Author's Note: This story makes me so nervous because I'm incorporating so many different characters and I can already imagine the mess it will be. Oh, well. Live and learn. Don't be shy to leave a review, even if it's criticism. It really helps hashing out stories and improving.

Thanks again for reading.

She had never known what the proper mourning period for a three-year relationship was, but she was pretty sure two weeks wasn't it. She stared at the scene before her, an unfinished chocolate chip cookie on her right hand as she chewed contemplatively. Mimi was sitting at one of the picnic tables that were so precious in their campus (they were too few, and too sparsely set), surrounded by a group of their peers. She had always been a social butterfly and had too much going for her not to be. Tachikawa Mimi was beautiful, funny and clever. She dressed impeccably, spoke softly and was the best host she had ever met. People were drawn to her, like moths to flame. The problem was that most of these people were, coincidentally, men.

It hadn't been so much of a problem before The Break Up, an event so huge and widely documented that it deserved to be capitalized as a proper noun. Ishida Yamato was handsome, smart, cool in a way no-one else seemed to master and had been completely head-over-heels with Mimi – and his demeanour alone was enough to deter any other young men from trying to pursue his girlfriend in any romantic capacity. But since their recent fallout, it seemed to Sora that Mimi was even more popular than before, rarely seen on her own these past few days. It was something they had all noticed, but declined to mention around Yamato.

Sora watched the young man from a distance as he waved frantically at Mimi, who waved back with as much enthusiasm. His fiery red hair was a bit of a disordered mess but he had a very handsome tanned face and a smile that matched the brightness of his golden eyes. Her own rubies narrowed as she tried to place his face, unable to figure out who the young man was.

"Say," she began casually, giving her cookie another bite, "do you know who that guy is?"

The young man next to her lifted his gaze from his book, running a hand through short blue hair. "I'm afraid not," he said, adjusting his spectacles, "he looks young. You should ask Takeru, or Daisuke."

Sora made a soft, noncommittal sound but eyed him as he returned his attention to his book, studious as ever. "I thought you said you had some free time, Jyou," she murmured quietly, finishing off her cookie despite her loss of apetite.

He blushed slightly, dog-earing his book and closing it with a small thump. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do with myself, I'm not used to free periods."

"I can think of something," she began quietly, drawing closer to him to press a kiss to his lips. Before she could expound on it, however, she was interrupted by a loud, familiar and annoying voice.

"Oi, I thought we said no PDA."

"Hello, Taichi," Jyou greeted warmly, holding a hand out to the young man. Sora only scowled at him.

"Do you have to be so rude?" she asked.

"I hate when you visit," Taichi said, touching his forearm to Jyou's and ignoring her altogether. "You make Sora all doe-eyed and shit." He expertly avoided the jab she sent his way, sitting down next to her and dropping his bag on the floor beside him. Leaning back on the table, he sighed, "I'm so beat. This day is lasting forever."

"It's only your fourth period," Jyou said, "surely it can't be that bad."

"It's murderous, Kido. What are you doing here, anyway?" Taichi asked, "I mean, not that I really mind. But I thought you had class all morning."

"I had a rare day off. Thought I'd visit," he admitted sheepishly, glancing at Sora out of the corner of his eye. Taichi made a gagging noise.

"Sheesh, spending a free morning at someone else's university," he grimaced. "How disgusting. Anyway," he glanced at his watch, "shit, I've got to go. Don't forget I'm playing tonight, 6:00PM!"

"We'll be there," Sora said, waving him off as he scrambled to his feet and made a run towards the opposite building. By now Mimi was already gone, and so was the redhead she had seen her with. Sighing, she picked up her bag and leaned in to kiss Jyou's cheek.

"Will you make it to the game?"

"I'll try," he said, getting to his feet. "If not all, I'll at least come watch the second half."

