Warning: Rated +13 for hinted sexual language.

Day 2 - Sports Day: The Game

Mimi woke up the whole house that morning, which was surprising because she usually sleeps longer on weekends. She had been waiting for this moment for the past two months and couldn't be happier it had finally arrived. She ran to the calendar hung behind her kitchen door and crossed the date, squealing in happiness as she returned to her bedroom.
"Hideaki, wake up." She jumped on the bed and started shaking her husband up. "We need to get ready, come on."
"Mimi, it's too early to wake up on a Saturday morning. Yasuhiko was more excited than usual last night."
"Yes, I know. He was anxious for his big day today."
"He surely was. Is he still sleeping?"
"No, my father offered to take him to school. The students had to be there a couple of hours earlier for the final practice and to concentrate for the event."
"I see." Hideaki rolled over on the bed. "We have what? One hour to get ready?"
"Pretty much. Aren't you excited to see our son participating in his first school event?"
"A lot. I'm sure he's going to do great at it."
"Me too. I'm so proud of him already."
"I know what you mean."
"Yeah, so let's go get ready. I don't want to be late and miss his game." Mimi jumped out of the bed and ran to one of her guests' room. "Palmon! Wake up, Palmon!"
"What is it, Mimi?"
"Today is Yasuhiko's baseball game. We need to go."

When Mimi walked into her living room, she found her mother crying heavily on the couch.
"Mom?" She sat down next to Satoe. "What happened? Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm so happy for my grandson."
"Those are happy tears?"
"Yes, they are. I can't believe he's so big already. It seems like you gave birth to him."
"I know." Mimi started crying too. "I miss the time when he was just a baby. Time goes by so fast."
"Why don't you have another child then?"
"Hideaki and I struggled so much with Yasuhiko we both agreed we would only have one child. Besides, he has so many friends to hang out with I believe he barely misses having a sibling."
"You may be right."
"My little prince is having his first baseball game this morning!" She rested her head on her mother's lap, soaking her pajamas pants. "I'm not ready for this moment."
"Neither am I, sweetheart. I think I'm going to cry so much I won't be able to watch his match."
"I can relate to that." Mimi sat down and wiped the tears from her eyes with her thumbs. "Alright, we should get ready. We're already running late. Where's dad?"
"Oh, he said he was going to stop by the bakery and buy some bread for us on his way back."
"Well, I hope he didn't get lost taking Yasuhiko to school."
"He should be here any second."
"Yeah. I have to start getting ready, or I'll be late for the match."

.

The Odaiba Elementary School was decorated especially for the match, with little red and white flags hung all over it. There was quite a crowd too, as the event was open for the public and family and friends from the members of the team could attend to it. Mimi talked all of the Chosen Children into going to see the star of the team, in her words. When both hers and Hideaki's families were about to sit on a bench, Mimi spotted Hikari coming from the dressing room and ran in her direction.
"Hey, Hikari!"
"Hey, Mimi. I'm just coming from the dressing room. The students wanted to see me and so did I, so I went to give them some encouraging words before the game."
"That's sweet." Mimi smiled, feeling really grateful she was Yasuhiko's teacher. Both women were really happy with that and that fact brought them closer. "I bet he loved seeing his favorite aunt."
"For sure." Hikari smiled back. "Do you want to see him? I think I can take you there."
"Would you do it? I haven't seen him this morning and really want to talk to him before he plays."
"Of course! Do you want to call Hideaki to come along?"
"Hideaki, I'm going to see Yasuhiko now." She looked over her shoulder. "Do you want to come along?"
"Sure."
"So, how is he?" Mimi asked Hikari as the trio began to walk towards the dressing room the students were gathered.
"He's a little nervous, which is normal in this situation. It may change after seeing you two. I'll be right back."

