Turn around
By the Black Goddess
Disclaimer: Digimon are not mine. The lyrics are not mine, though they are (apparently - my sister found them) actually one of the songs Matt's band sings. I don't know who owns them. I've probably been influenced by many things (Blackadder perhaps, what with Baldrick's 'cunning plans') but I can't be bothered to state them all here, so see my profile for details (yes, I am that sad!) I don't think this is really taken from anywhere - the first part at least is probably pretty standard (sorry!). Oh, and although the idea of Matt being in a band belongs to Digimon, my sister, Empress of the Eclipse, made up these personalities (may she burn in hell!)
A/N This started out as a simple fluff fic, a happy TAITO story. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of using the band. Once mentioned, they moved in, rearranged the furniture, got very drunk and hijacked the story. My sister has created a monster! BAN THE BAND! This fic is now spiralling out of control, faster than Akemi can say "Why don't we..." As such suggestions are welcome! Anyway, enough of the rambling. This fic contains m/m hints or SLASH! If two boys kissing etc. bothers you then go away!
"Ishida Yamato, stay behind. I'd like to speak to you."
Matt groaned inwardly. It was a nice sunny day and he'd been looking forward to the end of the day and getting home. Now he'd be stuck here for at least five minutes while some teacher droned on about how his grades had fallen off in the past few months, and how he should get his act together. Matt knew his grades had dropped. Between the band, obsessing over Tai and replaying all of Tai's actions to see if there was any chance Tai felt the same way as he did Matt didn't really have much time for his schoolwork. He nodded to show the teacher he'd heard. When her back was turned, he caught Tai's eye. Tai pulled a face at him in sympathy.
"Now Matt, I don't want to lecture you" his teacher informed him when all the others had gone. "I don't think that shouting at you is going to do any good at all. I'm going to tell you how your behaviour and attitude affects me. I see a clever boy who could do great things, things that could benefit the human race, and I see him throwing away all that talent and all that potential to do the same boring, mundane things as everybody else, and that makes me angry. I believe that you could make a great contribution to mankind, do things that no one has done before, and the fact that you will settle for a boring run-of-the-mill life because you can't be bothered making an effort makes me feel so frustrated. I know there have been problems at home, but you shouldn't let your home situation hold you back. Do you understand me Matt?" Matt nodded. "Will you try harder in the future?" Matt nodded again.
When Matt was finally allowed to leave the classroom, he automatically looked around for Tai. Whenever one of them was held back, the other always waited for them. He was momentarily surprised that Tai wasn't there, before he remembered where Tai had gone. He scowled and headed for the gates. He was getting sick of being ignored by Tai. Ever since Tai had started going out with Mari, he'd had less and less time for Matt and his other friends. Matt sighed as he walked down the corridor. He didn't begrudge Tai a girlfriend, but he was jealous all the same. Matt had accepted the knowledge that his feelings for Tai went far beyond the boundaries of friendship and he had almost accepted the fact that, for now at least, there was no chance of Tai returning his feelings, but that didn't make his feelings any easier to handle. Pushing open the main door, he walked outside into the sunlight. He didn't pause but headed straight for the gate. Only his eyes moved sideways. Sure enough, there was Tai, sitting on the bench underneath the willow tree with Mari. They were sitting very close and laughing, looking very much like a couple. Matt felt the usual pang of jealousy as he walked out of the gate.
It was such a lovely day however that even Matt's jealousy of Mari faded. He began to hum a tune as he walked slowly down the street. By the time he got home he was itching to write it down. He raced up to his room and grabbed his guitar and a pad of music paper before heading outside to sit in the sun.
Two hours later, Matt had the tune down well enough so that he wouldn't forget it. He hummed it through again. As he made dinner, he began fitting words to it. He stopped really quickly though. He couldn't think of how to say exactly what he wanted to without making the fact that his feelings were centred on Tai really obvious.
However, his writers block didn't last very long. As he and his father ate, they chatted about their day, catching up on each others news.
"How's Tai? I haven't heard much about him lately."
