Disclaimer: I don't own digimon.

N/A: Ok. Now I should tell you some things before I start. For one this is taken part one year after the digital world thing. Two. I like Mr. Ishida. He's a cool guy. I don't think he would even hurt a fly but for the benefit of this story he's an A hole. Three. The ages are as followed: Tai, Matt, Sora-12. Joe-13. Mimi, Izzy-11. TK, Kari-9. And from that you can pretty much tell that the second set of DD's aren't in here. Well davis is mentioned but that's all. Fourth and final thing. TK and Kari go to the same school together. And I think that's all I have to clear up for you. Now go ahead and start the story.

90% of all accidents happen at home

1:36 am

"You useless piece of shit." Mr. Ishida shouted once again. "You think this is acceptable." Mr. Ishida held up the report card that had just made it home from Matt's school. Matt cringed as he held his side a bit tighter preparing another blow that his father will force upon him. His father's hand flew out and latched onto Matt's Black T-shirt, which he had been sleeping in only minutes ago, and dragged Matt over towards him and forced him to look at the grades on the paper. "LOOK AT THAT!!!" Matt did as he was told hoping to not be hurt anymore and to be granted the privilege to just go to bed. "You got only one 'B' and that's you best mark."

"I-I'm sor-sorry d-dad. I'll-I'll d-do bet-better next t-time. I-I-I promis-se." Matt rushed the words out as he looked to his father with large blue eyes that reflected fear through out them.

Mr. Ishida pushed Matt backwards. He tried to stop himself from falling but the couch was behind him and he flipped over it and fell on the floor as his head banged against the coffee table. He looked up to his father who was standing on the other side of the couch looking angrily at Matt. Matt's vision was showing double as his head pounded from hitting it on the table. He tried to stand up but when he did, black started to fill his vision so he sat back down on the floor and the darkness that almost surrounded him diminished.

"You better hope that these marks get better or help you god. I will murder you. Got that," Mr. Ishida said through gritted teeth. He didn't mean it but Matt knew that if he didn't agree it would cause more pain. So Matt nodded but stopped when he saw the room start to turn but he had to make sure that he didn't pass out until he was in his room. "NOW GET UP YOU SCREW UP!" Matt obeyed as he forced himself to his feet and tried to keep his head down. He moved some empty beer bottles out of the way but cut his finger on some broken glass that lay on the floor from earlier confrontations. Then stood to his fullest. He walked to his room only sparing a glance back at his father who watched him intently. Matt walked into his room and shut the door behind him.

He had already started to see the darkness surround him like before but refused to let consciousness be taken from him until he was in bed. And as soon as he fell on the bed he blacked out.

8:02 am

Tai walked to school that day like every day. He had left around seven fifty am. He was with Kari and they were walking to the spot where they usually met Matt and TK. When they got there neither of there friends were at the spot. Matt and TK usually showed up at different times since they don't live together. Matt had tried to go pick up TK in the morning so they can walk to the meeting place but they'd always get to school late or Matt found it uncomfortable being around his mother and visa versa or TK would be so busy talking to Matt that he wouldn't get ready. So they decided to just meet at that one spot. The meeting spot was in a small field with a small jungle gym and one tree where there was a bench under it.

"Tai there." Kari said pointing to the blond that was cutting through the small field. Tai got up from the bench, that he was sitting on, and started heading towards his friend.

Matt was looking down not really seeing where he was going. He didn't need to see where he was going to know how to get there; he had done it so many times before. So Matt didn't see that Tai and Kari were walking towards him.

Tai saw Matt looking down with a blank expression and knew that something was wrong. But he didn't have a clue about it. Hmmmm. Report cards went home yesterday. Maybe his grades weren't exactly what he or his father expected. Course my parents weren't expecting my grades to be that low and I'm not feeling down like that. So what could be troubling him? Tai thought.

"Hey Matt." Tai finally said.

Matt's head shot up as he realized that Tai was just a few steps away from him, "Hey Tai. Hi Kari."

"Hi Matt. How are you doing today?" She asked casually. Tai didn't know if Kari had noticed that something was wrong with Matt or not. If she did she didn't show it.

