This story takes place in a nonexistent time line where Mimi has returned to Japan and joined Taichi's high school, but the events of Tri have not yet begun. The story contains cross-dressing. Also, Koushiro and Taichi would never do the things that get them into trouble here (namely, doing sketchy things around a girl's locker room on a dare).

A Debtor's Hell

Taichi rapped his knuckles on Koushiro's bedroom door and entered without waiting for an answer. The room was dim, almost dark, and Taichi blinked like a disoriented owl. If any late afternoon light still lingered, the shut blinds cut it off. The only illumination came from the pair of monitors on Koushiro's desk.

Unsurprisingly, Koushiro was stationed in front of them, swiveling his chair towards his visitor. "Hey," Taichi said. He shut the door behind him and cuffed his friend on the shoulder before sitting on the edge of his bed.

Although he could barely make out the rest of the room, Taichi knew what it looked like and was accustomed to navigating the space in dim conditions. One wall was occupied by bookcases stuffed with advanced texts on math, computers, and science. Another housed a long desk, half covered by computer equipment and half empty, reserved for doing homework. Or at least, that was the idea; right now, empty bottles that once held tea, water, and energy drinks littered the surface. A western style bed and a wardrobe filled the third wall, and the last contained the door.

"Good evening." Koushiro continued his rotation until he faced Taichi. The glow of the screens lit one side of his face and threw the other into darkness, a visual that might have been creepy if Taichi wasn't so used to it. "Thanks for coming on short notice."

Taichi fought the urge to roll his eyes. After over six years of friendship, he knew there was no point in asking Koushiro to tone down his politeness. "Any time," he substituted. Who knew? Maybe if he softened his approach, Koushiro would finally respond. Yeah. And maybe Agumon will stop eating enough for three people every meal.

Koushiro rarely initiated social calls, so Taichi also knew that there was a point to this visit. Since Koushiro's text hadn't mentioned anything related to the Digital World, his problem was likely personal in nature... Which meant that this talk might include some tooth pulling on Taichi's end.

Sure enough, Koushiro tipped his head and made a hedging sound. Taichi grinned, amused by his predictability. "Spill," he ordered, softening the command with a smile.

Koushiro shrugged sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It's just... I have a favor to ask, and it's a bit... Emasculating, I suppose."

Taichi scooted towards the edge of the bed, shifting closer to Koushiro. "What happened? Are you alright?" He hadn't heard any whispers at school, any hints that something embarrassing had happened to a student. Granted, he spent the morning wondering how Agumon was doing and most of the afternoon focused on his upcoming soccer practice, but...

Even in the poor lighting, Taichi saw color pooling on Koushiro's cheeks. "Well... My class had gym today."

Oh, boy. Taichi's mouth thinned into a hard line. Koushiro excelled in math and the sciences, and was likely more skilled in those subjects than the teachers. But for everything else, he was simply an above-average student, relying on his keen memory, test-taking skills, and ease of learning to carry him through subjects he wasn't as interested in. But even geniuses had their limits, and Koushiro often found his in the gymnasium or on a field.

"We, uh... We're having a physical education exam. A practical one."

Taichi slouched as relief washed over him. "Don't worry about it. It's just basic stuff like running, push-ups, and pull-ups."

A muscle twitched beneath Koushiro's eye. "Taichi-san," he sighed.

Taichi's head tipped to the side, like a dog responding to being called. "Yeah?"

Those thick brows knit above eyes filled with consternation and dread. "I can't do a pull-up."

A breathy, itchy sensation filled Taichi's chest, tickling his lungs and throat. His eyes watered, but he couldn't, he wouldn't-!

Koushiro's disapproval vanished, overrun by panic. That polite, detached voice jumped in pitch, and he sounded like a strangled chipmunk. "I can't do enough push-ups, either!"

A snort slipped free, followed by a half-swallowed chuckle that morphed into a grunt. Taichi imagined Koushiro clinging to a pull-up tower, feet flailing, face red and sweaty, and lost all control.

He collapsed on Koushiro's bed and laughed until he couldn't breathe.

The Next Day

Although the school day was over, the boys' locker room was bustling, filled with athletes cleaning up after their club activities. Taichi glanced at Koushiro, looking uncomfortable and out of place in a gym uniform, and smothered the urge to chuckle.

Taichi opened a locker door and unzipped his duffel bag, searching for his towel. He wanted to shower and change back into his normal uniform, like his teammates, but there was no point if he was going to work out some more. He settled for drinking from his water bottle and toweling off the layer of sweat on his skin.

"Sorry to make you wait out my practice," he said. "How did you pass the time? You quit the computer club when you started working for your friend in that office, right?"

"Yes," Koushiro replied. "I did homework in the library."

Taichi grunted. For some reason, whenever Koushiro's new job passed his mind, a nagging sense of discomfort rose. It was almost like knowing he had forgotten something, but having no clue what. Taichi hid a scowl behind the open locker door and tossed his moist towel inside.

By the time he closed it and straightened, he had tacked on his typical grin. "The gym should be mostly empty by now. Are you ready?"

Koushiro nodded, but his weight shifted from foot to foot. "Where will we start?"

Taichi headed towards the door that connected the locker room to the gym and held it open for Koushiro. "First, we'll see what you can do. If you can already meet any exam requirements, then we won't waste time on them."

Nodding, Koushiro stepped into the gym, a large, open space with shiny wooden floors. Stowaway bleachers lined the walls, with additional standing room for spectators on a second-floor balcony along the perimeter of the room. Colorful lines separated the gym into two basketball courts, each with score boards. A stage with crimson curtains occupied the center of the wall opposite the main entrance. Doors on either side of the stage led to equipment storage rooms.

One of the courts was occupied by lingering members of the basketball club, but the was free. Koushiro seemed sheepish, so Taichi moved with extra confidence. "Any student can use the gym."

Koushiro sped up his pace to stay in stride with him. "I realize that, but I can't help but feel out of place."

"No big," Taichi said, shrugging. He stopped at a far corner of the gym, where equipment for the practical exam was set up: free weights, a jumping box, and a pull-up tower, which Koushiro regarded with even more distrust than he had paid to the Kaiser's dark towers.

