Undercover

By theladyknight

Disclaimer: Digimon—not mine!

Chapter 9: The Art of Perfection

Matt impatiently tapped his fingers against the steering wheel as he sat in the grueling downtown traffic. Well, it's nowhere as bad as New York, but I always seem to get stuck in the worst bit.

He checked the time, knowing full well people would be searching around for him at headquarters, particularly now that a new clue had been brought in. I wonder what it is. It sounded urgent. They're all going to be wondering where I was. I'm going to have a hard time explaining this one.

The light changed, but the line of cars hardly moved at all. Letting out a frustrated sigh, the blond honked his horn, trying to take a bit of his annoyance out. This simple action prompted the car ahead of him to respond in the same fashion. It, unfortunately for the already irritated agent, started a domino effect, with each car around him repeating the gesture. Great, now I have a headache coming on.

"Drama queens. I'm glad no one in the department acts this way."

"What?" Matt's ears perked up at the sound. He studied the interior of his vehicle, finding the radio off and no mechanical devices on.

"Thank God there's only one more week of this." It was a bit more muffled this time, as if the speaker was purposely articulating things softer.

But who was the speaker?

"Note to self: talk to Tai about Mimi. She seems kind of downtrodden lately."

Takenouchi? Where's she coming from?

As the traffic moved like a group of snails, Matt hastily checked his cell phone. She hadn't left a voice mail nor was she currently speaking, in case she'd called and he'd accidentally nudged the phone on. He glanced down, trying to figure out how he was hearing her. Damn, I must really be thinking about her a lot. Maybe it's a hallucination. Maybe…

"Yeah, I'll be there in five minutes."

It's been here the whole time, and I'm too dense to think about it. Probably because I've been too busy thinking about her.

He mentally chastised himself, deciding that he might as well answer her, just to see if she remembered the little trait Izzy had placed in the necklaces. "I didn't know you talked to yourself, Takenouchi."

He heard a gasp. "Matt?"

"So, are we on a first name basis now, Sora?"

"How you are…what are…"

"Izzy installed the little feature on the necklaces."

Smiling, Matt resisted the urge to laugh when he heard her groan. I bet she's really frustrated right now. Her brow is furrowed up, eyebrows narrowed, biting her lips lightly in that cute way she…get a hold of yourself man! "Why were you listening in?"

"Because I heard you…" He answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Besides, I thought you were addressing me."

"Whatever. Where are you right now? Are you back at headquarters?"

He chuckled, glancing up to see the light change to red again. "I'm sitting at a stoplight in a huge line of cars."

"And why are you there?"

It was a new voice. Matt nearly jumped in his seat, surprised to be hearing someone. "Joe?"

"Dude, Ishida, where are you? Agent Jones called with some urgent news, and we can't find you anywhere. He's one pissed off man right now."

The blond raked a hand through his hair. "I'm stuck in traffic."

"Why'd you leave in the first place?" Izzy asked, joining the conversation as well.

"I had to run an errand and pick up some stuff."

"Are donuts included in that errand?"

Agent Ishida rolled his eyes. "Do you only think about food, Tai?"

"Among other things. You aren't out on a wild goose chase regarding those clues you and Sora claim are real?"

If you only knew. "I'm off running errands viable for the success of our mission." Well, that's a way to say I was dropping Takenouchi off after she and I fell asleep together working on an unauthorized project. "I'll be back in ten minutes, or as soon as I get out of the traffic jam."

"You'd better." Izzy replied. "So, Sora, how are things going for you? Punch anyone yet?"

She gave a sarcastic laugh, and Matt knew a glare had to have formed on her face. "You guys are hysterical. I've got to go. Some of us have things to do other than sit on our asses and shove food down our throats."

"Oooh. Good comeback." Tai catcalled, with the others following his lead. "Later, Sora. Get back here soon, Ishida."

"Whatever. Good luck, Takenouchi."

"Bye, Ishida," She murmured quietly. Matt's head fell into his hand, propped up against the steering wheel. And to think I'm going to get interrogated again when I get back. I'm getting a huge migraine.

HONK! HONK!

