Jimmy & Kyo, Chapter 2: Getting to Know Each Other
Kyo smiled at the thrill he was feeling as he rode in Jimmy's Mustang. The car was hauling down the freeway going 55 miles an hour, but Kyo felt that it was going much faster than that. But Jimmy said the car had 350 HP, so that was probably the reason for it. Jimmy also seemed to be having fun, too. Although he had the car for some time, Jimmy loved his Mustang, because it never seemed to amaze him. "You want to hear some tunes?" said Jimmy.
"Sure," said Kyo.
"My iPod's right there," said Jimmy. "And it's hooked up already, so you don't have to plug it in."
"Alright," said Kyo.
"Put 'Highway Star' on," said Jimmy.
"'Highway Star'?" Kyo asked, wondering what Jimmy was talking about.
"It's under Machine Head by Deep Purple," said Jimmy. With the information, Kyo found the song on Jimmy's iPod and put the song on. The song began playing and soon the song's chugging riff began, while Jimmy hummed along. "I love this song," he said and sang along quietly as the song played. "So how long have you been playing for?" he asked.
"Um, two years," said Kyo.
"Two years!" Jimmy said in complete surprise. "Then what the hell are you doing here?"
"Well Coach O' Leary recruited me!" Kyo said defensively.
"Yeah, but I've been playing since I was four!" said Jimmy. "I've had experience playing this game, what have you got? Two years! I've got fifteen or sixteen! You know how good I am?"
"How good are you?" Kyo asked. He was getting a little annoyed with Jimmy yelling at him. He thought maybe his ego was bruised by Kyo's presence. Or something like that.
"I first started in my senior year, in the 2007-08 school year. Everyone thought that this kid named Dillon Napoleon-while he's a great guy, don't get me wrong-was going to start at quarterback, much like his brother. I, however, go into camp wanting the starter's job. And guess what?"
"You got it," Kyo said.
"Exactly," Jimmy replied. "That year we started unranked by the 'Chicago Tribune' and the 'Sun-Times' and we had to play this team from Alabama called Hoover at home. And let me tell you, it is not easy for a North Suburban Chicago team to beat a team from Alabama, especially since these guys are so successful and they were nationally ranked, I think maybe 5th or something like that. And guess what we did? We kicked their asses!"
"Is that good?" Kyo said. Because if that's all, then-"
"Do you have any idea how big of an upset it is for a team from North Suburban Chicago that has never won a state title in football to beat the most successful team in Alabama high school football? It was huge!"
"Oh, is that all?" Kyo said. "Of course you did win the state championship, after all, so you don't have to mention that."
"Okay, so you get the point," Jimmy said. "But to the point, this arm here," he pointed to his right arm. "It's not just a cannon, it's a fucking howitzer, one that's 90% on target. And I'm smart. When I look at the defense I can tell where the weaknesses are, the gaps between the linebacker and the cornerbacks, anything."
"Other than that?"
"Yeah, I can run," Jimmy said. "Like I said, I've been playing since I was four, so I've had a long time to develop my skills. But there is a double-edged sword. You see that scar on my right elbow?" Jimmy held his right arm out and bent his elbow at a 90 degree angle. He gestured to the inside of his elbow with his head. It was somewhat difficult to see and faded, but it was certainly there. "You see that scar?"
"Yeah, what's it from?" Kyo asked.
"Tommy John surgery," Jimmy replied. He pulled his arm away and his right hand grabbed the steering wheel. "I had it when I was 13, because I kept on straining that elbow. I had to learn my limits, so I usually save my really long passes for when I need them."
"And you recovered from that?" Kyo asked.
"Of course I did! I wouldn't be here if didn't now did I; took a while, though. Took me maybe two years before I was back to full strength, and I was still good." Jimmy replied. "Okay enough about me, let's hear your story. How good are you?"
"Well when I first started, all I could rely on was my speed and agility that I had acquired from years of martial arts study," Kyo said.
"Okay, so you were already fast," Jimmy said. "What else?"
"Well I started playing football after watching a replay of an NFL game on TV. The Chicago Bears were playing the Green Bay Packers."
