And we're back with another chapter. Who is "we're" you ask? me, myself, and I. Ok, not really. Just never mind, im tired and am writing this at 11:00 at night, so don't bother me about how crazy I am because I will either cuss you out from being "cranky" from lack of sleep, or my reply will look something like this - 6ty7ufndanasndfk - from me falling asleep and hitting ht keyboard with my head. Ok, another chapter, sorry if I was rude, but here it is.

I realize how large a part our friends had in our lives. From someone, other than me, being there for Taichi, and for trying so many times to get us together, and together again. They were always the rock solid foundation we needed to utter that one little L word that gets so many into so much trouble. Sometimes I think about how we could've all turned out, for better or for worse. Sometimes, I'm glad we are the way we are. Reflecting back on life, has come to teach me, the qualities I miss about the people who made my world turn, but have lost, and have not seen or heard, for unspoken ages. I think, Taichi was one who desperately needed friends. Torn away from his own. Long distance phone calls or slow email being communication for them. I wish, maybe, getting friends and seeing smiling faces could help him now.

- A Thought of Love by Sora Takenouchi

"C'mon Taichi! You'll see the mall here is great!" said Sora pulling Taichi through the crowd of people on the street. The weather had lightened up, and now you could see blue sky hidden behind tufts of cotton ball clouds. There was a light breeze in the air, not cold but refreshingly cool.

"So, we're meeting your friends there?"

"Yeah, Yamato, Melissa, Sandra, Ken, Daisuke, Maria, Catherine, Takeru and Haruo."

"Wow, that is a lot of people."

"Yeah, Takeru, Catherine, Ken, Daisuke, and Maria are all a couple years younger than us, about 12-13, so they don't really hang out with us as much."

"Oh?"

"Mmm hmmm. I mean, Ken is a genius and all, so he's in, or sometimes teaching, our classes, Takeru is Yamato's little brother, and Daisuke is on the soccer team with me, so I assume you will want to meet him. Maria has a huge crush on Ken, and is always clinging to his arm, so you really cant have Ken some somewhere and not have Maria find out, and Catherine is Taker's girlfriend (A/N:OUCH! I know, sorry Takari lovers. But hey, I might make Takeru and her break up so Takeru and Kari can get together. Maybe, I don't know, lately I've been into Daikari.) so Takeru insisted on her coming." Taichi looked up at the sky, and almost tripped on the sidewalk as they finished crossing the street.
"And they're all there to meet... me?"

"Well yeah, your new, you need some friends, other than me, maybe some GUY friends or you will be marked gay. Ummm... Daisuke is to help you with the guy's soccer team, and Ken too I forgot he was on it. Hmmm..."

"How do you even know I'm going to your school..." Sora stopped and blushed... ooops... she looked down and nearly tripped over a passer byer's foot.

"SORRY! Ummm I don't know. I just figured, because, Jenai High is so popular..." When Tai cocked his head to the side and looked at her curiously Sora's face crumbled.

"OH I knew it! Your going to Dar K. Master's High aren't you!" Taichi threw back his head and laughed.

"Gosh your so cute when you get disappointed, no, I'm going to Jenai High, Grandfather told me last night." Sora, blushed furiously at first when being called cute by such a dream, threw her arms around Taichi,

"OH THATS GREAT!" and the continued the rest of the way to the mall in happy silence. Taichi eventually noticed they were passing the park the day they had gone to before. He smiled when he remembered how they had both laid in the grass laughing, after one amazing soccer match. The tree still stood tall, carved in all of its glory. He saw the huge building they were approaching and whistled.

"Whoa, that is one big mall." Sora grinned.

"Yeah. We're meeting Yamato and the rest in the food court. You did listen to me and not have breakfast right?" Taichi slowly nodded. Of course he had had breakfast. How could he lived without it? But just to show his metabolism, his stomach rumbled, and that was good enough for Sora.

They entered the large dome like building, and were greeted by the mall smell (A/N: Ok, before you say anything, I know the mall smell is incredibly non descriptive. But think about it, isn't there just that special smell you get when you enter a mall? Isn't there? Since I have no idea what to call it, and I always smell it in the mall, the Mall Smell i have christened it.) and looks at cleanly waxed floors and wall high windows. Sora took a breath of air.

"Ahhh... the mall..." Taichi looked around. It was a... mall...

"Do you like shopping?"

"Not particularly."

"So why do you like the mall?" Taichi asked as Sora made a sharp turn and they quickly headed up an escalator

"Umm... the food court, the arcade, bookstore..."

"You like reading?"

"Of course!" Taichi looked up through the dome at the sky.

"Dear god Koushiro did a part of you have to follow me everywhere I went?" mumbled Taichi. Sora leaned closer.

