Rating: T, swearing
Genre: general/angst
Pairings: deep breath one sided jou/mimi, tai/sora, mimi/matt, and stated sora/matt
Summary: Jou is one happy puppy having finally started his clinic duty. He gets knocked off Cloud Nine pretty fast, however, when Mimi strolls through the door talking nonsense about things that shouldn't be contagious.
Broken Heart Disease
By: Mazzie May
How great
How great!
Jou had finally gotten his internship (at the clinic of his choosing!) and after only a week, they were letting him work alone. Usually one of the doctors would hover around or in the least, stand in the corner, but. They saw so much promise in Jou, they let him stay by himself. Aside from the occasional check in, the room was his.
It's hardly worth mentioning (since it goes without saying) that Jou was ecstatic and couldn't wait to tell his father, brothers and professors. This will look so amazing on my transcript!
He was serving at a "modern" clinic meaning it worked like this: there'd be a doctor in each room and a single patient at a time would have their named called and would be given a room number, as opposed to the American way of filling rooms with patients and sending one or two doctors around.
Patients could ask for someone by name and that's a big deal; rack up enough patients and you could go into private practice.
So imagine the cloud nine Jou was on when one of the receptionists let him know a patient asked specifically for him and said that a friend referred him to her.
Someone was so pleased they referred me?! Jou had to fight to keep from waltzing around the room with an imaginary partner. This is going to look so good on my transcript…! He hummed as he straightened up, waiting for the patient. Gosh, how great.
The door opened behind him and he put on his best "how may I help you" face and felt the smile fall into a frown so fast it hurt.
Mimi Tachikawa closed the door behind her.
Normally, seeing her would make his heart sing. But right now, it just groaned. If the clinic find out he knew her… Jou's mind halted. Mimi was at a clinic, looking less than her usually perfect self. Oh no.
He gestured to the padded exam table, asking, "Mimi, are you feeling alright?"
She shook her head, her pretty soft curls flying every which where.
"No, no Mimi is not! I feel just the worst, Dr. Jou!"
She set her purse on the exam table but didn't sit as Jou pulled up his stool.
Concerned for the object of his affection—er, friend, he asked, "What is it, Mimi?"
Never one to go without dramatics, she fell into her energetic and great movements and it made him smile just a little, though, he was sure to hide it with his hand. Mimi could never just tell you something; she had to act it out, using her arms and facial expressions to stress her words.
"Oh, Dr. Jou!" She spun away from the window to look at him, eyes teary, hands clasped together. "Mimi feels just the worst, she really does! At first, it was my head," and her left index finger pointed to her cheek and her right pointed at her temple, her eyes staring up diagonally. "But then it was in my chest!" Her hands came back together, gripping the designer shirt beneath her denim long sleeved bolero. She hugged herself. "And then I got these shivers!"
As Mimi went about her grand acts, Jou somehow actually managed to hear what she was saying. Headache, chest pains, chills. Hmm. Starts of a flu, maybe? She didn't look that sick, but. He'd have to take her temperature to be sure, give her lungs a listen to make sure it wasn't anything too bad.
She'd turned towards the window and kept talking. "Mimi," he interrupted her as he stood up, reaching for the cabinet. "Do you know when you started feeling like this?"
She continued to stare out the window, looking at something on the street below, her manicured square cut nails tapping against the windowsill. "Mmm," she answered with a deep nod.
"And when was that?" he asked, head facing the cabinet as he searched thermometer but still casting his eyes over to her. She didn't answer right away. "Mimi," he began, pocketing the instrument and facing her back. "If you tell me, I might be able to figure out what's wrong."
"Oh I know what's wrong," she said to the glass. He furrowed his brow, waiting for her to elaborate. "Funny what things are contagious," she mumbled. "I hadn't been feeling well before, but it wasn't until I saw Taichi that it got this bad."
"Tai's sick with the same thing?"
