Disclaimer: I forgot this from the first chapter, but this will cover both: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I actually had this chapter written weeks ago, but figured I'd use everyone's hype and distraction about Kyousei as a chance to get a head start on chapter three, so the wait won't be as long (maybe).

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ugh." Yamato groaned lightly, feeling an elbow in his side. Blearily, he opened his eyes, throwing a half-hearted glare at the brunet sleeping next to him. He scooted closer to the edge of the bed, turned onto his side, and closed his eyes.

Half an hour later he was awoken by Taichi kicking him in the ankle.

With a tired sigh, Yamato sat up, nudging Taichi further away; Yamato was sure he'd next wake up to falling off the bed if he ignored Taichi.

"Ngh." Taichi mumbled.

Yamato prodded a bit more, until Taichi cracked open an eye.

"Wha?"

"Move."

Taichi blinked both eyes open, taking in his location. "Oh." He shifted back to his own half of the double bed, turning his back to Yamato.

Yamato, too, settled back down—only to wake up an hour later to Taichi's breath on the back of his neck and Taichi's arm squeezing his waist.

Eyes closed, Yamato let out a long, silent breath. He was tired, he was sick, his head felt like it was full of fluff, and he didn't want to bother with fighting. Instead, he snuggled further into Taichi's hold.

The next time Yamato woke up, it was to the familiar chime of his phone's alarm going off. He reached up, slapping a hand over the patch of ground he normally kept his phone on. His eyes shot open in surprise as his hand met with a softness. He pushed himself to sit up, scanning his surroundings. A room.

"Ugh, shut up."

Yamato's eyes travelled to the young man lying face-down next to him.

What?

An irritated brown eye peeked up from the white pillow. "Are you turning that thing off or will I have to break it?"

"Ah, sorry." Yamato dived for his phone on the floor. The chiming stopped.

"Thanks." Taichi snuggled back into the pillow.

"Gods." Yamato muttered, rubbing his face aggressively, before chuckling. "I completely forgot where I was for a moment. Scared the shit out of me."

Taichi peeked up again, amusement replacing the earlier irritability.

The two held eye contact for a good minute before Yamato snapped out of it, realising he had to get to school. He jumped out of bed, digging through his duffle bag and extracting his uniform and toothbrush. He paused.

"Bathroom's right across the hall."

Yamato nodded his thanks, walking out of the room. No sooner had he entered the bathroom than Taichi barged in after him with a dark green towel.

"Here, if you want to take a shower."

Yamato took the offered towel, eyes glued to his hands fiddling with it. "Thanks. For everything."

Taichi just smiled, turning to head out of the bathroom. "It's really not a problem and you should stop thinking it is."

Upon the door closing, Yamato brought the towel up and pressed his face into it. The action did nothing to stop the smile from spreading across the blond's face, but it did suck up a stray tear. His emotions really were all over the place these days…

Snapping to attention again at the realisation that he needed to hurry, Yamato quickly stripped and made his way into the shower cubicle. Once the initial cold burst of water was down the drain, Yamato stepped under the stream. It had been ten days since he'd last had a proper shower. That had been at Takeru's house…

Brushing the thoughts away, Yamato made quick work of getting clean. He brushed his teeth whilst pulling on clothes, though the combination of tasks didn't work quite as well as he had hoped.

Yamato looked himself over in the mirror, making sure he looked presentable enough for school, before pulling the door open. Taichi was standing on the other side, holding toast in his hand.

"Breakfast." Taichi announced, offering the bread to the blond. "It's not much, but it's the best we have. Someone needs to go shopping..." The last part was said to the floor, but Yamato took note of it.

"I don't usually eat breakfast…"

Taichi looked up, shoving the toast closer to Yamato's face. "But normally you probably eat dinner. Last night you hardly ate, so now you will. Besides, Jou thinks you're chronically ill since you're so skinny."

Yamato took the toast, nibbling on a corner, trying to stop his lip from trembling.

"Hey," Taichi stepped closer, placing a soft hand on Yamato's shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

Yamato shook his head vigorously, still fighting the tremble and tears.