"Let's warm up first," Taichi suggested. "We'll stretch, then do some laps around the gym."

Koushiro nodded and stood facing Taichi. He grinned, wondering if Koushiro realized that he was drawing from their time together in their elementary school's soccer club. Back then, everyone faced the leader to go through routine stretches. And since that was so long ago, Taichi started simple by touching his toes.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Koushiro's fingertips hovering a few centimeters above his toes. "Couldn't you do this in soccer club?" he asked.

Koushiro's fingers trembled as he fought to stretch further. "I can't recall. I suppose children are more pliant."

Taichi cocked an eyebrow. For Koushiro's sake, he was touching his shoes, but he could splay his palms flat on the floor without much trouble. "Uh, when was the last time you exercised?"

Koushiro's hands jerked up as he twitched. "Outside of school? Well... Do you count walking and running in the Digital World?"

Taichi indulged in a grimace before he stood up. "That definitely counts, but it was years ago. Haven't you been taking care of yourself?"

Koushiro straightened, revealing flushed cheeks. "I'm certainly well-hydrated. And oolong tea has many health benefits-"

"Sure," Taichi said loudly, hoping to rescue himself from another oolong tea lecture. "But that can't substitute for exercise."

The redhead fell silent. Taichi directed him through a few more stretches, biting back comments on Koushiro's inflexibility and tenuous balance.

There was no way around it: Koushiro was never skilled at soccer. He followed direction and worked well in a team, meaning that his performance was passable in elementary school, but he wasn't talented or enthusiastic. Still, unless Taichi's memory was faulty, Koushiro rarely embarrassed himself back then, and he kept up in the Digital World.

And this, he thought as he ran beside Koushiro at less than half his usual pace, is embarrassing. After a few circuits, Taichi stopped at their starting point. Koushiro stared at him, breathing heavily. Taichi hesitated, unsure of what to say.

"What happened?" he blurted.

Sighing, Koushiro sank into a squat. "It's been years since I've exercised regularly, Taichi-san. I switched to the computer club after our adventures."

"And then the office," Taichi muttered. Ideas circled his head, thoughts and feelings that he couldn't quite assemble into a whole. He fell silent, and the chatter of the basketball team, the squeaks of their shoes, and the dribbling of the ball filled his ears.

"What's next?" Koushiro prompted.

Taichi blinked and shook his head, clearing out those fuzzy thoughts. "Let's… see how many push-ups you've got."

Koushiro's face contorted into a pained expression, but he lowered himself to the gym floor. Taichi bent to correct his form, but paused when the basketball players began to shout. His eyes scanned the room, searching for threats as his instincts roared into life.

But instead of finding a rampaging digimon or some other danger, as a buried part of him always expected to encounter, his gaze landed on Matsuo, a member of his soccer team. That was normal enough, true, but he had never seen quite this much of Matsuo before.

Koushiro made a squelching sound. "Isn't he in your grade?" he asked, politely avoiding the more pressing question. He directed his attention on the floor, likely with more focus than he'd ever paid to panels of wood before.

Matsuo was running a circuit around the gym, just as they had a few moments ago. Unlike them, however, he was naked. Taichi snorted and smacked his forehead. "Ahhh, right! That was today!"

Koushiro sputtered and dropped a few inches, his wrists trembling. "B-beg pardon?"

Taichi shook his head and looked away from his teammate as he passed their corner. "There's a dare war happening in the soccer club."

At this, Koushiro pitched towards the ground, landing on his elbows. Laughing, Taichi pounded his back. "Maybe you should wait a bit before you start."

Koushiro's heavy brows knit above dark, cautious eyes. "Quite. Dare I ask what a dare war is?"

Taichi's shoulders rose in a playful shrug. "Pretty much what it sounds like: a bunch of idiots playing truth or dare, except you can't pick truth."

"In…deed." A vertical line indented the middle of Koushiro's forehead, which meant that he was either thinking hard or feeling distinctly skeptical and unimpressed. Taichi was pretty sure he knew which camp his friend was in right now. "How does it work?"

"It usually starts with someone daring someone out of the blue," Taichi explained. "Then, when they do the dare, they feel like… Spreading the pain, I guess. They dare someone else. Then they do their dare and dare someone else, and soon, it's a formal thing."

Koushiro's eyes widened as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "You all allow it to snowball like that?"

Taichi's usual grin went sheepish. "I guess," he admitted. "There are rules, too. For example, you can only challenge someone who hasn't been dared yet since the war started, and everyone has a week to fill their dare. Unless you're specific about the dare when you make it, they can choose when and where to do it."

The clamor of hooting and laughter reached a peak, and both boys turned towards the din. Matsuo sprang towards the door to the boy's changing room and thew himself inside like an action hero leaping away from an explosion. Taichi chuckled, but Koushiro shook his head. "So I can infer that your teammate was challenged to streak at school, so he chose a place near an escape point and a time when there would be few witnesses."

Taichi nodded. "Yeah. Someone was chosen to make sure there were no girls around, too."

Koushiro cocked an eyebrow. "I assumed the point was to humiliate the dare victim."

"Sure, but even we have some pity. Besides, guys will just laugh and get on with their day. A girl is more likely to report it, and then the whole team would be in trouble."

"Fascinating." Koushiro lifted a fist to his chin. "Your team is willing to risk punishment for the sake of entertaining one another through sequential humiliation." A tiny frown pulled at his lips. "I fail to see the allure."

"Yeah, well…" Grinning, Taichi cuffed his shoulder. "What can I say? You've got more class than we do. But don't worry about that; I still haven't seen a push-up."

That frown expanded, morphing into a scowl. When Koushiro spoke, Taichi wasn't sure if he was genuinely curious, or avoiding his workout. "What was your dare, Taichi-san?"

Taichi grimaced. "I haven't had one yet." Something about his tone drew Koushiro's notice, and the redhead stared at him expectantly, awaiting further information. Sighing, he added, "It's better to be dared early on. The war doesn't end until everyone's had a turn. Usually, the longer the game goes on, the more over-the-top the dares become. Everyone tries to outdo the last guy."

