Decided to give this a revamp. I wanted to have Tai and Sora's faces showing a little more than in the previous version, and when they are just leaning in for the kiss
Summary: On the day after New Year's Eve, Sora misses her sunny boyfriend, worrying herself sick over his whereabouts. Luckily, her friends have some flower-y surprises, with the biggest one to come at the end.
A/N: Happy New Year! Today marks the date of something dear to my heart and so it’s time for Taiora double bill part 2 (here's part 1)! See it as some sort of “anniversary present” ;) And remember, no matter how far we’re apart, turn your head to the sun (or moon, because you’re more of a moon person) and you know we live underneath the same sky <3
Enjoy!
P.S. That song is an ChatGPT original haha :D
Taiora double bill pt. 2 | Characters: Sora Takenouchi (POV) x Taichi Yagami, appearances and mentions of the other DigiDestined | Genre: Long distance surprise, romance, general, friendship | Rating: T | Wordcount: 3.094
Tour • ne • sol
Sora would be lying when she said New Year’s was a blast. Right before the clock would strike midnight, she had felt nothing but anxious and alone. Why exactly that feeling was dominating, she couldn’t pinpoint. She was surrounded by people she loved and who loved her back just as much, if not more. And the past year had been an absolute miracle in so many ways. Her trip to Italy standing out to her the most.
The trip to Taichi. The trip that changed it all.
It had been one of the hardest goodbyes when they had to part in August, knowing he had to stay while she had to leave again. It was a bittersweet goodbye. Bitter, because their parting happened right after finally answering the genuine love the two of them had been feeling all along. Sweet, because, at least, it wasn’t forever.
Fortunately, time had passed rather quickly and now it was already January 1st. Taichi would return to Tokyo at the end of February, in time for her birthday and a planned vacation they would spend together. Sora was absolutely thrilled, looking forward to every future second. Sure she had been missing him until now, but it would all turn out fine.
Still there was this anxious feeling.
Perhaps, deep down inside, she was afraid for his return. Would the feelings have stayed the same, or did they change? What if he would look different than what she could remember. Than how she had always known him? Something told her, however, that that anxious feeling had nothing to do with those irrational fears.
Sora bit her lip, looking down at the cellphone in her hand. The screen was lit, on it Taichi’s last message to her.
Happiest of New Years to you my lovely Sora!
It had definitely turned a smile on her face and of course she texted back as soon as she could, but due to an overloaded mobile network and the poor reception that was the logical follow-up, her message didn’t come through. That had made her anxious of course, but the phone call she had with him earlier in the day had made up for it.
But now it was the morning after, her message was eventually sent, but he didn’t replied, probably not even seen it. A wave of sadness overcame Sora and the anxious feeling of being forgotten washed over her.
Sora sighed.
For all she knew, Taichi was still celebrating with his newfound friends in Italy. She wanted, needed, to know and with her fingers she typed another message to ask him about his day and celebrations, only for it to be deleted again right after. She wasn’t the pushy girlfriend, right? If he wanted to text her, he would.
All sorts of scenarios crossed her mind, from Taichi kissing other girls to him being drunk from all the Italian wine and this passed out. Maybe his phone died. Maybe it fell, or he lost it…
“Stop it Sora, you can trust him! Right?” she said out loud to no one in particular as she held her phone to her forehead. For a little while she stood like that, unnecessary tears stinging behind her closed eyes. She wasn’t going to give in to those, and she didn’t have to.
Through her eyelids Sora could see a sudden light, cueing that her phone had just received a message to show her. Her eyes shot open and within a second she had unlocked her phone. Her messaging thread with Taichi was still opened, but there was no new message to be found.
Slightly annoyed, Sora swiped away Taichi’s chat to see who was the one who had sent her a message. Probably her mom telling her she had forgotten something at their house early this morning, she immediately thought, but she was surprised by someone else’s name.
Sora-san! Happy New Year! I have a little present for you, I’m at your door in 5 minutes. Could you open up? Love you soooooo much!
