I don't own Digimon...does anyone out there know specifically someone who does? Because I'd like to purchase Joe. ^^v
(Seishuun Dettane)
Chapter Five
Mimi blissfully sighed as she kicked off her shoes. She leaned back on the sofa in the tidy karaoke room. "Ah...! My home away from home!"
Matt looked to the wall across from Mimi, which had the karaoke machine built into it. He sighed also, but his was one of dispair. "There goes the rest of this month's spending money."
Joe and Izzy walked in behind Matt and Mimi, and looked around.
"It's spacious." Izzy commented in approval.
Joe picked up a menu and the song listing, and sat next to Mimi on the sofa.
Mimi sat up, and crossed her legs. Joe handed her the song list, to which he immediately received a gratifying smile from Mimi.
Joe sat back in the sofa, and opened the menu, "Don't worry yourself too much, Matt. The prices here are pretty reasonable."
"That's a relief." Matt pushed back some of his hair.
"Ooh!" Mimi's attention was quickly diverted from the music list, and she turned to Joe. "Is that the menu? I wanna see!"
Joe closed it, and rose it in the air. "Say 'please'."
Mimi swiped at it, whining, "Please!"
Joe smiled, and handed it to her. "There's more than one, don't get too excited."
Mimi opened it, and she began to happily whimper. "Oh! Hotategae! Kani! Kappa maki! Ika! I want them all!"
Joe smiled, "Mind sharing some of those? We can order more that way."
"Sure! Let's get some tempura, too! I'm starving!" Mimi leaned over,and pointed to an item on the menu.
Matt and Izzy both exchanged glances as they stood next to eachother.
"...they're ordering together?" Matt whispered discreetly to Izzy.
Izzy blinked with surprise. "I had no idea. Maybe they..."
Matt folded his arms. "Beginning to feel ike a third wheel yet?"
Izzy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "We're jumping to conclusions, I think."
Joe turned from Mimi (who he was talking to all this time) and called over to Matt and Izzy. "You two! Are you going to take a look at a menu or what?"
Matt and Izzy blinked to attention, and walked over to Joe and Mimi.
Mimi stood, and walked over to the karaoke machine. "I'll start setting up the machine. Pick out some sushi, Joe!"
"Sure thing!" Joe called, and looked up to Matt and Izzy. His smile faded quickly, and his voice lowered to a hushed whisper. "You look upset."
"Joe, you and Mimi aren't on a date, are you?" Matt bluntly asked, to which Izzy looked a little shocked.
"Matt!" Izzy had a scolding tone in his voice.
Joe blinked, his face blank as he stared straight back at Matt, who wasn't wavering one bit.
Joe cracked a sheepish smile, and his shoulders shook as he quietly laughed. It grew louder in a few seconds' time, and he tilted his head back as he leaned back on the sofa to laugh harder.
Matt and Izzy both were a bit unsure of what to do next, but they both had dazed looks on their faces.
Mimi turned around from the machine. "What?"
Joe tried to calm his laughter. "M-Mimi! They asked if we were on a date!"
Mimi immediately burst into laughter.
"I guess not." Matt muttered as Mimi and Joe both cracked up.
Izzy smiled. "Feel foolish now?"
Matt cleared his throat. "Let's order already. An orange soda only holds me over for so long."
Mimi's laughter subsided a little bit after Joe's, and she turned to pull out microphones for the karaoke. "That's great...a date...!" She pressed a button on the machine to turn it on, and spoke into the microphone. "Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear!" Joe called back.
"Great, then how about I--" Mimi pressed on another set of buttons,and she was cut off by some nasty feedback screeching through the speakers.
Everyone covered their ears, and Mimi shouted above it, "I DIDN'T DO IT!!"
Izzy rushed over next to her, and began to mess with buttons. "WE JUST GOTTA BALANCE IT OUT!"
After a few more seconds of Izzy configuring, the screeching stopped, and everyone sighed in relief.
Mimi made an eager fist, "Okay! Back in business!" She grabbed a microphone and pushed a few buttons. "How about a warm up?!"
