Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digidreams Do Come True! ❯ Taichi & Sora’s Drama on the Tennis Court... ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Hey again all. Here’s the next chapter for you, and compared to the previous ones, this is pretty short. It’s all about our favorite athletes of the group. I hope you all enjoy it. Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with this series; Bandai and Toei have that honor.

Chapter 06: “空の秘密な生活{ 84;!”
“Sora no himitsu na seikatsu da!”
“Sora’s secret life!” Taichi & Sora’s Drama on the Tennis Court…

“Take that!” the 16-year-old Taichi cried, hitting a tennis ball back at his opponent.

“You think I would miss such an easy shot,” the 16-year-old Sora laughed shortly, as she smacked the ball right back at the soccer player.

“I’m going to beat you if it kills me!” he breathed out hard as he just barely made the save.

“Aww, Taichi, I like having a partner to practice with,” Sora teased as she gracefully returned the serve.

Taichi lunged after the tennis ball, but ended up missing.

“Point goes to Takenouchi,” a stocky man announced from his shady chair on the sidelines. “The score is now 40-30; Takenouchi only needs one more good play to win this game.”

“Sora, I won’t let you win!”

“You know I will,” Sora replied confidently. “I’ve beaten you two times already and it’s still my serve!”

Both Taichi and Sora were in their first year at Odaiba High School. Taichi still played soccer, but decided to give tennis a try as well, thanks to Sora’s persuading him into it. She even talked him into joining their coed Tennis Club, with permission. He was pretty much an average player, not a “genius”, like he was at soccer. As for Sora, she excelled at tennis and had grown to like it a lot more than soccer and rarely played the sport anymore for fun. The last time she’d played it competitively was her first year of junior high, only because Taichi had talked her into it through his immature teasing, of course.

Taichi had grown over the past couple of years, but was still slightly shorter than Yamato and about the same size as Takeru. It was definitely hereditary that both Yamato and Takeru had grown so tall. Taichi figured that they got it from the French side of their family. The soccer-player’s hair was still big, and could still be a bit naïve at times where girls were concerned.

As for Sora, she had grown as well. She was prettier and nicely figured. A lot of the boys at their school would sometimes gawk or stare in awe over the girl’s grace and beauty; even third-year boys. Since Taichi was a star athlete, girls seemed to admire him greatly, yet, Taichi remained single. The same thing pretty much applied to Sora as well, coincidentally.

As of the moment, Taichi was helping Sora practice for an upcoming match she had the very next afternoon. Sora, as usual, elegantly served the ball, but Taichi managed to return the serve just barely. Sora then smacked the ball hard, and it went soaring past Taichi, who had missed it by millimeters, which gave her the winning point.

“Game goes to Takenouchi!”

“Yeah!” the teen cheered, pumping her fist up into the air.

Both walked to the middle of the court. The boy put out his hand, out of breath. “Wow...good...game, So...ra. You’ve really...been practicing.”

“Yep, I sure have,” she nodded while accepting the boy’s hand. “I have to get ready for my upcoming match. This is the best practice I’ve had in a while.”

Taichi gave her a playful grin. “You do know that you owe me, right?”

“I know, I know. You help me with my tennis and I practice soccer with you since you have some new plays in mind.”

“You two, I have to head on in,” their coach informed them, making his way onto the court. “You two can keep practicing if you would like, though.”

“Yes, Akuma-sensei.”

“You two keep that up, and we’ll get into the tournament for sure; especially you, Miss Takenouchi. Your skills are absolutely remarkable; your transcript from Odaiba Junior High was quite accurate. I’m just glad that I was able to witness it for myself. It’s an honor to have you in our club this year, as well as you, Mr. Yagami. For a soccer genius, you’re pretty good at this game for a novice.”

The two bowed and thanked him for his kind words.

“School let out a good while ago, and I do have some things to take care of. You can stay for about an hour longer before everything here is closed up.”

“Yes sir.”

“Keep on practicing, now, and we’ll definitely get that victory tomorrow,” the man called to them, as he walked off.

“So, Taichi, are you up for another game?”

“Yeah, I could use some more practice, even though you’re the star player.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The two took their positions and the game commenced. Taichi played a bit better this time, but Sora was still beating him effortlessly. “Your serve, Taichi, but do you have any idea what time it is?”

