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Sora pressed the button to buzz the Yagami residence. She had noticed the odd behavior of Piyomon asking about her future aspirations, pressing her with questions and wanting to know everything. It reminded her of back when they first met. She had been confused about Piyomon's behavior back then, but as she had matured with Piyomon by her side as her partner and as her best friend, she found the oddity to be endearing.
It had been a day since she and the other Chosen Children decided to bring their partners home with them. Out of everyone Sora checked in on, Taichi was the only one who hadn't answered his phone. She felt the need to check on everyone, sure - luckily, when she called Jou, he was about to take a light nap before studying again, and she trusted Koushiro to have at least some type of snack and bottle of oolong tea in hand while he did his complex research on what was happening between the Digital World and the Real World.
But during these strange times, she needed to check on Taichi. Especially Taichi.
The moment Taichi opened the door to his apartment, Sora wasted no time cutting to the chase. "You haven't answered any of my messages or my calls," Sora said.
"I'm fine," Taichi replied with a shrug. "I was about to play soccer with Agumon. Wanna join? It'll be like old times."
Then, Taichi grinned at her, Sora caught sight of the change of his expression, if only for a fleeting moment. He let out a chuckle, but Sora had known him for far too long to know that he was hiding something.
"Taichi?"
"Yeah?" He looked up and met her eyes, and he was back to normal. He wore that face of childlike curiosity that he always had since he and Sora first became friends. At the time, she had been slightly taller than he was before his growth spurt in middle school. From then on, aside from the bruises and a few concerning broken bones, soccer had been kind to Taichi, Sora thought, and she watched him grow taller and into his lean, muscular build.
"What are you gonna do, Sora-san?" Mimi's voice taunted in her head, causing her to feel the heat rising in her cheeks.
"Sora?"
"W-what?" Sora shook her head and imagined herself swatting Mimi's voice away from her thoughts and remembered what he had called Taichi's name about. "I mean, nothing, Taichi. I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you.
Taichi laughed. "You're always looking out for everyone. I like that about you."
"You do?" Sora furrowed her brows and stared at him.
"Yeah!" But the longer she stared at him, the more he became flustered himself. "You know, because that's who you are- you know.."
"See?" Piyomon said at Sora's side. "Even Taichi knows how special you are."
That made Taichi and Sora both flush.
The two of them and their partners sat in the living room together and Sora filled Taichi in on what lessons he missed from school that day. Taichi leaned back against the couch cushion while Sora sat with her back straightened. From the topic of school they delved into other topics, and Sora found herself relaxing her shoulders while Piyomon and Agumon joined in. Sora smiled as she watched Taichi chatting with the Digimon and laughing with them. It was something that she related to, that spending time with their Digimon partners was something to cherish, especially in the moment that they were able to do it.
But there reached a moment - while Agumon and Piyomon chatted amongst themselves, leaving Sora and Taichi to watch them - a moment in which Sora noticed Taichi quietly get up from his seat and walk away. It was then that confirmed for her that something had been bothering him, after all.
Sora followed him to his room and watched as he stood at the front of his desk, placing his hand on the digivice next to his goggles.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"It's nothing to worry about," he said softly. The tone in his voice told her otherwise.
"Taichi, if you wanna talk-"
"I said, it's nothing to worry about."
The sudden shift in his tone, and the fact that he raised his voice caught Sora off-guard. In past situations like this one, Sora would walk away and give him time to calm down until he was ready to talk. This time, however, was just one more concern that tested her patience, which had been wearing thin more than she had let herself realize. She had already been worried about Koushiro who probably would be starving if she missed one phone call to check on him. She saw the stress in her friends ever since the Digimon started appearing along with the power outages and damages this whole situation had caused. She worried about Jou who was worried about his exams, about Yamato who just refused to even talk. And now Taichi, whose emotions had been all over the place since his reunion with Agumon.
"Of course it is!" Sora said, raising her voice louder than he did. "There's something that you aren't telling me. I know it has something to do with the Digimon. You've been on edge this whole time - I know everyone else has been, too. Even me. Don't you know that any one of us will understand whatever is on your mind? Any one of us, including me?"
"And what if I just don't want to? What if none of it matters in the end?"
The words were abrupt, and it hit Sora like a stab through the chest. She bit her lip as though she meant for it to hold the tears that fought to leak out from her eyes. She had always found it hard to express her own emotions. But to let it out for once, and to Taichi who was her closest friend only to hear his biting reply.
She felt rejected by him.
Taichi's expression softened. "Look, Sora… I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. I…"
Sora crossed her arms across her chest, at a loss of what to say next. Maybe she could let Taichi ramble. Or, she could leave him in his room to give him space. She could cool her own head with him out of sight. Maybe it would hurt less, the idea that he didn't want to be close her, when her thoughts at that moment were of her knowing how much she wanted to be near him.
But when she turned to leave, she heard a shuffle and hurried steps behind her, and then, a hand taking her wrist. She turned to see his eyes, sorrowful, yet pleading.
"There's something I shouldn't tell you," he said. "About Meicoomon. And the Digital World. I promised Agumon that I wouldn't tell anyone."
Sora saw this troubled expression on his face far too often these days. With that, she leaned closer to him and softened her voice. "But it hurts you knowing this. I can see it. Why not just tell me?"
His voice quivered. "Because I know how much it will hurt you, too. That's why I don't want to tell you."
She took his hand that he loosened his grip from her wrist, and she held it in her own, squeezing it. To think that he considered her feelings to try to lessen her worries, but whether he revealed his troubles or not would worry her regardless.
