Here we are, chapter 7. To the reviewers:

TheAceOfSpades96: Thanks a lot, even though this fic is primarily about Mimi and Izzy (and secondarily about Tai and Sora) I wanted to include some of the other Digidestined as much as possible.

Candified Smile: I'm trying to improve my character description and development in stories, so thanks for your kind words they mean a lot.

Koumi-Loc: Well I hope I can do the Koumi community proud with this fic once it's done.

"So I'll pick you up from your apartment tomorrow at six thirty?"

"Yeah, six thirty sounds great. See you then."

Izzy said his goodbyes and hung up the phone. Everything was set now; he had a time and a place and now that he had told Mimi it was only a matter of time before it all began.

It was Friday evening and the young genius had been putting off informing her for a couple of days now, every day feeling the weight on his shoulders to hurry up and organise the date. Now that he had done it, though, the pressure seemed to have become so much greater. As he thought about the next day, Izzy could feel only nervousness and dread, with none of the elation he had both expected and hoped for.

Flopping down on the living room couch, he placed his hands on top of his head before laying back and sighing deeply. Why was he feeling so down, he wondered. It was just the same as he had told Yolei three days ago; he should be on top of the world, but all he was doing was worrying. At first it had been about what his friends would say about him and about Mimi, but as the joking had subsided his doubts and fears had turned to the date itself.

He had waited so long to just ask her out, crippled by his own insecurity, but now that he had finally done it a whole host of new concerns had emerged like monsters from out of the mists of his subconscious. Was he taking her to the right place? Was she going to be bored while out with him? Did she like him enough for this to be more than a one off thing? Was he good enough for her?

All his fears had even gone so far as to affect his interaction with Mimi at school as well. Typically, he would be shy but still more than happy to talk to her. Ever since Sunday, however, he had not been able to interact with her without his throat seizing up, or turning away from her just so he could avoid a panic attack. Each and every day when he got home he would lie down on his bed and spend a good part of the afternoon cursing himself for acting like he did. Even so, without fail, the next day would bring more of the same. Izzy shook his head and groaned quietly to himself. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was going to throw up.

"Izzy, dear, who were you talking to on the phone?" came a soft and curious voice from behind him, causing him to jolt in his seat, "Are you going somewhere tomorrow?"

Izzy swivelled around on the couch to see his mother, Yoshie, standing not far behind, her face bearing a warm smile as she eyed her son inquisitively.

He had not told his parents about Mimi yet. He had not stayed silent with them for any particular reason, but something inside had kept nagging him, compelling him to keep his date a secret. He was unsure as to what it was that was holding him back, whether it was embarrassment or something else entirely. Regardless, now that he was being asked point blank by his mother there was no way for him to continue hiding it.

"Ah, I… I'm going to the movies, Mum." Izzy told her surreptitiously, still feeling the unconscious tug in his mind.

"Oh, with who?" Yoshie replied.

"With, um… with Mimi." Izzy revealed, averting his eyes from his mother and subconsciously rubbing the back of his head with his right hand.

"Is anyone else going?" his mother asked.

If Izzy had looked up, he would have seen the faintest flash of suspicion in his mother's face.

"N-no… just the two of us." Izzy told her, still not looking her in the eye.

"Izzy, your little outing with Mimi wouldn't happen to be a date would it?" Yoshie questioned, and the boy felt a knot tighten in his stomach.

"… Yeah." was all he could say.

At first there was no reply, which made Izzy uneasy. The silence was as suffocating as the words he had just forced himself to speak. Unable to keep looking away, Izzy looked up again and saw that his mother's lips were still curved into a smile, but now it had softened, and her eyes sparkled with something as she looked back at him.

"Izzy, that's wonderful. I'm so glad to hear that." Yoshie said.

Before Izzy could say or do anything else, his mother came over, leaned over the back of the couch and lightly embraced him, her long brown hair falling awkwardly over his face.

"You're growing up so fast." she whispered, and Izzy had the distinct feeling she was not talking to him.

"Mum…" Izzy whined a little, not knowing what else to say.

"Dear, you're embarrassing the boy." came the jovial voice of Izzy's father, Masami, who had just walked in from the study.

The man had a rolled up newspaper in his hands and what Izzy took to be a proud smile spread across his face. Yoshie let go of her son and stepped back to stand beside her husband. Both of Izzy's parents beamed at him and Izzy felt himself going red. They had always been supportive of him as a child, and now that he was a teenager he could see that this had not changed in the slightest.

