Here is Chapter 3 of UnderAGE. I know I said ten reviews, but nevermind that. I really hope you readers enjoy the chapter and stick with me throughout the whole story! *hugs*
Once again, I would like to thank my beautiful beta PrincessJaded. *audience throws her some flowers along with the usual standing ovation*
As promised, there is now some Takari in this chapter. Hopefully, you Takari lovers are satisfied.
As always: I don't own Digimon and UnderAGE. They belong to Toei Animation and ABS-CBN respectively.
Sora was a girl on a mission that night. Her mission was to convince her Aunt Fumika to get Hikari's half-brother to bid for her foster-sister/best friend, Mimi.
'How did I get myself into this? Kari and I should have switched duties,' the redheaded beauty thought as she made her way through the crowd. 'Thank goodness for tennis, or else I wouldn't be flexible enough to have made it here without getting clobbered by the crowd.' By here, she meant a foot away from her foster-mother, her aunt, and their two guests.
"Now's my chance!" she whispered to herself when she saw Hikari drag Yuuko away to the food stalls. "Psst! Aunt Fumie," she frantically hissed, gesturing for the older woman to come to her. "I need to talk to you. Alone." she added when Taichi and Takeru were about to walk over to her too.
"What is it, Sora?" Fumika asked her foster-niece. "What's the emergency?"
"Auntie, I'm about to ask you a huge favor."
"Well, go on…"
"Auntie. I, rather, we need you to convince Tai to bid for Mimi," Sora urgently replied.
"What?!" Fumika's eyes grew wide in shock at her niece's request.
"Please. Just do it!" Sora pleaded, practically going down on her knees.
"I – I'll try." Fumika stammered as she walked over to the boys.
"Ooooh! Thank you, Auntie Fumie!" Sora exclaimed as she ran off to Mimi. 'The things I think of, say, and do for that girl…'
"So, Auntie, what did Sora want?" Takeru asked when Fumika walked back to them. He noticed the grim expression on his landlady's face when she looked at Taichi. "Is it any life-threatening?" he added as a lame attempt to make the woman smile.
"No, T.K. It's nothing to worry about… at least for you," she replied. "But Tai, I need you to bid for Mimi." She beseechingly looked him in the eyes as she stated her request.
"You want me to bid for her?!" Taichi incredulously exclaimed, his russet eyes growing wide.
"Yes," she replied grimly. "I want you to be my niece's date tomorrow rather than some idiot from here because they just might do something awful to her." 'Sora and Mimi, you girls owe me huge for this…' she thought wryly.
"Why would they do that to her?" Takeru joined the conversation. 'She may be a little too arrogant for her own good but the town can't want her dead.'
'Enlighten me, Auntie Fumika, why should I bid for that little Princess anyway?' Taichi grumbled to himself.
"Come on boys, you heard her speech back there, didn't you? That was a direct hit for the townspeople who have hurt her foster-mother, who happens to be my sister," she explained as though replying to their thoughts. "Please Tai, do it for me," she begged him as she put her hands together, as if she was praying.
'Oh great… I'm trapped.' "Oh… okay," Tai conceded, running his hand through his bushy head of hair.
"Promise, Tai?" she asked. 'Mimi and Sora, you girls better not have anything reckless in mind. It's really embarrassing to do this.'
"P – promise, Auntie," he replied, now wearing a trapped expression aside from having his hand in his hair.
"I'm counting on you." She whispered to him before walking off to her sister.
Throughout the whole exchange, Takeru's eyes moved back and forth between his landlady and his brother's best friend. His facial expression ranged from curiosity, to surprise, and when Fumika left, he had a sly grin on his face.
'Oh, kill me. Kill me now!' Taichi thought to himself as he cringed at the notion of bidding for a chance to date Mimi. "What's with the grin, Teeks?" he asked once he noticed the younger boy's expression. "I have to bid for that girl!"
Takeru simply shrugged and said, "It does make sense that you'd have to bid for her. Cause if you don't, she won't be available tomorrow. If she's not available tomorrow, then you can't teach her that lesson."
"Look, little man, I'm going to lose a lot more than a thousand yen if I bid for her," Taichi attempted to explain but then Takeru interrupted.