"What was that?" Taichi blinked,

"Huh? Oh I said, but still have an arcade right?" Sora looked doubtful to if that was really what he said but she nodded. Finally they emerged into a large dining hall of sort with small restaurant stands everywhere.

"Here we are. Look for a tall guy, and he'll have long blonde hair... or a kid with spiky burgundy/brown hair eating off of twelve plates. Whatever you see first." she said. Taichi looked around, but finally he noticed Sora wave to a group of teens. "There they are. C'mon Taichi." they went over to greet the group. A young man, with very bright blonde hair and cold blue eyes stepped forward. His hair was fashionably cropped, but a bit tussled. He wore a sleeveless black t-shirt revealing his pale strong arms, and a pair of jeans. He gave Sora a brisk hug.

"Sora! Yes, I finally get to see you for the first time this week!" Sora smiled.

"Morning to you too 'Mato." The young man looked at Taichi.

"Hello...?" Taichi stuck his hand out and shook Yamato's.

"Taichi. Yagami Taichi."

"Hello Taichi. I'm Ishida Yamato. Or you can call me Matt, or 'Mato." A girl with very dark thick wavy brown hair stepped out, she was wearing jeans and a light blue shirt with green vertical stripes on the sleeves that rested on her fine features. She had clear blue eyes.

"HI! I'm Melissa! Sora's told me all about you..." Sora cut her off,

"And Taichi is happy to meet you Mel," Taichi smiled.

"Yeah, hi Melissa." Melissa smiled at Sora confidently. A girl with impossibly curly/wavy blonde hair stepped forward. Her hair had streaks or red in it. She was wearing a red t-shirt and white pants.

"Hey Taichi. I'm Sandra. Named after the judge!" Sandra gave a little laugh (A/N: Sandra Day O'Connor. First women justice of the Supreme Court) "My parents named me that in hopes I would follow in her footsteps and do something great."

"Yeah, but so far, I think its an insult to Justice O'Connor." Said a voice from behind Sandra. A boy with shaggy murky brown hair stepped forward. he had steely gray eyes that were focused intently on Taichi's face. he wore a light forest green shirt over a incredibly dark forest green shirt a pair of jeans. "I mean, Sandra here cant get above a B+." Sandra flushed.

"Shut up Haruo! I can too! I for your information, am president of the class, and I get strait A's. I only get a B+ in PE!" Haruo laughed.

"Well, that says a lot." Sandra kicked him in the shin and smiled at Taichi who was trying hard not to laugh.
"Well hi." A boy with long, blue/black hair stepped forward.

"Ichijouji Ken. Nice to meet you." A boy, with spiky brown hair, darker than Taichi's, almost a burgundy color, stepped forward.

"HEY! I'm Motomiya Daisuke! But- I think we already met! Remember at the park?" Taichi remembered it, but Daisuke had been wearing sunglasses and a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, so he had never really noticed how much Daisuke looked like him. It was... creepy to say the least. A Mexican girl, who had been momentarily clutching onto Ken's arm ran up.

"HI! I'm Maria! My family moved here from Mexico 4 years ago. Don't worry, its really easy to fit in here!" then she ran back to Ken who was looking like he wished she would disappear. A boy, who looked a lot like Yamato, but with a softer expression came forward.

"Hi Taichi. I'm Takeru, Matt's younger brother," he pulled a fragile looking blonde girl forwards. She was even paler than Yamato, and her blue eyes were crystal clear. "This is Catherine, my girlfriend, she moved here from France 6 years ago. She's my girlfriend..." Takeru said the last part blushing slightly, unused to it, proud, and slightly embarrassed.

"Hello Taichi," she said shyly. Taichi smiled.

"Nice to meet all of you." Daisuke burst forwards.

"Can we please get some breakfast now! I had to wait because we had to meet Taichi. Yamato why'd you make me wait so long!" he said whining. Yamato gave a small laugh.

"Well, considering you eat practically at ever second of the day, I figured that you could do with waiting for a meal. C'mon, the waffle stand is over this way." he said, pulling Taichi a long, ignoring the "grumblings" of Daisuke's stomach or his whining until Takeru smacked him on the head to the delight of everyone else. Sora was laughing and having fun, which made Taichi smile.

Taichi's POV

Wow. She has a lot of great friends. It makes me miss Koushiro and Mimi. I bet Hikari would be great friends with Catherine and Maria. Takeru, Daisuke, Ken, Maria and Catherine could hang with her Yolei and Iori. Iori is so small. With his bowl cut and wide green eyes he looks 2 years younger than he really was. So he looked about 10. Mmm... these waffles are really good. Daisuke and I ordered the same dishes, 6 chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream and a cherry on top, the whip cream looks like a happy face! Sora laughed when she heard what I was ordering. Man I lover her laugh. I remember the first time I heard it, all of those years ago. It was like a little bell. It made me laugh also. Of course, I guess she still doesn't remember. They're all chatting about they teachers they might get. Humph.