"You got into football through a Bears game?" Jimmy asked. "Nice. What else?"
"Well as I watched the game, I felt this would be a pretty good sport for me to try," said Kyo. I knew I would have to gain some more muscle and I would need some coaching. Luckily a friend of my girlfriend's told me she knew of a guy who would help me, since he played in the NFL. The man who she was talking about was Sadaharu Fuji."
"Sadaharu Fuji?" Jimmy asked. Kyo nodded in confirmation. "I've heard of him. He played for the Falcons, right?"
"Yeah, he did," said Kyo. "He played in Super Bowl XXXIII for the Atlanta Falcons against the Denver Broncos. I think he had an interception in that game."
"Oh, so he coached you," Jimmy said. "What else?"
"I had a 40 yard dash of 4 seconds flat," Kyo said. Jimmy was caught by surprise.
"Four seconds flat? David Marley isn't even that fast!"
"Fuji was surprised, too," said Kyo. "He suggested I play for a team he coached and I joined them that fall."
"So how'd you do?" Jimmy asked.
"Well my first season it was sort of an above-average one because I was just getting used to the team. I still did well though; I think I had 36.4 yards receiving on average per game that season. Mt second year though, was more successful."
"Yeah, why's that?" Jimmy said.
"Because I scored maybe 10-20 touchdowns that year and had 2,000+ yards receiving," Kyo said. "And I was on and all-Japan team."
"Interesting," said Jimmy. "I'm not sure whether or not that will translate to success he in the States though, because the competition here is much more intense than in Japan, I'll bet. Oh, here we are." Jimmy pointed at their location, a Wal-Mart. "We're gonna get some food and some supplies here." Once the car was parked, Jimmy and Kyo exited the vehicle. Kyo was about to go inside when he noticed Jimmy going to the trunk of the car-and he saw a medium-sized wing on the back.
"What's with the wing?" Kyo asked.
"Came with the car," Jimmy said as he popped the trunk. He reached into the back and held out some bags and handed one to Kyo.
"What are these things?" Kyo asked.
"Reusable shopping bags," Jimmy replied. "Come on, let's get inside, it's hot out here."
Once inside, the two found a shopping cart to use. "So is your girlfriend any bad when she shops?" Jimmy asked Kyo.
"Not really," Kyo replied. "When she goes shopping, it's usually just to get essentials."
"Oh, I got you," Jimmy replied. "Usually when Karen goes shopping, I dread what she's going to bring back. Usually she just gets what she needs, but at times she goes overboard. She's not a shopaholic, but her mom is and occasionally those genes seem to manifest."
"Really?"
"Really," Jimmy replied. "By the way, do you have any sho-oh wait, you're wearing shorts right now. Okay then, you're probably going to need a backpack and some binders."
"Why can't I just use my bookbag?" Kyo asked.
"How big were your books in Japan?" Jimmy asked, "Because the books in American universities can get pretty big and heavy."
"Then I guess I'll get a backpack," Kyo replied.
"And you're probably not going to be wearing that shirt all the time, are you?" Jimmy asked, referring to Kyo's (famous) black shirt.
"Probably not all the time," Kyo said.
"Good man. Oh, wait, I got a text message," Jimmy looked at his text, with Kyo trying to see what it said. "Karen sent me a shopping list," Jimmy said. "Let's see here, milk, water, vitamins, cereal, blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda, frozen food, ramen, etc, etc, etc. Okay, let's go."
"Probably going to have to get some rice and a rice cooker," said Kyo.
"What the hell for?" Jimmy said. "They'll probably serve rice in the dining halls this year."
"Tohru said she wants one," said Kyo.
"Your girlfriend?"
"Yeah," said Kyo.
"Sure, as long as you're paying for it though," Jimmy said.
"By the way Jimmy," Kyo said. "Do you think it will be allowed in the dorm room?"
"Probably," Jimmy said. "They let me have a crock pot last year and this, so I guess they'll let you have a rice cooker."
"That's good," Kyo said quietly. Their shopping was interrupted when somebody called to Jimmy. Not on the phone, anyway.
