Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me a while to update, but this chapter was giving me a rough time. I might not get an update done with this next week because I have to work some crazy shifts. Just to let you know. Also, I will let you know that this won't end as a Taito because that would defeat the purpose of the story. If I do hint at it occasionally, well hey, so did the show! (I like a good Taito fic as much as the next person, but this fic's main theme is friendship.) Please review!

My Best Friend's Girlfriend

Chapter 11: Learning the Hard Way

Mimi Tachikawa

Mimi quickly headed down the hallway towards Tai's apartment, and she let out a gasp when she realized that the door was standing wide open.

Oh no! Matt must be here already!

She felt a spark of fear and leaned against the wall for support.

I'm too late!

She, along with Yolei and Sora, had spent the rest of the school day looking for Matt, but he had mysteriously disappeared. That was when she had really started to panic.

I bet Matt skipped the rest of his classes to come here before Sora, Yolei, and I had a chance to interfere.

She let out a sigh and slowly closed her eyes. Tomo must have told Matt that his game isn't until next Friday. There's no doubt about it. Matt knows that Tai lied to him. Now what are we going to do? Izzy must have gone with Matt because he wasn't at school this afternoon either. I can't believe Izzy skipped class! He never skips school! Matt must really be freaking out if he convinced Izzy to do something so drastic!

She stepped quietly over to the door and frowned. Matt's probably really angry at us right now. Oh, why can't Tomo learn to keep his mouth shut? Well, I might as well go inside. I'm not going to accomplish anything standing out here!

Somehow she had to find a way to stop Matt and Tai from ruining their friendship.

Since the door was standing open, she did not bother to knock. Instead she burst through the doorway and promptly ran into T.K. and Kari.

"Careful, Mimi!" T.K. said, catching her arm to stop her from falling.

"T.K., what are you doing here?" she asked, feeling confused. After all, she had been expecting to run into Matt, not his younger brother!

"I could ask you the same thing!" T.K. replied, giving her a warm smile. "Kari and I have a school project to work on. What about you? Is there a reason why you almost trampled us just now?"

"Is Matt here?" she asked quickly, glancing anxiously in the direction of Tai's bedroom.

T.K.'s look of surprise turned into a look of confusion. "No...is he suppose to be here?"

She stared at Matt's younger brother in shock, and T.K. exchanged a look with Kari.

"Mimi, are you alright?" T.K. asked, his sparkling blue eyes filling with concern. The blond was dressed in jeans and a dark green t-shirt that showed off his athletic form. His golden hair was cut a little shorter than it had been last year, and he had decided to ditch the hat.

That's impossible! He has to be here! Where else could he have possibly gone?

She had been worried that Matt would end up confronting Tai before she had a chance to speak to the former Digidestined leader, but the fact that Matt had not shown up at Tai's apartment made her worry even more.

What is going on with him?

"Where's Tai?" she demanded.

"The last time I saw him, he was in his room," Kari replied, watching her closely.

"We just got here about three minutes ago," T.K. explained.

"Why are you looking for him, anyway?" Kari asked, her eyes filling with sudden interest.

"Because I need to talk to him," she replied, pushing past T.K. and heading towards Tai's room.

T.K. caught her arm, and she turned to look back at the younger Digidestined.

"What's wrong? Matt's not in trouble, is he?"

She smiled at the worried look on T.K.'s face and gave him a quick hug. "No, but I'd stay clear of him for a while, if I were you. Let's just say that he's not in a very good mood right now."

I'm definitely not excited about meeting up with him again, that's for sure!

She did not think she could stand the look of betrayal that was bound to be on Matt's face when he finally caught up with her.

So much for The Crest of Sincerity. How could I have kept the truth about Tai a secret from him? There's no doubt in my mind that Tomo told him about me, too.

She had tried her best to protect both Tai and Matt, but one of them had still ended up getting hurt. She felt as if her guilt was going to eat her alive.

T.K. looked like he was about to say something, but she quickly cut him off.

"I'm sorry, T.K., but I really do have to talk to Tai," she said softly, before turning and running down the hall towards Tai's bedroom.