"You do want Mr. Amiro," Yamato is telling me, "But you don't want Dr. D." I nod absently. Sure. I don't really like talking about anything related to school in the summer and, its not like talking about who you want or don't want will ultimately change who you get.

"Ummm ok,"
"I know it sounds weird, but I can't wait to be a freshmen! We're high-school kids now! Not middle schoolers, definitely not Elementary children, we are High-School Teens!" said Sandra. Ummm... ok... we're walking away from the food court, now that we finished I guess we're going... shopping... dun dun dun...

"Ummmm... where exactly are we going?" I ask nervously. Sora shrugged.

"Just wandering the mall, you know, Matt and Haruo need to stop at the music shop to get some equipment for their band..."

"Whoa! Yamato! Haruo! Your in a band! Dude!" I exclaimed. Yama blushed and shrugged, and Haruo grinned.

"Yup! The 'Lone Wolves'! We're having a concert for the beginning of school, you should come! It's going to be great!" Wow. Back home, I used to be in a band also... but we split up after a while. I play the drums... Yama pushed his hand on Haruo's head causing him to stumble and nearly trip.

"Don't boast so much Har. We're nothing special. Just another teen garage band trying to make it through..." Haruo pushed Matt away.

"How about you don't be so modest Yamato. We're good. We're not just some garage band. We get to have our concerts at the Music Hall and everything. We have fans. We have t-shirts, hats...we sign auto-graphs..." he went on and on, and I stopped listening. Sora giggled next to me.

"They're quite a pair those two. They're actually best friends, and have been since the second grade. Haruo plays the bass in the band. Then there's Kaito and Shou who play the drums and the keyboard, but, they don't really hang out with us as much. kinda a different group, 'Different worlds uniting for the common goal of music' is how Yamato puts it." I laughed a bit. Funny. Yamato and Haruo seemed pretty cool. I bet Koushiro would like them... I wonder what he's doing right now. Matt, Haruo, and Maria stayed at the music store. Maria plays the flute at the Middle School band and needed some more cleaning rags and was picking up some sheet music. Sandra and Catherine are going to go clothes shopping at god knows where. Sora and Melissa are heading towards the pet shop to get toys for Melissa's dog Shigure, named after Shigure Sohma, and Daisuke, Ken, and I are going to the video games center. I look around... wall to wall video games. They have everything.

"Oh my god..." I say, awed. Daisuke tries to sling an arm around my shoulder, realizes that I'm to tall. and stands next to me and grins.

"Oooohhhhh yeah brother," Ken smiles, really small, almost looking like it shouldn't be on his face.

"This place is very nice." I spend the rest of the time gazing over the shelves. Sadly, I have no money so I can't buy anything, but I play the games at the store. Daisuke buys Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends. Ken buys a new controller.

"Wow Dais, never figured you for the puppy type!" Daisuke grins wide. Nothing can ever make him stop smiling. It's slightly scary.

"Hehe, I love puppies, they're sooooo cute! I'm gonna get a beagle! Because Jun nee-san says that they're as cute, hyper, and stupid as me... no wait..." his grin fades into a look of confusion as he tries to figure out if that was an insult or not. I laugh and Ken shakes his head knowingly. I hope I was never as dim as Daisuke.

Finally, we meet up with the rest of the gang outside the mall. I have to get back to man the store. Yama and Har have practice with their band. Daisuke and Ken have their AYSO meeting, Sandra, Melissa, and Sora have to go to work at Sora's mom's flower shop. Takeru is leaving with Catherine and Maria to go hang out at the park. Lucky son of a gun. Girl seriously fawn over him. Not... that they don't over me, but it loses its appeal once you notice it happening. Sora, Melissa, and Sandra direct me home, though I am starting to learn the "lay of the land" now. Sora walks me too the door. I feel like the rolls here have been reversed but whatever.

"Ummm... thanks Sora, I had I really good time..." Sora smiles at me.

"Don't worry about it Taichi! Your really cool," she says, about to say more.

"Thanks Sor, your cool to..." she blushes and walks away. I enter the shop. "I'm home Grandfather." Grandfather Jones walks out of the back room smiling.

"Ahhh, nice timing Taichi!" he says, because a group of little kids just wandered into the store. "Go help out those youngsters." I walk over too them. There's about... 5 of them. There's one who looks to be about 7 and the rest about 10. The big one might be 11 though... They're glancing around nervously. I smile at them.

"Hey, can I help you?" a 10 year old with a red hat on backwards and short cut brown hair beneath it gulps and glances outside.

"Uhh no..." I raise an eyebrow at them, what a jumpy bunch.

"Are you guys in AYSO? Do you need cleats, or maybe larger sized balls... hmmm... are your uniforms being delivered here?" The littlest one, maybe about 7 or 8 smiles.

