"Slow Burn" (def): An attraction for someone that is not instant, but grows over time.

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Chapter Two: The Grey Area

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It was Friday already and what Mimi hadn't anticipated was her first week of Freshmen year would already be over. It went by in a haze of orientations and stumbling through campus to find her classes. It was a small blessing that she had Sora as a roommate, the girl had been a literal god send. And Mimi could safely say that it took absolutely no time at all for her and the redhead to get right back on track with their friendship.

She also couldn't help but notice how popular Tai was on campus, she had seldom hung out with him alone but the once or twice that she did there wasn't a five minute interval that went by where they didn't get interrupted by a cheerleader or a teammate or an acquaintance of his. It was no wonder the soccer star had such a big head.

What was the weirdest (and entirely too ironic) thing of though was that she had spoken to Matt less than she ever had in the past week than she ever had in the last seven years. For some reason, they had a very conflicting schedule, but she hoped since all of her freshmen orientations were now over and she had a good sense of the campus, they'd find more time for each other.

She missed her friend.

So when Matt showed up at her dorm around noon, Mimi tried her hardest not to show how thrilled she was at the thought of lunch with him.

"You're not a fan of your pizza huh?" Matt asked Mimi.

It was the first time they had been alone together.

Mimi shrugged a shoulder, "It's alright. I guess I'm still getting used to the food here." She sniffed.

"It's not New York gourmet so I assume it'll take a lot of getting used to." He teased.

She stuck her tongue out at him, "I'm pretty good at the whole adapting thing, Ishida." She told him.

"Is that right?"

"Yeap, just like a chameleon, baby. Super blended and totally adjusted."

"Sounds more like a smoothie, if you ask me."

"Well did you hear someone asking you?" Mimi cupped a hand over her ear. "Yeah me either." She said after a second.

"Real mature."

And just to further validate his statement Mimi responded by sanctimoniously sticking her tongue out at the blonde.

Matt chuckled, "So do you really wanna go to this party?" One of Tai's soccer buddies, Sam, who Matt knew only by his relation to his friend Ken, was having a party at the frat house.

Mimi nodded, "I think it would be a good idea. Especially to like meet people and stuff." She had always been a social butterfly and unlike most people she didn't shy away from the unknown. If there was one thing her abrupt move to New York had done for her it was to give her a sense of self confidence that allowed her to thrive in new situations.

"Drunk people, which I'm not sure are that pleasant to meet."

Mimi rolled her eyes, of course this was his reaction because Matt being the eternal loner that he was, parties were so not his scene.

But for some reason, the cool demeanor and stand off-ish attitude really did attract quite a few number of ladies.

Well, perhaps they couldn't be classified as ladies, but the gender all the same.

Mimi stole a French fry out of his plate, "It could be fun, Ishida." She said between bites. "Besides, maybe you could get the word out about your band or something?" She suggested brightly.

His band was on a temporary hiatus but he didn't want to dampen her mood by reminding her of that, especially when she looked so damn optimistic. "Maybe." He gave her a short smile.

"So Tai is a lot more tail crazy than I remember." By which she meant that he really would hit on anything with two legs and a female part between them.

Matt let out a small laugh. "Yeah, odd how that happened…" He said. "Thought you were basically the hottest girl he'd ever seen on campus when he first saw you."

Mimi blushed, "Shut up, no he didn't." She tucked her hair behind her ear sheepishly.

"Swear. Had to talk him off the ledge between friends and benefits." He winked.

Mimi looked down at her food, practically mortified, as the blush up from her neck. "Stop it." She said.

"Do you not think you're attractive?" Matt asked curiously.

Mimi briefly wondered if Matt had ever thought of her in the way that Tai did. She knew he thought she was beautiful, but she always chalked that up to the same sentiment her family had towards her, that she was a beautiful person, quote unquote.

But, hot? It was hard to imagine him thinking that.

Mimi shook herself out of her thoughts, "I mean, I've never had much trouble in that department." She said honestly. "But my embarrassment was more related to who was saying it than what was being said." She clarified.

