A/N: No excuses for the late update, just that I am lazy af.

Thank you Scripturiens and Kohi-ster for your helpful reviews, kept them in mind while writing this chapter! And thank you moonlightXninja168, j8919, Reniel Moza, tanngytagny2 and Angela for reviewing as well! Hope this chapter meets your expectations. Though it's a little cheesy at the end, but then again teenage love, in general is.

Also, the scene with Jyou is inspired with the last part of Ketsui where he tells Mimi it's okay to be jikochu. He really is the anchor for both our girls imo.

-x-

One thing Koushiro never liked doing was eating quickly, the whole process of savouring the taste slowly and enjoying it was so dear to him that he never understood why people liked to hurriedly stuff food in their mouths (and by people he meant Taichi). And yet, here he was, sitting in the cafeteria and swallowing his curry and rice as quickly as possible in order to escape the current situation surrounding him. He wondered as he ate, why had he not attempted to branch out and make more friends after that eventful summer camp, how could someone as smart as him not realize that just having seven close friends to rely on and hang out with was not a good decision to make. Currently, him and his friends were seated in the huge cafeteria at a table in the corner all to themselves. Under normal circumstances this would be a good thing, considering how crowded their school cafeteria got during lunch and they'd usually always end up sharing their table with their other classmates making it difficult for them to chat freely. But today, when they actually could have used a random classmate talking about something random (Koushiro regretted his lack of interest in his classmates dearly today) to keep the conversation going and not allow them to fall into an awkward silence, they were blessed with complete privacy instead.

Koushiro stared at his now empty plate with relief. He looked up at Mimi, who was sitting across from him, nibbling on her strawberry flavoured bread. On his left, Yamato was making little progress with his bowl of ramen and next to him, Taichi sat ignoring his own bowl completely. The only person who was eating properly on the table was Sora, who sat next to Mimi, totally not paying attention to the rest of them as she calmly ate her fish. Having finished his lunch, Koushiro stood up abruptly looking for an escape route.

"Yamato, Mimi did you two see the new vending machine they installed near the gym? They have that flavoured coffee milk that you guys like so much." Koushiro rambled, hoping that the two would catch his drift.

Almost instantly Yamato and Mimi got up, a half-hearted look of surprise on their faces as they muttered about their favourite beverages.

"Wow, I've been craving that since morning," Mimi began.

"Let's go then, do you two need anything?" Yamato asked politely, as the three of them got ready to dash away from the table as quickly as possible.

"If any of you leave here before I'm done eating, you will have hell to pay later." Sora said quietly as she picked at her fish with her chopsticks, her face devoid of her usual cheerful expression, she glanced at them once and then went back to her lunch.

Slowly, the three of them sat down, Koushiro looked at Mimi with a 'do something' face but the brunette only shrugged nervously in response as she moved her chair a little farther from Sora's. Koushiro eyed Yamato sideways, and noticed that he was nudging Taichi which the computer genius thought wasn't a good idea considering what had happened in the morning.

As usual, Koushiro had been minding his own business peacefully, when Taichi and Yamato reached class, both smiling happily as if they hadn't ruined everyone's dinner plans the previous night with their lover's quarrel. Mimi had rolled her eyes at them and only smiled at Yamato as she wished him good morning, making a face at Taichi instead who promptly returned the gesture, although the grin never left his face. Naturally, Koushiro assumed that today would be a normal day with no 'being the third wheel in an argument' situation, only he made his assumption a little too soon. A few minutes later the four of them realized that one member was still missing. Being late was not Sora's forte at all, and an air of unease settled over them as they noticed her absence. Just seconds before the bell rang, signalling the start of the day, Sora entered the classroom moving quickly towards her seat with a deadpan expression on her face.

Next to him, Mimi muttered 'this cannot be good' under her breath as Sora only spared them a nonchalant glance as she murmured good morning and settled in her seat. Things would have probably remained fine, and whatever had been bothering Sora would have probably blown over by lunch with her returning to her smiling self if what happened next wouldn't have happened.

"Hey, Sora."

Koushiro and Mimi turned around to look at Taichi in shock, but he ignored them and waited for Sora to turn around. Their teacher arrived and started the roll-call but Sora didn't acknowledge Taichi at all.