It was Mimi and a smile replaced her frown. Sora remembered how lucky she had been with such wonderful friends, then remembered she wasn’t exactly dressed to receive guests, so she hurried to the bathroom to wash up and dress herself in something more decent. She hoped that Mimi’s coming by would cheer her up good enough to stop the sulking over her boyfriend being far far away from her.
Just in time before she could get back into the sulking, the bell rang and she sprinted to the door to welcome Mimi in. As she opened the door, Sora tilted her head in pleasant surprise.
“Not alone I see?” she asked with a grin on her face.
“Hello Sora-san, happy New Year.”
“Nope! As you can see, I dragged Koushiro-kun with me. Hope that’s okay with you? We actually won’t stay long,” Mimi said with a wink.
The two guests entered Sora’s apartment, both of them being familiar enough to know the way once inside. Sora closed the door and followed her friends into her own living room where all three of them took a seat, Mimi on the chair and Sora and Koushiro on the couch. Mimi placed the bag she had been holding on the coffee table in front of Sora.
“I baked you something!” Mimi exclaimed happily as she impatiently waited for Sora to reveal the insides of the bag.
She found it the sweetest gesture, but had no clue to what she owed this exactly. Nonetheless, she was grateful for it and carefully unpacked the baking from the bag.
“Is it a carrot cake?”
“Mmhm!” Mimi confirmed excitedly, nodding her head rapidly. “But I gave it a touch by adding a nice amount of sunflower seeds. To wish you both an orange and sunny new year.”
Sora smiled as she kept looking at the cake, the orange and ‘sunny’ reminding her of Taichi. She was happy with the gift, but couldn’t help to feel the sadness pinching a little. She looked up to look at Mimi, hiding away any visible sorrow.
“It looks delicious. Thank you Mimi-chan, I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime,” Mimi said lovingly, flying out of the chair to give Sora a friendly little hug. “You deserve to have all the orange and sunshine in your life. He will return in less than two months, am I right?”
Of course Mimi looked right through her, Sora thought to herself. Without saying a word, hiding it away as best as possible, Mimi knew it anyway. And of course she tried to find a way to cheer Sora up. So Sora nodded to the question, now knowing she was unable to hide it from them.
“Then why the sad face?” Mimi asked as she sat back down in the chair.
Sora looked down at her own hands. “He hasn’t texted me after his last message at midnight our time. I’m a bit worried I think?”
“I see,” Koushiro started, “it’s normal to feel that way. But I don’t think you have to worry, Sora-san.” Koushiro reassured her with a knowing smile, a careful hand gently placed on her shoulder. He usually wasn’t the type for physical reassurances like these, but with Sora he felt more open and she absolutely loved her co-redhead for it.
“Unless he fell into a river while being overly drunk. I mean, right? There is a river in Rome, right?”
“Mimi-san!” Koushiro called out. Mimi ducked away further into the chair, in her way feeling sorry for her words. Sora could only laugh at her friends’ antics, even though Mimi’s words did sting a little, exposing a possible truth Sora wished wouldn’t be true. “Anyway,”
Koushiro diverted everyone’s attention with just that one word, his hand reaching for something in his pocket. Sora watched him closely, curious what was so important to change the subject. It didn’t take long for Koushiro to take the item out and he proudly held up a USB stick.
“It contains a little PowerPoint presentation I made.”
Sora thought it was suspicious, for the simple fact that it was ‘just’ a PowerPoint and not some sort of complicated other piece of software Koushiro would have created himself.
“I think it might peaks your interest, maybe you could take a look and let me know what your findings are?”
Unable to say no to her friends, she held out her hand and took the little thing from Koushiro. “I let you know,” Sora said with her kindest smile
“But not now!” Mimi said after looking at the clock hanging on the wall. “Koushiro-kun and I have to go.”
Sora’s suspicion rose. “Why the sudden hurry?”