Matt's mind immediately flashed back to the last time he had seen Tai, sitting underneath the tree. Suddenly he knew how the song would start.
"He's OK, I guess. Since he started seeing Mari I haven't seen much of him."
"People in love are sickening aren't they?" grinned Mr Ishida. "Don't worry. As the relationship gets older they'll get tired of living in each others pockets."
"I know. It's just that things are different. It feels weird!"
"Things changing is something you'll just have to get used to I'm afraid." said Mr Ishida. He started telling Matt a story about his work and the topic was dropped. Later Matt headed upstairs to write his lyrics while pretending to do his homework. He was interrupted a hour later by the phone ringing. When he answered it, it turned out to be TK, who wanted to tell everyone about his amazing grade for his English essay. The conversation moved onto other things, and lasted for a good hour in the end. When Matt went back to his lyrics, he decided they were OK for now. He scribbled out all the homework due for the next day and went to bed.
Matt spent the whole of the next day revising his song in his head, trying to perfect it before the band practice that afternoon. Because of this, he spent the whole day being told off for not paying attention. Even the permanently-preoccupied Tai broke off from talking about how marvellous Mari was to ask if he was OK.
"You're being so quiet" he explained. "Is anything wrong?"
"Nope. I'm just thinking about band practice tonight." Matt explained. After that he made an effort to talk to Tai, and managed to have a conversation with him in which Mari's name wasn't mentioned at all.
When band practice finally arrived, Matt persuaded the others to try his song. Much to his relief they all liked it and agreed to play it at their next gig, which was a week away.
"We'll play it somewhere in the middle" said Akemi cheerfully. "Then we can warm 'em up first, and if they hate it there'll be other stuff later to make 'em forget"
"Thanks for your confidence!" laughed Matt. "Why shouldn't they like it, may I ask?"
"We haven't forgotten the last song you wrote! I thought they were going to boo us offstage!"
"That wasn't my fault!" Matt protested. "If you hadn't insisted on changing it around, it would've been fine!"
"Oh yeah, as if!"
"Stop fighting and go home!" said Gendo, amusement and exasperation mixed almost equally in his voice. The band headed out, Matt and Akemi still bickering. On his way home Matt felt like he was walking on air.
"You coming to my gig?" he asked Tai three days before his song's debut.
"Of course! Mari's really looking forward to it!"
"Would you still come if she wasn't?" asked Matt, hating himself for asking but desperate to know.
"Of course I would! Why did you even have to ask that?" said Tai in a hurt voice.
"I just haven't seen much of you lately. We've both been busy" said Matt apologetically.
"We're still best friends, right?" said Tai, sounding nervous. Matt had to swallow before he could say:
"Of course."
Most of the time, Matt was sure Tai has no idea of his feelings for him, but sometimes he wondered. He hoped that he would get the message hidden in the song, and if not say anything to him about it let him know somehow whether or not there was even a chance of that sort of relationship.
The day of the gig came around quickly. Matt was incredibly nervous about it, even more nervous than he normally was about performing in public. He could see Tai in the crowd, standing with Mari and TK. TK loved coming to hear Matt play, and his mum had said that it was OK as long as Tai looked after him and he stayed with the other kids. Tai looked cheerful and not at all bothered by the burden of making sure that TK didn't get crushed, trampled or abducted, possibly due to the fact that Kari and Davis were there to share the burden. Mari, Matt was pleased to note, didn't look happy about the presence of the younger Digidestined at all and kept shooting them irritated glances, which they either hadn't noticed or were ignoring. Once he started performing however, Matt's nerves vanished. He could see Tai, Mari and the others, and they all looked like they were enjoying themselves. When the time came to sing his song, he fixed his gaze on Tai as he began:
"You got a boy,
You got a girl,
Sitting underneath a tree,
They sit there every day,
And even though, you may think,
This is the way that things should be,
It may not always be that way,
You can't take nothing for granted,
You gotta live life today,
I turn around, I can see what's behind me,
I turn back around, I can see what's ahead,
And if you won't believe I've been here all along,
Just turn around.
Just turn around."
