Valentine

February 14, Valentine's Day

Sora sat under a tree at school eating her lunch when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned towards the direction of the tap only to find emptiness and a tap on her other shoulder. Suddenly, a pair of hands draped over her face and covered her eyes. There was only one person who played with her like that.

"Tai..." she sighed but there was no answer.

Puzzled, Sora pulled away and stood up to face this mystery guy. "Matt?" Since when does he fool around like that?

"None other." he grinned.

"I thought you were..." Sora drifted off.

Matt faked an annoyed expression and replied. "I know, how insulting!" he smiled.

They both sat down and leaned against the tree in silence. "So..." Matt tried to break the tension

Sora skeptically observed his appearance. "You look different." She raised her perfectly arched eyebrow.

Matt smirked, happy that she had noticed the change in him. "New hair style." he said.

"Hardly..." Sora replied and received a confused stare.

"It looks a lot like your old hair style." (Digimon- Season 1) She explained. "I like it." She concluded.

Matt relaxed and grinned. "Glad to hear." he replied as he opened his back pack and took out a piece of paper.

"What's that?" Sora asked between bites and mouthfuls of food.

Matt kept reviewing the sheet of paper and answered in a flat tone. "A list of the sports here at school."

Sora's eyes widened; nearly choking on her sandwich she swallowed hard. "Sports? Since when do you like sports?"

"Since yesterday."

"And why the sudden change?"

Matt thought for a moment. "Just wanted to try something new."

"Hmm, so which sport are you going to take?" Sora scooted closer to Matt and peered over his shoulder to view the list.

Matt smiled to himself; satisfied with his plan of attraction. "I don't know yet, what do you think?"

"How about..." Sora was cut off by the loud sound of a tambourine.

"Hey guys." Tai jingled his small instrument. "What do you think?"

"I think you're crazy!" Sora covered her ears. "What are you doing with a tambourine?"

"I thought it'd be cool to play an instrument and since I have no knowledge of music.." he shook the instrument."..I thought it would be easy to start off with something simple." Tai explained and sat in front of them.

"Well, think again, a tambourine isn't as simple as it seems." Matt spoke.

Sora had lost interest in the conversation as she watched the other kids at school mingle. It was Valentine's Day and every one had a special someone. There were red balloons, heart-shaped chocolates, roses, and teddy bears in the hands of every girl in Odaiba High except her. Matt noticed her lonesome expression and reached for his back pack where he held a gift for her. Tai noticed what Matt was doing and immediately sprang for his bag and took out his present for Sora. They both handed her their gifts at the same time and simultaneously cheered. "Happy Valentine's Day Sora!"

Shocked, Sora took the gifts while Matt and Tai stared at each other with narrowed eyes. Being slightly bigger, Matt's present caught Sora's attention and was the first to be opened. She untied the red silky laze that embroided the long rectangular box and stood speechless as she peered inside the container.

"Oh, Matt..." she gasped and slowly took out a silver necklace with a heart-shaped charm. "It's beautiful!" Matt crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the tree and shot Tai a smug expression.

Tai furrowed his eyebrows and turned his attention to Sora. "Open mine!" he anxiously exclaimed.

Sora put down the necklace and picked up a slightly smaller square box. She tore the wrapping and opened the box that revealed a shimmery silver bracelet. "Tai, you shouldn't have!"she exclaimed.

"Thank you guys!" She hugged Tai and then Matt.

The trio was interrupted by a small thump of a back pack. "Hi." Izzy joined the group.

"Hey Izzy, look!" Sora excitedly showed off her gifts.

Impressed, Izzy replied. "Well, I knew I couldn't compete with Tai and Matt here so I decided to give you something simple that came from the heart." He took out a small music box filled with rose pedals. "Here you go Valentine." he joked. Sora took it, opened it, causing some of the pedals to fall elegantly as the small ballerina twirled to the enchanting lullaby.

"Oh, Izzy how did you know?" Sora threw her arms around Izzy; nearly choking him.

"Well...I saw you ogling the box through the store window the other day. It seemed like you really liked it so I got it for you."

"Thank you." Sora smiled and planted a soft kiss on Izzy's cheek; Matt and Tai sat gawking.

Izzy's face grew a crimson red as he sheepishly replied. "It was nothing, really...heh." he put his hand behind his head as both Matt and Tai shot death glares at him.

RING! The bell announced the end of lunch. Every one picked their things up and scattered; each heading their different destinations. Izzy gathered his things and lent his hand to Sora who gratefully took it.

"Thanks again." she spoke.

"Don't worry about it! You know you're my girl!" Izzy laughed (By the way, his gestures are completely out of friendship and in the spirit of Valentine's Day; their relationship is 100 percent platonic!)

"Yeah, only when Mimi's not here." Sora smirked as Izzy turned red as a tomato.

"Eh...gotta go!" He made a dash towards his computer class.

Bitter about what had just happened Matt and Tai walked in silence; their odd behavior unnoticed by Sora. They reached the field where Sora made her departure. "Thanks you guys, see you later!" She sprang into the girl's locker room.

Tai and Matt watched her disappear through the doors. When she was out of sight, they glanced at each other and walked away with out saying a word.

"She gave Izzy a kiss!" Matt grunted through his teeth.

At the other end of the hall, Tai shared the same resentment. "How did Izzy get a kiss?"

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!