Note: All underlined speeches are said in fluent English.
The Little Things
Because it's the little things that make one fall in love.
4. That Time at the Karaoke
22 May 2014
Ishida Yamato never understood what made Tachikawa Mimi so popular.
Every time she walked down his class's hallway, half of the students (boys, mostly) would go over to the classroom door to check her out. Occasionally, a few catcalls could be heard but she would ignore it all the same. Yamato had seen the same thing happening on a few other hallways and assumed she got the same treatment in pretty much any hallway of the school.
He got that she's pretty, really. But so is Sora, and she never got the (sometimes derogatory) treatment Mimi got (Yamato thanked God for that).
(Also, that explanation did not cover why there were so many girls who swooned over Mimi.)
(Unless he estimated a wrong number of people who were heterosexual.)
(Not that he observed people for fun or anything.)
He sighed and focused back on the class, his teacher babbling on about a classic literature the class was assigned to read. Absentmindedly, Yamato jotted down the title of the book, spinning his grey mechanical pencil in between the letters.
A small buzz was heard from his pocket, his leg feeling the soft vibration. Cautiously, he took his cellphone out and flipped it open.
Karaoke today after school! Don't you dare bail on me this time! Everyone's coming lol - Taichi
'Everyone?' Yamato thought. 'Ah, he probably meant Sora, Koushiro, and the rest.' He figured, the memory of Taichi's surprise birthday party still fresh in his mind.
He quickly texted 'got it' and returned his attention back to the blackboard.
"But in the end, it doesn't really matter~"
Taichi finished his karaoke song with a slow punch to the air. Joe, Hikari, Takeru, and Koushiro gave small, almost forced, claps, awkward smiles plastered on their faces. Sora and Yamato sat idly, their expression unreadable—one would guess that they looked understandingly tired—as they watched Taichi threw a couple of air pumps, psyched to see his own score.
40!
"Woo! Best score I've had so far!" Taichi shouted triumphantly. He did a little dance where he shrugged his shoulders and moved a couple steps to the right and then to the left before doing the routine all over again. "This year's looking good!"
"Is it over?" Mimi took her index fingers from her ears and opened one of her eyes to peek at the current situation. "Wow, Taichi! Forty! That's your best score yet, isn't it?" she chirped as she walked over to the front of the room, offering a high five to Taichi. He returned the gesture with gusto.
"Yesse, it is! Quite an improvement, if I must say so myself," Taichi said and smugly rubbed his nose with his free thumb.
"Great, great!" Mimi swiftly took the microphone from Taichi's hand and bumped him away with her hips. "Now, let me teach you how it's really done," she cockily smirked, an eyebrow raised while her hand flipped her hair back.
"Yes, yes, Princess Mimi, I got it..." Taichi could only step back in resignation. In contrary to Taichi's reaction, the rest of the room seemed very content with the change of singer. Koushiro offered Taichi a seat between himself and Joe.
"Hello, Chosen Children~!" Mimi sang to the microphone. A few of the Chosen Children clapped enthusiastically to mirror a concert. "Why, thank you for your applause," Mimi took a small bow. "Today, I will be singing..." she inputted a few key words into the karaoke machine before tapping OK on a particular title, "Decode by Paramore!"
"Go, Mimi!" Takeru cheered.
She nodded her head to the rhythm as the strums of a guitar signal the beginning of the song.
"How can I decide what's right, when you're clouding up my mind? I can't win your losing fight, all the time."
Mimi's performance was light, yet powerful. Despite only having lived in the States for a couple of years, her pronunciation was perfect. The karaoke room was swept under the feeling of the song, with Hikari swinging along to the notes and melody.
"You know, I've always thought of this, but she is an incredible singer," Sora whispered to Yamato, her body slightly leaning on his.
"Hmm. I suppose Mimi is pretty good," Yamato replied coolly, his expression as straight as an arrow. Sora knew better; he was feeling slightly overwhelmed as a singer (she thought it was quite silly and cute how he thought of Mimi as competition).
Yamato had heard Sora went on about how good Mimi's voice is, but he never expected her to be this good (he had thought that all those years spent with Taichi lowered Sora's standard for singing voices). He was sour because he thought he was the best singer within their group, and he did not like his odds in competing with Mimi for the title.
(The odds were not good nor bad. Just okay. 50-50.)
(But he was the leader of a quite popular rock band (that, funnily enough, was on the rocks), dammit! He shouldn't be facing these odd odds in the first place!)
