to be stressed about?"

"Nothing really. He just gets really excited and then he'll get really worried about little details and he stresses over things that don't even exist."

"Makes sense."

"Does it really?"

"…no not really." Matt grinned and jumped off the last stair. Tai stuck out his tongue and shook his head.

"That was mean," Tai retorted and walked to the front door, opening it slightly.

"What are you-"

"Snow!" Tai screamed in delight. Kari came skidding in from the kitchen with an ice cream spoon in her hand.

"What?" she asked, preparing herself for attack.

"Snow," Tai repeated himself calmly, pointing at the white powder that was floating through the sky and drifting onto the ground.

"Oh…I thought you meant something serious," Kari mocked her brother. Tai's eyes bulged from their sockets and he turned to face Kari with an expression one might have if someone had died a tragic death.

"Kari…it's snow. It is serious!" he shouted again.

"Okay fine, I believe you."

"What's going on?" TK came out of the kitchen with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

"Snowing." Kari pointed out the door.

"Right on! That's so cool, snow on Christmas," TK repeated what had been said earlier that morning.

"Can we go play in it, Kari? Please?" Tai gave Kari the best puppy eyes he could create.

"Wait, we?" Matt said suddenly.

"Yes, you can go play. TK and I will watch Dais." Kari waved her brother out the door. Tai let out another whoop of delight and jammed on his boots along with his thicker blue jacket.

"C'mon Matt!" Tai grinned and waited for his friend to get dressed to go out too.

"Tai, I'm not a big fan of snow…"

"It'll be fun, please? For me?" Tai turned his puppy eyes onto Matt. The cobalt-eyed teen groaned and tugged on his shoes once more.

"Fine, we'll go play for a little while," he grumbled and slipped on his black jacket.

"Yay!" Tai beamed happily and practically pulled him outside.

"Whoa!" Matt was caught off-guard and almost fell face-first into the snow.

"It's 8:30, guys! Be back by ten!" Kari hollered after them and shut the door. Tai waved and the two boys began walking down the street, one knowing the way and the other following for the hell of it.

"Where are we even going?" Matt asked finally.

"You'll see. Patience, Yama-sama." Tai's eyes sparkled as he continued walking.

"Yama-sama?"

"Eh, it rhymed."

"Dork."

"Dork with a spork!"

"Really?"

"Meet Bob." Tai reached into his pocket and pulled out a white plastic spork. A look of amusement crossed Matt's face and he snickered.

"Hello, Bob."

"Bob loves you!"

"Tai, get that stupid spork away from my face!"

"Aw, but you'll make Bob sad!"

"Bob can go burn!"

"Be nice to Bob!"

"Stupid Bob."

"Bob says you're stupid too, Yama-sama."

"Stop calling me that! Oh wow…I'm talking to a spork."

"Hee, welcome to Taichi's World of Insanity!"

"God, how do I escape?"

"You don't!" Matt took one look at the deranged look on his friend's face and burst into laughter. Of course, it was hard not to laugh around Tai; he was just so…well, funny. Tai erased the crazed look and laughed as well, leading Matt into an area with lots of trees.

"Where are we, Tai?" the American asked the brunet. Tai stepped in front of him and waved his arm behind him.

"This is Odaiba Park. The snow's still fresh…nobody's been out here for hours, including dogs!"

"No yellow snow then. How wonderful."

"Exactly! Come on!" Tai grabbed Matt's wrist and began to run forward, dragging Matt behind him like a puppy.

"Ow, jeeze!" Matt protested and began running on his own. Tai grinned and flopped down on a clean patch of snow.

"What are you doing?"

"Makin' a snow angel. You should try it, it's fun!" Tai repeated himself.

"You think anything that has to do with snow is fun."

"Well it is!" Tai sat up carefully and climbs out of his angel, examining his masterpiece.

"We-ell, your turn!" Tai declared and knocked Matt to the ground so he was flat on his back.

"Fine, if I make the stupid angel, will you be happy?" Tai nodded assertively and waited. With a sigh, Matt laid down with his arms and legs pressed close to him and began to spread them apart, making a decent snow angel.

"That should be good, Matt," Tai spoke, perfectly happy about getting his way. He walked over and held out a hand, helping his light friend up. The two boys stood back and looked over their angels.

"Well, your angel has a bush for a head just like you do!" Matt gave Tai a cheeky smile.

"Hey!"

"The truth hurts man, the truth hurts."

"You shall meet your maker!"

"What?" Tai flew through the air and landed on Matt, knocking him over again. The two boys wrestled around in the snow, but not aggressively like they had been a few months ago. The match ended about 20 feet from their original spot, with Tai on top of Matt, both of them covered in snow and red in the cheeks.

"Told you the snow was fun," Tai whispered. Matt nodded and stared into Tai's eyes. Having him sleep in the same bed was pushing his luck, but with him on top of him? That was way too much. So he did what came natural to him: he slipped his hand into his pocket once more.