"I'm good. How 'bout you two?" Matt asked forcing a smile on his face.

"Well I'm fine but Kari…" Tai snickered as Kari shot him a look.

Kari kept an eye on Tai as she said as if to Tai, "I'm fine as well." Then Tai stopped laughing and Kari looked back to Matt and smiled kindly at him.

"So TK's not here I'm guessing?"

"Nope. It's kind of weird 'cause he's usually here before you." Tai said.

"Yeah." Matt said. He was there early because he woke up from a nightmare for the third time that night. All three dreams were the same that night; his father was chasing him with a knife as he shouted out letters. "A… B+…F. You fail." His father said over and over again. The third time he woke up he didn't want to go back to sleep so he got ready for school at 6:00 o'clock. "I set my alarm clock a bit earlier this morning." Matt lied.

"Oh. That makes sense." Then they all walked back over to the bench. Tai looked at Matt. Keeping his eyes on the blond boy. His friends face looked tired. But not just tired. He also looked like he was trying to hide something. Something like… hurt… pain. Tai wasn't sure but he was sure that Matt was more then just tired. They made it to the benches and all sat down.

They talked for a few minutes about nothing much. About sports and music and Kari brought in the subject of a new kid in her school named Davis. But no matter how well Matt hid the pain, Tai knew that he felt it. Tai knew that if Matt showed a feeling that he was trying to hide, even if it were only for a second, that it was nothing to just ignore or try to forget or think that it was nothing. He knew that if Matt was having a hard time hiding something that it must be pretty big

Suddenly Tai couldn't just hold it inside anymore and said, "Matt. What's wrong and don't say nothing because I know it's not nothing."

All conversations ended there and Matt was put on the spot. Matt didn't know what to say. He couldn't' tell Tai about… about…about his father. If Tai knew then Tai would do something that Matt didn't find necessary. All Matt had to do was wait until he was old enough to move away from home and all will be good. He didn't need to worry Tai about something that could just be solved with time. So Matt said, "I'm fine Tai don't worry about me."

"Matt I saw you earlier. You're not fine. No one could be fine when they look like that."

"Well I am. I'm just tired. That's all."

"That's not all! I know you! Your not just tired!"

Then Matt stood up. "You obviously don't know me well enough cause I'm fine."

Tai then stood to meet Matt's eyes and said, "I know you better then anyone else! And you're not fine. So face it. Face that some one could actually see what you're trying to hide."

Then a small voice was heard. "Did I miss something?" Both boys turned to see TK standing about three feet from them.

"Oh nothing much TK." Kari stated, "Just Matt and Tai fighting. We all saw that a thousand times before." Kari didn't think that Matt was lying and just thought that her brother was just paranoid.

"Well lets get going now that everyone's here." Matt said through gritting teeth as he glared at Tai challenging him to continue with the argument.

"Fine. Let's go." Tai said equally bitter.

11:24 am

Matt sat in English class not really paying attention to the teacher. He was staring blankly at the test he had in front of him. He failed. It was the third one he failed in that class. The first two times the teacher let him go because, usually, he got good grades in that class and the teacher just thought it was a phase he was going through. But this time he had to get it signed by his father to show that he had seen it. Matt signed thinking about the night before. He could only remember it slightly. He could remember his father pulling him out of bed by his shirt. The smell of alcohol. Being hit on the arm by a beer bottle and then being kicked when he fell. He remembered his father threaten to kill him if he didn't bring his marks up but that was it. He didn't even remember getting into bed even though he woke up there and he knew his father wouldn't carry him there… at least not when he's been drinking.

He knew that his father really wouldn't kill him. The guys not a murder. Just a bit violent when he drinks. At least that's what Matt told himself. But his father wouldn't kill him. But it would be bad anyway. It would be something else that'll keep him up with nightmares and make him afraid of his own shadow. But he wouldn't be killed. Matt sighed again.

He turned and looked out the window that his desk was beside. He didn't want to go home that night. He didn't want to face his father but he had nowhere else to go. Of course he would be alloyed to stay at Tai's if he just asked. They had made friends when they got to school this morning so they weren't fighting anymore. That meant Tai would have no problem with having Matt over but Tai would wonder why Matt wanted to stay at his house and ask to many questions. Questions that Matt didn't want to answer.