"Sora listen," Taichi started again, refusing to back down.

"Tai, I don't think right now is a good time." Yamato said quietly, as he looked at his best friend pointedly. Taichi just frowned in response and faced Sora's back again.

"I'm trying to talk to you, you know,"

The auburn haired girl turned around slowly, her face completely blank and her voice lacking emotion, "Don't."

It wasn't often that they got to see Taichi stunned into absolute silence. After that, no one really talked much except for Mimi's offhand comments about the weather and usual school gossip to which she only got a few murmurs and mutters in reply. As was their usual ritual on Wednesdays, the five went to the cafeteria for lunch leading to the current situation.

Koushiro watched as Sora calmly put down her chopsticks, signalling that her meal was now over. She stood up and after brushing invisible crumbs off of her skirt, she walked out of the cafeteria without sparing them even a glance, leaving her empty lunch tray on the table which was so very unlike her. A collective sigh of relief could be heard on the table the minute she was out of sight.

"I don't even know how I fucked up, but I fucked up." Taichi wearied as he pushed his untouched bowl of ramen away, adding to the strange variation in behaviours that Koushiro was witnessing today.

"You could've just kept your mouth shut in the morning." Mimi stated simply as she played with her hair.

"Are you going to go talk to her now?" Yamato asked her, shooting a concerned look towards his best friend, who was ignoring his food.

"Didn't you see what happened in the morning?" Mimi exclaimed, turning her attention towards Yamato she continued, "We need to leave her alone for some time, otherwise she'll blow up on us." She paused and then turned towards Taichi, adding tauntingly, "Which anyone who really knows Sora-chan would know."

Taichi rolled his eyes at Mimi and slumped in his chair, Yamato ran a hand through his hair, a look of contemplation settling on his face. Koushiro figured that the blond would not be content until he knew for sure that Sora was alright. Mimi looked dejected too as she wasn't even bothering to strike up a conversation with Yamato or attempting to catch his attention. He hoped that when they returned to the classroom, Sora would be in a better mood so that this dreariness that had settled upon all of them could be lifted. The gang waited until the bell which signalled the end of lunch rang, to return to the classroom as a way to give Sora some space, but when they reached the class, they were met with an empty desk instead of their friend. They spent the rest of the day anticipating her return, but she didn't come back.

-x-

She felt guilty. This was probably the first time in her entire life that Sora felt this much guilt covering her entire being. She had never skipped school before and it was tearing her model student self apart. The waffle sundae that was lying in front of her was slowly melting as she contemplated running back and apologizing to her teachers or going on a soul searching trip to Mt. Fuji. After she took a bite out of her dessert, she realized that the latter was a stupid idea and it was just her paranoia taking over. The sweet taste was able to calm her down and she explained to herself rationally, that the worst the school could do was give her a small punishment of extra cleaning duty since this was her first offense.

Once the fear of being caught dissipated, Sora was able to think about everything else that was affecting her mood. Her day had started off as terribly as possible thanks to her mother. She had woken up to two new pamphlets of vocational universities in and around Tokyo that focused on traditional arts. Now this was pushing the limits. Sora had already told her mother countless times that she would try out everything that her mother wanted her to before she made a final decision regarding her future, but the fact the her mom constantly kept throwing these pamphlets and prospectuses in her face only pointed towards her disbelief in Sora's promise. True, she could have handled the situation more carefully and probably marching down with all the stuff and burning them on the cooking stove was not the best solution, but for the first time in a long time she was truly angry with her mother. She had gotten dressed for school, and left without eating breakfast. Her stomach had already been paining with hunger when Taichi, being his usual idiotic self, went ahead and annoyed her even further.

Up until now Sora had been taking small careful bites of her food, but thinking about Taichi sent her into an assault on the dessert. I'm trying to talk to you, his words echoed in her head, infuriating her completely. The arrogance in his tone, like she was obliged to listen to him no matter what pissed her off to no extent, which resulted in her mean behaviour. She probably would have ignored him and kept her cool if she hadn't been that hungry, Taichi just had bad timing.

"What did these waffles ever do to you?"

