- - -
Tada! Mimi arrives in this chappy ^_^- Enjoy! And please---I worked hard on this...give me some constructive critisism? And I'll bring you some worthwhile fics I promise you.
- - -
Back in America, Mimi was bright eyed a bushy tailed. She was running around the house trying to gather, C.Ds and things she might need for the 'trip.' Her dad watched in amazement as his daughter gathered her things.
"Mimi…slow down, you have until tomorrow!"
Mimi turns around and glares at her father. Her father puts his hands up in defeat. Mimi laughs and runs up the stairs. He shakes his head.
"That girl…"
Mimi approaches her room and forces the door open. She plops down on her bed with a grin. She looks at her clock and instantly frowns. It was only 12:00 and she had until 4:30 the next day. She just finished all her packing and now lay in her near-empty room. ::Plus the furniture of coarse. She can't take that with her ;):: She sighs and puts her head, face first into the pillow. She sits up and thinks.
'I should really be downstairs with my parents for the day I have left…I'm really going to miss it here.' She admires around her big room and looks out to the grassy front yard. She spots her kitten, Sunshine, sleeping on the porch. 'I guess it's back to ol' busy Japan…' She sighs. 'A tiny apartment…just barely making a living as a college student…' She shakes her head. "Yeah right…Mimi will manage! She always does!" Grinning cockily, Mimi gets out of her bed and crosses to the bay-view window. Sitting on the sill, she looks to the empty streets of her town. "Matt wouldn't _let_ me not manage." She rolls her eyes, remembering his protectiveness. With that, Mimi walks out of her room and downstairs where she would spend every minute she could with her parents.
- - -
Matt wakes up to the sun shining through the window. It was a lovely spring morning. Stretching, he looks to the form of his sleeping brother and he couldn't help but smile. "Good morning bro…" he whispers. Kari was still sleeping in her bottom part of the bunk, but Tai however, wasn't there. He curiously got up, to smell food cooking in the kitchen.
'Crap…don't tell me Tai is cooking.' He thought to himself with a groan. He slowly works his way to the kitchen. Yamato saw Tai scooping scrambled eggs neatly out of the pan and onto two plates. Matt pulls up a chair silently and cocks a brow. Tai's attention was only caught at the sound of the chair scraping across the kitchen floor. He turns to his best friend.
"Well well…" Matt smirks. "What's this? Tai remembering Matt's teachings?" Tai turns back to the plates, and picks one up. Taking a piece of toast out of the toaster, he places it on the plate and sets it in front of Matt.
"You shut up…I just thought you might like something to eat for the test!" He
exclaims with a toothy grin.
"Thanks Tai…" He picks up a fork and brings a piece of the omlette to his mouth. "Tasty!" He happily exclaims, taking another bite. "I have taught you well!"
The boys ate breakfast, and Matt carpooled Tai to the soccer field. Then went off to school to take a 2 hour test.. During the test he was frequently caught off guard. Giving him barely enough time to finish. The teacher dismissed his students, and Matt went to the field to watch the rest of the game.
- - -
Kari lay in her bed awake. She'd watched Matt get up and lay lost in thought ever since. She looked to a stirring T.K. "Good morning, Sunshine." Kari said, knowingly.
"'Mornin'…" He said in between yawns.
"Sleep well?"
"Of coarse."
Kari climbs out of the bed and goes to the phone. Her brow cocks. The caller ID read; "Tachikawa, Gary"
"T.k…we got a call from Mimi."
He perks up. "Oh?" He gets out of the bed. "Did she leave a message?"
Kari's face stood blank. "Nope…she didn't. I guess she was afraid that Matt might have heard her on the machine."
T.k stretches and yawns. "I should call her from my cell." She lifts a brow at her best friend.
"Isn't it late there?"
T.k looks at his clock. "Yeah…you're right. It's like 10:30 there." He thought for a minute, then snapped his fingers as if he drew to a conclusion. "That's right! Mimi called last night after you and Matt went to sleep!"
Kari shook her head. "Did she say when she was going to be here?"
T.K nods. "Yup…She said she's leaving tomorrow…which probably means in the morning our time tomorrow…I don't know exactly what time though. I was going to look up the flights today to see for sure."
Kari tilted her head a little to the side, narrowing her eyes. "Tomorrow morning!? Wow…why so soon?"
T.k shrugged. "Guess she's just _that_ excited to see us!"
** for those who are confused, she's scheduled to leave tomorrow night and be there by the late morning in Japan. **
- - -
That evening, Mimi was peacefully taking a nap. Her mother burst in her door.
"Mimi! Princess! Come on or you're going to miss your flight!"
Mimi rolls over groggily "Huh? Oh…hi mommy…"
"Your flight is in 2 hours and we have to be to the airport in an hour. Move it!"
