Even My Baby Brother... A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit
Anyone remember the scene in Season 01 where the Digidestined are talking about what they miss, and Mimi says, "I even miss my baby brother!" Well, they never mention this 'baby brother' again. He was probably just a little side tangent that appeared in the translation by accident...but I kept wondering, what would it be like to be Mimi Tachikawa's little brother? Well, that's the idea behind this fic. I made him seven years younger than her; I think three counts as 'baby' in Mimi's eyes, or at least it would have when she was eleven. The story takes place in America, where Mimi's family moved.
"...and wouldn't it be great to have him for a boyfriend?"
Tomoki Tachikawa grinned, listening in on the girls' conversation with his buddies Jake and Ryan.
"Dude, you are so lucky," Jake hissed, elbowing him in the side. "I would give a random body part to have Ashley Kidd after me."
"Not too random," Ryan warned, and snickered.
Tomoki rolled his eyes. Being eleven and all, he had little interest in girls...or at least, less than his hormonally hyperactive friend. Jake had hit twelve recently, and seemed to think this made him a bona fide expert on the female species.
"I can't help it," he whispered back. "You can have...hang on a second..."
Ashley was still grinning, but now her friend Carolyn had stepped in, a skeptical look on her face.
"Uh-huh. Ashley, you just want to hang out with his sister."
Tomoki winced. Carolyn was the original cynic, but Ashley would put her in her place.
"Well...maybe..." Ashley giggled, and the rest of the cluster of girls eating lunch in the science classroom joined her.
Behind the door, Tomoki swallowed. His friends were looking a bit confused.
"I mean, think about it! To get to spend time over at Mimi Tachikawa's house? She's so cool! Look at her clothes; she's always bringing back fashions from Japan, or designing her own..."
"And she's practically a jetsetter!" another girl, Tansy, squealed. "She's in Japan half her days off...I know the Tachikawas are rich, but honestly! That's awesome!"
"Plus, she's so pretty," Alicia spoke up with a smile. Alicia was one of the prettier girls in the fifth grade, so she would know. "She could teach you to apply makeup."
Ashley gave her friend a playful shove. "Alicia, I'm not even allowed to wear makeup yet," she scolded.
"She's nice, too..."
"And so friendly..."
"She's going to be a model, I bet..."
"I'd love to have her for a sister..."
As the conversation turned fully to his older sister, Tomoki turned and slouched away. His friends noticed and followed him.
"Dude...tough luck..."
Tomoki shook his head at Ryan's attempt to be sympathetic.
"'Tsokay. I'm used to it."
"That really bites, though," Jake said, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Tomoki stopped, but didn't shake him off. "Really, I'm used to it. Sometimes I think my place in the world is just as 'Mimi's baby brother'. Mention me once, then get on to the interesting Tachikawa and forget about me."
"Don't talk like that, dude," Ryan said, joining them on his other side.
"Yeah...I mean, I know she's a babe, but-"
Tomoki whirled. "Don't talk about my sister like that!"
"Whoa!" Jake said, stepping back. "Sorry, man! I was just saying-"
"I know what you were saying! Just don't, okay?"
"Okay, okay," Jake said, backing off. "Yeesh, you sure are protective of her..."
Tomoki shook his head, continuing to walk. *I am, aren't I?* he thought, staring at the ground. *I don't know why...but I am. You'd think I'd resent her, but somehow I don't. I guess it's just that Mimi charm of hers, or something...*
*I just wish I could be Tomoki for once. Not Mimi's little brother.*
"Hey, Tomo-kun! How was your day?"
Eighteen-year-old Mimi Tachikawa looked up from her sketchpad as her younger brother came into the kitchen, slinging his backpack to the floor.
"Not so good," he muttered, going over to the cabinet and trying to reach the top shelf for the cookie tin. Mimi tsked, setting down the pad and pencil and going over to get it for him.
"Here, let me," she said, and handed it to him. Tomoki twisted it open and picked through it for a chocolate chip among all the sugar cookies.
"Yuck...Mom did the shopping again, didn't she?" he said with a scowl, coming up unsuccessful. Mimi grimaced; both kids hated sugar cookies.
"Uh-huh. I don't know why she buys them; not even Dad likes them, and he'll eat anything!"
Tomoki settled for a molasses cookie instead and tossed it onto the table, strewing crumbs across Mimi's sketch.
"Oh! Tomoki!" she exclaimed irritably, hurrying over to brush it clean again as he shrugged and went over to the fridge for milk, leaving the tin open on the counter. Mimi put it back in the cupboard and got a damp dishcloth to wipe up the scattered cookie crumbs.