-x-

The game ended in a win for their team, which meant that he and Daisuke would demand celebratory drinks. Despite what people initially assumed of Taichi, he was a rather responsible athlete. His role as captain of the university football team came with many demands and he had risen to the challenge marvellously: he exercised every day, held practice almost religiously and took as much care as he could of his grades. He still had some trouble controlling what came in contact with his mouth (old habits die hard), but he had gotten loads better at cutting down on the junk food and the alcohol. So when there was cause for celebration … things tended to get a bit out of hand.

Sora, who was usually much stricter about these things, had reasons to let it pass that night. One, she didn't want to always be the wet blanket; two, Jyou had made the effort to come and she wanted him to have some fun; and three, she'd had a really long week. But the main reason (and the only one she'd deny fervently), was that Yamato was with them. Contrary to popular belief and completely baffling everyone present, Yamato arrived five minutes into the game. He claimed he had been close-by when he remembered it was happening, but Sora had caught Takeru texting earlier and thought he might've been responsible. In the two weeks that had gone on since The Break Up, Yamato and Mimi had not once been together in the same place. To her knowledge, they hadn't even spoken to each other since that afternoon. This put them in a tight spot, because it meant that they could only hang either with Yamato or with Mimi and neither wanted to become involved in what seemed to be a disaster in the making.

Separately, they both claimed to be okay but Sora thought she knew them better than they gave her credit for, and the atmosphere around them was so charged that she was always terrified something might happen. Grateful that Mimi had told her earlier that she had plans, Sora let herself go with the flow of the night without worrying about her friends.

They decided to go to a venue Takeru recommended, claiming he'd been there with his basketball friends a couple of times. The space was large and open and the tables were made to accommodate large parties; the food was great and since it was a Friday, it was both open bar and karaoke night. They all doubted he'd ever gone there for the singing, but he dismissed their claims with a careless hand as they arrived. They took the most recently vacated table and soon, the debauchery began. With Taichi's teammates and other friends that had invited themselves to the celebration, they were occupying a very decent percentage of the venue, covering four full adjoining tables. Food and drink was served generously, and Sora could feel herself relaxing as she saw Jyou sharing a joke with Yamato, who was laughing airily, his fingers clasping a pint of dark ale.

"Hey, isn't that—," Takeru began after a while, blue eyes narrowed in direction of the table on the other side, directly opposite them. "I don't fucking believe it, it is!"

Sora turned, fast. Takeru was scrambling to his feet, tapping Daisuke's shoulder.

"Dais," he said, "will you look who's there?" he pointed his finger and Sora followed it to the fiery red-haired lad she'd seen earlier and alarms went off in her head.

"Well, I'll be damned, that fucking otter." Slapping his hands on the table and stumbling to his feet, Daisuke grinned like an idiot as they waved, walking over to the other table.

"OI!" he yelled, "Mikoshiba!"

The redhead, hearing his name, looked for the source and his eyes lit up when he saw a grinning Takeru and Daisuke, scrambling to his feet so fast and almost running to meet them. He was taller than Sora had given him credit for, certainly taller than Daisuke and almost as tall as Takeru. He was also cuter, but she was not about to admit that to anyone but herself.

"Daichi!" he exclaimed happily, "And little Takaishi."

"I'm still taller than you," Takeru reminded him smugly, but the other boy merely shrugged.

"Details, Takaishi. Details," he shuffled his hands inside his pockets. "I haven't seen you two since the last game, are you still playing?"

"Keru is," Daisuke replied, "I'm in the football team."

"Ah, that's cool. Are you guys celebrating anything? Did you finally manage to score at something, Motomiya?"

"Oi, I'll have you know I'm a fantastic football player!"

"Is he?"

"Meh, decent," Takeru replied with a shrug.

They kept the argument up for a few more minutes before a petite girl joined and interrupted them, skipping happily from behind him, intending to tell him off for what she by now considered utter negligence.

