Hi everyone! I'm sorry this chapter's short too, but the next one will be longer. That's because Chapter 9 is where the real fun starts to happen! Okay, so I've finally introduced all the children except Nobunari, but don't worry, you'll meet him, too. Just to let you know, when June 30 rolls around I'm going to be gone for two weeks so unfortunately you'll have to wait for an update. I hope to get in a least one, maybe two more chapters before then. Don't worry though, I'll be back! I think that's it for now so... well? What are you waiting for? Go read and review! Thanks!

Following The Footsteps Of Destiny

Chapter 8: Taysuke And Friends

Takara 'Kara' Kamiya

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

Just great. Where could it have gone? "Mom? Have you seen my soccer ball?" Takara leaned over the railing at the top of the stairs and gazed towards the kitchen. Maybe Taysuke has it.

"Right here, honey." A moment later, forty-one year old, Sora Kamiya, appeared at the bottom of the stairs with a soccer ball under her arm. Takara watched her climb the steps, and she took the ball from her mother's hand. She smiled and bounced it lightly on her knee. Her mother crossed her arms and glanced into the room with amusement. "Well it's no wonder you can't find anything in here. Look at the state of this room!"

Takara gave her mother a sheepish smile. Books, clothes, and soccer equipment lay scattered about in every direction. Usually she tried to keep her room relatively clean, but with having to oversee soccer tryouts this year, she had gotten a bit behind. "I'll clean it up on the weekend, I promise," she said quickly.

Her mother laughed and shook her carrot coloured head. "Alright, but I better be able to walk through here when you're done!"

"Okay." Takara hopped out of the room and raced down the stairs. She let out a yelp and collided with her father who was on his way up. He managed to catch hold of her before she sent them both tumbling head over heels to the floor.

"Kara, slow down. What's the hurry?" Her father grinned at her and twirled the soccer ball on his finger before handing it back to her. His chestnut brown hair was cut a lot shorter than it was in his younger days, and his deep brown eyes were twinkling with amusement. At my expense!

Takara gave her father, forty-one year old, Tai Kamiya, an impatient look. "Dad, I promised Ryoko I'd meet him by the park before school. If I don't hurry up, he's going to wonder what happened to me!"

A warm smile slipped across her father's face, and Takara laughed. Her dad had always had a soft spot for Ryoko, and it was a guaranteed way of avoiding a lecture about running on the stairs.

"You know, Ryoko reminds me so much of Matt." Her father sighed. "Alright, but make sure you two are in time for school." He gave her a hug and continued up the stairs. Her mother passed him on the way back down and kissed his cheek.

Takara sailed into the kitchen, her soccer ball in hand, and sat down next to her ten year old brother, Taysuke Kamiya.

"Hey, Kara," Taysuke said through a mouthful of food. He was gobbling down his breakfast with great gusto in a way that only boys could.

"Hey, Tay. Your soccer game is today, right?" She started into her own breakfast and began eating as fast as chewing would allow.

He nodded his carrot coloured head, which he had inherited from their mom, and smiled at her with warm brown eyes the same shade as their dad's. "Yeah. Are you coming to watch?"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything. You guys are up against a tough team, but I'm sure you'll win no problem. Even if you don't, I'll still buy you ice cream!"

Taysuke laughed and took her soccer ball. He bounced it on the floor and she smiled at him. Unlike Daichi, she got along with her sibling.

"No soccer in the house you two," their mother said sternly. She had just come into the room with their dad who held a fireman's hat under his arm. Their mother had taken over the flower shop from their grandmother and now ran it full time, while their father had become a firefighter. Their dad had always been brave, and Takara thought it was the perfect job for him.

"Alright, alright. I better go before Ryoko throws a fit," she grinned and stood up, taking the soccer ball in her hands again.

Taysuke's face brightened and he gave her a hopeful look. "You're going to meet Ryoko? Can I come with you?"

She smiled and nodded. Ryoko was her brother's hero, and Taysuke never missed an opportunity to hang out with him. It was strange to think that anyone would look up to Ryoko, but for some reason Taysuke idolized him. Her brother seemed to be in awe of the older boy which was evident whenever the two were around each other.

"Alright. You two be good," their mother said, her amber eyes sparkling.

"Have a good day!" Their father laughed and waved them out the door.

Masato 'Matty' Takaishi

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

"Dai! Hey, over here," Matty called out, waving to get his friend's attention.

"Oh... hey, Matty. Hey, Mickey," Dai replied, sounding somewhat distracted. He barely even glanced at them as they skidded to a stop on the sidewalk in front of him.

Matty frowned. His friend was acting a lot stranger then usual today. "What's up?"

The trio headed down the sidewalk towards the school at a slow pace.

"It's nothing." Dai avoided his eyes and Matty's frown deepened. Does he really expect me to believe him now?

He put a hand on Dai's arm and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Is this about what happened with Ryoko yesterday?"

This time it was Dai's turn to frown, and his friend shook his head.

"Are you upset about being late yesterday? If you are, don't feel bad. I woke up late yesterday, too, though not as late as Mickey, and we were running behind schedule."

"It's not that." Dai appeared to hesitate and slowly looked up at them. "Hey, guys? There's something I need to tell you only you have to promise not to laugh or think I'm crazy."

Matty exchanged a look with Mickey and realized his twin was thinking the exact same thing that he was. Has Dai gone totally nuts? He was fine yesterday. What could have happened to make him act so weird?

"What is it?" Mickey asked slowly.

Dai was about to answer when a loud voice interrupted him.

