Disclaimer: "Mommy, can I please have Digimon for my birthday?" "No, honey. I don't have that kind of money…" "But, Mommy, you can do everything, right?" "…sure, I just can't own a television show…"

Author's Note: Hello again. Long time no see on this fic. Sorry! Here ya are. Enjoy.

This was a cruel and unusual punishment.

Very cruel. Very unusual. Very much a punishment. That was what Tai was thinking when his parents charged him with watching the house while they took his sister to the doctor for an ear infection.

Still, this was his first major thing that they'd assigned him to do, and he was determined to do it as well as he could…well, watching after the house for a few hours couldn't be that hard, could it? I mean, all he had to do was snack on some candy, watch some television, maybe read a comic here and there…no worries, right?

"Meow." Oh, yeah. There was also a cat to be looked after, but Tai wasn't going to concern himself with such a frivolous matter.

So, about ten minutes after his parents and sister left the house, at about six at night that Saturday, Tai could be found busting some aliens on his favorite, and only, video game.

Of course, it was a little hard to do that when a cat walks right in and nudges the game box just right so that the power shuts down.

After about ten more minutes which consisted of a little brown-haired boy chasing a little orange and white cat around a little apartment, and the little kitty jumping on top of a cabinet to escape the boy's wrath, the said boy was found in the kitchen, fixing himself a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. He had just ran over to the sink to rinse off the silverware—his parents didn't condone him using knifes that much, although he was eight—when the stupid thing decided to run off with his sandwich!

He didn't understand how it could get in so silently, jump up on the table, and grab the entire sandwich, two pieces of bread and all, and then leave while he was rinsing off the knifes. He knew that cats were quick, but he wouldn't have believed that they were that quick!

Nevertheless, twenty minutes later, after the boy had found the cat and a bit of sandwich left, he had been pretty angry. If he was lucky, his parents didn't care much for that vase…

Of course, even though the stupid cat had just enjoyed his delicious sandwich, it still managed to make it on top of that cabinet. After a few more minutes of Tai screaming at the poor kitty, he gave up and made another sandwich, which he decidedly ate before cleaning the utensils. Not as good as his other, he was sure, but it would have to do.

Much of his time went like this. He would try to play soccer in the house; the cat would hiss at the ball. He would jump on the bed, only to discover a cat under his feet instead. An angry cat. Tai would watch TV, the cat would starting meowing. This was becoming a bad day, and only a few hours had passed!

"Dumb cat," he said, as he sat on the couch to take a nap. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night because of his sister's crying about her ear hearting, and with the shades pulled down it could have been nighttime. A nap sounded good just about then.

He wasn't sure how long he was asleep…it may have been five minutes, it may have been five hours. Somewhere in the calmness of the rest, he had a dream about a soccer ball screaming at him for not practicing enough. Maybe he would have to practice later on…once he woke up, he started to lean forward…and stopped.

Something was lying on his chest. Curled up in a little ball. Sound asleep, much like he had been not too long ago.

And, without bothering to get mad at it, or complain that its fur was scratching his face, or that it felt uncomfortable, or that he had to get up—without any of that, Taichi Kamiya fell back asleep, a small smile on his face.

And, a few hours later, when Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya returned home with a tired daughter and ear medicine, an impossible site reached their eyes. Neither parent talked; both headed to their room to go back to bed.

The little girl got into a nightgown and slipped back to the living room. Tai was small, and she was smaller, so she managed to squeeze onto the couch, lying with her back to him, cuddled up.

And, thus, Tai Kamiya slept the night. A cat with orange spots curled in a ball on his back. A girl with an ear infection in a pink nightgown huddled against him. He woke up when she joined the group, but the smile only grew on his face.

Of course, it wasn't nice the next morning to be wakened by a stupid cat in your face, but, if Tai just ignored that fact, he could almost imagine him and the cat starting to get along.

I hadn't expected that. This may be longer than eight chapters, since I want to have a few more with the random becoming a family cuteness. I know, nothing really happened, and there was very little talking, and this was pretty short…but, hey, I'm working on it. I'll do more with Kari and Miko next chapter, a Miko only chapter after that, and then we'll begin a two-chapter arc about the first Digimon movie. After that, probably a few chapters of random scenes from the kids growing up, the two or three chapters about Digimon Adventure 01, then…the ending. Okay, more than eight chapters it is. More like ten or so…

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