He looked behind him, finding the line of cars and drivers all furiously signaling something to him again. Looking ahead, the blond sighed, seeing no cars before him, but the light was once again red. This is going to be a long day…

"Ishida, where the hell have you been?"

"And did you bring back any donuts?"

The blond slowly made his way into the conference room where Tai, Davis, Izzy, and Joe all sat. But they weren't alone. Seeing the very perturbed looking man up on the large computer screen caused Matt to walk a bit faster. "Sir, I was completing a task crucial to the success of the mission."

Agent Jones glared at the young man. "And what would that be, Ishida?"

"I received a tip over…"

"I've already been informed of the red herring clue you and Takenouchi received. We've talked about this, Matt. Drop the tip. There's no proof."

He was not happy with the young man. I've never seen him this angry before. "Yes, sir. I'll drop the tip." But considering the "tip" that had me gone…well, what they don't know won't hurt them.

"Now, I'm going to briefly summarize the events you missed." The glare was back, extending from one side of the man's face to the other. "Kido and Izumi have been keeping tabs on the hotel the women have been staying in. Hotel management reported vandalism and upon cleaning the room, found notes threatening activity at the Miss America Pageant. We ran a check on the two people who stayed in the rooms. Our database came back with two individuals under the aliases of Tut and Brown Widow."

"So, what's happened with the two?"

"They checked out of the hotel last night, and right now, we have no leads as to where they're heading. They're our main suspects at the moment."

Matt scrunched up his forehead in doubt. "But what would their motive be?"

"The glory of completing the task. Their names would go down in the history books. I know you're still on about that false lead, Matt, but you have to get over it."

"Yes, sir. We'll check things out on this end of the spectrum."

Agent Jones nodded. "The pageant's in five days, men. Preliminaries take place in two days. We have to find out what's going on before disaster results. And none of you want to know the consequences should we fail…"

"I'm telling you guys, she was one hot chick."

"Does this hot chick have a name?" Izzy let out a laugh. "Really, Tai, do you think you're going to run into her again by chance? The two of you bumped into each other on a street corner."

Tai folded his arms indignantly. "Ishida told me to find her. She's one of the contestants in the pageant. He needed to find out some info on her so he could plan out some things."

"Sure," The men in the hall all challenged. The four officers were casually wandering down one of the halls at headquarters. They were fresh out of sources; there was nothing for them to do. Right now, they were waiting for some advice, for some leadership.

"Her name's Mimi. If you don't believe me, you could just ask Ishida."

"Where is our great leader anyway?" Davis asked, trying not to sound too sarcastic in case the blonde's ears were within hearing distance.

"I don't know." Joe answered. "I saw him greet Gennai at the door awhile back, but I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"I say we go check the room where Sora's practicing," Izzy announced.

Tai snickered. "We'd better bring our earplugs then."

"To muffle what?" Davis asked. "Sora's playing or their bickering?"

Izzy smirked. "Take your choice."

The group approached the large room Sora and Gennai had been working in for the past week. It was large and spacious with one door leading into the room. A large glass window lay in the middle, open for others to see into. The room wasn't soundproof, and they could tell as a loud crash of keys sounded out to where they were. Gennai came darting out, gigantic coffee mug in hand.

"I need an aspirin so bad. The rate she's going, she'll be laughed off the stage."

Eight eyes looked around. "That does not sound like a good sign."

Davis walked over to the glass, pressing his face against it. "Well, Sora's attempting to play the piano, if you'd call in that."

The others all joined him, each turning to look at the sight before them. "I told you Ishida was in here with her." Izzy proclaimed.

"Dude, no you didn't." Tai replied. "So are they yelling at each other?"

"It doesn't quite seem that way." Joe answered.

Though they could hear the music coming from the room but, they could not—sadly, in their case—hear Matt and Sora's conversation. The redhead was sitting at the piano, shaking her head back and forth. Matt came up behind her. He draped his arms around her body, moving her fingers to the right notes.

"He just whispered something in her ear!" Tai exclaimed.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Came Joe's sarcastic reply. "Who would've thought she'd let him do something like that."

A quizzical expression found its way to Izzy's face. "They seem to be getting a long a lot better than before. You could go so far as to call them civil to each other. What?"

