Disclaimer: I do not own any of this : )

Authors Note: Thanks for all the reviews you guys : ) I hope you like this chapter, please tell me what you think afterwards : ) On with the story…

A Day at the Mall

I walked to the dorm building and Yamato was with me. We were having one of those awkward silence moments because we rarely spoke on our way here. I sighed and when we got to the floor where my room was I walked to my room, pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. "Can you wait here for a second?" I asked

"Sure thing, go ahead and take your time." He told me with a smile.

"Thank you." I returned the smile and went inside my room. I found my wallet near the desk beside my bed. I quickly picked it up and went out of my room, for I didn't want to keep Yamato waiting.

Once I got out of the room, I locked the door and spoke "There, I got the key. We can go back now."

"That was quick." He told me

"Well, all I did was take my wallet with me." I told him

"Alright then, shall we go?" asked Yamato and I nodded in reply.

We walked out of the dorm building and soon we were walking in the streets on out way back to the restaurant to see Tai and the others before we head for the mall. The walk, once again, started in an awkward silence between the two of us. Before I got to say anything to break that silence, we were already at our destination.

We entered the place and went to the table where Tai and the others were. "Hey you guys are back." Said Tai

"Yeah, I got my wallet too." I told Tai and then I looked over at Yamato and spoke "Thanks for coming with me even if you didn't really have too."

"It's fine." Replied Yamato

"So, we should be heading to the mall now right?" asked Kari

"Yup, it'd be quicker if we used the car." Said Yutaka "Yamato brought his car, but I'm not so sure if all of us are going to fit."

"That's not a problem. Jou borrowed Jim's car so we have two available modes of transportation." Said Koushiro

"Problem is….who sits with who?" asked Takashi

"We draw straws?" suggested Davis

"Okay…." Replied Tai

We ended up drawing straws since we couldn't decide how to divide the group into two. It ended up being even in the end, but Tai wasn't all that happy with the results. I ended up in Yamato's car along with Takeru, Kari, Akira and Cody. Mimi, Jou, Tai, Koushiro, Ken, Yolei, Yutaka and Takashi ended up in another car. It was good thing that Jou got a car that was about the size of a small van do they all fit inside.

As the six of us were headed to Yamato's car, Tai came up to Takeru and spoke "You better not do anything to my sister T.K or your going to regret it."

Takeru's face whitened a bit because Tai was giving him this really threatening tone of voice. "Um…okay Tai…" he replied not so sure what else to say.

"Tai stop it, he didn't do anything to me and we just met. Don't accuse him like that because your starting to scare him." Said Kari as she got near her brother ad defended Takeru.

"W-what? I wasn't accusing him Kari, I was just giving T.K here a fair warning." Said Tai

"Why are you only warning him? Yamato, Akira and Cody are guys too you know." Said Mimi

"Well, for starters Akira wouldn't dare do anything and Kari's younger than him anyway. Cody's way too young and Yamato already has someone else in mind. So T.K's my only target since he's the same age as Kari." Explained Tai, going on to his overprotective brother mode.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Yamato

"Exactly what I mean my dear friend, you already have someone else in that head of yours and don't you try to deny it. I won't tell you who it is either." Said Tai. This was leaving me confused. "Yamato likes someone? Wait…why would I even bother?"

"Anyway, we'' meet in the mall right?" asked Akira wanting to change the topic and save Takeru from any more ranting from Tai.

"Yeah that's the plan. See you guys there?" asked Takashi and we all nodded. The others went in the car and so did we.

We got into Yamato's car and he took the drivers seat, as usual. I took the front seat next to the drivers seat, Akira sat beside Cody, who sat beside Kari, who sat beside Takeru. "Tai isn't going to like this." I thought with a smile. "Those two will look so good together, that I had to admit."

The drive was a bit silent, but Kari and Takeru's conversation could be heard from the back seat. "So Kari, you study in Odaiba high too right?" asked Takeru

"That's right. I study there with all the others." She replied then she asked "I notice Tai called you T.K back there. Can I call you that too? Since you call me Kari and everything."

"Yeah sure, I'd really like that." Replied Takeru as I saw him smile.

