Dawn of a Plan
Tuesday
-Tai
Tai Kamiya loved to linger by the soccer field early in the morning while his team warmed up and mingled. He couldn't quite pin-point it. Maybe it was the crisp spring breeze that engulfed his senses, or the gushing sound of busy students practicing around the grass, or perhaps it was simply the sight of all the gorgeous ladies that composed the female soccer team. Never bothered by anyone, Tai always found himself standing by the same fence nearly every morning, his eyes surveying every student that ever set afoot the two soccer fields. The teenager leaned on the fence with a self-satisfied smile on his lips and shamelessly watched the girls on the other side of the field run their usual laps.
Nearly two dozen girls jogged one right in front of the other, and as they circled the field and came closer to his side of the fence, they would blush and wave. Tai figured he wasn't immediately judged as a pervert for watching them run—watching their developing chests bounce and their hips sway with each step—because he was the captain and self-proclaimed star of the boys' team. His moment of privacy was interrupted when he heard someone approach him from his right and felt a welcoming pat on his shoulder.
Davis settled next to him, also leaning in on the fence in the same inconspicuous way and admiring the view of teenage girls now performing their routine stretches. "Sup," Davis eventually said.
Tai didn't feel he had to return the greeting, for it was typical of them to just wait by the fences and stare at the pretty athletes every morning before practice. After a little while his brown eyes settled on a certain red-head player on the other side, and suddenly he couldn't think about any other girl any longer. "Sora again?" He heard Davis comment beside him and Tai had to restrain the urge to frown.
"She's the best, you know?" Tai scratched his temple, his eyes following her as she brought her feet together and leaned forward for a couple butterfly stretches.
"Are you saying it because you like her or because she's actually good?" Davis asked him in an amused tone, already knowing the answer himself.
A low, threatening growl escaped Tai's throat and he replied with a glare, "I say it because she truly is. She really gives it her all. And what makes you think I like her anyways?"
Davis laughed to himself and turned his back to the fence, his eyes now on his own teammates. "You're not going to tell me the only reason you blissfully stare at the girls' field every morning is because you enjoy watching their boobs jiggle while they practice?" The two teens laughed as they imagined Davis' exaggeration in their heads. A gorgeous set of triple D blondes materialized themselves in Tai's mind; they jugged together clad in very loose bras and tiny shorts and winked at him as they ran past him…
Tai had to forcefully shake the thought away and said, "So what if I do like her? We'd look good together, too. Don't you think?" Davis shrugged in indifference, making Tai exhale loudly in annoyance at his lack of input—some friend he was.
The girls began their daily practice routine and Tai's interest quickly evaporated, and so he, too, turned his back to the fence. "I used to have this huge crush on Sora while we were in the Digital World, and when we came back I was almost convinced we belonged together… but then, I don't know—"
"But then Mimi happened?" Davis interrupted him carelessly.
"You could say that…" Tai responded slowly, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. What was Davis getting at anyways?
"What happened between you two anyways? It's almost like some shit-crazy drama unfolded between you both—"
"And that is none of your business." Tai quickly interrupted him, now angered. Mimi was a touchy subject to him, and he wasn't about to let Davis' careless attitude have any opinion about what did or did not happen. "You seem especially nosey today… why don't you join the team in doing some laps? Maybe some early morning jogging can entertain your curious mind." Tai motioned towards the rest of the team, who had begun circling the field at a steadily increasing pace.
"Aw come on man, that's not fair!"
"Go!"
333
-Kari
The bustle of students coming and going across the lockers' hallway kept Kari preoccupied for a small second. She felt she was crossing wild rapids in some uninhabited wilderness, as rushing students kept walking in opposite directions. The four-foot-nine girl decided she would be trampled if she stepped across at the wrong moment, and so she lingered wordlessly waiting for the passing of students to clear, her locker waiting for her on the other side of the hallway.
Somebody captured her attention when they slipped their arm into hers, almost as if they could sense her dilemma. Kari looked up and blushed profoundly when she saw Davis holding her arm. He winked down at her and boldly stepped into the crowd, expertly maneuvering their paths until they both reached her locker. "Thanks," Kari finally worded breathlessly.
Davis offered her one of his charming smiles and said, "You looked like a damsel in distress back there."
Kari opened her locker and was glad the opened door of her locker hid her blushing face. "So I guess that makes you the knight in shining armor?" She enjoyed having these exchanges with Davis, it was almost like there was a little innate actor inside of him all along.
"Not all the time…"
"Oh no?" Kari tucked a small strand of her hair behind her ear and directed her stare at the depths of her locker. She had already gathered her things, but felt as if she needed the door of her locker to remain open that way, to protect her from Davis' radiating charm.
"Only when you are the damsel in distress."
Kari wanted to duck her head in her backpack and hide her burning face for eternity. She loved Davis to pieces, mind you, but she just couldn't handle it when Davis began prophesying words of whimsical enamorment that neither of them could really understand. "The crowd is thinning…" Kari told him with a tiny voice, "I can walk to class now." She smiled up at him and prayed to the heavens he wasn't about to offer to walk her to class.
Just at that very moment someone else joined the scene, and Kari was convinced a guardian angel had answered her prayers. "Kari—" Mimi's voice had acquired that unpleasant pitch of whenever she addressed Tai or any of his friends.
"Mimi…" Davis' disappointment was almost tangible.
"Davis." Mimi gave him a mean, ear-to-ear smile that immediately deflated his charm. "Isn't your class at the other side of the school? You're going to be late." And almost as if he didn't want to defy her words or pick a fight, Davis gave Kari one last, sheepish smile and turned away.
Once Davis was out earshot Kari took a deep, and much needed, breath of relief and finally closed her locker door. She felt rotten for having so many mixed feelings towards Davis, but she was also so afraid that one day he would gather enough courage to actually try something. Kari loved him as a friend. And in her head, the only temporary solution was that the longer she avoided him, the less chance she would actually have to reject him one day.
