Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

Ch. 25 A Friend in Need is a Friend Indeed

"It's kind of surreal, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"This," Matt gestured to their surroundings: the picnic table on their school grounds which they had claimed during their lunch break. "One day we're saving the world from monsters and destruction and the next, back in school reduced to studying our brains out for finals coming up in a couple of weeks with not a word of gratitude whatsoever."

"I doubt it'd be gratitude they were flinging at us if they knew we were in league with the 'alien freaks'," Tai grimaced as he quoted how his fellow classmates had taken to refer to the Digimon that had appeared recently.

"Those alien freaks just stopped Japan from being reduced to a massive playground for a battle Coliseum!" Matt said heatedly.

"Our partners, Matt," Tai corrected him. "The other Digimon that came through the gateway would have been all too happy to let that happen. Last week was an attempted alien invasion to human eyes. The monsters are all the same to everyone. They don't understand."

"Well, we'll have to change their mindset, won't we?"

"Love'd to hear any ideas you got on that."

"I'm working on it," Matt sighed.

"Eat something. The mind always works better on a full stomach," Tai said opening his own bento.

"Wow, who made that?" Matt said in awe leaning in for a closer look.

It wasn't an elaborate bento by any means. Just a simple rice and egg one with a few sides of fruit and a couple of fried tempura vegetables. However, Jun had covered the rice balls with a thin layering of finely scrambled eggs and molded them into the shape of what looked like some sort of bear bee. She even had added little strips of black roasted seaweed for their stripes and had made two tinier rice balls for their ears. She always tried something new and creative for his bentos. It was a surprise every time he opened the lid.

"Jun," Tai grinned, picking up a pickled plum with his fingers and popping it into his mouth. "Mmm," he hummed as the sour, tangy flavor rolled over his taste-buds.

"She can actually cook?" Matt asked still reeling in surprise at this revelation.

"Maybe if you had taken time to actually taste one thing out of all those lunches she made for you a few months ago instead of throwing them away, you would know she's quite the chef-master," Tai couldn't help but brag.

"She was the girl who stalked me everywhere back then. I didn't want to have anything to do with her, understand?" Matt sighed as he ran one hand through his hair tiredly.

"I guess so."

Neither of them said anything for several seconds. Tai was pleased to discover the silence wasn't awkward at all. It was the sort of comfortable silence between two friends where neither felt obligated to say anything but merely to enjoy the other's company that he had been sorely missing.

Matt seemed to share the same train of thought. "It's nice to have you back," he said with a smile. "You've been away for awhile."

"Have I?" Tai chuckled lightly. "Sorry."

"We should hang out sometime," Matt said.

"I thought we were doing that now."

"No, I mean all of us, the Digidestined, we should hang out for like one afternoon and do stuff normal teenagers do."

"Well, I suppose it would be nice to not having to act like Japan's Super Secret Hero Squad for a couple of hours," Tai said. "What'd you have in mind? Paint ball? Laser tag? You and me should team up and give the younger kids a run for their money. We have years of experience over them in that arena. Of course, we shouldn't go too hard on them or it will be a slaughterhouse in matter of minutes and where's the fun in that?"

"It's not… it's not that I don't want to exclude the younger kids," Matt began hesitantly.

"Us older kids just share a closer bond?" Tai finished.

"We haven't all really seen each other outside this Digital World madness, not even when we go the same school," Matt said. "We can do something with the younger kids later. I just want—"

"A night on the town to celebrate the years of our friendship with drunken revelry and idiotic teenage mayhem!" Tai shouted with a hoot, pumping his fist in the air.

"What? No!" Matt sputtered.

"Oh, forgive me. I misinterpreted. A movie marathon night and card games it is then. You're never too young to start being an old fogey, right?" Tai teased.

Matt's hand was gripping his water bottle like he was refraining from the urge to dump it over his head.

Tai laughed, "Gotcha, gothcha. Look, it sounds like a good idea for us older kids to do something together, alright? It's just when you really think about it, what on earth do normal kids do for fun?"