"That's the first real smile I've seen you make in front of a girl your age for a while T.K" said Yamato, he must have seen him smile too. "Did Kari get your attention?" he teased

Takeru's face turned red for a while then he brushed it off, or at least tried to hide it. "Cut it out with the jokes Yamato."

"Who said I was joking?" asked Yamato with a grin, sometimes he could end up being like Tai, once in a while.

I giggled lightly hoping not to be heard and then I asked "By the way T.K what are things you're interested in? I mean, your brother is a rock star and all that, so are you musically inclined too?"

"Nope, I play basketball varsity at school." Replied Takeru

"Really?" asked Kari

"Yup, he's team captain too." Said Akira "Not to mention he's just as popular as Yamato between his batch mates."

"Wow, does popularity come in your family's genes too?" I asked teasingly.

"Well you can't help it when we're born with natural talents and looks." Said Yamato

"Your ego is starting to grow you know that?" I told him and he just gave me a smile.

"So…T.K you're Yamato's brother right?" asked Cody

"Yup, I'm Takeru Takaishi." Replied Takeru, big mistake. Because by this time both Kari and Cody were already looking at him with confused looks.

"Taksishi? But…I thought you and Yamato were brothers related by blood." Said Cody

"We are…there were just…a few complications in the family…that's all." Takeru's face suddenly changed. His happy smile turned into a lonely and sad expression and from the looks of it, he was trying his best to hide it all.

Kari took Takeru's hand that was set on his lap. Takeru was shocked and looked at Kari confused. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, it's alright really it is." She said with a warm, caring smile on her face.

"Thank you." Was Takeru's reply as he returned the smile.

I saw Yamato smile at what had happened and I did too. I was happy for Takeru that Kari didn't want to force anything out of him. She just understood and that's something he needed right now.

The rest of the ride to the mall was pretty quiet, like Kari I didn't want to ask anymore about Yamato and Takeru's relationship at the moment. If I was meant to find out about it then I will in time. We headed to the parking lot of the mall and parked right next to Jim's car, the one that Jou drove.

We got out of the car and saw Tai and the others get out too. Once we were all out, we headed for the entrance of the mall and when we got inside we were all in awe. "This place is huge!" I heard Davis call out.

"Tell me about it, it's about twice as big as the mall's that we're usually in." said Yolei

"This type of thing is new toy you guys?" asked Takashi

"Well, yeah. We don't usually hang around in places this big back at home you know. It's bigger than the places we're used to so yeah, it's pretty much new." Said Davis

"So you guys want to go and take a look around?" asked Akira and the others nodded.

We walked all around the mall and surprisingly Mimi hasn't bought anything yet. She loved shopping so this was something new. "Wow Meems, you haven't bought a single thing." Said Tai

"Well I did say we were just going to take a look around didn't I? So I'm doing as I say, besides we have plenty of time so what's the rush for me to shop?" she replied

"So true." Replied Yolei

We continued to walk around the mall a bit more and while we were walking Tai bumped into someone. "What is it with bumping into people today?" I looked at Tai as he helped the person up and then I asked "Cassie? Cassie is that you?" I looked at the familiar face. It was Cassie alright there was no mistake in that.

Cassie looked up from her fallen state and spoke "Oh hey Sora, I didn't expect you here." She told me and she took tai's hand and got up.

"I didn't quite expect you here either Cassie. It's nice to see you though." I told her with a smile.

"Hey Cassie, sorry about bumping into you, guess I wasn't looking." Said Tai apologetically, as he placed a hand at the back of his head.

"It's not a problem Taichi, I should be the one apologizing." She told him a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

"You can call me Tai you know. I wouldn't mind that." Said Tai with a smile/ He was right though, Cassie was used to calling him Taichi and not Tai.

"Oh…okay…" she replied

Mimi and the others looked over from Tai to Cassie then to me. Mimi went over to me and asked "Am I missing something here?"

"I'm not so sure, but Tai seems to like her." I replied

"Who is she?" asked Yolei silently

"A friend I made here." I told them then I went to Cassie and spoke "Cassie I'd like to introduce you to a few friends of mine."