333
-Tai
Tai was going to be late, he knew it. He didn't care much about being counted tardy every once in a while in his classes, but this one in particular he already had a nasty record. His teacher had given him one of those warnings that if he continued to be tardy he would take the issue to his soccer coach. In other words, his Math teacher was prepared to jeopardize Tai's spot in the soccer team. This at first he scoffed aside, but it wasn't up until a baseball jock with a similar tardiness record was finally kicked out of his team for a season that Tai began to take such frivolities seriously.
So every morning after his second period class Tai made it his mission to rush through to the other side of the school as quickly as possible. Him being Tai, however, made that task rather complicated. He was continuously stopped by passing friends who would want to share the latest gossip, or discuss the newest practice routine, or even share and copy closely due homework. And, of course, he wasn't even counting the fact that he had to pass through his locker and, when he was being especially unlucky, he would regrettably run into Mimi.
Only a couple minutes until the bell and Tai was immensely grateful the hallways were considerably thinning. He turned a corner, deciding to skip visiting his locker, and nearly cursed aloud when he saw none other than Mimi and Kari walking through the hallway. Tai caught sight of Davis walking in the opposite direction, and the poor freshman had a deflated look on his face that Tai only assumed was because he had been unfortunate enough to run into Mimi.
The hallways were empty enough that he was able to catch bits and pieces of their conversation. "—Really Kari I admire just how sweet you can be sometimes, but you need to tell him the truth—that nothing is ever going to happen between you two. I would have told him to lay off a long time ago." Tai wanted to roll his eyes; of course Mimi would exaggerate with something like that. But he knew her better, and Mimi was the biggest tough-guy poseur to ever set foot in Odaiba High.
"Say, isn't there something between you and T.K. anyways?" It was almost sickening listening to Mimi when she spoke in such a gentle tone. Anybody would be surprised that a real bitch was hiding behind that façade all along. He walked a safe distance away from them, close enough that he could slightly eavesdrop on their conversation but far enough that he was camouflaged by the occasional passing student.
Kari had said something soft enough that he couldn't quite understand, and Mimi giggled with a "But think about it, it's not safe to fraternize with the enemy that way. Davis could just want to use you, I mean, you know how those soccer players are."
Her nerve! She was talking shit about him to his own sister! And Davis wanting to use Kari? Was that a joke? Could Mimi stoop so low? "Don't be telling Kari what to do," Tai blurted out before he could stop himself, even though a little voice in the back of his head screamed at him to stay quiet because he was going to be late.
Mimi immediately whipped around and her eyes narrowed, theatrically almost, as if she had been expecting him to suddenly pop out of nowhere. "Well well, we got a stalker in our hands here," her voice was so cold it even hurt him hear her speak.
"Oh come on, stop acting like you're the only person that deserves to walk in this school." Tai rolled his eyes and stopped a safe distance away from her.
"Look Tai," she hissed, "Tell your dumb soccer players to keep their slimy hands off Kari. I mean, aren't you her brother? Shouldn't you be a little more protective of her?"
Kari had backed against a locker nervously, but she didn't walk away afraid both would scream at her to stay and witness their fight.
"Davis is not just anybody!" Tai wanted to shake some sense into her—the more violently the better. She could be so infuriating sometimes; picking fights out of the stupidest things. "And you're right; I'm her brother and now I'm telling her to stay away from you, wouldn't want the bitch in you rubbing off on her."
If Mimi were an anime character her hair would have gone Super Saiyan mode by now. She took a step forward and smirked darkly as she retorted, "What's the matter Tai? Upset that you know she would rather listen and talk to me instead of having to deal with all the retarded shit that comes out of that mouth of yours?"
The blood rushed to his face in sheer anger and he had to stop himself from taking a step closer to his murderous ex-girlfriend. "Well, are you just going to stand there and say nothing?" This he directed to his sister, who had considerably shrunk deeper into the locker, hoping to silently slip away while they were still going at each other's throats.
It seemed that this angered her, for she delivered him a glare and quickly said, "Don't drag me into this!" Kari held her hands up and began walking away, as if they had crossed the line. "Whatever beef you two have is none of my business anymore!" With that she spun around and left them alone in the, now empty, hallway.
"That sounded like a confirmation to me," Mimi waved her hand in a haughty manner, her smirk only widening.
"Oh lay off—"
"Good! Finally we agree on something!" The ringing of the bell caught them by surprise, making Mimi jump slightly on her heels. Tai would have continued arguing until it was him that walked away victor, but now he was most certainly late. "Next time jackass, do me a favor and stay out of my conversations."
He chose not to reply, for it was awkward enough having to rush to class in the same direction as her. It wasn't until he reached his Math class that he was able to take a relieved breath, and waiting for him was his teacher ready to count him tardy, yet again. Great.
333
-Matt
The tension in their group had reached a record high point, it seemed. The universe was playing a twisted joke on them, Matt concluded when their English teacher announced that for the next two weeks they would be working on a creative writing project that involved heavy peer editing. Said teacher also happened to pair up groups based on everyone's technical skill and writing prowess, and surprise surprise, his group was now composed of Sora, Izzy, Mimi and Tai. Amongst their friends it was a well-known fact that anything that included both personas—Mimi and Tai—together was bound to end in disaster.
Were teachers that oblivious to ongoing student body tensions and drama?
All five of them then had to rearrange their desks so they would be sitting right next to each other, to "promote peer to peer learning," his teacher had said. They arranged their desks into a crooked circle and poor Izzy was brave enough to sit in-between Tai and Mimi. Matt exchanged a helpless glance with Sora, who had busied herself with keeping Mimi entertained with some extra writing work, then looked over at Tai—whose body language was even facing as far away as possible from Mimi—and Matt realized something must have recently happened between them.