Taichi didn't know what to make of the grin that covered his friend's face. "I see," Koushiro said. "In that case, may I ask another favor?"

"What?"

And suddenly, Koushiro was the picture of innocence. "Will you inform me when you're due to fulfill your dare?"

Taichi caught Koushiro in a headlock for a noogie. "That's it, no more stalling. Drop and give me fifty!"

"Fifty?!"

Taichi's laughter filled the gym as he pressed a red-faced Koushiro into position for push-ups.

Another Day

Hey. I'm here.

Koushiro read Taichi's text and groaned. The sun hadn't risen yet, and neither had his brain. Regardless, he was dressed in his school's uniform track suit and filling a water bottle in his apartment's kitchen. He tried to turn off the faucet, but missed the tap's handle.

After another false try, Koushiro turned off the water and trudged to the front door. He opened it and found Taichi, somehow looking reasonably awake. Brown eyes swept from Koushiro's head to his toes, and his lips twisted into a grin. "You look like crap. Are you sleepwalking, or what?"

Koushiro's face snapped into a familiar deadpan. "I imagine most people look like this at this hour, especially on a Sunday."

"Nah," he replied, shrugging. "More people are up than you'd think. Let's move; the longer we wait, the more crowded the sidewalks will be."

Koushiro resisted the urge to snort. Not even Odaiba, a residential man-made island in Tokyo Bay, could be busy at 5:30 AM. He could have argued, but when Taichi was involved, it was sometimes simpler-and less frustrating- to keep quiet and follow his lead. "Alright."

Taichi grabbed Koushiro's water bottle and placed it on top of the storage rack in the genkan. When Koushiro protested, he said, "It will be a pain to carry. You won't shrivel up if you don't drink for a little while."

"Hydration is paramount!" Koushiro snapped.

Taichi shrugged, nonplussed. "I mean, if you really wanna carry it, you can… But my guess is that you'll regret it when you're struggling to haul ass."

Koushiro's eyes narrowed as he stared at the bottle. It was such a small thing, hardly worth arguing over, and yet… Taichi's exercise program so often shoved him out of his element. Keeping a drink on hand was a small way to establish normalcy, to keep him comfortable.

Still, if he was going to follow Taichi into his routine, then it was better to defer to his experience. Sighing, Koushiro put on his sneakers, opened the door for Taichi, and locked it behind them.

They stood on the concrete outdoor walkway that connected all of the apartments on this level and provided access to the elevator. The world beyond it was dark, a gray that paled as the sun stirred somewhere out of sight. Although spring was beginning to yield to summer, a chill hung in the air, and Koushiro rubbed his arms for warmth. "Lead on," Koushiro said, swallowing a sigh.

Taichi's grins usually inspired confidence, but something about this one- perhaps that it was uneven, with one cheek higher than the other? Or was it the gleam in his eye, so faint that Koushiro might have imagined it?- caused a small spike of dread. But the habit of trusting and following Taichi was too ingrained, and soon, he was dutifully running by his side.

They passed tall buildings, some apartment complexes, others businesses. The Daikanransha was lit in the background, slowly rotating in a bright, colorful circle. By Tokyo's standards, everything was remarkably quiet. Koushiro had never seen Odaiba so deserted, not since Vamdemon's siege. The pre-dawn chill seemed to spike, and he shuddered and moved closer to Taichi, almost crowding him as they jogged down the sidewalk.

"It's quiet," Koushiro murmured.

Taichi grunted assent. "Things get more lively around six."

Koushiro boggled at Taichi, but his friend remained focused on their route. "Do you often run this early?" That was difficult to picture. Although Taichi had boundless energy during soccer matches and Digital World emergencies, he otherwise exuded a laid-back attitude.

"Nah. It's hard enough to wake up for school, but I try to get a run in on Sunday mornings."

Koushiro sucked in a breath before responding. He was beginning to warm with activity, and his awareness of his body rose, an unusual sensation. Every strike of his feet against the concrete sang up his legs, sending a subtle shock over his frame. For a moment, the poetry of physics in motion enthralled him.

A tug in his lungs, protest from a body unused to exercise, pulled him back to reality. Koushiro frowned, unaware of the time lapse since Taichi last spoke. "May I ask why you jog? You already undergo so much physical activity in soccer club."

This time, Taichi looked down at him. His bright, boyish grin ripped Koushiro back in time, almost by force. He seemed younger, and although his goggles were with Daisuke now, Koushiro pictured them perched on his bushy head. "You'll see," he promised.

A familiar thrill, buried but not forgotten, rose from the depths of Koushiro's memory. Just like that, he was adventuring with Taichi again, and he forgot the sting in his lungs and the dull ache in his calves.

They lapsed into silence, by choice on Taichi's end and necessity on Koushiro's. As time passed, the grayness, that lingering veil of night, dissolved, beginning on the horizon. Koushiro caught Taichi grinning before they rounded a corner, passing a tall office building.

Koushiro stopped so abruptly that he nearly toppled. Taichi had led them to the edge of Odaiba, a spot overlooking Tokyo Bay. The Rainbow Bridge gleamed, its colorful lights winking against the rippling surface. A few boats, likely carrying commuters to their jobs on Tokyo mainland, dotted the water. These were also lit, creating a carnival of illumination.

And beyond them, on the distant horizon, the sun slowly rose, stretching off the sleep of night. Koushiro stared, heedless of time, as pale orange light spilled across the bay. Although he was almost in a trance, Koushiro didn't jump when Taichi's hand landed on his shoulder. "It's beautiful," he breathed.

Taichi squeezed, and Koushiro interpreted the brief pressure as agreement. "Do you wanna sit?" He nodded at a row of benches facing the water beyond the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. Koushiro agreed, and soon, they collapsed on a paneled bench. Soft pinks and yellows joined the oranges, hues spreading and building as tints overlapped. It was so surreal and beautiful that he didn't notice his heavy breathing and aching legs.

"Prodigious," he murmured. "I can't believe... I haven't seen a sunrise since our time in the Digital World, and never in Odaiba, despite living here for years. Everything looks so different."

Although he continued to stare at the horizon, Koushiro deduced from Taichi's tone that he was lifting an eyebrow. "You can see a sunrise or sunset anytime. I know you stay up too late and wake up too early when you're working, anyway."

