dos3

    Taichi, you know that I've looked up to you for as long as I can remember. I also feel that I can tell you anything.
      Do you know why I moved to San Francisco? It wasn't because of the lack or Oriental restaurants or noodle salesmen. I couldn't bear to see Ken after he told me that he married Miyako. He was my worthy adversary; my everything. I saw this saying written of a fansite to Takeru's books. "Daiken, because evil is so good." So if other people can see that we are meant to be together, why can't he? He is supposedly a genius."
      He doesn't want anything to do with me. Did you see how he reacted when I came off the plane? What did I think coming here would accomplish? That Ken is happy, and I'm a loser. Soy un perdidor.
                                                                        Daisuke
PS. I found a good quote on that same site. "I support Taito, because prophecies are always right."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Dai, you are such a goof. Taito? Come on, do you think that Yamato and I have feelings for each other? That such nonsense! We both have children and were married for a long time! At least the Daiken thing has some proof.
      I know why Ken is upset. The whole "Kenny der Kaizer" thing hurt his feelings. That, and the fact that he's scared to tell you how he feels is why he doesn't talk to you. If I know Ken, he's probably sitting at home, drunk on saki, trying do dull the pain of his existence.
      He absolutely despises Miyako. He regrets marrying her as well as having five children. While we have only one other person to take care of, he's stuck in the world of Miyako with those horrid children of hers. At least the twins look like him. The other three are clones of their mother.
      How funny. I realize that "suke" is the suffix for second male child, but I just find it strange that he named the boy Kensuke.
                                                                        Taichi Kamiya-Yagami
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yama, what have I done in my life? Most people would convince themselves that I, the great Ichijouji Ken, am perfectly happy that I own a powerful internet company, have been married to a decent woman for the past seven years, and have five children that are absolutely brilliant. 'ichi and 'ji are my favorites, although I really didn't want them. I hate the girls. Kim has my hair, but the rest of her is Miyako. Miya is a clone of the bitch. 'suke would be absolutely perfect if his hair wasn't pink. Pink! Little boys aren't supposed to have pink hair!
      I hate the bitch that bore my children. She's a raging hormone! She refuses to work outside of her family's store! I want to fake my death so I can live my own life, and teach the bitch a lesson. I can't do that to my sons. I love them too much.
      Do you know why 'suke received his name? I wanted Daisuke to see me again. The boy was named for him. But Daisuke didn't notice. He doesn't even care. He has Daren now. I'm worthless now.
      I've been listening to that song you let me hear a while ago. Now it's stuck in my head. What was the name of it? I can't remember, but the word were something like
      //Did you write the book of love and do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so? And do you believe in rock n' roll, can music save your mortal soul, and can you teach me how to dance real slow//
      It's become my depression song Yamato. You're my music. Without you, I'll cease to be. You are the song that gives all of us strength.
      I love him Yamato. I'd give anything to be with my Dai.
                                                                        Ken
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      "Oh good." Daisuke stated as he clicked the icon to check his mail. Yamato had taken Daren and Mattie to dinner with Taichi, Hikari, Takeru, and their children. Sora had taken Sakura home earlier in the day, so Daisuke was alone in the apartment.
      "Huh. It's from Ken and it's titled American Pie?" Chibimon ran over to his partner.
      "Whatch'a doin' D'suke?" The little digimon asked as he stared at the computer.
      "Reading mail from Ken."
      Chibimon laughed in delight as he hopped around, babbling about what he was going to talk to Wormmon about.
      Daisuke, on the other hand, stared wide eyed at the message that was supposed to be sent to Yamato. The man he loved had just admitted that he loved Daisuke! This was absolutely perfect! Except that Daisuke wasn't supposed to see the message.
      "Well, should I invite Ken and Wormmon over?" He asked the little blue digimon.
      "Great!" Chibimon cheered as he digivolved to Veemon. "Do you think that we can jogress-digivolve into Paildramon?"
      Daisuke laughed as he picked up the telephone and dialed Ken's number.
      "If Ken wants to come, I guess it's fine."
      "Moshi moshi." Kim said as she answered the phone.
      "Konnichi wa. May I speak to Ichijouji Ken?"