"Lastly class, before I forget," his teacher giggled as she finished explaining the conditions of their assignment, "Remember that all individual written works that you will turn in have to be revised by each and every one of your group members! So keep that in mind so you don't forget anybody!" There was a low mumble of disagreement within the class and Matt was slightly apprehensive of the murderous glares Tai was delivering to their teacher. English was Tai's least favorite class, and this new assignment meant that he had to get his writing ridiculed by Mimi. Said girl had her gaze fixed on her papers, her lips smirking in contempt.
Sora surprised him by slipping a small note onto his notebook, in which was scribbled, "How much do you think I'll have to pay the teacher to bail out on this project?"
Matt smirked and quickly scribbled right below her words, "You can't! Don't leave me with them all alone!"
The red-head snatched the piece of paper and giggled quietly, hiding the note once Mimi gave her a questioning look, and replied, "Ok, you bail too :)"
"Haha and leave Izzy to fend for himself against these hungry lions? You're evil!"
"I joke, I joke!" Once again Mimi tried to peek over at their written conversation, but Sora quickly turned her body away to hide what she was writing. "See how we can't ever hang out?"
"I guess," His writing became slower in disappointment. He just missed spending quality time with his fellow Digi-Destined, especially with Sora. And he couldn't just ask her to hang out with him, alone. Matt tried his best to stop the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks. Wouldn't that be like a date?
333
-Davis
Davis gripped the edges of his desk anxiously as if he were holding on to it for dear life. His brown eyes were set on the clock poised on the other side of his classroom, next to the teacher that went on and on and on about his history lesson. "Five… four… three…" Davis counted down in a whisper, and nearly bolted out of his desk when the last bell of the day rang. Davis, along with other two dozen students, gathered his school things with haste and almost sprinted out of the classroom, immensely grateful that the school day was over.
He strolled past the lockers, dodged shrilly girls that jumped and screeched as they met with their boyfriends and best friends, and even evaded jocks that tossed balls from across the halls and teachers handing detentions. His mind was set in arriving to the gyms as soon as possible, for he knew that a certain someone had a tendency to visit the soccer field after school to see her older brother off. He would catch that someone by surprise, for she was an easily startled girl, and he would sweep her off her feet until she loved him.
Davis reached the doors to the soccer lockers and his enthusiasm evaporated once he saw Tai walking away towards the soccer fields, and Kari was nowhere in sight. He lingered by a corner, simply feeling silly, and decided that today just wasn't going to be that day; the day when he finally had the courage to come clean about his feelings. Davis huffed, made to turn to the soccer fields, and right at that instant crashed—hard—against a tiny person that was tackled to the floor.
"Oomph!" Kari exclaimed as her butt came in contact with the tiled floor, and Davis immediately kneeled to her aid in sheer embarrassment.
"Oh my gosh, Kari, are you alright?" Davis took a gentle hold of her hand while he knelt and she recovered from the fall, and he couldn't help noticing the crimson blush that settled on her cheeks as their hands touched.
"—Yeah, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking…" She adverted her gaze to her side where her cell phone had fallen, and Davis caught a glimpse of the text-message conversation she had been having with T.K. before crashing into him. A brief pang of jealousy shot through him; he wasn't in texting terms with Kari. His eyes tried to read their exchanged text messages, as he was inwardly concerned about T.K.'s and Kari's relationship, but Kari was quick in taking her phone and placing it in her pocket.
All uncertainties brushed aside, Davis took her hand and helped her to her feet, his heart swelling at the pretty smile she offered him in thanks. "Seeing Tai off?" Davis asked her casually.
"Yeah… This is usually the time when he demands what he wants for lunch…" Kari looked down and brushed the dust off her jeans.
Davis smiled goofily, loving her all the more for being so attentive to her brother. "You're too nice to him," He leaned closer, so she was surprised when she looked up to gaze into his eyes and instead realized he was so very close to her. Davis gently lifted her chin with his fingers and Kari flushed red at his touch.
"I've never seen you being affectionate like this to any other guy…" But in the very back of his mind Davis knew this was a lie, for he remembered her being this way to a certain blond-haired Digi-Destined…
Kari swiftly stepped back, breaking contact with him and replied, "Yeah, well he is my brother… And he's just as nice to me."
There was a second's pause which Davis used to inhale heavily as he gathered all his courage; he was sure his Crest would be glowing red by now if he had been wearing it. The boy chuckled nervously and finally said, "Let's hang out this Friday."
"What? But you know it's impossible with them two—"
"No, I don't mean with the group," Davis tsk'ed; all throughout High School it had become an unspoken agreement that hanging out meant that everyone would be hanging out, but because of the recent animosities between Tai and Mimi the group had been unable to do just that. "I mean, let me take you out…" His heart pounded so strongly against his chest Davis could almost hear it in his eardrums.
She frowned and before she could reply her rejection Davis blurted out, "Just because they're miserable doesn't mean we have to be!" He thought of Mimi and his blood boiled—she loved to ruin his advances with Kari, and all just to spite Tai.
Kari hesitated, and knowing that she was about to turn him down, Davis was left to use his final trump card against the unsuspecting teenage girl. Ego pushed aside, Davis gave her the biggest puppy-dog eyes he could muster, and pouted his lips in the cutest way possible before saying, "Come on…"
The brown-haired girl giggled, patted his shoulder, and replied with a wink, "Alright. What do you wanna do?"
Davis had to control himself from jumping in excitement, lest he came off as a little too desperate. He thought for a couple seconds, and the first thing that crossed his mind he blurted out in his exhilaration, "You still have your bike, right?"
She nodded and he continued, "Let's go bike riding this Friday, I know of this badass trail, you'll love it!"
Kari gave him a little dry smile, doubting whether or not this would be a good idea, but felt okay nonetheless to give it a try. "Sounds good," she finally said and was surprised when he offered her his hand.
"Walk you home?" Davis had that charming smile that confused Kari's beating heart to no end.
"Don't you have Soccer practice?"
"It can wait."