"No, really, Yamato, I'm sorry. Is something wrong? With your health, I mean."

Yamato shook his head again, swallowing thickly. "No." His voice cracked, so he took a moment to compose it. "Sorry. No, I'm not ill; I just kind of stopped eating when dad got too—" He stopped again, drawing tight breaths.

With sympathy covering his face, Taichi wrapped his arms around the thin teen. "I'm sorry." He felt Yamato shaking his head against the shoulder he was buried in. "Maybe you should stay home today. Are you even feeling better?"

Yamato took his time before answering: "Yeah, I feel fine." He pulled back from Taichi, eyes closed. "Sorry, I need to get going. I don't wanna be late."

Taichi smiled. "Grab your bag and let's head out. I'll be walking you to school, since you probably don't know how to get there from here."

"Thanks." Yamato mumbled, moving back into Taichi's room for his book bag. He walked back out to Taichi's grin, bag in one hand, toast in the other.

"Shall we?" Taichi asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

The pair stopped in the foyer to put on their shoes before stepping out of the house. Yamato got his first look at their neighbourhood. It was full of large houses, each fenced off from the other. The fences were too high to see over and had no gaps to see through, giving each house a sense of privacy. The road running in front of the houses was quiet and there was no separate sidewalk. It was probably rarely busy.

"It might take a while for you to recognise our house, so I can come pick you up from school, too, if you don't mind."

Yamato smiled at how Taichi had referred to it as their house.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea as we should probably go shopping. If no one else does it in the meantime."

"Oh, yeah, I already forgot about that. And you should really be the one to go shopping, since you'll be cooking."

Mouth full of toast, Yamato only nodded in reply.

"That way leads to Arby's, it's the longer route, which goes along the main road." Taichi pointed to the left. "You were staying at the park over that way, so you probably walked to school down this way."

"Yeah, I recognise the road." Yamato confirmed, looking around at the familiar bushes. He had finished his toast, quite grateful that Taichi had had the foresight to make him some.

"Did Jou mention he works at Arby's and that's how he knew you were at the park and knew to help you?"

Yamato's attention snapped to Taichi. "No, he didn't…" Yamato frowned. "I thought you said that he was a doctor."

"Ah, well." Taichi laughed nervously. "He's not actually a doctor, but he did have to learn a lot of medical stuff to take the entrance exams. He quit that career path when his parents got mad at him for failing, but he still knows all the stuff he learnt."

"Hn." Yamato returned his attention to the road ahead. "I was under the impression that he tried again and got in."

Taichi shrugged, grabbing a stick from on top of a brick wall. "Well, now you know."

"Yeah." Yamato threw a quick glance at Taichi before looking away. "What jobs have you done? And what will you be looking for?"

Taichi's attention was on the stick in his hands; he was fiddling with it and breaking off pieces to drop onto the ground. "Well my last job was working as a cleaner for a few apartment buildings, but I quit because it was so early in the morning and the pay wasn't that good."

Yamato waited, watching Taichi pick at the stick from the corner of his eye. "So…?" Yamato prompted once it became clear that Taichi wasn't going to elaborate on his own.

"Huh?"

"What are you looking for now?"

"Oh." Taichi threw the stick into some bushes, placing his hands behind his head. "I was thinking of working at a café or something. The hours would be better and I would actually get to interact with people. Being a cleaner was lonely."

The school came into view, grounds saturated with students. It was probably almost time for the bell to ring.

"Well," Taichi said, dropping his hands to his sides and smiling at Yamato. "This is it. I'll come pick you up later, so wait for me, okay?"

Yamato smiled and nodded. "Of course. See you later and thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Taichi watched as Yamato entered the school grounds, joining the mass of students. Yet, the blond stood out from his darker peers, so Taichi was able to keep an eye on him until the blond head disappeared through the main doors.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his shorts, Taichi started making his way back home. He really shouldn't have quit his job so hastily; he should have started looking for a new one before letting his boss know he was leaving.