Taichi looked up at the school’s clock-tower. “Looks like it’s almost 17:30 (5:30),” he answered while dribbling the tennis ball with his racket. “Why do you want to know? We can still hang around for about another hour since Akuma-sensei gave us permission to, even though no sports clubs are meeting this week and school ended early today.”

“Um, no reason,” she answered hastily. “Go on, serve.”

Taichi, deciding not to waste anymore time, tossed the ball into the air, and hit it fiercely, causing it to soar over the net. It was one of the best serves he’d ever made. He blinked in stupidity when he saw Sora swing and miss. He understood that it was a good serve, but it was odd that she’d missed it in general.

“I’m sorry,” Sora apologized. “Let’s try that again.”

He nodded, and made another excellent serve, but Sora continuously missed every time he served anything, the final one being atrociously awful. She seemed to be distracted by the clock-tower. “C’mon, Sora, I want a challenge!”

“I’m sorry...I’m just a little pressed for time. I have to hurry and go.”

“Why are you in a hurry?”

“No reason,” she answered, anxious to get off the subject. “How about we quit for the day? I think we’ve practiced enough, and I am a bit tired.”

“Yeah, sure.” Taichi stared at the girl, curious as to how Sora had gone from an elite player to a mediocre one in must mere minutes.

The two headed to the sidelines, where their bags sat. Sora went through her bag and pulled out a water bottle, Taichi did the same. While Sora drank, she kept glancing up at the clock-tower.

“Since when did you become ‘Miss Punctuality’?”

“You’re silly.”

“Then how come you seem to be obsessed with the time all of a sudden.”

“W-well, it’s just that I have to be someplace by 18:00 (6:00), is all.”

After swallowing some water, Taichi stared up at the clock. It was just a little past 17:30 (5:30). “Where?”

“Why are you so concerned?” she snapped at him defensively.

“Sorry. I didn’t know you were so private,” he indignantly replied in slight annoyance. “You normally tell me everything.”

“Well, it is a bit private, and one day, I hope to share this with you.”

Taichi inwardly sighed, as he had an idea as to why she was so willing to rush off. ‘I wonder when she’s going to tell me about it. I already know about her secret dates that she runs off for every chance she gets. It’s bothering me that she’s keeping this from me...I just wish she’d confess it.’

“Taichi, what’s wrong? You went quiet.”

“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering about something.”

“What about?” She took another sip from her water bottle.

“Yamato.”

Sora nearly choked on her water, and gave off a small cough. “What about him?”

“He’s been acting a bit differently lately. Haven’t you noticed?” He gave the girl a knowing look. Sora grew a bit more apprehensive, mentally preparing herself for anything Taichi would throw at her. “He seems to run off a lot, even on days where he doesn’t have practice with his band and he’s obviously not busy with after-school clubs, since he’s not in any since he has his group. Do you have any idea why?”

“I-I haven’t the slightest idea,” she squeaked out uneasily.

“Whatever,” the boy muttered, ignoring the fact that Sora, once again, had lied to him over such an issue. “So, what are you doing this weekend?”

“Nothing too much.” She regained some of her composure, not wanting to give off that she was currently nervous around the boy she’d known for practically her entire life. “Just participating in that upcoming match, and then attending that concert at Tokyo Dome for the Teenage Wolves' concert that night.” A dreamy smile appeared on her face, as she anticipated her tennis match. “I am so glad that we’re going to play singles instead of doubles. There’s nothing wrong with doubles, but it’s hard to find the perfect partner, you know?”

“Yeah, don’t I know it...” He heaved out an unintentional loud, gloomy sigh. “You think you find the right person, and you truly feel that you are the right person for the other person, but then you find out that you, apparently, aren’t right for the other person, since the other person has already made her choice, even if she, herself, doesn’t realize that the other person from the very beginning, could possibly be the right choice.”

“Excuse me?” she blinked. ‘What’s with all that deep, philosophical talking?’

“Nothing, nothing. I was just rambling.”

“Why did you ask anyway? You are coming to my match, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t miss it! You were chosen to represent our entire club to go against the representative from that Senior High School of the Asao ward.” He gave her a big, hopeful grin. “After your match, since I know you’re going to win, how about I take you out?”

