To Help a Friend[o]

[Sora Takenouchi]

There were some things in life that never changed, despite everything else that did. The girl sat herself upon a bench up under a tree, eyes closed as she waved a small gathering of envelopes in front of her face. They were the latest in the many challenges, fan letters and everything else people had managed to give her for Tai. Honestly, she wished they wouldn't keep up the constant ego boost for the teen, but then again, it was well deserved. Tai had been playing the Digimon MMO way more than most, in fact, he had been playing it more than studying.

But she was certain that all this attention would eventually get the better of him, Matt at least had been somewhat level headed in getting second place. Even she was playing the game, but she still wasn't letting it stop her from keeping her grades up. Thankfully, the boy had enough friends to help with that, which was why she was out there today. Though slowly, she was starting to lose patience, fingers tapping against the top of her crossed legs, her school uniform, gently pushed to the side as she sat in wait.

"He better not have forgotten about meeting me here...."

A frown came to her face as she reached into her pocket, pulling out a small device. On the screen appeared a pink feathered face, along with a small message stating her last log in date, and previous victories. The creature than giggled as it turned to the next page, showing her battle record, causing Sora to blush as it was pretty bad.

"Whatever...its a stupid game..."

Turning it off, she placed it back into her pocket as she gently pushed a strand of her hair back, looking towards the sky while she narrowed her eyes.

"I'm gonna kill him....This is the last time I volunteer to help him out..."

[Tai Kamiya]

It wasn’t his fault! Or… not entirely. There had definitely been some charity offered his way by his friend Sora in light of helping him out with some stuff, and Tai had of course accepted it with great enthusiasm, but at the same time… he had forgotten about a battle that he had planned to have around that same time. Someone had challenged him, which meant that Tai couldn’t back down or else. One fight had led to another and then… well… now he was way overdue to meet up with Sora.

“She’s gonna kill me!” he knew it. He knew her well enough by now to know that she was going to feel slighted by this… But in the boy’s own mind, his reasoning for being late was completely justified. Sora would understand, wouldn’t she?

He found her on a bench.

Seeking to avoid a scolding, Tai heaved out a long breath and looked at the girl apologetically. "I lost track of time... Have you been waiting long?" He sighed, immediately thereafter realizing that he still had Agumon's digivice in his hand. His eyes widened at the realization, worried that it would be just the thing to tip Sora off to what he had been up to before now. In a haste, Tai shoved the device into his pocket as stealthily as he could while simultaneously moving to sit at the end of the bench.

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[Sora Takenouchi]

Upon the appearance of the boy, Sora looked towards him with a blank expression, then frowning as she heard him state how the time had gotten away from him, an excuse she probably would have believed, if not for noticing the Digi-vice in his hands. As he attempted to sneak it into his pocket, the girl stood up, tossing her book bag over her shoulder as she closed her eyes. This was her best friend, and yet he didn't even know the meaning of restriant. But then again, this wasn't a new thing for Tai. She didn't like the idea of him having to lie to her.

"Long enough....Tai the least you can do is try and take this seriously! You're like a month behind in half of your assignments! Not to mention that exams are almost here..."

Her eyes opened to show a look of concern on her face. She really did want him to pass. Of all the times he had helped her, she always wanted to try and do the same for him. Because that was what friends did for one another.

" I really want to help, but I can't do the homework for you if thats what your thinking?..."

Pointing the fingertips of her left hand towards her chest, the teenage girl then shook her head before gently walking over to him, and placing the letters into his hand.

"These are for you...More fan letters and challenges...Though why they gave them to me, I do not know..."

A small smile came over her face as she then backed away as she looked towards him, allowing a frown to take over.

"Did you at least win? I know you were battling..."

[Tai Kamiya]

“Th—that far?” Why was it that Sora knew better how far behind he was than he did himself? “Uuuughhhh….” Gosh, why would she even bring exams up? They still felt so far off into the distance for Tai and he wanted to hold onto that feeling for as long as possible! This wasn’t the time to start thinking about the hard tests.

The preteen heaved out an exasperated sigh, feeling as though he was on his way toward getting a lecture from Sora, his friend, his trusted ally! She shouldn’t be doing this to him, it was a stupid thought and she would never go for it but he wished that she would just like do his homew—…err, “ No! No, of course not!” he waved his hands around to put emphasis on his words, denying it. No… he really couldn’t just cheat off of her but… he couldn’t do it on his own either when he didn’t understand half the crap they had been doing in class the past month.

He accepted the fan letters from Sora as a way of pushing aside his academic troubles and focusing rather on something more manageable. He usually waited until he was at home before he looked at this kind of thing. Something about public places just made it… kind of awkward. A park bench therefore didn’t seem like a location for opening fan mail or challenges. And since Tai didn’t know either why the fans had gone to her, he could only find a response in smiling weakly back at her.

But it transformed into a smirk the moment Sora had given him an opening to talk of something that was actually interesting and worth mentioning. “Of course! I mean, c’mon, Sora,” the boy snickered, holding out the fan mail as though it were some sort of trophy or prize. “Look at all this, this kind of thing doesn’t happen to the guys who lose.”