"Well, yes," Koushiro admitted. "But as you said, I'm working." He didn't realize that he had walked into a trap until Taichi pounded his back. Koushiro staggered forward with a grunt.

"This is what you miss when you live in a screen," Taichi said. Koushiro tore his eyes from the scenery to regard his friend. He'd heard variations of this lecture for as long as he could remember, delivered by worried parents, teachers, and friends. While he appreciated their concern, the repetition tried his patience.

Through concentrated effort, Koushiro concealed any signs of irritation. "It's not as if I'm a pariah. I attend school, confer with the Chosen, and report to my job. And that's all without mentioning my online contacts."

A network of tiny, precise facial muscles tightened beneath Taichi's skin, and Koushiro knew he was ready to set his heels in and argue. But seconds bled by with no motion, no outpouring of words, and Taichi's strain drained away with a long sigh. "Look. I didn't bring you here for a fight."

"Agreed." Koushiro's shoulders slumped, and he looked at the bay, hoping to find comfort in the sunrise. "We're here because I'm struggling with basic fitness." He wiped the sweat off his forehead and noticed that Taichi's skin was dry.

Taichi's hand landed on his shoulder again, a familiar and comforting weight. "We're not here to listen to you beat yourself up, either. I just wanted to remind you that..."

Taichi pressed down more and more as he hesitated, and Koushiro's body dipped towards his. "I just... Do you remember being in the Digital World and seeing all those new things?"

"Of course." Even to his own ears, Koushiro's voice sounded distant, almost dreamy. That feeling of waking up in a whole new world would never, ever vanish. There was fear and danger in the Digital World, of course. But the excitement of being a pioneer in uncharted territory, particularly in a world uniquely shaped for his skill set, outweighed all the negatives.

"I know you can do a lot from your computer. Hell, I saw you hack into governments to trace a nuclear warhead."

Koushiro couldn't help it; the warmth in Taichi's voice drew him in. He turned to his friend and swallowed hard, unable to digest the fierce gleam of pride in his eyes. "Still... I dunno. I've been kinda worried since you started your new job."

A trace of frustration slipped into Koushiro's tone, marring his politeness, perhaps in response to Taichi's candor. "Why? The tools in my office vastly increase the scope of what I can achieve. I've never been better supplied or funded. The work I'm doing there in collaboration with the contacts I'm gaining could prove instrumental to understanding and protecting the Digital World."

Taichi tsked. "I told you, I know what you can do. The Digital World is important to all of us, yeah. But then... so are you."

Koushiro blinked. He didn't intend to look away from Taichi, but suddenly, he felt too overwhelmed to meet his eye. Taichi wasn't speaking, which meant that he was expected to respond. But no words came to mind, and Koushiro's shoulders bunched and rose. "U-umm..."

Taichi chuckled, and Koushiro clung to the sound, eager for normalcy in a situation he couldn't quite comprehend. "Researching is what you do. I get that; we all do. And we know it's your life to live. But... We miss you, Koushiro. What's the point of saving the world all the time if you don't get out there and live in it?"

Before he could think better of it, Koushiro's head jerked back up. Taichi's grin was a little unsteady, a little uncomfortable, hinting that Koushiro wasn't the only hesitant party in this discussion. "Honestly? I know you hate training, but it's been fun. It's been a while since I could spend so much time with you."

Koushiro's fist rose to his chin as he considered that. "I go to my office after school," he began.

"And on Sunday. These days, you're either at school, at your office, or asleep. It's not like you were a social butterfly before, but we could meet up with you sometimes. But now..."

Koushiro swallowed hard. His days of intentionally shutting himself out were long gone, thanks to Tentomon's support and honest, open conversations with his adoptive parents. But that tendency to lose himself to his work remained. I didn't even notice...

"Don't forget the world," Taichi said at last. "Don't forget us. And don't try to carry the burden of figuring out the Digital World all alone."

Koushiro's head rose and fell in a slow, uncertain nod. "Yes. T-thank you." What else was there to say?

Taichi released a long breath, then stood and offered Koushiro a hand and a grin. "No slacking. Let's get back to it."

Koushiro took Taichi's hand and returned his smile. "Alright, Taichi-san."

A Few Weeks Later

Koushiro slipped into the boys' locker room, searching for that familiar silhouette of trim muscles and enormous hair. As always, Taichi was easy to spot, and Koushiro approached, performing that studied practice of navigating a room full of changing students without directly looking at any of them. His eyes sought a safe focal point and landed on the open windows stationed near the top of the walls. A slight breeze wafted in, relieving the heat of the room and dispersing some of the stink into the unsuspecting outdoors.

Taichi was reaching into his typical locker. He looked up at the sound of Koushiro's approach and grinned. "Hey! How'd it go?"

Koushiro's smile was so enormous that it caused a mild ache in his cheeks. "I passed! In fact, I performed well!"

"Nice!" Taichi cried. "I knew you would." He extended a fist, and Koushiro stared at it for a second before realizing that he was expected to bump it with his. He performed the maneuver, then took a seat on the bench nearest Taichi's locker.

"I never would have expected that my athletic performance could improve so rapidly. I'm in your debt."

Taichi took a long swig of water before responding. Koushiro couldn't help staring; he had polished off his water bottle while waiting for Taichi's practice to end. Taichi noticed his fixation, grinned, and handed the bottle over. Koushiro drank while his friend toweled off his glistening face.

"Like I said, you can build basic muscle in just a few weeks if you do it right. It won't make you an athlete, but it's enough to carry you through something basic." He lowered the towel, revealing a smirk and eyes that glittered with mischief. "If you want to improve some more, we can keep training, since you're already here…"

Koushiro choked on a mouthful of water, swallowed with difficulty, and held his hands up. "N-not today, thanks. I'm exhausted from the practical."

"That's fair," Taichi said, shrugging. "But you know… If you stop exercising, you'll lose the progress you've made. Don't you think it's better to maintain basic fitness, especially now that you've come this far?" When Koushiro hesitated, those brown eyes narrowed. "You know, Digital World stuff could pop up at any time. What will you do if you're wheezing in a dangerous situation?"