"Mmm. I wonder…" She tilted her head, still facing the glass. "Since Taichi is dying, will Mimi die to?"
And if Jou had eaten that day, he would've thrown up. Headaches, chest pain, chills, pneumonia? Dying? Tai? He felt himself fall against the counter, leaning against heavy. "Mimi, you have to explain!"
"Hmmm?" She spun away from the window, looking as innocent as angel. "Taichi and Mimi have a heart disease."
Jou's head snapped back as though he'd been slapped. "Those aren't contagious!" he said, much louder than he intended, but holy hell.
"Yes! This one is!" she said very earnestly, hands making fists. Headaches, chest pain, chills, contagious, delusions. Yeah, pneumonia. She could read his face. "You think Mimi is a liar."
Here she goes. Mimi had the Crest of Sincerity and damn all if she didn't deserve it: Mimi meant everything she said, and never thought she was right but knew she was. In Mimi's mind, everything is black and white. If you say she's wrong, you're calling her a liar or stupid. It was because of this genuine belief that she was so eccentric; she gives everything one hundred percent.
It's very easy to confuse her honesty for cruelty or rudeness (the first example that always comes to mind for Jou was when Jenai had been explaining the Digital World, Mimi had announced she was bored. Izzy went ballistic. Her reaction? A very wide-eyed, confused, "Mimi didn't say it wasn't important, just boring." And Izzy asked if that made him boring and she didn't even hesitate. "Yes," smile. "But Mimi likes you anyway. Isn't that nice of Mimi?") and why arguments with her are just impossible because she's such a bully (Micheal continued to hang around her because some time back he'd confessed his feelings for her. She'd turned him down and when he went to be respectful and give her space, she grew very angry with him. "It's a good thing I didn't accept your feelings! You didn't even mean them!" Confused and probably not used to Mimi's behaviour, he insisted that they were true. "If you really loved Mimi, you would stay devoted her no matter what. To stop loving someone just because they don't love you back is the worst!" So Micheal remained ever loyal, not understanding that Mimi does except 'no' for an answer).
Michael wasn't the only one. A lot of people didn't realize that even though Mimi was horribly aggressive in a fight, as long as you're just as honest with her and play by her rules (yes or no, no in betweens), she'd let it go.
Luckily, Jou knew how to handle her. "No, you're not a liar Mimi. I just think that… your truth is misinformed." Mimi knows what she knows, but if she was taught wrong, that she could accept. She dropped her fists and laced her fingers behind her back. If it weren't for Tai having it, he'd start to doubt this 'illness'. "Now what kinds of heart disease do you both have?"
"Broken heart disease."
Jou almost told her to get out. Instead, he fell into a chair and covered his face his hands. "Mimi…"
"Matt and Sora started dating, you know." He froze for a moment before slowly lifting his head from his hands. She was back at the window, tapping her long nails against the glass. When he didn't say anything she looked at him over her shoulder. "Mmm, I guess you didn't." She turned back to the window.
Oh. Now he got it. Broken heart disease.
"Taichi is so sad," she said with no pretense. She always spoke with so much emotion and volume, and hearing her speak with no real tone made him sad. Because that showed just how cheerless she truly was. "When we were ten, he said that Sora was 'okay' for a girl." She sighed heavily, but again she had no real emotion in her voice. "Mimi knows that's true love."
He smiled just a bit, placing his elbow on the right arm of the chair, letting his head rest against his hand. Tai's feelings for Sora were more than just a crush. He watched their relationship grow. They all did. It was impossible to deny. Or at least, Jou thought it had been. Yamato? His eyes looked at nothing even though they dropped to the floor. Really Sora? He can't say he saw it coming. As a matter of fact, if he hadn't already been stunned into silence by Mimi's terrifying suggestions, he might've been floored. Not really because he was surprised that they had feelings for each other.
They ignored Tai's feelings. Matt was his best friend and Sora was his girl. Supposedly. Like everyone else, Jou had just assumed they were together. Apparently, Tai had too.
