A/N: Plot bunny of "first boy to make her cry" from the previous drabble, "Every Other First." Also from December 2009, published to the Digimon Drabbles lj comm.
Love You Like a Soccer Ball to the Face
Sora's left front tooth is loose. This is a momentous occasion because neither of Taichi's front teeth have come loose yet, which means she'll lose hers first, which means she wins.
So of course when they meet in the park to play soccer, she wiggles her tooth constantly and delights in his scowling face. All he can do in return is grumble that they should just start playing already. So they do, and for a while she is winning because he's still grumpy, and when he's grumpy, he's stupid. But then something hits her in the face very hard and she feels not one but two teeth floating around in her mouth, and she reminds herself not to swallow.
And even though she is not a crybaby (she is not, she is not), she cries right now because it happened so fast and it tastes like blood and it hurts, and even though he isn't a crybaby either and will punch you in the mouth if you say otherwise, he is crying too because she's crying and her face is all bloody and it's all his fault.
His mother rushes over from the playground and shoves Hikari into his arms, alternately scolding him and comforting Sora while she dabs at the little girl's bloody mouth and teary cheeks with a napkin from her purse. Later on she buys a big red popsicle for Sora and nothing for Taichi because he's not missing any teeth and should know better than to kick soccer balls at peoples faces.
"'M sorry, Sora," he mumbles, and as a peace offering he gives her charge of his soccer ball for the whole walk home. She grins, showing off the big gap where her two front teeth used to be. Oh, she has won indeed.