The Meaning of Love (Part 1)
By Firenze
A/N: Look, Seiitsu, I finally got around to it! After what, 3 months? I know this fic may turn out to suck, but it was hard, okay? I don't like to write about Mimi if it can be avoided, unless it's some serious bashing. I do hope you're all right with Taiora, and don't be afraid of the Michi, it won't last. What's a Digimon fic from me without Taiora? I know the whole dance plot has been used so much that it isn't even funny, but the dance isn't in this part and there was no other way.
Disclaimer: If Digimon were really mine...I wouldn't let it get away with having such a crappy theme song, for one. Or any of that crappy music for that matter. (You can hear the rest of what I'd do if I owned Digimon in my upcoming fics! See, it's not a list, haha!) What's the point of disclaimers anyway? I mean, hello? FANfiction, we know no one here owns it.
* * *
"So...?" Tai asked nervously, his fingers crossed in his pockets. His heart was beating much to fast and he was sweating a lot. And he hadn't even been playing soccer. This was far more suspenseful, though. And nerve-wracking.
"Well, Tai, I...ummm..." The girl hesitated for a very long time. Neither of them could breathe. She was taking a long time to make her mind up...too long...
"You, ummm...., what?" *Why can't girls just straight out answer yes or no? Do they have to kill us like this? If she's going to say no, let me down easily...*
"I don't want to go with you. I'd never go to a dance with you in my entire life. What were you thinking?!" the girl asked in amazement. "Why would you ever ask me? You're my friend! Why would we go together?" she shrieked with a sudden burst of anger. "Are you drunk or just plain stupid?! The answer is NO!"
"I dunno, I just thought--" he said, very disappointed and hurt. *She could have at least turned me down gently.*
The girl impatiently cut him off. "Well, WHATEVER you thought, it was crazy. How could you ever ask me?!"
"I was trying to explain to you--"
"Forget it." She sighed in frustration. "I can't believe you'd have the nerve to ask me, when you've got someone who actually WANTS you to ask her. Taichi Kamiya, you can be so stupid sometimes."
"What is THAT supposed to mean?" he shouted as she walked away. "Is it so stupid to ask a girl you like to the dance?"
She looked slightly flustered for a second. "YOU LIKE ME?! But...but..." she spluttered, and then her anger returned. "It's stupid if you're you and you ask me!" she called back and disappeared. "And plus, I'm going with Izzy!"
"Now what was THAT supposed to mean?" he asked himself. "First she says no, turns me down harshly, calls me crazy and stupid, then tells me she's going with IZZY..."
"So I take it you don't have a date for the dance."
Tai turned around and saw Matt looking at him. "How'd you guess?" he asked sarcastically.
Matt rolled his eyes. "So Sora said no? And for IZZY?"
"Sora? What does she have to do with this?" he asked obliviously.
"What do you mean 'what does she have to do with this?'" he asked in amazement.
"What do YOU mean?" Tai asked, getting very confused. "Am I missing something?"
"Yes! You didn't ask Sora! So if you didn't ask Sora, who DID you ask?" Matt asked, frustrated.
"Who else?" he said with a shrug. "Mimi."
"Mimi," he repeated disbelievingly. "Mimi. Mimi Tachikawa. Mimi, the pink haired freak, Mimi."
"She's not a freak, Matt," Tai said angrily.
"No, she's just a girl with cotton candy on top of her head. Wait -- that's her hair."
"Why are you making fun of Mimi? Aren't you the one who liked her after the Digiworld but was too afraid to tell her, even when you found out she was moving to New York?" he countered.
He had Matt there. After a few seconds of silence, he replied, "Well, I knew she'd come back, and I knew the crush wouldn't last. Now let me get this straight: you asked HER to the dance? And she's going with Izzy. MIMI?!" He thought for another while and then smacked his best friend upside the head.
"Hey! What was that for?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Do you REALLY want me to ask Sora?" he asked in frustration.
His expression clearly read: 'DUH!' "Why WOULDN'T you ask Sora?"
"There's a million reasons! She's been my best friend since forever, and asking her would be weird. Plus, she might think that I DO like her, and our friendship will ultimately be ruined, no matter which way she takes it. Sora's not ugly or ditzy or anything, but she's just too much of a friend to ask out. Does that clear things up?"
"Okay, so what are the other hundred thousand questions? None of those were good enough." Matt crossed his arms.
"It doesn't matter if they're good enough," Tai said, "it matters if I believe in them strongly. And I do. Sora is just my friend. And I know for a fact she feels the same way about me."