She did not even bother to look back at the stunned expressions on T.K.'s and Kari's faces.

Tai Kamiya

Tai rolled over at the sound of his bedroom door opening and groaned. "What do you want, Kari? Haven't you bugged me enough today?"

"Tai, you stupid jerk!"

His eyes flew open, and he let out a yelp as Mimi started hitting him with one of his pillows. In fact, it was the same pillow that Kari had stolen from him earlier.

"Will you quit it?" he shouted, throwing his arms in front of his face to protect himself. "Man, Matt was right about you! You are insane!"

"Oh, Tai! How could you be so cruel?" she moaned, flopping onto his bed and nearly crushing his legs.

What is she talking about? He rubbed his eyes and stared at her in confusion. He had spent most of the day sleeping so his brain was still a little foggy.

"I had a rather interesting conversation with Tomo today," she said quietly, watching him closely.

Tai froze and slowly sat up.

She knows!

His heart leaped into his throat, and he felt suddenly sick to his stomache. He had figured that the others would find out, since the rest of the team had been at school that day, but it still came as a shock. After all, he had been hoping for a major miracle.

Yeah right. I'm not that lucky!

"Really," he said quietly. "And what exactly was this conversation about?"

There's no way that Mimi can possibly know how I feel about Sora, is there? I thought I hid my feelings so well, and what about Matt? Does she know how I feel about Matt?

"You lied to Matt," Mimi whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "You never had a soccer game today."

His heart sank, and he slowly closed his eyes in horror. Mimi might not have known about Matt before, but she does now. I am so dead. Matt's going to hate me forever.

"Why?" she whispered, gazing sadly at him.

"You wouldn't understand," he mumbled, avoiding her eyes.

"Tai, you've been acting really strange for a while now. Is it because of Matt?" she asked quietly.

He stared at her for a moment and let out a small sigh of relief. Unfortunately Mimi knew that he had lied to Tai, but she still did not know the whole story.

Mimi sat up and stared directly into his eyes. "What did Matt do to you?"

"Nothing," he said quietly, turning to gaze out of the window.

"Then why did you lie to him?" she asked.

He smiled sadly and let out a soft sigh. "It's a long story, and I really don't feel like getting into it right now."

"Sora and Yolei know, as well," she whispered.

"What?" he blurted, his eyes growing wide with horror. "Sora knows? How?"

This is bad! Very bad!

"I asked her about that after lunch, and she said that she found out from her soccer coach. You guys have the same one, remember? Your coach said that your game was next Friday in Shibuya. That's how she found out. Besides, she saw Tomo today, too."

"But how did she know that I told Matt my game was today?" he asked, feeling confused.

I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I forgot about the fact that Sora and I have the same coach!

"Matt told her over the phone yesterday," Mimi said quietly.

Tai slowly turned to look at her, and he felt his heart stop. "What about Matt? Does he...know?"

"Yolei also saw Tomo today," Mimi replied, avoiding his question. "Izzy might not have known the whole story before, but I'm pretty sure he does now! Who knows what Matt might have told him. I'm sure they've gone off somewhere together. The only Digidestined who don't know are Joe and the younger kids."

At that moment he did not care if the others knew. All he could think about was Matt.

"Mimi-"

"He knows," she whispered, avoiding his eyes. "I did everything I could to stop him from finding out, but unfortunately Izzy and Tomo messed up all of my plans! They didn't do it on purpose, but that doesn't change the fact that Matt still knows."

His mouth fell open, and he stared at her in disbelief. Mimi was trying to help me? Why would she do something like that?

"Do you know why I tried so hard to protect your secret?" she asked softly, gazing into his eyes. It was almost as if she had read his mind.

He shook his head, and she took his face in her hands so that he had no choice but to look at her.

"I did it because I know you care about Matt, and I know you don't want to lose his friendship," she whispered. "We're not stupid, Tai. You haven't been acting like yourself for a while now, and we've definitely noticed."

He stared at her in shock. Mimi and the others have known all this time? Why didn't they say something a while ago?

