By the Black Goddess

Disclaimer: It's not mine. It is also slash and contains casual sex. Don't like, don't read. The band were invented by my wonderful sister, Empress of the Eclipse. For more of them, read her fics

Toshiki glared at Akemi, who looked slightly embarrassed.

"Istu and I thought it was a good idea!" he defended himself weakly. "Let Tai know that his ex-girlfriend was not only a big whore, but that she'd tried it on with Matt and he'd refused her. I don't see what everyone's making such a fuss about!"

"You think that Tai is glad to know that his ex is a whore. Doesn't say much about his taste, does it?" Gendo said sarcastically.

"I was trying to help!" snapped Akemi.

"Help with what?" a voice asked. Spinning round, Akemi saw TK Takaishi walking into the room, closely followed by his older brother.

"God, it's far too complicated to even start," said Toshiki with a chuckle.

"What brings you here?" Gendo asked quickly.

"I'm staying at Matt's tonight, and he said I could come and watch you practice," TK grinned, answering Gendo's question but looking at Akemi.

"You best not interrupt us," warned Istu. "We need to be steady in case the lookalike messes up." TK nodded and went to sit on the chair from which he could get the best view of Akemi. Istu gave him a friendly grin and Matt took up his place.

"Ready guys?" he asked and practice began. TK's presence helped keep the band more on-target than usual and the practice finished early. Despite TK's obvious wish to hang around, Matt left fairly promptly. The squabble at the beginning of the practice was not quite forgotten, so Toshiki and Istu followed the brothers down the stairs. The four walked together for a little way, before going their separate ways. Toshiki stared after the brothers thoughtfully.

"TK gets more like Matt every day, don't you think?" he said thoughtfully to Istu.

"I suppose so. How old is he anyway?"

"14 or 15, I think," lied Toshiki, knowing full well that TK was only 13.

"Matt's still better-looking." Istu said, but Toshiki got the feeling that he spoke more from habit than from actual conviction and Istu's uncustomary silence on the way home gave Toshiki confidence that his friend had taken the bait.

The lookalike gig was a roaring success, only slightly marred by Tai's refusal to attend. Toshiki, in between trying to cheer Matt up, kept a watchful eye on Istu, who seemed to be getting on quite well with TK even if TK was watching Akemi chatting up a pretty brunette. Toshiki grinned to himself and manoeuvred things so that he was just behind the pair when the group left.

"So, give me your phone number and I'll call you to fix the time then," Istu said quietly, obviously hoping that Matt wasn't going to notice what he was up to. TK gave the number quickly and Istu scribbled it onto the palm of his hand.

"Hey, TK, hurry up!" Kari called.

"Gotta go - phone me!" TK said hurriedly.

"I will," Istu promised.

"You will what?" slurred Matt, who had spent most of the evening drowning his sorrows, as TK ran off.

"I will dye my hair shocking pink," lied Istu smoothly.

"You'll look like a traffic light!" Matt told him and collapsed into fits of laughter. Toshiki hurried forward to catch Matt as he swayed, and he and Istu helped their drunken friend home. Despite Matt being sick down his jeans, Toshiki felt that the night had gone well. His plan was very definitely in motion!

Toshiki didn't have the chance to do much about his plan for the next few days. Matt and Tai still weren't speaking which meant that Matt kept calling extra band practices over lunch time to avoid his Digidestined friend. This made sneaking away at lunchtime a very difficult premise, so after a couple of days, Toshiki decided to switch tactics. Leaving school early (and skipping maths, which was always a bonus), Toshiki headed for the school he knew Tai's sister attended and settled down on the wall to wait for her. When he finally spotted her, walking next to a girl with purple hair, he jumped off the wall and made his way towards her purposefully.

"Hi," he said calmly when she got within earshot. "You're Taichi Yagami's sister, right?"

"Yes," she said, giving him an inscrutable look.

"Could I speak to you for a moment?" She raised an eyebrow, as if to say 'what are you doing right now?' and he was forced to add, "Alone?" The purple haired girl glanced at her friend, and Kari nodded.

"But you'll have to be quick, I'm in a hurry," she said. Her friend moved away, standing just out of earshot and watching them with undisguised curiosity.

"I, um, this is difficult," said Toshiki, wondering what she'd say now.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" Kari said.