"Jimmy Michaels! What's up?"
"Hey," Jimmy replied.
"Do you know her?" Kyo asked.
"Nope," Jimmy replied. "One of the downsides of celebrity; all these people know you, but you have no fucking clue who they are."
"How'd you get it though?" Kyo asked.
"I earned it," Jimmy replied. "We went 13-1 last year, so that should tell you something."
"I'll say," Kyo said. "So what should we get first?"
"Let's go grocery shopping," Jimmy said. "Get the food out of the way and then we can worry about the less important stuff."
"I gotcha." So the two looked for groceries;tThe milk, bread, sandwich meat, cheese, Gatorade, orange juice, Jimmy's vitamins-Kyo also got some at Jimmy's suggestion-ramen. "Ramen?" Kyo asked.
"Standard college student cuisine," Jimmy replied. They also got cereal, rice, frozen foods, microwave food, soup, water, soda pop and orange juice. Now it was time to find the school supplies. They managed to find those easily, because they saw them coming in. Jimmy helped Kyo pick out a backpack, and Kyo also got one for Tohru, since Jimmy told him she might need one, too. He got her a girly, yet utilitarian backpack which Kyo felt she might appreciate. Kyo got a more utilitarian backpack for himself. Finally, they could get the rice cooker. Only problem was, they didn't know where to find one. "Let's ask someone," Jimmy said.
"Sounds like a good idea," Kyo replied. They looked for an employee to talk to, finally noticing someone with his back to them.
"Let's ask that guy," Jimmy said. The two went over to the employee, and Jimmy tapped the man's shoulder. "Um, excuse me-"
"Yeeeesssss?" The employee said in his bellowing voice as he turned around. He had slicked-back thinning hair and a widow's peak with a pencil mustache. He was slightly overweight, too.
"This ain't good," Jimmy whispered to Kyo. "Um, do you work here?" He asked.
"Well what do I look like I'm doing with this vest on, serving my community service?" The man replied.
"Look, do you have any rice cookers?" Jimmy asked, starting to get annoyed.
"Oo-oo-oo-ooh, DO we!" He replied. Jimmy was really getting irritated.
"Well then where are they?" Jimmy asked impatiently.
"Well where do you think they are?" He replied. "They're in the appliances section, obviously."
"I don't think he likes you Jimmy," Kyo whispered to Jimmy.
"Some customer service," he replied.
"Oh don't worry, I don't hate you," the man said. "I just think you're annoying." With that, he left the two alone.
"Yeah, the feeling's mutual, buddy," Jimmy replied. He turned to Kyo and said, "Come on, let's just find the damn thing and get the hell out of here."
"I agree," Kyo said. They finally managed to find the rice cooker, which Kyo mentioned was the same kind they used at Shigure's house. Kyo had to pay for the rice cooker, since Jimmy told him to-mainly because Jimmy was already getting close to his monthly grocery budget. But Kyo was fine with it, since the Sohma family is relatively well-off; he was able to pay for the appliance. But their little Wal-Mart adventure isn't done yet. No, they still had to check out.
"I'd better be under budget," Jimmy muttered under his breath as they waited for their turn in the check-out lane.
"I'd better be able to afford this," Kyo said. 'I don't know if my card will allow it."
"I think they should," Jimmy said. Finally, it was their turn, and lo and behold, the person behind the register was the same guy they asked about the rice cooker. "You again?"
"Well what did you expect," he said, "A pretty young lady?"
"Well no, but not you!" Kyo replied.
"Well too bad, you're stuck with me!" He replied.
"How the hell were you working in the aisles earlier and now the guy at the register in just 15 minutes?" Jimmy asked.
"I know! I'll probably be a janitor in 5 minutes!" He said sarcastically.
"Look let's just forget about it for now and get moving, we're holding up the line," Jimmy said. Kyo nodded and the two simply rang up their items so they could get the hell out of there and away from that guy. Kyo had to help Jimmy load the back of the car, thanks to Kyo's purchase of that rice cooker. Then Jimmy called Karen, since he was going to need help unloading the car. "Hey Karen... yeah, I just need some help loading the car... rice cooker... Marley? Okay, then. Thanks, Karen."