"Jyou-senpai!" Sora paused her furious consumption of the waffles and looked up in surprise. She swiftly set her fork down and got up to tackle the older boy into a bear hug. Her last two run-ins with him hadn't ended up great what with her making a dramatic exit out of Yamato's apartment the first time and everyone going home disappointed because of Taichi and Yamato the second time. She let go of him quickly knowing that sudden intimacy made him awkward, and grinned happily at him. This was her first proper smile since yesterday and she just felt so good inside seeing him stand there, blushing dorkily because of the hug.

"Wow, someone's happy to see me. Even though we met last night." Jyou murmured, scratching his head as a small smile took over his face.

"Well I wouldn't really call that meeting." Sora pointed out as she took her seat again. Jyou chuckled as he sat down opposite her, nodding in agreement.

"But the real question is, why are you skipping school?" He narrowed his eyes at her, folding his arms and facing her sternly.

Sora drew back into her chair as she nervously avoided his gaze, "It was a life and death situation which could only be cured by waffles."

Jyou stared at her blankly for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter, "Did Taichi teach you how to lie?" Sora rolled her eyes at that, not impressed with his choice of words. Realizing his miss, he cleared his throat and added, "Not that I have any right to judge you, since I'm kind of doing the same." He admitted solemnly.

"Well that is an interesting development. Tell me more." Sora grinned as she picked up her fork again, ready to get back to her dessert as Jyou talked. She knew that he would eventually weasel out the real reason she was skipping school, since he had that kind of control over her. Hence, she decided to listen carefully to whatever he had to say and enjoy a few minutes of peace before she went into the ranting mode.

"There's not much to it really," Jyou sighed as he sat down across her, setting his to-go coffee on the table, he continued "I got into an argument yesterday, with one of my professors during class. And he, being the superior, got the last word in. The thought of sitting for his lecture again today, made me feel a little frustrated."

"So you decided to skip." Sora finished for him.

"It's just for today. I'm sure it'll pass." Jyou muttered more to himself than Sora.

She chuckled at his behaviour, relieved that she wasn't the only one who took things like this seriously. To lighten up the mood, Sora mentioned her plan to go climb Mt. Fuji instead of admitting that she was skipping school to him, which made Jyou spill some of his coffee as he shook with laughter. The two then compared the whacky ideas their brains had come up in stressful situations. Sora realized that she could only talk about things like this with Jyou and occasionally Yamato, without feeling hesitant because she knew they felt it too. Mimi and Taichi were the least stressful people on the whole planet according to her, which sometimes made them indifferent towards her way of thinking.

Right after Sora finished her food, she noticed that her senior was looking at her expectantly. She groaned internally, realizing that she was finally going to have to talk about her feelings, ugh. Even thinking about explaining it all to someone as understanding and sympathetic as Jyou made her feel weary.

"So I'm just wondering if something in particular happened today, you know that led you to do something which you usually wouldn't have done…" Jyou rambled on, eyeing his friend sitting across him hopefully.

"Well two things, in particular. But they've kind of been in continuation for a few weeks now." Sora sighed, as she avoided his gaze.

"Today was the breaking point then?" He ventured further.

"Yes." She said, and added as an afterthought, "I have a feeling however, if the first thing wouldn't have happened, the second issue might have been resolved today."

"And care to elaborate on these issues?" He asked again, his voice flooded with curiosity.

Sora looked around the small café as she picked her words carefully. She had been thinking about this quite a lot herself, but when it came to explaining it to someone as objectively placed as Jyou, she wasn't sure where to begin. It had been easier with Mimi, as she knew for sure that her best friend would take her side and comfort her. But Jyou's reaction would be different, he would look for a solution, even one where Sora would be expected to admit defeat. She took a deep breath before beginning, hoping that what she said would make sense to her senpai.

"Everyone has this perfect image of who Sora Takenouchi is and what she should do, everyone except me. And I just don't know whether I'm supposed to be that girl, or be someone else…"

"What is this perfect Sora Takenouchi like?" Jyou's voice was soft as he put forward his question, knowing that whatever he said right now could make or break Sora's actions, he wanted to understand every single aspect before putting forward his own opinion on what needs to be done.

"Well for starters, she does everything her mother tells her to do and is basically this robot rather than a daughter. And she always forgives Taichi, no matter how idiotic or hurtful his actions were."

