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Puzzle Pieces

[Chapter 13]

some walk through the fire and some burn from it

*.*.*.*

"For the last time, I don't like Mimi."

Grinning like a madman, Taichi scoffed audibly.

"Come off it, Koushiro, she was all over you last night. I have eyes, you know," Taichi teased.

Koushiro sighed before turning his attention away from his laptop monitor.

"Mimi's just like that sometimes," he explained, trying his best to not roll his eyes. "At a certain point, it's just easier to play along than to fight her. It doesn't automatically mean I like her because I didn't spurn her advances."

"Tch."

"You're one to talk," Koushiro countered in a very un-Koushiro-like manner. "Don't think that people didn't notice you and Sora being extra friendly on the dance floor. Also, I'm surprised she didn't stay over last night, didn't you say she was going to help us clean up today?"

Taichi stayed silent.

"Did she decide she had enough of you for one night?"

Koushiro watched Taichi throw his head back onto the couch and stare languidly at the ceiling. Unsure whether he should push the subject or not, he decided to let the brunette make the next move.

"Koushiro… I – I really messed up."

Admitting fault was not something Taichi did often, and it prompted Koushiro to realize that maybe something was actually amiss between his two friends. For being an intellectual, he really wished he were better at understanding people and their emotions.

"What do you mean? Did you say something to her to make her angry?"

Taichi waited a few moments before responding.

"Things are kind of... awkward between us right now. And Yamato's probably going to kill me."

It was then that things started to click.

"Taichi… do you still like Sora?" Koushiro asked quietly.

"No!" the senior retorted as he sprung forward into a more alert sitting position.

Or maybe things hadn't clicked.

"Sorry," Taichi said in a calmer tone. "I mean, that's the weird part, I really don't."

He paused again before continuing on.

"Don't get me wrong, Sora's great; she's sweet and caring, she's gorgeous, she's –okay, I'm probably not making the best case for myself–" Taichi nervously scratched the back of his neck. "But I swear, Koushiro, I don't like her that way anymore. I just got swept up in the moment, you know?"

Koushiro didn't know.

"Ugh!" Taichi moaned as he fell backward onto the couch again. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

Koushiro had never heard Taichi talk this much about his feelings before and the redhead was at a complete loss for words, especially since he wasn't quite convinced that his friend didn't have at least some lingering feelings for Sora.

"Well," Koushiro reasoned. "If it means anything, it didn't look like as if she was opposed to anything that happened last night."

Taichi groaned in response.

"What, is that a bad thing?"

"It's bad," Taichi sighed, "because Yamato saw everything and now he probably thinks we're together or something. And I know for a fact she only sees me as a friend, which means she probably has no idea that other people might think otherwise."

Now Koushiro was really lost.

"So let me get this straight; last night you and Sora danced together, neither of you like each other as more than a friend, she has no idea that people might think there's a romantic element to your friendship, and for some reason, things are now awkward between the two of you and Yamato is going to kill you, your words."

"Yeah, basically."

Koushiro frowned.

"That makes absolutely no sense."

Taichi let out a sigh of defeat.

"That's because life makes absolutely no sense."

After what he had just heard, Koushiro couldn't help but agree.

*.*.*.*