* * *
Sora was concentrating intensely on her algebra homework, trying to figure out a very difficult problem. At least, that's what she should have been doing. The high school girl was lost in her thoughts and daydreams about a certain boy and was trying in vain to pay attention to her homework.
"Why am I thinking this kind of stuff?" she wondered, chewing on the eraser of her pencil.
DING-DONG!
"Ugh." She ignored the doorbell and had finally gotten started on her work.
DING-DONG!
Sora sighed. "Mom, get the door!" It rang three more times until she knew whoever was at the door was not going to give up. "Wait a minute...Mom isn't even here -- I'll get it!" she cried, sprinting to the front door. She threw it open and bent over panting. "No, I don't want to buy anything."
"No, Sora. It's me, Mimi. Your best friend?" The pink-haired girl looked at Sora curiously. "You look terrible! Does this mean you already know?"
"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically. "I'm perfectly fine. And do I know what?" she asked, letting her in and closing the door.
"I guess that means you don't know. So don't freak out, all right?"
"Why would I?" Sora asked, very confused.
Mimi took a deep breath and said quickly, "Because Tai asked me to the dance."
"WHAT?!".
"I knew you wouldn't like it..." she said sadly.
"We're having a dance?!"
"Where have you been? It's only been all everyone's been talking about," Mimi said matter-of-factly.
"Our first dance? Why would Tai ask YOU--?" she cried out.
She put her hands on Sora's shoulders. "Calm down! I don't know why he asked me either, but I said no, don't worry. I couldn't go to the dance with him when you're so obviously in love with him."
"In LOVE?! With TAI?!" Sora screeched. "Are you crazy?!"
Mimi made some funny clicking noise with her tongue. "Denial, denial..."
"Whatever," Sora said with a sigh, flumping back onto her couch. "Why'd you REALLY turn him down? How did he take it?"
Mimi sat down on the other sofa. "I told you, it WAS because of you. As for the way he took it, I'd say bad. I said some really harsh...and stupid things."
"Give me an example."
"For starters, I called him stupid and crazy," she answered.
"So?" Sora asked. "He can be stupid, but as for crazy, I don't know. Then again, he did ask YOU...I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
"It WAS stupid and crazy. He should ask you. But I came here because I need a favor, Sora." Mimi looked anywhere she could but her best friend.
"Yes?"
"Eye need Mewto get dizzy doo Eskimo eat you the pants," she mumbled.
Sora was very mixed up. "Ummm...sure. Can you repeat that one more time for the people who DON'T speak gibberish and gobbledygook?"
"I need you to get Izzy to ask me to the dance," she said in a rush.
Her eyebrows raised. "Why Izzy?" she wondered. "And why do you want me to help?"
"Because I told Tai that I was going to the dance with Izzy," she said guiltily. "And I thought you would help me because best friends are supposed get best friends out of messes like this. And you used to have the crest of love, so I'm assuming you know something about relationships. Of course you can't even admit your feelings for Tai..."
"Do you want me to help you or not?" she asked sternly.
Mimi nodded meekly. "Please."
"Exactly WHY did you tell Tai you were going to the dance with Izzy?"
"I don't know, it just slipped out..."
"The real reason?" Sora asked, staring at her in the eye.
Mimi squirmed uncomfortably at the serious look Sora was giving her, knowing that she was determined and wouldn't give up until she found out the truth. "Because I just may have a little tiny crush on Izzy..."
Sora cleared her throat and stared at her expectantly.
"Okay, okay, I think I've fallen in love with him, big deal," she said quickly. "But you love Tai!"
"I DO NOT love Tai!" she said. "Stop trying to change the subject! How did you ever fall in love with Izzy?"
"I guess it was sometime after the Digital World screwed our lives up...the second time," Mimi replied. "Honestly, I couldn't even talk to him the first time in the Digiworld. Especially knowing that Joe liked me. But when we left the Digiworld, Joe and I drifted further and further away...until I liked Matt. I'd spend hours talking on the phone to him, even in New York. My parents threatened to kill me a few times, especially from maxing their credit cards out so many times at the mall..."
"Hello? Back to the point," Sora said, waving a hand in front of Mimi's dazed out face. (Or is that her everyday look? *Gets pelted with tomatoes* Okay, no more Mimi bashing...for now)
"Oh, sorry. Well, I just stopped liking Matt once I moved back. It was just different. When it came down to it, Izzy was my hero. I never finished any of my assignments at all, but Izzy was always helping me out with it, even when he skipped to your grade." Mimi sighed. "Sometime or another, I was bitten by the love bug. But Izzy is more interested in computers than girls..." She hugged a pillow tightly.
