AN: Welcome back, this is the Writer. Here's the second part. Sorry I took a while, my computer was on the fritz, anyway, you can expect the next chapter in the next 2 weeks, or 3 weeks, although the chapter won't be so long. Enjoy, and please review at your discretion.

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Session 9 -The Days-

The game was about to start. Kari, T.K, and Yolei were in the high school parking lot. The others, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Joe were in the stands. The season had just started. It was Davis' first game starting as the captain, despite everything that had happened, this was still something he could enjoy. With Ken at his side, it was the beginning of an already impressive partnership. Tai saw them through the visor of his helmet. Saw the bright lights of the school's soccer field. It almost felt like the old days when he ran through that field. He slowed down and eventually stopped right in front of them.

"Tai!" they all exclaimed, a mixture between surprise and happiness.

"Hey guys" he replied as he took off his helmet, took off his gloves.

He turned off the motorcycle and it quickly died down, not that it was particularly noisy.
He got off, stashed the gloves in the helmet.
He gave Kari a quick hug, asked,

"Why are you guys here, shouldn't you guys be calming Davis?"

"Nah, Davis is fine, I mean, as fine as he can be" said T.K, continued, "besides we wanted to see if you were gonna show up"

"OK then"

"Hey Tai" said Yolei, "do you think you can teach me to ride a motorcycle?" she said with a smile on her face, coy as always.

"Where did you get that thing, and why did you trade your car for it?" asked Kari.

"It's a long story, but I didn't trade my car, Kari" he said, "and Yolei, I would be delighted to teach you" he said with a smile

"The others?" he asked

"They're waiting for us" replied T.K

They walked towards the entrance, T.K and Yolei conversed and walked ahead. Tai walked a bit slower, a fact that did not go unnoticed by his ever vigilant sister.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head.

"Tai?" she asked again

He sighed,

"It's been weeks, almost a month and a half since I've been "back" and I'm no closer to finding out the past than when I awoke at that hospital, I'm still playing by someone else's rules and frankly, I'm a little tired of that"

"Just be patient, don't worry too much about it, focus on your health and on getting your life back" she said, a wisdom far beyond her years.

He said nothing. Nodded and smiled,

"Come on"

They made their way to their seats and Tai found Matt, Sora, Izzy and Joe already there. He hugged Izzy, shook Joe's hand firmly and then Matt got up.

"Hello Tai"

"Matt, how's your back?"

"My back's OK, my jaw is OK too, it's my pride that's a little hurt, but I guess we were both a little angry that night"

"I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, it was supposed to be a celebration, I'm the one that ruined it"

"I goaded you, man"

"Nah man, really, it was my fault"

"You both acted like jerks, can we put it past us and sit down?" said Sora, a smile on her face.

"Sora's right" said Kari as the others laughed.

"So, how's the man of the hour, is he relaxed, is he nervous?"

"He's calm, he's zen" said T.K

"Zen?" asked Tai, this being a word that did not describe Davis.

"Yeah" said Yolei, "that's what he told us"

They sat down, Matt, Sora, T.K, Kari, Tai, Yolei, Izzy and Joe.

"What's with the helmet, Tai, you got a motorcycle now?" asked Izzy.

"Yeah" he said, nonchalantly, "want to ride it later?"

"Tai, you wouldn't be so careless as to actually come here in a motorcycle, would you?" asked Sora. A look of genuine worry.

"It's OK, I know how to ride one, I am careful and it's only temporary, as fun as it is, I do miss my car"

"Where is your car?" asked Matt.

"In the shop"

"I don't believe that for a second" Joe replied.

Tai laughed,

"Well..." he said, trailing, smiling...

Joe smiled, an inside joke no one else understood.

The announcer began to speak. He announced the rosters. The starters and the back ups. It was the second game of the season, but Davis had already made Captain. The teams made their way into the arena, lit up like gladiators. It was time to do battle, and Tai knew so very well the feeling. There was nothing quite like it. He knew what it was like, all eyes on him, some expecting him to fail, others, expecting him to lead them to victory. None of it mattered. He didn't play for them.
He always played for himself. To prove to the world he was better.
Tai wondered if Davis felt that way. Maybe Davis was a real team player.
Maybe Davis was better than him.