Tai let out a laugh, interrupting the genius's explanation. "I'll tell you why. It's because they like each other. Duh…"

"Dude, from what I've seen, Sora doesn't like any guy like that." The youngest male stated.

"It is kind of hard to believe, Tai. I've known Sora for such a long time and I've never seen her act flirtatious or showing any inkling of liking a guy as more than a friend." Izzy tried to reason.

"Think what you want to, guys. But I know I'm right."

"What's going on now?" Joe wondered, pointing to the two inside…

She hadn't started out that way. Her playing, considering she hadn't used a piano in a good few years, had been a little shaky, but nothing like the way it was coming out now.

CRASH!

She'd hit the wrong keys, causing a horrible sound to come from the object. The girl sighed, shaking her head. She was rusty, but that wasn't the only thing affecting her.

Goosebumps rose on her skin as a stream of warm air tickled her ear. His voice itself could cause her to melt, though having his muscular arms wrapped protectively around her only expedited the process. "Why so shaky, Takenouchi? You didn't even sound this bad before."

"Very funny, Ishida. You are aware we have a crowd watching us?"

His lips dipped lower, now actually brushing her ear. The blond could see her blush and hear her sigh at the touch. "Of course. Why not bring on the act?"

She let out a fake laugh. "You know, I could cite you for sexual harassment."

Sora was surprised to hear him laugh as well. "I could get you on the same charge. You drive me crazy sometimes, Takenouchi."

The girl turned to face him, careful to not let their faces touch. Not sure whether or not to infer a double meaning from the statement, she smirked at him. "Truce then."

"Sounds good. Now scoot over." He commanded, pulling himself away from her, pushing her to the left side of the piano bench before sitting next to her. "I'm going to brush up your skills."

His fingers began to dance across the keyboard, lightly waltzing from one key to the next. A familiar melody graced the air, and when the time became right, Sora joined in, playing the accompanying part of "Heart and Soul."

They played together, each concentrating on the simple melody before them, yet blending in perfectly. It's like our relationship, whatever that is. When we're not arguing, we get a long so well. I can't wait to spend time with him, to be around him, to have him hold me in his arms and…Sora!

CLUNK!

A smile grazed Matt's lips. "You aren't concentrating." He simply answered, stopping his own playing to look at her. "You haven't played in such a long time that any distractions cause you to mess up. Clear your mind."

"It's not that easy. There's a lot on my mind." You being the biggest thing.

"Come on, Sora," he addressed her by her name, hoping it would help out, not realizing he was making things worse for her, "you can do this. Take a deep breath; think only about the music."

The redhead closed her eyes, desperately trying to stop thinking about him. He invaded her every thought now. She couldn't go anywhere without seeing his face. Matt Ishida was connected to something no matter where she went. "Keep your eyes closed and repeat after me," He instructed, seeing as she wasn't moving.

The male played a simple rhythmic pattern, one Sora had no trouble with. When he paused, she repeated the pattern exactly the way he had. "Good. Try this one."

The game continued on. He was the leader; she was the follower. Matt started off slowly, playing light, easy patterns before drifting off into the harder areas. She found herself more relaxed, more free, better able to concentrate this way. His presence, the thing that seemingly caused her so much inner turmoil, was actually aiding her more than being a hinder.

"There you go. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Sora opened her eyes, focusing on the attractive blond beside her. "So are you going to sit by me when I perform up there? It was a one time thing, Matt. I can't force myself to concentrate without you guiding me to do so."

He pulled out the piece of handwritten music she'd been struggling with before. It was the music he'd written earlier in the day after realizing he couldn't keep his mind off her and after already assigning others the needed work.

It was titled "Yamora." To her, there was no significance in the name. But he had titled it that way for a reason. Matt dissected each of their names, placing the Yam- in for his complete first name, Yamato, and the –ora in as the end of her first name.

Sora was a clever person, as intelligent as the blond. He knew she'd figure out the significance soon enough. Maybe around the same times she figures out how attracted I am to her.

"Let's try this a second time. Close your eyes again and listen to me." His voice was soothing, radiating comfort and warmth. "Just imagine that it's only you in the room. Then imagine two people walk in. They are your parents. You're determined to show them everything they've missed—putting it all together in one song."