"Even computer geniuses have to have girlfriends. Cyber or real," Sora laughed.
"You really think he has a cyber girlfriend?!" she cried, tossing the pillow across the room. It hit a lamp, but Sora shrugged it off.
"Hey, calm down! I was kidding. Though I wouldn't be too surprised..." she drifted off and stopped at Mimi's horrified expression. "Don't worry about it. So exactly how do I come into your plan of getting Izzy to ask you out?"
"Simple, tell him to ask me out," Mimi said. "Isn't it that easy?"
"Of course not!" she cried thunderously. "I WISH! But no, it does not work that way. Does Izzy even like you the tiniest smidgen?"
"I don't know..." she said, her face looking very concentrated. (Mimi...thinking? Something doesn't click here. *Tomatoes come flying* Sorry!) "What's a smidgen?" (I just had to add that stupid comment)
"Is that what you were thinking about for so long?" Sora asked incredulously.
"No, of course not!" Mimi burst out. *Yes...* she thought guiltily.
"Okay, Mimi, do you think Izzy WOULD ever like you? You don't seem like you make the most perfect couple... You two are such perfect opposites."
"I know...but I still like him. I don't know why. He's just so nice, and smart, and...nice..."
"Very descriptive," Sora said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you try to spend more time with him? Have conversations, do fun things together... When's the dance again?"
"On Friday," she said impatiently.
"Oh, terrific!" she said, glancing quickly at a calendar. "You have...1 day." The excitement left her voice.
"What am I supposed to do?!" she cried frantically.
"Get moving!" Sora urged, pushing Mimi out of the house. "Find Izzy. Do ANYTHING. You can even surf the web with him or something, just hang out. In the meantime, I'll ask Tai--"
"No! Tai's in love with me!" Mimi covered her mouth with her hands. "I have to go find Izzy!" She ran away and slammed the door. (Once she got outside, she tripped on her stupid, 10-inch high boots. *Tomatoes come flying again* Wait--does anyone seriously like Mimi? As a favorite character?)
Sora leaned her back against the back of the door and slid down until she was hugging her knees. "Does Tai really love Mimi?" she asked sadly.
* * *
"You don't get it, Matt. I like MIMI. Not SORA," Tai said, emphasizing the two names. The two boys were now sitting in the Ishida's living room.
"No, YOU don't get it. I know you know you love Sora, you just don't want to admit it, even to yourself, even though we all know you love her, and we all know she knows she loves you."
"Huh? I'm getting majorly confused," he said.
The other boy shook his head impatiently, his blonde hair getting in his face. "What will it take to make you realize it?"
"If I don't see it, it probably isn't there," Tai insisted. "I love MIMI, all right?"
"Forget it. I'm going to find SOMEONE who will help me." Matt paused and thought for a while. "Sora!"
* * *
Ring! Ring!
Sora dashed to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Hey, Sora, this is Matt," the voice on the other end said.
"Oh, hi, Matt. What's up?" she asked, twirling the phone cord, wondering what he could be calling her for.
"I just called to talk to you about something sort of...personal."
"Personal?" she asked nervously. "Ummm...all right."
She waited for a few seconds, but Matt didn't say anything. She heard him being strangled by someone else. "Do you like Tai?" he choked out.
"He's there with you, isn't he?" Sora asked. "If I know Tai, he's the one trying to kill you."
"Exactly!" Matt shouted. "So do you?"
"Do I like Tai?" she asked, her voice coming out in a funny squeak. "Errr...why do you ask?"
"Because Tai asked Mimi to the dance," Matt replied quickly and started choking.
"Oh, I knew that," she said softly, her heart sinking.
"I'm sure Tai has something he wants to say to you!" His voice sounded distant, and Sora guessed he had shoved the phone under Tai's nose.
Tai sighed loudly. "Hello? Sora?"
Her eyes began to sting and feel watery. "I don't want to talk to you," she said, and put the phone down.
"See? There's proof!" Matt exclaimed. "If she didn't love you, why wouldn't she want to talk to you after she knew you asked Mimi to the dance?"
"I don't know!" Tai exclaimed. "Now forget about me loving Sora -- I don't. The important thing is Mimi. And I know I have a few things to say to Izzy."
* * *
DING-DONG!
