Author's Note: I can't help starting new stories. I just can't help it. I guess this is a crossover of sorts but I'm not labelling it as such because I'm just borrowing a few characters in order to write this story without making up OCs. Honestly, it's just nicer to recognise friendly faces, isn't it?
Summary: [AU] Walking away from someone you love isn't as hard as people make it out to be; what's truly hard is watching that person parade around their new and improved partners. Just ask Ishida Yamato.
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon, Free!, Ouran High School Host Club, Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei, or Code Geass. They (and all their characters) belong to their creators and I am only borrowing them for the time being.
They had been going at it for hours, if the blond's words were to be taken at heart.
A young man with a mop of wild brown hair sat down on the bench, wiping the sweat off his brow on a towel a redheaded girl offered without looking at him. She, along with the younger boy were looking out in the distance, mouth curled downwards in distaste. His gaze fell on the couple and he grimaced. They were fighting, of that there was no doubt. He couldn't hear what they were saying but her face was distorted into an angry expression, cheeks flushed dark red. He, on the other hand, looked livid. Things were said; she stomped her foot down and the tall blond before her raised his arms harshly, as if giving up. Tossing her long honey tresses over her shoulder, Tachikawa Mimi stormed away from him and out of their sight.
He heard the collective sigh and crossed his arms as Ishida Yamato approached them slowly. He was massaging his temple and looked on the verge of imploding. Wordlessly, his younger brother offered him a water bottle. Yamato took it in silence and drank for a long time.
"Are you okay?" Sora asked after a moment.
"Yeah," he said, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
Taichi, trying to be the good friend that he was, stood, clapping his back good-naturedly. "She'll get over it," he assured him, "just give her a day or two. You guys will be all over each other in no time."
Takeru snickered and even Sora had to smile. But Yamato only gave the tiniest of frowns before his face melted once again into a perfect mask of indifference.
"Not this time," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "we're over."
Neither of them had expected it. Taichi's jaw fell, Sora clapped her hands to her mouth and Takeru made a funny little strangled sound. Yamato looked at them all with a raised eyebrow.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked them.
"What - what do you mean what's wrong with us?" Sora asked, "You - are you okay, Yamato?"
"I just said I was, Sora."
"What the hell happened, man?" Taichi asked.
"We broke up," he shrugged again. "It happens."
"What were you even fighting about?" Takeru asked, eyebrows still raised high.
Yamato sighed softly, tossing the water bottle up in the air and catching it in his right hand. Taichi noticed he was gripping it a little too hard, but decided not to comment on it in case he decided to test his deathgrip on something fleshier.
"Just stuff," he bit the inside of his cheek, "it's not important."
He started walking away, draining his water bottle and then tossing it with uncanny accuracy into the nearest trashcan. Later, Taichi would swear he saw smoke coming out of it.
"Yamato," Sora called out, but he cut her off.
"Just leave it, Sora."
Sora fell silent but they all exchanged dark looks behind his back. Taichi was surprised to hear the bite in his voice; the blonde was usually much more level-headed than that and it was strange, seeing him so affected by anything. Then again, it shouldn't surprise any of them that the source of his dismay was Mimi. She had this way of turning Yamato around completely that both terrified and impressed him - anyone who could wield such power over his friend was certainly a force to be reckoned.
"I'm going to see Mimi," Sora announced, turning on Taichi and Takeru as she heaved her bag over her shoulder, "let me know if he says anything else, okay?"
"Er ... sure, " Taichi agreed, taking his own bag and nodding towards Takeru so that they could catch up to Yamato, who was already just a nondescript dot in the distance.
They caught up with him in no time, falling into a silent step on either side of him. They had been friends for as long as he could remember and they'd been a couple for almost as long. Well, not exactly. He remembered Yamato being a flustered mess around her during middle school and somehow finding it in himself to sort his shit out before they finished high school. Now, with almost three years into their relationship, he thought they were over the petty bickering but somehow, it just kept piling up.
"Yamato..."
"I swear to God, Taichi, I will break your nose if you finish that sentence."
"Jesus," Taichi exclaimed, letting out a low whistle. "I had forgotten how much of a fucking lunatic you really are."
Yamato sighed audibly, using what little restraint he had to stuff his hands deep inside his pockets instead of wringing Taichi's neck.
"I'm going for a walk," he turned towards them both, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "Don't follow me."
"Hey!" Takeru complained, "You're supposed to make dinner tonight."
"Come on," Taichi intervened, holding his arm, "I'll take you to dinner."
The younger blond looked like he was about to complain but one look at his older brother silenced him. "Fine," he said, "but you're treating me."
-x-
It didn't take Sora too long to find Mimi but that wasn't particularly surprising, as she had imagined her friend would walk straight back to her car. What was truly surprising was that when she reached her, she was not crying. She was cursing as she searched for something inside her bag, and quite colourfully at that, but she looked no more miffed than she would have if she had left her chapstick at home.
"Mimi?"
"What?" came the crude, harsh response. Mimi did a double-take, then relaxed. "Oh, Sora. I don't know what's gotten into me, so sorry about that."
