ooo

Puzzle Pieces

[Chapter 12]

forget the mistakes, remember the lesson

*.*.*.*

Without warning, an upbeat song blasted out of the overhead speakers and Sora lifted her head from Taichi's shoulder at the disturbance. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the rising fatigue from her binge drinking told her they probably had been revolving on the spot for some time now.

Still in a stupor, she shook her head trying to make herself more alert. Sora vaguely heard Taichi attempt to tell her something, but she couldn't quite make out the words. Lazily, she looked up at him and mumbled a soft, "Hmm?"

"Do you want any water? It's really hot in here."

For some reason, the eye contact made Sora uneasy so she looked back down before responding, "Yeah, that's a good idea."

She started to walk toward the kitchen when Taichi seized her by the wrist, stopping her in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" she questioned.

He lifted his arm behind his neck and replied, "Uhh, I think I may have a couple of water bottles in my room actually, let me check there. Better than trying to squeeze into the kitchen."

"Mmm, okay. I'll wait by the couches, then."

Sora watched him disappear through the crowd before redirecting herself to the edge of the living room. Finding an open seat on the couch, she plopped down next to someone vaguely recognized from the soccer team. With a loud grunt, she splayed herself out and stretched her legs as far as possible without accidentally kicking anyone.

"Long night?"

She closed her eyes, not really wanting to have a conversation with anyone right now. Her head was spinning and she was starting to feel suffocated by all the stale humidity. What's his name again? Haru?

"You could say that."

Hoping he'd catch the clipped tone of her voice, she slid even further down the couch in exhaustion.

"You and Taichi looked like you were having fun out there. Guess Ryuki's out of the picture for good now, huh?"

He's just trying to get a rise out of you, she told herself. Don't let him push your buttons.

She counted to three before responding. "Ryuki's been out of the picture since he decided to sleep with other girls. Taichi and I were just dancing."

Another pause.

"You know, the team has been taking bets on when you two'll start hooking up. When are you going to stop being a prude and let Taichi hit it? Or are you just going to continue to friend-zone him forever?"

Anger instantly flared up inside her at his words.

"I imagine it's difficult to comprehend since you all have tiny dicks for brains," she spouted, heatedly. "But Taichi and I are friends and that's it. We just happen to be really close and—" she faltered slightly, remembering his teasing hands inching up the inside of her thighs "—comfortable with each other."

Heat was pooling in unwanted places at the memory, but her embarrassment was quickly replaced by fury as Haru gave her a knowing smirk. Sora knew she needed to make a break for it before she said something else that she'd regret later. Why are people so goddamn nosy?

"I'm going outside, I need a breath of fresh air."

Jumping up from the couch, Sora took a quick peek into the crowded hallway to see if Taichi had left his room yet. When she couldn't pick him out, she hurried to the front door and slid her way out into the open corridor. In a matter of seconds, she had shut the door behind her, checked to make sure she was alone, and let out a sigh of relief.

Taking advantage of the brief respite from the party, Sora aimlessly wandered over to the edge of the walkway and let the cool breeze wash over her. Reaching forward and gripping a nearby railing, she took a deep breath in an attempt to clear her mind. Just let it go, that guy's an idiot.

She was just starting to relax when the rattling of a door handle sounded behind her. Frozen in her spot, she begged that it was Taichi coming to bring her water since she wasn't in the mood to speak to anybody else at the moment.

Sora could sense it was him before he even spoke.

"Hey."

Today was not her lucky day.

"Hey, Yamato."

Sora's whole body tensed as she scrambled to figure out her next move. There was no way she could go back into the apartment straightaway – not after her embarrassing escape earlier – but she also didn't think she could muster up the energy for a one-on-one conversation. Unable to decide between the two, she settled for silence.

Taking the reigns, Yamato asked her quietly, "Did you know I was going to be here, tonight?"

Sora stared out across the courtyard, avoiding his gaze.

"No."

He paused before continuing on. "I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea to tell you or not."

"That's the second time I've heard that today," she drawled.

Turning slightly, he tried to make eye contact with her, but she determinedly kept her head facing forward.

"I guess I just figured it'd be better to let things happen naturally."

"Had I known, I probably wouldn't have run away like a child," Sora retorted. She really should have had less to drink; this was not the time to be blurting out whatever was on her mind. That was Mimi's thing, not hers.

Chuckling softly, Yamato admitted, "Yeah, there were a lot of things I imagined might happen when you first saw me, but that certainly wasn't what I had in mind."

He probably meant it to be an insult, but she couldn't help but pick up on the implication that he also had been anxious about their first post-breakup encounter.

