Shots In the Dark: The Taiorato Collection
By: Sonfaro
Disclaimer: Two things. One.) Sonfaro has not now, nor ever has owned anything involving or relating to Digimon. He just has a lot of fun writing about them. Do not sue.
Two.) Unlike one-shot, which has a set ending, I'll just post little stories in here that I write about anything dealing with these three characters that has no place in any other story. There is no time table for these, only when inspiration moves me. The next installment may be days, weeks, months, minutes later. Sonfaro hopes you enjoy them when they finally arrive. Thanks. - Sonfaro
Fifteen.) "We're Getting a Divorce"
"YOU WHAT!"
The voice was loud and boomed along the once quiet café the three were sitting in. Thankfully it was rather empty this morning, or else more than the cashier would have raised an eyebrow towards the little trio sitting in their usual corner booth.
For their part, the couple across from him threw up their hands in unison.
"Tai, we're in public," she pleaded.
"Please lower your voice," he demanded.
Which was a tough ask of him, and somewhat unfair. But he would try. Eyes wide with shock, fists quivering with emotion, mouth still half full of his eggs, bacon, croissant with cheese, Tai Kamiya managed to bring his voice down to the harshest of whispers.
"youwhat?"
Both Sora Ishida and her husband Matt took a long sigh, looked to one another, and then faced their friend in united solidarity.
"We're getting a divorce!"
They'd said the word already, in the seconds that preceded his outburst. But this time it lingered over their shared table like miasma. Tai felt a weight fall into his stomach, releasing a river of cold through his veins.
There had been no outward sign of problems with the two of them. At least none since they finally committed to one another after years of on again off again courtship that honestly frustrated even the most patient of the Digidestined. In fact, Tai was there when – after the two sheepishly revealed that they were official at Mimi's New Years party – Cody bluntly asked them what they had been doing since that Christmas concert years and years ago if it hadn't been dating. Sora had blushed profusely and Matt coughed like he had swallowed a sparrow and Tai had laughed and laughed at the both of them.
That seemed so long ago now.
Now?
Now they were sitting at their favorite café in Tokyo that the three had started frequenting together as it was equidistant form their respective universities; ground Tai honestly considered sacred to their little triumvirate, telling him that their near twenty-year relationship was ending as if it were just another bit of news to catch up on. And worse, the two of them looked perfectly fine with it!
"I don't understand!" Tai managed after swallowing his sandwich in misery. "Matt, you're in love with Sora, right?"
"I am." The blonde nodded.
"And Sora, don't you love him too?"
"I do." The ginger gave a meek smile and darted her eyes sweetly at her husband. Soon to be ex-husband. What was going on?!
Tai found that he struggled to breathe. "Then I don't... I don't get it."
"What is there to get?" Asked Matt. "We don't want to be married anymore. So we're getting a…"
"Don't say it," Tai groaned, and buried his face in his hands.
For some reason he heard Sora's sigh. "I told you he'd be upset."
"Yeah, you did. I owe you a coke or something," He heard Matt snort in humor. He moved his hands from his face to see them still sitting there, behaving like they didn't just tell him they will no longer be married.
Weirdos…
"Why are you two taking this so well?" He blurted out.
Sora blinked for a moment, then looked to the ceiling in thought. "Well, if you think about it, this just makes the most logical sense."
"We're just in two different places in life." Matt seconded.
"But what happened! You don't just call it quits over night!"
Matt chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and glanced at his wife, who was busy nursing her tea and not giving the situation the gravity Tai just knew it deserved. Eventually, Matt turned back to Tai. "Just looking at the last year or two and… And it's... it's been tough."
Sora nodded along, leaning gently into his shoulder with her own. "His missions are getting longer. My career has taken me farther from home."
"And we…" his blue eyes shift away from Tai now, as if embarrassed at even speaking the words. "We started having the kind of small arguments my parents had before things got really bad."
"Mine too," Sora nodded with him, and Tai's heart fell a little for them both. While Sora's father and mother weren't divorced per say, neither were their interactions all that positive these days, with Mr. Takenouchi having an apartment in distant Kyoto and only really stopping by for special occasions. Sora had always commented that Mrs. Takenouchi was always too proud to do more than be separated from her husband, but whatever love had been in that house had died long before Sora and Matt had begun dating. And Matt's own parental structure was notorious amongst their friends, With Mr. Ishida and Mrs. Takaishi on the iciest of speaking terms at best before they'd been summoned to the Digital world, and now the mostly blunt, distant greetings of two people who knew each other in another life might give.