It was time to start, everyone warmed up and the crowd cheered.
He smiled, and caught Davis looking at him from the field.
Davis smiled.
Taichi nodded.
Win.
That's what Tai wanted, and Davis knew it.
Win at any costs.
Be the man you're supposed to be.

Davis met up with Katsu, the team captain of their opposing team, a rivalry that went back decades, it had existed long before them and it would endure after they hung up their cleats for the last time.
It made the game intense, exciting and important.
Katsu was their star player, someone who was easily ranked ahead of Davis and Ken, at his age, he might even be better than Tai.
The players took their positions.
They were off, each of the teams lobbying for a chance to make a push, to score early in the game, and play good defense. Occasionally, the crowds would cheer, and Tai would cheer along with them. He watched the others as they cheered for Davis and Ken. He still loved the game, but his passion had been waning. Twenty minutes in, and still, good defense prevailed, a fact that was pleasant to Tai. Davis and Ken were hustling, going so far as to come down and help their defense. As the large crowd began to do the wave, he felt a strange vibration. His phone was ringing. Without looking, he rejected the call, and cheered on with his friends.
Forty two minutes, and the team was feeling the pressure.
A drive by the opposing team, a critical mistake by one of the midfielders, Tai imagined every single scenario, and formulated a defense for every one of them.
As if they were reading his mind, the opposing team made a final drive to score before the first half was over. An error by the home team's defender. The fans on the other side exploded with joy.
They trailed by 1 now.
They played the last few minutes but to no avail. The first half was done, and Davis' team was down.
The Heighton View Terrace team was good, real good, until now, their defense had made it impossible for Davis or Ken to break through.
The teams went back inside.
Half time, and the crowd was restless, a loss here would be detrimental to school morale. Davis knew it and had been doing his best.
Tai stood up, phone in hand.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Kari, "you're not thinking of leaving now, are you?"

"Nonsense, Kar, I need to use the bathroom, be right back"

He walked in front of all of them. Went towards the bathrooms but did not go in. Instead, he went for the locker room. He opened slightly ajar, listened to the coach, as they went over the team's overall strategy. The mood was good, the team felt good. Tai knew a couple of the players, of course, they were kids when he met them.
They gathered in a circle, screamed the team motto and dispersed. He went in quickly, without detection. They all went back outside, except for Davis who took a little while longer to tie his cleats.

"Davis?" he said, behind him.

Davis looked up. Didn't look back. He didn't know where the voice was coming from.

"Hello?"

"You OK, man?"

He turned around, to see Tai. Smiled.

"I'm stoked man, first time as captain, I'm doing OK, right?"

Tai nodded.

"Why don't I feel like it, then?"

"Their defense is good, but there's a hole on the left side, the midfielders are weak there, but they overcompensate by having their offense go down to help out, you need to make some sort of blitzkrieg move to get past them, then you'll have a chance"

Davis looked at him funny.

"Blitzkrieg?"

Tai smiled.

"Look, don't worry about it, just be fast, aggressive, you can do it, I gotta go man, they're waiting for you outside too"

At that moment, Ken came in.

"Hey man, are you OK? Rest of the team's wondering when you're gonna come out"

"I'm fine man, I was just talking to Tai"

"Tai? He ain't here, he's in the stands"

Davis turned around. Tai was gone, if he was here, he was gone now.

"He was here, man, come on, let's go"

Davis got up and followed Ken outside.

Back outside, refreshed, renewed, and with newfound knowledge, Davis was more than ready.
He had to sit out, but told Ken what Tai observed.
Ken had simply nodded, and took the field.
He drank from his sports drink. Watched the game. Ken was a real leader on the field. He had been before. Davis wondered as to why he never objected when he was made captain. Ken regrouped with the rest of the team, and waited patiently.
Tai sat above in the stands, with Kari, Yolei, Sora and Matt yelling their hearts out.
Then he saw it, Ken was moving, exactly as Tai had told Davis.
Ken moved swiftly, and they weren't expecting.
The crowd cheered as Ken scored the first goal for their team, a massive shot from the left side.