The boys heard a tamborine in the speakers, and Mimi grinned as she whispered in the microphone. "One, two...three-four-five...one, two...three-four-five...."
Matt looked up from the menu he was glancing over. "That's not..."
"Ryoko Hirosue." Izzy help up the music sheet. "Number 561--Five Seconds Before True Love."
Matt held his head. "Gyah! A teen idol!"
"A cute one, though." Joe looked up from his menu.
"Hey, hey! Listen to the chorus!" Mimi shouted into the mic.
The boys winced, and all smiled to Mimi. "Yes, ma'am!" They chimed.
"You were right in front of me, here by m'side, never said goodbye, although I was wrong. What is this I'm feeling? These thoughts in my head...it can't be logical!" Mimi pointed to the machine. "How do you turn it up??" She asked Izzy.
"Oh!" Izzy rushed over to the machine, and turned it up.
"I'm never one for logic anyway, I could be single any other day! I've savoured enough, this closed chapter of my life, these five seconds...before I fall in love..."
The guys applauded, and the waitress came into the room. "Excuse me...!" She politely called.
Mimi lowered her microphone, and Izzy shut off the machine.
"Ah! We're ready to order." Joe opened a menu. "It'll be seperate checks, please."
The waitress nodded.
"...but the young lady and I are together." Joe gestured towards Mimi, who walked over to Joe with her microphone.
She looked over Joe's shoulder. "Don't forget the tempura."
"Of course." Joe replied.
The waitress bashfully smiled to Mimi. "You sing really well."
Mimi laughed, and modestly put a hand to her face. "I bet you say that to all of your visitors!"
"Well, we'd like to start out with some sushi...ebi, tamago, ika, hotategae, kappa maki, and kani. then we'd like an order of ebi tempura." Joe looked to Mimi. "Is that alright?"
Mimi nodded. "Perfect!"
"I'll have an order of chicken yakitori and an order of kappa maki." Matt ordered.
The waitress wrote this down.
Izzy "hmm"-ed as he looked at the menu. "That leaves me." He paused. "I'll have the vegetable tempura I guess, with an order of unagi sushi."
"All right, then..." the waitress finished jotting down the orders. "And to drink?"
"Tea all around?" Mimi turned to the guys.
"Sounds fine to me." Joe replied.
Matt shrugged. "It's just a drink."
"Tea's fine." Izzy went back to configuring the karaoke machine.
Mimi's eyebrow twitched, and she trodded over to Izzy. "Hey, you! Socialize with something that breathes!"
Izzy help up a microphone to Mimi. "Test it?"
Mimi almost went cross-eyed as Izzy shoved the microphone in her face. She pushed it away. "I already started! Have Matt sing something!"
"Matt, come over here." Izzy flatly ordered after that comment.
"N-no way!" Matt backed up. "I haven't even picked a song yet!"
Mimi shoved the song listing into Matt's arms. "Then choose one, you doofus! We're charged by the hour, y'know!"
Matt looked at the listing, and Mimi turned back to Izzy. "Forget it, put on track 281."
Izzy nodded, and entered it. He took the sheet, and looked at it. "A kara-bara?"
"Look, if you have a problem with my song choices, you sing!" Mimi folded her arms.
Izzy waved his hand defensively. "You don't hear me complaining!"
"Oh, for pity's sake!" Matt stomped over to Izzy and Mimi, snatching a microphone. He tugged at the chord for a bit of slack. "Let's stop wasting time already."
"Yay! Matt's gonna sing for us!" Mimi clapped, and ran back to the sofa to sit on it.
Matt sighed, giving Mimi a "look". "Don't get too excited."
"I'm excited! I'm excited!" Mimi clapped in her seat. "I might be witnessing hte launch of Yamato Ishida's smashing solo career! Ooh! I'm envious!" Mimi enthusiastically pulled her knees to her chest.
Joe was still reclining on the sofa next to Mimi, and crossed his legs as their drinks came in. "Don't worry, Mimi. He'll never reach the ranks of karaoke princess."