333
Wednesday
-Mimi
"But you see my dearest Mimi, I can smell talent when I see it," Mr. Watanabe half-mindedly waved his fork at her, small specks of garlic and pepper falling off his steak and onto his wooden desk. "And you are one of the few students that can actually recognize an opportunity when it comes knocking on their door…"
Mimi wasn't listening however, her eyes were on the clock positioned behind her theater professor, and a little voice in the back of her mind told her she would be late to English. Mimi wasn't fond of being tardy, but solely that wasn't the reason why she was so preoccupied for being late to her fifth period class. Today was Speech Wednesday, which meant that she had to deliver a presidential speech to her class during one of their most important periods—English, a class she shared with her fellow Juniors, her friends and, most unfortunately, her presidential opponent, Tai.
She leaned away from Mr. Watanabe's desk and slumped deeper into the chair, resigned. Mr. Watanabe never noticed her predicament as he went on and on about how he was so proud of the play's progress, mostly all courtesy of her efforts. "Students don't realize that directing a play can give them hands-on experience on the real show-biz industry," Mimi was thankful that her careless professor was well-mannered enough to swallow his mouthfuls before speaking. "They just don't want to associate themselves with such responsibility—" he nearly dropped a small broccoli onto official-looking papers, but was quick enough to grab the green food before it stained any more papers on his desk.
They were both startled by the ringing on the bell, and the clueless man suddenly asked, "What the devil is that for?"
"Lunch is over, sir. Fifth period is about to start…" Mimi eyed her empty plate helplessly and wished he had been quicker about eating his meal. Earlier in the day the theater professor had ordered two expensive-looking meals from a nearby restaurant and had invited her for lunch to talk about the upcoming play, which he was supposed to be directing but had left all to Mimi. Of course she accepted the invite, for she felt like a grown up, having lunch with her boss and discussing important business regarding her play. Or at least that was what she had imagined. Instead Mr. Watanabe dedicated the whole lunch period to rant about people in the acting industry and how she was such an inspiration to him for being so responsible and so young.
He was also a slow eater, it seemed, for he was merely a few bites into his food when Mimi was almost all the way through eating her meal. Mimi anxiously packed her empty disposable plate and fork and knife and made to throw it out. "I hope I'm not keeping you, Mimi—" then, as if thinking it twice, he chuckled and added, "Oh I'm sure I'm not, honestly though, high school was such a waste of time for me back in my day… I can give you a permission slip or something so you're not counted tardy. I know you'd rather be here that in one of those boring lectures—"
"Actually sir," Mimi was thankful for his flatly-put honesty, but today she actually cared if she made it or not to her English class in time. "I really need to go… there's this speech I need to give in class…"
Mr. Watanabe nearly jumped in his seat in embarrassment and began looking for a permission slip in one of his drawers. "I'm so sorry child, I had no idea—"
"It's alright sir," Mimi had already thrown out her empty plate and had readied her backpack. "I don't need a tardy note, I can make it in time," She offered him a smile before bolting out of his office.
The second bell rang and Mimi was nowhere near her classroom. Her insides panicked; what would her fellow classmates think of her if she was late to her own speech? Would they trust her enough to make her their class President after that? Tai would surely take advantage of her slip no doubt; he would probably declare that Mr. Watanabe's sloppiness was rubbing on her now.
Mimi power-walked all the way to her classroom and by the time she entered the room she was already huffing and puffing, some of her ruffled hair stuck out at odd angles, and her face flushed red in exhaustion. She received a glare from her English teacher and was terrified to see that Tai was already standing in front of their class, giving his speech. Mimi snuck to a lonely seat in the back of the class and glared daggers in retaliation at him, who sneered down at her while he smugly talked to the whole class.
"I know Joe never bothered to make the school extra fun, that's why I'm planning on taking us to the next level," Tai natural leadership abilities shone brightest when he was standing in front of a crowd, ready to take command. "Think about it… our lunches are too damn short—" Their English teacher coughed loudly to express her dislike for his choice of words, and the class chuckled in unison, but he continued anyways. "How amazing would it be to have longer lunches? And actually have real snacks in the vending machines, none of that healthy organic cra—stuff." Tai smirked at his slip, and the whole class laughed again at his charisma. "I'm talking about Snickers, M&M's, Pocky, Pepsi—honestly who wants to eat Aunt Jenny's Dried Prunes or whatever that stuff's called for dessert?"
"Nobody!"
"Yeah!" A couple students added in and Mimi's blood boiled in anger and jealousy; he was winning them over with issues that didn't matter!
"What about our sports teams? Not enough people show up to their games because we're lacking pep rallies! We're lacking the support they deserve! I want to bring all that school spirit back! We have a whole hallway dedicated to putting up artwork and advertisement of plays for the art department, but what about our sports and school spirit?" This time his eyes were set on Mimi's, as if his rhetoric was dedicated solely to her. "I want to have the school wrapped from head to toe on posters for our teams, for our games and pep rallies, for the stuff that matters." Again he sneered at her, but knew that she wouldn't challenge his words while he held the spotlight.
"I'm talking about pep rallies every other Friday. I'm talking about French fries and pizza for lunch. I'm talking about field trips to watch and support our teams play and win in other schools. So you know the drill, vote for me if you want the same for our school." He gave them all a satisfied smile in response to their applause and went back to his seat, making sure to deliver Mimi a challenging nod before sitting down.
Mimi was enraged at Tai's speech, but simply huffed at his naiveté; Tai was a dimwit if he thought that by being Student Council President he was going to make lunch period a minute longer. She left her desk and stood in front of the class, her heart pounding as her classmates' attention focused on her. Her eyes made contact with Matt's blue orbs and her spirit lifted at the reassuring smile he gave her.
Ahead of her Tai leaned back on his seat and crossed his arms, as if ready to be entertained, and his demeanor angered Mimi all the more. This gave her motivation to stump him in her speech. "I'm sure we're all very moved by Tai's words, I mean who doesn't like chocolate or soda—over even better, chocolate, fries, and soda. But let's be realistic here, it's not the Student Council's job to decide what we get to eat at the cafeteria, that we can blame on the School Board." The smirk she directed at Tai went to waste, for he was already looking down in annoyance—yeah she knew this game better than him.