      "Hai." Daisuke heard the girl run to wherever Ken was sitting in the house, and Ken tell the little girl to go away. "He can't talk right now."
      "Tell him that it's Daisuke."
      The little girl obliged, and Ken took the phone from her. He told her to leave, sighed, then placed the phone to his ear.
      "Dai?"
      "It's me Ken." Daisuke smiled as he laid down on Yamato's couch. "It's been too long."
      "Oh God. Where are you?"
      "I'm at Yamato's. He's out with the Yagami's and Takaishi's. Do you want to come over?"
      "I'm drunk off my ass on rice saki.."
      "Have Stingmon fly you over."
      "Arigato. Dai. Suki."
      Daisuke cheered as he hung up the phone. With as fast as Stingmon could fly, Ken would be at the Ishida apartment in no time. Yet as quickly as the excitement of being alone with Ken came, it faded into a mind-numbing reality. It hurt Daisuke to think that the only way Ken found his life bearable was by being drunk. Couldn't Miyako see that she was killing the poor man? No, Daisuke assured himself, she couldn't. Miyako only cared that she would be more than just a grocery clerk in life.
      I should have told him sooner...
      "Daisuke!" Stingmon called across the apartment. "Open the door! It's too cold out here for Ken!"
      "I'm coming!" Daisuke yelled as he and Veemon ran to the balcony door, allowing Stingmon to carry Ken inside and set him on the couch before digivoling back to Wormmon.
      "Thank you Wormmon." Ken slurred to his partner digimon. "Go play with Veemon. I want to talk to D'suke."
      Wormmon silently protested Ken's order, but quietly walked over to Daisuke.
      "Take good care of Ken."
      Daisuke assured the digimon that he would help Ken, no matter what.
      "Ken-sama?" Daisuke whispered to the shell of a man he once knew. Ken turned away from him as he buried his head in the couch pillows.
      "Don't look at me!"
      "Koi, it's all right. I care about you too much to see anything happen to you. Do you want some coffee?"
      "Hai." Ken's voice cracked through the pillows.
      "Ok. I'll get it for you." Daisuke touched Ken's shoulder before he turned to the kitchen to make the coffee.
      Daisuke couldn't help but smile as he heard the digimon playing in Yamamoto's bedroom.
      Listen to them. They're having such a good time. Even if Ken won't connect with me, at least the digimon are having fun.
      "Dai?" Daisuke turned to see Ken standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "Gomen nasai. I'm drunk. I'm not going to be any fun like this."
      "It's ok Ken." Daisuke smiled as he walked over to Ken. "I'm just happy to see you after all these years." Ken smiled at his friend as Daisuke led him to the kitchen table.
      "I hate Miyako. She's killing me." He sighed as he sat down. "I can't leave my kids though."
      Daisuke brought the cup of coffee to Ken, then sat down next to him.
      "Well, at least you know who your children's mother is. All I know about Daren's mother is that her name was Kierra Stevenson, and she apparently wanted to have him so she could get money from me. I ended up going to court because of this, and I won Daren, but it's just so odd that I don't really remember her. I know he's mine though his name is Daren Joseph Stevenson-Motomiya. She named him. At least Miyako named your children after you.
      Ken chuckled. "True, but I can't stand her. She's always nagging and getting pregnant." He looked straight into Daisuke's chocolate eyes. "I don't think that 'suke and Miya are mine, but I cant prove it. She'll just get mad if I run a paternity test."
      "Well, if you're stuck with her, shy don't you just find another source of happiness?"
      "Hai," Ken took a sip of coffee, then looked up at Daisuke. "but my happiness will never accept me." He stood up, stretching from the stiffness that was part of his daily life. " I don't want to seem rude, but I'm going to lie down."
      "Do you want me to come with you?" Daisuke could kick himself for saying that. That was way too forward, even for Daisuke.
      "Hai." Ken smiled at his friend. "It will be just like old times."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Yamato, Yamamoto, and Daren all quietly entered the Ishida apartment after their dinner with Taichi and the others. Daren was too much like his father- he never failed to make a fool of himself during the dinner. Takuhito wasn't as bad as Daren, but the presence of the two boys seemed to make Yamamoto come alive.