"Wait! So you're doing the bet for the money?! Tai, you're already freaking, filthy, stinking rich! You don't need the one thousand yen," Takeru shouted. "What's important here is the challenge. The lesson, remember?" he supplied as he softened his voice.
'Thank goodness the music is too loud for them to hear us. Otherwise, I hate to think what's going to happen,' he added to himself as he realized that Mimi and the other women were just two feet away from them.
The whole time, Taichi gazed over to where Mimi stood eating the rice balls Hikari bought for them at a stall. 'So much for spending only one thousand yen on her.' Hmm... She's not bad on the eyes, but really, she could use an attitude adjustment.'
"Or maybe you're scared of her?" Takeru taunted as he poked Tai's left arm.
"You talking to me? No, I'm not scared of her," Taichi scoffed. "I wasn't declared one of the bravest students of Odaiba High School for nothing."
"Right. Sure." the blond sneered as Taichi pulled a game face.
While Taichi and Takeru were in the middle of the crowd, Mimi, Sora, Hikari, Yuuko, and Fumika stood near the stage, eating the rice balls Yuuko and Hikari bought from the food stalls. When the announcer from the beauty pageant beckoned Mimi to join her onstage, the three girls exchanged a look before Mimi obeyed the announcer's instructions.
'This is it. Auntie Fumie, you better have convinced Tai to do this or my plans will go up in smoke!' Mimi thought as she flashed her prettiest smile to the townspeople in the audience.
All the young men of the village suddenly took turns in pushing each other in attempt to get to the front row, right in front of the stage. The struggle to the front almost got brutal if the announcer didn't say, "Let the bidding begin! Who wants to go first?"
"One thousand five hundred yen!"
"One thousand five hundered yen. Any higher?"
"Three sacks of rice!"
"Oh! Three sacks of rice," the announcer gasped while the audience started whispering and anticipating the results of this auction.
'Tai, please be the highest bidder,' Mimi, Sora, and Hikari silently prayed.
Taichi and Takeru waited for the right time to bid. Taichi was about to name his price when someone shouted, "Fifteen thousand!"
"Can anyone go any higher?" the announcer challenged the audience.
'You can do this, Tai!' Takeru mentally encouraged his bushy-haired friend as he raised his hands to the air and looked at the older boy as if to say, "Go bid already!"
'This is it! I can't believe I'm doing this.' Taichi thought to himself as he shouted, "TWENTY THOUSAND!"
At this point, everyone in the audience was buzzing with gossip. They all wondered who could have that much money to throw away in the first place.
"Twenty thousand! Do I hear more? No? Sold!" the announcer shouted.
The minute the announcer declared that Taichi won the bid, Sora, Hikari, Yuuko, and Fumika led the audience in screaming, cheering, and clapping for Taichi.
"I'd like to invite our winner to join us here on stage!" the announcer requested as Taichi made his way through the crowd that magically parted for him.
When he reached Fumika, the older lady patted him on the shoulder while Hikari hugged him and said, "Thanks, big bro!"
Takeru went in front and joined the girls who were eagerly watching the exchange between Mimi and Taichi. 'They look pretty good together. Too bad they don't get along.'
'This is gonna be good!' Sora and Hikari thought as they giggled at the ongoing banter onstage.
Mimi smiled sweetly as Taichi came up and joined her on stage. 'He's really cute if you just look at him. What a shame I hate his guts…'
"I believe I owe you my tomorrow?" she sweetly asked him once he was next to her.
"For ten thousand yen, yes," he wittily replied. "And it better be worth my time, along with my ten thousand yen."
"I promise. I can give you a day that you could never, ever forget for the rest of your life," she promised him flirtatiously, her eyes staring alluringly into his eyes.
"Never ever forget? Really? Wow!" Taichi exclaimed as he looked at Mimi with curious eyes. "You sure about that?"
"Trust me, Tai. You're about to experience the most unforgettable day of your life." She sweetly smiled at him. 'Oh you have no idea what you're in for, Taichi Yagami…'
The following day, Mimi woke up with a grin on her face. After fixing her bed, she went over to the little mortuary tablet near her potted flowers. The mortuary tablet bore the name "Satoe Tachikawa." Mimi knelt beside it, put her hands together, and prayed in front of it for a few minutes.
During her moment of silence, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in," she announced.
The door opened and Sora poked her head in. "Good morning, Mi. Auntie sent me to wake you up."