"There are lots of things!" Matt insisted. "There's… there's uh…"

"See, this is the problem we have," Tai said, waggling his chopsticks at his friend's baffled expression. "We can't go to some sports game, because as much as I would enjoy that, I know you guys only come watch me for moral support not because any of you actually enjoy or understand the game. Sora might play tennis, but I think she'd want to do something different on an outing. Maybe she and Mimi would like to go shopping, something they would enjoy as girls, but it wouldn't appeal to us guys. Izzy is a toss-up," he said counting his friends off on his fingers. "He might decide the game arcade would be fun to visit, but then he'd completely beat us at every level it wouldn't be fun, or he might just decide he wanted to go to a computer convention and drag us along. Joe's idea of fun is heading to the bookstore," Tai said recalling the memory of his and Mimi's date or not-date, whatever it had been. "And you, Mr. Leader of the Teenage Wolves Pack are so famously conspicuous, we wouldn't get two blocks in public without you being surrounded by a horde of screaming fangirls. So, until we even get the past that dilemma, we are at an unfortunate stalemate of inevitable boredom."

Matt stared at him for several seconds before generously offering, "I could wear a wig."

"You really want to have a normal teenage outing no matter what we end up doing, no matter what the cost?" Tai asked him.

"Yes." Matt at this point was looking quite desperate.

"Okay, look, the weekend's coming up. Why don't we do something then," Tai suggested.

"We can't do that today? I thought we could meet up after school and hang out at McDonald's?" Matt said pursing his lips slightly. It was a tell-tale sign Tai had become familiar with that his friend was refraining a full-out pout.

"Joe doesn't go to this school," Tai reminded him. "Pretty sure he'd be hurt if we excluded him and I know you don't want that. Besides, the rest of us have club activities today. It will be late before we're all through."

"Tomorrow's a half day," Matt tried to sound casual, but he couldn't hide the hopeful expression on his face.

"Tomorrow then," Tai agreed grinning.

Matt's face had taken on the appearance of an ecstatic five year old who had just been handed a bowl full of candy. His dopey smile and big blue eyes shining in pure happiness was an expression his fans rarely got a chance to see. His official photo shoots always had him staring seriously into the camera.

Tai snapped a picture with his cell phone.

Matt blinked. "What are you doing?" he asked watching as Tai's fingers fairly flew over the keypad.

"Uploading your angelic face to one of your fans' forum websites," Tai sniggered, his shoulders shaking in devilish glee. "Bet it will make the news by eve—NGH!"

His air supply was cut short as Matt got his arm around his neck in a headlock and began wrestling with him for the phone.

oOo

Due to his back still healing, Tai was still barred from participating in soccer practice, but he did swing by to give his team some moral support from the bench and meet the new coach his school had hired to replace their predecessor who had a mental breakdown.

Coach Okudera was a coach in his late twenties with a surprisingly slender figure of short stature. His height was equal to that of an average high school student. In fact, the man seemed even shorter up close due to his hair not being significantly as sizable as Tai's. A wide smile graced his face as his long-time absentee player made his way over to him.

"Heard you were hurt in one of those monster attacks—caused quite the commotion," Coach Okudera nodded at him understandingly. "I hope you heal up before the spring tournament. Your teammates speak very highly of their captain. I'm looking forward to your return."

No questions of whether or not he would be rejoining the team.

No swats across the head or harsh rebukes of missing so many practice and matches.

Looking out over the field at his teammates, it actually looked like they had improved their playing game, especially by how many balls Kitagawa was blocking as goalie. The fact that Kitagawa had actually agreed to be goalie was a message unto itself, given how much the boy spoke about hating the position.

The new coach must know what he was doing.

Tai grinned. He couldn't wait to come back.

"Taichi!"

Tai looked to his left to see Sano sprinting up the soccer field's slope to him. His stomach dropped nervously.

"Whew!" Sano laughed, wiping sweat off his brow from a hard workout. "Coach Okudera is awesome. He actually got some other schools to host some practice games with us. They were a lot more friendly when they found out the old coach was out of the picture, haha! And he's trying to get the school to buy some new equipment for us. No more chasing after stray balls that shoot out through the holes in the net, what do you think of that?"

"Sano," Tai said, wondering how to explain his actions from last time. "About the other day…"

"We've been friends a long time, haven't we," Sano said.

"Since primary school," Tai said.

"Ah, I still remember that soccer ball that came flying out of nowhere and broke my nose."

"Yeah… sorry about that," Tai rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. His kicks hadn't been all that great back then. And poor Sano had wandered into his line of action at the wrong time. Now he was feeling twice as guilty.

"You know, I didn't even know what soccer was until that day. Who knew how much a little black and white round bakemono and some wild, bushy-haired kid could change someone's life?" Sano remarked, a faint smile hovering upon his face. "You make friends in the oddest places at the oddest times, and sometimes you have absolutely nothing in common with them. But you make that connection anyway.