"I'm in AYSO!" he says, delighted that he plays soccer. One of the older boys kicks him.

"Quiet Tommy!" He frowns and looks down and mumbles a sorry.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?" I ask again. There is something about this bunch which just isn't right. The leader nods and assures me and I wander away, keeping an eye on them. The leader keeps looking across the street and getting paler and paler. Finally, I try to see what he's looking at. There are a couple of mean looking 12 year olds out there glaring at him. Ohh... I think its coming together. The leader is reaching up to get something, and the other boys are starting to walk out the door. Grandfather Jones is in the back. Time for me to make my move. I come casually to the front of the door and stop them. "You know, I know they tell you at school to share... but for a store to share, you have to pay first." The boys look down guiltily.

"What're you talking about?" one of them mumbles, I now notice he has a bruise on his face.

"Yeah, we didn't do anything." says another with a small cut above his eye. Fine, they won't give in, I'll make them.

"You know, stealing is a criminal offence. If you get caught... you could go to jail, and you know what they do to little kids in jail right?" they shake their heads. "Those bullies out there, are about 100,000,000 times nicer than the guys in jail." I whisper. Of course, none of this is true. Most of these kids would hardly have to even have a Delinquent Offense for this small crime, considering their age and the fact they were forced into it, but they don't know that heh heh heh. Tommy's crying now.

"I don't want to go to jail!" He empties out his pockets and a bunch of candy from the small rack in the corner falls out, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't tell! PLEASE!" the little kids is clutching onto my leg now crying. The others are groaning and emptying their pockets. The leader still looks scared though. He know what will happen. And I also think he knows I was bluffing. Smart kid.

"Don't worry, I won't tell, but first, you better tell me what happened." The boys sit on the floor and Tommy starts speaking.

"Well, it all started about a month ago. Those big kids showed up on the playground and started pushing us around. They would hit us and kick us and stuff! Look! Kouji's got a black eye! JP has a cut on his forehead! Kouichi has big bruises on his leg! And Takuya..."

"Is fine..." rumbled the voice from the kid with the hat, who I now presume is Takuya.

"No he's not! He got hurt on the head! There was a great big bloody lump! He had to be checked for a concu... conca... conci..." he stumbles a bit and stops, trying to figure it out. poor kid, so little can't even say concussion.

"Concussion." I say smiling. Tommy grins.

"Yeah right! A conception!" he says mispronouncing the word again, "And they said, if we stole stuff from the store they would stop and... and..." Tommy started crying all over again, "please don't make me go to jail!" he cried again. I smile and shake my head. Kids.

"Don't worry, I won't. And I'm going to deal with those kids." I say and walk out of the store. The group of kids trailing behind me. One of the 12 year olds grunts.

"Hey twerp, you get the goods?" except it sounded more like, "Eyaa twep, u got da goos?" or something. I push forward.

"You picking on these kids?" I ask. He looks at me surprised.

"Mmmaybe..."

"I asked you a question. Are you picking on these kids? Or are the words to big for your stupid brain to understand?" he blinks. I guess he hasn't been insulted in a while.

"No, they isn't. And so yeah what? What ya gonna do 'bout it?" which sounded more like, "Naw dey ain. Anso ya waaat? Whatchoo gonna do bout?" the other one asked trying to look muscle. I stand taller, push my shoulders back, and puff out my chest. You don't play soccer intensely for 10 years straight and not get some sort of well defined muscles.
"I don't have to do anything about it. Because your gonna stop. And if you start up again." I say a hand on his shoulder and look him dead in the eye. "You will answer to me? Clear?" the toothpick he had been chewing on fell out of his mouth.

"C-clear..." he said before quickly running away. The young boys cheered. And hey, I felt like a hero. I was a hero, to them. Takuya approaches me.

"Th-thanks. I was... too scared to stand up to them before, because," he looks down ashamed, "I guess I wanted to be tough and big like them... but now..." he raises his face and smiles at me. He looks slightly like Daisuke, only slightly though. "I want to be like you..." I place a hand on his shoulder,

"Yagami Taichi." he smiles again.

"Just like you Taichi nii-san!" oh dear god what have I done? The kids pay their thanks and run off, Takuya giving me one last grin. I walk back inside and Grandfather goes and rest up in my room.

Back up there, I'm in my world again. Calm, cool, collected. I don't want to bother with calls, or emails. I just want to lie on my bed. I look at the pictures I took, hmmmm... whatever happened to my old goggles? Maybe... Takuya wants them... just to be like his Onii-san...

Ok so there you go. Ummm... yeah... a bit of Frontier incorporated there... yeah... so he doens't give his goggles to Daisuke :( but he does give them to Takuya :) and that's it... pretty long compared to what I normally write... I guess... ummm yeah... hope u enjoyed... Sorry it too so long to update…