Mimi giggled, "Oh, and I was so looking forward to seeing Matt with a tiara."
"Izzy, hit track 109." Matt ignored Mimi's comment, and Izzy nodded.
Mimi erupted with giggles as "Maria" by Eikichi Yazawa came through in the speakers. "Oh! That's an oldie!"
"It's only four years old." Matt replied right before siging the first verse.
Mimi squealed. "This is a riot! This song is so not Matt!"
Matt was keeping time with the music track by tapping his heel. He looked to Mimi, and pulled the microphone closer, and furrowed his eyebrows. "Hohoemu...omae ga iru yo...mabushiku hageshiku toki yo!"
"Kyaa---!!" Mimi made fists, and bounced a bit as she folded his legs on the sofa. "Awesome, Matt!"
Matt cracked a quick smile that was hidden behind the microphone. He looked at the floor, and took a more relaxed position. "Sono...egao ga...hashiraseta no sa...ano hi...no ore wo!"
Joe quirked an eyebrow. "Looks like he's going to perform for us tonight."
Mimi clapped. "He's really getting into it!" She turned to Joe, her eyes still bright and giddy. "Hey, if you're jealous or something, you could go up next!"
"Jealous?" Joe cracked an amused smile. "Of what?"
Mimi's smile didn't fade as she turned back to watch Matt. "You could sound a bit more enthused, Joe. Y'gotta admit..." She turned back to Joe, and shrugged, her brown hair framing her face softly. "...y'wanna try it?"
Joe stretched his arms out on the back of the sofa, and crossed his other leg. "I dunno, sounds nice, but..." he turned to look at Mimi next to him, and smiled crookedly. "...I'd really hate to have to make you pay for your meal."
Mimi frowned, and sighed. "Darn." She fell back on the sofa, and folded her arms.
Joe stiffened as he felt Mimi's shoulders resting against his arm. He uncrossed his legs, and shifted a bit as he discreetly took a quick glance at Mimi, who looked completely engrossed in Matt's enthusiastic performance. He flatly stared at Matt, and caught himself feeling slightly bitter. He scolded himself, and forced his mind to focus on more important things, like...where was the food? A few of the sushi orders should be here at least. He hated tamago sushi, so he'd let Mimi have his...and since he was allergic to shellfish,the hotategai was out. But if he remembered correctly, those were some of Mimi's favorites.
He looked to Mimi again, whose eyes were lowered almost bashfully. She had a pleasant smile on her face, which usually would strike Joe as at least looking cute, but Matt was still singing, so a sharp jolt of resentment struck his conscience again. He took his eyes off of her face,and tried to once again focus on something more important. Like...like...like how he'd have to be careful with the wasabi. Last time the gang ate together, before Mimi left for America, he had too much wasabi on a piece of ika sushi, and--he shuddered at the rememberance--a nosebleed was the result. Humilitating.
..but that was quite some time ago. What else to think about...? His eyes shifted around the room, but eventually ended up on Mimi again, now with some cute sort of blush showing up very subtley on her face. Neither of the other boys seemed to notice it.
Well, of course not...Izzy was back into his computer-worshipping with the karaoke machine, and Matt was enjoying hearing his own voice.
Where were all these thoughts coming from?! Joe thought to himself, and concluded that perhaps he was insulted that the two of them suspected him of taking Mimi on a date. First off, he had only been with her for approximately five hours, and second off, was it any of their business anyway?
Joe's eyes suddenly widned, and his heart jumped into the middle of his throat. His hand...th-the one behind Mimi, was resting on Mimi's shoulder?!
Wh-what's gotten into my hand?! Joe tensed in a panic, which caused his hand to squeeze on Mimi's shoulder. Nononono! Joe closed his eyes, and faced Matt again, preparing himself for whatever wrath Mimi would inflict on him in reaction. That did it. I'm a goner.
...was he dead yet? Nothing seemed to happen.
Joe opened his eyes, and nothing had changed.
Mimi lifted her chin a bit, but her blush was still apparent on her face. "Hey Matt! Sing another one!"