"Ah, of course."

"Yeah."

"Well, if you were ever in need…"

"Yes, Tai is at my service. Got it."

Matt chuckled again as Mimi made a face at him. "Anyway, hotshot boy band lead singer guy, any college girls catching your eye?" She raised an eyebrow.

Matt cleared his throat, "Haven't really paid much attention if I'm honest." He said with a shrug. "There's no shortage though so I'm not worried." He assured her.

"Zoe was pretty." Mimi pointed out grudgingly.

The girls seemed like a total bitch, but truth be told she was drop dead gorgeous. And the eyes she made at Matt were pretty much obvious to anyone and everyone, probably except Matt.

"Zoe?"

"Cute girl, all legs and attitude. Came up to us that first day and invited us to the Pi Sig party." She reminded him.

Matt snapped his fingers, 'Right, the blonde." He said with a nod of recognition. "Yeah, she was definitely good looking." He remembered, but his tone was indifferent. "Not really my type though."

"What, not into leggy blondes with model-esque features." Mimi said, letting out a snort.

"Too high maintenance." He waved off. "I like simple, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Right, well you would know. You probably know me better than anyone else."

Mimi's eyes snapped up to look at him, it was kind of an unsaid fact between them that they opened up to one another more than anyone else, but this was the first time she'd heard him admit it. And it was validating because all the while she had assumed it to be true about herself, she knew he was basically the person who knew her best, she wasn't sure if she was that person for him.

He had all his old friends, old relationships, they didn't go anywhere and neither did he. He had no reason not to be just as close with Tai and Sora and Tk, if not more, as he was with her. She didn't have that bond with anyone else, no one she had bothered to keep in close contact with or vice versa. It had always just been him.

But to hear Matt tell her she was that for him too, felt good.

"What?" He asked her, looking at her through quizzical blue eyes.

Mimi shook her head, "No, nothing." She said. "Though yes, I suppose if there is anyone who would be able to set you up efficiently it would be me."

"But please, do not take that as an affirmation of me wanting to be set up."

"Oh relax, Ishida. You haven't reached the blind date level of pathetic, yet."

"Not that you'd even have anyone to set me up with, I mean how many people do you even know here?"

"Just as many as you, probably." Mimi rolled her eyes.

Matt wasn't exactly what anyone would call approachable.

"Touché. But I'm not going to be setting you up with anyone, ever. So that's kind of moot where I'm concerned."

Mimi sighed, "I don't think I'll be needing your assistance anyway. But thank you for the lack of consideration." Never in a million years though would she want to be helped on a date by Matt, it would be too weird.

"You know, it might be kind of bad for me to have you in my life in tangible form." He thought out loud.

"Hm, why's that?"

She took another fry off his plate as she waited for his answer.

"Well, I mean before, there wasn't much I could do if a guy broke your heart or whatever it is that happens to girls in relationships." He started. "But now… I mean it's different, I kind of have to kick a dude's ass if he decides to screw you over." He said thoughtfully.

"You don't have to do anything, Ishida." Mimi said levelly. "I'll have you know I'm practically an adult and can handle my own affairs with a lot more finesse and grace than that of which an ass-kicking could provide."

"See, I didn't get any of that. All I hear is affairs and ass-kicking. So the way I see it, you're giving me the green light to punch someone's teeth out if they cheat on you. Right?"

"You're incorrigible."

"Only when it comes to you." He winked.

"Use that charm somewhere it'll take, Ishida."

Matt chuckled again, "But that's the beauty of it, the fact that it doesn't take. I only use my charm on girls I can't have."

Wait a minute, was he… flirting with her?

Mimi felt her eyes widen at the silent realization, "But that's by design, I've always assumed." She recovered, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the thought that had just invaded her mind.

She was definitely wrong, she had to be, Matt would never. He didn't see her that way.

"Ah, now what is it that happens when you assume?"

"Ass of me and you. I know, though I think this is less of 'a shot in the dark' scenario and more of an 'I'm almost certain but have never gotten verbal confirmation' scenario."

"And if there is no verbal confirmation?"