"It's not what, it's rather who," Toshiki said. He stared at the ground and shuffled awkwardly, glancing at her through his fringe to see how she was taking it. Impatience but a good bit of curiosity there now as well. Good.

"You're a friend of TK Takaishi, right?" She nodded. "See, I know his brother,"

"I know, you're in his band." she said helpfully.

"Yeah, so I've seen TK around some and he seems nice enough," Toshiki broke off again, trying to present the right, slightly awkward air of someone doing exactly what he was doing.

"What's the problem with that?"

"I'm not the only one who's noticed," he said, projecting just the right amount of concern into his voice. "Today, when we were practising at lunchtime, I found this." He held out the note he had forged the night before.

"What is it?" Kari asked

"Just read it. I found it in Istu's bag, but he's so disorganised he'll never miss it,"

"Dear TK," Kari read. "What about Saturday night for that date you promised me? We can go for pizza first and then to the cinema, like you said. Can't wait to see you again anyway, properly this time! Istu." She looked at the note thoughtfully.

"I thought Istu was in love with Matt?" she said questioningly.

"So did I, that's why I brought this to you." he said. "I don't want TK to get hurt," he added earnestly, "and I thought that you might be able to do something to help him, being as you two seem so close."

"Why not go to Matt?" Kari asked.

"If Matt and Istu fall out, one of them will end up having to leave and it could tear the band apart. Besides, I don't want to get involved." Toshiki told her, hoping that she was buying it. "Istu'll think I've been spying on him or something, meddling. You won't tell anyone I gave you this, will you?" he asked pleadingly. Kari nodded.

"Of course not. Thanks for bringing me this," she said. "You're a good friend."

"I'll leave this in your hands then," said Toshiki, breathing a sigh of relief. As he watched Kari walk away, he smiled. 'I am a good friend, just not to who you think,' he thought to himself.

Kari thought about the letter all the way home. Something about it just felt odd somehow. She knew that TK did spend quite a bit of time with the band; being Matt's brother made them hard to avoid, but to actually date one of them? They were all four years older than him, not to mention completely crazy! Akemi, well, Kari knew all about TK's thing for Akemi, but then why was he dating Istu? Istu, who was known for being completely and hopelessly in love with one Yamato Ishida.

"Maybe TK's insane too," she muttered as she opened the door.

"Why is TK insane?" a voice said unexpectedly.

"Tai!" Kari jumped a mile and glared at her brother. "You made me jump!" She frowned. "What are you doing back so early?"

"It's you that's late," Tai told her, gesturing at the clock on the wall. Kari glanced at it, realising that she must have spent longer talking to Toshiki than she had thought.

"Oh, sorry," she said, removing her shoes and sliding her feet into her slippers.

"You're forgiven," Tai said. "So, why is TK insane?" Kari's hand went to the note in her pocket, frowning slightly as she tried to decide what, if anything, to tell her older brother.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, a concerned tone creeping into his voice as he noticed her hesitation.

"It's just..." Kari sighed, picking her bag up again and moving towards her room, gesturing for Tai to follow.

"I think he has a boyfriend," she said once the door was safely closed.

"A boyfriend?" Tai looked surprised for a moment, then grinned. "Anyone I know?"

"Um," said Kari. "I'm not sure if I should tell anyone before I've talked to him." Now it was Tai's turn to frown.

"He didn't tell you himself?"

"No, I got the message from a friend, that's partly what makes it so complicated."

"TK's boyfriend told you?" Tai asked, with the air of someone trying hard to understand something.

"No..." Kari mentally shrugged, deciding to tell her brother everything. Remembering her promise to Toshiki, she paused a moment, trying to work out the best thing to say.

"I found a note in his bag when I was looking for a book. He must have forgotten that it was in there."

"Reading secret notes? That's not like you!" Tai looked shocked for a moment, then curiosity overwhelmed him. "So what's the big deal? Come on, Kari!" Kari looked at him for a second, noting that her brother looked more cheerful and animated than he had for a long time.

"TK's seeing an older man," she told him. "And you do know him. TK's seeing Istu Katsuragi."

"You're kidding." Tai said, stunned disbelief etched over his face. "ISTU?"

"That's who the note was from," Kari said quietly.

"But... Istu's in love with Matt, everyone knows that! What does TK think he's doing?" Tai exclaimed in horror. "We've got to do something!"

"What?" cried Kari in alarm. "What do you mean, 'we've got to do something'?"