"What happened, Mi?"
"I can't find my - freaking keys," she muttered exasperatedly. "Oh, no, wait. Don't tell me I left them with that - ah, no. Here you are, you little piece of sh--" she stopped in her tracks, raising an eyebrow at Sora's expression. "I'm sorry you had to see that—,"
"No, it's alright Mimi, don't worry about us —,"
"I'm just running late to my hair appointment and well, you know how that upsets me."
"What are you talking about?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I thought you were upset about Yamato," Sora said, unwilling to let her friend confuse her way out of the conversation. It always surprised her how Mimi could tongue-tie her way out of anything she didn't want to talk about. Mimi's face fell for a second and then she readjusted the straps of her purse on her shoulder.
"Why would I —,"
"Mimi, don't even try."
She gave in, reluctantly. "We broke up. He's an idiot. I'm fine. What else do you need to know?"
"Mimi, it can't be that simple—,"
"Yes it is, Sora," Mimi interrupted her, "we're over and that's that."
She walked around the car and opened it, climbing in without another word. Hesitating, she lowered the window and looked at Sora from behind a pair of large, dark sunglasses.
"Do you need me to take you somewhere?" she asked, more out of politeness than anything else and Sora knew it, which was why she shook her head and offered her a shaky smile.
"No, that's alright," she said, "take care of yourself, Mi."
"I'll call you later," Mimi called out, waving before driving away with just a little too much haste. Sora watched her until she disappeared, a hand touching her cheek as she wondered just what exactly had just happened. She knew it was her duty as a best friend to respect Mimi's wish to be left alone, but she had also learned (thanks to Mimi, no less) that it was her duty to know when she needed ignore her wishes. She dipped her hand into her side pocket, taking out her rectangular phone. Dialling the right number, she made the first call.
"Miyako? Yes, are you free tonight? Oh. Well, be free. I need you and Hikari tonight, we're going to Mimi's, okay? No, no don't tell her. Er … yes, it's a surprise of sorts. I'll text you the details, yeah? Great, see you there."
When she arrived at the apartment, later that night, the lights were off. She let herself in with the spare key she had gotten after the second or third time Mimi had locked herself out in as many weeks, flipping all lights on. The Tachikawas had always been very well-off, as was evidenced by the home in which Mimi grew up, but her current apartment was considerably smaller. Not intending their daughter to live a miser's life, Keisuke and Satoe had taken care of her rental, insisting that she focused on her studies and only returned home to visit once in a while.
Being the doting parents that they were, her flat was much more spacious than a student her age should be able to afford, plus she had a car that all her friends were grateful for during the weekends. With a very spacious master bedroom and a spare one besides her study and living room, Mimi's place was perfect for their get-togethers and movie nights, so Sora knew her way about the place with her eyes closed.
"Mimi?" she called out.
"Sora?" Her voice was muffled, softer as it came through the door.
"Yeah, it's me," Sora yelled. "Where are you?"
"Taking a bath! Be right out!"
She didn't come right out. It took her fifteen minutes to leave the bath and another fifteen to get dressed and dried, by which time Sora had finished sorting out her kitchen fridge and doing the dishes that she had found on the dishwasher. She was drying her hands when Mimi emerged, clad in comfortable sleepwear and running her thin fingers through freshly blown hair.
"I wasn't expecting you," she let out bluntly, making Sora work to hide her wince.
"I told you we'd come over, remember?"
"No, I really don't."
"Just before you left, Mi," Sora murmured quietly. "You know, for your hair appointment." She looked at Mimi's hair, arching an elegant eyebrow. The smaller girl, fearing to be caught in her own lie, only jumped slightly.
"Oh, yeah. That. Of course, how silly of me," she gestured towards her hair, laughing nervously, "I had a bit of a run-in with … juice. Someone spilled juice on me. Imagine! What a waste of an afternoon, eh?"
"Tragic," Sora commented dryly as the doorbell rang. "Will you get that? It's probably Miyako or Hikari."
"Mimi!" a lavender-haired girl greeted her friend, leaning in for a hug that made Mimi more uncomfortable than Sora's unexpected presence.
"Er … is something going on?" she asked.
"I guess she's very excited to see you," said Hikari, pushing her short brown hair behind her ear. "You look good, Mimi."
"Thanks," Mimi replied with a soft smile, "a shower will do that to you."
Inside, Sora and Miyako made quick work of bowls of ice-cream and of finding a film to watch on Mimi's television set. All the while, Sora kept looking over her shoulder for signs of Mimi breaking into tears, but she was stretching like a cat, curling on a couch with a bowl of Chocolate Therapy ice cream nestled between her hands.
"So what's this really about?" she finally asked, scooping more ice cream than should be possible inside her mouth. Watching her struggle with eating that, Sora made a face while Miyako bit her nails, anxiously.
Hikari, more sensible and less inclined to yell at the brunette, spoke up. "We just wanted to make sure you're okay, Mimi."
"I'm fhi-ine," she mouthed, "Fhu- it's fhucking cold."