"Congratulations son. I'm so proud that you finally plucked up the courage to ask Mimi out." Masami told him warmly.

Izzy could not help but grin at that, but then he realised something veiled in his father's words.

"Wait, 'finally'? You knew I liked her?" Izzy asked incredulously, standing up from where he had been on the couch.

Both of his parents glanced at each other for a split second before his mother answered him.

"Well, you're so close to all of your Digidestined friends and you hang around with them so often. I guess we just figured you would go after one of the girls sooner or later." she admitted, smiling at him.

So his parents could figure him out more easily than he had given them credit for, Izzy thought. He had assumed that because the fact he liked Mimi was such a shock to Tai and the others that no one else would have even suspected it. But it seemed that, while his mother and father had not been spot on, they were more intuitive than he had thought. But, when he considered it, they had always been able to sense when something was happening with him. Back in the day, while they had no chance of knowing the Digimon existed, they still knew that something had changed and had noticed his change in behaviour.

"C'mon, let's give him some space for now." Masami suggested to his wife, who quickly nodded.

Izzy's parents retired to the study, leaving Izzy standing in the living area, completely lost for words. The past week had already been full of surprises and he was beginning to wonder just how many more he could take before keeling over.

Gently taking a seat back on the couch, Izzy wondered why he had ever been reluctant to tell his parents about Mimi. They had always been behind him with whatever he wanted to do, and there was never any reason to think they would be anything else but happy for him to be spreading his social wings even wider.

Izzy felt another uncontrollable grin form on his face as he sat there. He had to try to remember from then on just how lucky he was to have parents like his.


"What's at six thirty tomorrow, sweety?" Satoe Tachikawa asked her daughter as she hung up the phone.

"Izzy's taking me out to see a movie and then we're going for dinner." Mimi told her happily, smiling to herself.

"Izzy? Oh, he's such a nice boy. Much nicer than that Derek character you used to see." her mother mused out loud, the latter sentence causing Mimi to flinch.

"Yeah, well that was-" Mimi tried to say, but her mother, oblivious to the fact that her child was speaking, continued her ruminations.

"Mmmm, or that boy Samuel. Yes, I never really liked him that much either." Satoe pondered to herself.

Mimi grimaced. Her mother was incredibly sweet, but her tendency to get lost in thought had proven to be most annoying on more than a few occasions. She was embarrassed to think that she was guilty of doing the exact same thing sometimes, seemingly having inherited the habit. But, as absent minded as Mimi could sometimes be, she was nothing like her mother, or at least not now, her younger self being a different story entirely.

After a good thirty seconds of Satoe vocalising her thoughts on her daughter's past relationships, Mimi decided that it was about time she brought her back to reality.

"Mum, as interesting as it might be, can you stop talking about my exes, please?" Mimi implored.

Satoe blinked for a moment and then smiled.

"Oh, sorry pumpkin. You know how I get carried away sometimes." she said and Mimi shook her head.

It was annoying, but it just would not be her mother if she acted any different.

"What's this I hear? Is someone taking my darling daughter out tomorrow night?"

The overly dramatic voice of Mimi's father, Keisuke, filled the living room as he strode in from the kitchen with a half eaten brownie in hand.

"Dad, don't-" Mimi began, but her mother cut her off again.

"Yes, little Izzy Izumi is taking her on a date tomorrow." Satoe said enthusiastically, strangely catching Keisuke by surprise.

"Izzy? Really? I always though that it would be that Ishida boy." he revealed, making Mimi do a double-take where she stood.

"Yes, he's a handsome young man." Satoe agreed, "And I always though that Joe Kido would be good for Mimi."

Mimi had her mouth hanging open and she felt her face heat up so much that she knew she must have been bright red. It was as clear as it had ever been before that she had not inherited an absent mindedness, and it seemed a certain lack of tact, from just a single parent. Still, despite having grown up with behaviour like that, she was still flabbergasted at what her mother and father were saying. She knew they meant well, but she was still about to die from a serious overdose of embarrassment.

"Mum! Dad! Would you stop pairing me up with all of my guy friends!" Mimi exclaimed, catching their attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry darling. You just have so many nice friends." Keisuke said as though nothing had happened and Satoe smiled, nodding with closed eyes.

Mimi could only sigh. She would not trade them for the world, but she still had to put up with her parents' antics on a daily basis; this just happened to be one of the few times that it ever bothered her. Still, both of them always managed to make up for it in some way, and what she would hear next would prove that this time was no exception.