"What are you doing, Ishida?" Mimi demanded.

He began laughing. "Seeing how far I could push this until you got annoyed." He said between breaths.

Mimi tried to keep the frown on her face, her brows furrowed in irritation, but it wasn't long before she was lost in a fit of giggles herself.

She let out an inward sigh of relief, nothing was different, they were still the same and her coming here wasn't a mistake.

"You're ridiculous."

"And you ate all my fries."

-x-

The frat house was kind of like she had seen in the movies, except, well not. It was a lot more lavish and loud and there was a distinct smell of marijuana that hit her like a ton of bricks as soon as she walked in the door.

"Wow…" So this was college, huh?

The music was loud, practically deafening, the place was packed almost wall to wall and everyone had a drink in their hand.

"It's not too late for Netflix and monopoly." Sora nudged her.

Mimi shook her head, "No way. We came here to have fun and damn it if we don't!" She said determinedly.

Matt just shook his head, "Why do I have the distinct feeling this is gonna be a bad idea?" He muttered.

But no one heard him.

He looked to his right, to see Tai practically salivating at all the scantily clad girls and he knew he would spend the majority of the night playing wingman. The thought alone was enough to search for wherever they had the liquor.

"We're gonna head to the bathroom!" Mimi said, but the boys couldn't hear her.

So instead she pointed at her phone and let them know she would text them, before letting Sora pull her deeper into the house.

Matt barely got a chance to get a word in before he lost them in the crowd. But it wasn't long before he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, he turned around to a familiar pair of blue eyes. "You came!" She said with a smile.

She gave Tai a hug, before handing them both cups. "You two look like you need it." She said.

Was this tall, blonde and leggy that Mimi had been talking about?

"Zoe." She introduced herself again, seeing the slight look of confusion on his face.

Matt nodded, "So… nice party you got—

"Come meet my friends, both of you!" And before he knew it he was being weaved in and out of groups of people, Tai right beside him grinning like an idiot.

She stopped abruptly, a few people giving her nods of recognition which made it easy to assume that these were her friends that she was so eager to introduce them to.

"This is Rei." A girl of about five foot seven or so, with long black hair greeted them with a reserved wave.

She was beautiful, and Matt usually wasn't one to dole out that compliment lightly. His standards were a bit higher than Taichi's, considering the boy would basically nail down anything with a pulse, but she really was.

"Matt." He extended a hand out to her, she shook it without hesitation.

An unreadable look crossed Zoe's face, before she moved. "And this is Catherine and Relena." The other two looked a lot like Zoe herself, mirroring her blonde hair but one with green eyes and the other with cerulean respectively.

They, unlike Rei, gave flirtatious winks towards the two boys. "You're Tai Kamiya." One of them giggled.

Tai took a sip of his drink before straightening out his shoulders. "The one and only." He answered with a degree of coolness that Matt still was not used to.

"People are talking about you, you know? How you're going to put TU soccer on the map this year."

"You had a phenomenal year as a freshmen, my brother watched all your games."

"Well, tell your brother to come down for the meet and greet next Saturday, I'd love to meet him." He said smoothly.

Tai was a remarkable soccer player, there was no doubt about that, he lived breathed and slept soccer. It was his wife, mistress and girlfriend all in one, which explained why the brunette was yet to have a steady girlfriend. However, his over confidence always annoyed Matt, it was too show-boaty.

"Yes, you are incredi—" But Zoe didn't finish her thought, getting sidetracked by someone she saw.

She went after them, excusing herself.

"There you guys are!" Mimi announced from behind the two boys. "We leave for the restroom for like two seconds and you two disappear on us?" Matt turned to face a ticked off looking Mimi, arms crossed across her chest.

Sora, seemed equally as annoyed.

Matt leaned in a little closer to the petite brunette, "Sorry, we kind of got ambushed." He apologized loud enough so she could hear him.

Mimi just rolled her eyes, "You're forgiven." She said, taking his drink out of his hand.

"Look, look who I ran into Rye!" Zoe returned with a guy dragging behind her.

