AN: Wow, this is my second fast update. What would you guys prefer? Quick but short updates or lengthy but long updates? You also have to factor in my laziness and lack of ideas. Hehe, oops? Digimon, me no own.

TUTORING AND ROLLERBLADE LESSONS

Author: Strawberry'd

Genre: Romance, Drama, Humour

Anime: Digimon

Summery: Poor Tai had fallen fast and hard. So, when he swindles his love, Sora, into tutoring him, will he fall deeper into love, and will she fall in love with him? Won't know till you read!

Chapter Eight

"Taichi!" she called.

Huh, he thought, she stopped calling me Tai…

He was about to respond to her, but Mimi stepped into his vision and effectively blocked out Sora.

"Oh, uh, did you want something?" He asked, straining over her shoulder to see Sora.

Mimi smiled cheerfully at him. "Yes, yes I did. I just wanted to know -"

"Mhm," Taichi said, not really listening. His eyes were focused on the girl behind Mimi.

"Taichi, I got here," She said, panting a little, "as fast as I could, but I, oh, hi, Mimi."

Mimi stiffened a little and nodded shortly at her. "Taichi, I'll talk to you later."

"Mm," Taichi said, not really noticing, not really caring.

Mimi walked away, pursing her lips. So… he was with Sora. Sora was with him. Sora and Taichi… together.

Honestly, she thought, I don't know why I care so much; I usually do this as well. I guess you would call that hypocritical?

Mimi struggled to sort out her thoughts while watching, with a frown, the interaction between Taichi and Sora, her former best friend.

"So, this weekend?" Sora said, trying to hide the lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

Taichi raised an eyebrow at her tone. "Why, you don't want to come and repay me for all the hard work I did getting you a job and teaching you how to rollerblade?"

"Well, when you put it that way," Sora said, feeling slightly guilty.

Taichi chuckled. "That's right. It's the least you could do, right?"

"I guess," Sora said, glumly. Great, a full two hours with him, she thought, trying to think of a positive point of all this. She started to have the thought of seeing his messy – but, ah-ah-ah, Sora told herself, no goings down that road.

Sora was really having mixed feelings. From the tutoring thing, to the everything thing. She was most confused, though, around this boy. One Yagami Taichi.

She inwardly sighed. "This weekend."

Taichi watched as the emotions played on her face. He felt slightly saddened that she didn't want to help him, but then decided he had a lot of time to change her mind. And change it he would.

"This weekend." He confirmed.

Sora was rushing home one Friday afternoon, getting ready for a shopping spree with Aiko that they had planned on since forever. On her way out, she bumped into someone.

"Oof!" Sora said, stumbling while trying to catch her books. She sighed as they cluttered to the ground, making an enormous amount of noise.

Sora, 0. Gravity, 1.She thought, grimly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," He said, smiling. Sora smiled back a bit as she gathered up her books, taking the ones he had picked up from him.

He was tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Every woman's dream, Sora thought, with an inward smile.

"Thanks, it's not a problem, really." Sora said, backing up a bit.

"There, you are!" Another voice came. Sora grinned when she saw Taichi's sister, Hikari.

"Sora! Hey, how are you?" She said, slipping an arm through the blonde guy's.

"Good, you?" Sora said, slightly disappointed about how the handsome stranger in front of her was taken. But not too much.

"Just fine," Hikari grinned. "Sora, this is my boyfriend, Takeru."

"Nice to meet you," He said, shaking her hand.

"You're Yamato's brother right?" Sora said, remembering something Taichi had told her once.

"You know Yamato?" Takeru said, with a sort of knowing smile.

"Oh, no, it was just something Tai- my friend told me." Sora stated, a little confused by his smile.

"Then you know Taichi," Takeru said, laughing. "Hikari's brother. Make sure you don't show any signs of affection toward his family while there's a weapon capable of considerable damage within his reach."

Hikari rolled her eyes. "Right. I'll see you later, Sora, maybe at Tai's?" She gave her a mischievous grin.

"What? No," But they didn't give her a chance to defend herself, because they were already gone.

Now, what did she mean by that…

Taichi lay on the grassy field behind the school. It was Saturday and he had a soccer practice but he had read the time wrong and was now two hours early.