"Taichi is so sad he can't be mad at Sora." He dropped his arm and looked back to her. "He wants to be but 'anger' isn't a symptom of broken heart disease." She still wasn't looking at him, but he could see the reflection of her pretty face in the clean glass. Mimi looked mildly amused, but her voice was so devoid. "And Matt's his best friend, but!" She tilted her head in some kind of acknowledgement. "He's also his rival. You can't put girl stealing past him."
"Mimi." Jou gave her a disapproving look and he knew she could see it because her eyes drifted to his reflection for just a moment. "That's uncalled for." She shrugged. "I might not know the whole story, but I do know Yamato and Sora and--"
She turned to him quickly, face all surprised. "Eeehh?! You're saying this is okay?" She marched to where he sat, putting her fists on her hips. "Everyone knows you like Mimi!" she stated and he blushed. "But it would be okay if Mimi dated Shuu?"
He started to stand. "Mimi, what! No!" She spun away from him, one arm around her waist, the other tapping her cheek. She turned back towards him quickly.
"Eh? Eh? What, Shuu can't ignore you and date Mimi, but Matt can ignore Taichi and date Sora?"
He sighed, unable to really come up with an argument for that right away. Mimi and his brother…!! It blew his mind for a second.
"Mmm, I guess it makes sense." She let both her arms fall, a slight pout coming to her lips. "Sora ignored Mimi and dated Matt."
"They didn't ignore him!" he retorted, determined to ignore the sudden suggestion of her having feelings for Yamato. "I'm sure they thought really hard about it and--"
"And what!" Mimi glared up at him, her arms folded beneath her breasts. "Decided that the pros out weigh the cons? That the ends justify the means? That it's worth breaking Tai?"
Jou shook his head. "I don't know," he said, continuing to shake his head. He moved away from her, placed one of his hands against the wall and stared out, down to the street below. He wouldn't be able to give an answer. Not only had he not heard every angle from everyone but it wasn't any of his business either. He always said that in complicated situations like this. He inhaled slowly, bringing his eyes up to Mimi's reflection. She pulled two elastic bands from her purse and began separating her hair. She looped one of the bands low and tightly around the first half of hair before he went back to watching cars.
Low pigtails. Mimi only ever wore those when she was stressed.
"I know you want me to pick a side, Mimi." He heard a snap and turned away from the window. She was digging through her purse. "And maybe you're right. After all, ignoring someone's feelings is a pretty low thing to do. But…" He shrugged helplessly. "I can't just take your side just because I like you."
Mimi checked her eyes in a compact. "Mimi's side is Taichi's side." She wiped at a smudge. "One in the same."
"I thought 'anger' wasn't a symptom of broken heart disease?" She threw the compact back in the purse. Joe breathed in through his nose. She was jealous. She was jealous and angry and sad, and she was using Tai's lack of reaction to the situation to act out. Like Tai, she must've assumed she had some kind of say in all of this. "Why did you come here, Mimi?" Because even though he knew all that, he didn't know why she thought he fit into this all somewhere.
"When people are sad or worried or just a wreck," she began but paused to apply some lip-gloss. "They talk to a doctor to make them feel better."
Jou laughed. "Not only am I not a doctor yet, I'm not going to be that kind of doctor, Mimi."
She finally turned to him, giving him a look that suggested that he was silly for saying that. "A doctor is a doctor. They all go where they're needed." She stuffed the lip-gloss back into her purse. "All the same to Mimi." She stepped right up to him. "Except for Jou! Dr. Jou is the best doctor to Mimi!"
He knew what she was doing, but couldn't help the blush and flattered laugh anyway. "And for Taichi." His smile shrunk a bit and he raised his eyebrow. "Taichi hurt his leg in soccer. Dr. Jou needs to go check on him!"
Before he could think of anything to say to that, she tippytoed to give him a pink peck on the cheek. Having a whole new reason to be thrown into stunned silence, he only managed a blush as she squealed, "Bye-bye, Dr. Jou!" and waved goodbye before the door slowly closed behind her.