      "Mattie, take Daren to your room and let him sleep on one of the bunks.
      "Hai Papa." Mattie grabbed Daren's hand and pulled him towards his room. "C'mon! You can sleep in 'kura's old bunk!"
      Yamato laughed as he lit a cigarette. The boys were so good together. Much better than Sakura and Yamamoto had ever been. After the boys were in the room, Yamato crushed the cigarette in the ash tray near the door. He needed sleep- he had to be at court early tomorrow, as the divorce would be finalized, and he didn't want Sora to take everything from him. He silently made his way across the apartment to his bedroom, and opened the door.
      Yamato smiled as he gazed at the bed. Daisuke had his arms wrapped around Ken, while Ken's head rested on Daisuke's chest.
      Sleep well koi. I'm so happy you were brave enough to admit your feelings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      "...and since this court believes that both Mateo Taxateur, alias Ishida Yamato, and Takenouchi Sora are equally fit to care for their children, Ishida-san is given custody of Ishida Yamamoto, while Takenouchi-sama is given custody of Ishida Sakura."
      "Your honor," Iori butted in to the judge's speech, "Ishida-san has requested that both children stay together. Is there any way that can happen?"
      "Gomen Hido-kun. There is no way. Both parents are equally fit to take care of the children."
      Yamato sighed as the judge made the settlement final. He did not have to pay child support for Sakura, and he was able to keep most everything, but he was incredibly torn apart inside. One divorce in his life was enough-this second one was even worse.
      "Gomen nasai Mattie." He whispered to his son as the exited the courtroom.
//I wasn't looking for a lifetime with you,
And I never thought it would hurt just to hear
I do and I do and I do a number on myself and all that I thought
To be and you'll be the one that just left me undone by my own- hesitation
And for the million hours that we were,
Well, I'll smile and remember them all, then I'll turn and go,
While your story's completed, mine is a long way from done.//
      Yamato couldn't get the Sister Hazel song out of his head as he drove home from court, and it didn't seem to want to leave as he entered his apartment.
      "Grandpapa!" Yamamoto cheered as he ran to the elder Ishida, who was sitting at the kitchen table.
      "Yamamoto! How's my favorite red-haired grandson?"
      "Sad. I don't get to live with 'kura anymore."
      "Well, I'm sure you'll have a great time living with your Papa. Who needs girls around anyway?" Yamamoto laughed as his grandfather tickled him. "Go play with Daren."
      "Hai!"
      "He really reminds me of Takeru." Yamato nodded as he sat down at the table with his father.
      "Hai, he is a crybaby." The two sat in silence, taking drags from their cigarettes at regular intervals. Both knew what the other would say, but neither wanted to go first.
      "Matt," the elder Ishida stated as he crushed his cigarette in the ash tray next to him. "I know that this is very hard on you. Between Takeru and yourself, you are the more emotionally sensitive."
      "Bull. Takeru is always whining about something."
      "Yamato, just trust me." Yamato sighed as he glared at his father. "You wanted a stable family more than Takeru. And you thought by marrying someone who wasn't interested in you because of your music would be the solution. Sora is a bitch for doing this to you and your children."
      "Tousan, it's partially my fault too. I should have realized that Sora loved me because of my music. She changed after I decided that I couldn't make it as a long forgotten member of a boy band and decided to become an astronaut.
      "Becoming an astronaut is a really big deal for me. I'm going to move to Florida in a little while so I can complete my training.
      "I just don't want to be so far away from everything that Mattie knows."
      "God, Yamato, you sound like me."
      "Well, maybe that's because you molded me in your image! And now it's complete! My children are forced to live apart from each other! Now Sakura can go become a loner and Yamamoto can sit in his room all day crying because he wants to have a real family! Is that what you wanted from me, tousan?" The words were pure venom, accented by Yamato slamming the door as he left the apartment before his father could answer.
      "So what's Yamato worked up about?" Daisuke yawned as he walked from the bedroom to the kitchen.
      Ishida-san lit another cigarette. "He just came home from court. The divorce is final, so now he's blaming me for his problems."
      "Oh" Daisuke sat down next to Ishida-san. "Do you know where he went?"