"Ryo! My man, how's it goin?" Tai greeted him with a handshake-hug. "Is the rest of the team here?" Tai wasn't much of a planner or a texter.

"Sam, obviously. JP & DM are around here somewhere, but you know curfew and all a lot of the guys were too scared." He laughed.

"Matt, how are you, my brother?" Ryo greeted Matt warmly.

Matt had met Ryo increasingly over the course of the last year as his and Tai's friendship began to grow.

Matt gave the brunette a silent nod, taking a sip of his drink.

His green eyes then settled on the two girls beside Tai.

"Sora, nice to see you again." He leaned in for a hug.

Sora reciprocated it with a small smile, "How was your summer?" She asked politely.

"Went off shore to the Caymans for a bit, can't really complain." It was no secret his family had money and with the way his step sister spent it, they had no other choice but to.

His eyes then fell on the brunette beside Sora. "Ryo Akiyama." He introduced, his green eyes discreetly panning the length of her. "And you are?"

"Mimi Tachikawa." She said, barely loud enough to be heard over the music.

"Mimi, that's a pretty name."

"Just two syllables repeating themselves, but thanks." She was disinterested, but he loved a challenge.

One of the blonde girls—either Relena or Catherine—took the opportunity to sidle up next to Tai, engaging him in a conversation.

"Oh! This is Sam." Ryo grabbed a guy who was passing by in a hurry. "It's his house."

Mimi just smiled, as Sora went up to greet him with another hug. This one was a lot less formal than the one she had given to Ryo.

The way Sam looked at Sora was also a lot less…formal.

Matt seemed to know him as the two of them exchanged some conversation as Sora came back to Mimi's side.

"Why does he look so familiar?" Mimi said quietly.

"Ken's older brother." Sora answered. "He's a senior."

After that emission, it all made sense, the raven hair, cobalt eyes. He was just a facial hair adorning, dimpled, older version of Ken Ichijoji.

And boy, was he handsome.

A few minutes later, the boys came back over to the fold but Tai was no longer visible.

"How's the old tennis arm, Sora?" Sam asked.

"A bit rusty." She hadn't really played since high school. "Surprised you remember." She said with a small smile.

"You shouldn't be." He winked. "Can I interest you in a drink?"

Sora exchanged glances with Mimi, silently asking her friend if it was alright with her. Mimi gave her a subtle smile and nod, encouraging her to go with the cute frat boy with the gorgeous house. "Details." She mouthed as the redhead accepted the dark haired boys invitation.

"Perhaps I can get you a drink as well?" Ryo asked Mimi.

"I've got one." She held up the drink she had taken from Matt's grip. "But maybe Matt's interested." She cocked her head toward the blonde with a smirk.

"I can get him one." Zoe jumped in, untangling herself from the conversation she had been having with Rei and the blonde who wasn't with Tai. "Join me?" She sent him a coy smile over her shoulder.

"I uh…" He was torn, because part of him did kind of want to go with her, she was absolutely beautiful and she was so obviously interested. But he also didn't want to leave Mimi alone, especially not around this Ryo guy who did not seem to be taking the very clear hint.

But Mimi shook her head, "Go." She gave him a light push in the girl's direction.

"No I think I'll—

"Matt." She gave him a patient look. "This is a party. We're supposed to mingle and meet new people and all that college jazz." She told him. "So go."

Matt stared at her. "I don't know." He said hesitantly.

"Matt, I'll be fine. I'm a big girl and it's just a party." She promised.

"Fine, I'll be back in literally five." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Don't. Move." He instructed.

"Aye, aye." Mimi saluted him playfully.

"And then there was one?" Ryo wasted no time in taking the spot Matt had just vacated

Mimi sighed into her cup. "Hello." She said, before taking a long sip.

"So I'm becoming increasingly aware that perhaps my usual lines may be of no use in this situation."

"Perceptive."

He chuckled. "In my defense though, I usually just sort of walk up to a girl and I don't even need to introduce myself." He mentioned.

"What a humbling experience that must be."