"Sorry," he said noncommittally, and poured himself a glass of milk. He left the carton on the counter, grabbing a paper napkin from the holder next to it, and sat down. Mimi let out an annoyed little sound and got up from where she'd just sat down again to put it away.
"So, what's 'not so good' supposed to mean?" she asked after she'd gone back to her chair.
"Nothing much," Tomoki said, finishing off the cookie and crumpling the napkin, then tossing it across the kitchen. It missed the wastebasket and landed on the floor.
"TOMOKI!" Mimi cried in frustration, starting to get up again and throw away the napkin. "What is wrong with you today? You're not half this messy usually!"
He shrugged, his voice quiet. "I wanted to see how much of it you would clean up."
"What?"
"You know, me being your baby brother, and all," he added, looking down at the table. His voice was slightly bitter, and Mimi's face softened.
"Aw, Tomo-kun, is that all this is about?" she said, coming over to smooth his short brown hair. "What's wrong? Spill it, ne?"
Tomoki scowled. "It's just not fair!" he exclaimed suddenly. "If you didn't pick them up it would be okay, because then you wouldn't be so perfect and I would know they were just being dumb, but you did and you are perfect and I'm not and you had all those cool adventures and everybody thinks you're so great and I'm just your little bro...brother..."
He began to cry, or at least to hiccup; eleven-year-old's pride kept him from actually letting the tears fall. Mimi winced, and pulled up a chair so that she could give him a proper hug. This only made the hiccupping worse.
"Tomo-kun..." Mimi said, giving him a gentle smile. "What set this off?"
"The girls in my class," Tomoki spat, wiping his eyes on his T-shirt sleeve and sniffing. "They were talking about me, and they said wouldn't it be great to be my girlfriend, or somethin' like that, and I don't even *like* girls that much..." Mimi forced back a giggle; this was not the time, and she knew it. "...so anyway it wasn't really me they liked, it was you, and they said so! They said wouldn't it be cool to hang out at Mimi's house, and how you're all pretty and smart and...and stylish!" He hiccupped again, and Mimi sighed.
"Look, Tomo-kun, I know it must be hard sometimes, but you'll make a name for yourself someday soon, and then it'll be you they talk about and I'll just be that old fossil sister of yours who graduated and left."
"Doing what, right field on the school baseball team?" Tomoki said with a derisive sniff. Mimi shook her head.
"No, doing something you love. Like me and my fashion design," she said, gesturing toward the abandoned sketchpad. "I really enjoy it, and one of these days soon I'll graduate and go to design school, and then...who knows? And you'll find something like that, too," she said with a smile. "Something you can really sink your teeth into, that'll make people look at you when you do it and say, wow, look at that cool guy over there! I wonder what his name is?"
"But they all already know your name," Tomoki sighed. "And they already like you! Jake's even got a crush on you...nobody I know has a crush on me!"
"You'd be surprised," Mimi said, winking. "Besides, I thought you don't like girls yet."
"Not a lot," Tomoku muttered, going red. Mimi repressed another giggle.
"Well, when you do decide to like them, I'll bet they start falling at your feet. You've got the Tachikawa good looks, you know."
He looked up at her, startled. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Mimi grinned. "And you've got Mom's eyes, which are really going to be something on a guy. Purple...I wish I'd gotten them. I'm stuck with boring old hazel. Half the girls in my school are hazel-eyed, for heavens sake!"
Tomoki blinked. He'd never thought of his eyes as particularly special...but come to think of it, he'd never seen anyone except his mother and himself with that vivid shade of amethyst.
"Huh..." he murmured, thinking. Then he grinned. "You know, 'Nesan, it's no wonder the kids at school like you so much. You could make a dead cat feel better."
Mimi shrugged. "Don't mention it...hey, did you say that little squirt has a crush on me?"
He grinned, amused with the idea of athletic Jake as a 'squirt'. "Yup. He says you're a babe."
"Hoo boy," Mimi groaned, putting a hand to her forehead as if pained. "That's going to be a problem...would it help if you told him I already have a boyfriend?"
"I don't really think so," Tomoki said, his purple eyes dancing. "He's pretty hung up on you, if you get my drift. He even turned down Alicia Fields for the movies to go to that art thing of yours in case you showed up."
"It was an exhibition," Mimi said, crossing her arms. "You kids are going to the movies already? I didn't have my first date until I was thirteen!"