"For as long as we've been friends, there are still lots of things you don't know about me," Sano said. "There are some things even my own family doesn't know about me. Everyone has secrets. They have a right to keep them for as long as they want to. You don't need to share everything about yourself to a friend. But a friend should always be there willing to listen if you need them."

Tai was silent for several seconds. "Thank you, Sano," he finally said, swallowing back the thickness in his throat.

They stood side by side atop the grassy slope watching the game play out below. The practice had a good flow for five more minutes before tiny first-year Katsuhito tried to make a sliding tackle to take the ball from Asama. There was a spectacular pile up as the two collided. Kitagawa gave a whoop, and clearly bored with his position as goalie, raced across the field and dived on top of his teammates with arms outstretched. Asama's curses filled the air alongside of Coach Okudera's whistle as more players joined in on the dog pile laughing wildly. The game was considered most decidedly over after that and the soccer ball was strangely enough, never found.

oOo

There had been another reason Tai had not wanted to meet up with his friends the same day Matt had mentioned the idea. It was not that he was avoiding them—he just had already made other plans and they took priority first.

After all, his aforementioned appointment was of extreme importance.

The consequences of canceling would be devastating.

"Moooouu," Jun whined as she glared at her textbooks spread across the dining table. "Why does science have to turn into math when you get older? It was so much more fun when I was a kid learning about nature. We even took field trips to the mountains or rice farms and now, I'm stuck trying to figure out the quantum equations of a molecule!"

Tai made a grunt of agreement as he was unable to speak through the noodles he was currently eating.

Jun had a surprise of tsukimi udon waiting for him when he had finally arrived late in the afternoon for their "study date". He had brought his backpack and books even though he had had his doubts over whether or not they were really going to study.

Jun had attempted to try though. Key word being "try".

"Bah!" Jun slammed the cover of her physics textbook in disgust. "I should protest! I know what I'm going to be doing with my life and math in disguise has nothing to do with my chosen career! What other tortures have we before us?"

"I don't know about you third years, but us second years are getting a quiz on the Edo period tomorrow," Tai said, setting his bowl and chopsticks down.

"Ugh, memorizing names, dates, and events is so booooring!" Jun moaned, slumping forward and laying her head across multiple papers and notes. Underneath the table, her knees knocked against Tai's and he pretended not to notice.

"Ok, enough schoolwork! Let's talk about us," Jun said straightening back up.

"What about us?" Tai asked warily. Jun had a rather serious expression on her face and those words were rather infamous in the couples department (or so he had heard from his teammates).

And it was a completely ludicrous thought, but he was suddenly afraid Jun was about to dump him and the tsukimi udon was all a ruse to butter him up before bringing him down. He knew his friends thought him and Jun quite odd and would never work, but Tai rather thought they stood a chance staying together after taking on yakuza wannabes, rogue monsters, and a moped ride from hell.

"You know the way we became... us...," Jun said. She had one finger curled in her spiky hair and was twisting the strand to and fro as she contemplated. "It just sort of just happened naturally. I mean, it's sweet, I wouldn't change it... I just feel kinda jyped that you didn't actually play the game."

"The game?" Tai echoed. Sometimes Jun wasn't very clear on the message she wanted to get across.

"The Courting Ritual," Jun explained. "The does-she/he-like-me dance of love everyone must suffer through. You cheated by playing the Knight On a White Horse card, or Knight With an Orange Dinosaur, whatever. I had no choice but to fall for you!"

"Oh that," Tai said, relaxing and leaning back. He grinned smugly. "Yeah, I don't play fair."

"Yeah, well you owe me now!" Jun cried, pounding the palm of her fist on the table. "I demand some flirting! Use some pick up lines. Try it out."

Tai had a good laugh before he realized she was serious. "Um... I like the way your hair smells?"

SMACK.

Next thing he knew Jun had reached out and whalloped him across the head with a wad of rolled up note-sheets.

"No! God, what are you, some kind of creeper? That's not something you tell a girl first thing out of your mouth!" she chided. "That's stalker alert red right there!"

"Well, you liked it when I told you before," Tai said stiffly resisting the urge to pout.

"Because I already knew you and your strange personality," Jun sighed. "Okay, try again. Just be overly-confident and think the world revolves around you and any girl who accepts your offer should weep at your feet at the gracious and generous favor you have bestowed upon her—you know, just pretend you're the average testeroned male."

Tai stared at her blankly.

"Oh, don't look at me that way!" Jun threw her hands up in the air. "Honestly, you're too naive for your good. You've seen movies and tv shows! Just throw out a line at me! Any line!"