Their group of friends had been doing well money-wise when all the five adults had been working. But now that Taichi was unemployed, they would have to watch their expenses more. On top of that, it was the end of September so they would have to turn on the heating soon. And they had taken Yamato in. There was no way Taichi would ever regret helping the blond, but he was an extra expense…

Taichi entered the house, toeing off his shoes. He stopped short at whom he saw in the foyer. "Hikari. Where are you going?"

"Hi Taichi, welcome back." Hikari smiled, slipping on her shoes. She tapped her left toe against the ground to adjust the shoe. "I'm off to the streets."

"Hikari…" Taichi groaned, running a hand over his face. "You know I don't like you begging."

The small girl frowned. "We need the money and you know it." Her face split into a mischievous grin. "Nobody can resist me." And she was out the door.

Taichi groaned, walking further into the house.

"What's up?"

Taichi looked up to see Jou watching him from the entrance of the kitchen on his left.

"Jou, I didn't know you'd be up already."

Jou shrugged a shoulder, sipping at his coffee. "Koushiro had a nightmare and he wanted me to check him over. He's sleeping again and Hikari's just gone out."

"Yeah, I saw her."

"Ah." Jou acknowledged the grumpy tone, letting the subject drop. "Yamato was feeling better?"

Taichi stretched his arms above his head, walking into the kitchen, causing Jou to re-enter as well. "Yeah, I showed him the way to school and I'll be picking him up, too, so we can go shopping." Taichi reached into a cabinet, pulling out his own mug and filling it with the coffee Jou made. "I should have made him some coffee…"

Jou's eyes widened. "He didn't have breakfast? Why didn't you feed him?!"

Taichi turned in surprise, almost spilling the milk he was adding to his coffee. "No, no, he ate. I made him some toast, but I didn't think there would have been time to make coffee."

Jou frowned. "We didn't have anything more nutritious?"

"Nope, that's why we're going shopping later. Now if you'll excuse me," Taichi turned to leave the kitchen, coffee mug in hand. "I have to go hand out CVs."

"Good luck." Jou called after him.

Taichi walked into his room, setting the coffee on his desk. He pulled open the top drawer, extracting a thin folder; it contained the CVs he had printed out a few days ago. He checked them over whilst sipping on his coffee.

An hour later, he was showered, dressed smartly, and out the door. He had already dropped off a few CVs the past few days, but he wouldn't stop until he had secured at least one job. His prospects weren't very good, as he'd only completed the compulsory nine years of school, but he didn't let that discourage him. His age was also usually more of a hindrance than an asset, but he wouldn't be 18 forever.

Humming to himself, Taichi marched in through the doors of their local Arby's. Jou might put in a good word for him here and he might be able to secure a cashier's job, like the almost-med-student.

Two hours later found Taichi bored. He didn't really want to go back home, seeing as Koushiro would probably be the only one there. No matter how long the two had known each other, Koushiro still wasn't warming up to Taichi. According to Hikari, Taichi shouldn't take it personally; Koushiro hadn't had good experiences with males in the past, though even she didn't know all the details.

Taichi sighed, walking into a park. It was around one in the afternoon, so he might as well have something to eat. He grinned to himself as he walked towards a vendor selling fish cakes; he couldn't wait to try Yamato's cooking. The blond's modesty at his own cooking skills had Taichi's expectations soaring.

After buying his fishcakes—four of them—he took a seat at one of the benches. He had applied for a park attendant job here. He was hoping to get it and be able to work outdoors and meet different people every day.

Different. Like Yamato.

Taichi chewed thoughtfully. Yamato was certainly an interesting character. He was kind of a mystery, but, at the same time, he was quite easy to read. Taichi had never met anyone like him, yet he felt like he had known Yamato a long time.

A yellowing leaf fell to the ground on Taichi's left. He looked at it, then up at the tree it had come from. It was already late September. Fall would be upon them soon. How had Yamato planned on surviving the winter in the playground? He probably hadn't even thought that far. Taichi was forced, again, to consider the possibility of Jou never having seen Yamato. Of Jou never having helped him. Taichi's heart clenched at the thought.

