So, it's been almost two months since I've updated. I'm sorry! I don't even have a good excuse for not updating. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 6: The Game

Tai's POV

I woke up when; light started shining through the window and began to hit me in the face. Reluctantly I opened my eyes only to immediately shut them because of how bright it was.

I rubbed my eyes and slowly opened them so that they could better adjust to the light. I took a look at my Digivice for the time and saw that it was 10:30.

Damn, I had slept a lot. I quickly grabbed the clothes I had taken from my room last night and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. A hot shower was just what I needed to loosen up my muscles after sleeping on the couch. My neck was especially stiff, and was in need of some icy hot.

After I came out of the shower, I made my way to the kitchen where Mimi was sitting at the table.

"Oh you're finally out." She says.

"Excellent observation Sherlock." I reply a little grumpily.

I wasn't mad at her or anything, I just wasn't a morning person.

"You know who Sherlock Holmes is? I honestly didn't know you knew how to read." Mimi retorts sticking her tongue out.

"Where is everyone?" I ask while stifling a yawn.

"Well your dad is at work, and Kari is at school. Your mom and Koromon went to the store to get snacks for the game. By the way what time is your game at?"

"7:00 I have to be there at 5:30 though."

"It's only 11:00 right now." She remarks.

"Yeah I know."

"What are you going to do until then?"

"I'm not sure. Probably grab something to eat and then take a nap." I reply after thinking for a few seconds.

"Are you serious? You're going to sleep again?" Mimi asks incredulously.

"Yeah why not? It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Why don't you spend some time with me?" She asks.

"Mimi, if I go shopping with you I'll be exhausted for the game. Actually, I probably won't even make it to the game because you won't leave until the mall closes at 9:00."

"I didn't mean shopping. I do things other than just shop." She replies defensively.

"Oh really now? Tell me what else do you do other than shopping?" I ask curiously.

"Let me just show you." She replies.

It was now 6:00 and I was sitting in the locker room listening to my coach give the team some final remarks about our game plan. Some of the younger guys especially freshman including Ken were listening intently.

Then, there was Davis who honestly seemed like he was going to explode. For him, 7:00 couldn't come fast enough. I was kind of jealous of him. I had worked my ass off the past 3 years to get to this game and here he was reaching it in his very first year.

It really worked to his advantage. Being so young and inexperienced meant that he didn't know what it was like to fail. That really took a lot of pressure off of him.

I had the burden of 3 years worth of failure on my shoulders during this game. He didn't, and what's more he would have 3 more chances after this.

Looking around at everyone else, I could tell most of the others were just as nervous as I was. They were doing an awful job of hiding it too. There were a few who were pacing around and others were just sitting in their chairs looking like they were about to throw up.

"Tai, want to come up and say something?" My coach suddenly asks.

Although, I really didn't want to, being a team captain, it was probably a good idea to help calm some of my anxious teammates down.

"Sure coach. Can you guys believe it? We're in the national championship game." I start with a grin. "The important thing to remember though, is that regardless of what is at stake it is just a soccer game. I don't know about you, but I sure love to play this game. Let the other team worry about the title and all the rest of that shit. As far as I'm concerned I'm just here to win a soccer game. We've won 16 games up until now. Let's make it 17 and we can do that by giving our hearts for 90 minutes. Anything else worth worrying about can wait for 90 minutes. So, let's just go out there and kick some ass." I finish re-taking my seat.

Then, I slowly started getting ready for the game. I taped both my calves before putting on my jersey and socks. Then, came my trusty cleats. Once they were on and tied, I truly felt ready. Finally, I put on my captain's armband. It was time.

We lined up in the tunnel, next to our opponents. As the captain, I stood at the back of the line next to the other captain, Takuya.

I was so ready to kick his ass that it wasn't even funny. He and I looked each other in the eye and it was obvious how much we loathed each other. We were rivals and bitter ones at that. This was our last chance to prove we were better than the other and there was no way I wasn't going to take advantage of this final opportunity.

Suddenly, the line began to move and I followed out on to the field to the roar of thousands of fans. I took a quick look into the stands, and I quickly found my family and the rest of the Digidestined. I saw Kari wave to me, and next to her was Mimi and Yolei, but where was Sora? I saw Joe, Izzy, T.K. and Cody along with all our Digimon, but Sora was nowhere to be seen. Had she decided to stay with Matt?

I started experiencing a sinking feeling. What did Matt have that I didn't? Why was I worth shit to Sora? She had made a promise and now she wasn't here. I didn't even have the heart to be mad at her. I was just disappointed, completely deflated.

"Captains, shake hands." I hear a referee say.

Takuya came and tried crushing my hand. For once, I didn't even bother trying to return the favor.

"What's the matter? Already know that you're going to lose?" He taunts.

Again, I didn't even respond. I just slowly walked away to the team circle. Halfheartedly, I raised my hand when Davis started the break.