Tai was sorta wishing he hadn't come over at this point. Still he gave it a shot. "Your tsukimi udon's divine. Please be mine."

"Mmmm," Jun wrinkled her nose a little. "Slightly better, although you sound like a dime-store valentine. Try again."

Tai never thought he wanted to return to doing homework so badly before. Anything else but this. Quite at a loss, he repeated a line that one of his teammates, Shimada, had bragged proudly about landing his girlfriend with.

"If I were a stop light, I'd turn red every time you passed by, just so I could stare at you a bit longer."

He set off a bomb.

Jun was twisted sideways in her seat, kicking her legs out in front of her hysterically as she clutched her hands to her stomach and laughed herself hoarse. "Hahahahahah! Omigawd, you're terrible! No wonder you never had date before this!"

"Hurtful." He was going to wring Shimada's neck next time he saw him.

Jun wiped mirthful tears from her eyes. "It's just, my gosh, even I've said better pick up lines than you!"

"Girls can use pick up lines?"

"What century are you living in? The Feudal Era? Of course we can!" Jun stated clasping her fingers together under her chin and leering at him. " 'Boy, you so fine, you made me lose mind. I ran into a pole because of you and now I need your name and number for insurance purposes.' "

Tai squirmed uncomfortably feeling like a piece of meat cooking on grill under her heavy gaze.

Jun shrugged out of her pose. "Hey, I never said they were great either, just slightly less cheesy than yours. Now try again."

Tai scowled, very tired of this game. "Hi, I just wanted to give you the satisfaction of turning me down; go ahead say no. Alright, bye."

"Awww, don't be mad like that," Jun said. "You never know who could be falling for your smile."

Tai started and looked directly at her only to see her grin like a Cheshire cat.

She was still playing him.

Victory was sparkling in her eyes.

Unacceptable.

Tai stood up and went around the table to stand close enough to her that their elbows bumped. "You know what I like about you? My arms!" he cried before throwing them around her tightly.

Jun gave an elated hoot as she toppled out of the chair, dragging him to the ground with her. The resulting tussle ended up with them rolling around in a tangle of limbs and trying to out-do the other with more cheesy pick-up lines. Tai fought dirty by shooting out his hands to her sides in an effort to stop her from speaking and engaged in a merciless tickling spree.

"Speaking of tsukimi udon, you remind me of it. You're cool because you're so hot! You are like a candy bar: half sweet and half nuts!"

Jun shrieked with laughter, wrestling with him in an attempt to break free. In the end Tai pinned her hands above her head and locked his knees around her sides to keep her in place. Jun was dizzy from laughing so hard and gasping for breath, and her skin wore a fine sheen of sweat.

Tai stared down at her and the words came to him without thinking:

A mouth that inspires
A mind that never gives up
The one I love, Jun

Jun weak giggles faded away into silence as she stared wide-eyed at him. Tai felt his face burst into flame as he realized he must have said that out loud. And ugh, how corny he must have sounded!

Releasing her wrists, he scrambled backwards, but Jun reached out and grabbed his arm. "That… that was beautiful," she breathed and then her lips were on his, soft, warm and electric all at once making his heart beat faster, and her arms were around his neck bringing his head down lower and his hands were on her waist drawing her closer… and neither of them paid much attention to the sound of the front door opening.

oOo

It was later said that Davis' scream could be heard three cities over.

"Where's Davis?" Tai couldn't help but ask.

"In the bathroom," Ken supplied helpfully, "washing his eyes out with soap. I think he's trying to blind himself."

A blood-curdling screech resonated throughout the apartment.

"WHYOMIGAWDYEEEEEEEAUUUUGGGGHHHH!"

"Oh, shut up, you little twerp!" Jun yelled from her seat on the couch where she sat cross-legged, flipping through channels agitatedly. "We didn't even get to second base because of you!"

Tai felt his face burn all the way to the tips of his ears. Ken looked to one side politely, spots of color showing in his cheeks.

"Wasn't Davis supposed to spend the night at your place?" Tai asked, hoping he didn't sound as annoyed as he felt. Jun had assured him no one would be there but them since her parents worked late.

"He came over to get his video games since I have the bigger tv screen," Ken explained.

Ah, that's right. Sometimes he forgot the younger Digidestined didn't have the same busy schedule as the rest of them. They didn't even half a day at school tomorrow. They had the entire weekend free, lucky kids.

Speaking of which…

"Don't… don't tell Kari about this," Tai coughed embarrassedly into his fist.