"That's cuz you don't have my amazing eyes," Tomoki said with a grin. Mimi mock-scowled and dove for him.
"How 'bout an amazing black eye, Hotshot?" she threatened, tickling him madly. He whooped and giggled, wriggling away.
"Yack! Mimi, don't do that!"
She let up, and stood. "Oh, fine...but I'm only having mercy because I want to finish this sketch series in time for the fashion fair at the high school. The Home Ec department is putting it on."
"Home Ec...bleach," Tomoki said dismissively, getting his breath back. "Cooking stuff and carrying Cabbage Patch dolls around pretending they're babies. Sissy stuff."
"Hey, I'll have you know this one guy set the wall on fire making stir-fry last week," Mimi said absent-mindedly, already deep into her sketch. Tomoki's jaw dropped.
"You're kidding!"
"Nope."
"Cool! Dude, I can't wait 'till I'm old enough to take Home Ec!" he yelled happily, and Mimi giggled.
"Uh-huh. Well, you little pyromaniac, you're never going to get past elementary school unless you do your homework."
Tomoki took the hint. "Right. It's just spelling, anyway. I'm good at that...not like Ryan. He spells 'backwards' B-A-K-W-U-R-D-Z, for Pete's sake." With that, he hurried off to get his knapsack as Mimi chuckled. Tomoki had been a late surprise for her family, born when she was seven, and her family had never been the same since the arrival of her 'baby brother'.
"You're quite the kid, Tomo-kun..." she said, adding earrings to the girl on the page.
Coming back with his notebook, Tomoki paused to look in the hall mirror. His ears stuck out a little, and his hair didn't lie down straight in the back...but other than that, he really didn't look half bad. And he was smart, too, and good at handball. In fact, he was going to go play a game with Jake and Ryan and a couple of other fifth-graders as soon as he finished his spelling. After a moment of self-contemplation, he thumbed his nose at the mirror and grinned, his bright violet eyes full of fun.
"Thanks, 'Nesan," he said cheerfully, and went upstairs.
*Baby brother I may be...but not forever. I'm only not Tomoki if I don't let myself be. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be Tachikawa Tomoki, famous handball player!* He grinned. *Or something like that...*
Growing up happens in stages. Tomoki had just completed another one.
Anyone remember the scene in Season 01 where the Digidestined are talking about what they miss, and Mimi says, "I even miss my baby brother!" Well, they never mention this 'baby brother' again. He was probably just a little side tangent that appeared in the translation by accident...but I kept wondering, what would it be like to be Mimi Tachikawa's little brother? Well, that's the idea behind this fic. I made him seven years younger than her; I think three counts as 'baby' in Mimi's eyes, or at least it would have when she was eleven. The story takes place in America, where Mimi's family moved.
"...and wouldn't it be great to have him for a boyfriend?"
Tomoki Tachikawa grinned, listening in on the girls' conversation with his buddies Jake and Ryan.
"Dude, you are so lucky," Jake hissed, elbowing him in the side. "I would give a random body part to have Ashley Kidd after me."
"Not too random," Ryan warned, and snickered.
Tomoki rolled his eyes. Being eleven and all, he had little interest in girls...or at least, less than his hormonally hyperactive friend. Jake had hit twelve recently, and seemed to think this made him a bona fide expert on the female species.
"I can't help it," he whispered back. "You can have...hang on a second..."
Ashley was still grinning, but now her friend Carolyn had stepped in, a skeptical look on her face.
"Uh-huh. Ashley, you just want to hang out with his sister."
Tomoki winced. Carolyn was the original cynic, but Ashley would put her in her place.
"Well...maybe..." Ashley giggled, and the rest of the cluster of girls eating lunch in the science classroom joined her.
Behind the door, Tomoki swallowed. His friends were looking a bit confused.
"I mean, think about it! To get to spend time over at Mimi Tachikawa's house? She's so cool! Look at her clothes; she's always bringing back fashions from Japan, or designing her own..."
"And she's practically a jetsetter!" another girl, Tansy, squealed. "She's in Japan half her days off...I know the Tachikawas are rich, but honestly! That's awesome!"
"Plus, she's so pretty," Alicia spoke up with a smile. Alicia was one of the prettier girls in the fifth grade, so she would know. "She could teach you to apply makeup."
Ashley gave her friend a playful shove. "Alicia, I'm not even allowed to wear makeup yet," she scolded.
"She's nice, too..."
"And so friendly..."
"She's going to be a model, I bet..."