"He can't go out with Istu - he'll get his heart broken! We need to stop him!" Tai said excitedly, leaping to his feet.

"We can't just run round to TK's and say 'Hey, we want you to break up with your boyfriend'!" Kari pointed out. "It's insane!"

"But we can't just let this happen! Istu's as big a whore as the rest of the band, TK's too young, he doesn't know what he's getting into! We can't just stand by and let him get hurt!"

"But Tai..."

"Don't you care about TK?"

"Of course I do!" snapped Kari, "but..."

"Well, then!" Tai opened the bedroom door and headed purposefully for the hall. Kari followed, whispering as quickly as she could all the reasons for not storming round to TK's.

"Look, we've got to do something before he gets in so far that it's too late." Tai said determinedly, opening the front door. Kari quickly fastened her shoes, still intent on finding some way to stop her brother going through with this crazy course of action.

"We can't just run round to his house! He lives ages away, for one thing!" Kari said desperately. For the first time, Tai paused, looking slightly uncertain.

"We've got to do something!" he said, a slight hint of desperation entering his voice.

"Why not go and tell Matt, see what he thinks?" Kari suggested, hoping that Matt be able to help her stop Tai intervening so dramatically. Tai looked uncertain for a moment, then nodded. The two hurried round to Matt's apartment.

Matt was stunned when he opened the door to find Tai and Kari standing on the doorstep, both looking very flustered.

"Oh, thank goodness you're in!" Tai exclaimed. Kari gave him a long-suffering look as her older brother charged into the house, talking at ninety miles an hour.

"Woah, slow down," Matt said. Tai continued to talk. "TAI!" The brunette looked at him in confusion. "Tai, what the hell is going on?"

"TK's going out with Istu! We have to stop him!" Tai told him dramatically.

"Are you sure? Istu hasn't mentioned it." Matt said with a frown, pulling Kari inside and shutting the door.

"Kari found a note Istu wrote to him," Tai said triumphantly. Matt looked at Kari.

"It sounds like a first date," she said. "Maybe that's why he hasn't mentioned it." Matt held out his hand. Kari reached into her pocket and handed over the note without a qualm.

"Looks like Istu's writing all right," he said. "You got it out of TK's bag?"

"Yes," Kari lied. She knew that Matt didn't entirely believe her, but wasn't sure what she could do about it without getting Toshiki into trouble. Matt absentmindedly crumpled the note in his hand, looking thoughtful.

"We've got to stop him!" Tai said. "Come on Matt, what are we waiting for?"

"Stop him?" Matt asked.

"We've got to tell Istu to leave TK alone!" exclaimed Tai, with the conviction of one who believes they've just had the best ever idea.

"Now hang on a minute...." Matt began, but it was too late. Tai had opened the door and was heading purposefully down the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Matt called after him, swearing as he tried to fasten his shoes.

"I'm protecting your brother, like you should be doing!" Tai disappeared around the corner. Kari and Matt exchanged exasperated looks and followed him.

"For God's sake, you can't just charge into Istu's house and start screaming at him! Tai, will you just be reasonable!" Matt snapped. "Look, I'll telephone Istu, tell him how worried we are, OK?"

"That's not good enough! He needs to know that TK has friends looking out for him!"

"He knows that!" snapped Matt, beginning to get really annoyed now. "Will you just stop acting like a Neanderthal and listen to me?" He grabbed Tai's arm roughly, dragging the other boy to a halt and pulling him round to look him in the eye.

"We are going back to my apartment, where I will use my telephone to contact TK and ask him what's going on. Then, when we know the truth, we can warn TK that Istu is bad news and then phone Istu and give him a preliminary obscene phonecall in preparation for tomorrow's brawl at school. Understand?" The two glared at each other for a moment, then Tai nodded and the three made their way back to Matt's apartment.

Matt kept hold of Tai's arm all the way, brain whirring at 300 miles per hour. What the hell was going on? Was TK really going out with Istu? Tai certainly believed it, and it was unlikely that Kari was playing some really twisted joke on him, but could someone be playing a really twisted joke on Istu? Dismissing that idea as too convoluted, Matt began to think about what exactly he was going to say to TK.

"TK? Hi, it's me, Matt,"

"Hi Matt!" TK sounded pleased to see him, but was that a slight note of wariness in his voice?

"How are you doing, little bro?" Matt asked.

