Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Sorry about the wait. Oh yeah, and if you know anything about me then you already know how this story is going to end. As I said before. A lot of you will hate the couples I choose and some of you will like them. Hey, I can't please everyone. Read and review!

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Chapter 10: The Road to Darkness

Matt Ishida

Matt pulled Tomo to a stop in the hallway and stared at the other boy in confusion.

What's going on here? Tomo's suppose to be playing soccer in Shibuya!

"Hey, Matt," Tomo said, giving him a rather weak smile.

Matt found himself unable to reply. He was speechless with shock. If Tomo's here then where's Tai?

"Tomo, when you're done here, we'll meet you on the soccer field, okay?" a voice behind Matt said loudly.

He jerked around in surprise and found himself gazing at Tomo's two friends who had followed them out of the lunchroom.

Both boys were members of the soccer team and the one who had spoken was currently staring at him with interest.

Nori Takano was not only a member of the soccer team, he was also Tai's friend, and Matt absolutely could not stand him.

He gave the raven haired boy a cool look and promptly began to ignore the idiot.

Nori smirked at him before turning to Rikuto who was another member of Tai's soccer team. "Come on. Let's go."

Rikuto rolled his sparkling grey eyes, and Matt smiled slightly. Unlike Nori, Rikuto Hamada was one of Tai's friends that he did like.

"Alright, we're going. See you later, Matt," Rikuto said, brushing blond hair out of his eyes before following Nori down the hallway.

Nori sent him one last dirty look before disappearing around the corner. The raven haired boy's green eyes had been narrowed into a frown, but Matt did not really care. He had suddenly realized something that made him feel sick to his stomache. The whole soccer team was at school today, not just Tomo.

"I need to talk to you," he said, taking Tomo's arm and pulling him into an empty classroom.

Tomo sat down on one of the desks and sighed. "Alright. Listen, Matt, I'm just as confused as you are about what's going on here. I'm probably not going to be very much help if you're looking for some answers."

"What are you doing here?" he asked quietly, standing in front of Tomo and staring hard at the other boy's face. "You and the rest of your team are suppose to be at a soccer game today!"

"Why does everyone think that I have a-"

Tomo suddenly broke off and gave him a weak smile. "I...um...it was cancelled."

Matt stared at Tomo's guilty face and felt his heart fill with dread.

He's lying. I bet they never even had a soccer game today, which means...

"You never had a soccer game today, did you?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Tomo put a hand on his arm and gave him a sympathetic smile. "No," the other boy said softly. "Our soccer game is next Friday."

Matt sat down hard on the desk beside Tomo and stared at the wall in shock. Tai had lied to him. Why? Tai has never lied to me like this before! Have I done something wrong? I don't remember doing anything to make him angry.

He searched frantically through his memory, trying to figure out what he had done to make Tai so upset, but he came up with nothing. Tai had blatantly lied to him, and he had no idea why. He had never felt so hurt in his life.

"Where's Tai?" he asked, his voice growing cold.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Tomo replied. "I have no idea where he is. I asked Mimi this morning, but she said she didn't know either. In fact, she totally freaked out on me and wanted to know why I wasn't at a soccer game, too."

Matt froze and felt his blood run cold.

So that's why Mimi was acting so weird at lunch! She knew all this time and didn't even bother to tell me? What about Yolei and Sora? They've been acting really strange today, too!

He could only come to one conclusion. Almost all of his friends had either lied to him today or kept something from him that he had a right to know. That included his best friend and his girlfriend. The only person who did not seem to know about Tai, other than himself, was Izzy.

I bet Mimi doesn't really have a crush on some guy like she said she did. That conversation she was having with Yolei probably had something to do with Tai. If only I had heard everything that they were saying because they know more about what's going on than I do. They were purposely trying to stop me from finding out about Tai!

The pain in his heart had grown so strong that he was finding it difficult to breath. Friends were not suppose to keep secrets from each other and that was exactly what Tai and the others had done. Why did Sora not tell me what was going on? She's my girlfriend! We're always suppose to be honest with each other, and now I feel like I can't even trust her anymore!

He looked down and realized that his hands were shaking. There was no way that he could deal with all of the horrible things that were happening to him all at once. He felt like his soul had just been shattered into a million pieces. He quickly got to his feet, but Tomo held out a hand to stop him from leaving the room.

"Matt, wait. Listen, it looks like Tai has been telling you things that aren't exactly true. I don't really know what's going on, but I do know one thing. Tai has a lot of respect for you. You're really lucky. I would love to have a best friend like Tai. Unfortunately for me he has made it pretty clear that he's not going to be getting rid of you any time soon! Tai really admires you. He's always defending you when Nori makes fun of you. Last week he threatened to cut half the team if they so much as said your name! Now that's what I call friendship! I think you should talk to Tai before you get yourself all upset. He knows more about what's going on than any of us. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for everything that has happened. I wouldn't be too hard on Mimi and the others, either. They were only trying to protect you. You have tons of great friends, Matt, not just Tai."

It was almost as if the other boy had read his mind. Tomo's words made him feel a little bit better, but he still could not bring himself to forgive them so easily.

"Why do you want to help me so much?" he asked quietly, turning to gaze at the sandy haired soccer player.

Tomo shrugged and gave him a warm smile. "I like you. You must be a pretty amazing guy if Tai chose you for a best friend, especially considering the fact that you're so different from him."

