DISCLAIMER: Digimon is not mine… this fic is mine though… please don't sue me. Thanks!

A/N: This is a Mimato fanfic. It's not exactly a romance fic, but it's a friendship fic between Matt and Mimi… but it's up to you if you want to think of this romantically, b/c I sure do. Heheh… Anyway, I know that a lot of ppl who are against the Mimato pairing say that Matt and Mimi don't interact. And ya, I am aware of that. So I just thought I'd write something about THAT. And here's out it turned out…

Just Between You and Me

Huff. Puff… Yamato "Matt" Ishida quickened his pace. The hallway was definitely more crowded than usual. He squeezed his way here and there, pushing aside his fellow Odaiba High School students. He ignored their constant yelling whenever he'd push them out of the way. All he knew was that he was already late—twenty-five minutes late, to be precise. The girls, however, would just stop for a moment, stealing glances over to the popular Matt Ishida. They would look at him with awe, eyes full of admiration; then they would whisper to one another words of praises to the young prince of coolness. Matt pretended not to notice. Not seeming to even be bothered by it, he just smiled to himself with pride. Now he ran and ran—his blue eyes fixed ahead of him.

"Move!" he yelled, pushing away one guy and his back hit the lockers with a thud. "Sorry man!" Yamato yelled back to the guy he had just happened to push out of his way. But he didn't even look back to realize who it really was.

After running for what seemed like forever, Matt finally reached his destination. Room 205. Perfect. He smiled, turned the knob and gave out a sigh of relief. Everyone, as he had expected, were already present. It was perfect. The classroom was decorated with multi-colored balloons and streamers. He observed the room. Each of them was already busy talking amongst themselves. His eyes wandered and noticed the table full of food. Then his blue eyes landed to a girl. She sat in solitude with a plate of cookies resting on her lap. She was staring at the plate of cookies silently. She tucked her pink hair behind her ear and she finally looked up as if sensing that she was being watched. Their eyes met, but Matt quickly turned away from Mimi's gaze.

"Look who's finally decided to show up!"

Matt looked up and gave Tai a grin. "Yeah, I'm a little late. So what? At least I'm here, right?" he replied. "So where's Sora?"

Tai pointed over to a group of girls. He looked over and watched Sora as she laughed. Today is Sora's seventeenth birthday. And today is her potluck party. Matt felt a little bad for not bringing anything, but he figured that he was not going to eat anyway. Matt walked over to Sora and her friends. Sora looked up and smiled at Matt.

"Hey Sora," Matt greeted. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you," she replied, giving him a quick hug. "I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show up."

"Sorry," he answered. "Band practice…"

Sora nodded in understanding. Matt looked around the classroom. Izzy was nowhere to be found. His brother TK was busy chatting with Tai's sister, Kari. Davis was sitting beside Kari, giving TK an evil glare. TK, totally oblivious, just continued conversing with Kari as if Davis wasn't even present. He saw Yolei putting desserts on her already filled plate. His blue eyes wandered about the room. Then his eyes landed at the guy who entered the room. He pushed his glasses up to his nose and as their eyes met, Joe angrily scowled at him.

"Matt, may I have a word?" Joe said.

Matt noticed his disheveled hair and frowned. "Whoa, Joe, what happened to you?"

"Yeah, I'm lucky to be here in one piece," Joe replied.

Matt eyed his wrinkled uniform. Joe was usually the neat one. Matt turned to him with a questioning look. "Well, just glad you're here…"

"Right," Joe answered. "Throwing me to a locker is a nice way to treat your friend, huh?"

Matt just blinked.

"Never mind," Joe said as he lazily walked over to the table of food.

The party went on with not much incident. Two hours later, the classroom was empty—with only Tai, Sora, TK, and himself that were left. Matt looked around at the messy classroom. He looked over to the empty chair to where Mimi had once occupied it. He didn't even get the chance to say hi to her, and now she was already gone.

"Where's Mimi?" TK asked.

"Oh that's right, she told me she'll be back an hour ago," Sora answered.

"She hasn't come back yet?" Tai asked.

"It's her turn to clean up," Sora told him. "But I told her I'm going to stay to help her."

"But Sora…" Tai's voice trailed off. He and Sora had already made plans for tonight. And he knew that if Sora were to stay to help out Mimi, it would take them hours to get done. But he and Sora had already been planning for this date for four weeks now. Lately, they hadn't had a chance to go out with all their schoolwork piled up.

"Umm, Mimi told me she was gonna walk home with me after school," TK added.

Tai just looked at Sora with concerned look.

"She seemed a little down today…" Sora whispered, more to Tai.