"Quite the opposite, but I was sensing a great deal of sarcasm there so perhaps you already knew that."

"Wow and here I thought all jocks were dumb. Thank you, for just shattering that stereotype." Mimi drawled.

Another chuckle, "You know, if I were sensitive and more in touch with my feelings I might be offended." He joked.

But it didn't even get the girl to crack a smile.

"That was a joke, because you were calling me a dumb athlete and typically they're not—

"I got it." She held up a hand. "But like…I have a question for you."

"Anything." He said eagerly.

"This whole you hitting on me thing is clearly not working, I mean you can see that… right?" She arched an eyebrow.

No response.

"And with a plethora of more than willing girls to choose from—ones who I might add, you wouldn't even need to introduce yourself to—why do you continue to waste your time?"

"Well, I don't give up easy." He answered. "Besides, I love a challenge. For example, I suck at crossword puzzles but every Sunday I do them anyway because well, see above."

"I hate crosswords."

"See, we're already getting to know each other." He winked. "Won't be long now."

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

"Sooner or later, princess." He said with a grin, before walking away.

And even Mimi couldn't help but notice how cute that grin was. It wasn't that Ryo wasn't easy on the eyes, because he really was. The eyes, the hair, the athletic build and height, it was all there. Even had the right amount of confidence that teetered on being cocky but never actually crossed over.

But she wasn't a fan of athletes, they were too preoccupied.

Thankfully, she didn't have to think about it too much longer because Matt and Zoe had returned. She was mildly shocked that Matt didn't have an overly annoyed look on his face and even seemed like he might be having a decent time.

"Oh good, you're still here." Zoe said a bit breathlessly, which lead Mimi to wonder why exactly that was.

She didn't let her mind linger on it too long though because it was uncomfortable.

"Cute top, by the way." The blonde complimented. "Great color on you." Seemed sincere enough.

"Thanks, love the shoes." Mimi gave back an equally shallow compliment out of courtesy.

"So Matt tells me you just got here from America?"

Mimi didn't bother hiding her surprise at the fact that she had come up in their conversation. "Yes, well I moved there when I was eleven." She clarified.

"New York?"

The brunette nodded.

"Cool, I spent a couple summers there. Great shopping."

Mimi nodded again, "Nothing like the City." She agreed.

"So what made you come back here?"

Jeez, this girl was invasive and coming from Mimi that really meant something. "New York's great, but this is home for me." She said, because there was no way she was gonna go into the specifics of the truth.

Seeing the growing look of discomfort on his friend's face, Matt decided to intervene. "Zoe here was telling me how she is also a drama major, isn't that something?" He chimed in.

"What a coincidence." Mimi said with a smile.

She really wasn't sure about this Zoe girl at all, but she decided not to come off too passive aggressive just yet because she had been the one who had been so pushy about coming out and meeting people and all that.

"Well, I'm technically undeclared." She said. "But drama seems like it would be fun."

"Yes, much more fun than being a Physics major." She gave Matt a pointed look.

Matt laughed.

"Oh goodness, is Catherine still with Tai?" Zoe changed the subject without warning.

"Yeah, they probably won't be back anytime soon." Matt said knowingly.

Mimi inwardly blanched.

"I um, am gonna go find Sora." She said, excusing herself.

Matt caught her wrist before she could get too far, "Want me to come with you?" He asked honestly.

She knew it wasn't to get away from Zoe, trying to use her as a diversion tactic, he was really asking out of concern. And while that as sweet, it was also unnecessary.

"It's okay." She shook her head. "I'll be fine." She closed her hand over his for a second, before removing it from wrist.

"Are you—

"Yeah, Matt. I am." She interrupted him. "Really."

He looked at her a second longer, blue eyes boring into her hazel ones.

Mimi shied away from the intensity in his eyes, breaking the contact as she walked away.

-x-

A/n: So that's chapter two, let me know how it was and all that. I appreciate all your views and reviews and look forward to hearing from everyone, hopefully with some comments, feedback or even criticism on how I can make it better :)

Other than that, I hope you guys like it and I'll see you next time!

Enjoy!