Instead of dwelling on thoughts of 'what if,' Taichi stood and stretched. He threw the wooden sticks from the fishcakes into the bin nearby and shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark trousers. He would just wander around for a while.

Over an hour later, Taichi was back at Yamato's school. There was still over an hour left until Yamato would be released, but Taichi had gotten tired of walking. He settled onto one of the benches on the school grounds, deciding to nap. The night had not been the most restful. Well, not until they had settled into each other's embraces. Taichi blushed lightly at the memory.

At three thirty, the bells rang, signalling the end of the school day. They woke Taichi up from his nap. He spent the next ten minutes waking himself up and edging towards the main doors of the school building. He got some interested looks from some of the students, as they'd never seen him before.

At long last, a head of golden hair walked out. Yamato was alone. Grinning, Taichi moved to walk alongside the blond.

"How was school?"

Surprised, Yamato cast a quick glance at the brunet to his right and smiled. "It was good; interesting."

Taichi's eyebrows rose and he gave Yamato a speculative look, though the other missed it. With an amused shake of his head, Taichi let the topic drop. "Are you good to head straight for the supermarket or do you want to go home first?"

They paused at the gate, Taichi waiting for Yamato's response, though he didn't let it come, elaborating: "They're in opposite directions from here."

"Let's go shopping, then. No point in making the same trip twice."

Taichi nodded, leading the way. They spent most of the walk in silence, with Taichi observing the pale teen at his side.

"Are you feeling sick again?" Taichi asked as they made it to the store. He grabbed a shopping cart, pushing it through the automatic gates.

"I'm fine." Came Yamato's too-quick response.

Taichi snorted, parking the cart by some potatoes. "Unlikely, but there's not much we can do about it right now."

Yamato threw a glare Taichi's way. "I'm fine." He insisted, inspecting the prices of the vegetables. Since he wasn't contributing to paying the expenses, he had decided to pick the cheap in-season vegetables.

"I'm still not going to believe you; you don't look fine."

"I am."

Taichi just rolled his eyes, but dropped the subject, not wanting to annoy Yamato until he had decided he wanted to stay at Taichi's permanently. Only then would the proper teasing start.

"What are you smirking at?" Yamato asked, bagging some potatoes.

"Nothing." Taichi grinned. "Are we ready to move onto the meats yet?"

Yamato shot him a look that was halfway between annoyed and amused. "No."

Taichi pouted, but stayed silent as Yamato picked out a few more vegetables, then motioned for Taichi to follow him into the next section. Apparently Taichi was in charge of pushing the shopping cart through the store. He didn't mind, seeing as he wouldn't be cooking, so he felt he had no say in what foods they'd buy. He'd trust Yamato's judgement.

It took them an hour to be done with the shopping.

"Thank you for your patronage." The overly cheerful cashier said as she handed Taichi the receipt.

"Thanks." Taichi replied, rushing to help Yamato with the groceries. "Here, I'll get them."

"I've got these two, grab that one." Yamato nodded his head to the third plastic bag, moving his bags away from Taichi's reaching hands. "Taichi, I've got them, let go." Yamato yanked the bags out of Taichi's loose grip and marched towards the automatic doors.

"I can carry them all, it's no problem." Taichi assured, rushing after the blond with the last plastic bag hanging from his hand. His tanned hand reached for one of Yamato's hands.

"Taichi!" Yamato hissed, noting that they were attracting quite a bit of attention. "I've got them."

"But you're still sick. And don't think I didn't notice!" Taichi added the latter bit before Yamato had time to protest. "You can carry one, but give the other to me. No, no, give me the heavier one."

With a roll of his eyes, Yamato handed the heavier bag over. "Fine."

Taichi grinned, though he refrained from gloating. Instead, he moved both plastic bags into one hand and dug into one of them, pulling out a slice of bread. Yamato frowned.

"What?" Taichi asked, before offering the slice of bread to Yamato. "You want?"

"No thanks."

Taichi shrugged and bit off a corner. "Suit yourself, but I'm hungry."