Ken nodded solemnly.

Davis emitted another hair-curling scream.

oOo

Suffice to say that Tai was in a foul mood the next day was an understatement. Not only was he still reeling from the disastrous dessert his mother had served the night before: broccoli-brownies, he was pretty sure he flunked his history quiz. That maybe, sort of could be because instead of trying to remember specific details of the Edo period, his mind kept wandering on what could have happened yesterday if they hadn't been interrupted. Then both ashamed and nervous for imagining that in school, he busied himself thinking up with a bunch of sloppy haikus written all over his quiz paper so he didn't turn it in at the end. So yeah, pretty sure he got an 'F' there.

He didn't even have a chance to talk to Jun either. Apparently, the school had allowed off that day since she was "gaining credits towards her chosen career path". He wasn't sure how that worked exactly—all he knew was that he didn't get to see her in person today.

Odaiba High School let its students out at the same time, but Tai still ended up being the last one in the group joining everyone at their settled meeting place, McDonald's. That could possibly be due to Takashi-sensei stopping him in the hallway and badgering him over what goals he had thought about pursuing. Tai had tried to derail him that it was fine, soccer was totally his thing, okay, but the man was doggedly determined to make him see other choices. Something about soccer causing more injuries down the road, and how there was an age limit to professional sports and blah, blah, blah, long story short, Takashi-sensei seemed to think he'd do well in politics. Honestly, you write a few awesome haikus and an essay bashing Plato for all his dumb ideas and suddenly, your English teacher thinks you're his ladder to success.

Finally managing to escape when Principle Yamaguchi stopped to ask Takashi-sensei something, Tai's mood was further soured when it appeared everyone had already ordered and started eating without him.

The only thing that brightened his day was the fact that Matt was wearing one of T.K.'s floppy, large-brimmed hats and wrap-around shades.

"That's the worst disguise ever," he smirked as he pulled up a chair to the round booth everyone was sitting at.

"No one's recognized me yet," Matt flashed a grin and pushed a tray towards him. "Here, ordered your favorite so you wouldn't have to stand in line."

Tai's irritation lessened a little. "So, what's new, guys?" he asked, reaching for a fry.

Mimi was the first to jump in. "Oh, I just love being back in Japan!" she gushed excitedly. "The food alone!" she motioned to her shrimp-burger. "We don't have these at the McDonalds back in the States! And it's so much easier to get around here. You need a car to get anywhere over there! There's so much to do in your free time here: the shops, karaoke, DDR, J-Rock bands, the cafes, the plays!"

"The bookstores," Tai mumbled to himself.

Joe shot him a sharp look.

"Are you going to come back here to stay permanently when you're able to?" Sora asked. "We could be roommates when we're just starting our new jobs."

"Oh, I'd love that!" Mimi cried. "Although, I'm not sure how long we could be roommates. I mean, I'm sure we'd both want special someones in our life eventually."

Sora blushed and fidgeted with her straw looking everywhere but at Matt who's ears had turned pink.

Roomates, Tai thought suddenly, a world of possibilities crashing down upon him and he choked on his soda. He had rather bad habit of doing that, he realized.

Mimi giggled as she watched him struggle for breath. "I bet Jun will have a place of her own next year once she starts college," she said as if remarking about the weather.

Evil. She was made up of pure evil and pink.

Tai lifted a napkin to his mouth and nose and glared at her from behind it. "Is this what we're going to talk about? People's love lives? Because if so, I will leave."

He didn't know what he expected meeting up with his friends, but this kind of topic was not it.

"Oh, Tai, I'm just making fun," Mimi laughed with a little wave of her hand. "I bet that that kiss with Jun at Fujiyoshida City was the only one you two have ever done!"

Tai made a tiny strangled sound in his throat as the memories of those few brief instances where Jun and him had kissed flooded back to him. How many times had it been? Four? Five?

He wasn't sure what his face looked like, but he was aware of his friends' eyes on him, wide and staring and full of surprise.

"You've… you've kissed more times than that?" Now Mimi looked really interested. That time in America had not been good for her in terms of mastering social politeness. Her eyes narrowed like a hawk. "Did you… did you take advantage of that?"

"What is this? Pester Taichi With Personal Questions Day?" Tai exploded, his temper flaring. "You don't see me asking Matt questions about him and Sora or you and Joe!"

He realized his slip up far too late as silence hung over the table for several seconds.

Mimi was white-faced. Joe looked mortified. Sora and Matt looked shocked. And Izzy was calmly assessing the entire volatile situation while sipping his milkshake.