The door opened, and Mrs. Izumi was standing in the doorway smiling. "Hello! Can I help you?"
"Hello, Mrs. Izumi. Is Izzy home?" Mimi asked, faking a smile, but she was really fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Yes, he is. IZZY!" she called. "Your girlfriend is here!"
Mimi sweat-dropped. "Uhhh..."
"GIRLFRIEND?" Izzy's voice yelled back. "Who are you talking about?"
"Why, your friend with the pink hair!" Mrs. Izumi said. Mimi giggled nervously.
"Mimi?" he asked, coming into view. "What are you doing here?"
"I need some help with my homework," she lied quickly.
He nodded and let her in. His mom returned to whatever she had been doing earlier. "Okay, so where's your backpack?"
"Oh, silly me, I must have forgot it!" she lied again, uneasily chuckling.
"I guess that puts homework out of the question," Izzy said.
Mimi was crestfallen, but she did her best not to let it show. "Well, I guess I'll be going then--"
"We can just hang out," he interrupted. "You're not busy, are you?"
Her heart leaped. "No, I don't have a single thing to do! I'd love to!"
"All right then. We can...ummm...watch TV."
"What, not the computer?" she teased, her heart beating so fast that she thought it shouldn't be allowed.
"I've been on all day..." He saw Mimi's disbelieving expression. "Okay, so Tai did some weird thing and broke it. I've been meaning to get it fixed, but I don't even know what happened."
"We can just talk then," she suggested.
"I guess...want something to drink?" the redheaded boy asked.
"No, I'm fine."
Mimi took a deep breath and gathered all the courage she had. "So are you going to the dan--"
Ring! Ring!
"Oh, let me get that," Izzy said, dashing to the telephone. "Hello? Oh, hey, Tai!"
Mimi's heart sank. She was dead for sure. Tai was obviously going to talk to Izzy about the dance. But she just waited nervously, unsure of what was going on in the conversation right then.
"What do you mean we have a dance tomorrow? Are you serious?" she heard Izzy say, sounding clueless. "Are you going with anyone?" Izzy was silent for a few moments, listening. "Oh, you asked Mimi? That's great!"
Tai clenched his fists. "Great?! YOU'RE going with Mimi, remember?" he shouted furiously into the receiver.
Mimi heard her name mentioned and froze.
Izzy slowly turned around and looked at her. "Uh, hold on, Tai. I have to have a little talk." He put the phone down and faced Mimi. "You said you were going to the dance with ME?" he asked in disbelief.
She hung her head, but nodded. "I'm really sorry, Izzy, I--"
"Why would you do that?" he asked curiously. Suddenly, anger came to him. "Did you want Tai to hate me or something? Is that it? Did you want me to lose one of my best friends?"
"No, Izzy!" she cried. "You have it completely opposite!"
"You hate me, don't you? You really, actually hate my guts! Did you just use me to get homework answers?" he yelled, tears springing to his eyes. "Is that all I'm good for?!"
Mimi was horrified. "Izzy, I DON'T feel that way about you!"
"Then why did you say it?!" he shouted.
"Because I love you!" she screamed, and then everything was silent. They didn't say a single word, they didn't move, they didn't even breathe. The only sounds were the ticking of the clock and Tai's muffled voice on the phone.
"Hello? Hello? Izzy? Are you still there?"
Izzy inched to the counter, picked up the phone, and hung it up. All the while, he was staring at Mimi in awe. He opened his mouth a few times in a feeble attempt to say anything, but no sound came out. He gulped loudly and tried again. "You LOVE me?" he asked in total shock.
"I -- I --" Mimi hesitated. "Ummm...errr...I gotta go!" she squeaked, running out of his apartment as fast as she could and slamming the door, the second time she had done that in one day.
Mrs. Izumi came back into the room. "Is something wrong, Izzy? I heard yelling."
Izzy shook his head, his tears gone and a small smile on his face. "No, Mom. Everything is completely perfect now."
* * *
2nd A/N: Am I the only one who got Everclear's "Wonderful" stuck in my head from that last line? I was going to actually say "everything is wonderful now," but what kind of person says "wonderful"? This fic turned out a lot longer than I expected. There's going to be another part, the part with the dance in it. And then after that, I'm going to twist it into a Taiora. Oh, and that whole "you hate me, don't you?" thing wasn't actually intended to be a real fight, because there's this inside joke my friends and I have. But take it however you want. Now thanks for reading, people! I hope you didn't think it was too bad, Seiitsu.