"I'll be right there, Sora," Mimi replied before Sora pulled her head out of the door.
Mimi walked down the stairs and into the dining room dressed in her fuchsia nightgown along with her pageant crown and sash, her scepter clutched in her pale hands. She saw Sora holding a bouquet of pink tulips, while Hikari and Yuuko were eating their breakfast.
"Congratulations, Miss Suzaku Village!" they shouted as Mimi came to the last step. Sora ran to Mimi, handed her the bouquet, and kissed her on both cheeks.
"Thanks," the beauty queen replied gratefully. She turned to the older woman and asked, "Auntie, are you proud of me?"
"What kind of a question is that? Of course I'm proud of you, Miss Suzaku Village." Yuuko replied as Mimi took her place on the table.
"What did you think of my speech?" Mimi asked as they all helped themselves to pancakes and orange juice.
"Upon hearing your speech, I realized that I can die a happy woman right now." Yuuko replied emphatically.
"Mom! The point of Mimi's speech was 'long live, Mom!' and you're gonna die?" Hikari pouted.
"Auntie was only joking, right?" Sora said, looking at Yuuko for reassurance.
Yuuko mysteriously smiled at the girls and they silently enjoyed their breakfast until Sora broke the silence.
"I can't believe Tai actually bid twenty thousand yen just to date Mimi!" She exclaimed. "Seems to me, you've attracted his attention." Sora winked at the honey-haired girl who simply blushed and smiled.
"Of course he's got to pay. My time is money, you know? After all, I did promise him a day he'll never ever forget…" Mimi trailed off as she continued eating.
"What are you planning to do anyway?" Hikari asked worriedly.
"Don't be such a worry-wart, Kari. Believe me, I have everything planned out," Mimi assured the youngest girl. "Now, I have to go and get ready."
Sora and Hikari settled on Mimi's bed, the former was reading while the latter tinkered with a digital camera. Mimi herself got ready for her "date" with Taichi. While the beauty queen was excited for today's events, the other two were slightly worried. After all, Mimi wasn't only known in the village for her looks and talents. She also had a reputation for getting people back with a vengeance terribly scary to see.
"So, what do you have planned for today?" Sora asked warily without looking up from her book.
"I don't want to spoil it, yet, Sora," Mimi replied from inside her walk-in closet. "But I assure you, it's going to be good."
"Remember, just don't be too hard on him," the older girl reminded. "You promised Kari…" 'I really hope Mimi keeps her promise. Tai doesn't deserve that much humiliation…'
At this point, Mimi came out of the closet dressed in a strapless lime green sundress and black ballet flats.
"Seriously, Mimi. What's your plan?" Hikari asked as she took a picture of Mimi. "I don't want my brother to get hurt badly. If you didn't feel so humiliated, I wouldn't even let you do this in the first place."
"Kari, how many times do I have to tell you, don't worry. I have everything under control."
"By the way, Auntie Fumie said that Tai's already waiting for you at the Sayuri River," Sora informed.
"Well, wish me luck!" Mimi giggled as she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. 'Oh, this is going to be so much fun!'
Yuuko and Fumika enjoyed some sisterly bonding as they swept the leaves in the garden. The sun beating down on their backs made it pretty challenging for them to get the job done fast. Neither sister was complaining about that since it gave them more time to chat.
"Why don't we go out for a change?" Yuuko suggested, sweeping the leaves on the ground.
"Wow. That's new," Fumika joked. "I thought we were going to be stuck here doing garden work."
The sisters had a little laugh for a while as they debated where they could go. When they finally decided to simply walk around town, they settled into comfortable silence.
"You know what, Yuuko?" Fumika suddenly asked. "After Mimi's speech last night, I realized that I want to get married, and have a kid of my own."
"Well, why don't you get married then?" Yuuko asked her sister teasingly. "With that beauty of yours?"
"Who was the one who adopted two girls, ran away from home, and got married to a married man?" Fumika retorted scathingly. "Thus leaving me to take care of mom and dad. It's your fault I became a spinster!"
"Okay, that was my fault," Yuuko apologized. "Even though you're too old to have children, you can still get married. Eighty year old women still get married!"
"I just can't," Fumika said sadly, still sweeping the leaves, and looking at anything but her sister.