Mimi's eyes widen. As she rolls over, she falls out of bed. "Omph…Ow!" She rubbed her shoulder.
Mimi's mother gives one last "Hurry!" and walks out.
Mimi looks at her clock and sweat drops. It was only 10:30 that night! She thrusts her covers off of herself and storms down the stairs to her parents. "Oh dearest FATHER!" She calls. Her father was downstairs, solemnly sipping a cup of coffee. "Yes Mimi?"
"I thought you said TOMORROW evening!"
Her father puts down the cup and looks his daughter in the eye. "I meant that you arrive THERE tomorrow evening."
"You did NOT tell me that!" She whines, as she quickly runs into the bathroom and slams the door behind her. She turned on the shower.
Mrs. Tachikawa walks up to her husband with her arms crossed. "You didn't tell her she was leaving this evening?" He just sighs.
"I thought I did…" he tried to lie. His wife's expression turned sympathetic. She sat on his knee and put her arms around his neck.
"Oh honey…you think I don't know these things?"
"Know what?"
"You were hoping she would miss her flight and have to stay longer."
"…" She kisses his nose.
"You don't want to let your little girl go…" He shakes his head. "She'll be fine…you just have to trust her! Besides…Matt will be there…" He just glares at his wife. "Oh come on…Matt's a nice boy!"
"Nice!? He's a bad influence."
She puts a finger on his lips.
"He'll take care of her, Gary. And she'll take care of herself."
He just stubbornly turns away.
When Mimi finished her shower, she blow-dried her hair and got dressed in something comfy, though she wasn't diggin' how it looked on her. She straightened her white turtleneck and put on her leather jacket. Mimi slides a pair of sunglasses just above her forehead and straightened out her Khaki Capri's. She opened her jewelry box. She pulled out a necklace. It was the only thing left since she'd packed everything else away. She'd left it purposely, planning to wear it. It was silver with three chains connected to give a layered look. The diamonds in the middle, layered evenly when it hung around her petite neck. She put it on and fingered it gently. Mimi remembered the meaning behind it and smiled. Kari had given it to her to symbolize, Kari, Sora, and Mimi's friendship. The top one was light blue for Sora's favorite color, the middle was baby pink for Mimi's favorite, and the final layer was a light yellow for Kari's favorite. They gave it to her just before she moved. Which led her to the question 'What is Sora doing now? Am I going to see her?'
It was then that her dad came into her room. "Mimi…it's time to leave."
Then it hit her…she wasn't going to see her parents for a long time. "Oh…" She instantly clung into her dads arms, hugging him tight. "Daddy I'm going to miss you…"
"I'm going to miss you too, princess…" He whispered.
**again...that might have been a little sloppy...So Mimi just found out she's leaving tonight and is to be there tomorrow evening, Japan time instead. {I would imagine that would be a long flight ^_^;} **
- - - -
It was the last half of the soccer game. Tai was fiercely dribbling the ball down the field, maneuvering through each and every member of the opposing team. He passed it to one of his team mates who outsmarted the goalie and scored. The crowd was wild and Matt clapped. "Way to go, Taichi!" He screamed. Over time he'd become Tai's second sibling and more than just a best friend. They were close and nothing could tear them apart.
Tai caught Matt's cheer and smiled cockily. Though Matt knew the other boy was just joking, he rolled his eyes.
The clock on the score board went to 0:00. Odaiba had won yet another game.
"And Odaiba wins! Compliments of coach Walsh and the captain and star player; Taichi Kamiya!" Announced the P.A. The team dispersed and broke out in cheers on how they won. Various handshakes got involved with the cheers.
{1}Matt cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Touché!" Tai and the team made their way up to the coach which was right below where Matt was on the bleachers. He could tell the couch was babbling something about victory. He could also tell that Tai was listening to Matt instead of the coach. Tai grabbed his gym cloths. Receiving "Good game!" 's from his team mates, he just smiled and returned the compliment as he made his way to Matt. The two talked as they made their way back to Matt's car.
"You came?"
"Yeah…I finished the test a little early so I could come see you."
Tai laughed. "How was it from up there?"
"You guys sucked." Matt bluntly said. All off Tai's enthusiasm was drained from his face. Matt grinned.
"That wasn't funny." He pathetically said.
Matt shook his head. "I was kidding…you guys did good!"
Tai's smile brightened again "That's better! Of coarse we did good! We always do…I mean…I hate to toot my own horn but…toot toot!" He joked.
Matt rolled his eyes and unlocked the car. The two got in and Matt decided on putting the convertible top up this time.
"So where to now?" He asked.
"Home…I wanna see what T.K and Kari are up to."