With the score tied, Davis went back in.
With rough exchanges, something was gonna give.

'Be careful with Katsu, Davis, he's got a weak right knee...'

"Come on Davis, you can do it" yelled Kari with all her might

Davis caught up with Katsu, and slid into him, missed him as Katsu jumped up but landed on his right foot, slipped, and twisted his foot, the extent of the damage unknown.
The game stopped.
Everyone stood up.
The unimaginable had happened.
Davis got up and went over. The trainers ran over. Checked his leg.
Katsu had blond hair, a light frame, ideal for soccer player.
Taichi knew the injury, he wouldn't be playing soccer for a while, a devastating blow to his team.
He looked around, despite the rivalry, they were all silent.
No one felt worse than Davis, who now felt responsible, despite the fact that the move had been clean and with no ill intentions.
His teammates picked him up, and he limped off the field, with both crowds in applause.
Tai had no interest in Katsu, his season was over, and now, his team would have to do without him.
Davis had to snap out of it, without Katsu's presence on the field, he could win, a demoralized team was the best thing you could hope for, of course, they could also regroup and play even harder.
The game went on, with no one else stepping up to stop Davis and Ken, who easily scored 2 more times on their beleaguered goalie.
The game was over, and Tai looked to his friends.
Smiles on their faces, but eyes filled with sadness.
There was no honor to a victory like this.
They celebrated a bittersweet victory on the field, went over to the opposing team, bowed and thanked them for a great game, Davis went up to Katsu and extended his hand.
Katsu smiled, shook it firmly, and whispered something.
The players scattered. The fans began to leave.

"He didn't look too good, did he?" said Matt.

"We should say something to him" said Kari.

"I think you should talk to him, Tai" said T.K

Tai nodded, but said nothing.

They filed out, passing the others, and waited, until Davis and Ken came out, changed in their street clothes. They walked out as a group, happy to be together, a bit tired from the overall experience. They made their way to the parking lot where a large mob had gathered.
Tai's phone rang and he hung back, as the rest went ahead.

"How was the game, Tai?"

"Not too bad, Renner, not too bad, I kinda like to think we can do this face to face one day..."

"Hmm...it's really not a good time for me right now, but I'll definitely take you up on that offer soon"

Tai smiled.

"Still looking for me?"

"Sure are"

"I really do hope we can get together soon, talk about the old days..."

"The old days...listen, Renner, I've got to go, don't forget to call"

"Take care of yourself, Tai"

Renner laughed and hung up.

Tai ran to catch up with his friends.

"What's going on, Kari?" he asked her, she shook his head, afraid.

He looked up to the crowd, walked over and gently moved Sora out of the way.

"What's going on, Matt?"

"These guys want trouble, Tai, I'm trying to defuse the situation"

"Defuse the situation?" Tai whispered, smiling, "let me give it a try"

"Gentleman, what's wrong, and how can I help you?" he now said out loud.

"Who the hell are you?" said of the men, they were 5 in total.

"I'm nobody, what I want to know, is why you hassling my man over here?"

"Your "man" there cost us the season, and somebody's got to take responsibility" he replied.

"The accident was not Davis' fault" said Matt, almost screaming.

Tai left the circle that had been forming for a while, it was 5 of them, Matt, Davis and Ken around a larger circle, all of them, curious to see what would take place.

"What's going on over there Tai?" asked Sora anxiously.

"Nothing, nothing, here" he replied, taking his suit jacket off, "mind taking care of that for me, and keep Kari and the others back here with you, cause it's about to get complicated..."

Before she could reply, he was gone, back in the fray.

"What's he doing, Sora, what did he say?" asked Izzy

Sora nodded, said, "guys, let's just trust him to do the right thing, hopefully"

Tai walked right back into the circle, completely convinced of what he had to do next.
He pushed through the crowd and found Matt doing everything he could to stop this from getting out of hand, Tai, on the other hand, would do just the opposite.

"So you came back, huh, well, there's nothing you can do or say" said one of them, "this is going down, one way or the other"

"For the last time, we didn't do anything, so leave us alone" yelled Ken, with courage.

