Small Talk
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Adventure or any of the characters within. For those of you who have played the PSP game, you'll recognize this as a little expansion on one of the sidequest scenes. If you haven't… uh, it's an expansion on one of the sidequest scenes.
To her credit, Mimi had waited until Ogremon had vacated the immediate area before wheeling around and voiced the doubts that were (probably) running through all of their heads, Yamato's included.
"Hey, everyone – I wonder if it's really okay for us to trust Ogremon?" the pink clad girl asked worriedly, her gaze flipping from Taichi, to Takeru, and finally to Yamato.
Taichi seemed unsure, but judging from the way he was looking at the entrance to the arena he was willing to try and help in spite of everything. Takeru looked much the same, if not quite as impatient as the goggle headed boy. As for himself…
"I don't think it's a trap," Yamato said at last, crossing his arms and nodding as he turned his gaze toward the direction that Ogremon had left in. "He seemed just as surprised to see us as we were to see him, after all, and I doubt that he's that good of an actor. We're here anyway; it's not like it would hurt us any to throw him a bone – so to speak."
"Sounds good!" Taichi chimed in, as he and Takeru started to follow Yamato.
"Wait!"
The unusually sharp tone to Mimi's voice made Yamato stop in his tracks and he immediately wheeled around, a startled expression on his face. The brunette was staring at him with a severe glare, and Yamato noted (not for the first time) that this definitely wasn't the same girl he had barely said two words to when this whole adventure had started.
"What?" the blonde asked defensively, tilting his head quizzically as he looked back.
"Don't you think you're being naïve?" she demanded, her eyes flashing with intensity.
Yamato blinked once, then twice. "Mimi is… actually thinking about that, huh?" he mused, nodding slowly as the impact of her words sank in. "She could be right. I mean, who really knows with Ogremon? Still, I think this time we should be okay. Gotta say, though…"
She would have never brought that up before. In fact, she would likely have never thought about it before, or if she did it would have been a way to get out of it without doing anything, and even if she had wanted to help she would have done so without thought or foresight.
"I'm impressed, Mimi," Yamato thought, slowly nodding in admiration as he flicked a quick look at Taichi, who looked to have the same impression. "You've come a long way, haven't you?"
"I mean," she continued, either ignorant of the byplay or choosing to ignore it as she strode up to Yamato. "What do you plan to do if I end up getting held hostage?" Mimi finished dramatically, her hands on her hips, every fiber of her body language demanding a good answer.
Dead silence.
"… and on second thought, maybe you haven't changed that much," Yamato amended, fighting down a grin as he heard Taichi trying desperately to choke back laughter. "But still – I don't think that's such a bad thing."
"Isn't it obvious?" Yamato drolly asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you got kidnapped, I'd come save you."
"Oh," Mimi murmured, blinking twice and nodding slowly before doing a quick double take, her eyes widening. "Wait, really? You mean it?"
"Of course," Yamato responded easily, and he wasn't sure what he was more surprised at; how easily the words came out, or how much he meant them. "Guess I've changed a little too, huh?"
Mimi stood absolutely still for a few moments, before a brilliant smile lit her face. "Well," she said lightly, stepping away from the boy with a flourish. "If you're willing to do that, then I'll forgive you if anything bad happens!" she told him, a happy lilt coating every word.
"Noted," he replied, flashing her a kind smile as Takeru ran up to her and eagerly said that he would help save her too, much to her delight.
"Just that easy, huh?" Taichi muttered beside him, as the pair watched Mimi and Takeru. "Play the chivalry card and suddenly she's all sunshine and rainbows again."
"Whatever," Yamato shot back, the warm feeling in his chest making him feel much better about their upcoming bone-hunting detour. "Besides, she's not gonna need my help."
Taichi raised an eyebrow. "You positive about that?"
The blonde snorted. "Mimi's grown a lot," he admitted quietly, lowering his voice so that she couldn't hear. "We've all grown a lot. I think she'll be fine, and even if somehow she's not…"
Yamato paused, and the bearer of Courage leaned forward. "What is it?" he asked intently, before he saw the grin on the other boy's face.
"Even if she's not, it's Ogremon. How screwed are we if Gabumon and I can't take Ogremon?"
Confession: I shipped Mimato when I was younger. Not because I thought it was canon, but like the rest of my other crack ships I thought that their personalities, if given the chance, could work well together. Never got around to writing one though, and truth be told this even this one isn't exactly super shippy.
But when the PSP game came out and threw in the many little relationship building scenes that the anime didn't touch (for all the characters, no less), I decided to throw my sixth grade self a bone after seeing an English translation of the opening sequence of the Ogremon's Bone sidequest on YouTube (still there, if you search, hopefully)!
It made me smile. What can I say?