Cassie followed me along with Tai as we got to Mimi and the others again "Guys this is Cassie, she's a friend of mine from school." I told them

"Hi! I'm Mimi, I'm a good friend of Sora's and Tai's as well. This is Koushiro, Jou, Cody, Davis, Yolei and Kari" introduced Mimi with a smile

"Hi there, my names Cassie. It's a pleasure to meet you guys." Replied Cassie returning the smile.

Out of nowhere, Kari decided to reminisce old times and hugged her brother from behind. Cassie, seemed surprised at the action since Tai didn't seem to mind, not knowing that the two were related. I went near Cassie and whispered "You know, Kari's full name is Hikari Yagami."

"Yagami? Which means that…" before she could finish I nodded and spoke.

"Yup, Kari is Tai's little sister. They're related, so you have nothing to worry about you know." I told her and she blushed

"I- I wasn't worried just shocked that's all." She told me

I smiled at her reaction and soon the others were back together in one big huddle. "So where do we go now? I'm pretty tired from all that walking." Said Davis

"Why don't we stop over in some sort of café for a while, how does that sound?" asked Takashi

"If it's alright with you guys, I'd like to go and walk around some more." Said Kari "I'm fine on my own, you can just call me on where to meet up and when."

"I can't let you walk around on this place alone Kari, I'll get worried and everything. Someone has to go with you." Said Tai

"I'll go with her." We all looked at Takeru, and were shocked. He volunteered to go with Kari! This is a good thing, definitely a good thing. Mimi was smiling about it too, now the question is: Will Tai allow it?

Everyone was silent for a while and then Tai spoke up. "Fine, you can go with her. If something happens to her, you are one dead man T.K.",

Takeru nodded and then Kari and him were just about to go off when Davis's voice could be herd "But…b-but…Kari…and Tai…."

"Save it Davis." Ken had cut him off and soon dragged Davis to another direction where we were going.

"Have fun you guys. We'll call you later." Called Yolei before going off with us while Ken was busy dragging Davis.

"Okay, see you guys later." Called Kari with a smile as she walked off with Takeru by her side…

As they walked off, we on the other hand, went to the nearest café that we could find. Most of us were tired from all the non-stop walking, but still it was fun being with everyone once again.

Meanwhile with Kari and T.K

T.K's P.O.V.

Kari and I were walking away from the others and we caught a glance of them headed to one of the open café's. I was surprised that she wasn't tired from all the walking unlike all the others. Our walk was starting off in a really awkward silence. Kari, being Tai's younger sister was kind of shocking for me since Tai never mentioned having any siblings since he got here. I look over at Kari who seemed to be looking at some of the shops, suddenly I asked "Is there somewhere you want to go? Or something you want to look at? We could stop and go in if you like."

"No that's alright, but thank you for asking. What about you?" she asked me and I just shook my head.

"T.K…can I ask you something?" she suddenly asked and I nodded.

"Sure, anything. What is it?" I asked her.
"It's all right if you don't want to tell me, but if you're okay with it…why is it that you and Yamato have very different surnames even thought you two are brothers and you look alike too." As she asked me this I didn't really know what to tell her. Usually, when faced with this question I'd tell others it was a family matter and that I don't feel comfortable talking about it, but now it felt different.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to you know. I just wanted to know, if it was okay." She told me and gave me a warm and caring smile.

"It's pretty complicated…it's about family too." I started

"I'm here to listen if ever you want to talk about it." She told me

"Alright, I'll tell you. Please don't tell Yamato though. He rarely allows this thing to get out." I told her. My brother's always been the one who keeps this a secret from everyone and he doesn't want it to turn into the topic of the next school gossip.

"Okay, but are you sure you want to tell me now?" she asked and I nodded.

"You see…about my mom and dad…." I started to tell her all about the whole family problem thing and I was comfortable telling Kari about it as we were walking down the mall. She listened to my every word and didn't seem to get bored about all my explanations. Soon when I got everything cleared out to her, she nodded her head and spoke.

"That's so sad T.K. But it's a good thing that you and you're brother are still so close to each other up until now." She told me and her voice was full of concern.