Koushiro's instinct was to politely deflect, but as much as he hated to admit it, Taichi had a point. Their adventures always began unexpectedly. What if the Digital World pulled him and the others in again? Would he be able to keep up? If he lagged behind, the others wouldn't leave him. The whole group would slow, and Taichi…

Koushiro swallowed hard. Even when they were club mates in elementary school, well before they were really friends, Taichi had encouraged him, worked with him, cheered him up when team mates grumbled about his sometimes lackluster performance. Now that Taichi was his leader and his closest human friend, there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect him. And if Taichi sustained damage to protect him…

Koushiro resisted the urge to grab Taichi's wrist, as if that would save him from an imaginary threat. "You have a point," he conceded.

"Yeah." Koushiro expected Taichi to show enthusiasm over his agreement, but he was scowling thoughtfully. "Actually… I wonder if I could organize training for everyone. Sora works out for tennis club, but I don't know if anyone else does. I'm worried about Hikari, too. It's impossible to line up everyone's schedules, though."

"True. It's best to make the timing of our sessions known and invite everyone to join at their convenience."

Taichi was about to respond when an older student approached them. Koushiro didn't know him personally, but he had seen enough of Taichi's soccer games to know that he was a team mate. "Hey, Yagami!" the boy called.

And, unless Koushiro was suffering a stroke, Taichi flinched. Koushiro was so startled that he dropped the water bottle. He had seen Taichi stare down digimon that could vaporize him while dropping one-liners. What could possibly be so dangerous about this upper classman?

Those brown eyes narrowed as Taichi pulled himself back together. "Motosuwa-san?"

Laughing, Motosuwa smacked Taichi's back. "You already figured it out, huh? Your number is finally up!"

Under other circumstances, Koushiro might have laughed at Taichi's plastic grin and how his cheeks twitched with effort to maintain it. He was too occupied with hearing his friend's thoughts, like a mind reader that could only pick up on the most pithy profanity. The dares must have snowballed into an avalanche so formidable that even the child of courage lost heart in its wake. "Y-yeah?"

Impossibly, Motosuwa's grin widened. "C'mon outside," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "You're gonna love it."

Soon After

As Taichi reached for the ledge separating the first and second stories of the gym, he decided that he did not, in fact, love this. He glanced over his shoulder, considering requesting a reprieve, but knowing he wouldn't receive one. Most of his team mates were assembled in groups on the grass that separated the gym from the fields beyond, trying and failing to appear nonchalant. Koushiro hovered near a lone tree off to the side, shifting his weight and glancing left and right, probably looking out for teachers.

At least I have someone who will warn me if my ass is about to be expelled. That was the closest he'd come to relief until this debacle ended.

The windows to the changing rooms were set high in the first story's walls, just below the ledge. With a grunt and a prayer to the powers that be, Taichi pulled, hauling himself up. He couldn't quite lift his elbows enough to rest on the ledge, so he swung a long leg up and rolled his body over, careful to keep himself low. At this hour, it was unlikely that anyone would be on the second story balcony in the gym, but there were still people around outside of it.

With that in mind, Taichi shimmied towards the nearest girls' locker room window, moving forward on his elbows. Female voices floated through the open pane, and he caught snippets of chatter about practices. Taichi looked at his assembled teammates, hoping that this might be enough adventure to satisfy them. Motosuwa caught his eye and gestured towards the window.

A silent sigh gusted through Taichi's brain. He inched further still, until his head hung over the ledge. From this angle, all he could see were a few feet and delicate ankles, some bare, some in socks and sneakers. That was fine; Taichi had already planned to see as little as possible and make up details for his teammates. The inspiration of a limited view meant that he didn't have to name any particular students while describing their theoretical bodies.

He waited a few seconds, then began to crawl forward, so that he wouldn't pass the window when he jumped to down. When he was ready, he swung his body off the ledge and hung from his fingertips. A burst of laughter from the changing room startled him, and he twitched and slipped off the ledge. There was a clanking sound he couldn't identify, then quickly forgot as his legs absorbed the impact of hitting the ground.

Dazed, Taichi moved away from the gym, heading towards his teammates. They encircled him, thumping his back and demanding details. Taichi stared past them and met Koushiro's glance, hoping for confirmation that he hadn't been seen.

All hopes of comfort were dashed by the redhead's wide eyes and graying complexion. Taichi's heart pounded so hard that he was amazed no one commented on the sound, but he didn't see anyone approaching to kick him out of school and possibly into some kind of juvenile delinquency facility. So what the hell was wrong?

Taichi endured the teasing and congratulations as long as he could, delivering a fake, greatly exaggerated version of what he had seen. As soon as possible, he broke away from the group and jogged towards Koushiro. Under the guise of smacking his shoulder, he leaned close and said, "What the hell happened?"

Koushiro swallowed hard. Those wide eyes threatened to pop out of his sockets like grisly ping pong balls. "T-Taichi-san," he choked.

"You're killing me," Taichi growled. "Spit it out!"

"Y-you're digivice! It, it fell out of your pocket!"

"Damn!" Taichi whirled around, squinting towards the gym. "Where?!" He was already moving away from Koushiro, but his friend grabbed his arm. "C'mon, I need to pick it up before someone else does!"

Koushiro jerked his head left and right. Taichi fought the urge to drag him along to the building. Panic built, almost as bad as when he was peeking into the window. Koushiro licked his lips, then whispered, "You can't."

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because it fell through the window."

"Shit." Taichi didn't even hear the profanity slip from his lips. The world shrank to Koushiro's ridiculous expression as everything in the background blurred. "I, I have to get it," he mumbled. "Before some girl picks it up and thinks it's a Tamagotchi."

Koushiro leaned in closer, his voice reduced to the merest whisper. "You can't waltz into the girls' locker room! We have to contact Sora-san right away, she might still be here for tennis club practice."

Taichi grabbed Koushiro's shoulders and pulled him even closer. "We can't tell Sora!"

Koushiro scowled and tipped his head, shocked out of his stupor. "Why not? It's the most logical solution."

"Because," Taichi hissed, and Koushiro winced when a droplet of spittle hit his face. "She will annihilate me when she finds out how the digivice got there."

