Always Alone
Tai went to school the next day with a light heart. It amazed him how just having Sora with him could change everything. She was beautiful, she was smart, she was talented...
"Tai, are you okay?"
...She was looking at him with a concerned expression, and waving a hand in front of his face.
"Er...I'm fine. I blanked out there. I was just thinking."
"About what?" She asked.
"About how perfect you are," Tai said and watched as Sora burst out into a flush that rivaled the brightness of her hair.
Koushirou raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment, but Davis, Ken and Kari shared a strange look and then burst out laughing.
Sora turned darker, if that was possible, but Tai just shot the three of them a dirty look.
"Real mature, guys. Bravo."
Davis grinned and bowed, but Miyako smacked him on the back of the head with her hand.
He was being facetious, idiot," She chided.
"He was being what now?" Davis asked, confusion sketched on his face.
"Facetious. It means sarcastic," she replied, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.
"I knew that! I was just throwing you off your rampage. I'm really no as dumb as I look," he said, matter of factly.
"Yeah, he's dumber," Takeru whispered to Iori, who looked amused.
"You can say that again," a new voice popped in, and everyone turned to see Jun and her group of friends standing next to them. Davis eyed them coldly, and Tai noticed everyone else had a similar look on their faces.
Tai was confused. Weren't these the same girls everyone got so excited to see come out to lunch that one day? But that it hit Tai why that was.
"Where's Mimi?" he asked, breaking the odd silence that had settled around them.
The blonde with the cold eyes turned to him. "That's why we are here. We decided that it might be best to talk to you...away from Tachikawa. You see, I've noticed that she's been...disappearing as of late. My sources indicate that it's been to be with you and your," She stopped and surveyed the group before her with a sneer, "friends."
"So?" Tai asked, finding it hard to keep a civil tone.
She smiled. "So, it's going to stop. Now. I don't know what you want from her. It can't be you want to date her, cause I see you have that covered," She inclined her head to Sora, "and I can't imagine you are trying to get money from Tachikawa, because she wouldn't do that. And she doesn't need anymore friends, cause she has us."
"So, in conclusion, just stay away from her, like, okay?" said the third girl whose name Tai could never remember.
No one said anything to this proclamation, so the blonde smiled and started to walk away, but a voice stopped her.
"And what if we don't want to?"
Everyone turned, again, to see Yamato leaning against the locker next to Takeru.
The trio of girls shot looks of pure hatred at him.
"And why would someone like Tachikawa even think about associating with a loser like you?" Jun asked.
"Well, uh, like," he said in a girly voice, "she hangs out with you losers, like, doesn't she?"
"You," the blonde said, stalking up to Yamato and pointing a finger at him, "are scum. You think anyone would want to be your friend? What a joke. Let me tell you something. I will always be on top, I will always be better than you. All I have to do is snap my fingers and Tachikawa will never even look at you again. It will always be what I want, because I am, and will always be, better than you," she finished in a vehement whisper.
"What's going on?" asked the third new voice in the conversation, and everyone turned once again to see Mimi standing in the hallway, watching the scene with apprehension.
"Nothing. We were just leaving," the blonde said, throwing a sarcastic smile at everyone as the three girls walked away. Mimi stood, simply watching Tai and the others, especially Yamato, who was strangely quiet.
"Tachikawa!" The blonde called and snapped her fingers for her attention. Mimi turned, and with a finally backwards glance, went and joined the three girls, leaving everyone else behind.
Yamato let off a whispered curse and stalked away, ignoring the call of his brother to come back. Tai watched them go, knowing this was way beyond his reach.
Tai lay in bed that night, wondering what happened to his two friends to make them so different. Tai supposed that if he had to pick two people the digital world changed the most, it would be them. But for this outcome...
"I wish I knew what happened to them growing up..." Tai whispered before rolling on his side and falling asleep.
Mirimon, seated on his headboard, sighed.
"Some people never learn," she lamented, but blew some dust on him none the less.
"This is so stupid," grumbled a pale haired boy as he kicked at a rock embedded in the dirt. The boy looked around, but seeing nothing interesting, went back to the rock.
"Yama! Yamato!" cried a little voice, and another, smaller boy came bounding around a corner and threw himself on the other boy.
"Hey, squirt. Mom dropped you off then?" he asked, his earlier scowl lifting off his face to be replaced with a slight smile.
"Yeah! I haven't seen you in so long, Yamato! Now we have the whole time at camp! Isn't it great?" the young boy exclaimed, looking elated.
"We should be able to see each other more, though," the older one said, scowling again.
Both boys suddenly turned when they heard a female voice calling, "Takeru?"
A camp counselor came through some trees to see the two boys, who were obviously related, standing together.
"There you are, Takeru! Our group is going to the lake now for some nature hiking. Doesn't that sound exciting?"
The younger boy nodded and followed the counselor, but stopped half way to look at the other boy.
"What are you going to do, Yama?" he asked, looking guilty for leaving.
"Uh, something dumb like crafts. Don't worry about me," he said, and the little boy nodded and waved, and then disappeared.
The older boy didn't make to move to the craft hut, though. He continued to kick at the rock, stopping suddenly at the sound of footsteps. He tensed as two boys crashed through the brush next to him, laughing wildly.
They stopped and straightened at the site of the blonde boy, but one then extended his hand.
"Hey, you look lonely there. I'm Huroku, and this here is Toshi. You're cool, right? We don't have to worry about you tattling on us for skipping craft time, do we?"