'I wonder if they got in touch with Mimi to see what time she's coming, yet…'
- - -
On the way to the airport, Mimi sat in the back with the suitcases and both of her parents were up front. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kari's number again. 'I wonder if they're even up yet?' She thought as she put the phone up to her ear. It rung twice and Kari picked up. "Hello?"
"Kari!"
"Mimi? Is that you?"
"Yup! It's been a while!"
"It definitely has! Oh my God…how are you doing?" She asked. Mimi could tell she could hardly contain her excitement. At that she giggled.
"I'm pretty good…you?"
"Great! Matt's been moping around for days…I think he's starting to miss you again."
Mimi cleared her throat. "He can't be…his happiness never relied on the presence of a girl…"
"But you aren't _just_ a girl to him-ah never mind! We'll talk about that when you get here. When are you coming?"
"Actually I'm on my way to the airport right now!"
"What!?" She heard T.Ks voice scream into the phone. Apparently they both were listening to her talk. "Mimi? I thought you said you were leaving tonight!"
"I did! Dad didn't tell me the whole thing…look, it's complicated…I should be arriving there 7:30. So tell Tai to meet me at the airport at 5."
"Should we bring Matt?"
"No…I think that'd be too obvious…what about Sora?"
"…"
"T.k?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's Sora? How is she doing?"
"I'm afraid she won't be coming with us…She went off to study to be a Botanist."
"Oh…well that's good for her."
"Yeah…I'm real sorry Mimi…I know she's your best friend."
"It's no biggie…I'll just give her a call and congratulate her. Izzy?"
"Izzy moved to Tokyo."
"Joe?"
"None of us have heard from Joe since he graduated." Then she heard the door open and shut. T.k gasped. In the background she heard two voices. Matt and Tai had arrived home.
"Ah! Mimi I gotta go…Tai and Matt are home…I'll see you at 7!" He quickly hung up the phone, leaving Mimi to stare blankly at the piece of technology.
"Aye…no biggie T.k…you can just go ahead and hang up on me, it was just a long distance call." She said to herself sarcastically.
- - -
T.k slammed the phone back on the charger. He turned to The two with a sheepish grin. "Y-Yamato!" He nervously put his hand behind his head. Kari held her head in exasperation. 'Make it a little more suspicious, T.k. I don't think he knows somethings up yet.' She thought to herself.
Matt cocked a brow, but shook it off. It was none of his business who T.K talked to as long as it wasn't hurting him. "Hey Takeru-ski." He teased, ruffling his brother's hair. "Who was just on the phone?" Okay so maybe it was his business to find out. Tai dropped his bag and slipped off his shoes and stood beside Matt, knowing of who the culprit was on the other end of the phone.
"Telemarketers." He lied.
"Mm…I see."
"H-Hai."
"Did you win your game, Tai?" Kari asked, changing the subject. Tai nodded. "Dominated the field!"
"You won two to one." Matt admitted for Tai.
"Yeah…well we still dominated."
Tai crossed his arms and playfully pouted. Matt took a Hershey's kiss from a nearby candy dish and flung it at Tai. Tai caught it, unwrapped it and ate it. "Thanks Matt!"
{2}Matt laughed. "Ah…the smart-ass-ness of it all!"
T.K rolled his eyes. Kari shook her head. She resisted the urge to laugh as she pictured what Matt's face would look like when he saw Mimi again. "I'm gunna go take a shower and stuff." She said, happily skipping off to the bathroom.
"Matt…why don't we watch movies to kill time?"
"Movies? As in not just one but plural?"
"Yeah…like say…four?" T.K continued, eyeing Tai and emphasizing how he wanted to kill time.
"Hm…that's an interesting idea T.k. I want nothing more than to sit on the couch and get fat for 8 and a half hours." As soon as Matt mentioned 8 and a half hours, Tai realized that that was close to the amount of time the flight from New York would take. Tai gasped and covered his mouth. T.K nodded. Matt just shook his head.
"Alright then…" He said, suspicious to what the two were planning. It didn't make him interested but more of sad that he didn't know what was going on. And mad that they weren't seeming to give him any kind of hints. "We'll watch…the whole series of Fushigi Yuugi?" He suggested.
T.K nodded. "Yea-ah!"
Tai snickered. How were they going to sneak out to the airport without Matt knowing?
Hours past…7 lovely hours of 'Nuriko Hotohori Miaka and Tamahome-ness' **good ol' Fushigi Yuugi.** passed. To T.Ks advantage he looked to his right to see his brother passed out on the one-person recliner. But then to his left he saw Kari, sleeping on Tai's lap. T.K sighed in exasperation. He got up, shut the TV off and waltzed over to Tai. He shook the older boy gently. "Taichi?" He whispers, so not to wake up Matt. "It's time to go to Odaiba International Airport-" Tai stirs and shifts slightly.