By the end of the song, the screaming was so loud that Matt could hardly hear himself singing.
"I think they liked it!" he thought in amazement. The rest of the gig went by in a blur. The atmosphere was incredible. Matt packed away his stuff at the end in a state of euphoria.
"MATT!" yelled TK when his brother finally came out of the backstage area. "Matt, that was so good! I loved that 'Turn Around' song! Who wrote it?"
"I did!" laughed Matt, dropping his guitar to spin his brother around, both of them laughing hysterically. "Did you really like it?"
"Sure I did! Everyone else did too - we could hardly hear you!" beamed TK.
"Yayeee" shrieked Matt.
"You were great!" agreed Tai. Kari nodded, pulling her hand away from Davis and shooting him a mildly exasperated glance.
"It was amazing." Mari added, smiling radiantly at him.
"Why didn't you tell me you'd written a new song?" asked Tai, a slightly odd tone in his voice.
"I wanted to get your honest opinions" lied Matt cheerfully. "You really liked it?"
"No, we just yelled ourselves hoarse for the hell of it!" laughed Tai. The strange tone had gone from his voice, but Matt was sure Tai was looking at him differently. He picked up his guitar again before heading outside, chattering happily to Tai about the concert. He was pleased to note that Mari stayed pretty much silent, and although she and Tai were holding hands, they seemed to be walking quite far apart. After taking TK home, Matt went back to his house and collapsed on the bed. The elation from the concert had faded, only to be replaced with a numbing exhaustion. He changed mechanically for bed, too tired to care he'd done no work for the next day. Thinking about his concert, vaguely wondering if Tai had really got the hint or if he was just imagining things, Matt drifted off to sleep.
Did Tai get the hint? I've written the next chapter but reviews are appreciated, as I'm not sure anyone ever reads my Digimon fic! Besides, the third part is not yet begun, and your reviews could influence how quickly that appears!
In part 2, be prepared for sex, lies and the band's schemes. Will their intervention help Matt get Tai, or will they destroy any chance of a relationship? The next part is a long one!
REVIEW! Happy Taito thoughts!
By the Black Goddess
Disclaimer: Digimon are not mine. The lyrics are not mine, though they are (apparently - my sister found them) actually one of the songs Matt's band sings. I don't know who owns them. I've probably been influenced by many things (Blackadder perhaps, what with Baldrick's 'cunning plans') but I can't be bothered to state them all here, so see my profile for details (yes, I am that sad!) I don't think this is really taken from anywhere - the first part at least is probably pretty standard (sorry!). Oh, and although the idea of Matt being in a band belongs to Digimon, my sister, Empress of the Eclipse, made up these personalities (may she burn in hell!)
A/N This started out as a simple fluff fic, a happy TAITO story. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of using the band. Once mentioned, they moved in, rearranged the furniture, got very drunk and hijacked the story. My sister has created a monster! BAN THE BAND! This fic is now spiralling out of control, faster than Akemi can say "Why don't we..." As such suggestions are welcome! Anyway, enough of the rambling. This fic contains m/m hints or SLASH! If two boys kissing etc. bothers you then go away!
"Ishida Yamato, stay behind. I'd like to speak to you."
Matt groaned inwardly. It was a nice sunny day and he'd been looking forward to the end of the day and getting home. Now he'd be stuck here for at least five minutes while some teacher droned on about how his grades had fallen off in the past few months, and how he should get his act together. Matt knew his grades had dropped. Between the band, obsessing over Tai and replaying all of Tai's actions to see if there was any chance Tai felt the same way as he did Matt didn't really have much time for his schoolwork. He nodded to show the teacher he'd heard. When her back was turned, he caught Tai's eye. Tai pulled a face at him in sympathy.
"Now Matt, I don't want to lecture you" his teacher informed him when all the others had gone. "I don't think that shouting at you is going to do any good at all. I'm going to tell you how your behaviour and attitude affects me. I see a clever boy who could do great things, things that could benefit the human race, and I see him throwing away all that talent and all that potential to do the same boring, mundane things as everybody else, and that makes me angry. I believe that you could make a great contribution to mankind, do things that no one has done before, and the fact that you will settle for a boring run-of-the-mill life because you can't be bothered making an effort makes me feel so frustrated. I know there have been problems at home, but you shouldn't let your home situation hold you back. Do you understand me Matt?" Matt nodded. "Will you try harder in the future?" Matt nodded again.