Tai glanced at his watch impatiently. "Where could she be?" he wondered.

"You two should go ahead," TK told Tai and Sora with a big smile. "I'll help her out."

Sora looked reluctant at the suggestion. "You sure? But TK…"

"Is that OK?" Tai asked, turning to TK with hope.

TK nodded and gave Tai and Sora a smile. "Sure!" he answered whole-heartedly.

Tai looked over at Matt, who hadn't said a word. "What about you, Matt? You helping them out?"

Matt looked at him. Now that he thought about it, he really had nothing else to do. Tai and Sora were going out on a date. TK was planning to walk home with Mimi. And him? What was he supposed to do now? He wasn't sure where he should be now. His mouth opened to answer Tai, but TK beat him at it.

"Yes, he's helping us," TK said to Tai.

"Thank you," Sora replied. She looked at Matt. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this. But really, I'm grateful for your help…"

"It's a pleasure!" TK exclaimed.

Sora smiled at TK. "Thanks…"

"Hey, it's your birthday, remember?" Matt reminded her.

Sora nodded. "Still, I'm…"

"Nothing to worry about," Matt interrupted her. "Just hurry and leave it to us."

"OK," Sora finally gave in.

"C'mon," Tai said, holding her hand and pulling her to the door. "Thanks again, you guys…"

They finally left. Now Matt looked at the messy room, sighed, and shook his head. Why was he doing this again? Why was he helping Mimi out? Oh right… TK got him into this mess. But he didn't object as he started picking up the trash that was lying around the floor. TK started mopping the end of the room, whistling. They didn't say a word to each other. Now where is that irresponsible girl who left them here to clean up? Matt grumbled something under his breath as he continued to pick up more trash. Then he remembered the sad look in Mimi's face when he had entered the classroom the first time. She was alone. She seemed depressed. Knowing Mimi, she wouldn't just leave a party like that without a good reason.

"Aw, Matt, don't worry about Mimi," TK suddenly said, as if reading his mind.

Matt quickly looked up in surprised. TK continued mopping, whistling, still, not looking at his brother. Matt resumed picking up the mess. "We'd better hurry up so we can go home early." He said to him. He tied the knot of the garbage bag and threw it by the door. Then he turned to the table and started clearing things out. Suddenly, something familiar caught his attention. He picked up a plate full of cookies. He frowned, trying to remember where he had seen it. Then he remembered. Mimi's cookies! It was left here on the table untouched. Matt gritted his teeth. Was that the reason why Mimi was upset? Was that why she looked so sad today? More questions suddenly started popping up in his head. And now Matt balled his hands, feeling suddenly disgusted.

"Hey Matt, you OK?" TK asked as he stopped his mopping.

"TK," Matt turned to his brother.

"Yeah?"

Matt opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Something different came out. "Can you take out the garbage?"

"Sure," TK replied as he walked over to the garbage bag and left the room.

Now alone, Matt turned back to Mimi's plate of cookies and without hesitation he quickly put it in his backpack. When he heard footsteps, Matt quickly ran to the broom and started sweeping the floor. The door creaked and there stood a girl.

"Oh," Mimi said, looking at Matt.

Their eyes met and the two stared at each other for a while.

"I thought I'd be the only one here…" she said, walking over to the table. Her eyes looked around, but the table had already been cleared out. Mimi looked over at Matt, who was busying himself with his sweeping. "Matt, have you seen…"

"What?" he asked as he continued sweeping the floor. He didn't even look at her. But Matt knew exactly what she was looking for.

"Nothing," she replied. She didn't say a word for a while, just stood there, watching him work. Finally, Mimi sighed. "You don't have to do that, Matt. I'm the one who should be cleaning up."

"I'm almost done anyway," Matt replied, still avoiding her gaze. "And TK just went outside to take out the trash…"

"Oh," Mimi whispered.

"There!" Matt exclaimed. "We're done. See, that didn't take too long." He placed the broom and the mop back to their places.

Mimi smiled for the first time today. "Thanks Matt… I…"

"Don't mention it," Matt said. "You'd probably take hours to clean up if I hadn't helped out."

Mimi blushed, embarrassed. Although it was true, she couldn't help but feel slightly offended. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean!" she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at him.

Matt laughed. Just outside the room, TK took a peek at the two. They were so busy talking to each other that they didn't even notice him standing there by the door, eavesdropping.

Mimi suddenly jumped up when a loud thunder boomed outside. She ran towards the window. Black clouds started to form and the rain slashed down on the ground mercilessly. "It's a storm. Oh no. We can't go home like this."