"Just a few more minutes moth-"
"Tai!" He says as he smacks Taichi on the back of the head with his palm. "Get up!" He says through his teeth.
"Oww!" Taichi shoots his eyes open and rubs the back of his head. "I'm up!"
T.K kneels next to Kari, lifting her sleeping head up off of Tai's lap, allowing Tai to rise from his seat. He goes to the door and slips his shoes on. T.K plants a gentle kiss on her forehead and runs her hand through her hair. "Kari…we're going to pick Mimi up…okay?"
Kari sleepily nods, still absent-mindedly feeling the warmth from T.Ks lips on her forehead. It'd taken until that moment for T.K to realize that he just gave Kari his first kiss to her on the forehead. His cheeks flushed a red as she stirs.
"Good luck…" She says groggily, turning over. He just stared at her for a moment while Tai grabbed Matt's car keys. Since he didn't have his own car yet, he saw no problem in taking Matt's! It was nicer than most cars anyway. T.K took one last look at Kari's sleeping form and whispered, "You're beautiful…" Making sure it was completely inaudible.
T.K looked over and saw that his brother was still asleep. 'Perfect.' He mumbled, then walked out of the door behind Tai. Hearing the door close, Matt's eyes open. "T.K?" He calls once he doesn't feel the presence of anybody. He pursed his lips and sat up. He looked to Kari and ran his hand coolly through his own blonde locks. He sighs and lays back on the couch. "They could have at least waken me up…" he mutters.
- - - - -
Mimi's plane landed. She took her headset off and stuffed them back into her carry-on bag. She stood in the isle and waited for the stewardess' to give permission to let out of the plane. And for the reason that she would be jumpy, she picked a seat closest to the doors.
"Thank you for traveling on American Airlines for your evening flight to Japan! You may now-"
Mimi gasped in excitement, zooming past the stewardess to the newly opened door. She ran through the corridor all the way down to the other end. Panting she comes to a halt. She looks around and everything came back to her. She smiled and looked at her watch. It had automatically set itself to their time. She looked aimlessly for Tai but no sign of him. She pushed a strand of hair out of her face and plopped into the nearest chair. T.K and Tai all of a sudden rounded the corner to the flight area. Passengers were still getting off the plane. But they spotted Mimi's strawberry blond hair. T.K dropped his jacket and ran to her. "Mimi!" He screamed. Mimi looked up. It'd sounded so much like Matt…she met with cerulean eyes that also took a strange similarity to Yamato's.
"T…K?" She asks. "Is it really you?" She couldn't believe it…he was nearly the spitting image! How he'd grown so much!
T.K didn't answer. He just threw himself into her arms and sobbed tears of happiness with her. "Mimi! I missed you so much!" It was like old times…When Mimi used to act as an older sister to T.K.
"I missed you too T.K…where's Tai?" She suddenly remembered the brunette.
Tai slowly approached. Standing tall and carrying T.K's dropped jacket. "Here Mimi." T.K withdrew from the hug and Mimi looked up to Tai. Her tearstained cheeks turning red. She hugs him. "We all missed you Mimi." He said softly.
"And I missed you all!" She exclaimed, wiping the tears away with her sleeve. "So very much!"
T.K chuckled and picked up her bag. "Heey! It's light!"
Mimi nods. "Yup! That's because I checked two more in down into baggage! Come on! Chop-Chop!" She clapped as she walked right by them to head to baggage claim. Tai and T.K sweat dropped and followed her.
Mimi stretched and put her hands behind her head. "Yup! It's definitely great to be back!" She muttered to herself. "I suppose Kari's with Yamato?" She asked T.K. God, it sent chills up her spine just to know they were in the same town once again. T.K nodded.
"Yup…her and Matt were sleepies. I kind of tricked them into watching 7 hours straight of Fushigi Yuugi."
Mimi shook her head. She approached the spot where she needed to get her bags. She searched for a few minutes. And she finally found them. "Hm…so where are we going after this?"
"Back to my apartment." Tai stated. He smiled and looked her in the eye. "Where Yama is."
Mimi almost lost her balance. "Y-yama? Tai! I can't see him…oh my God…I'm a mess! What would he think of me!? This is the first time he's seeing me in years."
T.k laughs. "I know what he'll think of ya!"
Mimi tilted her head. Tai grabbed her suitcase and set it to be wheeled to Matt's car. "He'll think you're beautiful." He says, before starting to roll it back to the car. Mimi blushed and followed, taking the other bag.
- - - -
{1} It's French for "Touchy" but the way he's saying it means "well done" ^^
Finis with this chapter.