Tai stared back at Matt, eyes enticed by the dazed cobalt orbs. He knew that he should take his chance and run with it right now. They were alone, it was quiet and dark, and he was on the top.

What better setting was there for a kiss?

Slowly, Tai leaned in further, but not enough to startle Matt. However, Matt seemed all but anxious, watching, and waiting. Tai's lips were soon hovering over Matt's own and he bent down the finally few centimeters.

"Woof!" A deep bark came from behind the two boys.

"Shit!" Tai shouted and rocketed off of Matt, who also had scrambled away from the dog.

"Okay…really big dog…middle of a dark park."

"Now look who's rhyming."

"Shut up, Tai, this is serious!"

"Wait a second." Tai stood up and wandered closer to the dog.

"Tai! What are you doing?" Tai ignored Matt's hushed whispers and stood in front of the dog, coming nose to nose with the German Shepard.

"Rambo?" he questioned, poking the dog in the nose. Rambo barked cheerfully and licked Tai's face.

"You know the dog?" Matt cautiously walked closer.

"This is Sora's dog," Tai replied, patting Rambo on the head.

"Rambo!" Sora's voice was heard off in the distance.

"Speaking of, there she is," Tai chuckled and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Sora! Over here!" his voice echoed through the empty park. The girl soon emerged from another area, dressed in an outfit similar to Tai's, only the outfit was grey with blue paw prints.

'Must be a school thing.' Matt thought vaguely.

"Hey, Tai! Rambo! You rascal, why'd you take off, huh?" Sora knelt by her dog and rubbed his neck.

"He decided it would be fun to scare us shitless," Tai replied with a look of mock-anger.

"Aw, how sad. I missed it!" She smirked.

"Rude!" Tai pouted. Sora rolled her eyes and smiled at Matt.

"Hey Matt, how are you?" she greeted him.

Was this the same girl he had met back in November?

"I'm doing great, you?"

"Wonderful. It's Christmas, it's snowing, and my family's all home for the holidays," she said in delight, scratching Rambo behind the ears.

"That's great, Sora," Tai rejoined the conversation.

"Yep. What are you two doing out here so late? It's nearly 9:30," she questioned the males, both of whom couldn't think of how to respond. Matt gave Tai a pointed look which was rewarded with Tai's helpless look.

"Tai decided he wanted to go play in the snow," Matt came up with a half-way decent excuse and brushed some white powder from his hair.

"Sounds like Tai."

"Yep!" Tai saluted the two of them with two fingers.

"Dork!" both other teens said simultaneously.

"With a spork!"

"Oh, please leave Bob in your pocket, Tai. It's Christmas," Sora begged her brunet friend.

"You've met Bob too?" Matt asked.

"I was there when Bob first came into existence." Sora's face fell into a look of disbelief. Suddenly, Rambo started barking again and ran off, chasing after something.

"Rambo!" Sora called after her dog who kept on running.

"Don't worry about it, Sor, I'll track him down," Matt assured the redhead and took off running after Rambo, yelling his name and other obscenities. Sora grinned and turned to Tai.

"Good boy."

"What'd you do?" Tai questioned his female company.

"I just gave Rambo a little pinch on the ear. He knows that means to run for about ten minutes before coming back."

"Why?"

"Because I trained him that way, and because I wanted to talk to you alone."

"About what?" Tai felt like he was asking too many questions and sat on the snow-covered bench. Sora sat next to him and grinned.

"How are things coming along between you and Mato?" She used yet another version of Matt's name in addressing the issue of the blond boy.

"Well, slowly but surely. I don't know, Sora. Although what you did the last time we saw you did kind of give him a kick in the butt."

"Why?"

"He asked if I liked you. Then I said I'd rather be with him then you, no offense by the way, and he seemed totally satisfied."

"Glad I could be of some help," Sora teased her childhood friend.

"Always."

"So like…have you done anything yet?"

"Well…no. I've been really touchy around him lately…and we slept in the same bed two nights ago." Tai's face began to heat slightly at the memory.

"Whoa!"

"No, not like that! He had a nightmare, so I was all comforting about it. And we were about to kiss before Rambo decided to jump in." Tai glared at the girl slightly.

"Sorry, he was being a pest, so Mom made me go out to walk him. He got away from me."

"Oh well. But the thing is, he was going to let me." Tai's eyes danced in front of Sora.

"Really?"

"He wasn't even protesting the fact that I kept getting closer. My gosh, do you know what this means?"

"He was too shocked to move?"

"Maybe…I was more hoping for the fact that he likes me too!" Tai fought back the urge to squeal like a schoolgirl.

"Tai, just be careful okay? We don't need another Haru incident."

"I know. But Matt would never be like Haru, ever."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again, that's all. You know that, right?" Tai nodded and trapped Sora in a friendly and tight hug.

"I know. I appreciate it a lot too. You were always there for me during the whole Haru-saga, and I shouldn't have dragged you through it too." Sora returned the hug and waved off his comment.