"I'd love to have her for a sister..."
As the conversation turned fully to his older sister, Tomoki turned and slouched away. His friends noticed and followed him.
"Dude...tough luck..."
Tomoki shook his head at Ryan's attempt to be sympathetic.
"'Tsokay. I'm used to it."
"That really bites, though," Jake said, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Tomoki stopped, but didn't shake him off. "Really, I'm used to it. Sometimes I think my place in the world is just as 'Mimi's baby brother'. Mention me once, then get on to the interesting Tachikawa and forget about me."
"Don't talk like that, dude," Ryan said, joining them on his other side.
"Yeah...I mean, I know she's a babe, but-"
Tomoki whirled. "Don't talk about my sister like that!"
"Whoa!" Jake said, stepping back. "Sorry, man! I was just saying-"
"I know what you were saying! Just don't, okay?"
"Okay, okay," Jake said, backing off. "Yeesh, you sure are protective of her..."
Tomoki shook his head, continuing to walk. *I am, aren't I?* he thought, staring at the ground. *I don't know why...but I am. You'd think I'd resent her, but somehow I don't. I guess it's just that Mimi charm of hers, or something...*
*I just wish I could be Tomoki for once. Not Mimi's little brother.*
"Hey, Tomo-kun! How was your day?"
Eighteen-year-old Mimi Tachikawa looked up from her sketchpad as her younger brother came into the kitchen, slinging his backpack to the floor.
"Not so good," he muttered, going over to the cabinet and trying to reach the top shelf for the cookie tin. Mimi tsked, setting down the pad and pencil and going over to get it for him.
"Here, let me," she said, and handed it to him. Tomoki twisted it open and picked through it for a chocolate chip among all the sugar cookies.
"Yuck...Mom did the shopping again, didn't she?" he said with a scowl, coming up unsuccessful. Mimi grimaced; both kids hated sugar cookies.
"Uh-huh. I don't know why she buys them; not even Dad likes them, and he'll eat anything!"
Tomoki settled for a molasses cookie instead and tossed it onto the table, strewing crumbs across Mimi's sketch.
"Oh! Tomoki!" she exclaimed irritably, hurrying over to brush it clean again as he shrugged and went over to the fridge for milk, leaving the tin open on the counter. Mimi put it back in the cupboard and got a damp dishcloth to wipe up the scattered cookie crumbs.
"Sorry," he said noncommittally, and poured himself a glass of milk. He left the carton on the counter, grabbing a paper napkin from the holder next to it, and sat down. Mimi let out an annoyed little sound and got up from where she'd just sat down again to put it away.
"So, what's 'not so good' supposed to mean?" she asked after she'd gone back to her chair.
"Nothing much," Tomoki said, finishing off the cookie and crumpling the napkin, then tossing it across the kitchen. It missed the wastebasket and landed on the floor.
"TOMOKI!" Mimi cried in frustration, starting to get up again and throw away the napkin. "What is wrong with you today? You're not half this messy usually!"
He shrugged, his voice quiet. "I wanted to see how much of it you would clean up."
"What?"
"You know, me being your baby brother, and all," he added, looking down at the table. His voice was slightly bitter, and Mimi's face softened.
"Aw, Tomo-kun, is that all this is about?" she said, coming over to smooth his short brown hair. "What's wrong? Spill it, ne?"
Tomoki scowled. "It's just not fair!" he exclaimed suddenly. "If you didn't pick them up it would be okay, because then you wouldn't be so perfect and I would know they were just being dumb, but you did and you are perfect and I'm not and you had all those cool adventures and everybody thinks you're so great and I'm just your little bro...brother..."
He began to cry, or at least to hiccup; eleven-year-old's pride kept him from actually letting the tears fall. Mimi winced, and pulled up a chair so that she could give him a proper hug. This only made the hiccupping worse.
"Tomo-kun..." Mimi said, giving him a gentle smile. "What set this off?"
"The girls in my class," Tomoki spat, wiping his eyes on his T-shirt sleeve and sniffing. "They were talking about me, and they said wouldn't it be great to be my girlfriend, or somethin' like that, and I don't even *like* girls that much..." Mimi forced back a giggle; this was not the time, and she knew it. "...so anyway it wasn't really me they liked, it was you, and they said so! They said wouldn't it be cool to hang out at Mimi's house, and how you're all pretty and smart and...and stylish!" He hiccupped again, and Mimi sighed.