"You mean..."

Mimi smiled slightly and sighed. "We know that you've been acting crazy lately, but we're still not sure why. We do know that it has something to do with Matt, though. It's kind of obvious."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" he asked quietly.

"Well, we were hoping that it was just a faze or something," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, we figured that you would tell us when you were ready."

I'm sorry, Mimi, but I'm still not ready.

"So what did Matt have to say, anyway?" he asked, feeling nervous.

Mimi frowned and shook her head. "I don't know. I never got a chance to talk to him before he confronted Tomo."

So that's how Matt found out.

"Why did Tomo give me away?" he asked, feeling a little hurt.

"I told you, it was an accident."

Mimi quickly told him about her conversation with Tomo and about what had happened in the lunchroom.

When she was finished, he let out a deep sigh. "Well, at least Tomo still likes me. If only things had turned out differently, then none of this would have ever happened."

"Please, Tai?" she whispered, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Answer my question. Why did you lie to Matt?"

"I...just...I couldn't go," he mumbled, gazing down at his blankets. "I wanted to, but I couldn't. It just hurts so much."

He had known that Matt was going to find out eventually, but it was still a shock.

His heart filled with sadness, and his eyes started to sting. Matt's never going to speak to me again.

"Where's Matt?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"I told you, I don't know," she replied.

Why isn't he here yelling at me? Something was very wrong. He could feel it.

"Tai-"

"Please just leave me alone," he whispered, lying back down and pulling the blankets up to his chest. "I don't feel like talking right now."

Mimi sighed and leaned over him to kiss his cheek. "I suppose that's your way of telling me to get lost, huh? Well, I just wanted to warn you about Matt, and I hope things work out okay. Tai? When you do feel like talking, let me know, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks," he whispered.

She gave him a quick hug before leaving the room, and he felt a small stab of guilt. I should have told her. She might not be able to help me, but at least I wouldn't feel so alone anymore. I wonder if Matt's avoiding me. If he is, then I'm really in trouble.

He barely had a chance to take a breath before the door suddenly opened again.

"I can't believe you lied to Matt," Kari said quietly, closing the door and coming over to sit next to him.

His mouth fell open, and he stared at her in shock. "How did you find out about that?"

So much for the younger kids not knowing! What, does the whole world know?"

"I was eavesdropping on the other side of the door when you were talking to Mimi!" she replied, giving him a small smile.

"Kari!"

He threw one of his pillows at her, and she started to laugh.

"I'm sorry, Tai, but can you blame me for listening in? I really want to know what's going on. Obviously it has something to do with Matt."

"Kari-"

"Please?" she whispered softly. "I want to help. Matt's your best friend, and I would hate to see you do something to ruin that."

He gave her a look and sighed. "Let me guess. You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, right?"

"That's right," she replied, staring hard at his face.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. Maybe I should tell her. If I don't tell someone, I'm going to go insane.

He glanced at the door, and Kari gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. T.K.'s here, but he's still in the kitchen, and I saw Mimi heading towards the door."

He hesitated and finally nodded. There was no harm in tellingKari. He knew she would never tell anyone.

"Kari," he said softly, staring directly into her eyes. "If Yolei ever dated T.K., how would that make you feel?"

She stared at him for a long moment, and her eyes filled with sudden tears. "Oh, Tai," she whispered, hugging him tightly. "You're in love with Sora."

Mimi Tachikawa

Mimi clapped a hand over her mouth, to cover up a gasp of astonishment, and stared at Tai's door in shock. She had just barely heard the words, but there was no doubt about it. Tai was in love with Sora.

I can't believe how stupid I am! Of course!

She had seen Kari heading in the direction of Tai's bedroom so she had decided to follow the other girl to see if she could find out any more information on Tai. She had definitely not been expecting this. She still felt a little guilty about eavesdropping on him, but she was getting desperate.

What am I going to do? Should I tell the others? If I do, then that would be like betraying Tai!

One thing was for sure. All of a sudden Tai's weird behaviour was starting to make sense.