“Koushiro-kun and I promised to pick up my cousin from Europe!”
“Together?”
“Mimi-san didn’t want to drive alone, so she asked me to accompany her.”
It at least sounded honest. Sora nodded and followed her friends to the door to say them goodbye. As she shut the door behind them, the feeling of being alone flooded back. Sora sighed, dragging herself and her racing mind back to the living room.
Once arrived, she seated herself on the chair, slumping away while tightly holding on to one of the pillows. Her eyes looked at the cake and the USB on her coffee table and a faint and grateful smile appeared. She didn’t have much time to take it all in and wonder about their intentions.
*PING*
The phone in her pocket announced an incoming message. Her heart skipped a beat and with one sharp motion she flew out of the chair, now able to get deep into her pocket. Her heart skipped another beat seeing the first part of the name on her screen.
Yagami
She should have known though that he wasn’t the only one with that last name in her phone and disappointment hit like a stab in her stomach.
Hikari: Happy New Year dear Sora-san! I wish for you to have a warm year with lots of Love and Light that will brighten your sky. I was going through some pictures from crafts made by my kindergarten kids and I stumbled upon some shiny ones! Who knows this will make you feel less alone, he will be back before you know it.
Sora wondered whether Mimi or Koushiro had texted Hikari to let her know about how she felt. Especially after looking at the pictures of the crafts Hikari had sent her. Sunflowers, in all forms and shapes. The yellow and orangeness combined with the by the children taken creativity warmed Sora’s heart, Hikari’s attentiveness even making her heart flutter.
Still she couldn’t help but to want the attention from the girl’s brother and not Hikari. So Sora quickly typed a thank you message in return before heading over to her chat with Taichi. With blind annoyance she wrote a message.
Taichi, where are you? I’m starting to feel like I’m not important enough for you. I feel kind of neglected? Anyway, I’m worrying myself sick over you and that’s not the way to start the year for Kami’s sake.
For once she did not read it twice and immediately hit send only to feel complete guilt right after. Her heart started racing.
I’m sorry! I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I just… I love you so much and you haven’t replied to anything and I just want to know whether you’re safe or not. Please, Taichi, can you please send me a message back? Even though it’s just an “I’m OK”… I’m so sorry…
Sora bit her lip as she crushed her phone between her hands as it was the only way for her tension to get out. She was on the verge of crying, of feeling miserable and an incredibly bad girlfriend. Her mind wandered everywhere and felt numb all the same. She was slowly losing herself and hyperventilation was close.
However, a vibration in between her hands brought her back from the spiraling. For a moment she concentrated on the ongoing vibrations, easing the fast pace of her heart. Or at least try. Because the chance this was Taichi calling her was rather high after those messages she sent and Sora wasn’t sure whether she was ready to face him like this.
She was both relieved with and surprised by the caller ID popping up on her screen.
“Yamato?”
“Hey Sora, happy New Year.”
She had never felt so happy to hear his voice. There was no way for her tears to stay hidden.
“Are you okay?” He sounded worried. Knowing.
She nodded, then remembered she was on the phone. “Yes. No. I don’t know? I’m just happy it’s you who’s calling and not him.”
There was a short silence on the other side, but Sora knew Yamato was nodding his head. Taking his time to find the right words.
“I know this is hard to believe when you’re feeling the way you are feeling, but believe me as I say that Taichi hasn’t forgotten you. He would never forget about you, you and I both know that,” he reassured her and Sora nodded understandingly. “And if it helps, he hasn’t texted me either. I think he’s just… occupied. You’ll hear from him sooner than you think.”
“Okay,” she replied quietly, taking the time to let his words sink in a little more. “Thank you, Yamato, and a happy New Year to you too,” she eventually said.
“Thanks.”
“To what do I owe this phone call?” She asked.
“Erm…” he sounded nervous. “I was wondering… could you listen to these lyrics I just wrote?”
Lyrics? Sora thought to herself. “You’re writing music again?”