"Can't you wait until we get home?" Yamato's eyes were on the road ahead, but Taichi saw him roll them. The brunet just ginned.

"Did you eat anything at school?" Taichi questioned after a few more bites.

"Yeah."

Taichi waited, but then gave an exasperated sigh, poking Yamato with his now bread-free hand. He then moved the other grocery bag to the empty hand. "Hasn't your mother ever taught you how to hold a conversation and elaborate?"

Yamato threw a nasty glare his way, and Taichi blanched.

"Right, sorry." Taichi mumbled, eyes falling to the ground. He had forgotten that Yamato apparently didn't get along with his mother. Now probably wouldn't be a good time to prod. "Anyway," Taichi continued, as if he hadn't just royally shoved his foot into his mouth. "What'd you have for lunch?"

"A sandwich." Yamato stated, then remembered Taichi's earlier comment and elaborated: "Chicken."

Taichi rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Wow, you're getting good at this."

Yamato's next glare was ruined by the smile that crossed his face. "Shut up."

"So what courses are you taking? I haven't been to high school, so I don't know what they offer. Is it just the usual of math and science and languages?" Taichi asked, changing the subject again.

"My school offers the general path, with all the usual courses, but I decided to take the vocational route that they offer, seeing as I'll be looking to work after high school and… yeah."

"Oh, right, so you're not taking math or anything?"

Yamato shrugged, rubbing at the arm holding the groceries. "Well I am, but it's different from what the others—the ones on the general route—are doing. It's a bit different; I mean the math and the courses that I'm taking. It's not—it's the best route for me, considering…"

Taichi nodded. "Well, yeah, of course it's the best route. You'll probably manage to get the best job out of all of us; the highest-paying one, and you'll probably have regular working hours, too. The rest of the guys have weird shifts."

Yamato cast a quick glance at Taichi. "Will anyone be at home when we get there?" It felt a bit weird for him to be calling it 'home,' but calling it anything else would have been weirder. And quite possibly rude.

Taichi looked around, then at his hands, both full. "Probably not. I don't know what time it is now, but Mimi was the last to leave for work and that was at four. Hikari and Koushiro are probably home, though most of the time you can't tell; they spend most of their time upstairs in their room."

Yamato hummed in reply, awkward about discussing the two youngest members of their household. He wondered if they'd ever get used to him.

"They share a room?" Yamato asked, trying to distract his negative thoughts.

"Yeah, we all do now that you're sharing with me." Taichi grinned, turning the corner to their small street. "Jou and Sora have the master bedroom. Mine was a study, but we got rid of all the bookshelves and stuff."

Yamato nodded, holding the gate open for Taichi to pass through. He watched as Taichi placed one of his bags down and pulled out a set of keys. Taichi paused, staring at his hand.

"We need to get you a copy of the house key." Taichi mused. He then shrugged and unlocked the door, grabbing the other bag and leading the way in.

The duo made their way to the kitchen, placing their bags down. Taichi fiddled with the keys in his hands, handing one over to Yamato.

"That's the key to the back door, but it'll do for now, until someone goes into the city and gets you a copy of the front door one."

"Thanks." Yamato got a warm feeling from the cold key. He was actually wanted here.

Taichi then spent the next few minutes showing Yamato which cupboards each item went into, getting the blond more acquainted with the kitchen.

"You want to get changed?" Taichi asked once they were done putting the groceries away.

"Oh, sure." Yamato said, looking down at his uniform. When living at the playground, he had worn his uniform until going to sleep. It wasn't the most comfortable outfit, so, now that he had the chance, he might as well change out of it early.

Taichi grinned, leading the way to their room. "I have some clothes that you can wear. And keep. We really need to get you some new stuff soon, though."

"There's really no rush." Yamato assured, walking into the room behind Taichi. "I've survived with what I have thus far, so I'll survive until I get a job."

Taichi paused in his digging of the drawers. "I don't know if you should get a job just yet…" He glanced at Yamato's about-to-protest face and hastened to add: "I mean, you're still in school, looking to graduate to a good job, so it might be too much to get one now. Plus, you'll be doing most of the chores around here, so it's enough on one plate. I think."