"But let me tell you what really matters, we need a Student Council that can handle and can think of fun and creative ways to carry our fundraisers, which we truly need for things like spring dances and pep rallies and prom. Sure, we can add a couple vending machines every here and there, but what about our last night together? Wouldn't we want it to be like in the movies, in a beautiful hotel with delicious catering and amazing music? What about bringing recognition to all of our other student organizations like the theater group, and the chess club, and the council of ethnic organizations? They also deserve just as much as the soccer and softball teams."
Mimi looked around and was slightly worried at the confused expression on some of her classmates, but continued on nevertheless. "I'm your current Student Council Vice-President and I know how things are run around here. I can bring true improvement to your high school experience and not just unrealistic promises. Vote for me if you care about the quality of our future school events—vote for me if you want a quality President that knows what they're doing, and not just a soccer star."
She smiled prettily at the few claps she received from her classmates and walked over to her desk, making sure to pass by Tai's desk and whisper to him, "You wanted a challenge? Here's your challenge."
333
-T.K.
T.K. was momentarily distracted as a passerby accidentally knocked one of his brushes to the ground and Kari took the opportunity to take her revenge. A devilish smirk crossed her lips as she quickly drenched her paintbrush in pink paint and made a quick scribble across the lips of T.K.'s painted gentleman. The young teen eventually turned back to his canvas only to realize that his art had been vandalized. "Hey—hey!" T.K. exclaimed in exasperation only to have Kari suddenly burst into giggles.
He proceeded to return the favor, but Kari had already hidden her canvas under their table as she laughed louder and louder at his dilemma. "Kari! Look at him now!" T.K. eventually turned his attention back to his painting, but realized he just couldn't get mad at her.
"He looks like quite the womanizer now—" Kari laughed some more, and again hid her canvas when T.K. tried to paint across it with his blackened brush. Eventually he gave up, and simply nudged her ribs playfully with his elbow.
His touch tickled her and she giggled even harder. "It suits him, you know."
"Oh, why? Because he now looks like he was attacked in the mouth by some lady wearing extravagant lipstick?" T.K. joked as he considered which color to apply over the lips to diminish the effects of her vandalism.
"'Lady wearing extravagant lipstick'? T.K. you're such a nerd!" She mocked him jokingly before nudging his ribs back, and the two leaned closer together as they laughed uncontrollably in unison.
Their spell was broken when their art teacher suddenly came by to their table, exclaiming, "You know guys, this is a classroom, not a socialroom, so at least pretend to be working on something!" They straightened out and their laughs eventually subsided. It was then that the old lady peered over T.K.'s painted gentleman, noting the pink lips, and simply commented, "Hmm, I didn't know you swung that way, T.K."
Kari, the old art teacher, and the other students that shared the art table erupted into warm laughter. T.K.'s cheeks turned twenty shades of red, but in his embarrassment he was unable to defend himself. Their teacher then walked over to supervise a neighboring table, and Kari patted T.K.'s shoulder sympathetically as she added in, "It's okay T.K., you have to come out one way or the other, and coming out through your art is a rather clever way indeed."
T.K.'s left eye twitched in a mixture of amusement and annoyance and he replied simply, "Let's just agree that he was attacked by a lady wearing extravagant lipstick and not that this is me trying to make a statement… You were the one that did this…"
Kari gave him a sweet smile as their eyes locked, and she secretly wished she could reach over and caress his blushing cheeks, but quickly shook the thought away. She suddenly thought of Davis and shuddered involuntarily as she remembered… Friday, was it a date? Or were they simply hanging out as friends? Davis hadn't been very specific on the matter, but she knew that if it were the latter she would have surely rejected the offer. The brunette had been staring at her painting for a while when she felt T.K.'s eyes on her, but when she gazed up he quickly looked away.
Maybe she should ask T.K. to come along, that way it would certainly not be a date, and the fact that she truly treasured the time spent with him was definitely a plus. "Say T.K…. what are you doing this Friday?"
He didn't look up at her as he was busy twiddling with the colors on the gentleman's lips, but replied, "I don't know… homework… video games… the usual?"
"Do you want to come bike riding with me and Davis?"
The puzzled expression on his beautifully blue eyes captivated her. "Bike riding with Davis? When did this come up?"
Kari shrugged a lie and replied, "I guess he's tired of not hanging out with the group… maybe he wants to do something that doesn't involve Tai's and Mimi's bickering."
"Yeah sure, I guess," his teeth shone in the friendly grin he gave her and Kari nearly jumped on her seat in excitement. She turned to her backpack and began rummaging for something, an opportunity that T.K. took advantage of to exert his revenge. He dipped his paintbrush in black ink and quickly painted a tuft of armpit hair on one of the bikini women that Kari had been painting on her canvas. He was nimble enough to put the brush aside by the time Kari turned once again to her painting. It took her a while to realize his mischief, but when she did the whole classroom resonated with the sound of her exclaimed cry.
"T.K.!"
333
-Mimi
Students bustled to and fro inside the large school theater, busily coordinating the future rehearsals. Techs would stumble every now and then as they prematurely prepared the set for a couple impromptu rehearsals that Mimi had organized. Said girl sat quietly within the empty audience seats as she watched the leads of the play argue amongst each other, for they seemed to really dislike one another, as if they had some sort of off-stage drama she didn't know about. Mimi considered replacements, maybe for one or two of the actors, but decided such an action would introduce even more animosities within the theater group.
Yuu fit beautifully into the character Mimi had pictured in her mind for the play, and so did her opposite, Haku, but they argued and argued like an old married couple at every chance they had. Mimi let out a silent sigh and considered leaving them and going home. She had already dealt with her own daily serving of drama for the day, and felt she just couldn't take any more. Her honey-colored eyes suddenly lit up when she gazed upon the blond-haired teen that walked into the theater and came across the stage with his acoustic guitar and a friend from his band.