When Matt was finally allowed to leave the classroom, he automatically looked around for Tai. Whenever one of them was held back, the other always waited for them. He was momentarily surprised that Tai wasn't there, before he remembered where Tai had gone. He scowled and headed for the gates. He was getting sick of being ignored by Tai. Ever since Tai had started going out with Mari, he'd had less and less time for Matt and his other friends. Matt sighed as he walked down the corridor. He didn't begrudge Tai a girlfriend, but he was jealous all the same. Matt had accepted the knowledge that his feelings for Tai went far beyond the boundaries of friendship and he had almost accepted the fact that, for now at least, there was no chance of Tai returning his feelings, but that didn't make his feelings any easier to handle. Pushing open the main door, he walked outside into the sunlight. He didn't pause but headed straight for the gate. Only his eyes moved sideways. Sure enough, there was Tai, sitting on the bench underneath the willow tree with Mari. They were sitting very close and laughing, looking very much like a couple. Matt felt the usual pang of jealousy as he walked out of the gate.
It was such a lovely day however that even Matt's jealousy of Mari faded. He began to hum a tune as he walked slowly down the street. By the time he got home he was itching to write it down. He raced up to his room and grabbed his guitar and a pad of music paper before heading outside to sit in the sun.
Two hours later, Matt had the tune down well enough so that he wouldn't forget it. He hummed it through again. As he made dinner, he began fitting words to it. He stopped really quickly though. He couldn't think of how to say exactly what he wanted to without making the fact that his feelings were centred on Tai really obvious.
However, his writers block didn't last very long. As he and his father ate, they chatted about their day, catching up on each others news.
"How's Tai? I haven't heard much about him lately."
Matt's mind immediately flashed back to the last time he had seen Tai, sitting underneath the tree. Suddenly he knew how the song would start.
"He's OK, I guess. Since he started seeing Mari I haven't seen much of him."
"People in love are sickening aren't they?" grinned Mr Ishida. "Don't worry. As the relationship gets older they'll get tired of living in each others pockets."
"I know. It's just that things are different. It feels weird!"
"Things changing is something you'll just have to get used to I'm afraid." said Mr Ishida. He started telling Matt a story about his work and the topic was dropped. Later Matt headed upstairs to write his lyrics while pretending to do his homework. He was interrupted a hour later by the phone ringing. When he answered it, it turned out to be TK, who wanted to tell everyone about his amazing grade for his English essay. The conversation moved onto other things, and lasted for a good hour in the end. When Matt went back to his lyrics, he decided they were OK for now. He scribbled out all the homework due for the next day and went to bed.
Matt spent the whole of the next day revising his song in his head, trying to perfect it before the band practice that afternoon. Because of this, he spent the whole day being told off for not paying attention. Even the permanently-preoccupied Tai broke off from talking about how marvellous Mari was to ask if he was OK.
"You're being so quiet" he explained. "Is anything wrong?"
"Nope. I'm just thinking about band practice tonight." Matt explained. After that he made an effort to talk to Tai, and managed to have a conversation with him in which Mari's name wasn't mentioned at all.
When band practice finally arrived, Matt persuaded the others to try his song. Much to his relief they all liked it and agreed to play it at their next gig, which was a week away.
"We'll play it somewhere in the middle" said Akemi cheerfully. "Then we can warm 'em up first, and if they hate it there'll be other stuff later to make 'em forget"
"Thanks for your confidence!" laughed Matt. "Why shouldn't they like it, may I ask?"
"We haven't forgotten the last song you wrote! I thought they were going to boo us offstage!"
"That wasn't my fault!" Matt protested. "If you hadn't insisted on changing it around, it would've been fine!"
"Oh yeah, as if!"
