Small update. Have fun.

I Want to be a Hero, Just One Last Time

By Juggalomalice

Chapter 2

His brain hurt. It throbbed and pounded as he tried to remember the X-variables and equations that were just taught to him. He pounded his head against his desk in aggravation.

"Am I the only person in the world who can't understand this? I wish Izzy was still around so I could copy off him." He grumbled and he slowly rose to his feet and gathered his materials into his book bag. He was the last one out the classroom being to lethargic to move at any speed to would allow otherwise. He was glad this was his last class for the day as he found himself lacking the will to do anymore studying. "I just want to go home and go to sleep. Maybe get some udon from that new shop that opened up down the street."

"Hey, Taichi-san!" A voice cried out.

"Toyohisa, anyone but this guy." Tai thought as he face palmed. Toyohisa was that guy who, under normal circumstances, you would never be friends, but you ended up being friends anyway because you had no one else. "What is it Toyohisa-san?" He asked, an ever slight presence of annoyance in his voice.

"Nothing much, but there's some weird girl looking for you by the main gate."

"What, she asked for me by name?" Tai asked in confusion.

"Well not really." Toyohisa admitted evenly.

"Then how do you now she's looking for me?"

"She said she was looking for some retarded looking guy, with a mop of brown hair that looks like a bird made a nest in it, with a blue jacket." Toyohisa answered with a laugh.

Tai groaned in annoyance as he turned to walk away, "Do me a favor and go jump off the roof."

Toyohisa laughed as he followed Tai, "Sorry about that, but you're the only guy I know who fits that description. Especially the part of the blue jacket with a big yellow star on it." The young man explained as he gestured to Tai's jacket. "You wear it almost everyday. Why is that again?"

"It was a gift from my sister for my acceptance into college." Tai answered .

"Oh yeah, you and that sister-complex of yours."

"For the hundredth time, I don't have a sister-complex!" Tai yelled in Toyohisa's face.

"Sure you don't." Toyohisa mocked, "See she's a cute little red-head, probably about 10 years of age. Perfect little sister age for a guy like you."

"Toyohisa, if you say anything else about complexes and little sisters I swear I'll knock your teeth in." Tai threatened.

"In that case, lend me 500yen so I can buy something to eat on the way home. If you do, I'll leave you alone for three days." Toyohisa bargained.

"Two weeks."

"One week."

"Deal" Tai said as he handed his 'friend' 500yen.

"Oh great and powerful Taichi-san I thank you for this offering." He mocked before running off.

"I really hate that guy." Tai admitted with a look of defeat.

Rika didn't get much information from the college students here. Since she didn't have much to offer beyond a vague description no one seemed to know who she was talking about. There was one creepy looking guy who said he knew someone like that, but she hadn't seen him in a while now. So she just waited by the main gate. If he attended this school after all there was a good chance he would pass through here eventually.

She had been waiting for almost an hour and that's when she saw him. At least she thought it was him. It kind of looked him and the jacket was definitely the same. His hood was down revealing his messy hair, but he still looked different. He didn't seem to have that confidence he had that first night. He was hunched over and looked tired, defeated, and emulated that general "I don't care anymore" aura that was common to many college students who had no idea what their future's held for them.

"This can't be the same guy." Rika said to herself as he approached the gate. "Still I should make sure.' She stood directly in his path, proud and defiant, ready to challenge him the moment he recognized her. He approached slowly. Clearly biding his time before he closed in and challenged her. Or even attack her. She couldn't let her guard down. She stared straight into his eyes. His eyes, relaxed and totally unfettered by the inevitable battle before him. Truly he was an experienced tamer. Rika knew she couldn't let her guard down. As the moment finally drew she confidently faced her opponent as he… walked around her ignoring her completely.

"Hey, don't ignore me." Rika shouted, drawing the attention of everyone nearby, including her opponent.

He turned around and faced the young girl, "You talking to me?"

"Of course I'm talking to you. Don't you remember me?"

"Nope, should I? Are you some distant cousin who's come to collect on birthday money or something, because that's happened to me once." Tai admitted.

"I don't want your money, you idiot. You interrupted my battle several months ago and stole my win. Remember now?" Rika explained.

"Battle? Oh the digimon thing. That was almost 4 months ago. Do you really have nothing else better too do then obsess over the past like that?" Tai asked with a quizzical expression.

"I'm not obsessing!" Rika shouted back.

"Sure you're not. That's why you spent several months thinking about me, stalked me to my school and are now shouting at me in public." Tai answered back and Rika suddenly became aware of the numerous people who had stopped to listen to there argument, "Look kid, personally I don't care how much of this whole affair you want to divulge to the general public, but I rather not be in front of my own school while you do it." Tai explained as he walked off.

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you." Rika shouted as she followed him.

"That makes one of us." Tai said to himself as he continued to walk away.

Rika did a half-dash as she caught up to him, "Hey, the point is you promised me a rematch if I got stronger."

"I don't remember promising anything and even if I did I'm an adult and guess what?" Tai asked as he spun around and flicked the young girl following him in the forehead, "Adults lie to children quite often. Get use to it."

Rika rubbed her head, "But you're the only adult I know who has a digimon. They've only been appearing recently and you're a lot stronger than almost all of them. That has to mean something." Rika snapped back.

"Only appearing recently?" Tai questioned as he looked down at the girl before he gave a light laugh, "You really don't know anything, do you? Digimon have been entering this world for over 10 years now. Probably longer then you've been alive and they've existed for longer then that too."

Shock washed over Rika's face, "What?"

"Look kid, your courage is admirable, but you really don't know what you're doing or getting yourself into. I don't even know why you want to fight me in the first place either." Tai lectured, though in all honestly he didn't know what was going on with the portals himself, but he wasn't about to tell her that now. "Anyway, this will probably be the last time you see me."

"What? Why?" Rika asked. She couldn't let this encounter end like this. This guy knew a lot more then he was letting on and to top it all off he was a damn powerful trainer. The person in front of her was totally different then that college loser she saw walking out of the campus. This guy knew what he was talking about. He had confidence, built from both experience and knowledge, but he also had the arrogance of an adult who thought he was always right.

"Because this is my bus. I'm going home and I suggest you do the same. If you're smart, you'll forget all about our meeting." Tai warned as he boarded the bus and took a seat. He watched the red haired girl through his window as her figure slowly grew tiny from the departing bus. "It was best like this. She was alone and fighting an enemy she knew nothing about. It would only be a matter of time before she got hurt of worst, killed. The digimon coming through are slowly getting stronger and I can't afford to baby-sit a kid in the upcoming battles. I really wish my friends were here, but they're to busy with their lives, to busy with peace to worry about what could just be a random influx of wild digimon. I need to get more data before I can approach them. Enough to prove that there's something behind this." He rested his head in the palms of his hands. "When did I become such an old man?"

He saw something out of the corner of his eyes at that moment. A flash of yellow across the roofs above him before it vanished. Tai grinned. "Damn kid is taking me for a fool or something if she thinks I wouldn't notice. Well fine. If she wants a fight that desperately it would be an insult to deny her. I just hope she doesn't cry, because it's going to be a painful lesson."

End Chapter 2