Matt shook his head and looked back to his test paper. 43%. What if I say I lost the test? No. Then the school will call my father and only make it ten times worse for me. What can I do? I guess I just have to face it. Maybe he won't be that drunk.

Tai looked at his friend from across the room. Something was definitely wrong with him but Tai didn't know what. Matt wasn't paying attention at all to the teacher today. When Matt first walked in to the class he didn't even notice that Tai was there. Tai wished that he were sitting beside Matt so that he could get Matt's mind off of what was troubling him so much. Tai used to sit in the seat across from Matt's but the teacher thought they talked too much so he moved Tai.

"Mr. Ishida." The teacher said all of a sudden. Matt didn't even seem to hear the teacher. "Mr. Ishida!" The teacher announced again. Matt's head shot up and saw that the teacher was now right in front of him and saw that all the students were staring at him. "Do you know the lessen so well that you do not see a need to watch what I'm doing up there?" The teacher pointed to the front of the class. "And if you do will you mind going to the front of the class and teach it for me."

Matt shook his head and said, "No sir." Matt didn't know what else to say. So he decided not to try. Just then the bell went off that signaled the beginning of lunch. The teacher gave Matt one more look as if to say 'don't do this again' and walked to the front of the class.

"Class dismissed." He said. All the students stood up and started putting away their books and left the class. Matt went slower then usual. Tai got ready to leave then went to Matt. They always walked to the cafeteria together and met up with the others there. So Tai walked up to Matt.

"Hey Matt. What happened just then? You didn't seem to be paying any attention in class today."

"Funny how you noticed." Matt mumbled under his breath but Tai still heard and shock filled his expression. Matt glanced up at Tai for a second and stopped packing his books into his bag. "Sorry Tai. I'm just a bit upset. That's all. I didn't sleep well last night." Matt said.

"Yeah. You said that…"

"I know what I said but the truth is that…" Matt was debating on telling Tai. Tai was there and no one else. The teacher stood in the hall talking to some other teacher from the class across the hall. So Matt was about to tell Tai but then he reminded himself that his father will be angry at him about Tai knowing and then he would really get hurt. "… I didn't sleep right last night because… I had some dumb nightmare. Nothing big. It just didn't let me sleep to sound." Matt then looked up at Tai and gave Tai a fake smile.

Tai was standing there expecting some other more dramatic reason. But he didn't get one and thought that maybe he was just expecting one because he had been watching too much TV lately. He shrugged of the thought and said, "So, whacha doin' after school?"

"Nothing much. Why?" Matt went back to putting his books away for lunch.

11:40 am

Matt and Tai both walked into the cafeteria and out of habit looked around to see where everyone sat. Not just the other DD's but other people. People that they knew Tai should avoid, the people that Matt should avoid and the ones they both should avoid. They both had about five people that didn't like them. For Matt if was Jerry (a tall guy with black hair and a barely noticeable mustache), Pete (a guy the same size as Matt and used to be the one every girl in the school loved until Matt came along and then Pete started hating him). Jack hated both Matt and Tai. He has green eyes and brown hair. Matt and Tai were squirting water at each other using the fountain when Jack came along with a very expensive and shrinkable shirt. They accidentally squirted him and ever since then the guy had a grudge on them. For Tai there was Tony (A soccer playing guy that because of Tai was only the second best soccer player in school and he wanted to be first), and Gai (A guy in 12th grade that hates Tai because Tai was joking around one day when he suddenly made fun of Gai's name and didn't know when to stop).

So Matt and Tai had to watch out for those people and for the regulars, as they call them. The regulars are fan girls that follow Matt around and soccer loving girls that follow Tai. It was Matt's idea to avoid regulars since Tai loved to brag about how well he could play soccer.

They had spotted all of them, including the regulars, then looked for there friends. "There." Tai said pointing to a table not far from them. So the two walked to the table and sat down.