"And do you think that if this Sora were to stop acting this way, these people would stop caring about her?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"No Sora, that's where you're wrong. Your mother's love for you, Taichi's feelings for you are unconditional. Sure, your mother will be a little surprised with the changes, but she's mature enough to understand that her daughter will not always remain the same, all parents learn that eventually. And as far as Taichi is concerned, it's a good thing that he'll realize that you won't always be there to spoil him and encourage him when he's doing the wrong thing.

The problem isn't that you're changing Sora, it's that you're refusing to because you think that everyone around you would leave you."

By the time Jyou finished speaking, Sora could already feel the moisture building up in her eyes. She hated him for so easily understanding everything that was wrong with her and she hated him for so calmly telling her what needed to be done. But she was relieved. It was comforting to know that she didn't need to tread carefully anymore, that she didn't need to pretend anymore. All she had to do was make other people understand, and if they didn't, they didn't deserve her anyway. A single tear escaped her eye and she quickly wiped it away. She kept her gaze down, not wanting to face Jyou just yet.

"And might I add one more thing, even if the new Sora Takenouchi turns into a stubborn delinquent, her smile would still be the same, which is enough for the rest of us."

She raised her head to meet his gaze, and as much as Sora wanted to keep from crying in front of him, she couldn't stop the tears that rolled down her cheek the minute she met his warm smile.

-x-

She sniffed slightly as she made her way home, partly because of the chill in the air and partly because of all the crying she had gotten done a few hours ago. Jyou had been a little surprised when she told him that she'd quickly go sob in the café washroom. She hadn't given him a chance to reply as she rushed off, closing herself in a cubicle and sobbing freely for some time. Sora absolutely despised crying in front of other people and even though Jyou was more or less okay for her, crying in front of the whole café was not. Jyou had gotten super jumpy and nervous in her absence, blaming her state on himself. When she returned he continuously apologized to her for not being able to lay out his words carefully and hurting her feelings. It took Sora a while to explain to him that it wasn't his fault, and after they paid the bill, they decided to do some stationery shopping, because nothing made the two happier than well curated office supplies.

Jyou had offered to walk Sora home from the station but she had declined, glad to have some time to herself after that heavy conversation in the afternoon. As she walked down her usual route, she debated whether she should call Taichi first or wait for him to come to her. She could tell in the morning from his tone, that he was ready to sort things out like a mature person (Sora figured she should write Yamato a thank you note) but the bad start to her day had ended up ruining everything. She wondered if she called him once she got home, would he still be ready to talk things out. But her question was answered the minute she neared her apartment building, because there he was leaning against the wall in his soccer uniform, his school bag and sports bag lying at his feet. Sora stopped in her tracks, and contemplated turning around as this was too soon. She had just started to feel light and less anxious, but if things didn't go well right now, she would spiral back into depression. It didn't take long however, for Taichi to notice her so she accepted that there was no avoiding this and started walking again.

Taichi detached himself from the wall and walked forward to meet her halfway, leaving his bags behind. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he looked nervous, which was quite unlike him. Sora stopped when there was an acceptable distance between them and faced him with a blank expression. She decided that she would listen to what he had to say before letting him know that she wasn't actually mad about anything anymore.

"Okay, you have every reason to just walk past me and not listen to a word I have to say but even if I have to write you an email or letter or leave you a hundred voicemails, I am going to say what I have to say," He paused, but Sora remained silent so he continued, "not because I think that you're obliged to listen to everything I have to say but because as the most important person in my life, you deserve to know this."

As Taichi took a deep breath to consider how to form his next words, Sora fought very hard to stop her cheeks from turning red at his words, she had to persevere for a little longer, she told herself that she couldn't just melt because of that.

"To put it simply, lately I haven't been myself." Taichi stated meeting her eye, "And I'm not talking about the jerk that I was these past few weeks." He added hoping to make her laugh or at least roll her eyes, but Sora remained frozen. The fact that he was feeling dejected by her cold shoulder was visible on his face, but he tried to continue with the same kind of determination he had started with.

"I haven't been myself, and I'm starting to think that I am nothing. So how can someone who is nothing stand next to you, who is the most amazing person I've known in my entire life. I'm sorry for the way I acted, I really am.