"Yeah, looks like we're gonna be stuck here for a while," Matt agreed. Then he looked at her. "You didn't bring an umbrella?"

"I didn't think I'd be needing it," she replied softly. She jumped up again as another loud boom came ringing into her ears.

Matt looked over at Mimi. Her frantic eyes only gave him motivation to protect her. "Hey, it's alright, Mimi. Don't be scared. It's just thunder."

Mimi looked at Matt with her frightened eyes, slightly blushing in embarrassment. She giggled nervously. She wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that. She wasn't sure how to act around Matt, since they never really interact that much. "Sorry… I-I just hate this weather."

There was a moment of silence. Matt looked over at Mimi, who was silently sitting on a desk. Matt grabbed a chair and sat across from her. He looked up at the ceiling. "So… what were you so depressed about anyway?" he asked. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly interested, but since they were stuck in school together, he might as well try to get along with Mimi.

Mimi gave out a nervous laugh. "It's not that I'm depressed or whatever…" she whispered. "I guess I don't know…."

"Why did you leave?" Matt asked, still staring up at the ceiling. "TK was really looking forward to walking home with you."

"Oh I'm so sorry," Mimi answered. "I promised to take TK to the arcade with me. TK—hey where is TK? He should've been back by now. And with this kind of weather—"

Matt jumped to his feet, realizing for the first time that TK was gone. As if on cue, TK entered the classroom and grinned over to the two of them. "Don't mind me. You two go ahead with your conversation…" he said, winking over to his brother.

Matt just ignored his brother and sat back down. "Sit down TK and be quiet." He ordered in a firm tone.

"Yes sir," TK replied.

Silence surrounded the room. TK yawned and looked at Matt. "C'mon, you two, talk! You've gotta pretend like I'm not even here."

Mimi looked at TK and giggled innocently. "TK, why would we do that? Come here, sit next to me. We can talk."

"OK," TK started moving his chair next to Mimi. He looked at his brother, who avoided his own gaze. He didn't say a word. TK looked at Mimi and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Mimi, I think—I think I forgot something in the gym. I'll be right back!"

TK got up and ran toward the door. Matt, with a frown, jumped from his seat and glared at his younger brother. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"I'll be back!" TK replied.

Before Matt had a chance to object, TK was already gone. Matt shook his head and Mimi could tell that he looked a bit annoyed.

"Looks like it's gonna be just the two of us tonight," Matt said.

Mimi walked next to him. "Oh, it'll be all right…" she revealed her pink cell phone. "I'll just call Daddy so he can come get us."

"No, it's OK," Matt found himself saying. He looked at Mimi, who gazed back at him questioningly. "Let's just stay here for a while…" Matt suddenly felt like smacking himself. Why did he say that? Why? Somehow, he felt like he wanted to be with Mimi to be able to talk to her. Now that he thought about it, they never really knew each other that well. They had never interacted that much.

Mimi didn't say anything for a while. She stared at Matt and studied his features. She took note of his azure blue eyes, his soft lips, and his spiky blonde hair. Mimi had never thought that Matt could be so attractive tonight. Suddenly, Mimi shook her head. What was she thinking? How could she think like that about Matt? Her and Matt are just friends!

Matt, noticing Mimi's odd expression narrowed his eyebrows. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Mimi suddenly laughed. "Never mind. You wouldn't believe it even if I told you…"

With this, Matt only got even more curious. "No. Tell me…"

Mimi looked right at Matt's blue eyes. She placed a hand on his chest. "I was just thinking that you actually look very attractive tonight," she told him casually. She removed her hand off him and giggled. "That's kinda strange, don't you think?"

At first Matt wasn't sure how he should react, but he just chuckled. "Must be your hormones kicking in, Miss Tachikawa…"

Matt and Mimi both laughed in unison.

"Still as cocky as ever," she commented.

"Can you blame me for looking like this?" Matt questioned in a challenging tone.

Mimi laughed. "Actually, I do, but I know it's not your fault…"

Matt smiled. "Well, you're not bad yourself…" he looked at Mimi from head to toe and back. "You look… nice."

Mimi and Matt both laughed again simultaneously. When they stopped, she looked at Matt again. "You know, this is really weird…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well…" Mimi thought for a while. "Look at us. We're actually talking."

Matt quickly, almost coldly, looked away from Mimi's gaze. "What, does that bother you or something?" he asked her.

She quickly shook her head. "Of course not, Matt…" she then lowered her gaze on the ground, and began to speak quietly. "It's just kinda weird now that I think about it. We never really had a serious talk like this. All these years, I don't recall ever talking with you for this long. I used to think that I know everything about you, Matt, that I've already got you figured out. But ever since tonight, I realized that I don't really know anything about you… that there's just so much we have to know about each other."