They greeted each other and started talking. The ones at the table were Izzy (who skipped a grade), Joe, Sora, Mimi and obviously Tai and Matt. They sat down talking about nothing much. Izzy explained that he was trying to contact Genai but 'proved futile' as he says. Joe said that he would be going to a special high school that will help him become a doctor and that he just found out the night before from his father who had made the reservations. Sora said that that her mother was trying to get her to take up tennis instead of soccer. But then Mimi stood up and every one looked at her.

She stood tall and smiled sweetly preparing for what she was about to say. "I have some news for you guys and you will love it." She said. She then took the cards that were in her hand and handed them out to her friends. Everyone looked at her for a moment. "Look at them." She said.

So the kids all opened there cards and read them:

As you know Mimi Tachikawa's birthday is in two days. She is planning to through a party on this event for October 23rd 1998. It would be of great pleaser if you would intend this celebration.

Place: My house

Time: 7:00pm…

RSVP:…………….

Every one except Matt looked back up at Mimi. Each of them had a smile on there face. "Yeah. Of course I'll come." Sora was the first to speak.

"Count me in." Tai said.

"Me too." Joe added.

"Affirmative." Izzy said.

"I'll take that as all go for Izzy." Mimi said.

Then Mimi looked at Matt. Matt hadn't looked up yet. He just stared at the invitation. He didn't know what to say. The party would be on Friday. Dad usually gets off work early on Fridays and that means he's out of the bar earlier too. What if he sees I'm not there and gets angry and he finds the invitation and comes to the party after me and… oh god. What if he hurts one of them? My friends. I couldn't bare that. But Mimi would be hurt if I don't go. After all it's her B-party. What should I do?

"Matt." Matt looked up at Mimi with a worried face at first until he wiped the expression of his face. "Matt aren't you going to come. It wouldn't be the same with out you. Please." Matt thought about it.

Matt sighed, "Yeah. Ok. Why not?" Matt smiled.

"Yay. Everyone's now going. I can't wait." Matt kept the smile of his face as he thought. Now, what have you got your self into? You know what your father will do if your not at home with supper ready for him. He looked back to the invitation. I'll think of something.

3:15 pm

Matt walked out of the school with his backpack and his jean jacket on. He looked around the schoolyard to see if there was anyone he recognized. Nope. No one. So he started walking home. He really wasn't expecting anyone. He got out of school late and Tai was at soccer practice until six. Matt, even though wasn't expecting anyone, was hoping someone had waited for him. He would have been out of school earlier if the teacher hadn't kept him after school to talk. The teacher had said that he had been acting a bit 'far' lately, even more so then usual. He asked if something was wrong at home but Matt didn't want to say anything so his teacher eventually said he could go.

Even though school was out fifteen minutes ago he thought to him self what if someone was waiting for him. He could have fun before going home. Joke around with them and give him an excuse to not go home just yet. He felt lonely knowing that no one probably even wondered what kept him.

He, for the thousandth time that day, wondered what he'd say to his father about his test paper. He'd wonder what his father would do to him and wondered if he would be able to go to school the next day. Matt had to take days off of school sometimes because of his face being bruised up for the second time in the week. Or because his hand had cuts all over them from broken glass or because he would be to hurt to move.

God, life's a bitch. He thought as he walked further down the street. His usual root home would usually be up two blocks from school. Past the meeting spot which was pretty close to Tai's house. Then he goes one block up from there and turns left. Half a block then until he passes the park…

Matt stopped in front of the park and looked across the street to it. He really didn't want to go home just yet. And he did have time before his father came home. Matt crossed the street that separated him from the park and walked to the path. He knew his way through the park like the back of his hand. He knew exactly where he was going. It was a pretty big park. It even had a lake in it. It was the place Matt went when he found spare time. And it was always there for him when he was younger. Before…before his dad got violent.

He remembered a time when Tai and Matt were younger. When they recently came back from the digital world Tai and him were goofing off. When Tai said something to him that Matt didn't like. So Matt pushed him in the lake. Tai swore that he would get his revenge, out of good humor of course, and that was a year ago and Tai never got him back. He tried of course but nothing really worked for him. So Tai gave up after a while.