"Look, it's a miracle! Daichi's on time today! The world must be coming to an end!" Ryoko stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He was standing at the edge of the park with Takara, Taysuke, and Taysuke's friends. The younger Kamiya's group was made up of three other people. They were eleven year old, Taniko Izumi, ten year old, Ema Kido, and eleven year old, Kenzo Hida.

"When I get my hands on you I'm going to strangle you, Ishida!" Dai shouted at the top of his lungs. He stalked towards Ryoko with his hands clenched into fists, and there was a dangerous expression on his face. He seemed to have forgotten all about what he had been planning to tell them.

Matty hurried forward with his twin. He was anxious to be there in case a fight broke out, which it probably would. He hated it when Dai got like this with Ryoko.

"What's the matter, Daichi? Did Davis and Noriko get you into trouble?" Ryoko snorted loudly. He did not seem the least bit concerned that Dai was heading right towards him, looking murderous.

A vein throbbed in Dai's temple, and Matty flinched. His friend looked ready to explode.

"This is all your fault, Ishida," Dai snarled. "You might be doing a little victory dance now, but sooner or later, it's all going to blow up in your face and I'll be the one laughing!"

Ryoko leaned against a tree and smiled sweetly at him. "You should learn to control your temper and your fists!"

Dai made a grab for the blond, but Matty caught his arm and dragged him back. "Dai, no," he whispered into his friend's ear. "You can't afford to get into any more trouble!"

"Matty, I don't think much of your taste in friends," Ryoko said smoothly. "He's beginning to rub off on you in a bad way. You were late yesterday, too."

"Ryoko, we were only late because we slept in too long, and we had to rush to get to school on time," Matty explained.

Ryoko dismissed the words with a wave of his hand. "Still." He turned to Dai. "I don't appreciate you being a bad influence on my cousins, Daichi."

"Me?" Dai let out a harsh laugh. "If anyone's going to be a bad influence on them it's you, Ishida!"

"That's not true!" Taysuke protested. He hovered behind Ryoko and frowned at Dai.

"You two are worse than Uncle Davis and T.K. were," Ema scowled. Her cobalt blue hair was done up in two short, spiky pigtails, and her black eyes were filled with disapproval. She was dressed in a white t-shirt, with a blue flower on the front, blue shorts, and matching sandals. She glared at Ryoko and Dai as if trying to stare them down. She managed to look impressive considering the fact that both boys were more than a head taller then she was.

"Who asked you?" Dai glared back at his cousin and fell into an angry silence.

Ema looked a lot like her father who was forty-two year old, Dr. Joe Kido. Despite that, she acted more like her mother who was forty-one year old, Jun Kido. Her brother, Nobunari, had a similar personality to Ema, but he looked like Jun with his chestnut brown hair and brown eyes.

"She has a point there," Taniko added, and Matty nodded in agreement. Taniko had shoulder length, silky brown hair and dark eyes. She was also a genius which was why she got along so well with Miya. It wasn't really that surprising. Her father, thirty-nine year old, Izzy Izumi, was also a genius and the head of a large software company. Physically, she carried the beauty of her mother, thirty-eight year old, Mina Izumi. Apparently Izzy had met his wife on the borders of China which Matty did not understand in the least. What the heck had Izzy been doing in China in the first place, and how had he managed to pick up a wife? It was especially odd considering the fact that when Izzy was younger, he had been more likely to marry his computer than find himself a spouse!

Kenzo just sighed and shook his head. "This is getting ridiculous," he muttered.

Kenzo Hida was the son of thirty-five year old, Cody Hida, and thirty-two year old, Rosa Hida. He had dark raven hair and dark eyes. He was also clueless when it came to joking around. Matty could swear that the younger boy would not recognize a joke if it fell out of the sky and hit him on the nose!

How Cody had managed to hook up with someone from Mexico was beyond him. It was no secret that Rosa had once had a huge crush on Ken. Their parents often laughed about it when reminiscing old times. It had never been made clear to him when her affections had turned to Cody.

"Guys, we don't have time for this," Takara said impatiently. She took Mickey's arm and began to drag him down the street. Ryoko sent Dai an icy look before following.

Dai was shaking with rage and turned to look at him. "How can you stand him!"

"He's my cousin. I have to put up with him!" Matty said dryly. He loved Ryoko very much, and they were actually quite close. But when Ryoko started to pick on Dai, then he got angry. He just could not understand Ryoko.

"Come on." They followed Takara, Ema, Kenzo, Taniko, Taysuke, and Ryoko into the school at a fast pace.

"I'll see you guys later," Taysuke said. He smiled at Ryoko, his face beaming.

Ryoko's cold gaze melted slightly, and he smiled back at the younger boy.

Ema and the others called out their goodbyes, and Matty headed into his classroom with the rest of his friends. They found Sam already seated and quickly crowded around him.

"What's up?" Sam asked. He glanced anxiously at Dai whose face was filled with fury.

"What do you think? Ishida, as usual," Dai said sarcastically.

"You've got no one to blame but yourself," Ryoko snorted and settled into his seat.

Dai's hand clenched into a fist, and Matty grabbed his wrist before his friend could punch Ryoko square in the face. "Careful, Dai. Mrs. Hanari just walked into the room," he whispered.

Dai glanced at the front of the room where Mrs. Hanari was eyeing him suspiciously and quickly sat down. He muttered something that sounded like 'stupid blond', and contented himself with giving Ryoko a dirty look.

Matty frowned at his goggle headed friend. After all, he was a blond, too. He hated it when people would make those kind of comments about him. Dai usually doesn't say things like that. What has gotten into him, and what exactly was it he'd been trying to tell us earlier? He looks so serious.

He glanced at Mickey and saw his brother also staring at Dai with concern. I'll have to remember to ask Dai later. There's no way I'm going to let him get away with not telling me!