Yamato contemplated this. Taichi did have good points; it was already September, so he only had about half a year of school left. He'd be graduating next spring and be able to properly focus on getting a job then. It's not like anyone would want to hire a diploma-less student for half a year anyway… But would he be alright as a freeloader until then? He cringed at the idea; it wasn't like him to take advantage of others' kindness.

"You'll be graduating soon, so it's not like you'd be jobless for that long. Besides, you're not guaranteed a part-time job as a student. And you'd probably be quitting it by next spring, so no one would want to hire you for such a short period of time."

Had Taichi read his mind?

Taichi handed over some clothes. "It really isn't a problem if you don't work for half a year."

With a long sigh, Yamato took the clothes. "I suppose you're right. And thanks for the clothes."

"It's no problem." Taichi grinned again, before allowing Yamato some privacy. Only, he came back just as Yamato was unbuttoning his shirt.

"Hey." Yamato stated flatly.

Taichi just gave him a sheepish grin, going over to a paper bag sitting on the desk. "Sorry, but I almost forgot to give this to you." He held the bag to Yamato. "I was out earlier, handing out CVs, and wanted to get you a welcoming present."

Speechless, Yamato took the offered bag and pulled out a dark blue bundle of clothing. He unravelled it, revealing an apron.

"Since you'll be doing most of the cooking, and I don't think Sora's red apron would look as good on you."

Yamato blushed at the thoughtfulness of the present, ducking his head down. "Thanks."

"Sure." Taichi replied, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'll just leave you to get dressed now."

"Wait." Taichi did, looking at Yamato questioningly. "Sorry, but can you go ask Hikari and Koushiro if they want a snack, please? I could make one, since we probably won't have dinner for a few hours yet."

"Sure." Taichi repeated and was out the door.

Yamato smiled, continuing to change into the loose-fitting cargo pants and dark grey t-shirt.

Taichi came down the stairs on Yamato's right, just as the blond left the bedroom.

"They'll have popcorn."

Yamato paused. "I'm sorry, what?"

Taichi went ahead, walking towards the kitchen, calling over his shoulder: "Hikari and Koushiro just want some popcorn as a snack."

Muttering to himself and shaking his head, Yamato followed, throwing his new apron over his head. "Do we even have popcorn?" He asked, walking into the kitchen.

Taichi turned away from one of the cupboards, grinning with a packet of popcorn in hand. "Of course we do. It's about the only snack those two can be trusted to make by themselves."

Taichi turned to the microwave—a hand-me-down from their previous neighbour—and shoved the packet in, pressing a few buttons. The microwave hummed to itself, soon accompanied by pops.

Yamato spent a few moments watching Taichi watch the spinning popcorn bag, then moved to the laundry room, to the left of the kitchen. He opened the closet in the corner, pulling out a few cleaning supplies. He'd noted the living room could do with dusting.

"What are you doing?" Taichi asked, poking his head into the room.

Yamato showed him the duster and some cloths. "I was thinking of cleaning a bit before starting on dinner."

Taichi made a face before pulling out and into the kitchen. "Jou will be mad at me if I don't tell you to rest."

"I'll let him know you said that." Yamato replied, walking past the kitchen and into the living room.

Taichi rolled his eyes as he emptied the popcorn into two bowls. He grabbed both and made his way to the living room, setting one of the bowls onto the low coffee table they had.

"At least eat something. Did you eat at school?"

Yamato paused his dusting, throwing Taichi a concerned look. "Is there something wrong with your memory? We already had this discussion."

Taichi blinked, other bowl in hand. "We d—Oh! We did! I remember." He laughed to himself, making his way to the stairs and to his sister's room.

Yamato grabbed a handful of popcorn, munching on it with one hand, whilst the other continued to dust. There weren't a lot of items in the living room, but the walls and shelves were quite dirty. Not that Yamato was surprised; he saw how hectic things were in this household. Many people under one roof always equalled a mess. Cleaning had been easy when it was just him and his—

Maybe he should vacuum a bit, too, seeing as everyone would be eating on the floor. It wouldn't do for them to get themselves dirty.