"Thanks," he whispered, turning to stare at the floor. He did not really know what else to say to that. It had always been hard for him to put his feelings into words. It had gotten easier over the last couple of years, but sometimes he still had trouble showing people how he really felt about them. He had not realized that Tomo respected him so much, and it was a good feeling after everything else that had happened.

If Tai thinks I'm so amazing, then why is he pushing me away?

"I better go," he said, managing a smile.

Tomo nodded and put an arm around him. "Alright. Let me know what happens, okay? If you don't, I'm going to go bug Tai until he tells me!"

"You don't think that Tai's in trouble, do you?" he asked, feeling suddenly worried. He had not thought about that possibility before. If anything ever happens to Tai...

"I doubt it," Tomo replied. "Maybe he's sick or something."

Yeah right.

"I guess I'll know soon enough," he said quietly. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Make sure you talk to Tai!"

Sorry, Tomo, but I don't plan on talking to Tai any time soon!

He stepped out into the empty hallway, feeling miserable, and found himself standing in a large patch of sunlight that came from the window on his left. Izzy had been wrong about Tai. He was sure of it. Tai had purposely ratted him out to Jun and nothing anyone said was going to change that.

"What's happening to our friendship?" he whispered, leaning his forehead against the window. Tai had not been acting like himself for a while now, and he had noticed it right from the start. Everyday Tai seemed to grow a little more cold towards him, and there was a wall between them that had not been there since before they were friends. The tension between them was so thick that it was almost suffocating. He felt as if Tai was drifting away from him, and if he did not do something soon he had a feeling that the distance between them would end up becoming so big that he would never be able to close the gap again.

He had wanted to say something to Tai so many times, but he had always chickened out. At first he had hoped that Tai's weird behaviour would eventually pass. Unfortunately Tai had only gotten worse.

Face it, Matt. You're too afraid to ask Tai what's wrong because you don't want to know the answer.

It was true. He was afraid to ask because he had a feeling that if he did know what was wrong, it would mean the end of their friendship.

If it hasn't ended already. Things had gotten so bad between them that Tai would not even come to his apartment anymore. That was definitely a bad sign. Tai's friendship had been one of the best things that had ever happened to him. Even now, after five years, he still could not believe that the former Digidestined leader had chosen him for a best friend. Tai, along with the rest of the Digidestined, had saved him from himself, and he would always be grateful to them for giving him a chance to break free from the pain that had lived inside of his heart for so long. Tai could have had anyone for a best friend, but the former leader had chosen him. He knew that he was lucky, considering how he had treated Tai in the beginning, and he did not take the former leader's friendship for granted. He knew he was not an easy person to get along with, and that was why Tai's friendship was so important to him. The former Digidestined leader had accepted him for who he was, faults and all, and Tai had not tried to make him change himself into something that he wasn't. The day that Tai had become his best friend had been one of the happiest days of his life. Now his dream of having a best friend who truly cared about him was going up in smoke.

Sudden tears stung his eyes, and he closed them in an effort to stop his pain from escaping.

One of these days Tai's going to find a new best friend that he likes better than me. After all, Tomo's right about us. Tai and I are two completely different people. Sooner or later he's going to get tired of me, and he's going to want to find a best friend who's more like him. Someone with the same interests. Someone who doesn't argue with him all the time. Someone like Nori...

The thought was so horrifying that it made him shiver. Ever since meeting Tai, he had always been afraid deep down that their friendship would not last. One of his biggest fears was that Tai would eventually find a new best friend, and that looked like it was going to become a real possibility.

"Matt?"

Matt glanced up in surprise and turned to see Izzy staring at him.

The computer expert slowly came forward and gave him a hesitant look. "Are you okay?"

"No," he whispered softly, turning to gaze out of the window again. "Tai never had a soccer game today. He lied to me. You know what that means? He told Jun where I was hiding on purpose."

Izzy put a hand on his arm and sighed. "I'm really sorry, Matt."

"Don't be," he said quietly. "It's not your fault. You're the only one who has been honest with me all day."

"What are you going to do?" Izzy asked, leaning against the wall next to him.

"Nothing," he whispered, gazing up at the bright sunny sky. There's no way I want Tai to know how much he's hurt me. I'm not going to leave myself vulnerable to more pain and sadness. I think I've been humiliated enough for one day. The same goes for the rest of them. If they want to get back on my good side again, then they've got a lot of apologizing to do. I'm not going to be the one to bring it up. Tai obviously doesn't care about our friendship anymore so why should I let him see how much I care?

He did not really want to hide his feelings from Tai, but it was the only way to protect himself.

If only I knew what was wrong with him. Maybe then our friendship would still stand a chance.

There was only one problem with that idea. He was too afraid to ask.

"Matt?"

He turned to look at Izzy again and frowned. "What?"

"Um...I think you're making a big mistake. You should talk to Tai, otherwise things are just going to get worse," Izzy said slowly.

He knew that Izzy was right, but he was not about to change his mind. He could not even stand the thought of facing Tai. He had a feeling that if he did come face to face with Tai in his current condition, he would probably do something stupid like burst into tears.

"Matt-"

"Come on," he said, grabbing Izzy's arm and dragging him down the hall. "Let's go meet up with Joe. The others can do whatever they want."

Izzy gave him a worried look, but he ignored it and continued down the hallway with eyes that were as hard as ice.