By Firenze
A/N: Look, Seiitsu, I finally got around to it! After what, 3 months? I know this fic may turn out to suck, but it was hard, okay? I don't like to write about Mimi if it can be avoided, unless it's some serious bashing. I do hope you're all right with Taiora, and don't be afraid of the Michi, it won't last. What's a Digimon fic from me without Taiora? I know the whole dance plot has been used so much that it isn't even funny, but the dance isn't in this part and there was no other way.
Disclaimer: If Digimon were really mine...I wouldn't let it get away with having such a crappy theme song, for one. Or any of that crappy music for that matter. (You can hear the rest of what I'd do if I owned Digimon in my upcoming fics! See, it's not a list, haha!) What's the point of disclaimers anyway? I mean, hello? FANfiction, we know no one here owns it.
* * *
"So...?" Tai asked nervously, his fingers crossed in his pockets. His heart was beating much to fast and he was sweating a lot. And he hadn't even been playing soccer. This was far more suspenseful, though. And nerve-wracking.
"Well, Tai, I...ummm..." The girl hesitated for a very long time. Neither of them could breathe. She was taking a long time to make her mind up...too long...
"You, ummm...., what?" *Why can't girls just straight out answer yes or no? Do they have to kill us like this? If she's going to say no, let me down easily...*
"I don't want to go with you. I'd never go to a dance with you in my entire life. What were you thinking?!" the girl asked in amazement. "Why would you ever ask me? You're my friend! Why would we go together?" she shrieked with a sudden burst of anger. "Are you drunk or just plain stupid?! The answer is NO!"
"I dunno, I just thought--" he said, very disappointed and hurt. *She could have at least turned me down gently.*
The girl impatiently cut him off. "Well, WHATEVER you thought, it was crazy. How could you ever ask me?!"
"I was trying to explain to you--"
"Forget it." She sighed in frustration. "I can't believe you'd have the nerve to ask me, when you've got someone who actually WANTS you to ask her. Taichi Kamiya, you can be so stupid sometimes."
"What is THAT supposed to mean?" he shouted as she walked away. "Is it so stupid to ask a girl you like to the dance?"
She looked slightly flustered for a second. "YOU LIKE ME?! But...but..." she spluttered, and then her anger returned. "It's stupid if you're you and you ask me!" she called back and disappeared. "And plus, I'm going with Izzy!"
"Now what was THAT supposed to mean?" he asked himself. "First she says no, turns me down harshly, calls me crazy and stupid, then tells me she's going with IZZY..."
"So I take it you don't have a date for the dance."
Tai turned around and saw Matt looking at him. "How'd you guess?" he asked sarcastically.
Matt rolled his eyes. "So Sora said no? And for IZZY?"
"Sora? What does she have to do with this?" he asked obliviously.
"What do you mean 'what does she have to do with this?'" he asked in amazement.
"What do YOU mean?" Tai asked, getting very confused. "Am I missing something?"
"Yes! You didn't ask Sora! So if you didn't ask Sora, who DID you ask?" Matt asked, frustrated.
"Who else?" he said with a shrug. "Mimi."
"Mimi," he repeated disbelievingly. "Mimi. Mimi Tachikawa. Mimi, the pink haired freak, Mimi."
"She's not a freak, Matt," Tai said angrily.
"No, she's just a girl with cotton candy on top of her head. Wait -- that's her hair."
"Why are you making fun of Mimi? Aren't you the one who liked her after the Digiworld but was too afraid to tell her, even when you found out she was moving to New York?" he countered.
He had Matt there. After a few seconds of silence, he replied, "Well, I knew she'd come back, and I knew the crush wouldn't last. Now let me get this straight: you asked HER to the dance? And she's going with Izzy. MIMI?!" He thought for another while and then smacked his best friend upside the head.
"Hey! What was that for?" He rubbed the back of his head. "Do you REALLY want me to ask Sora?" he asked in frustration.
His expression clearly read: 'DUH!' "Why WOULDN'T you ask Sora?"
"There's a million reasons! She's been my best friend since forever, and asking her would be weird. Plus, she might think that I DO like her, and our friendship will ultimately be ruined, no matter which way she takes it. Sora's not ugly or ditzy or anything, but she's just too much of a friend to ask out. Does that clear things up?"
"Okay, so what are the other hundred thousand questions? None of those were good enough." Matt crossed his arms.
"It doesn't matter if they're good enough," Tai said, "it matters if I believe in them strongly. And I do. Sora is just my friend. And I know for a fact she feels the same way about me."
