1I apologize for not updating, but I have been a very busy person-white-thingy. Our new house is really old (95 yrs old) and we are trying to get it fixed up before I go back to school (August 22)
Zomg! I'm finally 15!!
Disclaimer: Don't own...don't sue...
This chapter is brought to you by Marilyn Manson, HIM, Miyavi, and LM.C...so I apologize for the wonky-ness. Also, I would like to thank taichis-girl208 for the excellent idea, and for bumping me up to get offa my lazy arse and update...
And for that...its gonna be extra long
Italics mean flashback
To Feel Your Pain
Ch 4: Operation Bring Taichi Back Step 2: Sora and Mimi
Wake him up
A loud knocking on Taichi's door brought him from his peaceful sleep. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes, just as Sora and Mimi burst through his door.
"Well someone slept well, eh Taichi?" Sora teased as she ruffled his hair.
He fell back over in the bed and pulled the blanket over his head, "Leave me alone..."
Sora sighed, "Fine then, Yamato! Can you come in here for a minute?"
Taichi's eyes widened under the blanket.
"Yeah?" What's up Sora?" Taichi heard the blond's voice and held onto the blanket tighter.
"We can't get him up!" Mimi whined from somewhere across the room.
He heard Yamato chuckle, "Ah, I see...Taichi.." the voice came closer, "Come on get up, the girls have plans today..."
He groaned, "Please leave me alone? I put up with your shit yesterday..."
"Don't be like that, you sleep a lot already Taichi..." Mimi said again, her voice muffled.
He felt his bed dip and a hand on his arm, "Please Taichi?" Yamato's voice was soft and quiet.
He shook his head no, and heard Yamato sigh.
"Sora? Can you give me a minute?"
"Yeah, I'll just go over here and help Mimi..."
He felt the blanket being pulled from over his head, "Open your eyes Taichi."
Slowly, he opened them and stared into Yamato's steel blue eyes, "What do you want?"
He chuckled, "I want you, to wake up."
"But I'm tired..." Taichi whined as he tried to tug the blanket back over his head.
"Come on Tai, the girls wanna take you somewhere, just like yesterday."
Taichi stopped tugging at the blanket and looked at Yamato, "Are you going to be there?"
"No, but I will be here when you get back."
Rolling his eyes, he pushed the blanket down more and got out of bed. Trudging over to the closet he opened the door, Sora and Mimi not expecting it, fell onto the floor.
Taichi stared at them, "I'm not even gonna ask."
Mimi got up and handed Taichi some clothes, "Here, get dressed in this..."
Taichi huffed and walked into the bathroom to change.
"So Yamato...what did you say to him?" Sora asked him, walking over to the bed.
He rolled his eyes, "You heard everything I said, so don't even pretend you didn't."
Sora stuck her tongue out at him as she sat down on the bed beside him.
"We really need to take Taichi shopping, his clothes need to be upgraded a bit." Mimi said from the closet.
"Is that all you ever think about Mimi?" Yamato asked skeptically.
She shook her head, "No, I'm just saying, and plus, you know that you want to see him in something a bit tighter..."
Yamato blushed, a light pink tinging his cheeks, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Sora laughed, "Sure you don't Yamato, all of us know, except for Taichi of course, that you like him, so don't even try to deny it."
"I don't like him like that, I don't know where you get that-"
"Mimi, I really don't think this is going to work..." Taichi's voice said from the bathroom.
"Come out and let us see." Mimi said as she walked out of the closet, more clothes in her arms.
A groan was heard and the door opened.
Taichi trudged out, a semi-tight dark blue shirt with a large blood red butterfly, that was ripped down the middle, black blood oozing from it. The pants Mimi gave him were semi-baggy black jeans with a dark blue stripe down the left leg and a horizontal stripe around the right knee.
"You look perfect Taichi, though, you are a little skinny, nothing a little food can't fix up though!" Mimi exclaimed dropping the clothes on the bed and running over to Taichi to grab his hand.
Taichi was pulled over to where Yamato and Sora sat on the bed, "Look at him, doesn't he look good?"
Sora nodded eagerly while Yamato just stared at him, noticing this Sora elbowed Yamato in the side.
