"Do you understand what you need to do?"

"...Yes, sir."

Taichi Yagami was headed home after a particularly exhausting day. You'd think after finishing entrance exams he'd get to enjoy his break before college studies began, but the universe had other plans. Those plans involved two-a-day practices for football and pre-requisite assignments for his classes. Couldn't they just wait until classes begin? The last few weeks were especially gouging by adding the stress of moving into an apartment with Yamato so they could "truly enjoy the freshmen experience", or so Yamato argued the evening of their high school graduation.

All these things led Taichi to this very predicament: walking to his new apartment in the near dead of night after an especially long practice because he made the mistake of heading to his parents' house instead. He grimaced thinking back to when his "angelic" little sister opened the door, laughed in his face and slammed it shut before yelling "you don't live here anymore!" He'll have to get back at her later.

Everything seemed so still and quiet. It was weird. Takeru would probably have some insightful metaphor to say about calmness or whatever. Chuckling at the thought Taichi didn't hear at first the panicked "Watch out!" coming from his peripheral. When the words finally registered it was too late. A football had been lodged in his direction and made perfect contact with his cheek, knocking him to the ground.

Before he opened his eyes again he heard the pitter-patter of cleats hitting concrete. The noise grew closer and then stopped suddenly. Opening one eye to investigate, Taichi found himself face-to-face with a very panicked girl. She couldn't be any older than him with long, brown hair pulled up in a ponytail. Her green eyes were wide with worry. What was she doing out at this hour?

The words spilled out of her mouth in quick succession. "Are you ok? How many fingers am I holding up? Do you remember who you are?"

Taichi finally opened his second eye to find the girl kneeling over him examining the bruise that started to form on his face.

"Yea, it's gonna take more than that to bring me down. Maybe next time aim more for the goal and less for innocent bystanders." He replied. He really had a chance to observe the girl this time. She was wearing a school practice jersey and by how dirty it was, he guessed she had been out there for some time. "I'm Taichi. Taichi Yagami. What are you doing out here? The field is usually off-limits after 8."

At his comment she blushed and leaned away. She had a sheepish grin on her face. "Ah ha.. I was not aware there were rules like that… I'm Yuzuki Kinimoto. I just moved here a few days ago. I'll be starting at the university. I was just looking for a place to kick off some stress, but I suppose I should stop tonight while I'm ahead. It wouldn't be a great first impression to knockout everyone I meet."

Giggling at her own comment she stood up and offered her hand. It was then Taichi realized he was still sitting on the sidewalk. Quickly grabbing her hand he collected his gym bag and propped it back on his shoulder. "Well, I should get home before my roommate heads to bed. If I wake him up, then I won't hear the end of it." The wrath of a tired Yamato is not one to be messed with. Taichi internally shuddered that the thought.

Smiling back she responded "Probably a good idea. I should get my things and get home before I'm caught by someone who won't just let me off with a warning. It was nice meeting you Taichi, maybe I'll see you around campus." With that, she abruptly picked up her soccer ball and jogged back toward the field with the same pitter-patter noise as before.

Taichi watched as she made it to the field before he snapped out of his daze and yelled back "Yea, I'll see you around!" With a quick turn he headed toward his new apartment where a questioning Yamato was probably residing. He couldn't help but grin the whole way home.

Yuzuki waited for Taichi to walk out of sight before she stopped running. Rustling could be heard from the trees nearby as a cat-like creature descended from them.

"I would call that a successful meeting." the creature stated.

Yuzuki turned toward the creature and with a small smile replied "Yea. The crest of courage really is as gullible as they say. He'll be easy to take out. Let's go home and report to the boss."

The creature jumped on the girl's shoulders as they began their walk into the dead of night.