"OK, this guy gets it first" one of them said, to the left of Tai

"Stop, stop, stop!" he said, as he put himself between the two groups. His hands up, as if he were directing traffic.

"Matt" Tai said, with a low voice, "I want you to take Davis and Ken and go with Sora, and make sure absolutely nothing happens to my sister"

"Tai, I-"

"Please" said Tai as he cut him off, staring into his eyes, almost pleading "do as I wish"

Matt hesitated.

Tai was trusting him to carry this simple order. Their adventures in the digital world had been so long ago, but Matt still trusted their leader. At least, he thought he did.
Matt nodded and grabbed the two younger boys. They tried to complain but one look from Matt and they conceded.
Tai would deal with this.

"Are you guys sure about this?" he said, pausing.

"Looks like you're gonna take the fall for your friends" said the main one.

"You know, five against one ain't good odds" said another one

Tai rolled up his right hand sleeve, said, "you know, you're right. I just got this shirt"

He rolled up his left hand sleeve, neatly, patiently.

"It's expensive, silk, imported, all that jazz, and boy I hate to do this..."

He didn't finish his sentence. With a powerful kick to the ribs, he took out the one to his right, turned to his left. Before his opponent could sense what was coming, Tai stopped in his tracks with 2 right jabs in quick succession and delivered a left cross to knock him down.
He went down, but he wasn't out, he'd get up.

'Hmm...my left cross needs a little work, a bit rusty...'

The big one came at him, with his hands in fists, ready to fight, looking like a boxer,

"I'm not so easy prey, friend"

Taichi smiled.

The big man came at him hard, a powerful haymaker to Taichi's left, he blocked it, just barely, and delivered a counter blow to his rib cage that caught him off guard. They began to circle each other as the group of people moved from their way.
He took big, powerful swings, but he was off balance, he was not a boxer, but a brawler, and every time he swung at Tai, he missed and left his body terribly exposed.

'Enough of this'

Tai came in close, this guy wanted to fight like a brawler. He'd get a brawler.
He went right for the body, left, right, left, right, each punch, breaking a rib, slowing him down, making it harder to breathe, he wouldn't get the chance to counter-attack.
Without missing a beat, he switch sides, using left to attack his face from a distance, he made another careless mistake, already in pain, Tai took advantage once again, delivering a furious uppercut that sent the brute to the ground.
He saw the fourth man, the one who had been talking, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade.
Taichi smiled.
He came at Tai, head on, an amateur mistake. Tai let it slide, he could see the frustration on the guys' face. He wasn't expecting a difficult fight. Again, he came at Tai, head on.
Tai grabbed his wrist, twisted, and with his right hand, hit him with a debilitating body blow, and used his opponent's weight to flip him over in a spectacular fashion.
There was silence.
A few 'oohs', a few gasps. Tai heard nothing. Felt good. Like this was his purpose. To fight for those who couldn't.
He stared at the last guy. Waiting. Hoping.

"Forget it, brother, they ain't worth it"

Tai nodded.

His last opponent walked away, and the crowd began to disperse.

His second opponent got up, charged at Tai.

Tai didn't turn around, didn't acknowledge him, he simply delivered a roundhouse kick right to the head.
That was it. The fight was over as soon as it started.

"Pitiful" Taichi said to no one.

"Yeah" said a well dressed man that came from the crowd. They were almost all gone, a few stragglers who were loitering around.

"Nice fight" he went on to say.

"Thanks" said Tai, still focused on the men on the ground.

"You got a light?"

Tai smiled.

"I do, here" said Tai as he gave him a match.

"What, you don't recognize me no more?"

"They told me someone would get in touch with me, didn't think it would be you, Saejima"

The mystery man smiled.

"Let's talk business"

Tai nodded.

It was enough fighting for one night.

AN: There it is, so what happens next? Don't worry about that, everything is carefully planned, it's just a question of giving it a proper execution. Hope you enjoyed it. Take great care, readers and writers and I'll see you in a few weeks, but no more than a month. I'm on a tight schedule, after all...