Koushiro's face snapped into an unimpressed deadpan. "I rather doubt she'd commit murder. You need your digivice."

"I can't use it if I'm dead!"

"Then what's your suggestion?"

Koushiro's tart expression shifted towards nerves as a slow, shaky grin spread across Taichi's face. "You said you owed me a favor, right?"

Koushiro stepped back and held his hands out in front of him. "Oh, no. I'm not telling Sora-san that it's my digivice."

Impossibly, Taichi felt his smile widening, stretching out his cheeks. "That's not what I had in mind. Wait for me in the gym."

And with that, he ran towards the main school building at a pace that suggested an imminent digimon attack. He heard Koushiro sputtering behind him, but spared no time to comment on it. Who knew how much he had to spare before a girl picked up his digivice?

Soon After

A panting Taichi approached Koushiro in the gym. He stopped in front of him and threw his gym bag at his feet. "There," he sighed, wiping his brow. "That bag has everything you need."

For once, Koushiro didn't want to ask questions; he longed for the luxury of clapping his hands to his ears and fleeing. The knowledge that Taichi needed his digivice to form one of their team's strongest digimon was all that kept him in place. With a cautious glance at Taichi, he knelt beside the gym bag and slowly unzipped it.

"No," he cried, his pitch puncturing the atmosphere and launching into orbit. "Absolutely not!" He glanced around the gym, already guilty over something he hadn't done yet. Mercifully, it was empty at this hour, and there were no witnesses to their increasingly loud squabble.

Taichi clapped his hands together and bowed. "Please! You have to help me. The girls will kill me if they find out, even though I only saw some feet."

Heat flooded Koushiro's face, leaving him light-headed. "Then you go!"

"Do you think anyone would buy that?!" Taichi snapped. "I can't fit into the uniform! You could wear it, you're short and skinny enough to pass for a girl."

With utmost venom, Koushiro hissed, "Thank you."

Taichi slapped his forehead. "Sorry, I didn't mean- Look. If I could pull this off, I would. I can't. All you need to do is wear this stuff, pick up my digivice, and get out."

"You can't send me into a room of changing girls! It's, it's… You can't do that! I can't do that! It's invasive, it's wrong, it could result in expulsion, not to mention social suicide! What would I tell my mother?!" He broke off, too overwhelmed to continue. After a few deep, steadying breaths, he added, "This favor isn't nearly equivalent to the one you paid me."

"You're right," Taichi said, nodding. "I trained you for weeks. This will take thirty seconds." Koushiro opened his mouth to argue, but Taichi added volume to drown him out. "I don't want to ask this of you. I know it sucks, I know it's risky, but the longer we argue, the more likely it is that someone picked up my digivice."

Every muscle was set, locked in rigid fury. The tips of Koushiro's ears burned, hinting that his flushing had claimed every centimeter of skin on his face. There was no way he would do this- no way he could!

And yet…

Koushiro's eyes pinched shut, and Taichi's pleading expression vanished, like turning off a television. He owed Taichi a favor. Even before the gym practical business, Koushiro was forever in Taichi's debt. Before their adventures, Taichi had treated him like an equal, overlooking the fact that he was younger, non-athletic, and less social. And when they traveled to the Digital World together…

Taichi was among the first to acknowledge his skills, and certainly the first to rely on them. Under his leadership, Koushiro had not only survived an environment that, by all odds, should have killed him; he flourished there. Suddenly, the hobby that fed his thirst for knowledge while buffering him from misunderstandings with his parents and clumsiness with his peers was an asset. And wherever Taichi led, the others followed. Soon, the group gathered around Koushiro to hear his thoughts, and little by little, the fragile seed of confidence grew. Little by little, Koushiro earned a group of friends.

And little by little, he stepped into the role of Taichi's adviser and right hand.

Besides, if you needed help, he would provide it, no matter the cost. With a long, beleaguered sigh, Koushiro grabbed the gym bag. He couldn't bring himself to verbally agree- and what could he possibly say in this situation?

Taichi deflated with relief, slumping like a bored student in an endless lecture. He flung an arm over Koushiro's shoulders. "Thank you."

A selection of scathing responses burst into life, as sudden and explosive as fireworks. Koushiro nodded, jaw clenched, unsure if he could ever stop firing them off if he started. He stepped towards the boys' locker room, but moved towards the stage when Taichi tugged him. When he cocked an eyebrow, Taichi said, "You can't leave the boys' changing room dressed like that, and obviously you can't change in the girls'."

Taichi nodded at the storage room on the side of the stage nearer to the locker rooms. Koushiro advanced. He fought the nonsensical urge to knock before sliding the door open.

The storage room was dark, and he groped along the wall until he found the light switch. Supplies filled the space, containers of jerseys for scrimmages and gym games, balls corralled into bins, fall mats, jumping boxes and their stackable components, and so on. There wasn't much empty space to stand in between the shelves, but it was sufficient for changing.

The light pouring in from the gym faded as Taichi closed the door. "I'll keep watch."

Then I hope you're more skilled at feigning nonchalance than your teammates. Koushiro exhaled, devoting his airflow to calming down instead of riling them both up further.

He dropped the gym bag and stared at it with a glowering sense of foreboding. But there wasn't time for brooding or nerves, so he tugged at the knot securing his tie, the first ritualistic step of undressing. Far too soon, he was down to socks, shoes, and boxer briefs, an exposure that encouraged haste in dressing. Still, he hesitated. A slight tap on the outside of the door pulled him back to task. With an enormous sigh bordering on a groan, Koushiro unzipped the bag and pulled out a navy uniform skirt. A complex emotion surfaced, an unprecedented mixture of dread and resignation. Just how much did he care for Taichi, again?

"Are you done?" the same whispered, as if the thought had summoned him. A muscle twitched beneath Koushiro's eye.

"No," came his terse response.

"Hurry up!" The anxiety in Taichi's voice spurred him on. After some hesitation- he had never handled a girl's uniform, let alone worn one- Koushiro stepped into the skirt, then followed it with the remaining pieces.

"Koushiro, seriously," Taichi hissed.