Matt smiled to himself at the memory. Matt found a bench that was hidden in the trees a bit. He put his bag down beside it and sat down then closed his eyes, resting his head back. Matt had been hurt by his father ever since the divorce. Well not really. It was about a half a year after the divorce. His father wasn't doing so well. The divorce hit him hard. He had lost everything that he ever wanted. The apartment. The van. TK. The only thing that he kept was his job. And after the divorce he really buried himself in his work. Matt felt like it was his fault that his dad had became a workaholic. After all he wasn't TK. He knew that both his parents wanted their younger son. But his father didn't win in court.

It wasn't until his father's friend died six months later that his father started drinking. Then he would come home and hurt Matt for the smallest things. He needed to vent all his anger and all his frustration on something and Matt just happened to be there. And it started. It wasn't every night back then but it wasn't long before it became that.

After about a year of that Matt got tough. He stopped crying and didn't let anyone other then his father tell him what to do and didn't let anyone come near him. He lost his child hood because of that. All his friends and family.

Matt, accidentally, yelled at his mother once for coming near him. His father had beaten him bad the night before and on days that he really hurt he would yell and do anything to prevent anyone from touching him. His mother had known something was wrong with him and wanted to put her hand on his shoulder to reinsure him. He yelled 'DON'T TOUCH ME AND STAY AWAY OR I'LL GIVE YOU A RESON TO'. He said it before he realized what he was saying. If people came closer to him then usual, on days that he really hurt, then he would usually say that. He didn't even mean to say it. It was just a reflex from all the other times someone come too close.

After that his mother never came back to visit and didn't let TK either. It wasn't until after the Digital World that he was alloyed near his brother again. He wasn't even supposed to go to the same summer camp as his bro.

"Matt." A soft voice said. "Matt." Matt's eyes slowly opened. It was dark and he was half lying and half sitting on the bench. He had fallen to sleep. He didn't remember falling to sleep. Then he remembered his father and sat up right away. Tai was standing in front of him with a look of concern.

"Tai?" Matt said, blinking to get adjusted to the dark.

"Yeah. Matt what are you doing out here." Tai then laughed lightly. "You should wait till you go home to sleep."

"Tai what are you doing here?"

"Your dad called my place to see if you were there. He sounded worried and said that you hadn't come home yet. So I went out looking."

Matt had a question that he wanted to ask. But wasn't sure if he should ask. "Um…Tai?"

"Yeah."

"Did…did my dad sound drunk?" A wave of confusion swept over Tai as he was asked the question.

"N-no. Why?" Tai said.

Matt sighed with relieve and said, "Nothing. Forget I asked." Matt went to take a step when he felt himself sway and start to fall. But Tai caught him.

"Careful. Must be still groggy from sleeping, huh?" Tai said with a grinned. Matt stood up and put his hand to his head.

"Yeah. Guess so." Matt said.

"Hey Matt. Why don't you come over to my house? You can sleep there tonight. By the way it's closer and I'm sure my mom will be ok about it."

Matt thought about that. His father won't be angry with him tonight for it since he's sober and Matt still felt very groggy and it didn't seem like it would be leaving anytime soon. He looked at his digital watch which read '8:12'. "Yeah sure. Sounds good."

"Ok. Come on." Tai said as he went to his friend to help him walk. Tai practically carried him. Matt wasn't as heavy as he would imagine. "Hey Matt. You know that there's something called food." Matt sort of laughed. Man. Matt must of got two hours sleep last night with how he's going. I hope he feels better tomorrow.

11:30 am

"And why did you not get it signed Mr. Ishida." Matt's teacher asked while waving test paper in front of him.

"I forgot I had it." Matt lied.

Lunch had already started and Matt was held back to explain to the teacher why his test wasn't signed. Matt thought that saying he fell to sleep on a park bench the night before and that he never really went home would sound weird and it would bring up questions that he did not want to answer. To him, it would be best to say he just forgot.

"You forgot." The teacher repeated. "Well Matt if you can forget something as easy as that then maybe I think I should call your father about it just to make sure you don't forget again."