"What was that?" Kyo asked.
"David Marley's going to help us unload the car," Jimmy said, referring to the junior wideout from Atlanta. "That's what Karen said, anyway."
"Okay then," Kyo said. "As along as I don't have to carry that rice cooker."
"Actually, you're taking it in anyway," Jimmy said. "You bought it, you have to bring it in."
About 15 minutes later, the duo arrived back at Tower IV, where David Marley was waiting for them. Marley had black hair that came in dreadlocks, which Jimmy said was part of David's Rastafarian faith. He was muscular, much like Jimmy and Kyo, and he had tattoos on his arm, mostly referring to Rastafarian movement. "What's up, Marley?" Jimmy said as he got out of the car.
"What's up, Michaels?" Marley replied.
"Not much, just going to need your help getting this stuff inside," Jimmy said.
"Really, like what?" Marley asked.
"I just need you to carry in some bags," Jimmy said. 'We got a rice cooker, but Mr. Sohma here," he pointed to Kyo, "Is going to carry that in himself."
"Why do I have to carry the rice cooker?" Kyo said, his trademark temper starting to flare up.
"Why not? You paid for it!" Jimmy shot back. He turned to Marley and said, 'You gonna help?"
"Fasho, man," Marley replied. He followed Jimmy to the trunk of the Mustang where Kyo was waiting. After popping the trunk, Jimmy helped Marley get the bags out of the car. Kyo also got them out, since Jimmy told him to wait to take the rice cooker in, so Kyo left it in the trunk for now. Jimmy had gotten two of everything, one for his and Kyo's apartment, and for the girls' apartment. Jimmy wasn't too happy about the fact that Karen nearly made him blow all his grocery money on this one trip, and Kyo understood why. After a couple of trips, it came time for Kyo to take the rice cooker in.
"I might need your help you know," he said to Jimmy.
"Re-lax, you'll do fine!" Jimmy replied. "Just remember to lift with your legs."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Kyo said. He picked up the rice cooker, commenting on how it wasn't as bad as he thought. But he still wasn't crazy about having to carry it in with him. Meanwhile, Jimmy carried in the two backpacks that they had purchased for Kyo and Tohru. It took maybe five minutes, but Kyo managed to get the rice cooker into Tower IV and into his and Jimmy's apartment. "Next time, you're carrying something in," Kyo said to Jimmy.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, only if I'm paying for it," Jimmy replied.
"I just don't get your reasoning!" Kyo said, his voice getting louder.
"Well guess what, you have all year to get used to it," Jimmy shot back.
"Oh Kyo, you got the rice cooker I asked for," Tohru said as she and Karen entered the apartment. "Thank you, Kyo."
"You're welcome," he said. He guessed that as long as Tohru was happy it wasn't too bad.
"So she's Tohru, right?" Jimmy asked. It then hit Tohru that they had not been properly introduced, so she took it upon herself to greet Jimmy.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, my name's Tohru Honda," she said as she bowed to Jimmy. "You must be Jimmy; it's so nice to meet you."
"Honda? Whenever I hear that word I think of the cars!" said Jimmy. "But anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh no, the pleasure's all mine!" She said, bowing several times.
"Hey come on, you don't have to do that anymore!" Kyo said to her.
"Well I just want to be polite, Kyo-kun," Tohru said in return.
"Well, alright," Kyo said. He turned to Karen and said, "I guess I'll have to introduce myself to you. My name's Kyo Sohma, I'm Tohru's boyfriend."
"Oh really?" Karen said. "My name's Karen McKenzie, I'm Jimmy's girlfriend."
"Well now that we're all introduced, I guess we'll get something to eat," said Jimmy. "I vote for pizza."
"Pizza sounds good," said Kyo.
"I like the idea," Tohru said as well.
"Well then I guess it's settled, 3 out of 4 means-oh wait, make that unanimous," he said, counting Karen's vote. "So I guess I'll have to find a place to order from. I vote for Uno's!" Jimmy said, referring to the Uno Pizzeria on University Blvd.