"You… you and Joe…" Matt was the first to speak, his voice doing that high squeaky tone when he was truly surprised. "Are dating?"

"Mimi, why didn't you tell me?" Sora asked sounding a bit hurt.

"Because, it's not true!" Mimi shrieked staring down at her hands in her lap. "I don't know what he's talking about!"

"What are you talking about, Tai?" Joe asked him, his voice taking on an edge.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything," Tai said stuffing his mouth full of his burger so he couldn't speak. This day was turning out so bad.

Joe continued to stare at him and with his eyes hidden behind the shiny glint of his glasses, he made quite the intimidating expression.

"Mimi," Sora said choosing her words carefully. "It's alright if you and Joe are dating. It won't mess up the dynamics of the team or our friendship. It makes things so much easier when you don't deny your feelings. Look at me and Matt. We're always truthful with each other and it's saved us a lot of couple's grief, right?"

"Right," Matt said quickly. Too quickly. He smiled nervously.

"I mean, there's nothing either of us won't admit to the other even if they think the other is better off not knowing, right?" Sora continued staring suspiciously at him.

"Yes," Matt looked very uncomfortable.

"Because it's better to be truthful with each other no matter what, right?" Sora said and her hands were on her hips now—that was never a good sign. "Because then the couple can fix the problem and the relationship can move on in uncomplicated bliss, right?"

Matt's eyes darted to and fro for an escape route, but Joe was on his right and Sora was on his left and there was no way out.

"Please stop making me bentos!" he blurted out desperately, before yanking down T.K.'s ginormous brimmed hat over his shades.

"What?" Sora blinked.

"Your bentos!" Matt yelped. "I try and eat them, I really do! But I can't anymore! Please stop. They… they taste bad, ok? I'll make bentos for both of us, don't worry!"

Oh, oh, noooo, Tai thought, recognizing the spark of fire igniting in Sora's eyes. He scrunched down in his chair trying to make himself smaller.

"So, you didn't like my bentos before and never told me so I could remedy that, and now, you're telling me not to even try at all?!" Oh, Sora was furious. There was nothing worse than someone telling her she couldn't do something right, Tai remembered.

"What happened to being truthful so we could move past this to 'uncomplicated bliss'?" Matt protested. Now anger was seeping into his voice too.

"You're a little late for that!" Sora shouted. "And now look: we're setting a bad example for Mimi and Joe!"

"Joe and I aren't dating!" Mimi shrieked again standing to her feet and slamming her palms down on the table. "Take it back, Tai! Take back what you said!"

He was caught in the cross-fire. What choice did he have? "I take it back. It was my stupid mistake, ok."

"What was?" Joe just couldn't leave well enough alone.

"Nothing," Tai said.

"Did you follow us, that day?" Joe was shrewd, very shrewd. Tai cursed that fine-toothed memory of his. He was almost as bad as Izzy at remembering details.

"Follow us where?" Mimi demanded, before clapping a hand over her mouth in horror.

"So you and Joe did go somewhere without the rest of us? Alone?" Matt asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"It was only to the bookstore," Tai said in their defense.

Mimi shrieked again and pointed at him. "S-s-stalker!"

"What? I am not!" Honestly, Tai was fed up at the world at this point. "I was just curious about what you two were doing! Just be grateful I stopped Jun from flouncing over there and asking you point-blank whether you liked Joe or not—which at this time, I really do not care and think you are making too much of a fuss about it not to like him!"

He expected her to fly into a rage about Jun apparently following them as well, but Mimi was silent, her already white-face turning an ashen grey and her mouth was doing this pinched, quivering thing… oh no…

Mimi let out a pitiful wail, all but leaped over Izzy, and dashed for the door.

Sora called after her, and being stuck in the middle of the booth, proceeded to crawl under the table, knocking into Tai's chair legs and turning him and his chair upside down in the process (on purpose no doubt). "You boys are horrible!" She shouted over her shoulder without a second glance backwards.

Tai watched as Joe's leather shoes stepped near his head. "Did it ever occur to you, Tai, that some people are entitled to their own private affairs and that it is no one else's business but their own?"

Tai refrained from saying something like it was Mimi who started it by sticking her nose into his and Jun's personal life because that would have sounded like whining. He was just glad he was too far down on the floor to feel the full blast of that evil glinty glasses glare he was sure Joe was doing.

Joe's shoes eventually passed by and he would have sighed with relief except then he recognized Matt's own brand name tennis shoes take their place.