"That's what friends are for, right?"

"Right." The two sat in silence, waiting for Rambo and Matt to return.

"So, do you plan on moving in on him again?"

"Let's just say, by the end of break, I'm hoping I can call him mine."

"I'll be the first to know, won't I?"

"Well, besides Daisuke, and maybe Kari if she's being good. Otherwise, of course."

Sora giggled slightly and noticed Rambo running back through the distance. "Good to know," she stated and stood up, watching Rambo and Matt run closer. The boy and dog arrived on the scene, the dog wagging his tail like mad, and the boy panting from the long-distance running.

"Well, that was fun." Matt smiled weakly and brushed the beads of sweat from his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't think he would keep running for so long." Sora absentmindedly stroked Rambo's fur.

"That's okay; I needed the exercise to stay sexy." Matt winked. Sora giggled again and nodded.

"Oh yeah, we couldn't have an anti-sexy Ishida, now could we?"

"Nope!" Matt agreed whole-heartedly. Sora grinned and gave each boy one last hug.

"Night guys, and Merry Christmas!" She waved at them and started jogging off with Rambo.

"Bye, Sora! Merry Christmas!" both boys shouted at her retreating form. Tai rolled up his sleeve and looked at his watch.

"It's almost 10. We better go." Tai shook out his hair and sent little water droplets flying.

"All right, fine by me," Matt replied and they started walking back the direction they came.

"Was that really Sora?" Matt asked.

"Of course it was. Why?" Tai slipped his hands into his coat pocket.

"It just didn't seem like her. That's all."

"Oh." Tai smiled, knowing what he was referring to. The two boys reached the Yagami-Motomiya household and quietly stepped inside, toeing off their shoes and peeling off their jackets.

"Everybody's already asleep?" Tai questioned.

"It's Christmas Eve, Tai. Santa only comes when everyone's asleep," Matt joked as they made their way upstairs.

"…who?"

"Oh you're kidding!"

"Nope."

"Okay, Santa. Santa Clause? Ho ho ho?"

"What is it with people calling me a ho? Do I really look that slutty?" Tai ran a hand through his hair.

"No! Tai, listen. In America, children believe in this guy named Santa Clause. He wears a red suit, lives in the North Pole, have eight reindeer, well nine if you count Rudolph, and he goes around the world delivering everybody's Christmas presents!" Matt explained breathlessly. In return, his friend stared at him like he had lost it.

"That's great, Matt." He gave him a thumbs-up and shook his head.

"Never mind."

"Exactly. So, this Santa guy, he brings you any presents you want?"

"Yep."

"Hmm…interesting. Usually it's just my mom who buys us stuff." Tai looked thoughtful for a moment. Matt sighed and shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. Just go to bed; tomorrow's Christmas and you have family coming," Matt reminded the mud-eyed boy while stifling a yawn.

"Exactly. I'm off, good night," Tai beckoned to the American and gave him a light hug, one that Matt awkwardly returned.

"What's up with the hugging?" Matt couldn't help but ask.

"I just feel in a fluffy, hugging mood!"

"Right. G'night." Matt ignored Tai's weirdness and walked into his bedroom across the hall. Tai smiled slightly and walked down the hall towards his sister's room, slowly turning the handle of the door. He found her lying in bed silently with her radio playing in the background and her eyes closed.

"Yep, she's out," Tai chuckled to himself and stepped over to her, watching her closely as he knelt to her level. He never noticed how grateful he was for Kari, even if she did drive him nuts sometimes.

"Guess Christmas can do that to you. Make you feel lucky for what you have," Tai mused on that thought. He bent down and lightly kissed Kari's cheek, smiling to himself when she curled up closer towards him.

"She probably thinks it's TK," he snickered and got up, glancing at her one more time.

"Merry Christmas, Light," he spoke into the darkness and lightly stepped out of Kari's room. He headed back down the hall and carefully turned the doorknob of his own room. He walked in cautiously and closed the door behind him, checking his footing all the way. He stopped over at Daisuke's bed and knelt down, watching his brother breathe. The younger boy was curled into a tight little ball, breathing deeply and evenly. Tai smiled and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Daisuke's ear.

"Merry Christmas, little bro," he whispered and kissed his forehead, rubbing the top of his hair. He stood up and headed for his own bed, crawling under the covers after stripping down to his boxers and slipping on a t-shirt he found on the floor. He let his mind wander briefly and it landed on what Matt had said. That thing about Santa or whatever his name was. He brought people whatever they wanted.

"Dear Santa, for Christmas, I would like Yamato's heart. If you could do that for me, that would be super," he said to no one in particular and closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall asleep.

---

TK opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the sudden light. It didn't take long for it to dawn on him that it was Christmas Day. Which meant a multitude of things obviously, but he only had one on his mind for the time being.

"Presents!" he rejoiced and bounced from his futon onto Matt's bed, causing his brother to topple off.

