The Little Things


Because it's the little things that make one fall in love.


1. That Time at the Café

15 October 2014

For the most part, Mimi Tachikawa was surrounded by good days. You know, days when things just magically go your way.

Today, however, was not one of those days.

Trudging through the crowd at one of Odaiba's biggest streets, her arms held four books thick enough to be considered pillows. Various pictures of food graced the cover of the books—one had pictures of decadent desserts neatly lined up next to one another whereas other covers had pictures of savoury cuisines. Mimi's frown deepened as she stopped and readjusted the books to a more comfortable position. After some struggling with the books and the strap of her—also quite heavy—bag, she continued her journey home. A sigh escaped her lips as she recalled what happened during Home Economics that morning.

She was never one to cook; she was used to having everything ready at her fingertips. Surely, the 'trip' to the Digital World had left her more independent and mature than she used to be. However, one must note that neither independent nor mature is synonymous with having an inherent talent at cooking. She never did bother learning how to cook more than mere instant noodles as she thought it was all she needed to know. Hence, it was no surprise when she managed to set the school's fire alarm on by leaving her dish in the oven for far too long. 'Maybe I should ask Mom to teach me,' her eyebrows furrowed.

Lost in her train of thought, she stumbled upon a stranger's foot. The additional weight of the books threw her sense of balance off. Trying to avoid a scarred knee, she regained her balance by dropping the books to the ground. Unfortunately, another stranger bumped into her from behind and caused her to fall on her knees.

Noticing that neither stranger apologized, she yelled in frustration. "What is wrong with you people? Could today get any worse?"

And like a cliché, it did.

She felt rain drops pelting her head and cursed as she quickly picked up her books. By that time, the rain had gotten worse; both her hair and her blue school uniform were starting to get darker, absorbing the heavy rain. Mimi started to run and scanned the area for a shelter. She resorted to take shelter at the nearest café, located 300 meters from where she was.

Mimi barged into the café shoulder first, not caring how she looked to the people around her. She leaned on the wall to her right and gasped for air, clutching her books tight to her chest. Simultaneously, she looked around the café. It was small and cozy; the interior was designed to look like a western family house, filled with polished wooden tables and occasional vases of flowers. Chairs and sofas were placed strategically, giving enough space for people to move around while utilizing the little space for more customers.

Amongst the few customers that were in the café, one caught Mimi's interest. The customer was sitting at the far corner table, facing away from her, softly humming a melody she has never heard before. He had spiky blond hair and seemed to be quite tall, donning a similar light blue blazer she was wearing. 'Is that Yamato?' she thought. Mimi quietly approached his table.

Yamato Ishida was deep in thought. His thick eyebrows were furrowed, his face contorted into a slightly confused expression. He tapped his dark green pencil at the coffee table and bit his bottom lip as he looked at the music sheets scattered about. The music sheets were mostly blank, some filled, and one filled halfway. The second year student at Odaiba Central High School was isolated from the outside world to the point that he could no longer hear any noise aside from his own humming. His took a sip from his espresso and appreciated its sharp taste before adding new notes to the incomplete music sheet. He set the paper back on the table and hummed the new tune.

"Hi, Yamato!" Mimi greeted as she leaned to her right side, grateful that there was someone she knows who might be willing to hear her woe. She received no response from the boy. Confused, she glanced at his surroundings and noticed the messy pile of music sheets. "Hm…" she mused. Trying to read his scribbles, she leaned closer to the table, her hair cascading around her face.

Droplets of water dripped down Mimi's hair and onto Yamato's music sheet. Surprised, Yamato leaned back and recognized one of his juniors standing next to him, almost completely soaked.

"Mimi?"

"Hm?" Hearing her name being said, Mimi slightly turned her face towards the source of the voice. Her eyes were still focused on the music sheets, her head nodding lightly as she tried to imagine how the song sounded.

"Ehm... Hi?" Yamato waved his hand in front of Mimi's face. She snapped out of her reverie and recoiled her body to stand straight.

"Oh, yes, hi, Yamato!" Mimi blushed, embarrassed.

Yamato looked at Mimi from head to toe, his mouth slightly agape. "Why are you wet?"

"It's raining heavily outside," she pointed to the window. "I forgot to bring my umbrella."

"Really?" Yamato turned his head towards the window and finally noticed the raindrops bombarding the glass. "That's some heavy rain."

"Yeah… Can I sit here for a while?"

"Sure, suit yourself," he gestured to the chair opposite of him.

Mimi smiled and settled the books on the table. She sneezed and realized just how cold she was—her clothes were sopping wet and her hair was not doing much better. A small bless you was said by Yamato, replied by a thanks from Mimi. Quickly, she set aside her bag and unbuttoned her blazer, taking it off altogether.

"Ah… That's so much better," she sighed, taking a handkerchief from the pocket of her bag.

"H-hey, Mimi, I don't think—you should probably—uh… I don't think it's such a good idea to take off your blazer," Yamato commented, his voice trailing off.

"What? Why? I'm gonna catch a cold if I keep that on," Mimi argued. She was wiping her arms dry.

Yamato turned his head away from her, a blush slowly creeping on his cheeks. "Fine. You can use mine, then," he took his blazer off and threw it at her direction. Mimi made a confused face, but was grateful. She put it on one arm at a time and that was when she realized that she had not worn her sweater vest over her white blouse. White. Blouse.

White.

"Eep!" Mimi squeaked and pulled Yamato's blazer to cover her chest.

An awkward silence fell between the two.