(Was this the charm that got everyone taken by Mimi Tachikawa?)
"94?! Wow, Mimi, that's so awesome!" Sora congratulated her friend as soon as her score was announced as the whole room (minus one bitter blonde) gave Mimi an applause.
"It wasn't my best, but I guess I'll take a 94," Mimi said in a faux-humble manner, fully aware that she got the whole room going by her flow.
"I suppose a 94 is an achievement," Yamato spoke up from his seat, his face losing its trademark cool expression by the second, replaced by slight irritation at the unspoken—nonexistent, one might even say—challenge.
Mimi's face slightly twitched in annoyance. "So you think you could do better, Ishida?" she taunted.
"I don't just think it, Tachikawa," Yamato said mockingly, "I know it. Here, let me show you how a professional does it." He opened his right hand, gesturing Mimi to hand over the microphone. She inaudibly grumbled under her breath (about a cocky "professional" brat, probably), and grudgingly tossed the microphone to the lead singer before taking her seat. He caught it and gave her a smug smirk, before inputting letters into the karaoke machine. He scrolled through a list of songs and decided to pick Mask, a song by Aqua Timez.
Yamato sang as he would on stage, subtly (and successfully) trying to capture the attention of the room. His strong voice filled the space and everyone but Mimi nodded their head along to the catchy tune. The said girl merely crossed her arms and pouted as she watched him perform, his clear blue eyes gleaming in the dim room.
As the song came to a stop, everyone (again, minus Mimi) cheered and applauded his performance. Mimi blew a strand of hair out of her face and shrugged.
"Eh, I've seen better."
"Say that after you see the score," Yamato smirked confidenetly, waiting for the score to appear on the screen.
94!
Yamato's mouth dropped in shock, his expression slowly showing disbelief.
"That's amazing, bro! You got the same score as Mimi!" Takeru exclaimed, amazed at his brother's high score.
"You should really try to be a professional singer, Mimi, I mean you're pretty much on the same level as Yamato—" Koushiro commented before he abruptly stopped himself upon seeing Mimi's twitching eyebrows (in anger, he presumed).
"T-there is no way…" both Mimi and Yamato quietly began their sentences, "that he/she is better than me!" they finished simultaneously, glaring at each other.
"Now, now…" Sora tried to mediate the two teenagers. "No one said that one of you is better than the other," she raised both her hands, switching her calming gaze from Mimi to Yamato and then back to Mimi. "Let's just move on from this and enjoy the party. Now who wants to sing?" she asked the room awkwardly, the tension yet to subside.
"ME!" Mimi shouted and raised her arm sky high. "I'll show you who the professional here is!" she challenged Yamato as she strode to the front of the room.
"Oh… There is no way am I giving you this mic," Yamato raised the microphone over his head, where Mimi couldn't reach.
"Give it!" she jumped, stretching both her arms, occasionally bumping her body against his for leverage, but failing nonetheless. She continued her attempt for the mic, jumping from one spot to another.
"H-hey, how about giving other people who hasn't sung a chance, huh?" Sora suggested.
"Listen, Sora. I will not give up until I give your boyfriend here," Mimi threw a sharp glare at Yamato, "a lesson for challenging me in a singing contest."
"Don't flatter yourself, Tachikawa, I never issued a challenge against you," Yamato replied coolly despite being backed into the wall by Mimi's constant attempt at the microphone.
"Yeah, Mimi, just let it go… I mean Yamato is the one who's in a band—gulp," Joe's attempt at diplomacy was silenced by Mimi's almost comical (had the situation not been so) snarl.
Sora groaned in defeat. "This is going nowhere…" she mumbled, massaging the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Okay, how about this? We ask the staff for another mic, and both of you can have a sing-off to settle this once and for all. And then we can get back to celebrating Taichi's birthday," she said, her tone slightly stern. "Okay?"
Mimi stopped reaching for Yamato's microphone to consider. "I'm up for that," she decided, her arms crossed.
"Sure," Yamato said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"You're on, pretty boy."
"Thanks for the compliment."
The rest of the Chosen Children could only sigh.
The first sing-off proved to be unsuccessful at reclaiming peace at the small room, as both Yamato and Mimi got 98.
"How about a rematch?"
"Let's do it."
And so they sang another song.
"I-I can't believe it…"
Yamato exhaled, a triumphant smirk ever present on his handsome face.