But just the thought of not being worthy of you, not being able to prove to your mom that I am the best option for you made me so bitter and angry that I tried to get rid of you instead. Which was the wrong thing to do, because I don't think I can live without you Sora. But I know that I'm nothing, and that you deserve much better…"

"Idiot." She whispered so quietly that she couldn't even hear it herself. As his words slowly registered in her head, all she could come up with was idiot, "You're not nothing. You are an idiot."

Taichi stared at her, his pained expression now being replaced with confusion as he tried to make sense of what she was trying to say. In three swift steps, Sora covered the distance between them and rested her hands on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat rapidly increase the longer her hands remained on him. She bowed her head as she tried to collect her thoughts, all of the things that had happened till now falling into place as Taichi's words explained his actions, she understood now how her rash response to his attitude had only escalated the problem even more and she couldn't believe that she had so stupidly ignored something that had been in front of her for some time now. She had realized somewhere deep down that he had lost himself when he lost that match, but she didn't do anything about it and now it all made sense.

"You are an idiot. You are brave, and loyal. You are a leader and a team player. You are a great brother, a great friend and a great son. You are a dork and clumsy, you are charming and funny. You are clever and reliable. You are arrogant and stubborn. You are a saviour and a digidestined. But most importantly, Taichi Yagami," She paused to take breath, and watched through her tear-filled eyes that Taichi was fighting back a sob himself, "you are the reason that I understand what love is."

He didn't let her continue as he pulled her into himself and kissed her. This wasn't their first kiss, last year at a Christmas party they were caught under a mistletoe and to quickly get the joke over with he had roughly planted a kiss on her lips and walked away. That had been short and Sora had barely felt the sensation of being touched by him before he had pulled away. This time it was different. His grip around her tightened with every passing second and she felt that he wouldn't let go of her even if earth split into two right now . He kissed with her an urgency to convey something, to make her understand how much he needed her and despite all the hunger behind it, he was tender with his touch. Sora could feel his emotions touching every single nerve of her body, she immersed herself into him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, trying to erase any space left between them.

For a brief second Taichi abruptly pulled away and grinned, "I just want to say that I love you Sora Takenouchi, and it doesn't matter to me if you change or stay the same because I'd still love you just as much."

Sora pulled him back down and kissed him again the minute he finished talking, standing there in his arms, she thought that she really didn't need anything else to be alive. Just Taichi and his grin and his kiss. She wasn't sure how long they stood there, outside her apartment building, in each other's arms, kissing and then pulling away to laugh and giggle and then kissing again but she was sure that she didn't want this to ever end. As Taichi planted his lips on hers one more time, Sora thought about how perfect this moment was and how nothing in the world could possibly ruin this and her train of thought was turning into complete bliss as Taichi continued consuming her when she heard a noise that couldn't have possibly come from either of them. A cough. Immediately the two pulled apart, and surveyed their surroundings, and together their eyes landed on the sole person now standing in front of them with a few grocery bags in her hands.

"Good evening, Taichi-kun." Sora's mother fixed her gaze on the brunet.

Instantly Sora and Taichi put some distance between them, Taichi replied awkwardly and Sora cursed her luck in her head. Of course it was too good to be true, how could things always work out one after the other in her life, something had to always go wrong. And of all the things that could have happened today, her mother caught her making out with her best friend. Well it wasn't much of a secret since they were doing it right outside her house and she was sure that at least one of her neighbours would have tattled on her later. But that would have been different than actually being caught red-handed by her mom.

Her mother eyed them both impassively for a while and then as if reaching a conclusion in her mind, she turned to Taichi and asked politely, "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Taichi stared at her mom blankly, up until now every time he had been hanging around the house her mother always made sure that he left before dinner time and yet, here she was inviting him to eat with them. Sora hoped that he would turn to her so she could signal him to turn the invitation down. After the little scene she had made at breakfast, Sora wasn't sure about where she stood with her mother and Taichi being there would definitely not improve the situation. But she had just repeatedly stated that, Taichi was a total idiot.

He grinned as he nodded excitedly, not sparing Sora a single glance as he moved forward to help her mother with the groceries, "That would be awesome, Takenouchi-san."

-x-

A/N: Let me know what you thought in a review, always appreciated and thank you for reading!