"Oh! Yeah, you look great Taichi, the clothes really fit you."
Taichi blushed, looking down.
"Well, lets go! We have a full day ahead of us!"
Taichi waved at Yamato as he was dragged out the door.
Yamato waved back, when he heard the front door close, he fell back on the bed, "Step 2a Complete."
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Take him rollerblading
"Sora, why are we doing this? You know I haven't sone this since we were thirteen."
Sora rolled her eyes, "Stop you're whining, it's not going to kill you to learn how to roller blade again."
"Couldn't we have just went to the mall?"
Mimi skated up beside them, "Now, now Taichi, that's for another time. Come on, lets go already." she grabbed Taichi's right arm and pulled him, causing him to lose his balance a bit.
"Woah there Tai," Sora said grabbing his left arm and helping him balance, "You know how to do this, all you have to do is walk, and push yourself."
He stood there stubbornly, as Mimi and Sora let go of his arms and skated away a bit.
"Come on Taichi!" Sora urged him, holding her arms out.
"Like this!" Mimi said skating in a small circle, pushing her feet out behind her as she did.
'Come on Hikari! You just have to move you're feet, its just like walking!' Thirteen year old Taichi said as he urged his sister to skate towards him.
Nine year old Hikari closed her eyes and moved her feet slowly, moving forward slowly, steadily gaining speed.
She opened her eyes as she felt herself moving, 'Nii-san nii-san! I'm doing it! Look!'
Taichi smiled as he watched her.
She grinned at him, moving faster, her grin turned into a small smirk as she skated right into him, knocking him over.
'Hikari! Why'd you do that?" he whined rubbing his head.
She giggled, "Because Taichi, you didn't teach me how to stop."
He rolled his eyes, "What am I going to do with you Hikari?"
She gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Nothin' cause you love me."
"Taichi? Taichi, you okay?"
He shook his head and turned around, "I can't do this." he muttered as he bladed down the sidewalk, back towards his house.
Sora and Mimi looked at each other and then back to where Taichi was before taking off after him.
Step 2b: Failed
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Yamato really didn't know what to do when the front door was flung open roughly, or when he heard the door to Taichi's room slam shut and two loud thumps were heard.
And he was even more at a loss when he heard loud cursing and choked sobs. Just as he was about to go ask Taichi what happened, the front door was opened and Mimi and Sora walked inside.
Yamato looked from Sora to Mimi then sent a look that clearly said, 'what did you do, and you better not lie if you like living.'
Sora and Mimi both winced as they heard a loud curse and a thump that sounded like a fist hitting the wall.
"What happened?"
Sora sighed, "Well, we took him rollerblading."
"You were only gone for fifteen minutes, and he came back mad? You didn't do anything stupid did you?"
"I have an odd feeling that we did..."
"What did you do?"
Mimi looked towards the door sadly, "Well, he said that he didn't remember how to do it, and we told him how to, and tried to get him to come to us, but then his eyes sorta glazed over, like he was remembering something..."
"Shit!" Sora exclaimed, then groaned, "I know what we done."
Mimi and Yamato looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
"Remember when we were thirteen, right? Taichi was teaching Hikari how to roller blade, and when we tried teaching him how to again, it must have triggered that memory, I can't believe I was so stupid."
Mimi hugged her friend, "It's alright, it was my idea too."
"Yeah Sora, don't blame yourself. How about you two go get something to drink or eat and I'll go talk to Taichi."
They nodded and headed towards the kitchen.
Yamato walked over to Taichi's room, and instead of knocking, he just walked in.
"Hey, Taic-SHIT" he yelled as a shoe was thrown at him.
"Get out."
Yamato ignored him and walked over to the bed where Taichi lay.
"Leave me alone Yamato."
He sighed and sat on the bed. Placing a hand on Taichi's shoulder, he turned him over, so his tear stained face looked toward the ceiling.
"What's wrong Taichi?"
Taichi glared at the ceiling, "Nothing."
"Really?"
"Yes Yamato, I'm fine."
"No you're not."
"Can you leave me alone?"
"Can you tell me why you're so pissed?"