"Win on three. 1, 2, 3."

"WIN"

We took the field and got to our spots. Takuya's team started with the ball since we were the higher seed. Takuya took the ball and tried breaking off for a long scoring run. He was immediately stopped by one of our defenders, and we got the ball.

Ken took a pass and started dribbling up field. He was met by two defenders and quickly dropped the ball back to midfield. We kept passing until Ken got the ball wide right at around the 18. He hit a perfect cross for me, but for some reason I didn't move.

"Tai! Get the cross!" I hear Davis yell.

Suddenly, I start to move but it was no use. I was way too late to get there and a defender beat me and cleared it.

"Tai, pay more attention!" Davis scolds me angrily.

I just nod my head. How could I pay attention when my closest friend had just stabbed me in the back? Sora had betrayed me again. What did any of this matter? It was just a stupid game.

Despite a good counter attack, our defense held firm and was able to clear the ball up ahead to Davis. Davis dodged one of the defenders and laid a pass out ahead to me.

This time, I easily outran the defender and got to the ball. I took a touch and began to move to the outside just as I would do when Sora guarded me when we were kids. Suddenly, her face flashed in front of me, but she was with Matt. The next thing I knew I had an awful touch on the ball and I lost it. The defender quickly dropped it to the goalie who, decided to boot it all the way down the field.

"COME ON KAMIYA!" I could hear my coach furious. I quickly sprinted to midfield to try and make up for my mistake by winning the ball.

There I met Takuya who had a very smug look on his face.

"I always knew you sucked, Kamiya. But come on, an 8 year old can handle the ball better than that." He tries getting into my head.

I was about to fire back, but I saw the ball fly overhead and immediately Takuya took off. Even though he wasn't my responsibility I took off after him, but I was too late. His head start was enough of a lead and I could only watch helplessly as he beat the defender and took a shot on goal. With a pang I saw it go into the corner just above the keeper's reach and just like that we were down 0-1.

Fuck! Things just got a lot harder and that's what she said. I thought sarcastically. Despite, my desire to win this game my body and my mind were just not responding. Something was holding me back and I knew exactly what it was.

My mind was not focused on this game. It was focused on getting screwed over by Sora. That whole negativity was bringing my whole game down.

The worst part was that the whole game seemed to slow down, and not in a good way. If anything, it made things much more frustrating because I could see exactly what I wanted to do, only to realize that I couldn't. I just wasn't myself and it was painfully obvious.

Nothing seemed to be able to jar me into game mode. Not even when the other team scored again in 35th minute. We were now down 0-2 and were getting thoroughly outplayed.

The only two players on our team who didn't seem to be as deflated as me were Davis and Ken, but 2 vs. 11 wasn't exactly the greatest of odds.

The other forward on our team Ryo had the ball just outside their 18, but proceeded to get stripped. The ball went out wide to Takuya who began to take off.

By then I had had enough. I had to give Ken and Davis something, I couldn't just continue like this. I sprinted as hard as I could at Takuya and slide tackled him from behind immediately drawing a yellow.

I had initially meant to get the ball cleanly, but something changed and I decided to take out all my frustration on him. I could see that on the sideline my coach was debating benching me. Luckily for me, Davis talked him out of it.

Following a quick defensive stand Ken was able to get the ball and he took it all the way up to the other 18 before dropping a beauty to Davis who had been cutting in. Davis took a touch and was able to fire a laser at just outside the 6.

We were finally on the board, and the whole team's relief was noticeable. Just as play resumed though, it was halftime.

Going into the locker room down 1-2 wasn't ideal, but it was better than 0-2. To me, it didn't really matter. I had already quit on the game. As soon as I reached the locker room, my coach began his tirade at me.

Even then, I didn't really listen. In fact, I was tuning him out. Then, the most unexpected thing ever happened. Mimi had come into our locker room.

She walked straight over to me and slapped me in the face.

"TAI PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND START CARING! Who gives a fuck whether Sora is here or not? Are you going to let her control your life? Get over her, and start taking care of the things that you can do something about. Like winning this game. You're embarrassing yourself and even more importantly as your friend you're embarrassing me! So get yourself together and go beat Takuya's ass into the ground! Ken and Davis, good first half! But I have to run. I'll catch you with the trophy guys." She says with a wink before running off.

For a few seconds, I stood motionless in total awe as to what happened. Then, I broke into the widest and goofiest grin of my life. My competitive fire was back. Mimi's presence was simply intoxicating to me and there was no way I could stay unhappy while around her.

I hope that made up for the long delay! As for the time skip, if I can get 10 quality reviews within a week I'll post a one-shot describing what Mimi and Tai did all day. If I don't get those 10 reviews in a week, I'll wait until I hit 20 more reviews so once the story reaches 51 reviews I'll post it. Anyways, hit up my poll and review please!