"Why Uno's Jimmy?" Karen asked. "Why not get Golden Knights or Lazy Moon?"
"What do you guys think?" Jimmy said to Kyo and Tohru, "Uno's or those other places?"
"Uno's sounds good to me," Tohru said.
"Me too," Kyo said as well. Jimmy looked at Karen and shrugged, as if to say, 'sorry, but that's what they want'.
"Oh all right, we'll have your way," Karen said in a defeated tone.
"Yes!" Jimmy said quietly. "I'll call 'em right now. Oh, wait, what kind do you want? Sausage or..."
"I don't know, what do they have?" Kyo asked, "As long as they don't have leeks."
"I don't think there's such a thing as leek pizza in the States, dude," Jimmy said.
"Then I'll probably have sausage," he replied. "Tohru?"
"Pepperoni!" She said enthusiastically.
"Well, looks like we've got some dissent!" Jimmy said. "Actually, why don't we just sausage and pepperoni?"
"That sounds good," Karen said.
"I like that," Kyo added.
"Me too!" Tohru finished.
"All righty then, I'll call Uno's," Jimmy said as he picked up his cell phone. "You want soda, too?"
"We already have that," Kyo said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," he said laughing, He dialed the number and waited for a few moments before saying, "Hello, I'd like to order a pizza..."
Kyo and Tohru were more than ready when the pizza finally came. It took over an hour to make the blasted thing! Jimmy and Karen, on the other hand, told them that it was simply the way Uno's made their pizza, and Jimmy told them they would have to use a knife and a fork to eat the pizza-because that was the way Chicago-style deep dish is traditionally eaten. When the pizza finally arrived, Kyo and Tohru were dying to sink their teeth into it. And so were Jimmy and Karen. "About damn time!" Kyo said.
"Oh yeah," said Jimmy. Jimmy opened the box and Kyo and Tohru got a look at it. It looked more like a tomato pie than a pizza! But Jimmy, being from the Chicagoland area, was very much used to this. "Dig in, everybody!" he said as he handed some slices to the other three. "And remember to use a fork and a knife, too." They sat down at the table and began to eat. "So tell me," Jimmy said in between bites. "Where in Japan are you from?"
"We're from a city called Kaibara," Tohru said.
"Where the hell is that?" Jimmy asked. Tohru froze, strangely enough, which Jimmy was not pleased about. "You mean you don't even know where your own goddamn hometown is?"
"I'm terribly sorry!" Tohru said. "I kind of forgot!"
"It's between Kyoto and Tokyo, but closer to Tokyo," Kyo said in between bites. "It's hard to find on the map."
"The place I'm from, Northfield is relatively easy to find," Jimmy said.
"I thought you were from a town called Winnetka!" Kyo said.
"Same damn ZIP code!" Jimmy replied. "Anyway, it's right off I-94, about 20 minutes north of Chicago."
"Is it easy to find on a map?" Kyo asked.
"Relatively," Jimmy replied. "You kind of have to look for it. But Karen here is simply from Orlando."
"But why did you come here to UCF, Jimmy?" Tohru asked.
"Because they were they only school that could give me a starting quarterback position as a true freshman," Jimmy replied. "I could have gone to Illinois, but they already had a starter, and I wasn't too crazy about being redshirted. I could have gone to Southern Cal, but they had the same situation. I could have gone to Florida, which is where my grandpa, my parents and my brother went, but they already had Tim Tebow, so that was out of the question. So really, the only place I could go was here, but what about you, Sohma?"
"UCF was the first-and probably only-school that tried to recruit me," Kyo said. "One day George O' Leary shows up at the house I'm staying at and offers me a free ride. Naturally, I took it. But you have no idea what I had to do to even get permission to come here. Even after the curse was-" Kyo silenced himself, realizing he had just given away the secret.
"What curse?" Jimmy asked. Too late. He really didn't want Jimmy to lose his memory, but he knew just a little bit.