Matt thought for a while. What she said was true. He could hardly remember talking with Mimi for this long. As a matter of fact, this was the longest conversation that they ever had. "You're right, Mimi. Maybe we…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Mimi straight in the eye. "…maybe… we should get to know each other."

Mimi couldn't hide the blush that crossed her features. She almost wanted to be swept away by the wind, but then as he looked at Yamato's expression, he actually looked rather serious. It was something that she had never seen before. Mimi was not sure on how she should take Matt's suggestion as.

She didn't speak. Just stared at him.

Matt reached for his backpack and took out something. "Are you hungry? I thought that you might want…" he revealed to her a plate of cookies that Mimi had been carrying during Sora's party. "…these cookies…"

Mimi gasped in surprised. "M-Matt! I-I thought you threw those out already!" she exclaimed. But Matt could tell that Mimi looked relieved.

Matt scratched his head. "Well, I saw you earlier just sitting by yourself at the party… and you were holding these cookies…"

Mimi nodded. "Yeah… you're right…" she whispered. "I… brought those for Sora. Nobody touched them though."

"Is that why you were in a bad mood earlier?" he asked in concern.

Mimi was about to say no, but thought better of it. She nodded her head. "Yes. You're right… that's why… I…"

"Hey it's OK, Meems," Matt assured her. He then took a piece and bit on it. "Hey… not bad! These are actually really good!"

Mimi's face lit up as she saw Matt grabbing more cookies. "You—you really like it?"

He nodded. "Yeah, these are good!"

She giggled. "Oh I'm so glad that you like them, Matt!"

As Matt continued eating more cookies, TK entered the room. "Excuse me… bro?" TK frowned at his elder brother.

"TK?" Mimi looked at him.

TK cleared his throat. This got Matt's attention as he looked up from the cookies. "Hey TK, when did you get back?"

TK couldn't help but grin. "If I may say so, Bro, the rain just stopped. We're all free to go now."

Matt and Mimi both looked out the window. TK was right. The rain just stopped. Matt glanced at Mimi's direction and noted the disappointment in her eyes.

"So, can we go now?" TK asked. I'm bored, he added silently. "Mimi, you're walking with us, right?"

Matt turned to Mimi. "Let's go, Mimi."

She reluctantly nodded. "Uh, yeah… sure…"

Matt noticed her hesitance. "Hey, TK, why don't you go ahead? Mimi and I will meet you outside."

"Ah, fine," TK replied as he left the room.

"Something wrong?" Matt looked at Mimi with concern.

She laughed and turned to Matt. "Matt, don't you wish that we could've talked more?"

"Huh?"

Mimi lowered her gaze on the floor. "I mean, it was really nice talking with you tonight, Matt. I wish we can always have a conversation like that."

"Mimi… I…" his voice trailed off.

She then ran toward the door and waved over for him to come. "Let's go, Matt! Maybe we can walk home together!"

Now it was Matt's turn to look gloomy. He hesitated this time. He didn't move from where he was standing. He then looked outside the window and sighed.

"Matt?" Mimi called out.

He didn't answer. Mimi walked towards him and looked outside the window as well. "Matt?" she slowly glanced at him.

"You're right, Mimi," Matt sighed. "I do wish we could've talked more…"

Mimi smiled, but he wasn't finished…

He looked right into her eyes. "So why don't we do something about it then?"

She blinked. It was her turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"

"Let's make a pact… just between you and me, how 'bout we spend more time hanging out together?" Matt asked.

He remembered those days when they were little, back to the days when they were the Digidestined. The two were not very close back then. The only thing that they had common was the fact that they both liked music and they both cared too much about their looks. Mimi smiled, but her eyes were almost misty. Even so, she was happy deep down. She was happy. She had never been this happy.

Mimi wasn't sure whether she liked Matt more than a friend… yet. But she knew that whatever happens… happens… and if she would ever let someone hurt her for the first time, she decided that she wanted it to be Matt. It would be OK if it was Matt… Just Matt. Matt Ishida.

Mimi smiled. "Alright, Matt, let's hang out more often then," she answered.

Matt chuckled and ran his hand through his blonde hair. "Cool…"

"Let's go then. You still have to walk me home," she told him playfully.

She took his hand and pulled him out of the room. Now Mimi understood why Matt was the bearer of the Crest of Friendship. And Matt now fully understood Mimi's sincere heart. It left him with something good to think about Mimi… and he could not stop smiling as he walked her home.

~ the end ~

~ so what do you think? =) hehe…

~Kristine