One-in-Two Secrets
Parallel Feelings

… At the Time of Event ~ Parallel World …

Yuuko waved her hand. "No. He's not a pain. Ryoichi covered for Sasumu and I before we got married, and they're best friends. Plus... I think he likes you."

Nami rolled her eyes as the corners of her mouth twisted up in amusement. "No... he's trying to settle for me because he lost you to Sasumu. I've told you that many times before. I'm not that lucky with men."

Yuuko sighed and leaned back as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. "Seriously..."

"Seriously... can't you tell me what you're doing?"

"No. All I can tell you is we're a year or two behind schedule for some strange reason. Theoretically everything should be working, but in reality the theory isn't coming into practice. Theoretically speaking I wonder if we should really believe in this kind of stuff. I go along with it because both of them are so into this theory."

"Hmm..." Nami leaned back. "I'm not sure how you do it, living with a man who is as obsessed with his work as Sasumu nii-chan is."

Yuuko let out a light laugh. "You keep making excuses about a certain someone, don't you?"

"Making excuses about Aikiyama-san? No I don't think so. He's interested in you, and not me. How many times do I have to tell you that."

… Three Months After Event ~ Parallel World …

Yuuko's hands clasped nervously as she sat at the fancy table. She glanced over at Sasumu and saw he was just as nervous as he was. Ryoichi soon joined them, and began to look at the menu. His eye kept darting over to the glass of water Yuuko was drinking, but he choose not to say anything. "Is Nami going to be here?"

"Nami? Of course she's going to be here. We haven't stopped trying to get you to be our brother-in-law." Yuuko flinched suddenly as her cheeks went red. "Sorry... I said that out loud Ryoichi."

The man looked away before tugging on his goatee. "It's not as if I'd be able to confess to her on my own. I've known the two of you since we were kids. She's also completely oblivious."

"I wouldn't say she's completely oblivious." Sasumu let out a chuckle as he took a drink of his glass of wine. "She knows you have feelings for someone."

Ryoichi let out a sigh before shaking his head. The waiter's walked Nami over to the table, and at first she stood there. "Are you two trying to hook me up with Aikiyama-san again?"

The man in question choked slightly on the glass of water he was started off with. "Come on. You and your sister have known me for a long time."

"I'm not sure why you put up with them doing this." Nami sat down at the table.

The man in question cleared his throat while the married couple watched the two with mirth. "How is your teaching job going?"

"I hate it." A silence fell over the table. Nami frowned, and finally spoke. "What? The kids I teach. They have no manners, they do weird things, and they obviously don't like me."

Sasumu cleared his throat. "We actually didn't invite you two here to try and hook you guys up."

Ryoichi breathed a sigh of relief while Yuuko smiled. "I'm pregnant. You're going to be an auntie Nami."

"Great... more noses to wipe." Nami turned to look at the man next to her. "I guess you really have to give up on my sister now. Sasumu nii-chan's definitely won."

The man chocked on his drink before a silence fell over the table for a bit as the three stared at Nami in disbelief. The corner of Sasumu's cheek twitched. "Well... we were hoping Ryoichi would be the godfather if it is a boy."

"We were really hoping though he would be their actual uncle some time soon." Yuuko glared at her sister, and Nami glared back.

… In the Present …

"You don't have a reason to be sorry." The sound of pity coming from the woman caused Tai to suddenly swallow as his shoulders tensed up. He wrapped his arms around his chest before looking away. He cleared his throat wondering what he should say. He didn't notice the woman reach out to touch his shoulder, only to stop within a foot. "I didn't realize Ryo's death was eating you up so much Taichi. You could have come and talked to me, or my husband. Or even your parents."

"Is that some kind of joke?"

The woman let out a sigh of frustration. "Really. You and Ryo really always have exasperated me. I am never able to read the two of you, never know exactly what you're thinking."

"I don't think you ever tried. Did you ever stop and think about that? The fact you never tried getting close to Ryo?"

The woman suddenly gripped the handle of the umbrella tighter. "Taichi... did you just switch from blaming yourself for Ryo's death to blaming myself? Even I... I know my son and I weren't close, but do you really think that had anything to do with his death."

Tai jammed his hands into his pockets. He continued to refuse to look the woman in the eye. "Maybe. I wasn't actually thinking along those lines. I was more of thinking about the fact Ryo wasn't happy about the fact he couldn't get close to his parents. I guess I was lucky because I was able to get close to mine. I don't think that's quite fair. No... I don't blame you. You don't know anything about the Digital World, so you couldn't possibly have stopped him or me from getting involved with that place."

The umbrella suddenly clattered to the ground. Tai flinched as the woman suddenly grabbed his shoulders. "Taichi! Yagami Taichi! What did you just say just then?"

"Say?" Tai swallowed as he turned to look at the woman. He swallowed as he jammed his hands into his pockets. "I... it's nothing really that you need to worry about. I mean..." The boy swallowed. "It's not as if any of the adults have really payed it much mind before."

"Yagami Taichi!" The woman's voice rose causing the fourteen year old to flinch.

Tai took a deep breath. "I pretty much mentioned the Digital World."

"I was afraid you did."