"My family had been cursed for generations," Kyo said. "If we were hugged by a member of the opposite sex, we turned into one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. The curse was broken just this year. I was cursed with the cat." He looked to Jimmy to see what his reaction would be. Jimmy stayed silent for a few moments before...
Kyo was surprised. Jimmy was snickering! Soon, the dam burst and Jimmy broke into full-blown laughter. "A curse?" Jimmy said in between laughs. "That's gotta be the shittiest story I've ever heard! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Kyo looked at Jimmy with a sort of surprised look on his face.
"You don't believe a word I just said, do you?" He asked.
"Ha ha ha. No," Jimmy said. "Like I said, it's ridiculous."
"But it's true!" Tohru said. "I can support what Kyo-kun says!"
"Hey look, listen to me," Jimmy said. "I don't believe in curses. And the idea that someone can turn into an animal just by getting hugged is the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"
"You're one to talk!" Karen said. "You believe in Digimon!"
"Digimon?" Kyo and Tohru asked.
"How many times do I have to say this?" Jimmy said, now in a slightly offended tone. "They're real! My brother Scottie may not believe in them, but I do!"
"Some skeptic you are!" Karen said. "What do you guys think of that?" She asked to Kyo and Tohru.
"I think I've heard of them," Tohru said. "Somebody told me they had seen one in Tokyo."
"I never really paid much attention to that," Kyo said. "I did hear the occasional rumors, but that's it."
"Well I don't," Karen said. "I never really believed in them."
"Alright, this conversation's getting silly," Jimmy said. "So do have the schedule [1] memorized?" He said to Kyo.
"Yeah, I got it memorized," he replied.
"Um, I don't know what it is," Tohru said.
"Then we'll tell you," Jimmy said. "Our season opener is the September 5th against the Richmond Spiders at home. Then we have our first conference game against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at Southern Miss on the 12th. The week after that on the 19th we have the Ohio State Buckeyes at home, which should be a big match-up."
"What do you mean?" Tohru asked.
"Ohio State's only ranked #3 in the nation!" Jimmy said. "The athletic department's going to hype that game up for all it's worth. Then we go to East Carolina on the 26th. Then after that we a home game against the Memphis Tigers and go to the... TCU Horned Frogs... on the third and 17th of October respectively, so we have a bye week in between. After that, we play the Rice Owls in Houston on the 24th and then we come home to face the Marshall Thundering Herd on Halloween."
"Then we come play the Boise State Broncos on the 7th, which should be interesting, since they're ranked 7th right now," Kyo said to Tohru. And then after that we play the UAB Blazers in Birmingham. We finish the season by coming back for two home games against the Houston Cougars, which is our homecoming game on the 14th, and then we play the Tulane Green Wave for the last home game on the 21st. And if all goes well, we'll probably play in the Conference-USA championship game."
"And if we do well enough, we'll be in a bowl game," said Jimmy. "We're unranked right now, but I have a feeling we might end up in a BCS bowl this year. In fact, we finished the season ranked 12th and we should be ranked 12th now!"
"Wow, that sounds tough," Karen said.
"Although it's most likely we'll just flatten the conference teams," Jimmy said. "We'll probably have difficulty against Ohio State, Notre Dame and Boise State. Richmond shouldn't be too much of a problem, but I'm loath to view them as push-overs, considering what Appalachian State did to Michigan in 2006."
"Do you think you'll beat those other three teams?" Tohru asked.
"Well we did beat No. 5 UCLA last year," said Jimmy. "But that was sort of a fluke, since they ended up finishing 3rd in the Pac-10 behind USC and Cal Berkeley."
"And you lost to UTEP," Kyo said.
"Argh, don't remind me about that," Jimmy groaned as he rubbed his face in his hands. "I threw three interceptions in that game, one of which was returned for a goddamn touchdown!"
"That hurts," Tohru said.
"Tell me about it," Jimmy replied. "The Orlando media was all over my ass and I had to put on a dominating performance the next week to get them to shut the fuck up."
"Just as long as I don't suck," Kyo said. "My family's probably going to be the only people in Japan watching me."
"Your dad's going to be watching you?" Jimmy asked "That's not too-"
"He's not going to be watching that, and frankly, I don't care if he does," Kyo said. "The man hates me. And I could care less."