Mimi didn't hesitate in leaving her chosen hiding spot and heading over to greet him. Pink lips transformed a frown into a smile as she came upon him, offering him a friendly hug. "Matt, I wasn't expecting you here…" Mimi said breathlessly after greeting his friend.
The boy smiled back and scratched the back of his silky locks as he said, "We wanted to practice today after school, and what the heck might as well practice here since we're going to perform, right?"
She giggled goofily and nodded in agreement. "Well the stage is yours!" She exchanged gazes with the bickering leads, and they turned away from her and Matt, back to pretending that they were rehearsing and not fighting.
"The rest of the guys will be here a little later; they got hung up with some detention unfortunately," Matt chuckled and watched his fellow band member walk over to the piano in the corner. He took a seat on the stage and Mimi settled next to him, and their legs dangled off the stage, often touching as Matt brought his guitar to his lap for some tuning.
She leaned comfortably close to him but felt unable to bring up a conversation. Mimi felt silly, feeling shy around a guy she had known since elementary… Still she focused on the hard pounding of her heart against her chest and the way his jeans would sometimes brush against her bared leg, and was unable to say a word. Matt tried a few notes on his guitar in sync with his band member who had begun fiddling with the notes on the piano and suddenly asked, "What kind of songs are you thinking for the play?"
"I don't know… it's a love story."
Matt looked around the set and eventually added in, "With a punk feel to it." His blue eyes then settled on Yuu and Haku and after a while of silent contemplation asked in a very mild tone, "Did they break up recently, too?"
"What?" Mimi was caught in surprise.
He didn't answer her right away, as if he knew that his next words would wound her ego. "They remind me of you and Tai."
Honey met blue and Mimi felt the blood rushing to her face. Not in the usual angry way it often did, however. Instead she felt ashamed, as if that was now a trademark of her behavior; as if she was a character in a play and her story was that of a wounded ex-girlfriend. His eyes were warm and she was unable to be angry at him, but all the same couldn't word a reply, and so she looked down in shame.
He surprised her with an "I'm sorry."
Her heart swelled, for his words were a melody to her ears, and she set a hand on top of the hand that sat upon his lap. Matt never flinched at her touch, instead his fingers turned over to caress her palm in consolation. Mimi, now feeling slightly bolder than before, leaned her head onto his shoulder with a content sigh, and they remained there sitting together for several long minutes, both immersed in their own thoughts, until the rest of Matt's band members came walking into the theater.
Oblivious to the two Digi-Destined, a certain brown-haired freshman lingered behind the stage curtains, caught in surprise of the intimate setting Mimi and Matt had found themselves in. Kari watched from a distance, weary and confused, and her heart broke at how close Mimi was growing of Matt. It couldn't be a good sign, she knew. She thought of her brother, and she thought of Davis, and of T.K., and of Sora, and suddenly felt like panicking. It definitely wasn't a good sign, she decided. The girl peeled her eyes from her fellow Digi-Destined, sighed, and simply retreated backstage; hoping the play would busy her mind from the troubling thoughts that now plagued her.
333
-Tai
Tai collapsed on one of the many empty bleachers out on the fields and half-mindedly waved goodbye to his fellow team members. They laughed and joked and pushed each other affectionately as they jogged back to the changing rooms, now finished with their routine afterschool practice. Tai simply lay on the bleachers, too annoyed and exhausted to care about anything else. Above him the clouds grumbled, as it threatened to rain, and Tai wished it poured on him, so it would save him the trouble of showering after his practice.
He felt the end of his seat shake and sink considerably and he looked up to see Davis sitting down, just as exhausted as he was. "I don't know if Kari ever told you…" Davis began saying but paused for a slight dramatic effect, though upon noticing that Tai wasn't the least bit interested he continued, "I'm taking her on a date this Friday."
Tai chuckled, and despite of what Mimi might say or what anyone else might think, he was quite protective of his sister, yet felt her to be completely safe in the company of Davis. "Ah, well congrats mate," he wanted to say that they would look good together, but didn't wholeheartedly believe in such a statement. "What are you guys doing?"
"I'm taking her bike riding," Davis' eyes were on the heavens, which had darkened considerably.
Tai suddenly sat up and grinned derisively, laughing a little before saying, "That's your idea of a first date? Taking my sister out on her bike?" He considered giving Davis a slap behind the head, to shake some sense on the poor boy, but noted he was sitting too far and decided it wasn't worth the effort.
"Well what else!" Davis was slightly appalled.
"Oh I don't know… the movies, a nice restaurant, maybe the pier and the amusement park," Tai suggested sarcastically. Davis gave him a little deflated look and Tai immediately felt rotten. He offered Davis a friendly smile, to cheer him up, and added, "You'll be fine."
They remained silent for a few short minutes as their exhaustion wore out, their breathing finally reverting back to its usual relaxed state, and from the corner of their eyes they watched the female soccer team jog back to the locker rooms, also done with their practice. Their gazes settled on Sora for a split second, but she was too preoccupied with her own teammates to notice them, and in the blink of an eye disappeared into the female changing rooms. "You know, you need to speed up your game with Sora—I think Matt might be into her too," Davis commented after a while.
"Are we surrounded by love triangles and love squares now?" Tai asked in cynicism and Davis just shrugged. Their group was suffering, and he knew it, but decided he currently just didn't have the heart—or courage—to try to pick up the pieces. "No way Sora would be into him… he's all about poems and love songs now, isn't he?" He never would have imagined that the dark, rebel boy he knew back in the Digital World would change to become an artist. It was for the better, he supposed. A small droplet from the heavens landed on his nose, which he simply wriggled in discomfort.
"Maybe if you hadn't wasted your time with Mimi, you coulda gotten Sora. I mean, you liked her since the Digital World, didn't you?"