“Just a little something. You don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to—”
“No! I’d love to actually.”
“Alright,” he said and after some shuffling he started softly playing.
Sora closed her eyes and she felt herself zoning out. The melody felt like warming rays of light embracing her.
As the seasons change, and the days drift by
We’ll hold onto the light, under the open sky
Through gentle rain, and the storms that may come,
We’ll stand tall and strong, turning to the sun
The lyrics made their way to her heart and a single tear rolled its way over her cheek, a bright smile accompanying it.
“It’s beautiful,” she said as he ended his singing. They exchanged some more words, making Sora feel a bit more relaxed, then wished each other a good day.
“Oh, before I forget,” Yamato interrupted. “Please look in your mailbox, I think Takeru has left something in there. I gotta go now, take care of yourself.”
And with that he hung up, leaving Sora with questions.
Hadn’t it all been a coincidence? Her friends, acting like this. Everyone coming over, texting her, calling her, apparently leaving her things in her mailbox… Everyone, except that stupid Taichi.
Sora balled her fists, then walked to her front door, stepping into her shoes and opening it. On the ground stood a small glass bottle with a note attached to it. Another surprise.
“Hi Sora-kun, Jyou here! I got you a little massage oil, it’s made from sunflower oil and I immediately thought of you. Please save it for a special occasion. And a happy New Year!”
Again the sunflowers… What was going on with everyone?
She placed Jyou’s present inside, shut the door and headed for the staircase of her apartment’s building. Because even though she could take the elevator, the stairs seemed to be more fitting to get that adrenaline out of her system.
She jumped, flew down the stairs, skipping at least two steps of the stairs with every step. Once arrived on the ground floor, Sora sprinted to the mailbox, opening the thing and immediately seeing what Yamato had meant on the phone.
There was a little notebook with on the first page Takeru’s handwriting telling her the notebook contained handwritten short stories about sunflowers. And that all their other friends had come to him with inspiration.
Sora’s mind was blown, completely overwhelmed with all the information she received. The gifts, the sunflowers… Still the feeling of being ignored by her own boyfriend lingered the most. And she wanted to ugly cry and scream. Loud.
She turned around to see if there was anyone there who could worry over her if she was going to scream.
“Sora,”
She turned around, her eyes taking in the sight of a boy she had been longing for since midnight. His brown hair was a bit of a mess, his cheeks showing a blush, though Sora couldn’t tell whether it was from being outside or from their for her unexpected encounter. In his hand he held a bouquet of sunflowers.
Sora could feel the tears sting. Her friends were right when they said he would be back sooner than she thought he would.
“It was really hard to get these flowers in the middle of winter.”
She exhaled quick and sharp, only to inhale the air right back. “Oh no, you didn’t…”
“I kinda did?” Taichi replied and Sora could hear both the excitement as the worry in his voice. “Please don’t hate me…” He lowered the bouquet.
She had felt every emotion these past twelve hours. She had been plain mad and worried and desperate, both separately as all at once. But now, all she felt was relieve and sheer love for her Taichi standing in front of her.
“How could I?” Sora said, longing in her eyes.
“Well, I thought you’d be more excited and— ouch!”
She slapped his arm first. Then threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck while her lips found his as if they had never done anything else in life.
“Excited enough for you?” Sora asked as she parted her lips from Taichi, locking her eyes with his and staring deeply into them.
The lopsided grin on his face said it all.
x X x X x
Bonus time! (They have just watched the PowerPoint about Sunflowers made by Koushiro)
She grabbed the hem of his sleeve and stretched it out over his hand.
“What are you doing?” He asked, his eyes shifting from Sora to his sleeve and back to Sora.
Sora looked at him with a fond smile, not answering his question. She then looked down at her own sleeve and stretched it the same way she had stretched Taichi’s. Carefully she tied the two ends together into en tight knot.