* * *
Sora was concentrating intensely on her algebra homework, trying to figure out a very difficult problem. At least, that's what she should have been doing. The high school girl was lost in her thoughts and daydreams about a certain boy and was trying in vain to pay attention to her homework.
"Why am I thinking this kind of stuff?" she wondered, chewing on the eraser of her pencil.
DING-DONG!
"Ugh." She ignored the doorbell and had finally gotten started on her work.
DING-DONG!
Sora sighed. "Mom, get the door!" It rang three more times until she knew whoever was at the door was not going to give up. "Wait a minute...Mom isn't even here -- I'll get it!" she cried, sprinting to the front door. She threw it open and bent over panting. "No, I don't want to buy anything."
"No, Sora. It's me, Mimi. Your best friend?" The pink-haired girl looked at Sora curiously. "You look terrible! Does this mean you already know?"
"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically. "I'm perfectly fine. And do I know what?" she asked, letting her in and closing the door.
"I guess that means you don't know. So don't freak out, all right?"
"Why would I?" Sora asked, very confused.
Mimi took a deep breath and said quickly, "Because Tai asked me to the dance."
"WHAT?!".
"I knew you wouldn't like it..." she said sadly.
"We're having a dance?!"
"Where have you been? It's only been all everyone's been talking about," Mimi said matter-of-factly.
"Our first dance? Why would Tai ask YOU--?" she cried out.
She put her hands on Sora's shoulders. "Calm down! I don't know why he asked me either, but I said no, don't worry. I couldn't go to the dance with him when you're so obviously in love with him."
"In LOVE?! With TAI?!" Sora screeched. "Are you crazy?!"
Mimi made some funny clicking noise with her tongue. "Denial, denial..."
"Whatever," Sora said with a sigh, flumping back onto her couch. "Why'd you REALLY turn him down? How did he take it?"
Mimi sat down on the other sofa. "I told you, it WAS because of you. As for the way he took it, I'd say bad. I said some really harsh...and stupid things."
"Give me an example."
"For starters, I called him stupid and crazy," she answered.
"So?" Sora asked. "He can be stupid, but as for crazy, I don't know. Then again, he did ask YOU...I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
"It WAS stupid and crazy. He should ask you. But I came here because I need a favor, Sora." Mimi looked anywhere she could but her best friend.
"Yes?"
"Eye need Mewto get dizzy doo Eskimo eat you the pants," she mumbled.
Sora was very mixed up. "Ummm...sure. Can you repeat that one more time for the people who DON'T speak gibberish and gobbledygook?"
"I need you to get Izzy to ask me to the dance," she said in a rush.
Her eyebrows raised. "Why Izzy?" she wondered. "And why do you want me to help?"
"Because I told Tai that I was going to the dance with Izzy," she said guiltily. "And I thought you would help me because best friends are supposed get best friends out of messes like this. And you used to have the crest of love, so I'm assuming you know something about relationships. Of course you can't even admit your feelings for Tai..."
"Do you want me to help you or not?" she asked sternly.
Mimi nodded meekly. "Please."
"Exactly WHY did you tell Tai you were going to the dance with Izzy?"
"I don't know, it just slipped out..."
"The real reason?" Sora asked, staring at her in the eye.
Mimi squirmed uncomfortably at the serious look Sora was giving her, knowing that she was determined and wouldn't give up until she found out the truth. "Because I just may have a little tiny crush on Izzy..."
Sora cleared her throat and stared at her expectantly.
"Okay, okay, I think I've fallen in love with him, big deal," she said quickly. "But you love Tai!"
"I DO NOT love Tai!" she said. "Stop trying to change the subject! How did you ever fall in love with Izzy?"
"I guess it was sometime after the Digital World screwed our lives up...the second time," Mimi replied. "Honestly, I couldn't even talk to him the first time in the Digiworld. Especially knowing that Joe liked me. But when we left the Digiworld, Joe and I drifted further and further away...until I liked Matt. I'd spend hours talking on the phone to him, even in New York. My parents threatened to kill me a few times, especially from maxing their credit cards out so many times at the mall..."
"Hello? Back to the point," Sora said, waving a hand in front of Mimi's dazed out face. (Or is that her everyday look? *Gets pelted with tomatoes* Okay, no more Mimi bashing...for now)
"Oh, sorry. Well, I just stopped liking Matt once I moved back. It was just different. When it came down to it, Izzy was my hero. I never finished any of my assignments at all, but Izzy was always helping me out with it, even when he skipped to your grade." Mimi sighed. "Sometime or another, I was bitten by the love bug. But Izzy is more interested in computers than girls..." She hugged a pillow tightly.