      "I have my ideas, but no proof. He used to either go visit Taichi or go to Odaiba's music room so he could practice his guitar in peace. Then again, he could be in the digital world."
      "I heard something about Florida. What was that all about?"
      "Yamato is going to move there. He's almost ready to go into space, but he has to train in Florida."
      "That's so cool!" Daisuke said with a smile. "I own a house near Cape Canaveral. He can live in it, since I spend the majority of my time in San Francisco."
      "You're a good kid Dai. Yamato is lucky to have friends like you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      "Oh, Yamato. What are you doing here?" Hikari asked in her 'higher than thou' tone. "I heard that Sora and you are now officially over. It's so sad that you must hurt those poor, innocent children. I..."
      "Shut the hell up 'kari." Yamato spat at his former sister-in-law. "Is Taichi here?"
      "Well, he and Takuhito are going to visit our parents, then they are going on a picnic in the digital world."
      "Hey Yama." Taichi smiled as he and his seven year old son Teeks, as he was affectionately called, entered the living room. "Are you all right?"
      "Well, no. I just came home from court."
      "Ouch. Do you want to come with us to visit my parents? We can talk on the way."
      Yamato smiled. "I couldn't impose."
      "Nonsense. You're coming."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Takeru, why am I such a failure? I thought that if I confronted Taichi so that he could know how I feel about us, he would understand. He'll never speak to me again now.
      It started innocently enough. He left Takuhito with his parents so we could go out to talk. We went to Mitsurai's, that wonderful coffee and tea shop where I play my guitar. Taichi told me that he wanted to move to Florida or back to Japan. He absolutely hates New York. I told him about my plans to move to Florida so I could be an astronaut, and he said that we could get a house together, so our sons could be together. It was just like old times!
      Then, it happened. We were alone at the back table. I was telling him all about how I was so lonely since Sora left me. He smiled as he grabbed my hands, telling me that he would always be here for me. So I kissed him.
      What a mistake. Taichi jumped up and slapped my face. He said that he hates me and doesn't understand how he couldn't figure out that I am gay. I'm not gay 'niichan. Am I?
      I'm moving at the end of the month. I haven't decided if I should go to France or Florida. I just need to get away from all this.
                                                                        Mateo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    My God Takeru! Did you know that your brother is gay? He tried to come on to me tonight! I thought those fansites of your books saying that Taito/Yamachi were false, but they do have proof. At least for Yamachi. Geez... I thought those claims were made up by some crazed otaku. Boy, was I wrong.
      I love Yamato like a brother. He's everything that I could never be. Now he had to ruin our friendship by going too far.
      I didn't think that holding hands- something we've always done to reassure each other in times that we needed to be strong- would give him the idea that I wanted to kiss him! I should have let Metalgarurumon kill me all those years ago when we were fighting the Dark Masters. Now I realize why he attacked me back then- he was upset that I wouldn't love him. That's probably why he stole Sora from me as well.
      I want to see Sora again. Perhaps now we can start dating again, since Yamato is out of both our lives forever.
                                                                                    Taichi
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Both of you are being so immature about this. So what if one of you likes the other as more than a friend? 'niichan, please don't leave us all behind. You know as well as I do that if you move anywhere, you should go to America. Enough of us know English. We could teach you.
      Taichi, DO NOT DO ANYTHING STUPID! Baka! You seek death, or the bitch. I remember Hikari telling me about how much you hated Takenouchi-sama after she refused to go to 'niichan's concert with you. Instead she waited for him. Now she's hurt both of you.
      I refuse to see courage and friendship separated. Hope and Light are no more, while love and kindness are slowly killing each other. Only purity and knowledge- the two opposites- still remain in a happy union.
      Patamon wanted me to tell you two that you shouldn't give up on your friendship like he and I did all those years ago. I was almost killed by my stupidity. Our friendship is the only thing that saved me.
      Don't give up on each other.
                                                                        Takeru
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     Gomen nasai Taichi. Gomen nasai. I am absolutely worthless. I have disgraced myself and my son. I shouldn't have ever thought that you could possibly feel the same as I do. You had Caitlin. She was everything you could have possibly wanted.