"Excuse me," she said, "Momo-kun, do you know if—," she stopped when she saw who he was with, eyes widening for a second before her mouth closed gracefully. Takeru had the sense to smile at her, but it took Daisuke a few more seconds to grasp what he was just seeing.

"Mimi-san!" Momotarou exclaimed, looping his arm casually around her shoulders as the cutest blush touched his tanned cheeks. "I'm sorry, I was about to return but I ran into some friends—,"

"No, it's fine, really," Mimi assured him, her cheeks tinted with pink. "Keru, Daichi," she greeted them warmly.

"You know them?" Momotarou asked, surprised.

"Of course we know her," Daisuke answered, offended. "How do you know her?"

"We're just—,"

"So who did you come with?" Mimi interrupted again, eyes shining in a strange way. "Are you here alone or …?"

"No, we're just … sitting right there."

Mimi's eyes followed his gaze towards the table across the room and she did a very good job of hiding her wince. Sora looked mortified while Jyou drank from his mug without stopping; despite this, his drink wasn't any lower than it had been when he began. And there, between Jyou and what looked like a happy and slightly inebriated Taichi, sat Yamato. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments, in which he looked surprised and she cringed, thinking of Momotarou's arm still around her shoulders, his hand touching her arm lightly. But then he only smiled – a sardonic little smile that immediately flamed her temper.

"Come, Momo-kun," she said, shuffling from his embrace and taking his hand instead, making the blush on his cheeks burn brighter. "I want you to meet someone."

"Mimi—," Takeru began, following after them and downing the rest of his beer in one huge gulp.

"Hi," Mimi said cheerfully, standing before her friends. "Fancy meeting you here!"

"Mimi!" Taichi cheered, "Guess what!"

"I heard," she replied, leaning in for a quick hug. "Congratulations, Taichi! I'm sure you killed in there."

Sora watched Mimi with caution, noticing how she hadn't let go of the young man's hand, fingers threading around his as soon as she let go of Taichi. She tried to watch Yamato, but he only observed calmly, sipping from a beer mug that was steadily running out.

"Oh, this is Mikoshiba Momotarou," she said after a moment. "Momo, this is everyone." They all replied in polite greetings, hand-shakes and nods. Taichi looked surprised but he recovered quickly enough, biting his tongue to avoid any involuntary fuck-ups as the young man went on about who he was and what he liked and grinned like a fool while Mimi rocked on the balls of her feet.

"Momo and I play basketball together," Takeru offered, sensing the tension rising. "Or well, he tries to, anyway."

"You wish, Takaishi," he laughed.

"Well, we're off," Mimi said, "it was great seeing you guys."

"It was nice meeting you," Momotarou added, bowing his head. But then his eyes lit up, his smile widening. "We're going to a party just a couple of blocks away, you know? You could come, if you want."

"Oh, I'm not sure that's—," Hikari began, but he shook his head vigorously.

"Any friend of Mimi is welcome!" he said, "Please." He turned to Mimi, his hand lingering on her shoulder. "I'm going to settle the bill, ok? Convince them!"

He scurried off, leaving her to be the centre of attention. For the first time, Mimi thought she hated it. At some point in the past few minutes Yamato had slipped away, unseen, and his absence was making her as nervous as his presence initially did. She forced a smile on her lips, excusing herself to go to the bathroom, where Sora followed almost instantly, without even waiting to try and cover it up.

"What the hell was that, Mi?" she asked, voice hushed down.

"I didn't know you'd be here," she defended herself, "I told you I had plans."

"A date?"

"Hardly," she would have snorted, if such indignities weren't below her. "I mean, it's a – a friendly thing. He's cute, isn't he?"

Despite herself, Sora blushed. "God, he really is – where did you even meet this guy?"

Mimi couldn't help but squeal a little, her smile making her cheeks dimple. "Friend of a friend," she murmured absently. "He's got an older brother, you wouldn't believe it – but he doesn't study in Tokyo, so there's that. Plus, Momo's adorable. I couldn't say no when he invited me today, he's funny and always makes me laugh and—,"

Sobering up as she watched the excitement in Mimi's face, Sora shook her head softly.