Tai's eyes immediately darkened, but Davis never noticed. Mimi hadn't been a waste of time. He remembered—back then he had been convinced that she was the one. What had happened? His head hurt as he tried to recall memories he had long since fought to forget. It was then that a little, devilish voice in the back of his head began mocking him, you're just choosing Sora as a second option, it told him.
Tai grew angry, but couldn't pin-point the root of his frustrations to anything or anyone. He suddenly stood up and stated, "How can I get with Sora if we barely get any time to hang out?"
"It'd be easier if you just pretended to be friends first—"
"We are friends," Tai glared at him. Davis was being quite the instigator today.
"I mean, hang out as friend more. You know, Mimi is Sora's best friend. It's Mimi's fault you guys don't get to hang out." Davis chuckled and Tai suddenly realized the horrors of what he was trying to achieve—to date his ex's best friend…
Never mind that, the devilish voice in the back of his head told him, she deserves it for smashing your heart. "We just need Mimi out of the picture, and the group can hang out as it always did—"
"And you get quality time with Sora—"
"And I get quality time with Sora." Tai smirked in powerlessness—such wishful thinking.
Davis also rose from his seat and wondered grimly aloud, "Why doesn't she just do us a favor and takes a hike to America again?" Suddenly the entire wrath of the clouds above them was unleashed, and heavy droplets of water began to pour over them. Tai and Davis ran for the door to the changing rooms to escape the rain, all the while Tai feeling rotten inside for ever plotting against a Digi-Destined; one of his Digi-Destined.
333
Thursday
-Tai
Tai was positively annoyed. He walked in on the halls of Odaiba High Thursday morning and the first thing he saw, the very moment he came in through the main doors, were some ridiculous fliers with Mimi's picture Photoshop'ed to books and a pair of framed reading glasses, captioned, Mimi is a bore, is that what you want as a President? Don't be a bore as well and Vote for Tai Kamiya. They were everywhere, on every window, nearly on every other locker, attached to every bulletin board.
Tai wasn't sure if he had stepped into a nightmare, or if they were actually doing him a favor. Either way, he snatched at least three of them, and off to the trashcan they went. But as he walked closer and closer to his locker the angrier it made him, for he knew this would completely interfere with, if not ruin, any hopes of exerting his idea.
He had pondered it all night; he truly liked Sora, just not enough to put his feelings out there just yet. It wasn't urgent he declare his crush to her, but it was urgent, as Davis had put it yesterday, that he spent quality time with her. Then he realized that said quality time would only be achievable if he called a truce with Mimi, but as he looked upon the hundreds of negative propaganda against her, he knew it wasn't about to happen.
No one approached him before he got to his locker that morning, and as he walked he either received puzzling looks or shallow words of encouragement from his classmates; they all thought he was behind it all. He noticed people adding their own personal graffiti to some of the flyers, giving Mimi a moustache or some even drawing hearts and announcing their love for their martyr. Either way, it annoyed him to no end.
He gathered his books and had to rummage his locker for his missing pencil when he noticed Mimi standing across the hallway. From the corner of his eye he watched her, unfazed by the propaganda against her, happily chatting with Matt by his locker. How arrogant of her, to ignore him and pretend that nothing was wrong. She had noticed him as well, but Tai hadn't been expecting the cold shoulder he was receiving, instead he had prepared himself for the confrontation that never happened.
Tai noted how she was leaning particularly close to Matt; to him it felt a little too familiar, too intimate. She never again graced him with her gaze, and instead giggled at whatever Matt was telling her. He noticed the way she slightly bit her lip as she smiled and how she tucked a strand of her honey-colored hair behind her ears as she made Matt laugh with her words. Tai knew her mannerisms all too well and he immediately knew what she was doing; Mimi was flirting with Matt, and right in front of him. The whole notion sickened him and Tai made to look away, but realized he just couldn't.
His dark musings were interrupted when T.K. suddenly emerged from the crowd of students and approached his locker, which was three lockers down from Tai's. Tai slammed his locker door shut and quickly rounded on T.K., who had been texting and hadn't noticed him right away. "Yo," Tai made his presence known.
T.K. was slightly startled but greeted him with a smile nevertheless. "Hey Tai…" he paused and finally said, "I'd ask you what's up, but it's everywhere." T.K. motioned to the flyer that was taped to his neighboring locker with a smile.
Tai nonchalantly snatched the flyer off, crumpled it, and simply said, "Not my doing. Anyways, you know anything about that?" He eyed Mimi and Matt, who seemed oblivious to T.K.'s and Tai's staring.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh come on… she's totally flirting with him." T.K. gave him a funny, knowing look and Tai wanted to add in that he absolutely didn't care if she did, but instead said, "Is there something going on between them or what?"
T.K. continued to give him that amused look, and Tai decided he probably deserved it. Soon enough though, T.K. shrugged and answered with sincerity, "Matt hasn't mentioned anything, probably because there is nothing going on… but if you must know… Matt is going to be part of that play, so they're spending quite an amount of time together."
Tai's eyes were still glued on Mimi and her mannerisms disgusted him, for they had once been directed at him. T.K. suddenly closed his locker and gave Tai a pat in the shoulder before saying, "I can't feed you with gossip, just the truth, so I can't say more… gotta go!" And with that, T.K. left Tai standing alone.
The crowd of students was thinning and Tai decided to bolt before they noticed him staring. He wasn't jealous, just annoyed (the devilish voice inside him chuckled derisively in disagreement), and it was then that a little light bulb went off. Despite all the propaganda against Mimi, and despite all the annoying shit that had happened between them lately, not all had been lost. If Mimi liked Matt, that left a window of opportunity for him. He would convince her to make a truce with him, and she would accept, because it was to their convenience to get along enough so that the group can hang out again. That way she could get quality time with Matt, and he could get quality time with Sora. Not only would they both win, but she would also take Matt out of the game, and he wouldn't be a threat to him and Sora at all. The devilish voice whistled in agreement. He was a genius.
