Hello! I just recently rediscovered Digimon and the Joe and Mimi pairing. I was originally going to write a song-based story for my writing debut in this realm, but…since those tend to be one-shots and I was having some trouble with part of the middle, I ended up finishing the first chapter of this one first instead.
This story is basically a retelling of the one-episode drama, Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata, which basically means the correct way to play with her. The drama won an award at the 2006 TV Asahi Century of Newcomers contest for best scenario drama, which I think is something along the lines of most original script.
Thoughts are denoted by italics within quotes.
I hope you like the first chapter. (^_^)
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Kanojo to no Tadashii Asobikata, or either of their affiliates.
It all started on a rainy day.
A young girl with long, light brown pigtails sat on a swing in a park under a bright, pink-and-white-checked umbrella. She had been carefully dressed in a cute pink skirt and white blouse, balancing out the intensity of her bright red, Ransel backpack. On her feet she wore long, white socks with equally white shoes that had extra bright white shoelaces. The girl's large, light brown eyes stared dully out into the rain in boredom. "I wonder how much longer I can put off going home. Mama and Papa won't be home until later, and I hate being home alone." She jutted out her lower lip slightly, marring the sweetness of her pretty face. "Why did that after school activity have to get rained out? It's so unfair."
"Tachikawa-san?" a boy with azure hair and dark eyes stopped near her swing. He wore a white t-shirt with a red-and-black plaid, collared, flannel shirt over it and black jeans with white tennis shoes. Even at the tender age of nine, he was fairly tall for his age, at least half a head taller than the rest of his classmates, making him almost tower over the small girl. He pushed his large glasses up his nose and shifted a little to help the books in his red messenger bag settle a little bit.
Mimi looked over at the sound of his voice. "Oh, it's one of the Kido boys from downstairs," she observed. "Jou-senpai, I think…" she mused to herself.
"What're you doing?" he asked, slightly curious. He usually didn't bother to associate with the supposedly eccentric girl much, but his surprise at seeing her alone at the park compelled him to speak.
"What does it look like I'm doing? Can't you tell just by looking?" she responded in a slightly aloof tone.
He shifted again; the books he had gotten at the library were heavy. "I mean, why are you sitting out here in the rain? If you don't hurry back, won't your parents be worried?" At her prolonged silence, he realized the answer. "Oh, no one's home…" he mumbled and went to take a seat on a neighboring swing. They sat awkwardly for a few seconds before he sheepishly apologized, "Sorry for prying; my mom is always at home, so she's pretty strict about getting home on time…"
Mimi pressed her lips together slightly, not wanting to think about the empty apartment that awaited her. Her eyes flicked over to him for a second. Little did either of them know that her next words would forever inexplicably entwine their lives together. "Hey, want to play a game?" she burst out suddenly, turning to fix her eyes on him.
"What kind of game?" he responded in a slightly wary tone. The girl had a bit of a reputation for being unpredictable and selfish; now that he thought about it, that was probably why his parents didn't really encourage him to play with her, despite the fact that the Tachikawas were probably the closest family in their vicinity with children about his age.
"It's a simple game," she wheedled. "I'm a princess, and you're my servant."
"Huh?" he asked dumbly, his glasses slipping a little bit down his nose.
Eagerly she explained, "We're actually a beautiful princess and her servant from a far away country. But because of some trouble in the kingdom, we're being hunted down. That's why in order to hide our identities we're pretending to be normal elementary school students here. When we're at school, we'll just be schoolmates as usual, but when we're alone, we'll revert to our princess and servant roles." She gave him a slightly stern look and stressed, "When we're alone, you have to think of me as a princess and treat me as such."
"Uh…" Jou paused to think it over.
"It's kind of a weird game, but there isn't any harm in it, right? If it makes her feel better, why not? I want to be a doctor when I grow up, and Shin-niisan always says that a doctor's job is to help people feel better." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I made her feel bad earlier, so I should help cheer her up. If I play along, she'll probably start to feel better." Before he could voice his agreement, a new thought occurred to him, giving him a pause.
Cautiously he asked, "How long will this game last?"
She screwed her face up into a thoughtful expression before replying decidedly, "Forever."
"Forever?" he gasped in dismay, his glasses almost falling off his face.
"Forever," she affirmed before clarifying, "We'll keep playing until someone discovers our relationship." Then she looked at him very seriously and emphatically stated, "A princess' order is absolute."
He creased his eyebrows and pushed his glasses up his nose again. There was no way he'd do this forever! Not on your life! "Hey, Tachikawa-san…"
She stubbornly looked away from him in silence, refusing to acknowledge that he had spoken to her.
With a sigh, he gave in. "A doctor's job is to make people feel better. And it can't be that hard for us to get caught, right?" he reasoned. "This game will probably be over by the end of the week."
He stood up. "Princess," he started.
"Yes?" She stood and turned to him with a smile, delighted that he was willing to play along.
"If it's alright with you, may we head home? There's a TV show I want to watch."
"Of course," she replied generously.
He nodded to her and began to head toward the direction of their apartment complex.
"You're leaving before the princess does?" she asked, clearly rebuking him.
He stopped and turned with a surprised look on his face. "Uh…?" was all he managed to get out before she strode past him. He turned, a bit flustered, and ran after her bobbing pink-and-white-checked umbrella.
And that's the first chapter. In the drama, they flash back on this scene, but I thought it might make more sense to start at the beginning. This is the only chapter that will take place pre-Digiworld.
I've wanted to write this story for ages, but my usual characters, Kazuki Hihara and Kahoko Hino from the anime La Corda d'Oro, just didn't fit the bill. You can't imagine how pleased I was when I stumbled upon Digimon and this couple again, and I realized how perfect a fit they'd be.
A Ransel backpack is kind of the classic Japanese elementary school backpack. If you watch just about anything with Japanese elementary age school kids, you're bound to see at least one. You can read more about it and see an image of it here: en...wikipedia.. wiki/Randoseru.
Please review.