"That's great Mimi, but—don't you think it's too soon? I mean, it's barely been a couple of weeks since—and Yamato is just—," she stopped talking when a door behind Mimi opened, revealing the blond in question. He blinked quickly, not expecting to find them there but recovering just as well.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," he muttered, gazing for a fleeting second at Mimi's tight-lipped scowl.

"You're not," Mimi assured him. "Sora and I were done talking." She tossed her hair over her shoulder, her smile more plastic than Sora had ever seen it before as she said, "You don't have to go to the party if you don't want. We'll understand if you already have plans."

At this point Yamato was already walking away, sitting at a table that became quiet as soon as his presence was noted. "So, about this party."

-x-

The music was loud and the lights had been turned off, leaving only neon and blacklights on, giving the place a rather spectral feel, in Mimi's opinion. It had begun as one of those small get-togethers between long-time friends but had quickly escalated into a fully-fledged party featuring mutual friends and acquaintances. Mimi estimated she knew at least half the people there, either because they had classes together at some point, or because they had some friends in common. She recognised a couple as Momotarou's teammates, whom she had met earlier in the week and others as boys that had, at some point, asked her out. Smiling at the group she was with, Mimi walked up to fetch herself a drink.

"I can bring it for you, Mimi-san!" Momotarou exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

"No, it's okay Momo," she assured him gently, "I want to take a turn and stretch my legs, too."

He seemed disappointed not to be able to serve her, but she tried not to feel too guilty about it. He was a lovely young man, but his eagerness threw her off a little too much. She wasn't used to it, and didn't think she'd ever be.

Once in the kitchen, Mimi reached for the cooler, filled with ice and assorted bottles. Her fingers hesitated over one and then the other, but then someone offered her a bottle of hard apple cider and she took it, gratefully.

"Thank you—," she began, mouth pursed when she looked up.

Yamato was looking at her levelly, a sliver of blue under heavy-lidded eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

"Taichi wanted to come," he shrugged. "It's his big day. I wasn't going to deny him."

"Yes, well," she said, tipping her bottle at him, "thanks for the beer."

"He seems fun," Yamato commented lightly, making her stop. She looked over his shoulder at him, how he casually brought the bottle to his thin lips.

"He is," Mimi assured him.

"He can be a handful, though."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing at all," he said, smiling coolly. "Have fun, Mimi."

When she returned, she was positively seething. Her friends smiled up at her, scooting over so that she could join them on the couch. She was about to ask where Momotarou was when she saw him at a distance, surrounded by his peers as he engaged in what seemed to be some sort of wrestling match with a boy with silver hair and a very pink face. Mimi groaned, running her fingers through her fine tresses.

"Is he drunk?"

The girl on her right offered her a sympathetic smile. "Quite possibly, I think."

Yamato paused before the scene, turning to her with a raised eyebrow. Mimi sunk lower into the couch, hiding behind the pretext of drinking her beer, finishing it off in long, slow gulps. She set the empty bottle down, sighing audibly. Handful, yeah.

Now irritated and on her feet, Mimi skipped to the place where all the commotion was, peeking over a young man's shoulder to look at Momotarou. He was currently being held in a lockdown position by a boy she thought went by the name of Aii, and she thought he looked quite well on the way to being sick.

"Momo?" she called out sweetly.

"Mimi-san!" he choked out, "Gerroff—Mimi-san, hi!"

"Er…hi, Momo," she said, biting her bottom lip. "I'm going to … head out now. So, take care. I had fun!" she finished lamely, waving over the noise and averting his eyes from the look of disappointment on his pretty and young face. Steeling herself not to look back she bolted for the door, unaware and uncaring of the eyes that followed her until she disappeared.