"Alright?" Taichi entered the living room again. He flopped down on the floor, grabbing some popcorn and eyeing Yamato. "Too much dust?" He asked, referring to Yamato's watery eyes.

"It's not that bad." Yamato mumbled, wiping down an empty shelf on the wall. "With you living here, I'm surprised it's not worse."

"Hey!"

Yamato just smirked, glad for the distraction. He lifted the duster over his head, standing on his toes, reaching for the corner of the ceiling. He flicked at the cobwebs for a bit, then a bit more. He finally managed to get the silk stuck to the microfibers. Yamato smiled in triumph, letting his arm and heels drop. The sudden movement made his vision black around the edges and he swayed, hand moving to steady himself against the wall.

Taichi was at Yamato's side in an instant, both hands on the blond's shoulders.

"You okay?"

Yamato took a steadying breath and gave Taichi a smile. "Yeah, I'm good."

Taichi let out a breath and let his hands drop. Then he gave Yamato a flat look. "I thought I told you to rest."

Yamato chuckled, moving towards the next corner. "I thought that was Jou?"

"Well Jou's not here." Taichi replied, yanking the duster from Yamato's hands. He received an indignant 'oi!' in protest, but ignored it. "You're done cleaning for now. Don't you have something less straining to do?"

Yamato glared at Taichi for a few minutes before realising that the brunet would not relent. With a heavy sigh, Yamato moved towards their bedroom. "Might as well do my homework, then."

Taichi smiled, taking the duster back to the laundry room.

Yamato spent the next hour on the living room floor, working on his homework and trying to avoid the popcorn Taichi was throwing at him.

"Right." Yamato stood, dusting the popcorn off his clothes, then frowning at the mess on the floor. He looked at Taichi with the same frown. "You do realise that I'll have to clean this up, don't you?"

Taichi waved him off, standing as well. "Tomorrow or something; it can wait and you're in no shape to be doing anything strenuous."

Yamato rolled his eyes, but didn't bother saying anything. He walked into the kitchen, intent on starting dinner. Jou and Sora would be arriving within the hour, so he wanted dinner ready for them. He would have to clean most of the popcorn, too, before they got home.

Taichi spent a few minutes watching Yamato measure the rice into the cooker and prepare the pork they'd bought. It was quite boring, so he sighed and walked into the laundry room. He pulled out a broom and dustpan, frowning at them.

"Where are you going?" Yamato asked from his position at the hob, as Taichi made his way past the kitchen.

"Cleaning up the popcorn, since I know you'd do it anyway, even though I told you not to. And Jou told you not to." Taichi sounded like he was dreading the menial task, amusing Yamato to no end.

"Thanks."

Taichi busied himself with sweeping the popcorn for a few minutes, before depositing them into the bin. He put the supplies away and made his way up the stairs. He came up to a hallway with two doors on the left side, one straight down the hall, and one to the right at the far end. He knocked on the first door to his left.

"Yes?" Hikari called. Taichi walked in. "Oh, Taichi. Is dinner ready?"

The room contained less furniture than Taichi's: just two single beds on opposite walls and a wardrobe. Hikari and Koushiro were sitting on the floor in the space between the beds.

"Not yet, but could you two come down and socialise a bit? Yamato thinks you don't like him…"

Hikari and Koushiro exchanged saddened looks.

"We don't mean for him to feel like that." Hikari stated, still looking at Koushiro. "But you know how we tend to be."

"I know, but Yamato's new and he'll be staying with us, so you two should get to know him a bit. He's friendly." Taichi added the last comment for Koushiro's benefit, as the teen was still wary around people. Koushiro had revealed that his first foster family had not taken Koushiro's condition well. Punishments were mentioned.

"Okay." Hikari acquiesced, bringing Taichi out of his musings. "We'll be down in a bit."