{2} That is such a Matt line. lol
Hope you liked this chapter ^_^ I'm sorry it wasn't that interesting…but hey…she got where she needed to be for this to continue, no? ;)
Tada! Mimi arrives in this chappy ^_^- Enjoy! And please---I worked hard on this...give me some constructive critisism? And I'll bring you some worthwhile fics I promise you.
- - -
Back in America, Mimi was bright eyed a bushy tailed. She was running around the house trying to gather, C.Ds and things she might need for the 'trip.' Her dad watched in amazement as his daughter gathered her things.
"Mimi…slow down, you have until tomorrow!"
Mimi turns around and glares at her father. Her father puts his hands up in defeat. Mimi laughs and runs up the stairs. He shakes his head.
"That girl…"
Mimi approaches her room and forces the door open. She plops down on her bed with a grin. She looks at her clock and instantly frowns. It was only 12:00 and she had until 4:30 the next day. She just finished all her packing and now lay in her near-empty room. ::Plus the furniture of coarse. She can't take that with her ;):: She sighs and puts her head, face first into the pillow. She sits up and thinks.
'I should really be downstairs with my parents for the day I have left…I'm really going to miss it here.' She admires around her big room and looks out to the grassy front yard. She spots her kitten, Sunshine, sleeping on the porch. 'I guess it's back to ol' busy Japan…' She sighs. 'A tiny apartment…just barely making a living as a college student…' She shakes her head. "Yeah right…Mimi will manage! She always does!" Grinning cockily, Mimi gets out of her bed and crosses to the bay-view window. Sitting on the sill, she looks to the empty streets of her town. "Matt wouldn't _let_ me not manage." She rolls her eyes, remembering his protectiveness. With that, Mimi walks out of her room and downstairs where she would spend every minute she could with her parents.
- - -
Matt wakes up to the sun shining through the window. It was a lovely spring morning. Stretching, he looks to the form of his sleeping brother and he couldn't help but smile. "Good morning bro…" he whispers. Kari was still sleeping in her bottom part of the bunk, but Tai however, wasn't there. He curiously got up, to smell food cooking in the kitchen.
'Crap…don't tell me Tai is cooking.' He thought to himself with a groan. He slowly works his way to the kitchen. Yamato saw Tai scooping scrambled eggs neatly out of the pan and onto two plates. Matt pulls up a chair silently and cocks a brow. Tai's attention was only caught at the sound of the chair scraping across the kitchen floor. He turns to his best friend.
"Well well…" Matt smirks. "What's this? Tai remembering Matt's teachings?" Tai turns back to the plates, and picks one up. Taking a piece of toast out of the toaster, he places it on the plate and sets it in front of Matt.
"You shut up…I just thought you might like something to eat for the test!" He
exclaims with a toothy grin.
"Thanks Tai…" He picks up a fork and brings a piece of the omlette to his mouth. "Tasty!" He happily exclaims, taking another bite. "I have taught you well!"
The boys ate breakfast, and Matt carpooled Tai to the soccer field. Then went off to school to take a 2 hour test.. During the test he was frequently caught off guard. Giving him barely enough time to finish. The teacher dismissed his students, and Matt went to the field to watch the rest of the game.
- - -
Kari lay in her bed awake. She'd watched Matt get up and lay lost in thought ever since. She looked to a stirring T.K. "Good morning, Sunshine." Kari said, knowingly.
"'Mornin'…" He said in between yawns.
"Sleep well?"
"Of coarse."
Kari climbs out of the bed and goes to the phone. Her brow cocks. The caller ID read; "Tachikawa, Gary"
"T.k…we got a call from Mimi."
He perks up. "Oh?" He gets out of the bed. "Did she leave a message?"
Kari's face stood blank. "Nope…she didn't. I guess she was afraid that Matt might have heard her on the machine."
T.k stretches and yawns. "I should call her from my cell." She lifts a brow at her best friend.
"Isn't it late there?"
T.k looks at his clock. "Yeah…you're right. It's like 10:30 there." He thought for a minute, then snapped his fingers as if he drew to a conclusion. "That's right! Mimi called last night after you and Matt went to sleep!"
Kari shook her head. "Did she say when she was going to be here?"
T.K nods. "Yup…She said she's leaving tomorrow…which probably means in the morning our time tomorrow…I don't know exactly what time though. I was going to look up the flights today to see for sure."
Kari tilted her head a little to the side, narrowing her eyes. "Tomorrow morning!? Wow…why so soon?"
T.k shrugged. "Guess she's just _that_ excited to see us!"
** for those who are confused, she's scheduled to leave tomorrow night and be there by the late morning in Japan. **
- - -
That evening, Mimi was peacefully taking a nap. Her mother burst in her door.
"Mimi! Princess! Come on or you're going to miss your flight!"