"Heh. Don't issue a challenge you can't win—"
"How could I lose by one point?!" Mimi whined hysterically.
"Well, it's better than losing by five points, right?" Koushiro tried to console Mimi, patting her on the shoulder. He wasn't sure of how she would react to this, so his well-meaning shoulder pats came out awkward and a bit stiff. "Do you want some ice tea? My treat?" he gave her a soothing smile.
"Koushiro..." Mimi pouted. "I'd very much like an ice tea, thanks…" her gaze fluttered to a random spot in the room, her soul leaving her body. Koushiro lead her back to her seat.
"If you ask me," Yamato began, his ego slightly inflated by his victory, "she should've lost by—"
"Hush, you!" Sora clamped her hands on Yamato's mouth and dragged him back to his seat.
"Alright! Now that the microphones are back on the market, whaddaya say we have a good ol' brother-sister duet, Hikari?" Taichi spoke up, enthusiastic that the two mic hoggers were finally back on their seats.
"Okay, brother!" Hikari beamed and picked up a microphone. The siblings quickly picked a song and started singing, Hikari's soft voice adequately covered Taichi's horrendous one.
"Here you go, Mimi," Koushiro offered the ice tea to a still-sulky Mimi who sat in the corner, occasionally mumbling bitter things. She looked at him and gratefully took the cold glass from his hand before sipping the striped straw.
"Ish good…" she mumbled, the straw still in her mouth, absentmindedly stirring it inside the glass.
"I'm glad you like it."
Mimi stopped drinking from her straw. "I need to go to the bathroom," she sniffed, her features still sour. "I'll be back soon."
With that, Mimi strutted out the room.
"Yamato, you really…" Sora nagged as soon as Mimi was out of sight.
He just shrugged with indifference and continued to look through the song list, picking songs to later sing.
Mimi had not come back.
At first, everyone thought that she went to the bathroom to refresh herself. After 5 minutes passed, Joe said that she might've gone to the convenience store across the street to get snacks (despite the karaoke place having banned outside foods and drinks). After 15 minutes passed, Sora was starting to get worried, but Hikari assured her that maybe Mimi was fixing her make-up and accidentally messed it up (though Hikari herself thought it was unlikely). Now, at the 20 minute mark, Sora's worry for her best friend could no longer be contained.
"Okay, she has gone for too long. I'll look for her," Sora got up and pat her skirt pocket to ensure her cellphone was inside.
"You know, Sora," Taichi said, "Mimi is probably just sulking. You know, 'cuz of him." Taichi pointed his thumb to Yamato, who flinched upon hearing the accusation.
"Still… Someone needs to get her."
"I vouch Yamato go look for Mimi and apologize for his big-headedness," Taichi raised his hand. "All in favour say aye."
"Aye," the rest of the gang said and raised their hands almost all at the same time.
"Huh? Why me?" Yamato rose up in protest (he didn't like to admit it, but his ego had a larger hold on his judgment than he would like). "And how am I supposed to get her if she's in the girls' bathroom?"
"You're the one who pissed her off, that's why. Just knock the door and call her out," Taichi answered, choosing another rock song to sing. "If there's no answer, ask the janitor lady to go check the inside or something."
"Wha…"
The rock song started to play.
"Oh, I know this song!" Sora exclaimed.
"Alright, go get the other mic and sing with me, Sora," Taichi offered. Yamato stood dumbfounded. "What're you waiting for? Go get her—it's the official order of the Birthday King," Taichi smirked haughtily, elated that he was somehow able to order the (rather difficult) Yamato.
"Che, it's not even your birthday anymore…" Yamato grumbled under his breath as he stomped out the room, irritated.
(Yamato knew Taichi had a point.)
(He just didn't want to admit it.)
(Not out loud, at least.)
After 5 minutes of venturing into unknown hallways and getting lost (due to him still being slightly cranky and not paying attention to his surroundings), Yamato finally asked the karaoke staff where the bathrooms were located. Having given proper direction, he lightly jogged his way there, wanting to get everything over and done with. As instructed by the staff, he turned left, right and then took another left to arrive at the designated corridor. He stopped and looked around to find the bathroom sign at the very end of the hallway, around 50 meters from where he was standing.
From the corner of his periphery, he spotted a small head of golden brown near the doors to the bathroom, surrounded by two heads of blue and black, respectively. He noticed that the golden brown was Mimi, and the two other heads were two guys, wearing another school uniform, one wearing a blue beanie.