"But the thing that sealed the deal for us," Matt continued softly, "Was that our kids are starting to notice."
And now a fresh knife wound for Tai to deal with. His own Tsurugi was just turning six this year, which would make him only a few months younger than their eldest daughter Ruka. No telling what their little boy Yuu thought of all this either. "That's just..."
"A lot to process," said Matt. "We know."
Sora nodded with her husband, let go of his hand, and reached again for her cup. "Did you have any questions for us?"
Tai glared at them. Any questions? What was this, a prepared lecture?
He stared trying to figure out if this was a game. They steady stared back at him. Waiting.
"Who is taking the kids?" He finally asked.
Sora was mid swig of her drink when she heard the question, and she actually bounced in her seat for a moment as if excited to answer the question. "We actually gave this a lot of thought! We want them both to get to know us so they won't have to feel like they grow up in separate houses."
"So, we will have joint custody," Matt nods lightly, his arm finding it's way around the shoulders of the woman he vowed to love forever and just announced to one of his better friends that he was ending those vows to.
"Oh!" Sora's eyes blinked as if remembering some joke, and then burst into a smile. "But it'll honestly be mostly me, obviously."
Matt, whose own eyes had perked up when hers did, began to match her grin. "Obviously!"
"Unless… unless there's…" And then Sora gave up trying to retain a semblance of decorum and burst into laughter that vibrated across the café and turned a few heads. "There's a daycare in SPACE!"
The way her voice landed on space confused Tai, but it sent Matt into his own guffaw of laughter, and he had to put down his drink to keep it from spilling on his designer shirt. "Hey, hey!" He stumbled between gasps "You never know! One day."
Tai didn't have the chance to interject, as apparently 'one day' was the signal for Sora to completely lose it, barreling into Matt's side and slapping his chest with her now free hand as her lungs struggled to keep up from the desperate gasps of laughter. "One… HaHaHaHaHA… one day!"
Tai, for his part felt his tongue drying from the way his mouth was hanging open at this point, unsure of how to proceed with his two friends, who just told him their six-year marriage was dead, laughing like school children and gripping each other like they were sixteen again and pretending that the reason they weren't available for Digiworld missions WASN'T because Matt took her to some romantic evening that had been planned for weeks.
Finally, as their laughs began to die back into something more manageable, Tai closed his mouth to generate a little saliva back so that he could find the words. Eventually, all he could find was: "What is wrong with you two?"
The sober tremble in his voice seemed to cause their strange mirth to die again, and the two settled slowly back into something of a normal cadence, thought Tai noted that Matt's arm was still around Sora's shoulders, and he was pretty sure her fingers were still laced with his.
"I'm… I'm sorry Tai," She began while catching her breath, "it's just… a bit of an inside joke I guess."
"Yeah. It's been wild to think about all this." Matt said, trying to wipe the remaining mirth from his lips.
"Well…" Tai frowned at the both of them, "it's wild to hear."
The three got quiet then. Whatever inside joke between the two of them had descended upon the table had disappeared again almost as soon as it had come through Tai's expression alone. Both Sora and Matt took sips of their drink, but Tai caught them looking up to match his eyes, as if they were waiting for him to say something further.
Sora tilted her head towards her old friend. "I know this seems strange…"
"Strange doesn't cover it," Tai responded.
Matt cleared his throat. "We're just letting you know first. Because you're our best friend…"
"And godfather," Sora reminded, and this seemed to jostle Matt's memory as well.
"Right, and godfather to our kids. Right."
"And we knew," Sora continued, "if you found out about this from anyone else, we'd never hear the end of it and... well."
She let that sit for a second. They both did. They definitely wanted him to say something.
What was he to say?
He shook his head, "I'm gonna need a minute."
Sora frowned, but nodded. "Take your time."
Tai sat in his stool, eyes furrowed at them for a second more, before he turned his face down to the plate. His croissant was half eaten and had gotten cold. He took a moment so glance sidewards at his two friends who'd called him all the way from his speech writing session for this.
Both Matt and Sora seemed in good spirits about all this. As if this wasn't an incredibly heavy decision to just drop into his lap. Almost as if this hadn't been thought everything through. His grown grew deeper and he leaned his chin over the table, interlocking his fingers to form a base to hold his head upon. His chocolate eyes regarded them both with intense frustration. How could these weirdos be so lazy to give up so quickly?