Taichi sat up and glared, "It's not like you care so just but out!"
"Taichi, I do care, I want to help you, Sora, Mimi, Takeru, Daisuke, Jyou, and Kouishiro, they all want to help you too, why can't you let us in? Why can't you accept the help!" Yamato asked, his voice raising slightly, desperation seeking its way in.
"I didn't ask for anyone's help, or they're concern! I just want to be alone, why can't anyone understand that!" He stood up, and turned away from Yamato, trying to hide the tears.
Yamato stood up too, "You know that's bullshit Taichi, both of us know it. You might have fooled the others into thinking that you're okay, but I don't believe it," his voice lowered as he walked over to Taichi, "You don't want to be alone." he whispered, turning Taichi around and wiping his tears away with his thumb, "You hate being alone." He pulled him into a hug, "You hated being alone even before they died, that's why you and Hikari shared a room all the time..."
"Stop it...please Yamato, stop...don't..." Taichi pleaded, trying to pull away from the embrace, but Yamato held onto him.
"Not Tai, you have to let it go, they're gone, sure, but they're still with you..."
"...Yamato..."
Yamato shushed him and pulled him into a tighter embrace, "Please Taichi, let us in, we just want to help you..."
Taichi let out a sob, as his arms wrapped around Yamato, his fingers digging into the grey shirt he wore, "I can't..." he whimpered, his fingers clenching the material.
"Yes you can Taichi, yes you can..."
"No I cant! Stop saying I can! I can't okay?" he yelled through tears as he pulled on the material between his fingers.
"You can Taichi, you have to try."
He gave Yamato a tearful glare, "You think I haven't tried? It's harder than you think it is Yamato, I can't wake up one day and say, 'Oh I'm over it, so I can just forget about it.' It's hard to..." he broke off another sob shaking his frame, "...its hard to just forget that you killed your own family."
"You didn't kill them, they were in the building at the time...you didn't even know..."
He struggled against Yamato's hold on him, "You don't understand, it is my fault...it's all my fault..." he pushed Yamato, causing him to let go, "I'm the one who's scared to be alone, they knew that, so they went to New York with me..."
"I thought your dad got a job offer there?"
Taichi walked over to the window, "That's what I told everyone, that he got a job offer in New York, he signed up for it two days after we moved there, so they wouldn't know that I'm scared of being alone..."
Yamato silently got up and walked over to where Taichi was, "It's still not your fault..."
Taichi whirled around, "Yes it is! If I wasn't so damn scared of being alone they wouldn't be dead, I'd still be in New York, and they'd be here doing there own thing."
Yamato looked down, "If they were still here, like, if they were never killed, you wouldn't have came back would you?"
"Came back?" Now it was Taichi's turn to be confused.
"Came back to Japan, you didn't plan on coming back did you?" Yamato looked up accusingly.
Taichi turned back to the window, "No."
"Why?"
"Why?" Taichi's fists clenched, "Why? Because I would be a liar, that's why!"
Yamato looked at him confused, "What?"
"I'd be a liar Yamato, I never got a scholarship, I lied to everyone, mom, dad, Hikari, you, Mimi, Sora, Daisuke, Takeru, Jyou, and Kouishiro."
He placed a hand on Taichi's shoulder, "You could have told us."
"No, I couldn't have. You had you're music, Sora and Mimi went into fashion, Jyou a doctor, Kouishiro had his computer, Takeru had basketball and writing, and Daisuke...he's the one who got the scholarship for soccer...I had nothing." He pushed Yamato's hand off of his shoulder, "When they announced the scholarship winners, and I wasn't one of them, I knew I had to get out of Japan, they're was nothing here for me. So when I got home, I signed up for a college in New York, and got accepted two weeks later, right before graduation. I told mom, dad, and Hikari that I got a scholarship from New York, and as soon as I had graduated, we left."
"Taichi-"
He shook his head, "Let me finish, on September 11th, they're were scouts coming, to draft people off into the National Soccer League, and I hoped to be one, it was a very slim chance, but I hoped I was chosen. I knew that Mom and Hikari were coming to the game, so, after the game, I was planning to tell them, that they could come back to Japan, that I was going to finish out the year and then come back..."