"Maybe if you swallow first…"
It wasn't a good idea. Mimi slapped a hand to her forehead, trying to remember what she had read about stopping a brain freeze. What was it – pressing her tongue to the roof of her mouth or – or biting down her tongue or – something. She bit down on her tongue and yelped, pouting as her eyes began to water.
"Yes!" Sora looked finally appeased. "You see Mimi? All you needed was to cry a little, we can talk about it."
Holding her tongue between two fingers, Mimi looked at her with watery eyes. "I only bit mah tongue," she managed, "don't get any funny ideas."
"I just want to know why you're being so difficult," Sora said, exasperatedly scooping ice cream into her mouth.
"Because I don't want to talk about it, Sora!" Mimi finally exclaimed, slamming her bowl on the coffee table.
"Mimi…" Miyako began, but she silenced her with a look.
"It was nothing, okay? We had an argument. We said things – things we can't take back. And sure, that was a bit sad, I guess, but don't you expect me to burst into tears anytime soon," she said, and here she did angrily wipe unshed tears from her eyes. "If Yamato doesn't care about having me in his life, then I certainly don't, either."
"Mimi," Sora said quietly, "I'm sure that's not true—,"
"It is, Sora," Mimi said, and her voice was much calmer. "I've made my peace with it and so should you," she paused, "all of you."
-x-
"Yamato."
No answer.
"Yamato."
Again, no answer.
"You and I both know I can do this all day, and I don't think your neighbours are going to be all that chuffed, you know."
"Taichi, maybe we should go – he clearly doesn't want company," another voice joined in, trying to be reasonable.
"No, Koushiro. Takeru said he's been moping around ever since—," the door opened, revealing a very disgruntled Yamato staring down at both of them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled.
"Helping," Taichi said, sidestepping him easily and hugging his bags to his chest. A more timid and more easily intimidated Koushiro entered behind him, avoiding Yamato's gaze at all costs. The blond scowled, closing the door and following them into his own living room, where Taichi was already laying out a trio of cold beer.
He raised an eyebrow, and Taichi scowled at him.
"It's supposed to be therapeutic," he explained, as if annoyed his friend did not get the obvious purpose of alcoholic beverages.
Yamato took one and deftly uncapped it, bringing it to his lips as he fell on the couch, hard. He stretched his legs over the coffee table and looked up at his brunette friend.
"Nothing about you can be therapeutic," he finally said. "You are aware of that, right?"
Taichi chose to ignore him, passing a beer to Koushiro and taking one for himself. He settled on the couch directly across from his blond friend, looking at him levelly, without blinking. Koushiro, who was sitting in the middle, nervously glanced from one to the other, unsure of why his presence was even required for what seemed to be nothing but a staring contest.
"So … how did your day go?" Koushiro said in a weak attempt to lift some of the tension.
"You're in denial," Taichi said.
"I am not," Yamato replied, taking a sip of beer without even making a face.
"You just did it again!"
"Actually, he was just denying your statement, Taichi. It really doesn't mean anything much," Koushiro said with a shrug. Yamato tipped his beer towards him before raising it to his lips but Taichi only fixed him with a murderous stare.
"Remind me again why I brought you."
"I've been wondering the same thing," the redhead quipped irritably, busying himself with his own beverage and sinking deep into his seat.
Yamato crossed his arms over his chest, half-amused, half-irritated as he looked at Taichi, who kept wanting to stare him down as if that had ever worked on him. Calmly, he took another long drink.
"I wish you were more forthcoming with this," he finally admitted, mimicking his action and bringing the bottle to his lips. Yamato's smirk softened into a small smile, and finally into nothing at all.
"I don't have anything to say," he admitted quietly.
"It's been two weeks," Taichi reminded him softly, "and you still haven't said a word about it. Sora's getting upset."
At the mention of his former crush and current best friend, Yamato's face faltered for a second. He recovered quickly enough after finishing off his beer, taking the next one without leaving a moment to breathe.
"Because there's nothing to say, Taichi. We had some differences and decided to break up. It's not that rare, look it up."
"You're citing irreconcilable differences as your cause for separation?" Koushiro raised an eyebrow.
Yamato sighed, grimacing. "I'm saying it's over, it doesn't matter why."
"Yeah, Mimi's being just as unhelpful," Taichi complained, nodding his head towards Koushiro, whose ears had suddenly gone pink. "Isn't that so?"
The redhead tried to avoid his friend's eyes, he really did, but only ended up finishing gulp after gulp of his now slightly lukewarm beer. He made a face, wiping his mouth against the back of his hand. Fidgeting with a new bottle, he sighed.
"She claims she has nothing left to say about – about you."
If it bothered him, Yamato did a remarkable job of hiding it. He let his shoulder rise and fall carelessly, pursed his lips around the opening of his bottle and took a quick but generous drink.
"I don't expect she would."
"Because…" Taichi goaded him on.
"Because," Yamato said in a voice that would brook no refusal. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back. "I don't expect you to understand, Taichi, but I hope you can respect my decision to stay out of it."
"Out of what?" his friend demanded loudly.
"Out of her life."