Four days. Tai watched his sister across from the table. She had four days until she started treatment and Tai was ambivalent about it.
"Stop staring at me." Kari mused with a smirk. Tai's lips curled and he looked down at his eggs,
"don't be so vain. I wasn't looking at you." He heard Kari giggle,
"sure." She mumbled and Tai finished the last of his breakfast.
"Alright I have to go. You ready?" Tai stood grabbing his plate. He looked down at Kari who still had quite a bit of food remaining.
"Yep, let's go." She smiled and went to stand. Tai put a hand on her shoulder,
"hang on kiddo, you gotta finish your food." Kari frowned,
"no, no I'm full let's go." She tried to stand again but Tai kept her seated.
"Kar, please, finish." Kari sighed and nodded. Tai turned and took his plate into the kitchen. He put his plate in the sink then went to his room. He ran a hand through his hair as he went to his desk to grab his phone. He paused as he saw a familiar item on his desk. His digivice gleamed as the sun rays hit it through the window. Tai stared, he wondered a moment, what if it beeped. He didn't move, afraid any movement would cause the digivice to remain silent. The noise from the kitchen snapped Tai out of his trance. He could hear Kari putting her dishes away and he stopped looking at the device. He put his phone in his bag and went out of his room.
"You finish?" Tai asked as he entered the kitchen trying to drown out the disappointment he felt.
"Yep." Kari smiled. She looked pale and Tai tried to keep a neutral face.
"Okay go grab your bag." He said sternly. She went quiet and slowly left to gather her things. Tai sighed, he felt bad he was stern but also needed her to leave for a minute. Being around her was getting harder. He wanted to hang out with her as much as possible but the more he was around her, the more irritated he was getting. He couldn't take away her cancer and he wanted to so badly. Kari came into the room and Tai smiled trying to lighten the mood,
"okay let's go." He said in an upbeat tone. Kari seemed wary but smiled. She walked to the front door and Tai followed. She opened the door and Tai looked back into the empty apartment.
"Tai? You coming?" He heard his sister ask.
"Uh, yeah. One second." He didn't look back at Kari but quickly walked to his room. He marched over to his desk and snatched his digivice off of his desk. He then held it firmly in his hands,
I can't just do nothing.
He thought and then pocketed the device. He then turned and went to follow his sister to school.
Algebra. Nearly four days ago Tai was relieved to be in this class. Now however, Tai groaned and his head drooped as the teachers voice started putting him to sleep. He caught himself and sat up trying to wake up. The numbers and signs on the chalk board blurred together as his eyes glazed over. Tai squeezed them shut and then opened them hoping to refocus his gaze. He wasn't sure how long he could last. He looked to the clock on the wall and wished he hadn't. The hands weren't moving in his mind. There was still 45 minutes of class remaining. Tai looked down at the paper in front of him trying to be present.
"Tai! Help!" Tai's head snapped up and his eyes bugged. He knew that voice. It was agumon! Tai sat straight and looked around. There was no sign of his partner. The students in his class were all sitting in their desks while the teacher spoke. No one seemed to hear his digimon cry out. Tai looked beside him at Matt. Matt was writing a piece of paper.
"Tai! I need you!" There it was again! Agumon was calling! Tai didn't see Matt react and he slowly pulled his digivice from his pocket. He looked at it in his hand and saw the screen was blank. He frowned
Where are you buddy? How do I get to you?
Tai thought wondering if somehow agumon could hear him. He felt something hit his nose and Tai closed his eyes at the contact. He opened and saw a crumpled piece of paper on his desk. He looked to his right and saw Matt staring at him. Tai stared back and Matt discreetly pointed at the paper on Tai's desk with his pencil. Tai put his digivice back in his pocket and unraveled the piece of paper
What's going on with you? Why are you looking at your digivice?
Tai quickly scribbled a reply
I thought I heard agumon calling me. Algebra is putting me to sleep.
He tossed the paper back to Matt when the teacher wasn't looking. He could see out of the corner of his eyes Matt scribbling a reply very enthusiastically. This time when the paper came to Tai, he was ready for it
Have you heard Agumon before? It might be nothing but, I think I heard gabumon earlier this morning. That's not all... I think we should talk.
Tai was wide eyed staring at his friends written words. He slipped the paper into his binder and looked at Matt. Matt was staring at him already so Tai gave his friend a nod. He then focused on the chalk board. He was awake now but he wasn't concentrating on the math equations, he was focused on the hint of hope that he might be seeing agumon again soon.
As soon as the bell rang Tai was anxious to talk to Matt. The two headed out into the hall and Tai quickly got straight to the point.
"So what's been going on?" Matt looked to either side of the hall and put a hand in his back pocket,
"I think we should wait." Tai's face fell. He wanted to know what Matt wanted to talk about. Matt walked past Tai who was still trying to read Matts mind.
"Sora, Mimi!" Matt exclaimed. Tai watched the two girls wave as they started walking towards him.
"How was class?" Sora asked the boys as she and Mimi stood in front of them.
"Good but I think we should find Izzy and talk." Tai again looked at Matt studying the blond. "What is it?" Sora asked and Tai bit his tongue.
"It's about our digimon." Matt said quietly and Tai could see Sora and Mimi's eyes widen. Mimi moved her hands quickly and Tai watched as she whipped her phone out of her bag and started typing.
"Who are you texting?" Tai asked and Mimi didn't look up from her mobile as she responded,
"Izzy, Joe and Mei." Tai looked down the nearly empty hallway as students made there way into the classrooms,
"where are Izzy and Mei?" Tai asked. Mimi lowered her phone and then placed it back in her bag,
"Mei is at home. She's been taking this really hard. Meicoomon being a virus and the two of them now separated, she's not coping well." Mimi shook her head.
"And Izzy is in the computer lab." Tai nodded. The bell went and the hallway was empty except for the four digidestined. Tai looked at the others,
"I can't go to class, not yet at least." He admitted. Sora and Mimi mirrored each other as they each tilted their heads looking at Tai. Matt stepped forward,
"we're hearing them, Gabumon and Agumon." The blond informed the two girls. Sora took a step back.
"Then screw class, we need to find Izzy." Tai was surprised how quickly Sora was ready to abandon class,
"what? You don't think we should wait?" He asked carefully wondering if this was some test. Sora shook her head,
"no." Matt then spoke,
"why then?" He asked and Tai wondered if he was thinking the same thing. Sora looked down the hall then at Mimi,
"because Mimi and I have been hearing our digimon too."