His fingers moved to her face, gently touching her eyelids, motioning for her to open her orbs once more. "These are patterns you can play. You know that as well as me. You just need to play with such an emotion that it can blind the judges from thinking the piece is too easy. Your playing won't be perfect in time for preliminaries, that's expected. But you can make it phenomenal for the finals." Matt paused. "Can you do that for me?"

For you…of course. Damn, I'm going way too soft. I can't believe I'm even thinking like this. "For my parents, yes."

"For me? His voice came out huskily, causing shivers to run down Sora's spine.

She gave him a seductive grin. "I'll consider it…"

Gennai stared at the four sleeping forms on the ground before him. I really wonder about these people some days. The man had returned to the room only to find a group of men, all officers, fast asleep underneath the large window. He, now that his coffee cup was refilled to the brim and painkillers were kicking in, was ready to continue on with his lesson.

As expected, Matt and Sora were in the room together, working on her talent piece. Gennai had sensed the two getting closer, starting when he had first met them. They seemed a bit distant from each other back then, but he could tell time was working on their side, pushing them together. How far together, he was not sure. The rate they're going though, I could be helping plan their wedding in a few years.

He was afraid of the sounds he'd be hearing when he returned, expecting to find loud piano crashes and clinking notes. But the results were the antithesis of that.

It wasn't perfect playing nor was it the greatest thing he'd ever heard. But given where she'd been nearly an hour and a half ago, it was a significant improvement. "At least you won't get booed off the stage." He proclaimed, stepping back into the room.

The music stopped. Sora glanced over at him, and Matt stood up. "Gennai. We were wondering if you got lost."

"No, I was a bit frustrated and decided to take a break. It looks like the two of you got a lot accomplished while I was gone, though."

"I don't sound that great," Sora admitted, "but I've still got one more day to work on it."

"I'm glad to hear you're optimistic about it, Sora. I'm going to briefly explain to you the process of the preliminaries."

Matt took a seat, sitting back down on the bench. "Sounds kind of complicated."

"It's really not as confusing as you'd think. First up is the casual wear part. Sora, you'll walk out onto the stage in some sort of outfit you'd normally wear. It's nothing fancy, nothing special…just everyday. When you get there, after parading around a bit, you'll be asked an on-stage question by one of the judges."

"That doesn't sound too horrible."

"Next up is the swimsuit…"

Gennai was interrupted by a groan from Sora. "Swimsuit?"

"You knew it was coming." Matt challenged.

She sighed. "I'm just," the girl searched for the right word, "not too comfortable…flaunting…my body in front of others like a lot of the girls do."

"You're not going to flaunt it, Sora. You're going to show the world that you're a healthy, athletic young woman."

"Sounds like flaunting to me."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Continue on Gennai." He leaned over to Sora as the man rambled on about the swimsuit segment. "You'll be fine during that part. You've got the body to show for it. Now you just need the confidence. Don't be afraid."

His comment left her cheeks feeling red. She turned away to avoid him, focusing back on Gennai who had finally drifted to the next part. "Evening wear. We've already fitted your gown, and I assume you understand this part."

"Yeah, it'll be relatively easy. Is talent next?"

Gennai nodded. "Hopefully we'll get that down pat in the next day."

"I'll try my best."

He smiled at her. "That's what we like to hear. And finally, the last portion of the preliminary competition is a private interview with the judges. That section, along with talent, account for the most part of your score."

Matt raised a hand. "How does the interview work?"

"Sora will sit down with the panel of judges, each getting the chance to ask her one question. This will be your toughest part."

"Why?"

Gennai offered a sympathetic smile. "You will have to stay in the character we created for you the whole time. You are now Sora Lynn Rogers, feminine, smart, sure…"

"…sexy, independent, and strong." Matt offered her an irresistible grin. "Let your personality through. Don't try to make the judges love you. Overdoing it and sucking up will only hurt their impressions. But if you are yourself and can stick to the background we've made up for you, there's no way they can't fall for you." I can vouch for its ability to do that. It happened to me, though I'd never admit it.