"Yeah, we promised not to let this whole mess get in the way." I relied "I can say the same about you and Tai too."

"Tai's like my best friend as much as he is my big brother. He was always there for me when we were little and he'd always be there up until now." She told me giving me a smile once again. For some reason, I just never get tired of seeing that.

She and I walked around a bit more and soon we took a look at the time and noticed it was getting rather late. We've been walking together for about two hours and I figured that Tai would be looking for us by now. We stopped at some of the shops and talked about a lot of things during our walk together. I was happy that I got to know Kari better too. I found out she likes photography, which suited her.

We were nearing the café where Tai and the others were when suddenly Kari slipped. She was about to fall when I rushed to her and caught her before she made impact with the ground. She opened her eyes and looked at me and I started to blush at how close we were at the moment.

"T-thanks for catching me T.K" she told me

"S-sure thing, it's not I problem. I'm just glad you weren't hurt or anything." After this there was silence between us as I helped her get up. Then all of a sudden a voice was heard.

Sora's P.O.V.

"Aw how sweet." Said Mimi. We saw Takeru catch Kari before she hit the ground, and it was a really cute scene. Tai was just there wide-eyed at the moment and then there was Davis, who was fuming a bit.

T.K and Kari were both shocked at the voice that was heard and they suddenly looked over at Mimi. T.K was trying to hide the blushing face that he had right now and Kari just wasn't talking at the moment.

Tai went up to the two teens and then spoke "Okay, break it up now." Then he turned to T.K "And T.K….thanks for breaking my sisters fall."

T.K just nodded in response and then the three of them walked over to us. T.K and Kari were still a bit shocked about what had happened and kept silent. "Anyway, now we can head back to the dorm since well…we have nothing else to do here." Said Tai breaking the silence.

"Alright…it's getting rather late anyway. I don't think any of us would object to going home for now and getting some rest." Said Mimi and we all nodded.

"Hey, here's an idea why don't we go over at Jou's place and have some kind of sleep over." Suggested Yolei

"That's not a bad idea actually. I mean doesn't Jim live aloe in a big house provided by your family Jou? We could stay there for the night." Said Mimi in agreement.

"Only if that's alright with Jim and you." I told them, I mean Jim's been a big enough help already.

"Sure thing guys, I'll give him a call. Meems and the others are already staying over so I don't think we'd mind a few more extra guests." Said Jou as he started to dial Jim's number through his cell phone.

"Nice, we can go pick up some stuff over at the dorm right?" asked Tai

"Yup, if Jim says yes then we can pick up all your stuff, the one's you need for the night, then head over to the Kido residence." Said Mimi

"Sounds great then." Said Tai and then we hear a few words from Jou over the phone "Yeah…yup that's right…I'll bring them over…including Tai's friends…so is it alright?...okay, thanks Jim….bye…" after that Jou hung up and looked over at us.

"Well he says it's okay, and that he'll be home late so let's try not to mess the place up. Oh and he told us to make our own dinner if that's alright." Said Jou

"Alright! So does that mean that the sleep over is on?" asked Davis

"Sure is, of course only if that's alright with Sora, Tai, Yamato and all the others." Said Mimi then she turned to look at Yamato "Well? What do you say? Is a sleepover alright with you guys?" she asked

"It's fine with me, what about you guys?" Yamato turned to his friends and asked.

"Sure thing, we'd love to have a sleepover." Said Akira

"True, but we do have to get our stuff." Said Yutaka and the others agreed.

"Okay, so it's set then. We go back to the dorm to get all your stuff and then we head straight for the Kido residence to stay the night." Repeated Yolei

We nodded and all agreed. We said our goodbyes to Cassie and soon headed for the parking lot. We road on the same cars that we used to get to the mall and we sat on the same seating positions too.

We soon arrived at the dorm and the guys all went down with us. "You don't have to go down you know, it won't take us long to get all our stuff." Said Tai while getting down from the car.

"We know, we just wanted to go and see your dorm. That's okay right?" asked Mimi

"Sure it's no problem at all, come on let's all go in now so we can hurry up to Jou's place." I told them.