"Mimi, we're so happy for you. We both think that Izzy is an excellent young man." Keisuke told his daughter happily.

"Yes, and we'd love it if you'd invite him over for dinner one day soon." Satoe added kindly, "Your father and I would love to get to know him better."

Mimi smiled. She just could not help it. As eccentric as they were, her mother and father never failed to show love and kindness, even to the point where it might have made most normal people uneasy, and Mimi found herself giving them both a hug.

After that she was jittery for hours before she eventually fell asleep. To her mind, things could not have looked better. Everything appeared to be going right, as though she had been blessed by something magical. Even as she drifted off in her soft, warm bed, her only thoughts were of the fantastic day that she hoped awaited her with the rising of the sun.


Tai and Sora were wandering around the park, hand in hand, as the full moon shone down on them from above. They had been out to dinner and were now spending the last hour before they were expected home chatting about nothing in particular, one of their favourite pastimes.

The last few days they had been swamped with so much school work that they had barely been able to spend any time together outside of class, and it had been Sora who suggested they take a night off together, a proposal that both were immensely grateful for. As the couple continued to stroll leisurely down the paved path, passing the fountain in the centre, their conversation turned to their friends.

"So Matt's still giving it to you over the whole 'dummy' thing?" Sora asked her boyfriend sympathetically.

"Yeah, but I think he's giving up now, I mean it got old pretty quick." Tai answered, chuckling at the name that had irritated him only a few days before.

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad in the first place anyway." Sora mused, receiving a snort from Tai.

"You're just happy that you don't have a younger sister that the little spy is best friends with." Tai quipped, nudging her arm as they walked.

Sora giggled lightly.

"Very true." she admitted jovially, "We really need to get some dirt on T.K. so he won't go blabbing to Matt."

"And Kari as well, because I'm pretty sure she puts him up to it half the time." Tai added with a snigger, "I swear her favourite thing next to being a little brown haired angel is psychologically torturing me."

The pair laughed heartily together before turning and grinning at each other, keeping their slow pace until they reached the park gate. Even though it was only ten minutes to ten the traffic was sparse and it made for a peaceful moment as the couple exited the park, still gently holding each other's hand, and stood together under the glow of a lamppost.

"We need to be home in ten." Sora murmured, both of them playfully swinging their arms back and forth.

"Yeah, I guess." Tai responded a little glumly.

"Aww, don't be like that, we can go out again tomorrow night if you want. I'm still free." Sora said affectionately, trying to cheer him up.

"But that's sooooo far away." Tai said jokingly, putting on a child-like voice and pouting.

"C'mon, walk me home." Sora insisted through a fit of laughter, to which Tai relented.

As they ambled home, held hands becoming a walking embrace, talk again turned to their friends.

"Tomorrow's the big day for Mimi and Izzy." Tai said, thinking of the nervous wreck Izzy must have been at that point.

"Yeah, Izzy'll be a mess tonight, won't he?" Sora replied, reading his mind.

"And knowing Mimi, she's probably bouncing off the walls right about now." Tai added and they both laughed at the very literal mental image that was conjured into both of their minds.

"Hey, if we're out tomorrow night we might just catch a glimpse of them." Sora pointed out, receiving a sceptical look from Tai.

"What? Are you suggesting we should st-" he questioned but Sora cut him off before he could finish, figuring out what he meant.

"No, of course not." she asserted, shaking her head, "I just mean we might run into each other by coincidence."

"Yeah, you wanna stalk them." Tai retorted with a smirk, earning him a soft kick to the shins. "Hey!"

Sora grinned back at him before releasing him and breaking away from his arms before he could do anything else.

"Cheap shot." Tai muttered, but still smiled back at her.

Sora poked out her tongue and laughed, which echoed gracefully through the mostly silent streets. Tai moved back over to her and both resumed the position she had just broken.

As they reached the bottom of Sora's apartment building they again broke apart and shared a quick goodnight kiss. Before she began the ascent to her apartment, the redhead turned back to face her boyfriend.

"You never gave me an answer before, y'know." she said genially, "You wanna go out for dinner again tomorrow night."

Tai smiled back at her out of the semi-darkness, broken by a few street lamps and the various apartments that still had their lights on.

"Hey, if it means getting a glimpse of what Izzy and Mimi are up to, then I'm game." he replied with a grin, "It's a date."