So what else could he do? He practiced some drills with his soccer ball for about 10 minutes before he got bored. School had ended and there was no one here. (1)

Once again, he lifted up his arm to look at his watch. The second hand crept by too slowly for Taichi's liking. He thought about going home, but then he would have to come back again… so no.

Lazily, he dropped his arm over his forehead, shielding his face from the sun. His thoughts drifted as his eyes closed. He sighed when an image of that girl came to mind.

He knew he would think of her… Why did he like her? She didn't like him too well, and there were prettier, smarter, and just plain better girls out there, right?

Not in Taichi's mind. He sighed again and resigned himself to his fate. He wanted to tell her, scared of telling her, didn't want her to turn away.

They have a kind of shaky friendship. He knew their tempers were way too similar to get along better but that didn't stop him. He really enjoyed provoking Sora and making her blush.

A soft smile graced his face. He kept his eyes closed until he noticed that the sun wasn't beating down on him.

His eyes snapped open and Sora stumbled back.

"I'm sorry!" She said, "I didn't know you were awake." Taichi grinned. She was blushing.

"It's ok; I know how every girl secretly wants to watch me when I sleep." He teased. "I'm just that good-looking, right?"

Sora turned away, trying to cool her red cheeks. He had caught her watching him! But his little smile was just too cute to pass up, she thought, inwardly smiling at his expression.

Sora rolled her eyes when she heard his comment and folded her arms over her chest. "It's not everyday you come to the school to pick up your books when you find someone lying in the middle of the field, sleeping." She retorted.

Taichi shrugged. "I was tired and I came here too early for soccer practice. So sue me." He grinned at her. "But I know what can help pass the time."

Sora backed away slightly. "What?" She said suspiciously.

"Let's play a little game of one-on-one." Taichi said, standing up and brushing off his backside. He picked up the ball and twirled it in his hands. "What, chicken?"

Sora placed her hands on her hips indignantly. "No," She said. "But I need my books…"

"Just a 10 minute game," Taichi compromised. "And I'll go with you to get your book."

"Just 10 minutes," She said, looking wistfully at the ball. Sora hadn't played soccer in so long…

Taichi nodded and dropped the ball near his feet. "Ready? Go!"

"What! You cheater!" Sora cried, running after him, laughing.

She caught up with him and stole the ball, running in the opposite direction now. She inhaled deeply. It felt so good to be back on the green, grass, kicking that dusty ball.

Halfway down the field, she noticed that she didn't have to ball anymore. Open-mouthed, she watched Taichi run down the field, laughing openly.

"Why, you!" Sora chased after him and tried to get the ball back. Taichi continued to laugh.

As it were, that 10 minute game quickly turned into 20 minutes, and then 30 minutes, until both players were tied. Zero, zero.

Gasping, Taichi fell onto the field, dousing his face with his water bottle. Sora lifted her shoulder-length hair, cooling her neck.

"You're, you're really good," He said, panting a little still.

"Why thank you, you're not so bad yourself," Sora said, grabbing his water bottle, and emptying its contents on her head.

"Hey!" Taichi said, standing up quickly. Sora stuck out her tongue at him.

Taichi made a feeble pass, trying to get the bottle back, before Sora used it all up. Exhausted as he was, Taichi ended up tripping over his own feet and lying sprawled on the ground.

On top of Sora.

With a flaming face, she pushed him aside, and scowled. Taichi was laughing. "I think you should be more mature, Taichi, really!"

"It's just," He laughed. "You're so red!"

Sora blew back her bangs in annoyance. She pushed the side of his head, coming into contact with his (broom-shaped) hair. It was surprisingly soft. Sora's eyes widened.

"Hey," Taichi said, "Don't touch the hair." Sora rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair with her hand.

"Nyah," Sora said, sticking out her tongue at him. Taichi laughed.

"And you tell me to be more mature?" He teased. Sora grinned.

"Whatever. I need to get my books now. It's ok, you don't have to come with me," She amended, seeing his mouth open. "Your team's here." She pointed.

With one last ruffle of his hair, Sora walked down the path to the school, not noticing Taichi's fond smile as he watched her go.

"Miyako!" Mrs. Inoue called. "Can you get Sora for me? There's someone on the phone for her!"

Miyako jumped up off her bed and tore off her headphones. "What!"

"Get Sora! There's someone on the phone for her!" her mother cried, again.