"What!" He sat up in alarm from his place on the floor with his eyes wide.

"Merry Christmas, older brother of mine!" TK grinned down at him.

"Merry Christmas, Teeks. Get off of my bed," Matt replied and pushed TK off, snuggling back under his covers.

"Oh come on, Matt, get up! It's Christmas morning! Don't you want to open presents and all that crap before Kari's family gets here?" TK persuaded the older boy as he proceeded to tug at the bedding.

"Right. I forgot people were coming over today," Matt sighed and sat up once more, allowing TK to pull him out of the bed.

"So, let's go find those three, exchange presents, and call it good!" TK decided and headed out the door towards Kari's room. Matt shook his head at his brother's eagerness to spend Christmas with his girlfriend and walked across the hall to Tai and Daisuke's bedroom. Opening the door, he plunged into the dark silent room.

Well, save for the booming sounds of Tai's snores.

Stepping over a pair of dirty boxers and slipping on another Playstation manual, he finally made it to Tai's bedside. Leaning down next to his best friend's ear, he grinned mischievously and took a deep breath.

"Merry Christmas!" he hollered, resulting in Tai shooting straight up, much like he had earlier that morning.

"Christmas!" Tai exclaimed and scrambled out of bed, digging through his drawers to find a pair of pants. Matt decided to help him out and tossed him the pants he was wearing yesterday. Tai caught the sweatpants with ease and slid them on over his boxers.

"You just like looking at the paw prints, don't you?" the brunet teased the blond.

"Oh yeah, because they are so sexy." Matt rolled his eyes and drew up the blinds, flooding the room with sunlight. Tai hissed at the sudden light and shielded his eyes automatically.

"Oh get a grip." Matt clicked his tongue and glanced over at Daisuke's bed, only to realize the youngest wasn't there.

"Where'd your brother go?" he questioned. Tai paused briefly and looked around, a confused look plastered onto his face.

"You know, that's a good question. A very good question," Tai said slowly and trekked out of his room, wandering into his mother's bedroom. Matt followed him closely and they entered, searching all of the area.

"Well, not in here." Tai shrugged and they walked back out, standing in the hall thinking.

"He wouldn't be in Kari's room, would he?" Matt asked, leaning against the wall next to Tai's door.

"Nope, she'd pummel him. And it's too early for him to actually be downstairs…unless he went to play the Playstation," Tai added as an after-thought.

"Sounds possible." Matt nodded in agreement and pushed himself away from the wall. Tai turned as well and the two oldest teens headed down the stairs quietly, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves. They walked into the den and saw…nothing. The TV was on Cartoon Network, showing a re-run of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Matt glanced up on the cabinet next to the TV. The clock said it was 7:30am. The throw pillows on the couch were tossed on the floor and in different spots of the couch and the blanket laid in the center in a mess.

"Apparently, he was here," Matt stated the obvious. Tai nodded lightly and allowed his eyes to scan the room. They soon landed on the bathroom door which was slightly ajar, allowing the light to stream through the crack. He briskly stepped over to the door, pushing it all the way open. Inside was Daisuke curled up in a ball on the floor, halfway between the door and the toilet and wrapped up in his favorite blanket. Tai suppressed a sigh and walked closer, kneeling down next to his brother.

"Hey, wake up, Dais," he prodded Daisuke, poking at his shoulder. Daisuke whined slightly and moved away from Tai's touch. Tai frowned slightly and shook his gently, finally getting Daisuke to open his eyes.

"What?" he croaked and blinked sleepily.

"It's Christmas morning, kiddo. Time to get up," Tai said in a kind tone, letting Daisuke know he wasn't in any hurry. The young boy sat upright and looked at his surroundings. "What are you doing down here?" Tai asked the undying question. Matt stood in the doorway and watched, deciding to let Tai handle the whole thing.

"I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I came down here to watch TV." Tai nodded and hugged Daisuke from behind.

"What are you doing in here then?" he rephrased his question.

"I started feeling sick again," came the reply Tai was expecting. Cautiously, he peered over at the toilet and nearly gagged himself. Shaking his head, he flushed away the contents and looked back at Daisuke.

"More like you were sick again."

Daisuke shrugged and nodded. "But I feel better now. I guess I just ended up falling asleep in here because I was so exhausted," he assured his brother, standing up on his own to prove his point. Tai gave him a suspicious look and bit his lip. He had two options. He could either make Daisuke go to bed and tell his mother that he was sick, or he could just let him ignore his illness.

"Look Daisuke, here's what we'll do."

"Hmm?"

"You can stay out of bed for Christmas and see everybody." A grin split onto the round face. "But!" Tai continued, reinstating the fact that there were two ends of the deal.

"But…?" Daisuke repeated.

"As soon as you start feeling sick, at all, or as soon as I notice you're not feeling well, you're going to bed. Agreed?" Daisuke brushed off the brotherly tone and walked past Tai out into the den.