"Thanks a heap, Tai," Matt's voice floated somewhere above his head sounding very pissed off. "Sora's going to be angry at me forever."

"Congratulations," Tai couldn't hold back his sarcasm anymore. "You have finally experienced the brutality of her wrath. You are officially a couple now."

Matt made a tch-ing noise in the back of his throat. "You and Jun were made for each other," he said dryly before leaving.

Tai decided to take that as a compliment even though he was pretty sure it wasn't. Groaning, he got up, grateful for wearing his back-brace for once, and tipped his chair upright. Well, so much for their friendly meet-up.

Izzy was all who remained finishing off the last remnants of his milkshake with a noisy slurp. "I can hardly believe it," he said putting his cup down. "So you have Sora mad at you for making Mimi upset; now Matt's mad at you for indirectly outing his dislike of her food and causing them to engage in their first relationship quabble; Mimi's mad at you for stalking her and Joe as well as outing them to everyone, even though it turned out to be the wrong conclusion—supposedly; and Joe's mad at you for upsetting Mimi and stalking them too. In short, you have offended ninety percent of your friends in the span of less than five minutes. That has to be a new record," Izzy stated quite impressed.

"Izzy, stay with me! You're my only true friend!" Tai wailed flinging his arms around him.

"Hold on, give me minute. I'm sure I can come up with something you've done to offend me. I don't want to be left out," Izzy perused as he tapped a thoughtful finger to his chin.

"Izzy!" Tai wailed un-aumsed, his voice muffled due to his face being buried somewhere in the vicinity of his friend's mid-section.

"Why can't I quit you?" Izzy sighed wearily.

oOo

"I mean, why is everything always my fault?" Tai complained as he and Izzy wandered through the crowded Tokyo streets on their way home. He crammed another French fry into his mouth angrily. "Oooh, sudden complications in couples' lives: let's blame Taichi! Ironically, I'm the only one in this messed-up group of friends whose relationship is actually in a good and stable one right now!"

"I'm fairly certain Mimi proclaimed countless times that she and Joe weren't dating," Izzy said handing him his own fry container as Tai had just finished his and clearly his appetite-fueled rage had not been sated.

"She's so far down the River Denial she's in Egypt!" Tai swore, packing five fries in at once. "What's the big freakin' deal? She clearly likes Joe and it's obvious he likes her, but respects her too much as a friend to make the first move. Don't get me started on Matt and Sora! Fighting over something as trivial as bento? Lemme tell you, Jun and I are more straight-forward with each other than they are! This is ridiculous and I just remembered why I used to think love was stupid, overly-complicated and unnecessary in the first place!"

"Well, I wouldn't worry too hard about all this," Izzy said. "Give them a couple of days to stew over it and I'm sure they'll come back to their sense and forgive you. It really wasn't your fault. You just unwittingly dragged some things to the surface that no one wanted to look to closely at. Things will boil down soon."

"Izzy, you're the greatest," Tai sniffed, feeling choked up. That could have been a French fry though.

He nearly bumped into Izzy who had stopped dead in his tracks. "I spoke too soon, it seems," the boy said staring up with a narrow gaze at the giant tv that was set into the wall of the central building that towered over the main city square.

There was man on the screen, a man who looked vaguely familiar but who Tai couldn't place. Then the words spouting out of the man's mouth registered and Tai realized that This. Was. Not. A. Good. Thing.

"It's like we've been trying to tell everyone! These aliens, man! They have multiple forms, ok! Some look like monsters, but some can take the forms of humans and deceive us!"

The screen cut to show shots of Angewomon and LadyDevimon and their short –lived cat-fight above the Tokyo streets from various angles. Then it cut to LadyDevimon again at the park with Silphymon. Then it cut to something truly gut-wrenching: ragged, blurred battle scenes at Fujiyoshida City and then a clearer, more stable video of the city destroyed in the aftermath and there Tai saw himself in color and life-size on the giant screen:

"Tch, what are you foolish humans talking about?" His arms were crossed and he was sneering in quite the condescending tone. "I've merely taken on this mortal form while I reside on your plan of existence so as not to blind you all with my sheer, magnanimous radiance!"

The screen cut back to the leader of the UFO fanatics they had rescued that day. Apparently, they had possessed a hidden camera no one realized they had.

"We have living, breathing ETs man walking in our midst all around us!" The man cried. "They're trying to infiltrate our society and take us over from the inside! Don't trust them! They'll pretend to be on your side, then they'll turn you into one of their slaves! No one is safe!"