Yamato broke the silence with a cough. "Y-you don't have to worry, Meems. I didn't see a thing."

'Your red face seems to indicate otherwise, though,' Mimi thought, her face beet red. 'Why did I choose to wear a red bra today oh my god there's no way he didn't see anything why am I so stupid—'

"Are you going to order something?" Yamato asked, clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere. Although his cheeks were no longer red, a hint of pink still showed on his ears.

"Eh—em… No…" Mimi stuttered, trying to keep her emotions under control. "I-I spent almost all of my allowance for this week," she clutched his blazer tighter.

"I see…"

Another awkward silence fell between the two.

Despite being in the same group, so to speak, they were never really close to one another. Mimi was much closer to Koushiro and Joe, whereas Yamato chose to spend his time with Takeru and Taichi. The amount of conversations that they have had with each other so far could probably be counted using one's fingers. This situation was not making it any better, either.

Mimi tried to shift her thoughts to something else—anything, really. She then remembered what Yamato was doing before she interrupted him. "Hey—"

"So, what did you spend the money on?" Yamato asked her before she could get her sentence out.

"Ah, I spent it on these," she lazily pointed at the books.

"Cook books?" Yamato took the one with pictures of desserts. "You like cooking, Mimi?" he quirked an eyebrow as he examined the cover of the book. 'Since when can she cook?' he thought.

"Not really," she sighed. "It's just that… Would you listen to what happened today at Home Ecs?" she pouted and put on her puppy face, desperate to tell her story to him.

Taken aback by Mimi's expression, Yamato could only reply with a:

"Yeah, sure."


"Then Ms. Kurogami told me that if I did a mistake like that again, I won't pass the class," Mimi finished her story with a deep sigh. Her shoulder slumped, showing her disappointment.

"…How did you manageto burn slow-roasted beef in 15 minutes that badly?" Yamato asked, completely bewildered.

"I don't know!" Mimi threw her hands in exasperation. "I followed the recipe to a T—I don't know what happened!" she covered her face in her hands.

'I could think of a thing or two…'

"Don't you make that accusing face, Yamato," Mimi said, peeking from her hands.

"I'm not saying anything," he leaned back, a smirk on his lips. Mimi looked at him suspiciously. He chuckled and took another sip from his espresso, emptying the small cup.

"Come to think of it, why are you drinking espresso? Are you going to stay up late today?"

"Not really. It's just to get my brain running. I've been stuck at this one part of the song," Yamato indicated to the half empty music sheet.

"Oh, I read that earlier!"

Yamato raised one of his eyebrows as if saying, "you did?"

"Don't you think that it would be—" Mimi's sentence was cut off by the ringing of her phone from her bag. She immediately whipped it out and answered the call. "Hello? No, I'm at a café now. No way, it's still raining outside and I don't have an umbrella—I don't want to catch a cold!" she argued to the person at the other end of the line.

"Feel free to use mine," Yamato handed his umbrella to Mimi.

"Eh? But then how will you—? Yes, Mom, a friend just lent me his umbrella. No, I can't take it, how will he get home?"

"I'll be fine," he answered her unfinished question. "My house is nearby."

Touched, Mimi mouthed a thank you. "Alright, I'll go home now. Love you, too. Bye." She slid the phone back to her bag. "Sorry, I really have to go home now. My Mom is kicking up a fuss about me being late to the family dinner," she clasped her hands together in an apologetic manner.

"No worries. Be careful on your way home, Meems."

"Oh, and here's your blazer," she started taking his blazer off.

"J-just wear it!" he remembered the sight of her without his blazer. "Your blazer isn't dried yet, right?"

"Right… I'm so sorry to impose on you like this, Yamato. I really owe you one," Mimi said as she took her books and slung her bag, her wet blazer hanging off of it.

"Don't think about it. Like I said, my house is nearby," he shrugs with nonchalance. He glanced at her worried face and gave a small smile as to assure her, "go."

"Alright. Bye, Yamato!" she smiled before walking away from the table. Yamato waved.

'Now, to get back to work…' he cracked his fingers and started tapping the table with his pencil, trying to make a melody.

"By the way," Mimi returned to the table, "I think that this part could sound like this." She hummed a nice melody, taking Yamato by chance. "Just a suggestion though! You don't have to put it in the song. Bye, for real this time!" she sang as she walked away from his table.

Yamato paused before humming Mimi's melody twice. 'That could work…' he jotted it down on his music sheet, satisfied that, at the very least, this part of the song has been solved. "Thanks, Meems!" He looked back, but Mimi was already out the door. 'I'll thank her tomorrow.'

Two minutes later, he noticed a shadow approaching his table. It was the waiter.

"From the girl that sat in front of you. Enjoy!" the waiter said with a friendly smile. He set the cup of green tea down and bowed before going back to his station.

On the tissue, Yamato could see small, neat scribbles. He picked the tissue up. It read:

"You shouldn't work too hard—don't forget to relax once in a while.

P.S.: I read somewhere that green tea is good for creativity :)"

Never having received a note like that, Yamato snickered and stored the tissue in his bag.

"I definitely have to thank her."


A/N: Hello and thank you for having read it this far. I got this idea when I was thinking of despite a crack ship that Mimato is, there are so many interesting things and issues that could arise from them merely interacting! So, please look forward to the next chapter(s) as well.

As of now, I am not quite sure where The Little Things will go, whether as a singular, continuous story line or a collection of short chapters that has (or has no) connection to one another. Nonetheless, please feel free to favourite this story or put it into alert if you like it!