"Yeah sure, whatever," he muttered and ran upstairs to get dressed into something decent. Tai slumped his shoulders in defeat and turned, walking out into the den with Matt.

"Sometimes I worry he's going to get himself killed or something," he voiced his worries and the two boys headed in the same direction as Daisuke.

"He'll be fine. He's a fighter, and he's got a lot of spunk anyway. He's not going to let a little flu slow him down." Matt did his best to cheer Tai up.

"Yeah, maybe. Anyway, are we doing presents with my sibs and your bro right now?"

"That's what TK and I decided on."

"That sounds like a good idea."

"Of course it's a good idea, it was my idea," TK said as he and Kari both appeared in the hall at the sounds of their voices. Both teens were fully dressed and ready for company. "We already brought everything into Kari's room, including Daisuke."

"So hurry it up already, everybody's going to be here soon," Kari added and disappeared back into her room. TK and the two boys walked behind her and closed the door, staring at the pile of presents in the middle of Kari's bedroom floor. She sat down next to the stack and began pulling out various packages, delivering them to their recipients.

"Dai, Tai, Tai, Matt, TK, TK, Dai, Dai, Matt, Kari, Kari, Kari, Kari, Tai, Matt." Several small packages flew through the air at each boy who in turn had quite a time trying to catch everything without them breaking.

"Matt, go first!" Kari exclaimed as she tinkered with her packages. Patches nodded and opened the first slightly smaller package.

"Daisuke? When did you buy me something?"

"When you were busy with Tai's," the mahogany-haired boy grinned. Matt ripped off the paper and bit back a smile.

"American Idiot. Smooth man, very smooth."

"I noticed you had the shirt but not the CD and Tai mentioned you liked Green Day so I figured, why not?" Daisuke shrugged slightly.

"Thanks, kid. I was going to buy this sometime after Christmas before we headed back to the Academy." Matt tucked the CD behind him and moved onto the next package. It was smaller then the first, but it's value was more then it's size.

"New strings and picks," he smirked.

"I figured that since you're living with Tai, things will get broken." Kari grinned both at Matt and her brother.

"Hey!" Tai pouted. Matt laughed at his friend's expression and moved onto his last package.

"It's not much Matt, but it's really all I could think of," TK spoke up. Matt gave him a puzzling look and ripped open the package, indeed shocked by the contents.

A silver frame made up of rose and vines designs framing a picture of himself, his father, his mother, and a small blanket in his mother's arms, which he presumed was TK. Matt blinked several times and examined the photograph closer. He drew in a deep breath and looked at his brother.

"I just kind of thought you would like it…I asked Mom to send it here…yeah," TK stopped trying to make sense and waited for Matt's reaction. The older boy continued staring at the picture in awe before leaning over and hugging the younger.

"Thank you," he whispered into his ear and pulled away slowly, biting at his lip again. TK nodded and began prodding at his own gifts. He opened the first one and laughed loudly.

"Let me guess. Matt?" he asked as he held up the black fisherman hat.

"Naturally." Matt nodded as he clung to the picture frame. TK opened his last parcel and smiled.

"Well, trying to be romantic, miss?" He smiled at Kari as he pulled out the polar bear with a rose in his mouth hugging a bottle of Hershey's Kisses.

"Am I succeeding?" she countered.

"Always," TK softly kissed her cheek.

"Gross!" Tai shielded his eyes.

"Oh please." Kari rolled her eyes and tossed one of his presents at his head.

"Okay, I get it!" Tai tore into his presents. He first pulled out a hair brush.

"Funny, Kari, very funny." He sent her a mock-glare.

"I thought so," she replied with her own cheesy grin. He opened the next gift from his brother.

"American Idiot?"

"Well, I couldn't really think of what to get you, so I just got you and Matt the same thing." His brother gave him a sheepish grin as a drop of sweat fell down the side of his face.

"I think you're a Japanese Idiot, you know that?" Tai shook his head and unwrapped the last gift. He held the sketchbook in his hands momentarily, blinking in surprise as he opened it, flipping through the pages. He turned it over once he realized he had it backwards and spotted his name engraved in gold.

"How did you know…" he started to say but failed to finish his sentence.

"I just did." Matt grinned impishly.

"It's awesome," Tai breathed out as he felt his fingers already itching to draw. While Tai was busy fawning over his new book, Kari had unwrapped her presents of new memory cards for her digital camera, a box of chocolates, a new camera to go with her memory cards, and a heart-shaped pendant hanging from a sterling silver chain.

Daisuke received a box of chocolates similar to Kari's, Jak 3, and a new memory card for his Playstation. All in all, he was satisfied.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, you three need to get dressed. Mom said everybody would be here in an hour," Kari informed her brothers and Matt as she got off of her floor.

"I claim the shower first!" Daisuke shouted and bounced up, darting out of Kari's room and into the main bathroom.