"How bad is it?" she asked.
"It's bad. Really bad."
She massaged his hand with her thumb, not knowing what else she could do, or what words to say.
"And, you know, Koushiro's working hard to try to find a fix. But there's only so much he can do. I wish I knew what I could do."
"You are already doing enough, Taichi."
"It doesn't feel like I am."
Then, Taichi leaned forward until his forehead rested on the top of Sora's shoulder. He heaved a sigh, and Sora placed her free hand on his back, rubbing it gently.
"But you are. Trust me on that. You're keeping everyone in high spirits and you choose to fight, even when it's hard. Even when there are people who think the Digimon are bad. You motivate Agumon and everyone and their partners. You motivate me, too."
Taichi remained silent for a few moments, and Sora continued to rub his back. She thought about how this was just like her to console a friend in need, for she was the mother hen of the group, anyway. She wondered if her words gave Taichi any comfort.
Then, she felt his arms wrap around her waist and he pulled her close to him, which caught her off guard once again.
"I needed to hear that," he told her quietly. "Thank you. For being here."
"Of course, Taichi."
She put her arms around him, and they held each other in an embrace. She felt her heart flutter and a fuzzy sensation, but it took her a few seconds to admit to herself that being held by Taichi comforted her just as much as she did for him. It also took the same amount of time for Sora to realize that he wasn't letting go.
"I mean it, Sora," he said, holding her a little tighter. "Thank you."
The way he held her made her wonder if there was more that he wanted to tell her. Maybe it was about how he felt about their friendship. Maybe he wasn't ready to say it.
But it made her heart skip a beat.
"Taichi…" she said, a little breathless from the mere thought. She wondered what words would come out of his mouth next as he finally loosened his grip, allowing them to pull apart to face each other.
"Sora… I…" he started, as though the words were caught behind his throat, hesitating to come out.
But his brown eyes that stared into hers explained it all. Sora looked into them, reading that friendship might not be the only thing on his mind for her. Did she want to feel the same? At that moment, what she felt so prominently was her heart beating loudly in her chest.
"Wh… What is it?" she said, barely letting a breath out from her nerves.
Her eyes took notice of Taichi's hand lifting up and moving towards her, his face drawing near. Taichi wiped a few strands of her hair away from her face, brushing her cheek in the process. Sora's breath caught in her throat, feeling the light tickle of his touch along her jaw, until his palm cupped that side of her face.
Sora let out a soft breath in an attempt to loosen her nerves. But as Taichi held her gaze, his expression now curious, almost as though he was convincing himself with his next move, Sora took notice of his lips.
She began to wonder what they might feel like if they fell onto her own.
She had noticed Taichi's lips more often than she would admit. They were sometimes dry and chapped, and she had scolded Taichi for licking them because that would make them worse.
Then, one day, he had asked her to help him make a "very important" decision when they walked into the convenience store together after school. When he led her to the display of lip balm varieties, she rolled her eyes. She knew he would give her a hard time until he finally made his purchase, and he wore the biggest grin as he surveyed every flavor. However, he fell silent after Sora insisted on knowing why he cared so much about what flavor she liked the most.
Sora hesitated to bring up the conversation since that time, but with Taichi inching closer to her now, his mouth partly opened and the smooth appearance of his lips inviting, she could hardly draw her attention away.
Taichi stopped suddenly and paused, and Sora furrowed her brows.
"I'm… not sure if you'll let me…" he began, his hand still on the side of her face.
Maybe it was her impulse, but she found both of her hands cupping either side of her cheeks.
Anticipation made her heart race, and she licked her lips, not being able to find the words to respond, but she hoped that nodding would give him the response he had hoped for.
So, Taichi leaned in. Sora watched him close his eyes as he drew closer, then she felt the warmth of his breath after closing her eyes. A jolt of electricity went up her spine the moment their lips barely touched.
But the buzzing sound of electricity gave her a start. Sora's eyes flew open and darted to the sparks flying out of Taichi's computer hard drive. With a gasp, she turned to Taichi who exchanged a look of shock, and they both seemed to share the same thought - that a Digimon was about to enter the atmosphere, and they knew it was the one they had been waiting to return.
"Taichi!" Agumon called as he ran into the room, while Taichi shot up and grabbed his goggles to survey the activity outside the window. Sora watched with everyone as the sky ripped into an opening, a digimon floating through.
"It's Meiko's Digimon, isn't it?" Piyomon asked.
"Let's go, Taichi!" Agumon said.
"We'll meet you there," Sora said, "While we round up the others."
"Right," Taichi replied.
When the four of them stood outside of the apartment complex, Taichi and Agumon were the first to run towards the infected Digimon. Sora watched them, and held her fingers to her lips, the taste of watermelon lingering.
"Sora?" Piyomon called, cocking her head to the side.
Sora looked down to Piyomon, then lowered her hand as she remembered Taichi's outburst.
"There's something you're not telling me, right, Piyomon?" she asked.
Immediately, Piyomon lowered her head, looking ashamed.
"I just didn't want to add to your worries, Sora," she replied somberly.
Sora took a deep breath, feeling a tug at her heart. But maybe now wasn't the time to dwell on the secret that the Digimon partners desperately wanted to keep, and the one that Taichi felt he needed to bear without telling her. So, Sora crouched to Piyomon's level and embraced her with a tight hug.
"Whatever it is, you and I will get through it. Together."
"Sora…"
Sora pulled away and gave her a smile. "Come, now, let's go find the others. We'll need everyone to help save Meicoomon in any way that we can."