333
-Mimi
Their silly, little revision circle in English class had been set up and Mimi's desk had the misfortune of ending up facing Tai's. Their group members hadn't meant it that way—they were good natured and sensible enough to try to separate them as much as possible by sitting in-between them, but it ended up for the worse, for every time Mimi looked up she saw Tai. Any other day Mimi would have been fine with that, but today she just couldn't handle even the sight of him.
The memory of all those pamphlets distributed throughout the school was still fresh in her mind. She remembered walking in to school, happily going over all the new suggestions for her theater group in her mind, when a couple venomous cheerleaders passed by her, throwing a dozen pamphlets in her direction. Mimi is a bore, it had said. If she didn't know the school better she might have cried and accepted defeat, but Mimi was no fool. The propaganda was stupid enough that she was sure it was all Tai's doing, probably to get back at her for belittling him in her speech.
She then felt his eyes on her.
Mimi pretended to ignore Tai's stare on her as she completed—or attempted to complete—her English essay, but it bothered her to no end. What did he want? Was he just waiting for her to break down in front of him? Well she was about to give him no such pleasure. Sora distracted her musings when she began talking about the assignment, but Tai continued to try to get her attention, and Mimi couldn't properly focus on her best friend's words any longer.
It wasn't until both Sora and Matt got up to ask the teacher a question about the assignment that Tai suddenly slipped a piece of paper on her desk, startling both Izzy and her. She eyed him skeptically before opening the small scrap paper, her heart suddenly pounding very fast. Hey I have a proposition for you… I've noticed what you're trying to pull with Matt, I want to help you, it read. Her honey-colored eyes widened at his nerve, he was going to help her? After everything he had done to her? What for? And how did he know she liked Matt?
Tai left her some space under his words for her to reply, but Mimi was too infuriated to do just that. Sora and Matt finally came back to their "revision circle," yet the brunette didn't care if they witnessed her following actions. She glared daggers at Tai as she held up the piece of paper, high enough for all five of them to see, and mercilessly ripped it in half; into fours; into eighths. She gathered the pieces, crumpled them tightly into a small paper ball, and threw it at Tai, hitting him in the chest. The paper bounced off him and landed on the ground.
A tense silence followed her actions, as if all five were afraid to move a muscle while Mimi and Tai had a stare down, until Mimi vehemently pointed out, "Don't litter the ground, Tai."
Fuming, he picked up the paper ball and threw it onto a nearby trashcan without missing.
The remainder of the class period dragged on a little too awkwardly for Mimi's taste, yet she convinced herself that it wasn't her fault, but Tai's for ruining her day with all the stupid flyers. Sora and Izzy kept them entertained enough as they discussed their English project, but when they decided to split the sections and Mimi wanted to talk about an issue that belonged to Tai's part, she found herself growing frustrated at having to address him. She couldn't help it; he was her least favorite person in the school after all—her least favorite person in the world, possibly…
They ended their revision when the bell to leave rang, and as usual Mimi lingered a little longer as she took the time to gather her things. She was so caught up in trying to stay out of her classmates' way as they walked past her though, that she didn't notice someone else linger alongside her. Mimi wasn't paying much heed of where she was going while she walked out of the classroom and was slightly startled when someone grabbed her wrist and made her stop dead in her tracks.
She spun around and her cheeks flushed red when she saw Tai holding her wrist. Mimi yanked her arm free from his grip and hissed, her temper rising, "What do you want, Tai?"
"You would have known by now if you hadn't been childish and tore up my paper!" His temper also ignited to match hers. Getting her to agree was going to be a lot harder than he had imagined, it would seem.
Mimi remembered his words about Matt and she hated him all the more. "Look Tai, I don't know what you're planning or care about what you want, so do me a favor and stay out of my way or else I might follow your example and let the school know what a little manwhore you are."
The smirk upon her face disintegrated the moment Tai stepped dangerously closer to her, his demeanor hurt and angered. "I had nothing to do with the flyers. And you know better than to lie to your beloved voters."
"Is this some kind of joke to you Tai? Are you running against me and giving stupid little speeches and distributing ridiculous flyers just to piss me off? I actually want to help the school out! Unlike you, I care about being President!" Her tone elevated considerably and Mimi had to force herself to calm down as she watched the curious students that slowed down while they passed to witness their argument.
How typical of her to assume that she knew everything about everyone, he thought. His eyes had narrowed, but instead Tai chose to avoid further confrontation with her, so that he could somehow get her to agree with his idea. He extended his arm and made to place his hand on her shoulder when he sensed she was about to continue with her rant, but stopped himself at the last moment. "Just listen to what I have to say," he would have added a 'please,' but decided she didn't even deserve that from him.
Mimi crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the tiled floor irritably while she waited for him.
"Look, I don't care what you want with Matt, but know this, you won't be able to spend much time with him—with the group—if all we do is fight and fight and fight—"
She huffed in annoyance, but deep down knew Tai was speaking the truth.
"Let's face it; they all know it, we know it. So, let's make a truce and pretend that we actually don't mind sharing the same air." He let out a little fake chuckle and finished, "And you can spend all the quality time you need with Matt."
The glare she had on him intensified when she asked, "And pray tell, why would you care if I spent time with Matt or not."
"Oh trust me, I don't. I do, however, care about spending time with Sora, and hopefully do what I never had the courage to do before."
Mimi didn't have to ask twice what he meant, and gulped hard as he mercilessly shredded her scarred heart even more. She felt hot tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes and immediately retorted back as vehemently as possible, "There's just one tiny flaw in your plan Tai Kamiya; you've forgotten that I hate you. Why on Earth would I want to work out a truce with you?"
She walked away from him before he could word a reply, terrified that he would witness her tears—no, she would never grant him that pleasure. "Oh come on! It's to your convenience as well!" She heard him yell after her, but never stopped in her flurry to her next class, simply hoping that no one would notice the unusual gloss in her eyes.
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