Mimi rolls over groggily "Huh? Oh…hi mommy…"
"Your flight is in 2 hours and we have to be to the airport in an hour. Move it!"
Mimi's eyes widen. As she rolls over, she falls out of bed. "Omph…Ow!" She rubbed her shoulder.
Mimi's mother gives one last "Hurry!" and walks out.
Mimi looks at her clock and sweat drops. It was only 10:30 that night! She thrusts her covers off of herself and storms down the stairs to her parents. "Oh dearest FATHER!" She calls. Her father was downstairs, solemnly sipping a cup of coffee. "Yes Mimi?"
"I thought you said TOMORROW evening!"
Her father puts down the cup and looks his daughter in the eye. "I meant that you arrive THERE tomorrow evening."
"You did NOT tell me that!" She whines, as she quickly runs into the bathroom and slams the door behind her. She turned on the shower.
Mrs. Tachikawa walks up to her husband with her arms crossed. "You didn't tell her she was leaving this evening?" He just sighs.
"I thought I did…" he tried to lie. His wife's expression turned sympathetic. She sat on his knee and put her arms around his neck.
"Oh honey…you think I don't know these things?"
"Know what?"
"You were hoping she would miss her flight and have to stay longer."
"…" She kisses his nose.
"You don't want to let your little girl go…" He shakes his head. "She'll be fine…you just have to trust her! Besides…Matt will be there…" He just glares at his wife. "Oh come on…Matt's a nice boy!"
"Nice!? He's a bad influence."
She puts a finger on his lips.
"He'll take care of her, Gary. And she'll take care of herself."
He just stubbornly turns away.
When Mimi finished her shower, she blow-dried her hair and got dressed in something comfy, though she wasn't diggin' how it looked on her. She straightened her white turtleneck and put on her leather jacket. Mimi slides a pair of sunglasses just above her forehead and straightened out her Khaki Capri's. She opened her jewelry box. She pulled out a necklace. It was the only thing left since she'd packed everything else away. She'd left it purposely, planning to wear it. It was silver with three chains connected to give a layered look. The diamonds in the middle, layered evenly when it hung around her petite neck. She put it on and fingered it gently. Mimi remembered the meaning behind it and smiled. Kari had given it to her to symbolize, Kari, Sora, and Mimi's friendship. The top one was light blue for Sora's favorite color, the middle was baby pink for Mimi's favorite, and the final layer was a light yellow for Kari's favorite. They gave it to her just before she moved. Which led her to the question 'What is Sora doing now? Am I going to see her?'
It was then that her dad came into her room. "Mimi…it's time to leave."
Then it hit her…she wasn't going to see her parents for a long time. "Oh…" She instantly clung into her dads arms, hugging him tight. "Daddy I'm going to miss you…"
"I'm going to miss you too, princess…" He whispered.
**again...that might have been a little sloppy...So Mimi just found out she's leaving tonight and is to be there tomorrow evening, Japan time instead. {I would imagine that would be a long flight ^_^;} **
- - - -
It was the last half of the soccer game. Tai was fiercely dribbling the ball down the field, maneuvering through each and every member of the opposing team. He passed it to one of his team mates who outsmarted the goalie and scored. The crowd was wild and Matt clapped. "Way to go, Taichi!" He screamed. Over time he'd become Tai's second sibling and more than just a best friend. They were close and nothing could tear them apart.
Tai caught Matt's cheer and smiled cockily. Though Matt knew the other boy was just joking, he rolled his eyes.
The clock on the score board went to 0:00. Odaiba had won yet another game.
"And Odaiba wins! Compliments of coach Walsh and the captain and star player; Taichi Kamiya!" Announced the P.A. The team dispersed and broke out in cheers on how they won. Various handshakes got involved with the cheers.
{1}Matt cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted "Touché!" Tai and the team made their way up to the coach which was right below where Matt was on the bleachers. He could tell the couch was babbling something about victory. He could also tell that Tai was listening to Matt instead of the coach. Tai grabbed his gym cloths. Receiving "Good game!" 's from his team mates, he just smiled and returned the compliment as he made his way to Matt. The two talked as they made their way back to Matt's car.
"You came?"
"Yeah…I finished the test a little early so I could come see you."
Tai laughed. "How was it from up there?"
"You guys sucked." Matt bluntly said. All off Tai's enthusiasm was drained from his face. Matt grinned.
"That wasn't funny." He pathetically said.
Matt shook his head. "I was kidding…you guys did good!"
Tai's smile brightened again "That's better! Of coarse we did good! We always do…I mean…I hate to toot my own horn but…toot toot!" He joked.
Matt rolled his eyes and unlocked the car. The two got in and Matt decided on putting the convertible top up this time.
"So where to now?" He asked.
"Home…I wanna see what T.K and Kari are up to."