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[Sora Takenouchi]

The fact that Tai was so shocked by how far behind he was confirmed to the girl's suspicion that he hadn't even attempted to try and keep up. Which was enough to cause her to release another sigh as she lowered her head and shook it slowly. This would be much more difficult than she had thought. But then again, what wasn't with him? When it came to something of interest, he would put his all into it and be successful, but if it didn't he would slack off or completely ignore it until the last minute.

After she finished with her lecture, he shook his head quickly to the idea of her doing the work for him, raising her brow as if she had truly believed that he had been thinking just that. Though after changing the topic, he seemed to regain his energy, waving the letters in hand as he proclaimed that losers didn't receive fan mail.

"They don't flunk out of school either Tai....."

With narrowed eyes, Sora annoyed expression returned to one of concern as she continued to look at him.

"Just promise me that you'll at least try and focus on your studies? Remember...its just a game. I don't think the world will end if you stop playing or defending your title for at least two hours..."

As a smirk came over her lips, the girl then began walking onto the sidewalk as she turned her head around and grinned towards him.

"Or at least until I catch up! I think Nerima's champion should be someone with a lot more appeal than lots of hair and bravado.."

In truth, Sora had no idea how to play the game, not completely anyway. After being first introduced to it by Tai, she had slowly begun to make progress over time. But unlike her friend, she hadn't put all her energy into it, focusing more on her life than that of a game. It was a fun break though, especially from her own problems. In fact, part of the reason she was helping Tai study was due to her wanting to avoid her mother. The two had had another argument that morning, mostly having to due with Sora not going to the studio after school to practice her flower arranging.

At this point, she was willing to do anything to dodge that upcoming conflict, so why not try and help a friend succeed?

Sticking out her tongue as she teased the boy, Sora than waited for him to catch up before making her way towards the library on campus.

" In any event...I guess I'm proud of you for managing to handle the pressure of being the city champion. I'm more surprised you haven't become paranoid. I'd say your about as cool headed as Matt at this point...."

[Tai Kamiya]

Flunking. That resonated with him as if he had not thought of it before. But now Sora was starting to sound like his mom, getting all serious on him like that, getting on his case for not spending more time studying. Things had been going so well with him and Agumon that he had barely lent a thought toward where his lack of studies was leading him. Everything was going so well; it hadn’t felt as though he was missing something along the way.

“You don’t know that,” the boy frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, yeah, he was protesting that horrible things might happen if he stopped playing. He believed it! At the very least, Tai’s world would end if he stopped playing for too long and lost his touch. But he could see why Sora would call it ‘just a game’. It wasn’t as if she was very good. She probably needed just as much tutoring in Digimon Online as he did in math!

“Wait—what? What’s that supposed to mean, Sora?” he had appeal…! And… and where was she going so quickly? Tai had to launch himself off the bench just to make sure she didn’t go out of earshot fast enough to avoid him. He was worried that she was mad, but it didn’t seem that way. “I can help you catch up on the game, if you want… since you’re helping me catch up on dumb school stuff,” the boy casually offered. Hoping that she would say yes.

He caught up to Sora, smiling brightly as he shoved the mail into his pocket. "Thanks, but I haven't felt that much pressure about it. I guess because I have Agumon by my side in this. But uh... why would I be paranoid?" They were getting closer and closer to the dreaded library.

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[Sora Takenouchi]

Sora could only listen to his reasoning and blink. He was really attached to the creature sitting in his pocket, despite the fact that it was really just a bunch of pixels. The girl couldn't really see it as she would a dog or an actual animal, just a toy pet that could be used in a game. Though the way he spoke of him, there was obviously something there. It worried her a bit, but as long as he wasn't screaming each time the thing got hurt, he was probably ok. Just Tai being Tai.

"Well...You are considered the highest ranking player within Nerima, people kind know where you go to school and who you hang out with. That really doesn't leave much space for yourself and any person could come out of the blue and challenge you. Not to mention it's more likely to happen with Zony's Digimon Online Tournament on the way..."

Holding a single finger to her chin, her eyes stared up towards the sky as she listed off these possibilities, but then smiled as she shook her head as her hand returned to rested once the other one as they remained encased over her book bag before her.

"But thats just me worrying I guess.....After all, I wouldn't want you getting hurt or anything...especially not over some virtual game"

Bumping lightly into Tai with her hip, the teen then relaxed as she looked towards the library as it became more and more visible on their approach. Though as it did, she began to consider a bit of what Tai had offered and part of her stated to become interested as well. In truth, she had been doing a lot more studying than really having any fun. With Soccer still a few months away, she didn't have any other escape from home aside from the library. Though this might be a good chance to do something a bit different.

As they arrived at the entrance, she could almost read the boys thoughts just by the look in his eyes, sighing as she turned around and held her hand out towards him.

"Ok...I kinda came up with an alternative to this arrangement. I want to get better at the game, and you want to get better grades....You can show me how to play the game and I will help you study for two hours each week after....That way, you can keep up your active image and I can catch up..."

Her expression was serious as she felt her face blush a bit. It was almost as though she were giving in to his habit, which she was. But it was probably also because she couldn't stand to see him look so down. Maybe it would help if he had fun, then studied. Plus...she could already imagine him simply looking up towards the ceiling while she basically lectured him through class notes, which wasn't fun for her either, in fact...it reminded her of her own mother.

Last person I want to imitate....

"So...deal?"