"But you didn't plan to come back...did you?"
Taichi shook his head, "No, because I knew I wasn't going to be accepted, I knew it as soon as I woke up that morning." He walked over to the bed and sat down.
"You could have been accepted, you never know."
He shook his head, "I couldn't have been accepted. If I would have listened to the doctor, I wouldn't be in this mess...so, its all my fault." he winced as he swung his legs up onto the bed.
Yamato noticed the wince and came to sit down on the bed beside Taichi, "You okay?" he asked placing a hand on Taichi's.
He nodded, pulling his hand from under Yamato's and clasping them behind his head.
"So, why didn't you listen to the doctor?"
Taichi chuckled, "You don't even know why I went there in the first place."
"Well then why did you?"
"Pain in my knees, after soccer practice, the coach told me I should go."
Yamato looked confused, "I don't remember that."
"Four months before graduation, that game that I sat out? I told you guys it was because I got in trouble, I lied, I went to the doctor that day, got my diagnosis, told the coach, he benched me for that game."
"What was the diagnosis?"
Turning to the side a bit, Taichi pulled open a drawer and rummaged through it, and pulled out a prescription bottle, then tossed it to Yamato.
"Naprosyn?"
Taichi nodded.
"Take one tablet two times a day, when joint is stiff or hurting...What the fuck?"
He sighed, "It's a medicine for Osteoarthritis, that's why I wouldn't have been picked, I woke up that morning my knee was hurting and I knew that if I played, then I would have fucked my knee up more than it already is."
Yamato put the bottle on the bed, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Taichi closed his eyes, "Well, if I did, I would have gotten treated like I was injured, but I'm not, sure I may have OA, but it doesn't bother me often." he opened them and looked at the ceiling.
"So the reason you didn't get the scholarship is because of the Osteoarthritis, so then you signed up for a college in New York, to keep you're secret hid, and you were planning on telling you're parents to come back to Japan and leave you, while you dropped off the face of the Earth...Why didn't you tell your mom or dad?" Yamato sounded mad.
Taichi winced, turning to his side, "I didn't want them to worry." He whispered, his voice cracking. "They had enough to worry about, Mom had to find a job, Hikari just started at a new high school, and dad had to work odd hours...so I wanted to keep the stress off of them. I realize now, that I shouldn't have been so selfish to keep it to myself, because if I didn't, we could have moved back to Japan, and they'd still be here..." his shoulders shook, "God dammit, I'm such an idiot."
The bed dipped down, and he felt Yamato lay beside him, "Taichi, look at me."
Cautiously Taichi turned over to face Yamato.
"It's not you're fault, you wanted to keep them from worrying, I have to admit, that I am kind of mad at you for not telling us, especially me, because we could have helped you. We wouldn't have thought you were injured and we certainly wouldn't have treated you any different, do you understand?"
Taichi took a deep breath, "Kinda."
"Are you going to let us in and try help you?"
"I'll try." he whispered, as tears rolled down his cheeks.
Yamato smiled slightly, and reached out to wipe away a tear, "Don't cry, and even if you can't let us in right away, we'll still keep on trying,"
"Why do you try so hard?"
He looked at Taichi, a hand still on his tan cheek, as he offered a crooked smile, "Because I want you to be happy."
Taichi's puffy tear-stained brown eyes, looked into Yamato's silver-blue eyes, "Thank you." he whispered, putting his hand on top of Yamato's.
They lay there in silence until a slight rumbling sound broke it, causing Yamato to laugh and Taichi to blush.
"It seems like someone is hungry." he teased, pulling his hand from Taichi's cheek and sitting up.
Taichi shrugged and sat up, "I guess."
Yamato chuckled and grabbed Taichi's wrist, pulling him across the bed, "Let's get you something to eat, okay?"
Taichi nodded and stood up, only to fall back into a sitting position on the bed, "Shit."
"You're knee?" Yamato questioned, his hand still around Taichi's wrist.
He nodded and grabbed the prescription bottle, allowing Yamato to pull him up and wrap an arm around his waist.
"Well, I take that back, let's go to the kitchen, let you take the medicine, and then get some food."