      Are you that lonely that you want to be with Ms. Takenouchi? That bitch will take every ounce of life from you. She couldn't take the stars from me, so she left. Taichi, please don't hurt me any more than you already have. Don't start dating my ex wife. I would have to kill myself.
      How could you remind me of when I forced Gabumon to digivolve to mega and attack you?
      I must die like I lived- alone.
                                                                     Mateo Taxateur
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     "Kuso." Taichi swore as he ran from his seat at Hikari's computer to the door. "I don't know when I'll be back!"
      "Oniichan! Where are you going!" Hikari yelled to no one- Taichi had slammed the door before she was able to ask the question. "Baka. That's why I received an angel digimon and he didn't."
      While Hikari informed Hiroki about why they were so special because they received angel digimon, Taichi sprinted across town, in the hopes that he could stop Yamato- no Mateo- the blond was born in France, making him a citizen of the European nation- from doing anything stupid.
      "Come on... pick up the phone baka." Taichi said as the voice mail answered again. He hung up the phone and hit the redial button, hoping that this time would be different.
      "Moshi moshi. Taxateur family."
      "Yamamoto? This is Taichi. Is your tousan with you?"
      "Papa is out on the balcony."
      Lord, please let him be all right.
      "What?"
      "Yama? It's Tai. Please don't do anything irrational. I'll be over in a minute."
      "Taichi," Yamato's words were ice as he balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder, "I'm hanging my laundry out to dry. Last I checked, doing laundry wasn't considered irrational. Besides, I have nothing to say to you Yagami-san."
      "Mateo, I know you don't use your real name unless something important or drastic is going to happen."
      "I'm moving to France, so I'm using my real name. I changed Mattie's name too. so he doesn't sound as Japanese. Yagami-san, I have nothing to say to you."
      "Yama!" Taichi growled at the phone as the whine of dead air came through the receiver. "I still want to be your friend."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      "Taichi, are you ok?" Agumon asked his partner as they stood waiting for the arrival of the shuttle carrying the first digimon in space to arrive back on earth. NASA wanted the diplomat at the arrival to congratulate the crew and Gabumon as well.
      "It's nothing Agumon. I'm just nervous because of all the press that's going to be here." Taichi set his styrofoam cup of coffee down on the window sill, then turned and walked away from his digimon. "Well buddy, let's go get this over with so we can go home."
      Agumon and Taichi stood near the bottom of the landing platform at the space shuttle's exit. Thanks to a formula Koushiro created, astronauts were now able to walk off of space shuttles, without having to worry about exercising in the weightless atmosphere. The first people to exit the shuttle were the technicians and pilots. Both the human and digimon shook their hands, and congratulated them on their accomplishments.
      As the last scientist shook hands with Taichi and Agumon, cameras began to flash towards the door of the shuttle as the platinum haired astronaut with a Republic of France flag on his space suit emerged from his confines. He cradled the Tsunomon in his arms as he strided down the steps, laughing at the reporter's comments to him. He looked confident as he talked to each reporter, but as soon as he noticed Taichi, the confidence changed to pure hatred.
      "Mr. Yagami." Nodded to the ambassador before he turned and began walking away.
      "Monsieur Taxateur!" Mateo spun on his heels to face Taichi.
      "Oui?"
      "On behalf of the residents of the digital world, we would like to congratulate Tsunomon and yourself as being the first digimon and its partner in space."
      "Hn." Mateo turned and walked away from the ambassador.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      "Matt," Gabumon, who had digivolved when the two returned to their home on the beach, stated as he helped Mateo set the table for dinner. "why did we have to be so rude to Agumon and Taichi when we came off the shuttle?"
      "I have to be rude." Mateo stated with his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. "I only respect the citizens of France, and the last time I checked, Yagami Taichi is not French."
      "I'll get it." The fourteen year old Matthew called to his father as he walked to the door. The wild red-blond haired teen was looking more like his father every day, and Taichi could have sworn that he was looking at the old Ishida Yamato.
      "Hey." Matthew folded his arms as he glared at the forty year old man in front of him.
      "Hi Mattie. Is your dad here?"
      "Uh, yeah. Don't call me Mattie again, got it?"
      "Sorry. Can I see him?" Matthew ran a hand through his hair, pulling it out of his eyes.