"You haven't found a man for you, yet?" Yuuko inquireded gently.
"No," Fumika reported, although something in her face and voice said otherwise.
"I know that tone, Fumie! There is someone!" Yuuko teased.
"There's no one," the older sister vehemently denied.
"Why does my sixth sense tell me there is?" Yuuko questioned as they gathered the swept leaves together. Fumika said nothing out loud, but her facial expression was one of surrender.
"Oh! That smile!" Yuuko teased, since Fumika was now shyly smiling. "Confess, Fumie! Confess!"
"Oh alright! There is someone!" Fumika conceded. "But no matter how much I think about it, I don't think it's going to work out."
"How will you know if you don't even try?" Yuuko asked. "As long as both your hearts are in it, you ought to give it a shot! Fumie! I can't believe you're being so secretive!" She finished as she jokingly shoved her sister.
They continued shoving each other like little kids until Takeru appeared from inside the house. "Good morning!" He greeted the two women.
"Good morning," Yuuko spoke plesantly.
"T.K.! Where's Tai?" Fumika asked.
"Well, he's with Miss Suzaku Village," he replied, as if stating the obvious but still keeping a respectful tone.
"Oh right! Last night's bidding," Fumika realized.
"Auntie Fumika! Come on, let's go out too," Takeru pleaded, giving his landlady the puppy-dog pout.
"You want me to come with you?" Fumika disbelievingly replied. "You know as well as I do that I am the only person immune to that pout, aside from your family. So it's not going to work."
"Please, Auntie?" he pouted some more.
"I'll be back," she replied as she rushed into the house. 'I have an idea. I hope it works.'
Sora and Hikari were done with their morning chores and were lounging around in the living room. Sora was dressed in her white tennis outfit, with a racket in hand and her bag on her shoulder, and Hikari had her camera in hand as she attempted to fix its settings. Sora stood up and opened the door to leave for her tennis practice when she saw Fumika on the other side.
"Sora? Kari? May I ask you girls a favor?" Fumika asked.
"Uhm… what is it?" Hikari inquired, looking at her aunt.
Fumika joined Hikari on the couch and Sora leaned on the doorframe. "Can one of you girls take T.K. around town?" she asked her nieces. "He'll be leaving in a few hours and all he's seen is the town square. Take pity on him, girls."
"Aunt Fumie, as much as I'd love to challenge him to a game of tennis today, I can't," Sora informed. "I have tennis practice until five this afternoon. Sorry, Auntie." 'Besides, he's better off talking to Kari. They're the same age anyway.'
"Kari?"
"No!" the anguished young girl cried. "I – I can't take him around. Sora, can't you take him to the courts with you?" she pleaded. 'SORA!!! How could you do THIS to me?'
"No outsiders allowed, Kari," Sora said. "He'd be locked out of the courts since Coach explicitly said no one who's outside the team is allowed."
"You know what, honey? Don't be scared of him," Fumika advised. "You have nothing to worry about. That boarder of mine is a good kid. Whatever I ask him to do, he'd do it. He's sweet, funny, courteous, and kind. Do this for me, Kari? Please!"
'I guess I have no choice.' Hikari resigned herself to keeping a boy company all day. "What will I say to him? What should we talk about? Where do we go? What will we do?" The youngest girl panicked.
"Just go with the flow. Whatever he wants to talk about, that's what you do, Kar. As entertaining as it is watching you panic, I have to go," Sora said as she walked out the door. "Bye Kari! Have fun with T.K.! Bye Auntie Fumie!"
'Good luck to me…' the girl nervously thought as she made her way to her room to get dressed for the day.
Dressed in a yellow eyelet top, black shorts, black flip-flops, and her digital camera hanging from her neck, Hikari walked at least two feet away from Takeru's left. Takeru meanwhile, was dressed in a blue shirt, grey shorts, and rubber shoes.
She knew that she had no choice but to keep the boy with her happy. After all, he was her brother's friend as well as her aunt's guest. She hated men, and everyone in her family knew it. The mystery remained was why they forced her to keep T.K. company despite knowing that fact.
So far, she had taken him to the Suzaku Shrine, the Kinomoto Stream, and the Yamanaka Botanical Gardens. All three places had wonderful scenery, which she took pictures of, after telling him about each place. She decided that this was enough; she was being hospitable and she didn't have to stay next to him the whole time.