The redhead studied the blond next to her, wondering again if there was a hidden meaning in his words. From the way he talks, it seems there could be. Could there be? Why am I getting excited about the possibility of him liking me? Why shouldn't…don't stop to debate that right now! "Is that all, Gennai?" She managed to control her thoughts enough to continue on with the discussion.

"For now it is. You'll find out the results on the final night. But as you already are guaranteed a spot in the Top Ten…"

She smiled. "I have more time to prepare."

"Exactly. Oh and Matt, here are the four press passes you requested for tomorrow's press conference." The man pulled out four laminated passes, handing them to the confused agent.

"That's great, Gennai, but I only asked for three."

"My mistake. I'm sure you can find someone to give the other one to." Looking at his watch, the man stood up. "Well, the next two days will indeed be busy. I'm going to let you go early, Sora. Goodnight, I'll meet briefly with you tomorrow to review everything."

"Goodnight," She called to the departing man. "Hey, where are you going?"

Matt turned around, upon realizing she was addressing him not Gennai, and flashed a smile. "I'm going to get the car keys so I can drive you back."

"Is this becoming a habitual action?"

"Remember, I'm a gentleman."

She snickered. "You could have fooled me."

Gathering her things, Sora soon caught up with him. The two had to laugh as they opened up the door, greeted by the four male officers, all fast asleep.

"I'm more of a gentleman than any of them." Matt said with a smirk. "Did we bore them?"

"Nah, apparently my playing was soothing."

"I don't know about that." He joked before noticing the redhead dig around in her purse. "What are you looking for?"

She pulled out some lipstick Gwen and Jun had forced her to buy the other day. "Care to join me?"

"They're not going to forgive you for awhile, Sora." Matt was still laughing as he pulled the Hummer into the hotel parking lot.

"They deserved it for spying on us."

He raised his eyebrows. "Do you always seek revenge when people spy on you?"

Sora shook her head. "It's not really revenge…it's just due payment."

"Remind me never to spy on you, then."

She began to laugh as well. "Why? I take it you didn't like being serenaded by a mariachi band?" He glared at her, reminiscing about the sour memory. "You deserved it for giving me a massage."

Matt's mouth dropped. "I was going out of my way to do something nice, and you went and freaked out!"

The girl unbuckled herself. "Thanks for the ride, Matt."

"Well, being the responsible, charming…"

"…arrogant, narcissist guy you are…"

Rolling his eyes, the blond shook his head. "If you say so. Look for me tomorrow at the press conference."

"So you're going to be spying on me again?"

"Whatever you want to call it. I tend to think of it as looking out for your own good." She couldn't hold back the giggles at his comment. He just continued on. "But if you feel the need to offer me…what was it?…a due payment, well, I'd say a kiss sounds like the perfect suggestion, as I am looking out for your own good."

Sora gave a hearty laugh. "You wish, Ishida." She opened up the door, intent on getting out and taking a nice hot shower in her hotel room. Back before curfew for the first time, Sora intended to get a good night's sleep and enjoy it.

But she hesitated.

Slowly the girl leaned over to the man next to her. A smile played on his lips when she tilted her head, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"I knew you liked me, Takenouchi." Matt was wearing a large grin, reminding Sora of a young child opening up his or her first Christmas present of the season.

She laughed again, now climbing out of the Hummer, shutting the door behind her. "That was an incentive to quit spying on me."

Matt shook his head. "I don't think that worked at all. I'd expect me to be hanging around more now. I'll be checking out the hotel tomorrow to see what I can make of the latest clue Agent Jones brought into play. I think it fits in with what we've found."

"You never told me what the new clue was?" She pouted.

"Don't worry; I'll fill you in on it tomorrow. I want to see if it's accurate first. Expect me in the most unexpected places tomorrow, Sora." He called with a wave, driving off onto the highway.

She sighed as she approached the doors of the hotel. Why the hell did I just kiss him? I'm going to be up all night now…

A/N: Next chapter—Preliminaries and a Press Conference. Please review everyone! I love hearing what you have to say. I'm going to be off in Colorado for about a week so no updates or reviews or anything from me until at least next Tuesday or Wednesday. Please review!