      "I don't know. Do you have xray vision or something?" Taichi wanted to grab the arrogant boy and slap him for being so rude to an adult.
      "Where is he!?!" Taichi growled as he pushed his way in to the house.
      "Papa!" Matthew yelled across the house as he tried to restrain Taichi. "Yagami-kun is attacking me!"
      "You little bastard!" Taichi spat at the boy as Mateo ran in the room. "You are such a liar!"
      "Matthew doesn't lie, unlike some goggle-clad person we know."
      Taichi sighed. "I deserve that, but Mateo, please listen to me."
      Mateo Taxateur crossed his arms as he stared at the ambassador. "Talk."
      "I can't do it with Matthew here."
      Mateo smiled. "Then get out of my house if you don't have anything to say. You're not welcome here as it is."
      Taichi sighed. Mateo's ultimatum was too much-if he said what he felt, either Matthew or himself would hurt Mateo, but if he didn't say anything, he would never be able to see Mateo again. Chocolate eyes met sapphire eyes as he approached the blond, thanking his pale hand in his much tanner ones.
      "I want to apologize for how I acted when I was in Tokyo all those years ago. I want everything to be back to the way it was."
      Mateo stared at Taichi. He could tell the latter was sincere- Taichi was never a good liar. The blond lit another cigarette, held it to his lips, then exhaled a perfect smoke ring.
      "Matthew, go to the store and buy me some chocolate and coffee."
      The teen walked out of the room, leaving the two middle aged men alone in the kitchen.
      "What do you mean by that?" Mateo sat down at the kitchen table. Taichi followed suit, sitting across from his former friend.
      "Life has been hell without you Yamato. I've been alone these past four years. I want my Yama back."
      Mateo closed his eyes. "Your 'Yamato' is gone. He's been replaced by someone far less sensitive than him. I'm Mateo now."
      "Mateo," Taichi growled, obviously annoyed with the fact the blond wasn't trying to connect with him, "I am so sorry for hitting you. I know by refusing your advances, I hurt you. I want to apologize, so maybe you'll forgive me."
      Mateo chuckled as he took another drag from his cigarette. He then placed the half-finished cigarette in the ash tray in front of him, crossed his arms, and smirked at Taichi.
      "So what? Am I just supposed to forgive and forget, ne? I loved you more than you ever knew! You hurt me so much when you called me names! So what if I'm attracted to men? You don't need to call me names- the rest of the world does that. You broke our friendship by your intolerance. I don't want anything to do with you. C'est la vive."
      "God, Yama! You are so stubborn! I'm here trying to make amends, and you're not willing to help!"
      "I don't think that it's fair for me to act like nothing happened when you just show up out of the blue asking for me to take you back! And my name isn't Yama-"
      Mateo's eyes grew wide as he was cut off by Taichi's kiss. The brunette's actions surprised the blond, but soon Mateo closed his eyes, allowing Taichi to deepen the kiss.
      After a moment, the keeper of courage backed away from the bearer of friendship, awaiting the latter's reaction.
      The blond didn't move. He seemed to be basking in the thrill of his silent victory as he slowly opened his eye; a slight smile crossing his lips.
      "Was it everything you wanted to find?"
      Mateo chuckled as he stood up to hug Taichi. "And I missed you while I was looking for myself out there."
      "Do you think Matthew would mind babysitting Teeks for me? We have a lot of catching up to do."
      "He'll do it." Mateo stated as walked to the telephone and picked it up. "Where do you live?"
      "Two roads over. It's about a ten minute walk."
      The ensuing phone conversation between the Taxateurs was in French, which caused Taichi to listen intently, trying to pick out any words he had learned at all of his meetings at the UN and other places. He had no idea what Mateo said- the blond talked way too fast for him to understand.
      "So do you two always speak French?"
      Mateo shrugged. "Only in public. People usually can't understand us, which is good at times."
      "I know a little French."
      Mateo raised an eyebrow as he gazed skeptically at Taichi. "Oh really? By the way, kissing doesn't count."
      Taichi sniffled as he threw a hurt look in Mateo's direction, but then smiled.
      "Voulez vous coucher avec moi?"