"Look, Tomo-kun, I know it must be hard sometimes, but you'll make a name for yourself someday soon, and then it'll be you they talk about and I'll just be that old fossil sister of yours who graduated and left."
"Doing what, right field on the school baseball team?" Tomoki said with a derisive sniff. Mimi shook her head.
"No, doing something you love. Like me and my fashion design," she said, gesturing toward the abandoned sketchpad. "I really enjoy it, and one of these days soon I'll graduate and go to design school, and then...who knows? And you'll find something like that, too," she said with a smile. "Something you can really sink your teeth into, that'll make people look at you when you do it and say, wow, look at that cool guy over there! I wonder what his name is?"
"But they all already know your name," Tomoki sighed. "And they already like you! Jake's even got a crush on you...nobody I know has a crush on me!"
"You'd be surprised," Mimi said, winking. "Besides, I thought you don't like girls yet."
"Not a lot," Tomoku muttered, going red. Mimi repressed another giggle.
"Well, when you do decide to like them, I'll bet they start falling at your feet. You've got the Tachikawa good looks, you know."
He looked up at her, startled. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Mimi grinned. "And you've got Mom's eyes, which are really going to be something on a guy. Purple...I wish I'd gotten them. I'm stuck with boring old hazel. Half the girls in my school are hazel-eyed, for heavens sake!"
Tomoki blinked. He'd never thought of his eyes as particularly special...but come to think of it, he'd never seen anyone except his mother and himself with that vivid shade of amethyst.
"Huh..." he murmured, thinking. Then he grinned. "You know, 'Nesan, it's no wonder the kids at school like you so much. You could make a dead cat feel better."
Mimi shrugged. "Don't mention it...hey, did you say that little squirt has a crush on me?"
He grinned, amused with the idea of athletic Jake as a 'squirt'. "Yup. He says you're a babe."
"Hoo boy," Mimi groaned, putting a hand to her forehead as if pained. "That's going to be a problem...would it help if you told him I already have a boyfriend?"
"I don't really think so," Tomoki said, his purple eyes dancing. "He's pretty hung up on you, if you get my drift. He even turned down Alicia Fields for the movies to go to that art thing of yours in case you showed up."
"It was an exhibition," Mimi said, crossing her arms. "You kids are going to the movies already? I didn't have my first date until I was thirteen!"
"That's cuz you don't have my amazing eyes," Tomoki said with a grin. Mimi mock-scowled and dove for him.
"How 'bout an amazing black eye, Hotshot?" she threatened, tickling him madly. He whooped and giggled, wriggling away.
"Yack! Mimi, don't do that!"
She let up, and stood. "Oh, fine...but I'm only having mercy because I want to finish this sketch series in time for the fashion fair at the high school. The Home Ec department is putting it on."
"Home Ec...bleach," Tomoki said dismissively, getting his breath back. "Cooking stuff and carrying Cabbage Patch dolls around pretending they're babies. Sissy stuff."
"Hey, I'll have you know this one guy set the wall on fire making stir-fry last week," Mimi said absent-mindedly, already deep into her sketch. Tomoki's jaw dropped.
"You're kidding!"
"Nope."
"Cool! Dude, I can't wait 'till I'm old enough to take Home Ec!" he yelled happily, and Mimi giggled.
"Uh-huh. Well, you little pyromaniac, you're never going to get past elementary school unless you do your homework."
Tomoki took the hint. "Right. It's just spelling, anyway. I'm good at that...not like Ryan. He spells 'backwards' B-A-K-W-U-R-D-Z, for Pete's sake." With that, he hurried off to get his knapsack as Mimi chuckled. Tomoki had been a late surprise for her family, born when she was seven, and her family had never been the same since the arrival of her 'baby brother'.
"You're quite the kid, Tomo-kun..." she said, adding earrings to the girl on the page.
Coming back with his notebook, Tomoki paused to look in the hall mirror. His ears stuck out a little, and his hair didn't lie down straight in the back...but other than that, he really didn't look half bad. And he was smart, too, and good at handball. In fact, he was going to go play a game with Jake and Ryan and a couple of other fifth-graders as soon as he finished his spelling. After a moment of self-contemplation, he thumbed his nose at the mirror and grinned, his bright violet eyes full of fun.
"Thanks, 'Nesan," he said cheerfully, and went upstairs.
*Baby brother I may be...but not forever. I'm only not Tomoki if I don't let myself be. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be Tachikawa Tomoki, famous handball player!* He grinned. *Or something like that...*
Growing up happens in stages. Tomoki had just completed another one.