Chapter Seven

"I hate girls."

"Tai?" It was almost four in the morning. It wasn't the first time that Izzy's best friend had called him at such an ungodly hour, but usually these calls were derived from boredom. Rarely had Tai ever gotten to the point so quickly. And his words were so strange that Izzy figured he'd either still been half-asleep or he had guessed wrong. But then, who else would call him at 3:56 AM?

"That's what I've decided," Tai went on, clearly in a bit of a ranting mood. "I'm sick of it all. With their mood swings and their stubborness and-"

Izzy yawned, drowning out whatever else Tai apparently hated about the other half of their species. Really he wasn't too worried; Tai would get over this train of thought soon enough. But, he was Tai's best friend. He supposed Tai at least deserved his support.

"What happened?" he asked, thinking What has Sora done now? But to his surprise Sora wasn't the one in the answer.

"Kari," Tai answered. "She snuck back in at three this morning. She'd been out with TK." Izzy had never heard such a scowl said behind the other boy's name. "I've never seen her so giggly," he grumbled, trailing off.

"So what? Your sister can't be happy just because you aren't?" To be honest, Izzy hadn't meant for it to come out so bluntly, but at the moment he didn't care. He was that tired.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Tai snapped.

"Nothing," Izzy sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." But whatever way he had meant it wouldn't be revealed.

"Yeah, sure," Tai muttered sullenly. And with that, Izzy was hung up on.

Izzy sighed once more and hung up his own phone. However, he'd just turned to walk away a second later when the phone rang again. Against his better judgement he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Izzy, I'm really sorry," Tai said all in a rush. "I really appreciate you listening and everything."

"That's fine-"

Tai cut him off, "I'm sorry about the way I've been acting lately, and-"

"Yeah, it's all fine. Go to bed, Tai." This time it was Izzy who hung up. Geez, talk about mood swings…

Again he turned to walk away and again the phone rang before he could take a step. Izzy snatched it off the hook.

"What?"

"Um, Izzy?"

Izzy let out a deep breath somehow not any less annoyed. It wasn't Tai.

"Um, Izzy?" his friend repeated. "Uh… it's Joe. I'm sorry for calling you so late, it's just, I've been thinking a lot, and I couldn't sleep-"

"Try harder."

…

Izzy couldn't suppress a yawn in his first period class the next day. Last night had been exhausting. His teacher gave him a disapproving glance, but he was still in the zone past caring at the moment.

Izzy rested his chin on his palm, letting his mind wander. He couldn't be bothered to focus on history right now. Who cared when Liechtenstein separated from Germany? They were basically completely dependent on Switzerland now anyway…

…

Izzy sat down hard as the older boy's friends laughed, standing behind him. Said boy was looking down on the computer geek with a cruel smile. Behind him his friend (or crony as Izzy preferred) was holding the smaller boy's laptop captive.

It wasn't just Tai who had gained courage from their adventure in the digital world. Izzy had a better sense of who he was now. But this inner triumph had not stopped the incessant bullying once he'd returned to school.

Izzy winced and rubbed his lower back. There was talk of moving him up a grade, but nothing had come of such talk yet. The teachers said such an act would level him with peers of his own intelligence level.

Of course… doing so would put him in the same grade as the hooligan standing over him. Personally, Izzy felt he was already past that level. But being much smaller prevented him from saying this to the kid's face.

"Izzy? Hey!"

"Back off Kona."

Tai and Matt had arrived. Izzy smiled up at them gratefully as Tai helped him up and Matt and Kona stared each other down with matching scowls.

"Get out of here, Kona," Tai snapped at last, breaking the standstill glare. Kona sneered and tossed Izzy's laptop carelessly back at him. Izzy scrambled to catch it. He missed, but Matt had been faster, snatching it out of the air before any real harm could come to it.

Izzy blushed. "Thanks," he said, taking it back.

Matt cracked a smile for the first time that afternoon. "Yeah. Don't worry about it."

Tai was staring after Kona and his buddies, brows furrowed. "We'll have to do something about him…"

…

"Izzy!"

Izzy's head snapped up just as the teacher brought her hand down to smack his desk. If Izzy was still groggy before that woke him up.

His face slowly heated up as he stared up at his teacher who was no longer stern, but extremely pissed. All around him other students were snickering.

"Disgraceful behavior for my classroom!" she snapped, red in the face, and looking terribly offended. "Out! Get out!"

Izzy hurried out of his seat, stuffing all of his books back into his bag and scurrying out the door without another look back. It was only as he was well on his way down the hallway to the principal's office that Izzy slowed his steps and took the time to contemplate his dream.

He could remember the days when he'd looked up to both Matt and Tai. Never before had he had to chose sides whenever they argued. So why was it so important that Tai knew where he stood now? Was it because Matt had involved Sora in all this? That had been a well-known sore spot for a long time now.

There had been an incident just a year before where some kid had been mocking Sora's more tomboyish ways in the lunch room to his friends. Tai had beat the kid senseless.

As far as Izzy knew, Tai had never told Sora what that fight had really been about, but he figured it must have gotten out somehow because not long after Sora had begun to refine some of her rougher qualities. Surely such timing couldn't be a coincidence?