--
Tai was on the salmon coloured couch. Not only was it ugly, but uncomfortable. Damn it. Too bad his mom wouldn't let him stay in his bunk ("We have to keep it elevated, sweetie!"). Sigh. He let the arm with the hand that was holding the remote fall from the back of the couch to over his eyes.
He didn't hear the door knock, only his mothers, "Oh! Jou! Come in." Tai tried to push himself up, couldn't find the energy to care, muttered 'fuck it' and fell back into the pillow. "Tai, you have a visitor."
Jou came around from the back of the couch. Out of all the original eight, Jou was the person he saw the least. Away at whatever medical Neverland he flew off to, he was a hard guy to get a hold of. And while he and Tai were friends, it was a little painful to admit that if it hadn't been because they were DigiDestined, they would've lost contact years ago. Because of these facts and various others, he was a little surprised to see him. This week is just freakin' full of surprises. "Hey, Jou. What's up?"
He smiled down at him. "Hey, Tai. Heard you took a spill at practice." He turned to his mom. "If it's alright with you Mrs. Kamiya, I think I'd like to give him a look." Grinning, "Free of charge."
She laughed and Tai raised one of his eyebrows. "Sounds good to me! Hey," she touched Jou's arm. "You think you could watch him while I go to the store?"
"Mom," Tai groaned. The hell. He wasn't a bedridden baby.
"Hush, sweetie." He glared at the coffee table as she turned back to Jou. "How about it? You can stay for dinner."
After some pleasant goodbyes that Tai didn't really listen to, Jou came around and kneeled in front of Tai.
"What's up?"
"Aside from your leg?" Tai blushed. His mother's definition of 'elevated' was six throw pillows.
He muttered, "yeah, yeah" as Jou removed three of them.
Placing both hands on Tai's knee and feeling around, "Mimi came by. Told me you hurt yourself."
"What?" Tai sat up, fighting the pillows. "Mimi's in Japan?"
Jou blinked at him surprised. "You didn't…?" He shook his head a bit. "But she said she saw you!"
Tai opened his mouth to say something not very nice, then he closed it. When his mother had been out earlier, he'd hobbled over to his dad's computer to check his mail. He also took a nap. And had a dream that the computer glowed. And that he comlained to someone about Sora and holy shit she was here.
Tai fell back into the pillows. "She said that Sora had called her and she came to check on me…" He crossed his arms over his eyes, holding is elbows. "Hell."
Jou had gone back to his leg. "That's Mimi for you."
"I guess it is."
"Well…" He drew the word out. "I think a week off ought to do it."
What? Tai scoffed. "A week? Dude, no. Like, maybe tomorrow. That's it."
"Normally, you'd be right," Jou said, closing up his bag with some short nods. "However, that's not what you're getting the time off for."
Tai struggled to sit up again. Jou helped him. "What are you talking about?" Tai laughed. "Am I actually sick or something?"
Jou's smile was tight lipped. "Sick enough that Mimi said you were dying."
What the hell, Mimi. Tai shook his head slowly with a furrowed brow. What the hell could she be talking about. "I'm fine."
Jou stood up and walked all the way to the shoe rack and set his bag there. In the kitchen, he got both Tai and himself something to drink. As he filled the glasses, he spoke over the water. "That's the funny thing about broken heart disease; you're not fine."
"What are you…" Tai laughed nervously. Jou handed him one of the glasses and gave him a look. He knows. Freaking Mimi. But he didn't mean it. When he was splayed out on the computer room's rug with his head on her lap and she was patting his hair, unknowingly making some of the meanest comments he'd ever heard from her ("A fashion designer! That's what she wants to be! Like she's the fashion conscious one! Hmph. She wore a bike helmet to summer camp."), it didn't make him happy but it did put him at ease. Mimi took on all the work in his place; she screamed, cried, threw punches in the air. And he got to just lay back and watch all his emotions be acted out in front of him. It was the only thing that kept him from cutting off all ties with Sora and punching Matt until candy came out.