"I thought he was all about embracing the cosmos," Tai muttered disgusted.

"Apparently, he chickened out when faced with the inevitable monster apocalypse," Izzy said. "Maybe he felt shame for abandoning humanity in his eyes. You should be more worried about yourself right now, though."

The screen cut to more blurry images that were quickly blown up and enhanced, and Tai recognized them with a sinking sensation: the day in the park at the skating right after Agumon had come to his defense and Tai had to forcefully drag him off. Thankfully, there were no photos of Agumon attacking the young man like a rabid dog, but there were plenty of himself holding Agumon back protectively. There were even a few snapshots of LadyDevimon as she landed behind them, then there was a broad sweep of purple across the remaining photos and Tai remembered all too vividly what had happened after that.

"The source of origin of all these monster invasions still remains undiscovered," a different voice other than the UFO fanatic was speaking—most likely the news anchorman. "However we cannot ignore new leads in a national crisis like this. Multiple sightings of this seemingly young human male have been confirmed now and in every scenario monsters and mayhem follow in his wake." Tai watched as the picture of his face was enlarged across the giant screen. Whoa, talk about high-definition. Maybe he should start using moisturizing cream. "This is a person of interest wanted for questioning for his association of mingling with these monsters. Please report any sightings of him to the Fuji TV station and police. This is our duty as Japanese citizens on a matter of extreme importance. This country will not bow down to terrorists be they human or aliens!"

It took a few moments for the message to fully register in Tai's head before he burst out laughing. "Hahahah! Did you hear that, Izzy? I think that they think I'm a Digimon! Well, according to them, some alien with transfiguration powers, how funny is that? Oh man, wait 'til I tell Agumon about this!"

"Considering you just got broadcasted all over the nation as Japan's Most Wanted, I doubt he'll be hearing this from you firsthand," Izzy said. His mouth was set into a straight line and his eyebrows were furrowed deeply. He looked… worried.

"What? Oh, come on," Tai scoffed. "You honestly think people are going to believe such a science-fiction news bulletin like this? The government is obviously desperate and grasping at straws right now to explain the monster phenomena. And even if they did buy into it, who's gonna recognize me?"

"Omigawd, it's that kid that the news was talking about right there!" someone screamed from his left hand side.

"It is! You can tell by his hair!" someone yelled from Tai's right.

"Someone call the police!" A voice shouted from behind him.

The Tokyo central square lit up like one giant strobe light as the crowd snapped pictures on their cell phones and cameras.

For the first time ever in his life, Tai found himself cursing his wild, bushy locks. He whirled around to Izzy, wondering what they should do, only to find that Izzy was no longer at his side but pressed back against the front of the crowd.

"Stay away, you alien ruffian!" Izzy exclaimed holding out his own cell phone and snapping several shots of his own.

Tai never had felt quite so betrayed in all his life.

"Run back to your spaceship, you evil brigand!" Izzy shouted at him. "Tell the rest of your kind that the people of earth will never be taken alive!"

The crowd roared their agreement and then Tai saw Izzy reach into his coat pocket to pull out the D-Terminal a little ways and tap it significantly.

Smart, Izzy, Tai thought. Nodding in understanding, he bolted through the crowd's ranks which thinned as he passed as if he possessed some horrible, contagious disease. He tried to push the fleeting pang of hurt to the side. Things had just gotten a whole lot more complicated.

And if he ever made it out of this hole he had inadvertently dug himself into, he was going to teach Izzy some proper name-calling skills.

To Be Continued…

A/N: It's been a long time, hasn't it? I finally have this story going in the direction I want it to and the ending is in sight now. I know I've been on hiatus awhile, but it is a joy for me to know that I am still capable of writing. That my muse is still there. I was afraid I had lost it for awhile, but that may have been because of depression and personal loss. I am better now and moving forward in life, and I want to know the outcome of this fic as much as you all. I missed writing Tai and Jun, they are so much fun, always bantering in my head!

Oh my, oh my, what will the next chapter bring? I think I know, but my muse may change its mind, you never can tell. Let's just say that Tai is going to really hate Plato. In fact, some of you may begin to dislike him as well. And the consequences of Agumon always listening and learning about his teachings will soon be revealed.

None of those pick up lines are mine, they're from online. Except Tai's beautiful haiku^w^

Who's ready for Digimon Tri soon? Me, me, meeeeee!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this. Please review and share your favorite scenes and thoughts. I loved hearing what you liked best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. I like knowing what my readers think and feel. And if you have any questions, I'm over at tumblr to chat!