Hikari returned about a minute or two with Yasuhiko, who ran towards his parents and hugged them on the waists.
"Mommy, daddy!"
"Hey sweetheart." Mimi knelt down in front of him to be in his eye level. "Are you excited for the game?"
"Yes, but I'm also nervous. There's going to be a lot of people watching."
"That's true. But just pretend it's a regular class and no one is there. Focus on the game and forget everything else."
"What if I'm not that good at it?"
"Just remember what we practiced before and you should do fine." Hideaki knelt down beside Mimi and placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Believe in yourself. You can do this."
"Your father is right. We believe in you. We're proud of you, don't forget this, okay? We love you." Mimi hugged Yasuhiko tight. "Now go out there and kill it, like I know you can. And remember to have fun above anything else."
"I will." The child smiled widely. "Thanks mommy. Thanks daddy."
"This is important. Winning is good, but it's all about having fun. Now go back inside and finish getting ready for the game. It's going to start soon."
"Thanks, sensei." He gave Hikari a hug and then ran inside the dressing room.
"Good luck, son."
"He's going to be fine. We should go back. The others are probably here by now."
"That's true. Let's go."

.

The benches were much more crowded by the time Mimi, Hideaki and Hikari returned. It was a good thing the couple's parents stayed because they saved them two seats.
"Did you see him?" Satoe asked after she placed her bag on her lap.
"I did." Mimi nodded. "He's a little anxious and nervous for the match. Hopefully we were able to calm him down at least a bit."
"They are coming. The game is about to start."
Mimi opened the large bag she had brought along and pulled out a few pompoms with different colors and gave them out to hers and Hideaki's parents, as well as the kids of the Chosen Children.
"Mimi, what's this for?" Sora asked while she handed a purple pompom to Kouji.
"Isn't it obvious? This is for cheering for Yasuhiko and his team."
"That isn't very surprising, actually." She laughed.
"I want him to know we're all proud of him and are rooting for him."
"I'm sure he knows that already."
"Yes, but you know me. Besides, it can also help him feel more confident."
"Alright. Do you have an extra one? I'd like to help with it."
"I used them all, but you can have one of mine."
"Thanks."

The game had started about five minutes ago when Mimi decided to watch it near the fence. She was just that nervous. It was Yasuhiko's turn to hit the ball and Mimi was nearly biting her nails from anxiety.
"Come on, son! You can do this!"
He missed the first ball and felt a little disappointed. Mimi sensed something wasn't alright when he knelt down and looked at the floor.
"Come on, Yasuhiko. Look at me. Believe in yourself, remember? You got this."
"Remember what we practiced, son." Hideaki stopped beside Mimi. "Breathe and relax. Focus on the ball."
Yasuhiko looked at the pitcher, squinted his eyes and fixed his red cap as he waited for the boy to throw the ball in his direction. He shook the bat twice and hit the ball strongly, sending it flying very far away. Mimi jumped and screamed from the other side of the fence and hugged her husband, waving her pompom the whole time. She was able to hear Taichi whistling from the benches.
"He did it!"
"Good job, son!" Hideaki gave him a thumb up and the child did the same in return with a large grin on his lips.

Mimi didn't realize she had been holding her breath until the referee gave the final blow on the whistle and ended the match. At that point, she was sitting on the floor near the fence paying full attention to the game. She had completely forgotten about the pompons until she motioned to stand up again. She stretched her arms and Yasuhiko came running in her direction, jumping on her and almost making her fall.
"You were amazing! Mommy is really proud of you, my little prince."
"Thanks, mommy! I'm so happy we won!"
"Me too. You were the star of the match."
"Daddy!" Yasuhiko hugged Hideaki and the man picked him up. "Did you see the first time I hit the ball?"
"Yes, I did. That was quite a powerful hit. I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. Congratulations, buddy."
"Thanks, daddy."
"Go get your stuff. We'll be waiting for you."

.

