#

Forward: Do I have a clue where this came from? Not at all. A Tai/Jun. Is there any of them actually out there? Well, there is now. ^^ Hope you like and no flames please.

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Ok?

by M

I'm not sure when we first met. All I can remember when I think back is helping Matt to get away from her. She had some sort of obsession with him or something. Of course, so did about a hundred other girls. Matt was my friend. I always helped him out of scrapes. For instance, when I let him take the bus home with her so he could face his fear. Ok, maybe there was another reason. But all in all, I tried to keep him from being dragged away by her somewhere. He's annoying, but not even I would wish that on him.

So, that's how I found myself out on a date with June Motemya that fateful day all those years ago.....

"Matt!!! Oh, Matt!!"

"Hey, look Matt." Tai pointed out, "Here comes the one girl 'Ishida Fan Club'."

Matt held his hand in his head letting a sigh escape his lips, "She never goes away, does she?"

His brown-haired friend shook his head, laughing, "No, she doesn't, you're stuck with her for life, man."

Matt let out another sigh, "Oh man......" he groaned.

At that moment, June caught up with them, "Hey, guys! Hey, Matt." she said, edging closer to him, as he attempted to edge away.

"Oh, um...Hey, June!" the blond said with forced enthusiasm, backing farther and farther away from the older girl, eventually ending up behind Tai, who had been watching the two with mild amusement.

"So...guess what?" June asked, excitedly, a strange playfulness in her voice.

"I don't know. What?" Matt asked, a hint of terror in his own.

"I got us two tickets to the romance movie showing in the theaters!" she exclaimed, waving two pink pieces of paper in the air, excitedly.

"Heh...goodie." Matt grumbled while Tai snickered, "That's great, June but umm....ah......" he fumbled with his words, trying to come up with a good reason not to go. Suddenly, an idea 'clicked' in his head.

"I have to test you first." he said.

"What?" Tai and June both turned and asked, simultaneously.

'What's he up to?' Tai wondered, silently.

"Yes, you see, I have all these girls trying to go out with me." Matt explained, "So they have to be tested by someone else first to um....see if they're worthy of me."

"Not too self-centered, are we?" Tai asked under his breath.

"So?" June asked, not fully understanding.

"Um....you need to prove yourself by going out with.....Tai here!"

It was a good thing Tai didn't have anything in his mouth, because he would have choked on it. Instead, he coughed loudly and turned and stared at his friend with a 'What on earth are you saying look' on his face.

Ignoring him, Matt continued, "If Tai enjoys his date with you, you can go out with me. But you need to prove yourself."

"Ok." June agreed, "See ya at seven, Tai!" she called, cheerfully, running off.

Tai turned and stared at Matt, a look of murder in his eyes, "Matt....." he growled.

"What, Tai? You don't have much time, you know, it's already five." Matt said, smiling.

"Honestly, do you want me to hurt you?" Tai asked, "What were you thinking?! I don't want to go out with _her_! When I look at her and her family, including Davis, I fell like I'm looking in a mirror. What were you thinking?!"

"Look, this is just one date. Come on, please? I have to put up with her 24/7. This is just one night. Please, Tai, get her off my back for one night. I don't think that's too much to ask." Matt pleaded.

Tai sighed, "Fine, but what am I going to tell Sora?" he asked, referring to his crush, as well as friend, "I was going to go out with her tonight, you know how long I've been trying to get her to go out with me."

"I'll explain, Tai. Don't worry, just please, this once?" he asked.

He nodded his head, "Fine, but this is the last time I do anything for you." he added.

"Thanks, man. You are da man!" Matt said, shoving his elbow playfully into Tai's ribs.

"Yeah, whatever. See ya, Matt, I've got a date tonight." he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Bye, Tai!!" Matt called as his friend walked away.

'Man, he had a date with Sora? Lucky dog. I wish she would go out with me.' Matt thought, heading away, back to his apartment, ready for his first 'June-free' night in quite a while.

Tai checked his watch. He was a little early, just in case. Not that he cared if June was there or not.

"Hey Tai!!!!" someone called from behind him.

He let out a sigh, here we go........

He felt someone grab his arm and tug him towards the entrance, "Come on! We don't want to get bad seats, do we?" June asked, laughing.

"Heaven forbid." Tai mumbled under his breath, following her into the movie.

"One large soda, and a popcorn too, please!!" June ordered at the concession stand.

"Hey, what about me?" Tai asked, noticing that June had only ordered one.

"Why, we share, silly." June said, "After all, I need to make this date perfect and totally romantic. Than you can tell Matt what a good date I am and he's sure to go out with me!!!"

'Oh, man! This girl is obsessed!' Tai thought, "Sure, whatever." he said aloud as he paid for the order and carried the food into the theater.

Tai was pretty glad that the movie was dark, that way no one would see his grimace when some cheesy romantic music started blaring from the speakers all around him and several happy little hearts in various shades of pink and red swirled about across the screen.

'What did I do to deserve this?' he asked himself.