'I wonder if they got in touch with Mimi to see what time she's coming, yet…'
- - -
On the way to the airport, Mimi sat in the back with the suitcases and both of her parents were up front. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Kari's number again. 'I wonder if they're even up yet?' She thought as she put the phone up to her ear. It rung twice and Kari picked up. "Hello?"
"Kari!"
"Mimi? Is that you?"
"Yup! It's been a while!"
"It definitely has! Oh my God…how are you doing?" She asked. Mimi could tell she could hardly contain her excitement. At that she giggled.
"I'm pretty good…you?"
"Great! Matt's been moping around for days…I think he's starting to miss you again."
Mimi cleared her throat. "He can't be…his happiness never relied on the presence of a girl…"
"But you aren't _just_ a girl to him-ah never mind! We'll talk about that when you get here. When are you coming?"
"Actually I'm on my way to the airport right now!"
"What!?" She heard T.Ks voice scream into the phone. Apparently they both were listening to her talk. "Mimi? I thought you said you were leaving tonight!"
"I did! Dad didn't tell me the whole thing…look, it's complicated…I should be arriving there 7:30. So tell Tai to meet me at the airport at 5."
"Should we bring Matt?"
"No…I think that'd be too obvious…what about Sora?"
"…"
"T.k?"
"Yeah?"
"Where's Sora? How is she doing?"
"I'm afraid she won't be coming with us…She went off to study to be a Botanist."
"Oh…well that's good for her."
"Yeah…I'm real sorry Mimi…I know she's your best friend."
"It's no biggie…I'll just give her a call and congratulate her. Izzy?"
"Izzy moved to Tokyo."
"Joe?"
"None of us have heard from Joe since he graduated." Then she heard the door open and shut. T.k gasped. In the background she heard two voices. Matt and Tai had arrived home.
"Ah! Mimi I gotta go…Tai and Matt are home…I'll see you at 7!" He quickly hung up the phone, leaving Mimi to stare blankly at the piece of technology.
"Aye…no biggie T.k…you can just go ahead and hang up on me, it was just a long distance call." She said to herself sarcastically.
- - -
T.k slammed the phone back on the charger. He turned to The two with a sheepish grin. "Y-Yamato!" He nervously put his hand behind his head. Kari held her head in exasperation. 'Make it a little more suspicious, T.k. I don't think he knows somethings up yet.' She thought to herself.
Matt cocked a brow, but shook it off. It was none of his business who T.K talked to as long as it wasn't hurting him. "Hey Takeru-ski." He teased, ruffling his brother's hair. "Who was just on the phone?" Okay so maybe it was his business to find out. Tai dropped his bag and slipped off his shoes and stood beside Matt, knowing of who the culprit was on the other end of the phone.
"Telemarketers." He lied.
"Mm…I see."
"H-Hai."
"Did you win your game, Tai?" Kari asked, changing the subject. Tai nodded. "Dominated the field!"
"You won two to one." Matt admitted for Tai.
"Yeah…well we still dominated."
Tai crossed his arms and playfully pouted. Matt took a Hershey's kiss from a nearby candy dish and flung it at Tai. Tai caught it, unwrapped it and ate it. "Thanks Matt!"
{2}Matt laughed. "Ah…the smart-ass-ness of it all!"
T.K rolled his eyes. Kari shook her head. She resisted the urge to laugh as she pictured what Matt's face would look like when he saw Mimi again. "I'm gunna go take a shower and stuff." She said, happily skipping off to the bathroom.
"Matt…why don't we watch movies to kill time?"
"Movies? As in not just one but plural?"
"Yeah…like say…four?" T.K continued, eyeing Tai and emphasizing how he wanted to kill time.
"Hm…that's an interesting idea T.k. I want nothing more than to sit on the couch and get fat for 8 and a half hours." As soon as Matt mentioned 8 and a half hours, Tai realized that that was close to the amount of time the flight from New York would take. Tai gasped and covered his mouth. T.K nodded. Matt just shook his head.
"Alright then…" He said, suspicious to what the two were planning. It didn't make him interested but more of sad that he didn't know what was going on. And mad that they weren't seeming to give him any kind of hints. "We'll watch…the whole series of Fushigi Yuugi?" He suggested.
T.K nodded. "Yea-ah!"
Tai snickered. How were they going to sneak out to the airport without Matt knowing?
Hours past…7 lovely hours of 'Nuriko Hotohori Miaka and Tamahome-ness' **good ol' Fushigi Yuugi.** passed. To T.Ks advantage he looked to his right to see his brother passed out on the one-person recliner. But then to his left he saw Kari, sleeping on Tai's lap. T.K sighed in exasperation. He got up, shut the TV off and waltzed over to Tai. He shook the older boy gently. "Taichi?" He whispers, so not to wake up Matt. "It's time to go to Odaiba International Airport-" Tai stirs and shifts slightly.