"Even computer geniuses have to have girlfriends. Cyber or real," Sora laughed.
"You really think he has a cyber girlfriend?!" she cried, tossing the pillow across the room. It hit a lamp, but Sora shrugged it off.
"Hey, calm down! I was kidding. Though I wouldn't be too surprised..." she drifted off and stopped at Mimi's horrified expression. "Don't worry about it. So exactly how do I come into your plan of getting Izzy to ask you out?"
"Simple, tell him to ask me out," Mimi said. "Isn't it that easy?"
"Of course not!" she cried thunderously. "I WISH! But no, it does not work that way. Does Izzy even like you the tiniest smidgen?"
"I don't know..." she said, her face looking very concentrated. (Mimi...thinking? Something doesn't click here. *Tomatoes come flying* Sorry!) "What's a smidgen?" (I just had to add that stupid comment)
"Is that what you were thinking about for so long?" Sora asked incredulously.
"No, of course not!" Mimi burst out. *Yes...* she thought guiltily.
"Okay, Mimi, do you think Izzy WOULD ever like you? You don't seem like you make the most perfect couple... You two are such perfect opposites."
"I know...but I still like him. I don't know why. He's just so nice, and smart, and...nice..."
"Very descriptive," Sora said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Why don't you try to spend more time with him? Have conversations, do fun things together... When's the dance again?"
"On Friday," she said impatiently.
"Oh, terrific!" she said, glancing quickly at a calendar. "You have...1 day." The excitement left her voice.
"What am I supposed to do?!" she cried frantically.
"Get moving!" Sora urged, pushing Mimi out of the house. "Find Izzy. Do ANYTHING. You can even surf the web with him or something, just hang out. In the meantime, I'll ask Tai--"
"No! Tai's in love with me!" Mimi covered her mouth with her hands. "I have to go find Izzy!" She ran away and slammed the door. (Once she got outside, she tripped on her stupid, 10-inch high boots. *Tomatoes come flying again* Wait--does anyone seriously like Mimi? As a favorite character?)
Sora leaned her back against the back of the door and slid down until she was hugging her knees. "Does Tai really love Mimi?" she asked sadly.
* * *
"You don't get it, Matt. I like MIMI. Not SORA," Tai said, emphasizing the two names. The two boys were now sitting in the Ishida's living room.
"No, YOU don't get it. I know you know you love Sora, you just don't want to admit it, even to yourself, even though we all know you love her, and we all know she knows she loves you."
"Huh? I'm getting majorly confused," he said.
The other boy shook his head impatiently, his blonde hair getting in his face. "What will it take to make you realize it?"
"If I don't see it, it probably isn't there," Tai insisted. "I love MIMI, all right?"
"Forget it. I'm going to find SOMEONE who will help me." Matt paused and thought for a while. "Sora!"
* * *
Ring! Ring!
Sora dashed to the phone and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Hey, Sora, this is Matt," the voice on the other end said.
"Oh, hi, Matt. What's up?" she asked, twirling the phone cord, wondering what he could be calling her for.
"I just called to talk to you about something sort of...personal."
"Personal?" she asked nervously. "Ummm...all right."
She waited for a few seconds, but Matt didn't say anything. She heard him being strangled by someone else. "Do you like Tai?" he choked out.
"He's there with you, isn't he?" Sora asked. "If I know Tai, he's the one trying to kill you."
"Exactly!" Matt shouted. "So do you?"
"Do I like Tai?" she asked, her voice coming out in a funny squeak. "Errr...why do you ask?"
"Because Tai asked Mimi to the dance," Matt replied quickly and started choking.
"Oh, I knew that," she said softly, her heart sinking.
"I'm sure Tai has something he wants to say to you!" His voice sounded distant, and Sora guessed he had shoved the phone under Tai's nose.
Tai sighed loudly. "Hello? Sora?"
Her eyes began to sting and feel watery. "I don't want to talk to you," she said, and put the phone down.
"See? There's proof!" Matt exclaimed. "If she didn't love you, why wouldn't she want to talk to you after she knew you asked Mimi to the dance?"
"I don't know!" Tai exclaimed. "Now forget about me loving Sora -- I don't. The important thing is Mimi. And I know I have a few things to say to Izzy."
* * *
DING-DONG!