Jou took a seat on the edge of the sitting chair against the closest wall. "You should talk about it."
Tai shrugged, taking a sip. "Nah."
"Come on, Tai," Jou tried again. "Just lay back and let it all out."
"What," and Tai twisted himself just a bit so he could throw one arm over the end of the couch and give joy a dry look. "Are you therapist instead?"
His older friend drummed his fingers against his glass, a small smile playing on his lips. "Actually, a doctor's a doctor. They all go where they're needed," and Tai honestly never thought he'd hear Jou say anything remotely like that. "Besides," Jou went on. "Maybe if you talk about it, it'll keep you from hurting your leg on purpose so you don't have to sit next to Sora."
Was he pale? He felt pale. "I don't know what you…" Pale to purple in point oh-nine seconds as Joe clucked his tongue.
"They way your knee is twisted. It only happens when you brace yourself for full impact." He took a drink. "Even if you saw the guy coming, you couldn't be totally prepared." Well. Crap. It seemed like a bitch idea at the time, and now he just felt ashamed. He felt something on his shoulder and found Jou's hand and a reassuring smile. "Tai. This just shows me how far along the illness is. But, I think three to four doses of going outside a day, coupled with good memories should do the trick. Oh, but," he looked serious. "Don't take them without company. And food."
They stared at each other for a minute before bursting out laughter. Tai laughed so hard he spilt water on himself and he really didn't care. "Jou, that so was weak, do you even know," he gasped, holding his sides. Jou had his glasses off, and was wiping at his eyes, nodding 'yeah, yeah it was.'
Tai's mom eventually came home with Kari en toe. Jou and Tai moved out to the balcony connected to his room. Tai hung over the railing, letting his arms dangle. "This isn't a real sickness. Is it."
Jou was in the sliding door's way. "It is if you have it," he said. "And someday it'll be my duty as doctor to treat it."
Tai shook his head, thinking Oh Jou. You talk funny. "Yeah," he said and the breeze felt good. "I could learn not to hate during a week of this."
"Good," Jou said and holds out Tai's cell phone. He slid back so he was flat on his feet, looking at it and then Jou. "Maybe at the end of treatment you could return some of these." He clicked 'ok'
40 missed calls (Sora)
47 missed calls (Matt)
62 new v. msgs
19 unread txt msgs
--
Tai did check those messages at the end of the week.
Jou was sitting right next to him.
And he returned their calls and listened to their cries of relief.
But not before getting a hold of Mimi.
Who did them both a favour.
Author's Note: Ta da! More Mimi. Because I love her. This was pretty fun to write. It was a request for a friend over at LiveJournal, if I remember right. I have nothing against the Matt/Sora pairing by themselves. But that's a God awful thing to do to Tai so I've always frowned on the couple. Tai took that nonsense way to well. I would've punched the tar out of one of 'em, if I were Tai. But I have a ridiculous temper so XD Jou's a cool cat, his chances with Mimi are nil, however. Until he became a doctor. Then maybe he could buy his chances. Good luck, dude.
Also, thanks very much to the person who asked about this! I totally forgot to explain Mimi's speech pattern. Well, the third person thing isn't so much from the show as it's from Japanese culture in general. It's considered very 'girly' (sometimes even 'cutesey') for a young lady to refer to herself in the third. Sort of the equivalent to a Valley Girl's speech here in the states. Or so my Japanese teacher explained years ago XD We had watched a movie where the main girl and her friends insisted upon doing it and when we aked why, we got that answer.
I've never seen the Japanese version of the show (or, more accurately, i saw about four episodes and it just wasn't as funny), so I have no idea if Mimi actually did that or not. But it's something I wouldn't find strange if she did.
R&R please, and commentary and concerns are always appreciated it!