Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ I saw you dancing in the gym... ❯ Revelations... ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A/N: Well, now that you've recovered from the mind-bending awfulness of the last chapter, here is the eighth. I know I've left it at a horrible place again, but that's just the way I am (evil grin).
Review and I'll love you forever. Or at least until the next chapter.

I'm still laughing when I dump my bags next to my front door and ring the bell.
"Now that is what I call payback," I giggle, and he mock-scowls at me. Next second, he lunges at me, grabs my head, and starts scrubbing a knuckle against my scalp. I yelp and struggle, and he leans down and growls in my ear,
"If you ever try anything like that again, you will be sorry."
There's a soft, polite cough from the doorway, and I eep and push away from him, my hair even more tousled than usual. I didn't notice Mum opening the door, but there she is, giving me a slightly quizzical look.
"Welcome home, son," she says, and comes forward and gives me a hug. "Hi, Matt."
"Hello, Mrs Kamiya."
"Did you have a nice trip?"
"Wonderful, thanks."
I finally manage to convey, by means of loud 'mmph'ing, that not only is she suffocating me but she's embarrassing me as well. She lets go, belatedly, and then beckons us both in.
"Come on in, then. I've just put a pot of tea on - will you have some?"
"That'd be great, Mum." I lug my suitcases in and dump them just inside the door, motioning to Matt to do the same.
"Mrs Takenouchi told me Sora came home early," my mother says conversationally, but there's that undertone in her voice which says I know something's going on, and you're going to tell me whether you like it or not.
"Yeah...um...she wasn't feeling too well, so she thought she'd better leave early," I stammer, hoping to goodness that my story matches Sora's. We didn't have time or the inclination to synchronise cover stories before she left.
"Really? What was wrong with her?"
I stiffen - is she testing me, or does she genuinely not know?
"Well...she had a really bad cold, and a headache, and we reckoned she might've had the 'flu..."
She comes back, a steaming mug of tea held in each hand, and places them carefully down on the table before folding her arms and fixing me with a no-nonsense stare.
"Taichi Kamiya," she begins, and I know I'm in trouble - she hardly ever uses my full name, "that is the biggest load of rubbish I ever heard. I saw her not yesterday and she was looking fine."
"Well, maybe it cleared up..." She snorts, and she has every right to - that excuse was weak.
"Really. Maybe you and Mr Ishida there ought to tell me exactly what happened. What did you do to that poor girl?"
"We didn't do anything!" I protest, but then Matt's hand is on my arm.
"That's not entirely true, Mrs Kamiya. We did do something, but not to Sora."
"Well then, what did you do?"
Oh no... I have this horrible premonition of what he's about to do next, but my body won't respond, and I can't stop him.
Sure enough, he tilts my head up and bends down to meet my rising lips with his, and I can hear my mother gasp.
It only lasts a second, then he pulls away, and I tense up in preparation for Mum going ballistic.
When it doesn't happen, though, I open my eyes tentatively, and she's just stood there. In fact, she's got a massive smile on her face and is dabbing at one eye.
"Well," she manages weakly after a few seconds, "you could just have told me."
"Mum..." I venture hesitantly, "aren't you mad?"
"Mad? Why should I be mad?" She scrubs at her eyes again, and smiles even wider. "I think it's wonderful you've found someone, son - especially someone as exemplary as Matt."
I breathe a deep sigh of relief.

* * * * *

Halfway through the cup of tea, I realise what I wanted to ask her.
"Mum, where's Kari?"
"Oh, she out with TK," she waggles her eyebrows conspiratorially, as if it were some great secret, "and the others at a restaurant in town. They thought they'd all go out to celebrate Yolei's fifteenth."
I share a glance and a thought with Matt - perfect.
"Which restaurant?"
"Oh, you know, that one run by that Greek gentleman - Stephano, isn't it?"
"OK, Mum. Thanks loads for the tea, but we must be off."
"Already? But you've only just got home!"
"Yeah, but we have to...drop Matt's stuff off, don't we, Matt?"
"Oh...oh yeah, yeah, of course. I need to get unpacking! If it takes me half as long to unpack as it does to pack, I'll still need ages!"
She smiles at that, and I resist the urge to remind Matt exactly who did ninety percent of his packing for him.
He grabs his cases, fending me off when I offer to carry one for him, and then we're both out of the door and making for his house as quickly as possible.