The door opened, and Mrs. Izumi was standing in the doorway smiling. "Hello! Can I help you?"
"Hello, Mrs. Izumi. Is Izzy home?" Mimi asked, faking a smile, but she was really fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Yes, he is. IZZY!" she called. "Your girlfriend is here!"
Mimi sweat-dropped. "Uhhh..."
"GIRLFRIEND?" Izzy's voice yelled back. "Who are you talking about?"
"Why, your friend with the pink hair!" Mrs. Izumi said. Mimi giggled nervously.
"Mimi?" he asked, coming into view. "What are you doing here?"
"I need some help with my homework," she lied quickly.
He nodded and let her in. His mom returned to whatever she had been doing earlier. "Okay, so where's your backpack?"
"Oh, silly me, I must have forgot it!" she lied again, uneasily chuckling.
"I guess that puts homework out of the question," Izzy said.
Mimi was crestfallen, but she did her best not to let it show. "Well, I guess I'll be going then--"
"We can just hang out," he interrupted. "You're not busy, are you?"
Her heart leaped. "No, I don't have a single thing to do! I'd love to!"
"All right then. We can...ummm...watch TV."
"What, not the computer?" she teased, her heart beating so fast that she thought it shouldn't be allowed.
"I've been on all day..." He saw Mimi's disbelieving expression. "Okay, so Tai did some weird thing and broke it. I've been meaning to get it fixed, but I don't even know what happened."
"We can just talk then," she suggested.
"I guess...want something to drink?" the redheaded boy asked.
"No, I'm fine."
Mimi took a deep breath and gathered all the courage she had. "So are you going to the dan--"
Ring! Ring!
"Oh, let me get that," Izzy said, dashing to the telephone. "Hello? Oh, hey, Tai!"
Mimi's heart sank. She was dead for sure. Tai was obviously going to talk to Izzy about the dance. But she just waited nervously, unsure of what was going on in the conversation right then.
"What do you mean we have a dance tomorrow? Are you serious?" she heard Izzy say, sounding clueless. "Are you going with anyone?" Izzy was silent for a few moments, listening. "Oh, you asked Mimi? That's great!"
Tai clenched his fists. "Great?! YOU'RE going with Mimi, remember?" he shouted furiously into the receiver.
Mimi heard her name mentioned and froze.
Izzy slowly turned around and looked at her. "Uh, hold on, Tai. I have to have a little talk." He put the phone down and faced Mimi. "You said you were going to the dance with ME?" he asked in disbelief.
She hung her head, but nodded. "I'm really sorry, Izzy, I--"
"Why would you do that?" he asked curiously. Suddenly, anger came to him. "Did you want Tai to hate me or something? Is that it? Did you want me to lose one of my best friends?"
"No, Izzy!" she cried. "You have it completely opposite!"
"You hate me, don't you? You really, actually hate my guts! Did you just use me to get homework answers?" he yelled, tears springing to his eyes. "Is that all I'm good for?!"
Mimi was horrified. "Izzy, I DON'T feel that way about you!"
"Then why did you say it?!" he shouted.
"Because I love you!" she screamed, and then everything was silent. They didn't say a single word, they didn't move, they didn't even breathe. The only sounds were the ticking of the clock and Tai's muffled voice on the phone.
"Hello? Hello? Izzy? Are you still there?"
Izzy inched to the counter, picked up the phone, and hung it up. All the while, he was staring at Mimi in awe. He opened his mouth a few times in a feeble attempt to say anything, but no sound came out. He gulped loudly and tried again. "You LOVE me?" he asked in total shock.
"I -- I --" Mimi hesitated. "Ummm...errr...I gotta go!" she squeaked, running out of his apartment as fast as she could and slamming the door, the second time she had done that in one day.
Mrs. Izumi came back into the room. "Is something wrong, Izzy? I heard yelling."
Izzy shook his head, his tears gone and a small smile on his face. "No, Mom. Everything is completely perfect now."
* * *
2nd A/N: Am I the only one who got Everclear's "Wonderful" stuck in my head from that last line? I was going to actually say "everything is wonderful now," but what kind of person says "wonderful"? This fic turned out a lot longer than I expected. There's going to be another part, the part with the dance in it. And then after that, I'm going to twist it into a Taiora. Oh, and that whole "you hate me, don't you?" thing wasn't actually intended to be a real fight, because there's this inside joke my friends and I have. But take it however you want. Now thanks for reading, people! I hope you didn't think it was too bad, Seiitsu.