The boy shook his head and shook Huroku's hand. "I'm Yamato."
The blonde looked at the two boys, who were shabbily dressed, and wore a lot of black. Toshi was wearing a shirt that made the blonde scrunch his nose.
"You want to, uh...'kill puppies'?" he asked, nervous suddenly.
Huroku laughed and clapped the boy on the back. "It's just a statement. We don't really want to kill puppies, but we are showing we go against the mainstream, the norms of society. Get it?"
The boy nodded, looking slightly happier that it wasn't literal.
Huroku sat against a tree and motioned for the boy to join him, which he did. Huroku turned to him.
"You need to relax. You know they say 'you are your friends'? Well, you are in good hands."
But the boy wasn't in good hands. Although nothing happened at camp, once at school, problems started to arise. One week the boy forgot his homework, then he forgot a project, then forgot to come to class at all. Then started the smoking. Then, the stealing.
At first the boy resisted, but as Huroku said, you are your friends. Soon it became his first nature to skip his second class to go smoke behind the building, then the last class too to go knick things from the convenience store.
There was only one time when the boy thought of stopping. The boy's mother had issued a warning to the boy and his father (who was always at work, so couldn't help anyway) that if the boy had one more run in with the school or law, that he would never be able to visit his brother again.
The little boy, not so little anymore that he was three years older, pleaded with the older boy.
"Please, Yamato. I miss seeing you as it is, please don't go away forever."
The boy tried, really tried, to stay out of trouble from that point on, but addictions are addictions, and fitting in with friends was the most dangerous one for the boy, and he couldn't break it.
So when the two boys were separated for good, the boy's heart hardened, and he truly changed from the bored blonde boy at camp to a tormented young man.
And without his mother and brother, with his father always at work, and (after Huroku and Toshi were sent away due to criminal behavior) without friends, the boy was alone.
Always alone.
The boy sat at a coffee shop, plucking at a guitar in the corner. The boy was relaxed, and smiled when the waitress set down his regular drink and winked. The boy looked up, suddenly, and scanned the room.
His eyes fell on a girl's across the room. He simply stared as she stood up and walked to him, plopping down in the seat across from him.
"What are you?" he asked in confusion.
"A girl," she said, looking a little confused herself.
"No, I mean, why do you look like me?"
And the girl did, in fact, look like the boy. She had the same blonde, spiky hair, but it was longer, and hit below her shoulders. Her eyes, though, were the same blue, but her gaze wasn't as hardened as his.
"Coincidence?" she tried, shrugging.
The boy nodded, and played a chord on his guitar. "Are you from around here? I've never seen you before," he added.
"No, not from around here. You?"
The boy shook his head, and replied, "I don't like to see people from my school, so I come here to get away."
The girl nodded, understanding.
The boy motioned to the guitar. "You play?"
The girl shook her head, but added, "I sing, but not for strangers."
The boy smiled, and laughed.
The girl did the same.
The boy and girl met at the coffee shop for a week, everyday. They laughed and talked, and the boy was happier than he had been in a while. It was a Friday, and the boy was trying to write a song.
"I can't think of any lyrics..." he complained, throwing down his pen.
"That's cause you're so dark and angst-y. Wait, that means you should be ready to pour your anger and misery out, doesn't it?" she joked. She picked up the pen and scribbled something down, then stood up.
"I gotta go. Bye," said the girl, and she took a good look at the boy before walking away.
The boy picked up his paper and looked at what the girl had written. His lyrics were at the top line, followed by hers.
I'm dreaming of angels, but I'm living with demons,
I'm reaching for heaven, but I'm stuck here in hell.
Good bye, Yamato
I'm sorry, but I can't come back
anymore. I will miss you, though.
I think you are the only real friend I've ever
had.
PS- I get it. The lyrics. I understand.
The boy folded the paper and tried not to think about it.
The girl never did come back. But he didn't really expect her to.
After all, he was used to being alone.
Always alone.
Tai woke up with a start, sweat on his forehead. He wiped it off and tried to control his breathing.
It had been so vivid, and...terrible.
Was it really what happened? Tai had to guess so, figuring somehow Mirimon had influenced his dream to reflect Yamato's life.
Tai rolled over, and reluctantly closed his eyes to let sleep over take him again.
AN- Wow, this chapter turned really dark at the end, didn't it? Well, no one said his life was going to be all sunshine and rainbows. I think Mimi's is worse, not as dark, but definitely worse. But that is next chapter.
Ah, so close to the end! I've started to think about my next projects, but I'm not sure yet. If you have any suggestions, things (couples?) you'd like to see, just let me know, okay? I really like hearing from you guys!
And, as always, thanks to all of you awesome reviewers:(Oh, and I'm glad that most of you liked Tai's dad! )
Vigatus
Psyclone
sweetyakane- I really love your reviews! I'm glad that you like the story so much!
star
Andrain John
taichis-girl208
Litanya- According to urbandictionary . com, it is "A girl that is willing to be treated like a doormat. She is a girl that will allow guys to do whatever they want with her and will just wait for them to 'holla back' at her." Try going to the website, its really funny to look up slang words.
digimon-Taiora
Mia Kamiya
ghikij
Lady-Azura
dragen545
Dark Qiviut
Reluctant Dragon- I want my own Tai too. Or maybe a Davis. He's silly, but sweet.