"Why is that?" Karen asked.
"He's a weak man," said Kyo. "He blamed not only me but my mother for her death. I confronted him recently, but I found he was not only afraid of me, but he was pathetic."
"Whoa," Jimmy said. "I may not believe that curse shit, but I can believe something like that. He must have been bad, huh?"
"The whole damn Sohma clan's screwed up," Kyo said. "They're probably more dysfunctional than any dysfunctional family on a sitcom. And it wasn't even funny. And Tohru here is an orphan."
"Damn, that's gotta suck," Jimmy said. "At least I don't have that kind of relationship with my parents; even though my family can be screwed up, but in a more comedic way."
"What does your dad do?" Tohru asked.
"Ah, he's a sports writer for the 'Chicago Tribune'," Jimmy said. "His name's Bob Michaels. My brother Scott, meanwhile, he's playing soccer over in Scotland for this team called Celtic in Glasgow."
"Oh, is he any good?" Tohru asked.
"He's pretty good," Jimmy said. "I can't remember how many goals he scored, but he told me it was something like 4th in the Scottish Premier League or something behind his teammate Tai Kamiya."
"Tai Kamiya, he's Japanese!" Tohru said.
"You follow soccer?" Jimmy asked.
"Sort of," she replied. "But I have heard of Tai Kamiya."
"Well, that's interesting," said Karen.
"Yeah, I guess so," said Jimmy.
"But what does your mother do?" Tohru asked. Jimmy let out an embarrassed sigh and pulled the bill of his Bears cap over his face. "Is it bad?" She asked.
"No, it's not," Karen said. "His mom, Bridget Michaels, is a romance novelist, and she has been known to write some racy stuff, so Jimmy's kind of embarrassed by it."
Kyo sniggered at Jimmy's embarrassment, but Jimmy was not happy about it. "Don't even think about it," he said underneath the bill of his cap while pointing at Kyo.
"Well, I guess I can relate though," Kyo said, relenting. "My cousin Shigure is a smut writer, too."
"Then we have that in common," Jimmy said, "Even though he's not your mom."
"Good point," Kyo said.
"But you don't hate her, do you Jimmy?" Tohru asked.
"No, I don't hate her," Jimmy replied. "We do get into occasional fights, but she's my mom. It's just embarrassing when you tell someone your name and they ask if you're related to the person who wrote some semi-smutty novel."
"I got your point," said Kyo. "At least you still have your mother, unlike Tohru and I."
"You already mentioned your mom was dead and Tohru was an orphan," Jimmy said.
"Well my mom died when I was young and Tohru's mom died when she was just starting high school, so there's a slight difference."
"Oh, I got ya," Jimmy said. A while later, the four of them finished their pizza and Karen and Tohru returned to their apartment while Jimmy and Kyo took care of the plates. "So what movie do you want to watch?" Jimmy asked after they were done.
"I don't know," said Kyo. "What have you got?"
"Well, we could watch Hondo, 3:10 to Yuma, Blazing Saddles, High Noon, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence..."
"Wait, wait, hold up!" Kyo said. "What are those?"
"Westerns!" Jimmy replied. "I like 'em!"
"Are Westerns all you have?" Kyo asked.
"Well no, but they're the ones I want to watch right now," Jimmy replied.
"Why can't we watch The Seven Samurai or Enter the Dragon?" Kyo asked.
"Because I don't have 'The Seven Samurai' and I don't have 'Enter the Drago'n with me," Jimmy replied. "It's either the Westerns or nothing."
"Then I'll take The Magnificent Seven," Kyo said. "At least that's remade from The Seven Samurai."
"Good choice!" said Jimmy. And so, the two spent the first night as roommates watching The Magnificent Seven. Only time will tell what else happens in the future.
Notes
[1] This schedule is mostly fictional. UCF did not play Ohio State or TCU or Boise State in 2009.
By the way, Scott's adventures can be seen in the Digimon story It's A Grand Old Team To Play For. Mind you, that story takes place one year before this one.