Chuckling slightly, Taichi nodded, "Alright. Lead the way oh great leader."
Yamato smiled down at Taichi and helped him out the door.
Taichi may not open up fast and be back to normal overnight, but at least he starting to trust them and gradually let them in.
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I planned on stopping it here, but, since I left you guys in the cold for so long, I'm gonna add part of the next chapter in here too...
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Mimi and Sora looked up as a door opened.
"Hey!" Daisuke said walking into the living room with a three foot black, green and red fuzzy teddy bear in his arms.
"Where'd you get that Daisuke?" Mimi asked curious.
Daisuke blushed, "Well, me and Takeru went back to the fair today, and he kinda...won...it..for me..."
"Aww, that's so cute." Sora said giggling as she stood up and walked over to him to pet the bear.
"So Daisuke, are you and Takeru dating?" Mimi asked as she too got up to pet the bear's fuzziness.
Daisuke blushed darker, then squeaked as two arms wrapped around his waist and a voice laughed behind him.
"Why are you so worried Mimi?" Takeru asked as he put his head atop Daisuke's spiky one.
Mimi opened her mouth to answer when another door opened.
They turned and looked towards Taichi's room just as Yamato and Taichi stepped out, Yamato's arm around Taichi's waist and Taichi's arm around Yamato's neck.
"Hey guys, when did you two get here?" Yamato asked Takeru and Daisuke as they passed by them to the kitchen.
"Just now." Takeru said letting go of Daisuke, "What's wrong with Taichi?"
Taichi offered them a small smile, "Nothing guys, my OA's just acting up again."
"OA?" Daisuke asked looking at Taichi weirdly.
"It means Osteoarthritis."
"What's Osteoarthritis?" Sora asked as she walked over to Taichi's other side and put her arm around his waist, helping him into the kitchen.
"Well," he said as he was sat in a chair, "It's a condition where the cartilage in your joints deteriorate. My knees, well, my right knee, is like that."
"How did that happen?" Daisuke asked as he sat down in a chair beside Taichi.
Taichi shrugged, "Remember in tenth grade when I messed that ligament up in my leg?" he paused and took the glass of water that sat on the table then grabbed the bottle of medicine, and took one swallowing some of the water down behind it, "The doctor seems to think that when that happened, it wasn't treated correctly and caused the cartilage in my knee to slowly deteriorate."
"Ouch." Takeru muttered from behind Daisuke.
"Sometimes." Taichi said throwing a lopsided smile at Takeru.
They heard the front door open again and Kouishiro and Jyou walked into the kitchen.
"Hey guys." Yamato said as he looked up from what ever he was doing at the counter.
Kouishiro smiled and waved, then walked over to Mimi and kissed her cheek.
Jyou walked over to the table and picked up Taichi's medicine, "Naprosyn. Osteoarthritis? You do know that this can cause heart problems later on in life."
"Yea, the doc went over all of that when he gave me the prescription." Taichi said taking the bottle from him and standing up, "I need to take this back to my room, I'll be back."
"You need help?" Daisuke asked as he stood up also.
Taichi nodded as he held out his arm, "Yeah, lets go."
As they walked out of the room, Yamato turned towards where everyone was.
"Wow Yamato, how did you get him...so...happy?" Sora asked as she walked up to stand beside Jyou.
He smiled, "He just needed to get some stuff off of his chest...now, lets get this set up before Taichi gets back in here."
Okay, I'm gonna leave it here, until next chapter, because I think 12 pages are enough...and I don't want to end the story sooner than I want...so...yea, I hope everyone likes this chapter...
Sora and Mimi's plan didn't go like they thought it would...but they'll get their chance to make up for it soon...
I think its established, (even if only a little) that Takeru and Daisuke are together now...more interaction from them next chapter
Yamato and Taichi had another moment...and Yamato found some surprising truths about why Taichi left...but there is more...
Taichi's soccer career is screwed up from Osteoarthritis, and he's feeling a bit better now...
Lots of drama in this chapter...
Next time on To Feel Your Pain: It's a Surprise...a Very big Surprise...
Please review, and I'll give you part of my birthday cake...