"While you're in there, brush your teeth!" Tai hollered after him and got up as well, helping Matt to his feet. The two older boys grabbed all of their things and headed back into their own rooms to set them down and select their outfits.

Matt propped the picture up next to his temporary bed and sat down, continuing to look it over. The people in the photograph seemed so happy. He himself had a gigantic smile spread across his face.

So why did he feel so miserable?

Oh, he remembered. His family was torn in half, his father was remarried, apparently his mother was remarried, his brother was still practically a stranger to him, and he received nothing from his best friend.

Not that he solely valued presents. But it would have been nice. Maybe Tai didn't appreciate Matt like Matt appreciated Tai. After all, Tai had plenty of other friends. What made him different then any of them? Probably nothing. He sighed to himself and pulled out a nice black long-sleeved shirt that buttoned up the front. He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. But he did anyway, and now he was paying the price.

'Live and Learn, Yamato. Just live and learn.' He thought idly as he changed into his shirt, leaving the white undershirt he wore on. He wasn't even going to bother showering. He smelt fine and his hair wasn't greasy yet. He kicked off his pajama bottoms and tossed them away, picking up a pair of plain jeans and wriggling into them. Had he gained weight? He sincerely hoped not.

'That's the last thing I need.' he mentally groaned, already feeling the onset of a bad mood. He slipped on a clean pair of socks and stared at his hair. It still fell into his normal spiky style, even without the aid of the gel he usually used. He shrugged to himself and walked away.

'Not like it matters anyway.' He descended the stairs and found Daisuke in the den once more, already plugged into his newest game.

"Hey Matt," he greeted him briefly as he blew up another enemy.

"Hey," Matt said softly, leaning back into the couch and staring blankly at the screen. His thoughts were still racing around in circles. Why did he really care about his value in Tai's eyes? What did it matter? He only did things to please himself. Forget trying to please anybody else.

Then again, all along, he knew he had been trying to win Tai's approval, hence him wearing normal pants instead of his black baggy ones. Daisuke remained oblivious to Matt's distress and left the American to stew in his own negativity. No sooner then that, Tai came bounding into the room, dressed in his usual pair of jeans and a red T-shirt that stated the words, 'Keep Staring and I Might Do A Trick' finished off with a pair of white cotton socks on his feet.

"Hey you guys, Mom and Michael want us up on the main level. Everybody's supposed to be here in ten minutes," he relayed the message to his brother and best friend, still grinning cheerfully. Daisuke put his game on pause and looked at Tai curiously.

"Dad's home?"

"Yeah. Guess so." Tai shrugged. Daisuke grinned slightly and got up, walking away from the game without a second thought. Matt had yet to move from his seat however and continued to stare at the frozen picture.

"Hey, buddy, c'mon. Everybody's upstairs," Tai called out to the boy, still standing by the stairway. Matt turned his head nonchalantly and stared at Tai, rising to his feet and joining him by the stairs.

'Don't let on that you're bothered and maybe you can make it through the day.' He reassured himself as they climbed the three stairs, Matt staring at his feet and Tai staring at Matt. He instantly knew something was wrong in his best friend's world, but he figured it would be best to leave it alone before he ruined the holiday for both of them. Matt continued staring at the ground when he suddenly ran into somebody.

"Oh, sorry," he apologized automatically and raised his eyes, looking at a face he wasn't familiar with. The man appeared to be in his late 40s with light brown hair and eyes to match. Almost a cinnamon color actually. Matt stopped thinking and back-tracked on that thought. He looked closer at the eyes and realized that they were the same as Daisuke's.

"Who the hell are you?" the man asked him, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"He's one of my friends, Michael. Mom said he could stay here for Christmas," Tai quickly explained and walked away, pulling Matt along behind him. Matt pulled away from Tai's grip and gave him a strange look.

"That's Dais's dad?"

"Yeah, terrible isn't it?" Tai smirked.

"He doesn't seem very…nice," Matt put it bluntly.

"He's not. That's why he has a job where we rarely have to see him." The doorbell rang then, cutting off Tai's miniature rant. He headed into the front hall where Ami stood, dressed in a pair of nice white pants and a blue blouse and opened the door. On the other side stood a woman who appeared to be an older version of Ami with black hair instead of the light brown. Next to her was a slightly taller man with deep brown, almost black eyes and navy blue hair and behind them were three boys, all lugging different piles of presents. The two older-looking boys looked like the mother and were built pretty decently, carrying the most presents into the Yagami-Motomiya household. The youngest was slightly scrawny and had the father's features, right down to the blue hair. His glasses kept slipping down the bridge of his nose as he tried to maneuver his way into the door with a particularly large box.

"Tai, stop standing there gawking and help Jyou! Jeeze," Ami commanded her oldest. Tai sprung into action and grabbed the box from Jyou, setting it down in the sitting room where the Christmas tree was.

"It's so wonderful to see you, Ami!" Chiyo Kido embraced her younger sister.