"Miyako padded silently down the hall, and knocked on Sora's door. She opened the door, yawning, but smiled when she saw Miyako.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked.

"There's someone on the phone for you," Miyako replied.

Sora nodded. "Ok, thanks, I'll get it."

Miyako waved as she trudged down the hall, back to the comfort of her ear drum blasting music.

Sora gingerly picked up the phone from the table in the middle of the hall. Who could it be? No one called her…

"Hello?" She said, softly.

"Sora?" A familiar voice came. Sora recognized it.

"Mom?" Sora didn't understand the rise of emotions within her. Shouldn't she be happy that her mother called? Even though it was the first time in what, two months?

"Sora, I've missed you, honey."

"I've missed you, too, Mom." Sora smiled gently into the phone, tears starting in her eyes. She took deep breaths, trying very hard not to cry.

"It's been so busy here and I couldn't get a chance to call you. Forgive me?" Her mom said, in a surprisingly teary tone.

"Always."

"I want to see you Sora, that's why… I want you to come to Italy."

(1): Ok, Taichi has a soccer practice on Saturday. Anything surprising about this? No, not really, just that Japan has school on Saturdays as well as other Asian countries (as far as I know, anyone can correct me on this) It's sort of a half day on Saturday, so Taichi has a practice, but after school… like WAY after school. I don't know when exactly they get off, but let's just say that it's around noon, and the practice is at 4 o'clock-ish.
Review Responses:

DarkMetalAngel of Destruction: Hehe (sweatdrop) Sorry! I tried to put some more Taiora in it… and you can be guaranteed that there's gonna be more Taiora fluff in the later chapters! Thanks for the review! Kyoyama Kita: Hehe, yep I did! W00t! I LOVE Taichi's hair! (swoons) Sora is such a lucky girl! Thanks for the review!Shiva-dragon: Hehe, thanks! I'll put more Taiora… jeez you reviewers are so demanding! (smile) but that's why I love you! Whee! Deb's: yay! Thanks so much for reviewing! KoumiLoccness: Koumi…? What's Koumi? (browses ff (dot) net a bit) Oh! Koushiro and Mimi! Well… I've always been partial to Miyako and Koushiro… but since she's already with Ken-san, we'll see, ne? Oh, and one more thing. I'm really sorry, but like, I've noticed that you, like, flame people for using pairings other than the ones you want. And I'm just trying to say it's their decision, you know? And just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that they don't like it, and I think you should really stop flaming. (sweatdrop) Thanks for the review! Caracalgirl: Hehe, I know! Sora just in denial, which isn't a river in Egypt ;) Hehe, thanks for reviewing! Tell Judy to review! (X.x) SeaBreeze-YamiAnzu: :) Well, I've already emailed you back, and I don't think you have yet… but I haven't checked my email… mm, yeah so… thanks for reviewing and we'll 'bout that story, ne? I have like, no ideas:) Star: Taichi rules! Yay! And I know, can you believe Sora went out with him! UGH, I can't believe her! Lol, thanks for reviewing! Digimon-Taiora: Hehe, well, yeah. Taichi can be a little annoying, ne? Hehe, but she'll get over that soon. ;) Thanks for the review! INUYASHAREDSTAR: Hehe, is this fast enough for you:) Taichi is just ADORABLE! Hehe, thanks for reviewing! Fan patamon: Mm, that's coming soon, just wait! Hehe, but I don't know about the whole going out thing, cuz like… yeah. Hehe we'll see! Thanks for reviewing!

Hey, this chapter came out soon too! At least, soon compared to how long the other updates took… (sweatdrop) I'm thinking of making a weekly update thing for TARL (tutoring and blah blah)

Don't you guys which that the computer like, knows that you're thinking and can correct your spelling mistakes for you? I've made about a gazillion that I've caught, and about a gazillion more that I haven't. (sigh)

Anywho, what's this? People ARE NOT REVIEWING! PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN REVIEWING! EEK! What's happened to you guys? Did you lose interest in the story (heaven forbid) or did you like, die? (x.x) I hope not…

Anyways, thanks for reviewing (those who did evil glare evil glare) and thanks to those people who read but don't review! Don't think I don't know how you are… (evil glare)

Hehe, wasn't this chapter long? At least, longer than others… sorta. But anyways, whee cliffy! Sorta… and review, review!