"Have you tried counselling?" The words burst out like a cannon.
"We've been in therapy since little Yuu was born." Answered Sora, as if ready.
"Well, did you talk to like a minister? Or a priest or something?""
"We tried." Grunted Matt, as if anticipating. "We got hot air and conflicting direction."
"A romantic getaway? Trial separation, something?"
"Several to the first part." Sora sighed, and then looked to her still husband.
"And, as you recall," Matt joined her, "my last mission was three months there and back. We were… sort of on a break by that point just to…"
Sora nodded. "Just to see." She says it calmly and without any hint of hesitation. Tai feels a weight drop deeper into his stomach. She's thought about this, he realized. She's thought about it, and was settled in her conclusion. They both have.
Tai felt himself slump into his chair. "There's got to be…"
"Tai. Believe me." Sora's voice cuts in before he can continue, and for the first time Tai can since that she is losing patience with him. "We've tried everything."
"Except that one thing," Matt said under his breath.
"We are not doing the one thing," Sora answered, also under her breath but also slightly annoyed.
"I know I'm just pointing out that we aren't doing…"
"And he's not going to say yes if we asked."
"I know, so we aren't going to ask. Right?"
"Right."
"Right."
Tai blinked. "…What would you have asked?"
They both went red, as if realizing that they had forgotten he was sitting right there – which in retrospect Tai realized that they tended to do so whenever the three of them hung out just a few days before Matt had come to him and pretended he didn't want Tai's help in surprising Sora for their engagement. It takes Tai a second longer to let his mind wander to what they could possibly be thinking…
…
Gross…
He shook his head of the thought of Matt's impeccable abbs. "Never mind," he muttered, and then he slumped his face into his right hand in frustration.
"We tried Tai. Everything. This is what we have to do. Right now," Matt continued, "our paths are leading us away from one another. I don't want… I don't want to get to the point where our paths become contentious. I don't want to be like my dad was for mom."
Tai blinked. "Matt…"
But the blonde continued. "Sora deserves someone who can be with her consistently. Somone who doesn't just understand her pain but is able to be there when she needs and… I can't do that anymore."
Sora nodded. "And Matt needs someone to come home to. Someone who can be an anchor for him. And I can't do that anymore. Our lives have been blessed that we can follow our dreams and do what we want. But doing so brings us farther away from one another. It would be unfair for him to sacrifice all he's worked for me."
"Or her for me."
"So. We're getting a divorce," They say together. "We thought you should know."
And then they looked to him. Waiting. And that weight seemed to sing further and further into his stomach. Tai felt his mind racing back to all the little moments in their relationship that built to this. Those first movie dates where he felt like the third wheel, summer water wars in the garden, ice cream dates that he was the last there for and the first to leave. Taking Sora's usual role of being courier during their few tiffs. Taking Matt's usual voice of reason role when they asked him without asking if they were right for one another. Their debut as a couple. Their engagement. Their wedding! Meeting their daughter Ruka in the hospital for the first time. Playdates with Tsurugi in their old stomping grounds. Watching Matt's first space walk on the TV in their living room. Driving Matt to the hospital to meet Sora because their son Yuu was a few weeks earlier than expected. For so much of this relationship, Tai Kamiya had been there. And now it was dead.
"Tai?" Sora's voice tried to break through the darkness.
But their marriage was dead. A constant in their lives would be gone. Forever.
"Tai…" Louder now, her voice called.
But it was…
"Tai!"
Her voice caught Tai's attention. She was as loud as he had just been.
"S-Sora?"
"Say something!" She barked already, her cheeks red, her brows furrowed, her eyes piercing into his.
Matt moved in to sooth her, in a motion that had been familiar, his arm tightening lovingly around her. "Sora…"
But Sora leaned forward, shifting her shoulders away from Matt's arm and towards Tai, Her chin crossed the line of the table to hover over her drink and her stomach must have bumped the edge, for everything seemed to vibrate at her movement. Her face was contorted in frustration, desperation, and the voice that came next was filled with deep seated pain. "Tai… please…"
Tai sat still, eyes wide.
"Just… just… Say something."
Her voice echoed across the café for a second. Not so loud that it was a disturbance. But loud enough. Tai heard her. And he finally understood.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I think I've been selfishly looking at this. This must have been hard for you."