When Mimi and Hideaki arrived Yasuhiko and their families, everyone else was already at the saloon waiting for them. They were welcomed by some screaming, clapping and cheering. The whole place was decorated in green, Yasuhiko's favorite color because of Mimi's partner and digivice color. Taichi immediately came in his direction and picked him up, placing him over his shoulders and holding him by his legs.
"The star of the party arrived."
The cheering and clapping became louder for a while and Taichi gave him a baseball ball, which the child quickly grabbed.
"Throw it to uncle Yamato as strong as you can."
"Taichi, you shouldn't be encouraging this inside here. It can hit someone else or break or ruin something. We don't want it to happen."
"Yamato is near us, Akiko. Nothing is going to happen."
"Okay, but just this time. Then play outside if you want to."
"Alright."
"That was a very nice throw." Yamato stated after he caught the ball. "No wonder why you are the best player of the school team."
"You really think so?"
"I know so."
"Hey, I 've got a soccer ball in my car. Do you want to play?"
"Yes!" The child replied as Taichi put him down on the ground.
"Are you in, Yamato?"
"Uh, I'm not sure. Sora and I are going on a date after we leave here and I don't want to get all sweaty, you know? At least not now."
"Dude, save me the details."
"Sorry. Anyway, I also don't think Mimi would want Yasuhiko to get sweaty too."
"It's just for a little while. Ten minutes and I'll stop."
"I seriously doubt you will only play for ten minutes."
"Want to bet?"
"I'm over gambling. I always lose."
"Chicken."
"Whatever."

The sun was still shining bright when the guests all gathered around the court, either to play or watch the match. Most of the children wanted to play and Taichi was the only adult there.
"I have a feeling you're gonna have a true athlete soon, if you let Taichi continue teaching Yasuhiko other sports."
"I have absolutely no doubt about it." Mimi replied. "It's so ironic because I've never been exactly a sports fan. It's a good think he has so many people around him who enjoy it, so I don't have to teach or play with him."
"You never wanted to learn one even with Hideaki playing with him?"
"Not really. I think I've had my share of exercises with school and having to run from evil Digimon at the Digital World."
"Mimi, we haven't run from enemies at the Digital World for about thirty years now."
"I know, but I still feel lazy and demotivated to do it. So I prefer to just eat instead. Besides, I can't put on weigh no matter how hard I try to."
"That's probably genetic."
"I think so too."

About an hour had gone by when Mimi called everyone back to the saloon. There was a cake with three layers decorated in red and white and a miniature edible boy with a red cap and dressed in a baseball uniform. The children were in awe with how beautiful it was.
"Mommy, when did you make this cake? I didn't see it in the fridge."
"Yesterday. I made it in the bakery and left it there. Some of my employees brought it over earlier today. Did you like it?"
"I loved it. But how did you know we were going to win?"
"I didn't. We would have a cake whether you won or lost. It was meant to be a celebration cake for your first baseball match ever."
"Cool."
"You can even have the first slice."
"Awesome."
"Pay attention to the knife, though. You can cut yourself."
Yasuhiko beamed with happiness when he cut the cake and saw it was chocolate with strawberry filling. He ate the first bite and his smile got wider. "Mommy, this is really good."
"You think so? I'm so happy to hear that." Mimi said happily and then went to cut more slices of the cake, being helped by Sora and Hikari in giving them away to the guests.

.

Mimi was drying her hair with a towel when she passed by Yasuhiko's room and found him staring at a red cap he was holding.
"Hey, sweetie. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine.
"It's a nice cap." She sat on the edge of his bed.
"Our coach gave one to each member of the team as an award for winning this match."
"That's very sweet. Today was a really cool and fun day, wasn't it?"
"It really was. I thought I was going to be more nervous, but I wasn't that much."
"I'm happy to hear that. Did you enjoy your party?"
"It was great. Thanks for the cake, mommy."
"You're welcome, darling. I'm glad you enjoyed, it was all for you."
"Mommy?"
"Yes, son?"
"Do you think I was good at the game this morning?"
"Of course! You were the star of the game."
"Really?"
"Absolutely. Oh I have something for you." Mimi picked up a silver bracelet in her pocket and showed it to Yasuhiko. "My father gave a similar one to me when I was a little older than you. He told me it was to make me remember where I came from."
"That's so cool, mommy!" The child exclaimed surprised and took the bracelet. He opened the small heart shaped charm and came across a picture of him taken a few days ago. "I don't remember seeing this photo before."
"Aunt Hikari took it especially for this bracelet. I hope it helps you remember your roots and that we'll always be here for you, no matter what."
"I'll never forget that, I promise."
"Good." Mimi hugged him. "Oh and you might want to wear it sometimes because it brings good luck."
"Really? I'm not taking it off then."
"Well, you better get some rest. Good night, sweetheart." She stood up and walked to the door.
"Good night, mommy. I love you."
"I love you too, son." She turned off the light and closed the door carefully.