Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Chapter 3: The Start of Something?

Tai's POV

As soon as I pull up to the café, Mimi opens the door and starts attacking me.

"How dare you make me pay? Tai, you are a piece of shit! I thought you had finally become a gentleman and decided to be nice and bring the car up here as a favor to me! But no! I should have known that your cheap-ass was just ducking out on the bill!" She yells at me.

"Ow Mimi! I can explain!" I say while trying to dodge her purse, which she was swinging in the direction of my head. "I was just trying to save some money so that I can get flowers for Matt!"

Suddenly she stopped. Her demeanor totally changed from unrelenting aggression to uncontrollable curiosity.

"Matt? Tai, I thought you said you weren't gay. And by the way he has a girlfriend so, I don't think he even flies that way. Or wait, is Sora just a cover-up?" She asks absolutely horrified.

Secretly, I wish Sora was just a cover-up and Matt was really gay. That way he had to come out eventually which meant that Sora would be all mine. No! I had to stop thinking like that. She picked Matt. That was it. It was over and I had to stop living in a world of ifs.

"Mimi" I sigh. "I already told you I'm not gay. And from what I know Matt isn't either which means that Sora isn't a cover-up. Also, the reason I'm buying him flowers is because he was in that motorcycle accident. Didn't you hear?"

"Motorcycle accident?" She asks with concern. "No, I didn't. What happened? Is he all right?"

"Yeah some dumbass ran a red when Matt was crossing the intersection. He didn't see Matt until the last second and tried avoiding him but couldn't. He hit the back of Matt's bike and Matt flew off of it into a light pole." I reply.

"Oh my God! Where is he?" Mimi demands.

"At the hospital." I answer.

"We're going there." She says.

"Are you asking me or-"

"I'm telling you to go and no excuses." She says dangerously cutting me off.

"All right. Let's just get some flowers first ok?"

"Sounds like a plan!" She replies excitedly.

After about 10 minutes we arrive at the flower shop. Mimi runs inside excitedly and starts to put together a bouquet for Matt. With a pang I remembered that I left my wallet home. Shit. Although, it looked like Mimi was paying for the bouquet she was putting together.

Maybe, I could dig something out of my car. That way, I could at least get something for her. While she was busy putting the bouquet together I ran to my car and started looking underneath the seats. I found a few loose bills but there was no way I could get a bouquet.

Dejected, I walk back into the shop when I hear someone calling my name.

"Tai! Over here!"

I turn around and see an employee of the shop waving to me. Normally, I would be freaked out that some random employee somewhere knew my name but as soon as I saw her I broke into a big smile. It was my old friend Akira. She used to be on my summer soccer teams back in middle school.

"Hey, Akira. How are you doing?" I ask before I give her a big hug.

"Ow stop you're squeezing too hard." She manages to choke out.

"Oh I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's no big deal." She replies quickly.

"I didn't know you worked here. When did you start?" I ask curiously.

"Just last week actually. My friend got me the job." She explains.

"Wow congrats, I always imagined you working in something outdoors like gardening." I say to her.

"Yeah, it's a lot of fun. But, look at you. You're doing what you love too. Big soccer game tomorrow right? You're going to go up against Takuya right?"

"Yeah it's tomorrow and yeah I'm going to kick his ass for sure! You should come watch!"

"If I don't have work, I'll definitely come watch. After all it isn't every day that I can see the biggest soccer rivalry in Japan." She replies with a smile. "By the way, your girlfriend was looking for you. She asked me if I had seen someone with big crazy brown hair."

"Oh we aren't going out, we are just friends. We're getting flowers for someone in the hospital." I explain.

"Ohhh gotcha!" She says. "But Tai, you should still get her some flowers."

"Well, I would but I forgot my wallet at home."

"Oh my God! Tai you're awful at excuses! It's totally obvious that you like her and you're just too shy to do anything about it!"

"How would you know? You haven't even seen us together!" I fire back.

"Oh please, I saw you two walk in together. And I saw the way you were looking at her when she started to get the bouquet together."

"Well, it doesn't matter because I actually don't have any cash. I really did leave my wallet at home."

"Oh. Well in that case, this one's on the house." She says with a smile.

"Are you sure you can do that?"

"Oh yeah! My friend's mom owns the store. I'm like her second daughter! She won't mind when I tell her the story."

"Thanks you're amazing!" I say to her.

I quickly found the lily section and picked out a few pink and a few white lilies. As I returned to the front register, Akira stops me.

"Hey Tai, I know you can be an insensitive jackass but even you should know the flower of love is a rose." She says with a laugh.

"Yeah even I know that." I reply with a laugh. "But, Mimi will love these. I just know it!"

"Ok, if you're sure. Good luck tomorrow if I can't make it! And more importantly good luck with that other thing!" She says with a wink.

"Thanks Akira! You're a life-saver!" I say before heading back to my car.

Mimi was standing outside the car waiting for me.

"Where were you?" She asks.

"I had to go the bathroom."

"Oh Ok. What are you holding?" She asks seeing the lilies.

"Flowers." I reply trying to be a smartass.

"Haha very funny." She replies sarcastically. "You're so insensitive. Lilies are used at funerals. Are you trying to tell Matt that he's going to die soon?"

"Well for your information, they're also used at weddings and they're also a sign of purity." I say impressed with myself for remembering what Akira told me a few minutes ago.

"Wow, I didn't know that you knew so much about flowers. But, Matt and Sora aren't getting married anytime soon are they?"

"Not that I know. But anyways these are for you not Matt."

"Me?" She asks surprised.

"Yeah, you. It's a sorry for not paying at the café and also it's a welcome back gift." I say to her.

"Oh wow. Thank you soooo much! They're beautiful. They remind me of Lilymon." She says happily giving me a big smile.

"Yeah, I thought you'd like them. Now, lets go visit Matt!" I say energetically.

Mimi's reaction really energized me. Her smile was beautiful. When she smiled, I couldn't help but smile as well. It was honestly just intoxicating to be around Mimi when she was so happy.

Her happiness really seeped over to me on the way to the hospital. I was feeling giddy. Life was so amazing all of a sudden. Tomorrow, at this time I'll be preparing to play in the national high school soccer final. Mimi and I were really getting along very well. Nothing could ruin my mood.

Or rather, almost nothing could ruin my mood. Upon arriving at the hospital, Mimi and I quickly made our way to Matt's room. Little did I know that beyond the door to his room was the key to my unhappiness over the past year or so.

"Hey Tai, you want to knock or what?" Mimi asks.

"Oh yeah." I say with a goofy grin. I knock on the door and hear someone moving on the other side. Then suddenly, the door opens and I come face to face with the one person capable of ruining any happiness I had in my life. Standing in front of me was none other than Sora Takenouchi.