Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. My goodness, isn't that why we call it a fanfic?

Okay, so I totally wanted to write a short little one-shot. I've grown so fond of them now, especially after the success of my Pokemon one-shot. This is my first venture into the Digimon fanfiction fandom. I've read a bunch and I felt it was my turn to try my hand at a fic of my own. I hope it proves to be satisfying.

12:36 blinked angrily at Koushiro as he lay awake in bed for the last fifty minutes. Mimi had made him promise that tonight he would get some sleep. After the fiasco the night before at Mimi's apartment, Mimi was quite afraid that her good friend was pushing himself too hard for no good reason what-so-ever.

What Mimi doesn't know won't hurt her, he thought, dragging himself out of bed and toward his laptop computer. He knew exactly why he couldn't sleep and he needed to finish the program as soon as possible. After all, he couldn't understand why she cared so much about his sleeping habits. He listened to the comforting whiz of the disk drives and other hardware and leaned back against his comfortable plush chair he had bought just for late nights like these.

He worked well into three AM and finally fell asleep at the keyboard. Much to his displeasure, the next morning he had successfully managed to ignore his alarm clock, which had been set to 6:45 AM, and after the first two soundings, he had unconsciously switched it off, sleeping soundly until 11:30.

"Oh my God!" he shouted as he groggily glanced up to the clock. "I can't believe I slept in this late! Mimi's going to kill me!"

He stripped from his pajama bottoms and changed into more suitable outdoor attire. It was the middle of winter and Koushiro did not take well to the cold. He grabbed a jacket and ran out the door, shoes only halfway on.

Mimi tapped her foot impatiently in her chair at the coffee shop she and Koushiro had agreed to meet at the night before.

Surely he couldn't still be sleeping, she thought, clearly frustrated. He's over an hour late.

A few moments passed before Mimi noticed a figure running outside in her direction. She squinted and noticed the red hair and large dark eyes. She sat back and smiled. She knew he would come. They were, after all, best friends.

For half a second, her smile twitched and she twirled her hair on her finger. Just what was she missing? It couldn't possibly be this hard to woo a boy. With her amazing looks and cheerful personality, she wondered how boys didn't just throw themselves at her. Not that she cared about any other boy than him...

Finally, after a few more minutes wait, Koushiro had flung himself onto the chair just opposite of Mimi. He felt awful for making her wait over an hour. Come to think of it, why on earth had she waited so long for him. He had expected to run all the way here to find her already gone.

"Mimi, I'm so sorry," he said, completely out of breath. "I- I ran... I ran all the way here."

The brunette smiled. Maybe he did care about her after all. She felt a slight glimmer of hope for her situation after all.

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. On a whim she had decided at that moment that she would talk to him about how she felt. Her eyes met his and she opened her mouth for a brief second.

Koushiro stared inquisitively back, "What is it Mimi? Please don't be angry with me. I didn't mean to sleep in."

"You pulled another all-nighter, didn't you?" she asked, her heart cracking just a little.

The boy nodded. He didn't see what the big deal was. He could take care of himself and he knew his limitations.

"What?" he asked, clearly not understanding the rash, emotional girl sitting across from him. They had been close friends for so long, yet he still had no idea how to relate to her.

She shook her head and covered her hand over her forehead. She was about to cry, "What's so hard to understand?"

Koushiro remained silent. Mimi was acting emotional again and he had no idea what the cause was. Was it all because he stayed up late again? That couldn't possibly be it. One night was no big deal. Besides, he had finished the program and now he could crash early tonight.

"Mimi," he ventured hesitantly, "look, it's no big deal. Is this about my working late again? It's really not that bad. And besides, I can go to sleep-"

"Just stop!" she cried. "Don't you get it? It's not about being awake or asleep. You promised me something."

Koushiro was getting desperate. If the conversation continued down its current path, he was due for a severe case of the water-works across the table. He hated it when Mimi cried. He felt so helpless. There was nothing he felt he could do to make her feel better.

He could remember the first time Mimi really cried. It was nothing like the temper tantrums or freak outs she had in the Digital World. In all honesty, he felt it was one thousand times worse. She was just acting for attention in the Digital World. She wanted someone to tell her exactly when she was going to be going home and that nothing was going to eat her head off or something to that accord.

At home, the crying was of a completely different nature.

Koushiro had wandered into her house after a cryptic call from Mimi asking that he please hurry to her house; the door was unlocked. He followed the soft sounds of sniffling down the hall and to her room. It was ungodly pink and completely intolerable, but for the moment he would put up with it. His friend was in pain.

The moment he stepped into the room he could almost feel what she felt. Her emotions were so blatantly on display that it was all he could do not to burst out sobbing himself. Slowly, he crossed to her bed and sat down next to her, unsure of what to do next. She was first to speak.

Koushiro couldn't remember what had gotten her so down in the first place, but it was unimportant. He remembered pulling her into his arms and she wailed so loudly that he was surprised he could still hear afterwards. He supposed this event was what had brought them so much closer.

His head snapped to Mimi. She was sniffling a little.

"Don't you get it, Kou, I care about you," she whispered. "I haven't felt closer to anyone in my life."

Koushiro recalled all the times she had cried in his arms. He wanted so badly to make her stop, not because he felt awkward or bored, but because it hurt him to see her in that state.

He said nothing in response, pushing Mimi into further saddened agitation, "Say something!"

But Koushiro was deep in thought. She said she cared about him. He thought back to all the time alone they spent together. They enjoyed each other's company. She wanted to get to know him more and more all the time. She asked him trivial questions that pestered Koushiro to no end, but he answered them because he wanted her to be happy.

While Koushiro was busy putting all the pieces together Mimi nearly exploded, "Koushiro Izumi! God damn it, I love you!"

Immediately Koushiro snapped out of his thoughts. Had he heard her correctly? Yes, there was no denying that.

"Well," he began slowly, "that settles that."

He reached across the table for her hand and she begrudgingly took it, still unsure whether or not he had even processed what she had said.

"Mimi, let's go home," he stood up and squeezed her hand while wrapping his arm around her waist.

Mimi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and attempted to regain her composure. That was all she needed to hear.

Okay, so this was originally supposed to be Jyoushiro, but 1/4 of the way in I decided I really wanted it to be Koumi. They're so cute! I thought this turned out fairly well, but you guys are the best judges. Go on and tell me what you think! This was my first Digimon fanfic and I'm dying to know how you all think I did! Go on and press the button! Review and I'll be ecstatic!

Arisachu