"Good." TK told him, and launched into a funny story about something that had happened at school that day. Matt listened with half an ear, his eyes on Tai.

"Something funny happened to me today too. Kari came round." Matt said when the story was finally over.

"Really? Why'd she do that?" Now TK definitely sounded shifty.

"TK, is there something you're not telling me?" Matt asked, allowing suspicion to colour his voice.

"No," TK said, sounding forcedly cheerful. "Nothing I can think of,"

"TK, you're a dreadful liar." Matt told him calmly.

"I... well... we've been worrying about you and Tai..." TK said hopefully. Matt felt himself blush; he quickly looked away from Tai but not before noting the blush spreading over the brunette's face.

"This would be something about you." he said quickly, hoping to forestall any further discussion of the subject.

"Um..." TK sighed. "Istu Katsuragi and I are going for pizza on Saturday." he said, with the air of someone condemned.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Matt asked, slapping his hand over Tai's mouth to stifle the other boy's cry of 'I told you so!'

"You mean because of his age and reputation?" TK said, sounding defensive but also slightly amused. "You have to let me go sometime, Matt."

"But Istu?" Matt said, sounding pained. "TK, the stories you've heard about Istu are the tamer ones, believe me."

"Look, I'm not in love with him. I'm just... seeing what happens." TK said. "Look Matt, I appreciate your concern, but I'm older enough to look after myself. And everyone has to get their heart broken."

"We'd just rather it wasn't broken by Istu." Matt said, sounding resigned.

"Who knows, maybe I'll be the one doing the heartbreaking!" TK said cheerfully.

"Oh well, do what you like but be careful."

"Thanks big bro." TK said affectionately. "See you soon, 'k?"

"See you soon. Bye TK." Matt hung up, releasing Tai.

"You didn't stop him!" Tai shrieked in outrage.

"What's the point? It doesn't sound like it's serious yet, and Istu wouldn't dare to play too fast and loose with my little brother." Matt shrugged. "Fancy a cup of tea?" Tai looked gobsmacked.

"I've got to be getting back," Kari said regretfully. "I've got loads of homework."

"Tai?" Matt said, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Oh go on then," Tai said, walking into the lounge and flopping down on the sofa.

"You're sure you don't want one?" Matt said, glancing at Kari.

"Yes," said Kari. Matt opened the door, and Kari grinned at him.

"Bye Matt," she said cheerfully.

"Bye Kari," he said, closing the door behind her. Kari looked thoughtfully at the closed door, then shrugged and headed for home.

Matt made the tea in silence and carried two cups through into the lounge. He handed one to Tai, then sprawled beside him on the sofa. They sat in silence for a while; then Tai said,

"I can't believe you're letting him go ahead with this." He spoke quietly, the sudden passion that had been driving him before now all spent.

"Everyone has to make their own mistakes, Tai. You know that." Tai flinched.

"I guess I over-reacted," he said softly, and Matt was no longer quite sure what Tai was referring to. Finishing his tea, he put the cup down gently onto the table.

"Guess you did," he said quietly. There was another pause.

"I'm sorry," said Tai after a while. "I didn't mean to.. you know..."

"Yeah, I know." Matt moved slightly, resting his hand on the back of the sofa behind Tai's head. "It's OK, Tai,"

"I..." Tai turned to look at him, clearly struggling for words.

"Shh," Matt said. "It's OK, Tai, I understand." They stared at each other for a long moment, then Matt moved forward and kissed Tai gently on the lips. Tai kissed him back without hesitation.

When they broke apart, both flushed and breathing heavily, Matt asked:

"Shall we move this to somewhere more comfortable?" He saw doubt flicker in Tai's eyes, but it vanished quickly as Tai moved to kiss him again.

"I think that that's a very good idea," Tai said softly.

The next day, Matt turned up at band practice with a big smile on his face.

"What are you so disgustingly happy about?" Istu asked grumpily. "Can this be the same Yamato Ishida who's been going about like a wet weekend for the last month and a half?" Matt grinned at him.

"Can this be the same Istu Katsuragi who's taking my brother for pizza at the weekend?" he asked sweetly. Istu's thunderstruck expression made Matt burst out laughing, and he kept giggling at intervals throughout the practice. His good mood infected the rest of the band, and practice was much more light-hearted than usual. Toshiki, watching their antics as he usually did, smiled a little smile of satisfaction to himself. There is nothing quite so pleasing as a job well done.

The End