CHAPTER THREE after all

The dusty quiet of dusk crept up on them, the bright light of afternoon fading into an orange-pink and blue sky. They reached the intersection leaving the school grounds, his shoulder almost touching the wired fence as he passed the tennis courts. They paused at the stop sign to look both ways before continuing their journey home.

"He was acting funny," she said.

"Doesn't he always?"

Leaves gently crunched under her shoes as she walked on the gray strip of cement separating the street from the sidewalk. She made the extra effort of stepping completely and gingerly on every dry leaf until it cracked into untouched pieces in her wake.

"You think he's dying, Yama?"

He shrugged, looking uninterested.

"Not that I've heard of," he replied.

The swooping sound of passing cars engulfed them and she felt the wind threatening to take her with it.

"…Are we still studying at your house?"

He stiffened and he suppressed the urge to sigh.

"Now you're just being silly, Sora."

"I am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Of course we're still studying at my house."

They could feel the jaded tension between them, the faint sadness and the curious hesitancy, tugging kindly at their heartstrings and whispering softly in their hair. It was wispy and quiet, just barely there, but it was uncomfortable and unfamiliar, and it gently took hold of them, taking their arms and leading them into a place unknown.

"…Yamato?"

"Yea?"

"We're good, right?"

He smiled tiredly, his features softening. "We're good."

He reached out his arm, wrapping it around her neck and bringing her close.

xxx

He looked up from where he sat with his group of friends, a smile on his face. It slowly faded as his eyes reached hers.

"I would like my calculus book back, please."

She was staring at him unabashedly, as if he was the only person there. She looked bored, maybe, but not mean.

He was mildly surprised.

"Careful with the attitude, doll. Can we help you?" Cool and collected, with a hint of hostility.

He turned around and saw Mimi, her arms loosely crossed over her chest, leaning against the desk behind him. An amused smile played on her glossed lips and her honey-brown eyes twinkled with merriment. She was trying to stick up for him, he supposed.

"You can mind your own business, thanks," was the reply.

Silly Mimi. The pink smile turned into an angry line.

Sora's bangs slid down from where it was clipped to the sides and covered her right eye. She casually tucked it behind her ear, and the sleeve of her blue cardigan slid behind her wrist to reveal a colorful bracelet of tacky beads.

Her hand fell back down to her side, and if she was bored before, she wasn't bored now. She was mean.

"My book, Taichi. Are you deaf or just stupid?"

Somewhere next to him, one of his friends raised his brow and leaned back in his seat. "Me-ow!"

He wouldn't say anything. His eyes bore into hers, just staring – sadly, maybe. Pleading.

He saw her strange violet crimson eyes and her short auburn hair, and the girls around them, his friends, with their makeup and flowery perfume; long locks of brown and blonde hair he knew made them wake up hours before dawn to painstakingly curl into perfect waves.

And Sora stood in the middle of it all, small and fiery and girl-next door, with her lips daubed with cherry lip balm bought from a local drug store and her flyaway hair falling in front of her face.

He stood up slowly, walking up to her, pausing slightly and tilting his head in her direction as he passed by, never breaking eye contact; an indication for her to follow. A sideways glance and she was contemplating her next move.

He wished he could tell what she was thinking; he wished he could see it. And didn't he already? After all, hadn't they been best friends?

He turned around, and she was gone.

xxx

He saw her again right before lunch ended. She was at the library, sitting next to the window with the dim sunlight pouring over the desk through the dusty glass. She sat Indian-style on the wooden chair, a book placed on her lap and a pencil tucked behind her ear. There was a highlighter between her teeth, books and papers spread on the small table in front of her, and she wore a pair of black-framed glasses he had never seen her wear before.

He walked behind her, gently sliding a dark green calculus book onto the wooden surface over her shoulder.

She sighed, taking the highlighter out of her mouth, closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he had said, and he walked around the table, sitting down in the seat across from her.

She was tired, she had work to do, and she was blunt.

"Go away, Taichi."

He looked down at the table, fiddling with a pen she had been using earlier. Her crimson violet eyes clouded in tired confusion as she watched it slip through his fingers, lightly hitting the table, then being twirled back with swift agility. She reached over and patiently took it from his hands, and his eyebrows knitted together in concentration at the chill of her touch.

"Your hands are cold."

She shrugged carelessly, subconsciously bringing them closer to her body, away from him. "They always are."

He reached out to hold her hands in his and winced inwardly as she flinched further away from his feel. Her bangs fell over her eyes again, and a dark shadow fell over her face.

"You doing anything tonight?" he asked suddenly.

She looked up in surprise.

"It's Friday."

"So it is."

She was quiet.

"Come on, Sora."

He shook her sleeve.

She gently pulled away.

"Contrary to your beliefs, Taichi, I have a life."

He smiled awkwardly. "Well, put it on hold."

"For you."

"For me."

She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, auburn locks spilling through her fingers, because his answer was enough and she wished he had said something different.

"No."

He raised an eyebrow. "No?" he asked.

Silence.

"Ok." He didn't know why he felt so disappointed. It wasn't like he really meant it.

"Sorry."