Sora looked up, hazelnut eyes shining with tears. "I… It's been…"
"Hey, hey! It's okay," Tai said with a soothing voice. "You were scared. Right? That this change would change us?"
They were both silent, Sora trying to hold back tears and Matt's stoic face watching her. Protective, and loving. They were both so still and passive. But Tai could see from their expressions that he'd finally figured out what they had been waiting for. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm not like, mad at you or anything. Just… this sucks."
Sora blinked and tried to response. "It's not that…"
"It definitely sucks," Matt said, bluntly. But Tai saw his closest rival glance softly towards his wife.
"I…" Sora fought it a little longer, before she wipes an eye and nods into her lover's shoulder, while squeezing Tai's hand. "Yeah. It does. But…"
"You have to do it," said Tai. Just saying it caused Sora to catch her breath in her throat, then nod quickly. Matt frowned, but nodded, not as quickly, but in unison with her, almost as if he were the downbeat to her tempo. Even now they were sickly adorable.
And so, finally, Tai began to answer them. "I can't say I approve..."
At this Matt's frown deepened. "We're not really looking for approval…"
"No, no!" Tai looked up and waved both hands before him. "No, I know... I…" His eyes rose to the ceiling as his brain tried to formulate the words he was feeling.
"Look, all I know is that you two have been darn near inseparable since MaloMyotismon, maybe even before that. At this point you have been Sora-plus-Matt in my life longer than not, and we've known each other since elementary! This… changes… so much of that, and… it's gonna be a while before this feels normal… and maybe it never will."
"I know…" Matt started, but Tai ignored him.
"I can't say for sure what will happened. I might always wish you two were back together. Or might try to get Mimi to help put things together again…"
"Please don't tell Mimi yet," Sora said with a voice of horror, but Tai continued.
"I don't know if there's something I could have done in the past to fix this for you. If I said yes to the thing you guys were going to ask about about…"
Sora blushed. "That wasn't ever going to…"
But Matt was already shaking his head and defending his mouth from laughing again. "Just let him go, I think he needs this."
Tai glared at his friend, but not in the way he had been – with suspicion and dismay – but with a genuine sense of brotherly annoyance and faith. "What I mean is... I don't know what tomorrow is going to bring of this. But I DO know that, no matter what you two call each other, that love and friendship will always be there. So I've got to have the courage to be there for you."
That sat with the table, spreading over that dark miasma that had fallen over them. Until…
Matt started laughing again.
"…That was kind of corny." He said while hiding his white teeth behind a free hand.
"Very corny," Sora giggled along with him, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks with a sleeve.
"Yeah, well… It made sense in my head!" The bearer of Courage said, but now he too was smiling a little. And something was changing. He reached across the table and took their hands, squeezing with all the love he had for them. "I'm here for you guys. If this is what you think is best for you then... I'm here for both of you. That will never change. I promise."
And just saying that, the weight was gone.
"That is what we wanted to hear." Sora smiled tears again welling in her eyes, and Matt nodded in approval with her.
Tai scoffed. "Well, you heard it. Weirdos." He lifted his cooling croissant to his mouth and made a big dramatic show of preparing to eat it eyes closed, when he stopped for a moment, softened, and looked to the both of them. "…I love you guys."
They blinked, turned to look at one another, their faces full of so many things. And then, as if timed unison, they answered. "We love you too."
Satisfied, Tai took a bite of his slightly cold but still delicious sandwich and eyed them with one eye. "Weirdos.
But the weight was gone, and the mirth was back, and despite the sadness of the words and meaning, there was still reason to smile. His friends would be fine. He would be fine. THEY would be fine, even if everything around them changed.
The divorce would be final a few months later. The weirdos threw everyone a party for it – confusing the hell out of most of their friends in nearly the same manner that it confused Tai. But fun was had regardless. Tai was at the head of it, raising a toast to Matt's new bachelor freedom, pretending to flirt with Sora now that she was single (his own wife was sure to toss one of the party favors at him from the comfort of her wheelchair in pretend jealousy), hosting a mock funeral for their marriage that elicited laughs from everyone, even in the midst of tears.
Not everything is meant to last in this world. Tai reasoned. And some things were. Matt and Sora's marriage was not meant to last. Matt and Sora's love was eternal. And he was blessed that those weirdos loved him enough to help them let go.
He loved them. Forever. That was a vow worth keeping.
Fin.
A/N: Happy early Odaiba day.