He turned when he felt a pressure against his side. Turning his head, he saw June leaning against his shoulder, 'Boy, she sure takes this far....What am I doing here?! I feel like I'm looking in a mirror. This girl has my hair or something. I shouldn't be going out with her. It's unnatural or something. I mean, she's nice and all, but it's not me she wants to be with.'

He continued to rant and wine to himself as the hearts kept swirling and June kept leaning and the music kept playing, until he just couldn't keep his eyes open anymore....

"Hey! Tai! Wake up!!!" a voice shouted distantly, "Wake up! The movie's over! You fell asleep!"

"Huh? Wah?" Tai grumbled as he slowly woke back up, "Oh..um.....oops?"

Surprisingly, June was smiling, "That's ok, I'm sure it was part of the test or something, besides, don't count this against me, but it was a little boring. Give me a sci-fi movie any day."

"Ditto." Tai found himself saying, 'What am I doing? I have a crush on Sora. I'm supposed to hate this girl, why am I agreeing with her?'

She giggled and pulled on his arm, gesturing to a coffee shop across the street, "Hey! Why don't we get something over there?" she asked.

Tai found himself smiling, "Sure, why not?" he agreed.

The pair crossed the street, arm in arm, not noticing a flash of orange-ish red walk away from the scene as they walked from the movie theater.

'So that's how he wants to play it, huh?' Sora thought, bitterly, 'I finally say yes after an eternity of him asking me out just so he can go out with _her_!!'

She stormed down the street. Sora wasn't usually such a ill-tempered person, but she had not really wanted to go out with Tai. As much as she hated to admit it, she had a little bit of a crush on Matt. She didn't have a chance with him, but she could dream.

But instead of dreaming she had been busting her butt to get ready and go out with Tai, who so conveniently was going out with June Motemya that same night.

'Matt's Tai's best friend. I'll ask him what's up.' she thought, heading for the Ishida apartment.

"So, why do you like Matt so much?" Tai asked, trying to start a conversation.

June looked thoughtful, she had really never thought about it before, "Well, he's cute, and popular. He's so cool and his band rocks. I guess." she answered, awkwardly.

"Are those the only reasons?" he asked.

"I guess so. Why?" she questioned, a quizzical look on her face

"I don't know, I just think that if you have a crush on a person, want to go out with them, you should know more about them then just what you see on the outside. That's how I feel anyway." he answered.

"Oh." she said, understanding, "I guess so... But I always imagined Matt to be a nice person. What about you? Do you like anyone?"

Tai smiled, "Yeah, she's a good friend of mine. We have a bunch of the same interests, and I've known her for years."

"That's really sweet. She sounds nice. What about you, Tai? What are you like?" she asked her 'date'.

"Well, I like soccer." he started.

"Humph!" June huffed, "With a brother like Davis, I don't see how anyone in my family can't know that!"

Tai found himself laughing, "Yeah, I guess so, he sure dose idolize me. I get a little creped out at times, but Davis is a good kid."

"Yeah. I guess so." June agreed, "He can be a bit of a pain, and he seems to be taking a lot of interest in computer club lately.....but he is a great little brother, once you get past some of his habits."

"What habits?" Tai prodded, "I don't think he's brought them up."

June waved her arms back and forth in front of her face, "Don't go there. Believe me, you don't want to hear them."

Tai's eyes widened, "That bad, huh?"

June nodded her head and laughed, "Yep."

The two continued to talk, occasionally taking a gulp of soda or a bite of pizza. Outside, night slowly fell, and the stars came out to decorate the sky.

*ding dong*

"Coming!!!!" Matt called from the kitchen as the doorbell rang. Jumping over his shoes he had left in an uneven mess in the middle of the hall, he ran for the door and, undoing the lock and turning the doorknob, opened it.

"Sora!" he gasped, surprised to see his friend standing in the door, an annoyed look on her face.

"I want you to tell Tai that I will never go out with him again!" she said, calmly, but loudly, "I saw him at the movie with that Motemya girl. I have nothing against her, but I was planning on having a date with Tai tonight, instead, I'm here and I want to tell you one thing."

'Oh...that's why Sora's here, to yell at me in Tai's place. I guess I should explain....'

"Sora, about Tai being with June. You see, I-" he was cut off.

"Let me finish." Sora stated, firmly, "Since Tai and I are through, I want to let you know that I've had a crush on you for quite some time, not Tai, and I was wondering if you would like to go out with me in Tai's place."

Matt blinked for a moment...... "What?"

Sora sighed, "I knew it. You don't like me. I knew you already had a ton of cuter girls them me wanting to go out with you. I guess I should go..." she said sadly, heading for the door, which was slightly ajar.

"Wait! Sora! That's not it! It's just....I want to let you know that I've had a crush on you too!!! I would be honored if you went out with me."

Sora did a 180, "Really?" she asked, not truly believing what she was hearing.

Matt walked towards he, nodding his head, "Yes, really."

She smiled a smile that would have lit the room, had it not been lit already. They edged closer, bringing their faces closer, knowing the other would not pull away.