"Always a pleasure, Chiyo! Merry Christmas." Ami returned the embrace. She turned around and took a deep breath.

"Kids, get out here!" her voice echoed throughout the house. TK, Kari, and Daisuke all entered the front all in mere seconds.

"Ami, when did you and Michael have two more kids?" Chiyo's husband Rikyu questioned his sister-in-law.

"Oh, those are Tai and Kari's friends. Matt and TK," Ami pointed out each blonde.

"Pleasure to meet you both," Chiyo said in a pleasant tone. Rikyu nodded in their direction. Ami turned to the five kids and waved towards the other end of the house.

"Why don't you take your cousins down to the den until dinner's ready?" she suggested, already heading into the kitchen with her sister.

"Sure Mom. Come on guys." Tai motioned for everybody to follow him. The five kids, along with the three brothers, headed into the den and sprawled out wherever they felt comfortable.

"All right, just for Matt and TK, this is Shin." Tai pointed to the oldest Kido brother.

"Shuu." Kari pointed to the middle child.

"And Jyou." Daisuke pointed out the last brother.

"Great to see you three finally have friends," Shin joked.

"Hey now! It's Christmas. Don't make me have to kick your ass," Kari joked right back.

"Hey Dais, mind if I turn off the PS2?" Shuu asked, already half-way through the process. Daisuke sighed and shrugged.

"I suppose not."

"Cool because there's a basketball game on that I wanna catch," Shuu replied and flipped through the channels.

"Really? Who's playing?" TK asked eagerly, turning his focus to the TV.

"It's an American game, Lakers vs. Sonics."

"Who cares, it's basketball!" TK jumped onto the couch next to Shuu and began watching the game.

"Oh god," Kari sighed.

"Basketball fanatic?" Shin asked the only female in the room.

"Yep. Very much so," She replied.

"Oh well, you get used to it." Shin smiled. Kari giggled and nodded.

"Are you still studying to be a doctor, Shin?"

"Yeah, I just started this section on open-heart surgery." Matt decided that it would be the best thing to tune out the rest of that conversation and focused on who was left. He noticed that Daisuke had slipped out of the room at some point, leaving him with Tai and Jyou.

"So, how ya been, Joe?" Tai referred to Jyou by his nickname.

"Pretty good I guess. Although cold and flu season is picking up. Do you know how many places you can pick up germs? And the snow! I practically broke my back when I slipped on the ice." Tai shook his head and grinned strangely.

"Same old Jyou," he confirmed.

"Did you really expect anything less, Tai?"

"No…"

"You really need to learn inside of reality."

"Why, it's no fun."

"It's not about being fun."

"Is too!"

"No!" Matt sighed and leaned back, closing his eyes briefly as the bantering continued.

'This could go on for a while.'

---

Dinner was just ending, and Matt wasn't sure how much longer he could possibly last. Tai had disappeared off to somewhere in the middle of the meal, leaving him with a bunch of strangers, his brother, and his best friend's younger siblings.

Oh yeah, this was really fun.

Just when he thought he was going to explode, Ami announced that they could all be excused from the table. It was 6pm and the company wouldn't be leaving for another two hours. As soon as he could, he pushed himself out of his chair and dashed up the stairs, leaving Kari and Daisuke to entertain their cousins. He felt sorry for his brother for a moment, leaving him behind with all of the strangers.

Then he realized that it wasn't his problem and that he didn't care.

He came to the landing and walked towards his room. He stopped though shortly before the door. Was that Christmas music he heard? He walked closer and listened, instantly recognizing the tune Jingle Bell Rock. Curiosity getting the best of him, he pushed the door open and his eyes widened, taking in everything he was seeing.

The room was lit with many tiny candles, vanilla-scented candles as a matter of fact. Gold confetti was strewn all over the floor and furniture and crystal snowflakes hung along the walls and across the window. Silver garland and tinsel laced everything in the room, catching the light from the candles and sparkling brightly. His gaze drifted over to the bed and it was then he saw the best part.

Lying on his bed with his head propped up was Tai, but not just ordinary Tai. This Tai was dressed up wearing a short-sleeved red velvet shirt with white faux fur on the collar and sleeves, along with a hood in the back. The shirt was a mid-drift shirt, so it revealed plenty of his toned abs, along with his silver bellybutton ring. That thing still looked pretty stupid in Matt's point of view, but it was Tai's choice, not his. For bottoms, Tai had on a pair of red shorts made of the same velvet material with white fur on the bottom and two strings hanging down to tighten the shorts, each with a little white fluff ball at the end.

It took him a few moments to register the fact that what Tai was wearing on the bottom was not a pair of shorts, but actually a very short skirt. Why hadn't he cut a hole in the pocket of these jeans? This most definitely wouldn't be easy.

"Well, Merry Christmas, Yamato," Tai said coyly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up.

"Tai, what are you doing?" Matt asked curiously, unsure of whether to be freaked out or turned on.