We headed over inside the dorm lobby and I didn't notice that I was walking ahead of all the others. I was filled with my own thoughts when suddenly I bumped into someone by accident. "Ow, hey watch where you're going!" that voice was already familiar to me that I didn't even need to look to find out who it was. The angry tone was familiar too so it was pretty obvious.

I looked up and saw the one person I didn't really want to see. "Sasha…I knew it…" I got up from my current position. I tried to remain calm again "I'm really sorry about that Sasha, I guess I didn't see you."

"You didn't see me? Yeah right. Can't you just watch where you're going?" She told me with an angry voice "So much for a good comeback…"

"Look, I'm really sorry okay?" I tried not raise my voice, but I was getting a bit annoyed. I mean, hasn't she had enough already? It was just an accident and I did admit that it was my fault right? No need to be all bossy.

"Watch your tone Sara, because it's not a good thing to mess with me. You might actually get it." She told me getting mad again. "Isn't she tired of this?" I thought

I stayed silent for a bit then I suddenly couldn't take it "My name's Sora and please, can we stop? This is really getting out of hand. This fight isn't going to get us anywhere."

"Why don't you just stay out of my way Sara." Said Sasha

"Oh she's really doing this on purpose…" I thought with a sigh.

"And didn't I tell you to keep your distance with Yamato and the others?" she eyed me and was giving me that same death glare again.

I was about to speak again when suddenly a voice beat me to it. "Her name's Sora, and it was never her fault that she got close to me or any of the others." "Yamato…that voice was definitely Yamato's"

I looked at Yamato who was now standing right next to me. Then I looked at Sasha who seemed to freeze in her place. "Y-Yamato, I didn't expect you to be here…I…we were just having a little talk that's all…" Sasha was getting nervous all of a sudden and I think it was obvious to Yamato.

"From the looks of it though, you seemed to be fighting with Sor more than just talking." Said Tai who now joined our conversation.

"T-Taichi…." Sasha had nothing else to say at this point because before she could even speak, Tai spoke again.

"Sora's a good friend of mine, we've known each other since we were kids. She and I are really close you know. I don't think that you have any authority to tell or order her around. Especially about staying away from me or any of us. It's not her fault that we enjoy her company." Sasha at this point was stunned. I was too actually. I never expected Tai to say something like that. His voice was completely serious and stern. I'm sure even the others would be shocked by this.

Sasha then looked at me and gave me one last death glare before she suddenly stomped off. I looked at her and followed her with my gaze until she was nowhere to be seen. I was snapped out of it when I heard Akira's voice from the background. "You alright Sora? We never expected to see her here all of a sudden."

"I'm fine, she didn't really do anything." I told them

"From the looks of it, you were on the verge of snapping just a few minutes ago if Yamato didn't come along." Said Tai back to his usual voice. He was right though, if Yamato hadn't spoken then I might have snapped back there.

"I guess I got a little annoyed. I mean, I've had just about enough of this stuff in school. I don't want to make any enemies…but why is it that she hates me so much anyway? I don't remember doing anything to her." I asked. "Is there any other reason that she's angry at me? Aside from the fact that I hang around with you guys?"

"Nope…"

"I don't think so."

"Not really."

"That's basically it."

As I heard those replies it made me sigh. "Basically, she's just pissed that you get more attention from us than she does or ever did for that matter." Said Yutaka

"Actually, from all the girls at school you're the one we paid most attention to. We never hang out with any girl from school during weekends or after school. You're the first one." Said Takashi

"Looks to me like that girl's just plain obsessed." Mimi's voice came in this time.

"So true, is it that bad if Yamato picked you other than her? Who wouldn't?" said Yolei

"If you don't mind me asking….why do you guys hang out with me anyway? Not that I mind, I'm just curious. I like your company and all, but you said you've never hung out with any other girl in school right? So…why me?" I asked

"Well…maybe because you're the first one to treat us normally and like we're nothing to fantasize about. No offense on Cassie here, we like her too. But she's usually all shy and everything, especially when Tai's around." Takashi said the last part with a teasing tone which made Tai blush a bit.

"Looks like Tai's developing a crush." Teased Mimi

"Hey cut it out, this is off topic already." Said Tai not wanting the topic with Cassie to go any further.