"I don't know how to tie the ribbon," Koushiro hissed right back.

"Who cares!" A foreign note of hysteria snuck into Taichi's tone. "Just knot it!"

A tart, defeated edge colored his typical brisk tone. "I suppose no one will notice. They'll be too busy staring at my hair. I haven't seen many girls with a cut like mine."

"What? That's why I grabbed the wig."

The temperature in the storage room plummeted. "I b-beg your- Where did you- Why do you have a wig?!"

"Look," Taichi snapped. "Don't worry about it!"

"But I am worried, Taichi-san." Under different circumstances, Koushiro might have been shocked by his skyrocketing sass. In the moment, it seemed the natural response, and he failed to notice the sarcasm.

Taichi leaned into the door with a thud. "I grabbed the uniform and the wig from the drama club's supplies, okay?"

Koushiro flinched. "Did you- Did you steal someone's uniform?!" He didn't think this misadventure could grow any more uncomfortable, but he shifted in the pilfered clothing, wondering if a fellow student had worn them just a few hours ago.

"Drama club already let out," Taichi snapped. "I'll put everything back when we're done, so let's go!"

"Did it, though?" Koushiro muttered. Swallowing hard, he reached back into the bag and felt around. A bundle of soft fibers was smushed into the corner, like some small, hiding mammal. Koushiro grabbed the wad of hair and pulled it free.

At a glance, it resembled a huge hairball, retched up by a ginger cat of epic proportions. He shook it out, and the fibers fell into a more natural pattern. After some hesitant adjustments, Koushiro was holding a rough reproduction of Hikari's haircut, colored a red slightly more brown and orange than his.

A bead of sweat worked down his forehead as he stared at the wig. "I don't suppose I could make you a new digivice."

A fist hit the door, then slid down its length. "Koushiro. Please." Taichi's voice broke, and Koushiro bowed his head. He slid the wig on and opened the door, deeply uncomfortable, but unable to ignore Taichi's plea.

Taichi stepped back, shifting his weight to accommodate for the loss of support from leaning on the door. Their eyes met, and then Taichi's moved up and down Koushiro's body.

He stumbled forward as abruptly as he had fallen back, throwing his forearm against the wall. Heat rushed to Koushiro's face as Taichi's cheeks puffed out, pulling his clenched lips taut. He braced for the peals of laughter that soon erupted, puncturing Taichi's control.

When his gasps for breath slowed, Koushiro snapped, "That was hardly necessary."

"S-sorry," Taichi choked. Groaning, he straightened, wiping an eye and rubbing his stomach. Another snort popped free when their eyes met again. Koushiro glared, making his position known without a word.

"I know. Sorry." Taichi shook his head, grinning. He hesitated, and for once in his life, landed on the side of diplomacy. "I guess it caught me off guard."

"This is hardly my preferred mode of dress," Koushiro replied.

"That's fair." Though he was still grinning, Taichi's body language shifted from amused to on task. "Your blouse is rumpled."

Koushiro cocked an eyebrow. "That's the least of my problems." With that reminder, he checked the gym and found that it was still mercifully empty. He tried to move towards the locker rooms- the sooner this was over, the better- but remained frozen.

Taichi patted his back and nudged him forward. The gym seemed cavernous, endless, and yet they still reached the locker rooms. Taichi administered a final pat, then leaned against the empty wall that separated the two changing room doors. "I'll keep watch," he said. "If any girls come, I'll stall them."

Stalling a girl at the entrance to either locker room meant that she would see him when he exited, but Koushiro didn't have the heart to point that out. Instead, he stared at the icon marking the girls' room, a triangle topped with a circle. There were so many things wrong with this that he didn't know where to begin. The task was impossible- he was far too polite to proceed- and yet…

He thought of how he would feel if he lost his digivice and could never enter the Digital World again. He imagined Agumon, stripped of his higher evolutions, cut from the special bond that tied a digimon partner to its Chosen child. Sighing, ignoring the churning in his gut and the knocking of his knees, Koushiro reached for the door. The handle slid in his sweaty grasp.

Then, repeating one of Jyou's sutras in his mind, he pushed it open and stepped inside.

The first thing that registered through the haze of panic was female voices further inside the room. Moving quickly, Koushiro ducked behind an empty row of lockers, hiding between them and the changing room wall. He stared at the floor, hoping to avoid seeing anyone or being seen. The long strands of the wig fell forward, blocking his face. He startled, surprised by this foreign feature of long hair.

Although it was hardly the time for such observations, Koushiro couldn't help noticing that the girls' locker room smelled different than the boys'. The scent of sweat was present, but less pungent, not so off-putting. And that stink he couldn't identify, which Taichi referred to as 'dude funk,' was absent. He found himself wishing he could use this facility instead, caught himself, and flushed violently. Although there was no one to see his embarrassment, he looked away, glancing towards the wall.

He heart leaped to his throat like a pulsing ball of phlegm when he found himself staring at a girl. A full two seconds passed before he parsed that he was gazing into a mirror mounted on the length of the wall. The paralysis faded, and he clutched his chest, rubbing at the ache of a galloping heart.

It was foolish, not to mention uncomfortable, but Koushiro couldn't stop staring at his reflection. The uniform was rumpled and ill-fitting, too big in the chest and hips, too tight in the waist. Most girls wore knee highs or slim, short socks, and his calf-length pair seemed baggy and out of place. His knobby knees were jarring beneath the skirt, and the hair on his legs did nothing for his disguise. He had knotted the neckerchief like a tie without thinking, leaving a short length of red fabric sticking straight out. The blouse strained against his shoulders, struggling to accommodate their recent broadening.

Just a year or two ago, this uniform would have fit. A strange thought, and a sobering one. His recent transition to high school marked another milestone, but somehow, he hadn't noticed the transitions shaping his body, shifting it from child to adult, until now. Would Tentomon recognize me? It's been so long since I've seen him…

He tipped his head, and the wig moved with it, catching his eye. Koushiro threw his hand over his mouth to smother an odd hybrid of a laugh and groan. The contrast between long, silky hair and his heavy brow was startling.

A new sound in the locker room shattered his inclination towards humor. A shower hissed to life on the opposite side of the facility, shoving his heartbeat back into overdrive. He had to get out of here, now.