“Wow, me and the entire club?” Sora exclaimed, surprised at the soccer player’s offer. “That’s really nice of you, but---”

“No, no. I was thinking along the lines of just you and me, not the entire club.” He gave off a bashful laugh, resting his hand on the back of his head. “I’m not rich, you know. I can’t treat all of them.”

‘I can’t let him do that. I was planning on meeting up with him afterwards, right before that concert. I know that I should really tell Taichi and the others know about this, but I’m not ready to yet...’

“Sora?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Just had something on my mind.” She stared down at the ground, and remained quiet for a brief moment. Sora finally looked up at Taichi; she felt that he of all people should know of her secret. “Taichi,” she began slowly, “I have something to tell you. It’s my real reason as to why I’m in such a hurry.”

“What is it?” he asked anxiously. ‘She’s about to make me feel worse than I already do. She’s probably going to finally come clean about her secretly dating, but why him? Why not me? We’ve been through so much more together than she has with him. I’ve known her longer, and we were even friends before we moved from Hikarigaoka (Heighton View Terrace). She’s the only person I knew from there before that battle with Parrotmon and the giant Greymon. We have more of a history together than she does with him...but why did she choose him?’

“No, I-I think I’ll wait. I probably shouldn’t tell you yet. It wouldn’t be fair to him. We promised we’d share this together.” She kneeled down, and picked up her gym bag, tossing it over her right shoulder. “Well, I better get going.” She turned her back to Taichi, almost regrettably, and started to walk off. ‘I’m already later than I wanted to be, and I won’t have the time to change. I hope he doesn’t mind.’

Not wanting to let the girl go without a confession, Taichi ran up to her and held her back. “Sora, wait!”

“Huh, wha?”

“Stop. I know what’s going on with you, and I already know what your secret is.” He let go of her arm, and stared down at the ground grudgingly. “Takeru told me, since he already knew. At the time, he didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to know. He was coming over to get an assignment from Hikari, but she wasn’t home because she was out with a friend from school. We started to talk a bit, and he randomly brought it up.

“He went home, but later on that day, he called me back to let me know that he messed up by telling me. He wasn’t supposed to have told me what he had, so I promised him that I’d go along with this until someone confesses and to keep him from getting into trouble with the one you’re keeping quiet about. I don’t want Takeru to get any heat for betraying his trust.”

“Wh-what?” Sora stated in disbelief. ‘He told Takeru-kun?’ It was growing dark and cloudy overhead, as well as windy. “I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sora stated quickly, trying to walk off again.

Taichi ran after Sora and stood in front of her, a look of deceit on his usually jolly face. “Sora, stop making a fool of me!”

She shook her head at him. “I would never do that!”

“I already know what’s going on!”

Sora had finally taken notice of the dark clouds and the unusual high winds. “A storm is coming; we should go inside now.”

“There you go again, trying to change the subject!” he stubbornly replied. He refused to leave until the matter was resolved. He had taken Sora’s secret of her love-life, for the very last time. He really didn’t understand why it bothered him so much, other than his wanting to be in the other guy’s place. “I know that you’re secretly dating---”

“No, Taichi, I’m serious! Look at the sky.”

Taichi looked up, and saw all of the dark, murky clouds above. The wind had now grown so strong, that his normal up-in-the-air hair was actually blown back. “Oh, seems like you’re right. I guess a storm is coming. We can talk inside. Let’s go.”

All of a sudden, just like with Hikari and Takeru, a strange funnel began to form, and a big light flashed.

“This is no ordinary storm,” Sora murmured as she shielded her eyes.

Before them, it seemed as if a tornado was forming right there on the tennis court, and there was lightening striking everywhere. One bolt seemed to strike far off into the distance near where Yamato’s father worked; the Fuji TV Station.

More lightening bolts seemed to fly from the funnel; both stared on, completely mesmerized, until one of them unexpectedly struck Sora. Taichi stared on in alarm, as the girl screamed, dropping her bag to the ground. The funnel seemed to be drawn to her, like a magnet to metal, as it pulled her in. Before he could think of what to do next, the exact same thing happened to him. He saw Sora, and tried to reach out to her, but failed, as both ended up separated...