Matt lowered the mic to his side. "Why don't you do another one?"
"Because I don't wanna get up!" Mimi slowly scooted her foot to tap on one of Joe's.
At that, the waitress came in with some of the order. "Here's something to start with!"
Mimi scooted to the edge of the sofa, and Joe released her shoulder, and rested his arm on the sofa for a second. It felt numb...
"All right! Bon appetit!" Mimi lifted a pair of chopsticks. "Let's dig in!!"
Izzy set a bottle of soy sauce in front of Mimi, and pulled up a chair to the table. "Is this the starting half."
"Mmh!" Mimi mixed a lump of wasabi with soy sauce in a tiny dish, and passed it to Joe.
Joe's left arm felt as thought a 50-pound weight was duct-taped to it.
Mimi took up a piece of ebi sushi, and dipped it in her wasabi and soy sauce mixture. "Mmm! Wow, did I miss Japan!" She looked over to the karaoke machine, to Matt, was was looking at the songlist. "Hey Matt! Sushi's on!"
Matt looked up from the list, and Mimi held up a pair of chopsticks. "Unless you want me to eat yours, too!"
Matt set down the microphone, and walked over to the table in front of the sofa. "That was quick."
Mimi nodded, reaching over to pick up a piece of kappa maki.
Izzy quietly watched Mimi scarf down the sushi. He stuck a piece of unagi sushi in his mouth, and looked to Joe.
He held a piece of ika sushi with his chopsticks, and seemed to hestitate to eat it.
Mimi ate her piece of ika, and stood. "Okee! Back to the mic!"
Matt grinned. "All right! A dinner serenade!"
Mimi winked, and held up an index finger. "You don't get this every day!"
Joe ate his ika, seemingly more relaxed.
"Any requests? Anyone?" Mimi spoke into the mic.
"How about a song by Zard?" Matt called.
"Ooh! I love Zard!" Mimi cheered, and looked at the music list. "They've gotta have something by them!"
Izzy reached over for the soy sauce, and smiled at Joe. "Not hungry?"
"Hmm?" Joe looked to Izzy over the rim of his glasses.
Izzy pointed to the remaining piece of tamago with his chopsticks. "You're not eating very much."
Joe looked to the dishes, and began to move the remaining sushi onto one plate. "Just taking my time."
Izzy watched Joe stack up the emtpy sushi plates, and glanced to Matt, who was talking about music with Mimi. "Things will be a lot louder with her back."
Joe didn't look up from his plates. "Mm-hmm."
"Hey! Here's an idea!" Mimi knelt next to Matt, and pointed out a song on the music list. She grinned, and Matt grinned back.
"Hey..." Matt and Mimi both looked to Izzy and Joe.
Both boys had clueless looks on their faces.
Matt walked behind Joe, and pulled him up by the arms.
"W-waitasec!" Joe dropped his chopsticks.
"What are you doing?!" Izzy rose his voice as Mimi pulled him up.
"Setting up your musical duet!" Mimi giggled.
"Whaaat?!" Izzy and Joe pulled away from the two.
"Forget it. You promised you wouldn't force me to sing. We had a deal." Joe folded his arms.
Mimi giggled, and shook an index finger. "I promised that I wouldn't force you to sing. I never said anything about Matt."
Joe grimaced. I can't believe she outsmarted me, of all people...
Matt popped his knuckles. "We've got just the song, too..."
Izzy nervously laughed, and turned to Joe. "Whattaya say, Joe? Grab a mic!"
Joe looked to Izzy, and then back to Mimi and Matt, who each had confident looks on their faces. He gave Mimi a vengeful look, which simply made her smile wider.
"Aaaah...yume ga yume nara sore demo kamawanai...Moetatsu kimi to mitsu no magareru nami wo tayutau sugata..."
Mimi and Matt both cheered at the top of their lungs as the waitress set two tempura dishes and Matt's yakitori on the table.
"This song is perfect for you two!" Mimi squealed.
Both Joe and Izzy bashfully hid behind their microphones as the steady karaoke track played. They were doing a good job of staying togheter, but both were as stiff as a board.