Izzy sighed and sat down on the bench outside the principal's office. To be completely honest, Matt's behavior through this entire ordeal hinted that all he wanted was peace. So, Izzy had to wonder, why was Matt stirring up all this trouble?

…

Tai and Sora couldn't have been in a more different separation. Gym had always been their mutual favorite class. It was a break from the monotony of regular classes. Even the yearly fitness exam didn't break them like it did some of the other enthusiastic students.

On the last day, the mile run around the school's track, Tai couldn't remember feeling better for some time. Running reminded him of the thrill he got during soccer, the season having just ended. He was on his last lap. Just ahead of him he could see Sora. Tai grinned. Before he knew what he was doing, he quickened his pace to catch up with her.

"What lap?" he asked conversationally.

"Last," she responded at once. "And I don't want to talk to you?"

"Why not?" Tai grinned. There was a small part of him that felt he was pushing his luck, and a bigger part of him that really didn't care.

She shot him a sharp look. "You know why."

"Tired?"

Her look got a hint of haughtiness to it. "Why would I be?"

"Well," Tai said in a mischeivous tone that Sora recognized. It made her heart flutter and speed up, not that she would ever tell him that. She attempted to push the feeling down to no avail. "I'm sure you haven't been working out as much since you quit soccer. After all… we all know that tennis is a soft sport."

"Excuse me?"

Normally, Sora would have pushed this insult further, but at that exact same moment the two noticed the finish line, just a few yards away. So instead of continuing their argument, Tai and Sora glanced at each other, again within the exact same moment. Wordlessly, the two began to sprint, racing each other to the finish.

Their feet pounding down on the track, the two crossed the line. It wasn't clear who'd passed first, but that was the source of their new argument as they stood hunched over, panting.

"Excellent times, both of you," their teacher said to them, smiling at their lighthearted banter.

Tai was enjoying the whole thing, until Sora caught her breath and said, "Well, good race, I guess."

"Where are you going?" Tai asked as Sora began to walk away.

She looked back. "Matt has a free period right now. He said he'd come down near the end. I'm going to go wait for him in the bleachers."

Tai's heart fell. He was struck with a sudden second-wind type of adrenaline. He'd lost Sora once because he hadn't had enough courage to make his move. Why should he make the same mistake twice?

"Sora…"

She turned around, ready to ask him what was wrong, but she didn't get the chance. The next thing she knew, Tai's lips were on her own. Sora's eyes widened. A gasp made it's way up her throat, but it came out as more of a moan as she gave in to the palpable passion behind Tai's kiss.

It was a strange feeling. Almost like there'd been something missing in her relationship with Matt all this time, but she hadn't truly realized this until now. It showed itself in the form of reckless abadon. She didn't care that she was currently in a relationship with someone else. She didn't care that they were surrounded by their classmates. There was nothing in the world that would convince her to break away from the one she had lusted after for so long until finally giving up.

Tai had taken her elbows in his hands, but Sora moved her arms to gently encircle his body. Finally, for oxygen purposes, the two were forced to tear apart from their embrace, panting as if they had run a second mile. Their cheeks were flushed, their eyes misty as they looked at each other, her pressed up against his chest.

"Hey, guys…"

The two quickly jumped apart looking guiltily at Matt, who was standing at the gate of the track, watching them. His voice wasn't angry like the two had expected; it was almost amused actually. Like a movie he was watching had ended exactly as he had expected.

"Matt!" Their voices rang out into the cold morning air in unison, both with an apology on their lips. They both paused and glanced at each other, their words dying away. Tai took a deep breath, knowing that he had taken the courageous leap once, it was his job to continue the pattern.

"Matt, I'm-"

"It's okay." Matt's voice was soft. He had a bit of a sad smile twitching in his features. "I'm happy for you guys. Seriously." He quickly turned, his hands in his pockets, and began to walk back up to the school.

Tai glanced at Sora, who had her head down, and then ran after his best friend, whose status as best friend was now in question. Something was ringing clear in his mind… All this time he'd been wondering how Matt could have done this to him… What had he done? How could he have down this to Matt?

And something else had sunk in as well. He'd seen something in Matt's eyes right before he'd walked away….

"Matt!" Tai grabbed his best friend's shoulder, spinning him around. Matt smiled sheepishly at him, knowing he was caught. "Matt, I… I don't know what to say."

Matt took a deep breath. "I do. I'm sorry for all that I've put you through recently, Tai. And I want to be friends again…. if that's okay."

A smile broke out over Tai's face. "You jerk," he said, his voice wobbling with emotion. Tai folded his best friend into a brief hug. It still stood that he and Matt always got along best after the storm had passed.

"I couldn't pluck up the courage to ask Sora out, so you did, knowing perfectly well it would drive me crazy and I would fight to get her back…"

Put like that, Matt noticed, his plan seemed simple, but it had caused its fair share of heartbreak.

For now that his grand scheme had come to an end, he knew for certain… he really had been in love with Sora after all.

Review please!

I toyed with the idea of this being the end, but then I got this awesome scene planned out for the next chapter so… I'm going to have to figure out a new ending.

Hope you liked it now that all has been revealed.

I don't own Digimon.