Taichi smiled his thanks before leaving the room. Upon reaching the main floor, he realised he heard voices coming from the kitchen; Jou must be home. Sure enough, as he entered the kitchen, he was greeted by the dark-haired male. Yamato was busy chopping carrots, whilst a pot gently brewed to his left.

Out of curiosity, Taichi peeked into the pot: onion, what smelled like garlic and ginger, and the pork. Yamato stepped up and added the carrots under Taichi's nose.

"Curry?" Taichi asked as the blond poured in some water.

"Yep." Yamato answered, distracted, as he turned up the heat. He then started chopping the peeled potatoes.

"Yamato?" Jou questioned, walking back into the kitchen. Taichi hadn't even realised he had left. "Did you check your temperature after school?"

"No." Again a distracted answer.

"He insisted he was fine." Taichi elaborated, knowing how bad the blond was at it. "But then he almost passed out when trying to clean. I got him to do his homework instead, though." Taichi hastened to add the last part, as Jou wasn't looking very happy.

"You really should have stayed at home." Jou said with a sigh.

"I was fine in school." Yamato threw a glare at Taichi. "And whilst cleaning."

Taichi put his hands up in front of himself, watching as Yamato returned to preparing the roux. "Just calling it as I saw it."

"Now, now." Jou placated. "The point is really for you to take it easy, Yamato. Sure, you might be better, but you still need to be careful."

Yamato gave Jou a quick smile, then checked on the boiling pot. Satisfied, he turned around, leaning on the counter. "I promise I'll take it easy; all I really do in school is sit around, anyway."

"Still," Jou said, giving Yamato a pat on the shoulder. "Take it easy at home too. There's no need to feel like you need to earn your place here."

Yamato's face reddened, but he was spared having to answer by Hikari and Koushiro walking in.

"Hey." Hikari said cheerfully, unaware of the atmosphere in the room.

The three males greeted the two in return.

"Dinner smells great!" The young girl walked further into the kitchen, eyeing the covered pot. "What are we having?"

Yamato cleared his throat lightly before answering: "Pork curry. Hope that's okay with you."

Hikari grinned. "Sounds great! In fact," she turned to Koushiro, who was still standing by the door. "It's Koushiro's favourite."

Yamato's eyes met Koushiro's and the former smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. I hope it lives up to your expectations."

Koushiro gave a small smile in return, but didn't say anything.

The corners of Yamato's mouth were still turned slightly upwards as he checked on the potatoes, making sure they were tender enough. He turned off the heat and added the roux and a dash of soy sauce, mixing the sauce thoroughly.

"I'm home." Sora called from the entrance.

"Perfect timing;" Taichi called back. "Dinner's ready."

"Has everyone washed up?" Sora asked, poking her head into the kitchen. She took Koushiro's hand, leading him towards the bathroom. Hikari and Jou followed, whilst Taichi shoved his hands under the kitchen tap.

"She's such as mum, you'll soon realise."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Yamato removed his apron, joining Taichi at the kitchen sink.

"Oh, I wasn't complaining." Taichi flicked some water at Yamato's face. "Though sometimes it's annoying."

Yamato finished washing his hands and returned the flick of water. Taichi made a noise of protest and went for the tap again, but was interrupted by a stern:

"Boys."

Said boys turned to face Sora, apologetic looks on their faces. She had her hands on her hips with a giggling Hikari behind her. Jou was shaking his head in amusement, whilst Koushiro seemed clueless.

"See?" Taichi whispered as he pulled out plates. Yamato just chuckled, spooning out curry and rice for everyone.

They settled around the freshly cleaned coffee table, making light chatter about their days. Jou had had a few dissatisfied customers who had made wrong orders, then complained that Jou had gotten the orders wrong. Of course, the customer was always right, so Jou had apologised and fixed the meals.

Sora was working at a restaurant-bar, where she mainly mixed drinks, but today they'd been understaffed, so she had had to waitress as well.

After dinner, Hikari and Koushiro volunteered to do the dishes, allowing the elders to get some much needed downtime. Or at least, that's what Taichi had been hoping for.

"We should really change those sheets now." Yamato noted upon entering their shared room.

Taichi groaned.