Mimi held up a piece of tempura, and waved it in the air. "Finish the song, then I'll take over so you can eat!"
"This has got to be the longest track on here!" Izzy covered the mic with his hand, and whispered to Joe as the interlude played.
"Did you expect otherwise?" Joe mumbled back.
"Okay, so their pitch wasn't perfect. Isn't that the point of karaoke?" Mimi defended the two as they sat down.
"Isn't it grand to have Mimi as our advocate?" Joe muttered across to Izzy, who picked up a piece of broccoli tempura.
Izzy shamefully kept his face lowered. "With a friend like Mimi, who needs enemies?"
Joe dipped a piece of ebi tempura into the dashi. "I think Tai said something like that once..."
"Heyhey! You didn't let me finish!" Mimi pointed her chopsticks at them. "I was going to say how cute you two looked up there!" She turned to Matt. "Weren't they, Matt?"
"You're asking me?" Matt bit the last piece off of the skewer he was holding. Mimi shot him a glare, and he forced a grin. "Precious."
"But you can forget it now. I'm not one to compliment people who have just insulted me." Mimi folded her arms and turned up her nose. Hearing only a snicker from Matt, she turned to look at Izzy and Joe, and nearly fell over.
They were reaching over the table, holding eachother's hands like two excited schoolgirls. They had blissful smiles on their faces, and sincerely hopeful looks in their eyes.
"Did you hear that, Izzy?"
"We have bad pitch!"
"And what's more, we looked cute! Do you know what this means?"
"Are you implying...?"
"Yes! We might be the next Kinki Kids!" (Authors note: An idol group consisting of two young men.)
Mimi could tell they were mocking her now.
"Ah! Prodigious!"
"And Mimi could be our manager! She discovered us!"
"Enough already!!" Mimi shouted, her face red.
Joe and Izzy looked to Mimi simultaneously.
"I think we've created a monster." Matt grinned.
"Want us to do another one?" Izzy asked with an enthusiastic grin. He leaned across the table and handed Joe the song list. "Look, they have Kinki Kids on here."
"No! Not another idol!" Matt groaned.
"Excuse me! I happen to like the Kinki Kids!" Mimi rose her voice at Matt.
"You would..." Matt commented below his breath.
Joe turned his wrist over to look at his watch. "Anyone have a curfew tonight?"
Everyone looked at their watches (except for Mimi, who was never one for carrying a watch...).
"Ouch." Matt winced. "Our time's almost up."
"We could buy a few more hours!" Mimi bit off a piece of ebi.
"We better not...it's late." Izzy suggested.
Mimi whined deep in her throat, "I know..."
"There's always tomorrow, Mimi." Joe smiled. "Cheer up, I'll take you home."
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Blah. ;.; This was for sure my worst chapter yet. It might have its moments, but it certainly didn't end well. I promise, promise, promise that the next chapter will be good! ^^ If anything, there will be a lot more Taiora, and even some TK/Kari/Davis stuff! ^^ Ne? I think you'll look forward to it...
Oh, and all of the songs mentioned here are really songs. The reason I did the other songs in Japanese is because a) I can't seem to write karaoke versions of them off the top of my head right now...and b) they sound better in the Japanese.
You can find all the songs mentioned somewhere...I'd try Napster. If not, I'll gladly make some MP3s off of my CDs, so you can know which song Matt was singing, and the Joe/Izzy duet.
Oh! One other thing. The reason I chose Japanese songs, even though in this story, I'm writing the English version is because I can't seem to find any English songs that I could picture the characters singing without it seeming lame. These songs are far more fitting for the characters, IMO. Forgive me. ^^;
I promise, next chapter will be well worth your time! This was kinda-sorta a transition scene...next chapter: Mimi and Joe part from Matt and Izzy, and wind up at the soccer field where Tai's game is. ^^ I'll work really hard on some better material this time around. If anything, I'll do some Taiora stuff or something. (I think my completion of chapter ten of The Unicorn Academy has me burnt out a bit...)
Mimi