* * * * *

Matt unlocks his door and we race in and dump his stuff in his room. On our way out again, though, we're brought up short by a rather astonished Mr Ishida.
"Hey, Matt, did you have a nice holiday?"
Matt rolls his eyes. "Look Dad, no time, we've been through this once already. Tai and I are madly in love, and that's why Sora came home early. Ring Mrs Kamiya for details - speed dial 1."
As we rush back out of his house, Matt grins wryly at me.
"I'm so going to catch it for that when I get home."
"Is your dad against...people like us, then?"
"Oh no, nothing like that - well, he's no worse than your mum. It's just he hates not being told the full story."
Something's kicking at my brain - with an effort, I drag it out of my memory.
"You have me on Speed Dial 1?"
"Who else?"
I blush. "Aww. I'm honoured."
"No time. Must get to Stephano's. But thanks."

* * * * *

We jump on a bus and take a seat right at the back. In between gulping down great lungfuls of air to calm our pounding hearts, we wonder aloud what people's reactions will be. Inwardly I'm absolutely petrified, but try not to let it show.
"I bet Izzy just stands there with his mouth wide open and doesn't say anything for ages," Matt grins, and we both laugh at the mental picture.
"What d'you think TK will say?"
"Don't you think he might've guessed?" Matt smiles at me. "After all, you are on Speed Dial One - not to mention you visit me more often than anyone else and vice versa, we rarely if ever go anywhere without each other, and I have a picture of you on my bedside table."
"Really? Aw... But are we really that transparent?"
"Probably not, but TK notices a lot of things, and he's damn good at reading people."
I fall silent for a minute, wondering what Kari's reaction will be, whether she's guessed yet or not.
Matt nudges me. "Besides, Sora may have told everyone already. We won't know until we get there."
Perfect timing, as it turns out - this is our stop. We leap off and run down the road to Stephano's restaurant, wondering whether or not everyone will still be there.
Suddenly, Matt grabs my arm, the shock nearly making me fall over. "Look, there they are!"
He's right - they're all sat at a window table. Oh great, the whole world gets to look in and watch us come out to our friends.
We make it to the door of Stephano's, panting and gasping for breath. Matt takes a few seconds out to rearrange his clothing and tuck a few stray hairs back into place, then turns to me.
"How do I look?"
I give him a you-know-you-don't-even-need-to-ask look and tell him, "Perfect. As always."
He grins at me and holds open the door. "After you."
Now that it comes down to it, my stomach's gone cold and my palms are sweating. "No, no, after you."
"But I insist!" Damn you, Matt, stop pissing around!
"Fine, then." I walk in, feigning a bravado I don't feel.
"Hey, Tai, Matt! Over here!" a voice calls. It's Izzy, beckoning us over to the table where all the other nine Digidestined are sat.
We walk up to them slowly - I can hear my heartbeat getting louder and louder and louder as we get closer, and I can't believe that they can't hear it. Then I see Davis, troughing away at his food just like always, and I smile at him. He looks back quizzically, then goes back to forking down his food.
Matt clears his throat. "Ahem. There's something I'd like to say to you all."
They all sit there looking expectant, except for Sora who has a weak, but genuine, smile playing around her lips.
"First of all, happy birthday Yolei." This gets a cheer and a round of applause, and the purple-haired birthday girl blushes prettily.
"Second, um... Tai?"
I shoot him a warning look - hey! Don't hand this off onto me! - but it's too late. Everyone's staring at me, and I can feel the fear rising in my stomach.
"Erm, well, you see, what happened was...um..." I dry up, and look hopelessly at Matt.
Suddenly, his lips quirk upward in that wicked way I've come to dread, and he mutters 'sod this'. Then, without warning, he grabs my shoulders and pulls me in towards him, pressing his lips against mine.
What few of my senses remain report the clattering of knives and forks all around the table as our friends drop them in surprise. Matt breaks away from the kiss, and I turn, dreading the looks on everyone's faces.
It's not quite as bad as I imagined. As predicted, TK looks like he had already guessed, and now he's bouncing up and down in his seat with a radiant smile on his face.
No-one else looks quite as enthusiastic, although Ken is smiling at TK's antics and at least partially at us as well. Davis's mouth is hanging open - not a pretty sight, but at least he's shut up for once. Yolei glances across at Sora, who's still smiling that inward little smile, then glares at us both, her why didn't you tell me this before look. Izzy looks like someone just slapped him, and Joe is choking on a half-finished piece of bread. Cody whacks him on the back to try and dislodge it, all the time staring at us with those big green eyes of his. And Kari...well, obviously she hadn't guessed. Her mouth is wide open, as are her eyes, and her fork is stopped halfway to her mouth, completely frozen.
You could hear a pin drop. Well, until Matt tries to break the silence, that is.
"Um...surprise?"

A/N: Yes, yes, yes, it's evil to leave it where I did, but still :) it's fun.
There's a little review button around here somewhere. Click it and write nice things. Please?