Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

A/N: ****So after many years of sitting here, sadly incomplete, my story will finally see an ending! I know I left you all hanging, but drastic life events have occurred in the past few years but I'm back! I'm hoping no one gave up on this yet =)) Anyway I have revamped each chapter and am currently working on the ending for Spring Ranting. I have an ending planned out and just a few more chapters to go. I wanna give a big thanks for those who are still reading my stories.

Spring Ranting

chapter 1 - Sora's Chauffeur?

Spring was finally here and classes were soon ending, making room for the highly anticipated Spring Break-something Sora Takenouchi couldn't hold out for any longer.

She looked out the window eagerly, gazing at the distractingly blue sky and the white puffs of powdery snow covering the tops of a semi-distant mountain. She sighed softly, dreaming of snowboarding down those smooth, crisp slopes outlining the contours of the mountain.

I need to...I have to...at least one run down that mountain before the snow melts! she thought, her eyes desperately longing for the feel of the cool rush of air biting at her lips and brushing against her cheeks, the feel of a smooth sail down that slope, the-

"Miss Sora Takenouchi! If you're going to daydream, do it at home! As far as I can tell there's no class teaching Daydreaming this semester," Mrs. Tokugawa snapped, slapping a thick ruler on her desk, causing her to jump. Mrs. Tokugawa's spinster-like eyes were gleaming through thin-rimmed glasses that were just WAY too big for her crinkled, box-like face.

"I-I'm sorry Mrs. Tokugawa," Sora stammered, calming her racing heart. She watched as the old bag turned back and trotted slowly to the front of the class, simultaneously drifting back to the lecture. Sora heard a couple giggles and a snicker here and there, but she simply ignored them. She was pretty much used to it. All those days of drifting off into a daydream during class...

Stop it! Not now! If Dad finds out you're having a hard time with Geometry, he'll take away your snowboard or send you back to Odaiba with Mom, Sora told herself grudgingly, forcing herself to pay attention. The last thing she wanted was to be sent back to the town that brought back so many terrible memories.

Why couldn't it be the end of class already?

Slowly and inadvertently, Sora's head began to turn toward the cottony mountain, wooing her to come to it, beckoning her to step into its soft powdery...

"Miss Takenouchi!"

"Sorry!"

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"I'm home!" Sora called down the hall as she opened the door to her house. She stepped out of her shoes and ran straight to her room, throwing her books and backpack carelessly on the floor.

"I'm in here Sor," her father called from his office. Sora popped her head in and noticed that her father was on the phone with someone he probably knew very well from the tone of his voice. She tried to listen to the conversation, but by the time she was able to fully hear it, her father said his goodbyes and hung up. He turned to her with a strange look in his eyes.

"Dad?" she asked wonderingly.

A small smile crept across his face as he turned to his confused daughter. "I got promoted baby!" he yelled, grabbing the startled redhead by the hands, who didn't yet quite understand why she was excited for him, but she was anyway. The two jumped in ecstatic joy like two little giddy school girls.

"Oh my gosh! That's awesome Dad!"

"And I'm moving to New York for three months!" his father suddenly blurted out, still jumping for joy. Sora stopped jumping.

"Wait...you're moving to New York?" she inquired suspiciously, her eyes narrowing as she released her father's hands.

"Yes, isn't it great? I'm going to be working with the big executives of Matahari Jewelers! In New..." he paused, allowing the words "New York" to sink into his system. "...York," he breathed, staring off into space with a goofy smile on his face.

Sora had long ago stopped being excited and was now thoroughly confused and a bit agitated at that.

"You're...taking me with you, right?" she asked, her crimson eyes searching into her father's eyes. "Dad? You're taking me with you right?" she repeated, a little more forcefully.

There was a pause. Then he spoke slowly, his eyes averting hers. "Sora...I was actually on the phone with your mother a second ago-"

With that, Sora instantly knew where it was going. "No Dad! You can't do this to me! You know how badly Odaiba traumatized me! I can't go back there! Besides, Mom and I have problems!" Sora complained. She couldn't believe it! She was being sent away even if he hadn't known about her bad marks in Geometry. "I thought you, of all people, would understand! Why do you think I chose to come with you when you decided to move here?! You even agreed it was the best idea for me to come with you and now you want me to go back!? I don't get you!"

"I know Sora, but you're not looking at the big picture! This is the perfect time for you and your mother to patch some things up, set aside differences, and maybe...um...get along?" her father said, a look of hope in his eyes. She scoffed and folded her arms. "You know, Odaiba might be a different place from the last time you were there," her father continued.

"I highly doubt it! Four years isn't that long ago," Sora muttered. Her father sighed and placed his hands on her shoulders, making it so that she'd have to look in his eyes.

"Sora, I'll only be gone for three months. I'll be back, and if you want, you can come back with me if you decide that Odaiba is crappy and hasn't changed one damn bit," he said. Sora said nothing. "Sora, this is really important to me."