Takeru simply followed as he admired the girl's skill in photography, yet at the same time a single thought ran through his mind. 'Aside from the guided tour of the place, why won't she talk to me?'
When they got to a white marble lighthouse, Hikari broke the silence and shared, "This is the Hofileña Lighthouse. Off all places here in Suzaku Village, this is my favorite."
'Finally, she speaks!' Takeru rejoiced. "Why do you love this place? What's special about it?" he asked out loud.
Hikari simply smiled as she led him to the top of the lighthouse. When they got to the top, Takeru was amazed by the lovely view of Suzaku Village from there. All the while, Hikari stood at least five feet away from him, leaned on the rails while she clicked away with her camera.
"You always seem to be taking pictures rather than talking to me," Takeru observed when he looked at her. "Don't you like me? Tell me, were you forced to accompany me today?" He asked gently as he approached her. "Be honest."
Hikari stopped taking pictures, looked over to Takeru and replied, "Sort of…" At this, she had a meek look in her eyes.
"We could just go home if you want," he offered as he made his way to her.
"No! We can't!" Hikari rejected his offer with a terrified look in her eyes. "Cause if we go home, Aunt Fumika will get angry and say that I don't know how to treat visitors. You're our guest, so I have to entertain you. Don't get me wrong, T.K., it's not that I don't like you, it's just… I don't know how to keep you happy."
By this time, he was next to her. He put a hand on the rails, leaned towards the chocolate haired girl and said, "I'm just a simple guy. It's easy to keep me happy. Just by seeing you eating ice cream, that's enough to make me happy."
Hikari looked at the blond doubtfully and asked with the same amount of doubt in her voice, "That's all I have to do? Eat ice cream?"
He nodded vigorously as he assured her, "Yeah, that's it. Let's go get some already. After all, it's getting way too warm here for my liking."
"If it's ice cream you want, it's ice cream you're gonna get," Hikari replied. "I'm now taking you to the best ice cream shop in Japan!"
They got out of the lighthouse and walked over to an ice cream shop that was a few blocks away. This time, Takeru pointed out some subjects for Hikari to take pictures of.
While they "bonded," Hikari's impression of Takeru gradually changed. From hating him for his gender, she kind of appreciated him for his sweet disposition and sense of humor. She wasn't that scared of him anymore, but she was almost kind of comfortable talking to him. She was also grateful for his respect to her unspoken wishes. He was determined enough to let them both have a good time, but he didn't push her to do things she didn't want to.
When they got to the ice cream shop, they ordered two chocolate cones that Takeru generously paid for despite Hikari's shy protests.
"You're right, Kari," Takeru grinned as he licked his ice cream cone. "This is the best ice cream in Japan."
"You're probably just saying that to be nice," Hikari countered. "I bet you've tasted better ice cream in the city."
"I'm serious. This is the best I've tasted," he rebutted, taking another lick.
They walked around the village with Hikari showing him some more of the rural side of Suzaku Village. They stayed in that comfortable silence until Takeru decided to start letting the pretty girl beside him know what he really thought of her.
"Congratulations on your dance number last night," he complimented. "Not only are you a photographer, you're also a great dancer!"
"Thanks," the girl blushed at his flattering remark.
"No problem," the blond boy grinned. "You know what, it's good that you didn't consider joining that beauty contest. Cause if you had, I'm sure you would have defeated your sister."
Hikari's eyes widened with shock as she laughed out loud. "Not really. Besides, Mimi's always been the beauty queen among the three of us."
"That may be the case. But if you ask me, I think you're the loveliest one among them all. That includes your mother and Auntie Fumika," Takeru confessed openly.
Hikari said nothing but blushed and shyly smiled at Takeru as she stole a glance at him.
A little explanation back there. I based the value of a sack of rice on prices here in the Philippines. A sack of rice costs PHP 1,500/USD 32, making that JPY 3,083. Hence, three sacks of rice costs JPY 9,250 (PHP 4500 OR USD 93). This is according to the ForEx rate for May 1 2009. By the way, JPY 1,000 is equivalent to USD 10.
Well, there you have it. Chapter 3 of UnderAGE. If you want me to update sooner, please click the pretty green button. There will be Sorato (at last) and more Michi to look forward to.