"Being Santa's helper," Tai used the same dominating tone, stepping closer to Matt.

"I thought you didn't know who Santa was."

"Oh no, I knew who he was. Just didn't know what he did," Tai corrected him and stopped right before him, pinning both of his hands on either side of Matt on the bedroom door. "But now that I know, I can help out with his Christmas duties," he whispered.

"What do you plan on doing?" Matt felt his own voice go lower.

"You'll just have to see, now won't you?" Tai moved away and walked over to the closet, bending down to look for something inside. Matt's eyes followed and widened once he realized how short the skirt really was

'Don't look at his ass, don't look at his ass, don't look at his ass.' He continued this repetitive chant in his mind, a chant the proved to be of no help.

'Oh screw it, it's Christmas! Indulge yourself!' Irrational came back for a visit. And for once, he decided to listen. However, Tai soon stood up and slung a brown bag over his shoulder, walking back towards Matt with his black boots clicking on the floor. Dropping the bag in front of Matt, he grinned a well-polished sexy grin.

"Santa told me you've been a very good boy this year. That may be something I'll have to change," Tai's voice switched from airy to husky.

"Really now?" Matt raised an eyebrow.

"You can't be nice all year around." Tai winked and shoved the bag closer. Taking it as a sign, Matt opened the bag and pulled out his present.

"Tai you can't be serious!" Matt gasped in awe at the sleek black guitar case.

"I noticed you didn't have one. So I bought one. Stuck on the stickers, etcetera." Tai grinned, fully pleased that Matt liked his present.

"It's beautiful!" Matt squeaked and looked over all of the stickers.

"Linkin Park, Green Day, AFI, Story of the Year, Anti-Flag, The Used, you are so totally cool!" Matt exclaimed.

"Something I'm naturally good at." Tai wiggled his eyebrows and twirled one of the drawstrings around on his finger.

"Why didn't you give it to me this morning?"

"I'm not done yet. That's just from Santa. Santa's helper needs to give his present."

"Which would be?" Matt looked up suddenly. Tai smirked and his eyes filled with lust once more.

"I'm so glad you asked," he said before diving into cold water, pressing his lips to Matt's firmly. Matt didn't struggle to pull away, but he didn't really respond either. How was he supposed to? He was in too much shock to even think straight, let alone control his tongue. Slowly, Tai pulled away and grinned.

"Merry Christmas, Yamato," he spoke once again and walked out of Matt's room with his boots clicking away, leaving him in his daze and confusion. As soon as he closed the door, he slid down to the ground with his back against it, head spinning from the sudden events. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and he opened the guitar case to see how much space was available.

He found that there was plenty, but he also found a small box tucked at one end. He should have known that his curiosity was going to lead to something bizarre by this point, but he didn't really give a damn. He grabbed the box and flipped it over. A sticky note was attached to the front, written in Tai's blocky handwriting.

'Don't go using them all in one night there, sexy. –Tai.' He read to himself before ripping away the paper.

"Oh great!" he half-laughed, half-groaned. A box of condoms. Tai had given him a box of condoms, a 12-pack at that. He shook his head and suddenly felt his nose itch. He wiped at it and threw the condoms back into the guitar case. A wet drop fell onto his hand, followed by another, and another. It suddenly dawned on him what was going on.

"Shit!" he yelped and darted out of his bedroom and into the bathroom, rapidly ripping off some toilet paper and pressing it to his nose.

"Where's a tampon when you need one?" he cursed at himself and moved over to the sink. He looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were still wide. He also noticed a few extra…minor details he had been trying not to let show throughout the day. He sighed and took away the paper when he thought it was safe. His nose was now raw, but at least it had stopped bleeding. Still panting slightly, Matt ran some cold water in the sink and splashed his face, calming himself down and taking away some of the heat he felt.

"Well then, jingle all the way," he muttered to himself and walked out of the bathroom, turning out the light behind him.

---

Again, this has been edited. But I'm reminded why this is one of my favorite chapters. It was so fun to write! And y'know that thing I said about never seeing a chapter as long as 31 pages from me in forever? Yeah…44 minus author's notes! Well, just think of it as a very nice Christmas present, huh? And if you didn't get a few things, go back and re-read the other chapters because I did some heavy editing, especially in chapter four. So yeah, happy holidays everybody!

Thanks to: kalizuta, DawnAurilain, Prince Izzy, I-L-K, Mistress of Weird, Gondawara Saburota, LGF, Octavo, GtaJake MK-II, LadyK Na-No-Da, TheSchizoFrenchFry, Sei Kou Ki, Blue Tajiri, SnakeMistress, YugiYamiforever, Melissa-T, nEo-cHaN, Aero-Grrl, KitsuneAkai13, The Kaizeress, Squrlie Jack, Dreamcrafter, essenceofthedark, desperateforu2update, hipa, Scoodoo58, Gohan Hugger, and Burning Angemon.

Trust the Fox.