They looked like they were having a conversation—he was much too far to overhear what they were talking about. He leaned at the wall behind him and decided to observe for a while, unsure whether or not the two men were Mimi's acquaintance. 'I don't want to interrupt her conversation—might piss her off even more' was the excuse he gave himself.
"Hey, miss... Are you here on your own?" the guy with the blue beanie asked.
"Let's have fun with us, huh? Three is better than one, isn't it?" the other guy laughed, perverseness lacing his tone. "My name is Akira, and my friend here is Yuu." His laughter got even louder.
Mimi crossed her arms and looked at them in disdain. "Pardon, I don't speak Japanese," she uttered in fluent English. "Move out of the way."
"A foreign sweetheart, eh? I thought you were Japanese..." Yuu smirked. "But, that makes it even better! You know what they say about foreigners, don'cha?" he nudged his partner's chest with his elbow, grinning. Akira mirrored the expression.
Mimi couldn't help but threw up a little inside.
"Move already."
She rolled her eyes at the conversation that took place between them ("What'd she say?" "I dunno, should've brought your dictionary wit'cha, dumbass!"). When it was clear that neither man was going to give her way, she took matter into her own hands and started to squeeze her way from the small gap between Yuu and the wall, taking care not to touch any part of his body.
"Uh-uh-uh~ where do you think you're going?" He moved his body to the side and blocked the gap completely.
"Move." Mimi seethed. She wasn't in a happy mood when she left the bathroom, and this ordeal just burned her emotion even more.
"You're going nowhere, sweetheart," he grabbed Mimi's left arm and yanked her back to her previous place, slamming her to the wall. Mimi gasped in surprise, her expression contorted, showing the slight pain she felt on her back.
Upon seeing the movement, two things ran through Yamato's brain: 1) these guys obviously weren't Mimi's friends; and 2) he had to do something, now. His teeth gritted in anger as he ran in full speed towards the end of the hallway.
Mimi inhaled sharply, her eyes widening. "Someone please help—"
BAM!
The man with the beanie shouted in pain and stepped back, clutching his crotch.
"—this guy before I completely destroy his manhood."
Yamato slowed down his pace in awe, completely bewildered at the scene unraveling in front of him. Mimi stood tall over Yuu, her hands clenched into knuckles so tight her skin was turning white, her right leg stiffly held up after kicking Yuu in his private area.
"I told you to move, didn't I?" she said, dark aura emanating from her being.
"B-bitch..." Yuu spat, his face red with rage. "So you can speak Japanese! Oh, you'll pay for this! We'll make you pay! Get her, Akira!" he shouted, vein popping on his forehead. Mimi quickly brought both her arms to guard herself, her teeth grinding against each other, her legs ready to deliver another crunching blow. Akira prepared to dodge her kicks and reached out for Mimi's neck with both of his arms.
"Mimi!" Yamato called loudly, standing 5 meters from where the altercation was happening. Every party involved in said altercation seized their actions, Mimi in particular dropping her guard entirely upon recognizing the voice who called her name. "Yamato," she replied, barely a whisper. The expression she had told him that she hasn't finished her current business with the men.
"Let's go back. Everyone is waiting for you," he calmly strode over and pulled Mimi to his side by her arm. Despite having mixed feelings ('I'm still mad at you, you know.') she let herself be pulled by him, taking a mental note of how strong his grip was.
"Hey, we're not finished with you!" Akira yelled at Mimi.
"Is there a problem here?" Yamato stepped in front of Mimi and glared coldly at Akira. "You should know…if you mess with my friend, you're messing with me," he glowered.
"And it just so happens that I'm not as..." he paused, searching for the right word, "merciful... as she is," he gave a small, wicked smile.
Akira flinched before taking a glimpse at Yuu, who was still doubled up in pain. Akira quickly glanced at Mimi, only to find her with a fierce expression that told him she would be more than glad to continue this.
"Tch!" Akira turned away and helped Yuu stand up. "Let's go, Yuu." He glared at Mimi, "she's not worth the trouble." Yuu, in return, nodded weakly despite the anger that was still apparent on his face. The two men trotted away from Mimi and Yamato, the latter keeping his gaze fixed to the silhouette of the two men until they disappeared at the turn of the corridor.