Distantly, Matt felt his lips mouth the words, "But Tai...." but his sentence was cut short as their lips met.

Time stood still, and everything else seemed unimportant, unstill the sound of the door opening snapped both of them back into reality.

"Woah!" Tai exclaimed, looking at his watch, "It's pretty late. I guess we should go and head over to Matt's place, let him know our 'date' was a success."

"Yeah....." June said, dreamily, holding Tai's hand as they walked up to the apartment building. They slowly, but steadily ascended the steps leading up to the Ishida apartment and walked up to the door.

"Hey, the door's open." Tai commented, noticing that it was in fact ajar. He pushed it open and he and June both gasped at the sight that awaited them.

Matt and Sora, both of them stood their kissing like there was not tomorrow.

"Sora?!" Tai shouted.

June echoed him with a surprised shout of, "Matt?!"

The two newly discovered lovers quickly separated, staring with disappointment as well as shock as the second couple that had entered the apartment.

"Tai...June! I can explain...." Matt started.

June didn't stay for anymore. Her eyes started to fill with hot tear of betrayal and she ran out the door with a sob.

That left Tai standing dumbfounded in the doorway, staring at his secret crush for years, who he had just found kissing with the one person who had had considered his best friend. He felt tears welling up in his own eyes.

"Tai..." Matt and Sora both started, sympathy in both their voices.

Tai held his hands up, silencing them, "Just don't say anything. I hope you two are happy together, really." he told them, before following June's lead and exiting the apartment.

Matt and Sora just stood there. they slowly reached for each other's hands, felling sorry for the two, but at the same time, not regretting what they had done at all. Hopefully, it would all turn out for the best.

June sprinted down the stairs and ran down the street, not really caring who saw her or where she was going. Matt, her didn't care about her. He had been kissing that other girl, Sora."

'He just didn't want to be around me.' she thought, bitterly as she continued running.

Eventually, she found herself in the park. There, she found a bench and slumped down on it. she slowly brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms, sobbing.

Tai really didn't know what to think. Why would Matt do such a thing? He knew how much he cared for Sora. He couldn't understand it.

He headed for the one place he knew he could gather his thoughts. The park. It was away from everything, not streets, not buildings, no traffic, nothing. He could get all his thoughts straight there.

He reached the entrance and entered, walking down the nicely paved path, lit only by park lams and the moon's luminescent light. He tried to figure out what had happened, but his thought were cut off by the sound of someone crying. Curious, he walked in the direction of the sobs, eventually finding the slim figure of June huddled up on one of the park benches.

'Man, she must have taken that pretty hard too.' he thought.

He walked up to the older girl, sitting down on the same bench and wrapping his arm around her to comfort her.

She looked up, surprised. she sniffed a little then said, "Tai?"

"Yeah." he answered, "It's just me."

"That girl. Matt was with that other girl."

"I know, I can't believe he was with Sora. He knew how much I cared for her."

June stared at him, her eyes widening, "You mean, that was that girl you were telling me about?"

Tai nodded his head, "Yes, it was."

"I'm sorry." she whispered.

"Me too." he told her.

They were quiet after that, sitting the in silence, not really needing to talk, since one knew what the other was going through. Eventually, Tai broke the quiet.

"Hey, June. Since we both are available, want to go out tomorrow?" he asked, flashing a smile.

She wiped a few tears from her face and stared at him, thinking for a moment. Then, she too, smiled, "Sure. See ya at eight."

Well, after that June and I became an item. So did Matt and Sora. I was always a little bitter over that, but I didn't think that I should let something which would probably happened sooner or later ruin a friendship that has lasted through so much already. June, of course, graduated three years before the three of us, but in the end, we all went to the same collage, and both of our relationships held through all of that time. The four of us, as well as all the other kids, have kept in touch over the years. And where are we now, you ask? Well....

Tai looked in the mirror again, for about the fortieth time. He made sure his suit looked right and his tie wasn't crooked.

He was interrupted when the door opened and Davis popped his head in, "Hey, Tai?" he asked, "You done yet? I don't want you to leave my sister waiting at the alter. Man! I can't believe that you and Kari are going to become part of the family!" after that, he left.

'Ok. Tai Kamiya, you can do this.' he said to himself, now, had he forgotten anything. The ring! Where was it?

He started to did around in his pockets frantically.

"Um...Tai? What are you doing?" a voice asked from behind him.

Tai turned to see who the voice belonged to, "Oh, Izzy!! Heme! I can't find the ring! I-" he stopped when he noticed the ring was in Izzy's hand, "Hen heh... Oops. That's Izzy, there's a reason your my best man."

Izzy let out a sigh, "Yeah, save the thanks for later, right now, you've got a wedding to go to!" he grabbed Tai's hand and rushed him to the church.

Some cheesy, romantic music started playing as he walked down the aisle, but that was ok, it was a cheesy, romantic kind of day.

The bride, his bride, came into sight. Dressed in a beautiful, white traditional wedding gown.

The priest began, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bring these two together in Holy Matrimony. Tai Kamiya, and June Motemya."

The End