He tried to shrug it off and forced a smile on his face. "No, it's fine. Maybe next time?"

There was hope in his voice, strangled, sad, disheartened.

The bell rang, and she was saved from having to answer.

He concentrated his stare somewhere on the wooden table, and he heard the books and papers being swept up into her bag, the screechy sound of her chair being pushed back, and he couldn't bring himself to watch her walk away.

xxx

She wrapped her scarf around her neck as they exited the theater, making their way down the familiar street and towards her house. The movie had been somewhat satisfying, a shallow, typical chick flick, and they had spent most of the night creating their own dialogue between mouthfuls of popcorn and soda and occasional glares from the people seated around them.

"Did you get your book back?" he asked.

"Yea. Taichi gave it back to me at lunch."

There was a rigid, confused pause in his step.

"…I thought you were doing your homework at lunch."

"I was. He came into the library a couple minutes before it ended."

"Oh. That's good."

Silence; a nagging silence; pressing down on them on every side.

"So how was your day?"

Casual, normal; the easy way out.

Yamato feigned indifference. "It was fine." He didn't care. "You have to stop ditching us at lunch, though. The fellas are beginning to miss you."

She latched onto his arm and rested her chin on his shoulder, pulling him down so he had to lean down a little. "I miss you too, Yama, darling."

He rolled his eyes and shrugged her off, and she shot him a cute, toothy grin, her eyes dancing with mischief.

Sora released her hold on his arm, the pleasant smile slowly vanishing as they continued to walk down the street. She forced the mood to change, allowing the stillness to take over. It passed over them like a sheer, dark shade, and they shifted restlessly under its foreign touch.

"…You want to know something funny, Matt?"

She was fidgeting with the button of her coat now, stalling for time, stalling to swallow her nerves.

He nudged her shoulder with his in encouragement.

"Taichi wanted to hang out tonight." She shrugged and cast her eyes on the floor. "I told him no."

His guard immediately went up; blue eyes darkened; his jaw clenched.

"Well I'm sorry I put a damper on your social life, Sora." The bitterness seeped out of his tone in spite of his efforts to conceal it.

"…What?"

"Don't let me hinder you. If you would rather go hang out with Taichi, you're more than welcome to."

"…More than welcome to, am I?"

He stayed silent.

"Screw you, Matt."

He looked at her now, and she wouldn't meet his gaze. There was a stiff coldness in her posture, an angry confidence on her countenance, and he recognized mad Sora when he saw her.

"Sora…"

"Just…forget it, Matt." She still wouldn't look at him. "I never should've told you anyway."

He shyly nudged her shoulder with his again. She promptly shrugged it off. Then he did it again, and he was met with the same reaction.

His hand sheepishly slipped over hers, holding it gently as she half-heartedly tried to wriggle her fingers out of his grasp. And finally she looked at him. He was staring down at his shoes, one hand in his pocket, the other hesitantly around hers with a tender uncertainty and hope. Asking.

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him briefly, tightly. It was gone and forgotten just as quickly as it had come.

They stood in front of each other, looking at the ground, wondering where to go next. The change crawled in between them, swirling in the gap, and they could say nothing, do nothing.

Her hand reached out; quietly, aimlessly. He held it in his.

xxx

"You know, Tai's really not that bad." She tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear.

He didn't want to ask, didn't want to know, but he knew he had to. "How long you have you known him?"

She frowned, and she stared intently ahead of her. "I don't know, really. Since forever, it seems."

He pondered her response for a while.

"Forever is a long time, Sora."

The sun was setting behind the horizon, a bright orange glow in the midst of a rapidly darkening sky. The wind blew, sweeping their hair back, and when she spoke, it was detached and unintentional, scarcely above a whisper.

"Yea. It is."

xxx

A/N: I was asked in a review why the chapter titles are so random. Kelly green was the color of the picture frame Sora gave Taichi when they were twelve, and in it was a collage of pictures of them when they were children. I found it appropriate because I thought it referred to where it all started; the beginning, if you will, and it parallels agreeably seeing as though it's the name of the first chapter, where this story begins. Guardedly is something I feel sums up the mood of chapter two. The words after all were used when Taichi underestimated Sora's reaction. "And didn't he already? After all, hadn't they been best friends?" This is where everything changes, and I thought the words and the occasion symbolized it nicely. The titlesare also words used in their respective chapters.

Of course, some of the coming titles will be random just for the sake of random. Truth be told, I don't put too much thought into these things and I could've just been talking out of my ass. Take it as you will.

I have an erratic system of writing and have bits and pieces written for the coming chapters. It's only a matter of filling in the gaps and putting them in order. So far, I have chapters four and six in a mess of notes on my computer. That is, if I do this right. I also have the general gist of events lined up and hopefully this fic won't surpass ten chapters. Eight, if I'm lucky. We'll see.

Oh yea. For those who are wondering, my old fics are all gone. There will also be no TaichixMimi in this story in any romantic sense. I just want to stick to the canon characters as much as possible. On that note, for those who care, it was Daisuke who commented on Sora's cattiness.

I thank you all again for you patience. You guys are awesome.

-loveophelia