Koushiro crept down the row of lockers, straining to hear signs of movement. He couldn't be sure, but the chattering voices seemed a few rows away. When he reached the edge of his, he peeked around the corner. He felt like a character in the world's most absurd video game.

The aisle between the end of the lockers and the wall was devoid of occupants. Koushiro swallowed hard, fighting down the nausea inching up his throat. There was nothing else for it- if he was going to investigate, he'd have to leave his cover.

He entered the empty aisle and swept his gaze over the floor. At first glance, he saw no digivice, and a hollow ringing filled his skull. Desperate, he counted the windows, trying to identify the exact site of the peeping debacle. Was the digivice already gone? His mind spun a ridiculous tale of locating Taichi's digivice with the program on his that they had used to search for the eighth child, culminating in a nocturnal break-in to an unsuspecting girl's bedroom and subsequent arrest.

Just before total panic set in, he spotted the glint of sunlight against a tiny screen, the familiar glare that caused Koushiro to permanently close his bedroom blinds. Before now, he had never been happy to see it. Rushing forward, he knelt in front of a locker and searched the gap between its base and the floor. His fingers closed around a familiar, reassuring shape. Even before he verified visually, Koushiro knew that the digivice was secured.

He didn't spare any time for relief. Prize in hand, he scurried out of the locker room, sparing just a second to peek through the entrance. Taichi leaped forward, making a frantic come here! gesture. Baffled, Koushiro exited the locker room.

He held out the digivice. "Thank god!" Taichi cried, grabbing it from Koushiro's grasp. Then he held Koushiro's shoulders and shoved him towards the boys' locker room. "Now get in there, stat!"

"What?" Koushiro blurted. "Why? My clothes are still in the storage room-"

"No time to explain!" Taichi cried. "I got a text from Sora- Just move!" So saying, he nearly slammed Koushiro into the door. Confused and alarmed, Koushiro obeyed, then stood in shock on the threshold to the boys' changing room.

After a few seconds, his shock began to ebb, replaced by irritation. What was he doing, standing in the open? True, being discovered dressed as a girl in the boys' locker room was far preferable to detection in the girls' room, but it would still have consequences. And how was he supposed to explain it? Disgruntled, Koushiro pushed the door open enough to look through at Taichi and demand an explanation.

Instead of locking gazes with Taichi, he found himself staring into Sora's eyes. Both sets widened, and Koushiro swallowed a moan when he noticed Mimi standing next to her, both girls dressed in their gym outfits. "Koushiro-kun?" they blurted in a unison that would have sounded lovely under different circumstances. Taichi grimaced.

Ignoring the sign marking this as the boys' locker room, Mimi strode forward, stepped into the room, grabbed Koushiro's shoulder, and tugged him into the open. The color drained from his face as both ladies absorbed his appearance.

Mimi's high-pitched laughter filled the gym like the peals of little bells. Sora boggled, face caught in an awkward mixture of disbelief and suspicion. Slowly, Mimi's giggles died out, and before Koushiro knew what was happening, she threw one arm around his shoulders and the other away from the two of them. A moment too late, Koushiro realized that she was taking a selfie.

"Mimi-san!" he cried, eyes widening in alarm as the flash went off.

Mimi laughed with delight and tweaked his nose. "You look sooooo cute! Where did you even get that uniform?!"

"What's going on?" Sora demanded. Although the question was general, she was frowning at Taichi. The athlete grinned awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I, uh… He lost a bet. I dared him to do a few laps around the building like this," he explained. Koushiro had no trouble playing along, falling into the role of an annoyed victim.

"Taichi!" Sora cried. "Don't make him uncomfortable! Koushiro-kun, bet or no, don't let him push you around. Go change."

Koushiro looked Taichi in the eye and lifted an eyebrow, and Taichi's wince hinted that he knew Koushiro would work any and all advantages. "Gladly," he said. "But I'm afraid Taichi-san has hidden my uniform."

You little shit. He couldn't say it out loud, but Taichi's glare spoke volumes. Taichi moved mechanically towards the storage room, accompanied by a lecturing Sora. Mimi remained with Koushiro, giggling and snapping a few more photos.

Koushiro rubbed his throbbing forehead. "I don't suppose I can convince you to delete these photographs."

With a wicked grin, she said, "Nope!"

As expected. He covered his face with his hands, affording himself any protection he could from Mimi's mischief. It felt like a lifetime before Taichi returned with Sora at his side, carrying his gym bag. Koushiro grabbed it and fled to the relative safety of the boys' locker room, and Taichi followed, likely to escape questioning.

Then they were alone, glaring at one another, too shell-shocked to clear the area in front of the door. After a few tense seconds, Koushiro cleared his throat and said, "Moving forward, I'm instituting a new policy."

"Yeah?" Taichi snapped. Koushiro nodded solemnly.

"We'll call it 'dude, hold my digivice,' effective whenever you do something monumentally stupid."

Taichi's eyelids flared back, and for a second, he seemed unable to choose between fury and hysterics. Koushiro waited, already knowing what side his friend would fall on.

Taichi's lips twitched up at the corners. A tiny snort slid free, and soon, he was laughing too hard to stand. He threw his arm around Koushiro's shoulders, as if he had any hope of holding them both upright. Soon, they were in imminent danger of toppling, tearing up with mirth, a ridiculous sight. This wasn't the first time their adventures had resolved like this, and Koushiro hoped it wouldn't be the last… sans the dares, pilfered uniforms, and locker room invasions, anyway.

Author's Notes:

I tried to contribute to Taishiro week, but I'm late! Noooo! Everyone wrote such lovely, heartfelt stories. I wrote… whatever this is XD

This story is based a dream I had. As I wrote it, I realized how silly it was, and did my best to provide some actual substance. As I pointed out initially, Taichi and Koushiro would never actually put any girls in a compromising situation like they did here. Definitely don't take this seriously. Also, I have no intention of snubbing people who enjoy cross-dressing. Please just think of it as a silly scenario that popped into my dreaming noggin.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know if you enjoyed it. Happy belated Taishiro week, and thanks for all the lovely submissions!