"NO!" Matt shouted with out thinking. He stepped forward and said, "Please sir. Don't do that. Please let me make up the mark some way. Please." The teacher was a bit taken back by this act. He never saw one of his students react that way before. Maybe if he did make up the mark…

"Alright. But if you don't get a 'B+' on the assignment that I'll give you, then I will call you father. Ok?" Matt nodded hastily. "Alright. For your assignment you will have to write a journal of your every day life. Now you can write what ever you want in it because I will not read it. You will have to hand it in on November 15th, a week before your midterm report. Put the date at the top of the each page and I will make sure that you don't miss a day." Matt nodded listening to the teacher. He really didn't want to do this but he had to if he was to pass. "Now you may go to lunch and remember do not miss a day. And stop by my class after school and I'll give you a book to use as a journal." Matt nodded again and picked up his bag from beside him and walked out of the class.

11:38 am

Mimi, Joe, Sora, Izzy, and Tai all sat at a table in the cafeteria. Mimi was explaining how fun her party was going to be and going over all that she was going to have there. "And everyone is coming. It's going to be the best. Wait till you guys see. I'm going to have 'Spin The Bottle' and 'Seven Minutes In Heaven' and oooooo," she cooed as the excitement got to her. "It's going to be so much fun I just can't wait. Not to mention you know who is going to be there."

"Who?" Sora questioned. "You mean Pete?"

"Yup." Mimi replied, closing her eyes and smiling from ear to ear. "Oh he's so cute."

The group all exchanged looks to one-an-other before Tai spoke what troubled them all. "But Mimi. Pete hates Matt and if the two were going to be in the same room as each other… Matt's strong. Trust me with that but Pete is even stronger. Stronger then any one I know."

"Who's stronger then anyone you know?" Tai turned around to see Matt nearing the table.

"Um-" Tai said not wanting his friend to know that he was talking about him. "Why did the teacher keep you after class?" Tai couldn't think of anything to say to answer Matt's question so he changed the subject.

Matt sat down beside Tai and said, "Something about my mark in his class."

"Really? You doing that bad?"

Matt nodded. "He almost called my house about it but then gave me this dumb assignment to make it up instead."

"What assignment?"

"Well I have to right a journal of my life for the next month. I can right anything he says and he won't read it either."

"Man. I wish he did that for me. Just last month he called my parents about my mark. Now I have to spend one day out of the week end studying instead of what I want to do."

"Well I guess I got off easy in that case."

"Man, have you ever."

9:50 pm

Matt had just finished making supper. He knew it was late for making supper but it wasn't exactly his choice. His dad usually got home at ten and he likes his supper hot and not microwave hot either. Matt usually ate snacks until 9:30 when he would start supper. Matt had already set the table and had the food out on the table. All he had to do was wait for his father to come home and then he would go to bed. Damn. But I can't go to bed until I write the journal for English. He looked to his book bag that was beside the door.

He went to it, picked it up, and brought it to his room. He plopped it on the bed and opened it. Inside his bag, paper was everywhere and all crimped up. He pulled out his binder and looked at it. It was covered in words. People writing messages to him in white out, pen, you name it. And then things that he wrote on it when he got board. In fact recently he started writing song lyrics on it. All these things covered his binder making it look like it was in worst shape then it actually was.

He opened the binder and looked through it for the book that was given to him after school. He found it. He put his binder back into his bag and rested it beside his bed. He sat on his bed and looked at the book trying to remember how his day had gone. But then he heard the front door slam shut.

Oh, no he's here. Matt thought as he got up from his bed and to his bedroom door. He threw the book onto his bed and braced himself for his father…

11:44……………………1………………….Oct. 22

Well, I don't know where to start. This is my first journal entry. I really don't want to do this but I guess I have to. My marks are pretty bad so the teacher said I had to do this. I will 'cause I don't want my father to know about my test. If he knew he'd hurt me… Like he did tonight. But worse. I mean really worse. He hurt me tonight because of me not coming home last night. He accused me of telling my friends about what he does to me so… so I'm not alloyed to see them any more. I hope they don't take it the wrong way.

Well what ya think. My first chapter. Sorry if it's confusing or something like that. If it is tell me in you review. And don't flame me. I try hard on all my fics so only good reviews and suggestions on how to get better. Arigato.