A/N: Here’s a drabble of a concept that has been sitting in my WIPs for what feels like ages. I’m exaggerating obviously, but it’s an idea that has stuck and now’s finally the time to give it a stage. Non-established Taiora, taking place in my "About all the times" universe [x][x].
Loosely ‘based’ on this fanart of Sora holding her school uniform skirt (and looking absolutely disgusted by it).
Summary: Middle school is approaching which means: school uniforms for both Taichi and Sora. Taichi has a hard time imagining Sora -the tomboy- in a skirt, but when he actually sees her...
Day 2: School days | Characters: Taichi Yagami (POV), Sora Takenouchi, Koushiro Izumi | Genre: Friendship | Rating: K | Wordcount: 732
“A skirt…”
“Don’t tell me you aren’t aware of the fact that girls do indeed have to wear skirts in middle and high school, Taichi-san.”
“Yeah, I’m aware. It’s just… I don’t think I can imagine her in a skirt.”
Taichi stared at the closed curtains of the fitting room their female friend was currently in. He had to admit that to some extent, he had liked the idea of seeing girls wearing skirts on a daily base soon. But after seeing the horror in her eyes, holding up the to her hideous thing, he was a tad more careful with what he liked.
He repeated her words in his mind like a broken record playing.
“I do not want to wear a skirt.”
The image of her holding up the thing between only her thumbs and index fingers, the other six fingers keeping a distance to the fabric as if it was the filthiest thing she had ever seen and held, remained stuck with those repeating words.
Sorry was what he felt for her. In fact, Taichi was so sorry he had been trying to come up with what he thought were solutions. To make her laugh, like he always tried. He should’ve known though he would never succeed, like he had not done yet.
“Maybe you can ask to wear trousers instead?”
“And being the only girl wearing trousers? No.”
“Or you could wear the trousers over the skirt.”
“That still makes me the only girl wearing trousers. It’s also one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. So no.”
“Okay, theeeeen… the only option left is burning it and go to school in your underpants!”
“Ugh, I can’t with you!”
He would only make her more mad and annoyed with him.
Koushiro had looked at him like he had seen him looking at him a thousand times, scolding him for being stupid with only his eyes, shaking head and sighs.
In a way, however, Taichi had succeeded. Simply because giving her those rather crazy options made her step into the fitting room and close the curtains shut behind her. And she had not entered it solely to be rid of him, but probably to try the skirt on anyway.
She was stubborn like that and when it came to Taichi, she needed to prove her right of the skirt being awful. Little did she know he was never going to give her that right, even when he had a hard time imagining her wearing one.
She had been in his soccer team for as long as he could remember, always playing alongside the boys. Besides, she wasn’t just playing games as she was one of the few players who could actually score a goal. People would always describe her as the tomboy, the girl who was wearing the pants in every sense and meaning. But she wasn’t as tough as she looked most of the time, under that hard exterior hidden a gentle and caring young woman.
Taichi recalled the times in the Digital World where she had a hard time accepting her Crest. In the end, there was nothing to accept, all she needed was the strength to look at herself in the mirror and see the girl she already but unknowingly was.
The skirt contained the same symbolism. It was the one thing she needed to finally see what feminine potential she was hiding inside.
And underneath those jeans she was always wearing.
He watched the curtain slowly open, revealing his friend dressed in the green colored school uniform. His eyes boldly scanned her from top to bottom, stopping at her skirt for a bit longer, his eyes unable to deny the long legs it was exposing.
A blush started to form on his cheeks.
“What do you guys think?” She asked sounding a bit insecure, her comfortable level low, but not as low and annoyed as it was before.
“I think it suits you better than how you pictured it, Sora-san,” Koushiro answered politely with a warm smile. It made Sora smile back shyly.
“I—erm…” Taichi started, trying to find the right words to say. Pity he could only come up with more stupid-sounding ones.
“I like you in a skirt.”
“Baka,” Sora said, unable to hide the red shade quickly appearing, fumbling with the skirt she was wearing like your typical shy school girl.
snowghoul
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