"Stop fighting and go home!" said Gendo, amusement and exasperation mixed almost equally in his voice. The band headed out, Matt and Akemi still bickering. On his way home Matt felt like he was walking on air.
"You coming to my gig?" he asked Tai three days before his song's debut.
"Of course! Mari's really looking forward to it!"
"Would you still come if she wasn't?" asked Matt, hating himself for asking but desperate to know.
"Of course I would! Why did you even have to ask that?" said Tai in a hurt voice.
"I just haven't seen much of you lately. We've both been busy" said Matt apologetically.
"We're still best friends, right?" said Tai, sounding nervous. Matt had to swallow before he could say:
"Of course."
Most of the time, Matt was sure Tai has no idea of his feelings for him, but sometimes he wondered. He hoped that he would get the message hidden in the song, and if not say anything to him about it let him know somehow whether or not there was even a chance of that sort of relationship.
The day of the gig came around quickly. Matt was incredibly nervous about it, even more nervous than he normally was about performing in public. He could see Tai in the crowd, standing with Mari and TK. TK loved coming to hear Matt play, and his mum had said that it was OK as long as Tai looked after him and he stayed with the other kids. Tai looked cheerful and not at all bothered by the burden of making sure that TK didn't get crushed, trampled or abducted, possibly due to the fact that Kari and Davis were there to share the burden. Mari, Matt was pleased to note, didn't look happy about the presence of the younger Digidestined at all and kept shooting them irritated glances, which they either hadn't noticed or were ignoring. Once he started performing however, Matt's nerves vanished. He could see Tai, Mari and the others, and they all looked like they were enjoying themselves. When the time came to sing his song, he fixed his gaze on Tai as he began:
"You got a boy,
You got a girl,
Sitting underneath a tree,
They sit there every day,
And even though, you may think,
This is the way that things should be,
It may not always be that way,
You can't take nothing for granted,
You gotta live life today,
I turn around, I can see what's behind me,
I turn back around, I can see what's ahead,
And if you won't believe I've been here all along,
Just turn around.
Just turn around."
By the end of the song, the screaming was so loud that Matt could hardly hear himself singing.
"I think they liked it!" he thought in amazement. The rest of the gig went by in a blur. The atmosphere was incredible. Matt packed away his stuff at the end in a state of euphoria.
"MATT!" yelled TK when his brother finally came out of the backstage area. "Matt, that was so good! I loved that 'Turn Around' song! Who wrote it?"
"I did!" laughed Matt, dropping his guitar to spin his brother around, both of them laughing hysterically. "Did you really like it?"
"Sure I did! Everyone else did too - we could hardly hear you!" beamed TK.
"Yayeee" shrieked Matt.
"You were great!" agreed Tai. Kari nodded, pulling her hand away from Davis and shooting him a mildly exasperated glance.
"It was amazing." Mari added, smiling radiantly at him.
"Why didn't you tell me you'd written a new song?" asked Tai, a slightly odd tone in his voice.
"I wanted to get your honest opinions" lied Matt cheerfully. "You really liked it?"
"No, we just yelled ourselves hoarse for the hell of it!" laughed Tai. The strange tone had gone from his voice, but Matt was sure Tai was looking at him differently. He picked up his guitar again before heading outside, chattering happily to Tai about the concert. He was pleased to note that Mari stayed pretty much silent, and although she and Tai were holding hands, they seemed to be walking quite far apart. After taking TK home, Matt went back to his house and collapsed on the bed. The elation from the concert had faded, only to be replaced with a numbing exhaustion. He changed mechanically for bed, too tired to care he'd done no work for the next day. Thinking about his concert, vaguely wondering if Tai had really got the hint or if he was just imagining things, Matt drifted off to sleep.
Did Tai get the hint? I've written the next chapter but reviews are appreciated, as I'm not sure anyone ever reads my Digimon fic! Besides, the third part is not yet begun, and your reviews could influence how quickly that appears!
In part 2, be prepared for sex, lies and the band's schemes. Will their intervention help Matt get Tai, or will they destroy any chance of a relationship? The next part is a long one!
REVIEW! Happy Taito thoughts!