Keen to change the subject, she asked him, "So how was the tour?"

"It had its ups and downs, like anything," he mused after a brief pause. "Traveling to new places was nice, but I think I took for granted what it feels like to come back to something familiar. After all this time my dad's apartment finally feels like home, who would have guessed?"

Leave it to Yamato to answer a simple question with something profound.

"Your fans must miss you being on stage."

"Maybe," he shrugged. "The tour didn't really boost our band's popularity like we thought it would. It's probably the main reason we're thinking about disbanding." Yamato frowned slightly. "That, and the fact that there's just not much gas left in our tank to keep going. Touring and everything is really demanding, we're all starting to wonder if it's actually worth it or not."

"So you're really thinking about quitting music?" Sora looked up at him, curiosity finally getting the better of her.

"There's more to life than music," he answered vaguely.

Deciding that she didn't want to open that can of worms, Sora turned back to the courtyard and distracted herself by fixating on the gentle babbling of a large, marble fountain on the ground floor.

It was a few minutes before Yamato spoke again.

"So you and Taichi, huh?"

Apparently he had been watching her more attentively than she realized.

"What do you mean?" Sora replied, feigning innocence.

"I heard from Takeru that you were dating someone. He didn't mention it was Taichi."

Did he ask Takeru about me while he was gone?

"I'm not dating anybody right now, that was a while ago."

His eyebrows narrowed slightly.

"I mean, I was dating someone else before," she clarified. "A different person. Not him."

Sora hated that she still got so easily flustered around Yamato. It was like she was fourteen and prepubescent all over again. Can this be any more awkward?

"I am not currently dating, nor have ever dated Taichi."

Smooth.

"Oh, okay." He opened his mouth to say something else but then closed it at the last moment. There was another lull in the conversation that she had no intention of breaking, lest she say something worse. His eyes looked her over and her embarrassment grew at his scrutiny.

"You look nice," he said, catching her by surprise. Was she supposed to return the compliment?

"All Mimi's doing," Sora deflected after a slight hesitation. "Can you believe she convinced Taichi and Koushiro to make this party semi-formal just because she wanted to wear a new outfit?"

"Actually, I can," Yamato laughed. She missed that sound.

Wait, what?

"Yeah, I guess that is typical Mimi for you," was her reply.

I've got to get out of here.

Sensing an ending point in their dialogue as good as any, Sora stood up straight and turned to face the apartment door.

"Anyway, I think I'm going to head back inside now. Taichi was in the middle of getting me water and he's probably wondering whether I've been abducted by aliens or something."

She stepped forward to leave, but Yamato had thrown out his arm to block her path.

"Wait, Sora. I—"

He cleared his throat and she looked up to find his sapphire eyes staring determinedly at her.

"I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to get lunch sometime and perhaps catch up a bit more? I feel like this ten-minute, alcohol-induced talk didn't do us justice."

Caught off guard, Sora had to fight the impulse to drop her jaw in surprise. Would she be a terrible person if she declined his offer?

"Uhh, lunch? Yeah, sure, that'd be nice," she politely responded instead.

Yamato lowered his arm and fished out his cell phone from his pocket. Pressing a few buttons, he looked up at her and asked, "Is your phone number still the same? Some fans got a hold of mine somehow and I ended up having to get it changed, so you may not have my new one."

"Yeah, it's the same," Sora responded, matching his movements and taking out her own phone.

In less than a minute, she felt the familiar vibrate of her cell and saw a new message from an unidentified number. Opening the text, she confirmed it was Yamato and saved the number under his name, muttering a quick, "Got it."

"Sorry for the extra hassle, it's been a nightmare being on the road with a new phone. I mean I'm glad I don't get a million calls all day now, but it was such a struggle trying to get everyone's numbers again."

"You lost everyone's phone numbers?" How does he still have mine?

Realizing she caught his slip, he hurriedly looked away from her and tried to hide his blush. "Yeah. I guess I still have yours memorized, go figure," he confessed, voice steady.

Trying to make light of the situation, Sora waved him off and laughed, "It's fine. I still remember all the ones I used to have memorized, too." She stepped toward the front door again, this time without any interference. "Okay, well, I'm gonna go find Taichi now. I guess just let me know whenever you're free?"

"Yeah, definitely," he smiled, a rarity in itself.

She returned it with her own small smile and let herself back in the apartment, leaving Yamato out in the hallway. Pausing in the foyer, Sora took a moment to let the last few minutes sink in.

What the hell just happened?

*.*.*.*