"Anyway, that's one of the reasons…well aside from the fact that you're actually the first girl that Yamato's ever l---Ow! Hay what's that for Takashi? That hurt." Before Yutaka could finish his sentence Takashi had elbowed him on the side, I think it was to stop him from talking….but why? I saw Tai and the others giving him some kind of look and it confused me.

"W-well enough about that. Let's go ahead and get our stuff shall we?" asked Akira

"Yeah, we're wasting time here you know." Agreed Tai

As they all walked to their dorm rooms the others decided to stay back in the lobby. "Sor? Can I come with you? I want to see what your room looks like. Is that okay?" asked Kari and I nodded in reply.

"Sure thing Kari, come on." I said with a smile, so she and I went up to the level where my room was.

When we got there I headed for my room, took out the keys and opened the door. "Come on in Kari." I called to her.

She went inside with me and we stayed silent for a while. Then Kari spoke "Wow, your room is pretty big Sora."

"I was surprised when I got here too, it's pretty big isn't it?" I told her and she smiled and nodded.

"Sora…can I ask you something?" asked Kari while I was packing some of my stuff for the sleepover at Jou's.

"Yes? What is it?" I asked confused

"Well…it's a bit about Yamato and Takeru…you know, and how they're related and everything." She told me and I stopped for a second. "Do you know about it or something?"

I shook my head and spoke "Sorry Kari, I don't know much about Yamato yet. And I don't know how he's clearly related to Takeru. Tai seems to know but just told me to find out on my own. I really have no clue whatsoever. Why do you ask?" I asked her

"It's nothing, I just thought you would know something that's all. Just feeling curious." She told me

"Oh…alright…" For some odd reason I think that Kari was hiding something from me just now. It feels as though she knows something that I don't. I wonder what it is though….speaking of which, this reminded me of what Yutaka was about to say earlier… "Well aside from the fact that you're actually the first girl that Yamato's ever l---Ow!..." I wonder what he was about to say and why Akira and the others stopped him from saying it. It had something to do with Yamato and me I'm sure of it. I was the first girl that Yamato ever what? I was getting curios, but I'm not going to get any answers any time soon…so better hurry up with the packing.

Tai's P.O.V.

When I was done packing, I headed straight for the lobby. When I got there I saw everyone except for Yamato and Sora. "Good, they aren't here yet so I still have some time."

I quickly went over to the others and spoke "You almost slipped back there Yuataka." I reminded him.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away." Said Yutaka

"Either way, those two have to find out for themselves. But I don't think that's bound to happen any time soon. Especially when they're acting like this." I told them. We wanted to get those two together, but who knew it would be so hard?

"Do you have a plan?" asked Mimi, she wanted to do something as much as I did. We just seriously didn't know how.

"If only we could get them to be alone…then maybe…" as I started Yolei cut me off

"Don't you thin we should make them realize it first before leaving them alone?" she asked and she did have a point. If we left them alone and they didn't even know what to do them it would just be a complete waste of time and effort.

"How do you plan to convince them of anything?" asked Yutaka

"Maybe we could talk to them, you know during the sleepover?" suggested T.K and that wasn't a very bad idea actually.

"Alright that sound good…but how would we…" before I could finish Sora, Kari and Yamato were approaching.

"Bad timing, what now?" asked Davis

"Act natural and we'll talk about in inside the car!" said Mimi and we all nodded in agreement.

Sora soon approached us along with Yamato and Kari. "Sorry if you guys had to wait, I didn't mean to take that long." Said Sora

"Sorry about the wait guys." Yamato apologized too

"I-it was nothing hehe, anyway let's get going." I told them with a smile

"Alright, everybody get in the car." Said Jou and so we did.

We went into our usual places and Yamato had to bring his car again, which was a good thing because we'll be in a separate car. This would give us a chance to talk about things, and we'll fill Akira and Kari with the details later. We are going to get those two together even if it takes the whole summer! And we'll try every method necessary!...I just hope it works….*sigh*

Authors Note: That's it. Thanks to all the reviews : ) I'm happy to know about all of your thoughts so please review and tell me what you think : )