"You know, that could've been dangerous," Yamato said nonchalantly, but people who knew him better would have sensed concern seeping through his voice. He and Mimi were on their way back to the karaoke room, Mimi walking on Yamato's left side.
She puffed her cheeks and pouted. "I can take care of myself. You saw what I did. I may not know aikido or karate or what-have-you, but I'm pretty damn sure I can get both of them on their knees, begging for my mercy," she chuckled darkly, her anger yet to subside.
"That's not what I meant," he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I don't doubt that they wouldn't get anywhere with you. In fact, if I hadn't been there, you'd probably tackle that other guy to the ground," his eyes instinctively looked up while he imagined the scene.
Mimi nodded, feeling proud of herself.
"But, if that had continued, you also would've exposed yourself to the possibility of getting two assault charges instead of one." He raised an eyebrow and glanced at her, questioning her judgment of not even attempting to scream for help (those hallways were reverberant enough to act as a make-shift megaphone, after all).
"Erk...!" she halted for a second, mentally scolding herself for not thinking of it first. "W-well, I highly doubt they would press charges considering their own action towards me," she huffed, trying to make light of the situation.
Yamato outright ignored her attempt. "Then the police would come and arrest you."
Mimi was silent, her eyebrows knitted in embarrassment. She didn't like where this was going.
(More importantly, she didn't like that he thought she was reckless.)
"Then you'd have to go to juvie," his eyes widened in wonder.
"I get it, Yamato, you can stop now."
"Then you'd be a juvie."
"Ishida, stop."
"Can you just imagine the horror on everyone's faces? Everyone's favourite Mimi Tachikawa as a juvie!" He laughed, putting his hand on his forehead at the hilarity of it all, a small tear forming at the corner of his eye.
"Stoooop argh...!" she pushed him softly, her face red. "I get it, I get it, I was rash, I should've asked for help first or something."
"Well, you kinda did. On their behalf, though, so I'm not sure how that would work—"
"Yamato stooooooop," she whined, her blush becoming a deeper shade of red.
He smirked and stopped his teasing. "...You wouldn't be alone in juvie, though."
Her face was a mix of slight shock and confusion. "Well, duh, I doubt they'd reserve a whole building for moi," she rolled her hazel eyes.
He shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Again, that's not what I meant."
She spiraled into even deeper confusion.
"If that had continued, I'd probably get charged for assault, too," he said, trying his hardest to make it sound nonchalant.
One of her groomed eyebrows raised in curiosity.
He noted her confusion and sighed. "I'm saying that if they still tried to get you to go with them despite having you kicked the beanie guy's, as you say, manhood,"Yamato mocked Mimi as she turned her head away in embarrassment, "I'd be charged for assaults, too."
She turned back to look at him, expecting him to say something for clarity.
"For kicking their asses," he finished.
She still waited.
"For trying to do something funny to you."
'Why do I have to spell everything out for you?' Yamato yelled inside his head, his ears turning red.
(He wasn't used to saying these things.)
She simply mouthed "ah" and gave a few nods in understanding.
They neared their karaoke room. She quickened her pace and got a few steps ahead of him, arriving at the room seconds earlier.
"Two things, Yamato," she said, her hand lightly placed on the handle.
He stopped and tilted his head to the left, waiting for her to continue her sentence.
"First," she held her index finger up. "Thank you for getting me out of that sticky situation. God knows I wouldn't have be able to handle two charges of assault," she continued, putting strong emphasis on the word two to mock Yamato's concern. He rolled his eyes playfully at her.
"It's a genuine concern, Tachikawa." His smirk was back.
She waved his statement off with her free hand. "And second," she held two fingers up, "if you were ever in danger, know that I will do the same for you." She smiled at him brightly, genuinely, sincerely.
He gave a lop-sided smile in response.
"Only if you scream and beg me to, though," she teased and stuck her tongue out at him before disappearing into the dark karaoke room.
For the nth time today, he ran a hand through his blond locks and sighed. And, just a little bit, he understood why everyone was so taken by Tachikawa Mimi.
(Just a little bit, though.)
A/N: I'm back! Work and other personal things had been taking up my time, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. As always, thank you very much for reading this story, and of course giving a review and this story an alert/favourite; it makes my day!
starrymilk: Hello, again! That's what I had thought, too! Maybe I'll write a chapter about it too! haha ^^ Yes, definitely, she's my faaaave because she's such a complex character!
Closet Libra: Thank you very much! I tried my best to make them in character ^^