She gave him a sideways glance. He was looking up at her with pleading eyes. Her stern face softened at the thought of how hard her dad had been working the past few months. She recalled going to bed then getting up for school and finding her father still at his desk, working away, bags under his eyes, hair disheveled, multiple cups of coffee all over his desk. Why shouldn't he be allowed to get what he deserved after all of those sleepless nights? He had been working tirelessly for a job he loved. Besides, she knew he wasn't just doing this for himself. He was doing this so he would be able to support his very expensive daughter. She would be going to university soon and it is not cheap. This was her father's dream job. She just wanted him to be happy, right?

"When are you leaving?" she asked, wearily.

"Sunday."

"Sun-wh—that's so soo-" she sighed, biting her lip. "Fine," Sora simply answered.

"Really? Yes! Oh, you're the best daughter a man could ever have!" her father exclaimed, giving his daughter a small peck on the forehead and a short squeeze on the arm.

Sora sighed as she watched her father excitedly prepare for his three month trip, babbling away about things he needed to pack, accounts he needed to cancel, the lease he needed to break, among other things. She smiled slightly, drowning him out, her thoughts drifting to Odaiba and how much she was dreading returning. She had only been 13 years old when she left, but those were scary, formidable years. So many bad memories.

Also, she hoped to the gods that she didn't bump into anyone she was all too familiar and uncomfortable with…

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The Sunday of the dreaded trip had arrived.

Early that morning, Sora's father sent her to the airport and told her that the rest of her things would be shipped in a couple hours. She was allowed only a backpack for the plane ride, which for the low-maintenance girl meant a pair of socks, some lip balm, and a toothbrush. Sora continued to protest to the very last second, stomping her feet and crying out some outlandish complaints, but her father shooed her all the more insistently. He handed her a credit card and some cash and before

Was he that excited to get rid of me? Sora wondered, frowning as she popped a gummy bear in her mouth and prepared herself for the landing. She shifted comfortably before glancing outside the half-opened window. Just a few hundred feet below, she could see the last bits of winter snow melting atop the distant mountains.

"No snowboarding this break," she whispered to herself morosely.

Odaiba wasn't exactly the best place to be at when one wanted to take a skiing or snowboarding trip to the mountains. The area there was flat and warm and the cost for a ride to the mountains was ridiculously expensive. A high school student with no job and a difficult relationship with her mother had no chance of seeing those lovely mountains.

The plane ride was smooth, silent, and excruciatingly boring. There was a reality show playing in one of the screens above her that featured people racing each other, seeing who could find and kiss the most white rabbits in the allotted time. The prize was a year supply of carrots.

Once the plane landed, she was slightly relieved, but also apprehensive. Maybe it would have been better if the plane never landed. That way she didn't have to go back to Odaiba, or see her mother!

What if the plane crashed or had to have an emergency landing in the water! she thought. Then reality came back to her. First of all, if the plane crashed, she'd probably be dead, and second of all, a plane ride from Okayama to the Odaiba Airport didn't require them to go over a significant amount of water. In fact, they had a much bigger chance of landing on buildings AND she'd probably be dead either way.

"Dammit..." she muttered.

"Welcome to Odaiba, we hope you enjoyed your flight, and from all of us at Destiny Air, thank you for flying the friendliest skies."

"Friendliest skies my butt...taking me back to this horrible town..." Sora grumbled as she exited the plane. She followed the herd of people exiting, assuming it was the way out. She looked around in search of her mother and couldn't find her familiar face.

Where is she? Dad said she was going to pick me up... She bit her lip slightly. This is SO like her! she thought angrily. She hadn't been here one minute and her mother had already ditched her.

"Takenouchi? Is that you?" came a voice that Sora knew all too well. Her hope of not crossing paths with him suddenly became miniscule to just completely gone. She turned and saw the boy approaching her. She eyed him cautiously.

An arrogant look suddenly changed her expression. "Well, if it isn't Taichi Yagami," she said smugly. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to pick you up," he said with a genuine smile.

Sora discreetly examined his appearance. He looked almost the same as when they were in junior high school. That large mass of brown hair, that stupid lopsided grin, his "I'm cooler than you" look, and those damn colorful t-shirts that he wears all the time, and those dirt brown eyes.

The only difference she could find was that this time, he was taller than her. Well, he may have also looked more handsome than she remembered…

"Wow, you kinda look like a girl now." Moment ruined.

"You do to," Sora returned, snappishly.

"Hey, don't take offense. I'm merely stating the truth. I thought you'd take it as a compliment," Tai replied with a feigned innocent shrug.

"Just tell me why you're really here," Sora said blandly, with an exasperated sigh.

"To pick you up. Didn't I clarify this alrea-" he paused. "Oh...your mother didn't tell you, did she? Or are you still ignoring her?"

"Tell me what?"

"Wow, I can't believe you still haven't talked to her—"

Sora's smirking face suddenly disappeared. "Will you quit your smug little questions and just tell me?"

"We're living together," Tai told her as if it was the most normal thing to say to a hated enemy. She stood there in shock as he continued to talk. "Need any help with that bag?"

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please R&R if you have the time and patience. Thanks!