"Just a few more minutes moth-"
"Tai!" He says as he smacks Taichi on the back of the head with his palm. "Get up!" He says through his teeth.
"Oww!" Taichi shoots his eyes open and rubs the back of his head. "I'm up!"
T.K kneels next to Kari, lifting her sleeping head up off of Tai's lap, allowing Tai to rise from his seat. He goes to the door and slips his shoes on. T.K plants a gentle kiss on her forehead and runs her hand through her hair. "Kari…we're going to pick Mimi up…okay?"
Kari sleepily nods, still absent-mindedly feeling the warmth from T.Ks lips on her forehead. It'd taken until that moment for T.K to realize that he just gave Kari his first kiss to her on the forehead. His cheeks flushed a red as she stirs.
"Good luck…" She says groggily, turning over. He just stared at her for a moment while Tai grabbed Matt's car keys. Since he didn't have his own car yet, he saw no problem in taking Matt's! It was nicer than most cars anyway. T.K took one last look at Kari's sleeping form and whispered, "You're beautiful…" Making sure it was completely inaudible.
T.K looked over and saw that his brother was still asleep. 'Perfect.' He mumbled, then walked out of the door behind Tai. Hearing the door close, Matt's eyes open. "T.K?" He calls once he doesn't feel the presence of anybody. He pursed his lips and sat up. He looked to Kari and ran his hand coolly through his own blonde locks. He sighs and lays back on the couch. "They could have at least waken me up…" he mutters.
- - - - -
Mimi's plane landed. She took her headset off and stuffed them back into her carry-on bag. She stood in the isle and waited for the stewardess' to give permission to let out of the plane. And for the reason that she would be jumpy, she picked a seat closest to the doors.
"Thank you for traveling on American Airlines for your evening flight to Japan! You may now-"
Mimi gasped in excitement, zooming past the stewardess to the newly opened door. She ran through the corridor all the way down to the other end. Panting she comes to a halt. She looks around and everything came back to her. She smiled and looked at her watch. It had automatically set itself to their time. She looked aimlessly for Tai but no sign of him. She pushed a strand of hair out of her face and plopped into the nearest chair. T.K and Tai all of a sudden rounded the corner to the flight area. Passengers were still getting off the plane. But they spotted Mimi's strawberry blond hair. T.K dropped his jacket and ran to her. "Mimi!" He screamed. Mimi looked up. It'd sounded so much like Matt…she met with cerulean eyes that also took a strange similarity to Yamato's.
"T…K?" She asks. "Is it really you?" She couldn't believe it…he was nearly the spitting image! How he'd grown so much!
T.K didn't answer. He just threw himself into her arms and sobbed tears of happiness with her. "Mimi! I missed you so much!" It was like old times…When Mimi used to act as an older sister to T.K.
"I missed you too T.K…where's Tai?" She suddenly remembered the brunette.
Tai slowly approached. Standing tall and carrying T.K's dropped jacket. "Here Mimi." T.K withdrew from the hug and Mimi looked up to Tai. Her tearstained cheeks turning red. She hugs him. "We all missed you Mimi." He said softly.
"And I missed you all!" She exclaimed, wiping the tears away with her sleeve. "So very much!"
T.K chuckled and picked up her bag. "Heey! It's light!"
Mimi nods. "Yup! That's because I checked two more in down into baggage! Come on! Chop-Chop!" She clapped as she walked right by them to head to baggage claim. Tai and T.K sweat dropped and followed her.
Mimi stretched and put her hands behind her head. "Yup! It's definitely great to be back!" She muttered to herself. "I suppose Kari's with Yamato?" She asked T.K. God, it sent chills up her spine just to know they were in the same town once again. T.K nodded.
"Yup…her and Matt were sleepies. I kind of tricked them into watching 7 hours straight of Fushigi Yuugi."
Mimi shook her head. She approached the spot where she needed to get her bags. She searched for a few minutes. And she finally found them. "Hm…so where are we going after this?"
"Back to my apartment." Tai stated. He smiled and looked her in the eye. "Where Yama is."
Mimi almost lost her balance. "Y-yama? Tai! I can't see him…oh my God…I'm a mess! What would he think of me!? This is the first time he's seeing me in years."
T.k laughs. "I know what he'll think of ya!"
Mimi tilted her head. Tai grabbed her suitcase and set it to be wheeled to Matt's car. "He'll think you're beautiful." He says, before starting to roll it back to the car. Mimi blushed and followed, taking the other bag.
- - - -
{1} It's French for "Touchy" but the way he's saying it means "well done" ^^
Finis with this chapter.
{2} That is such a Matt line. lol
Hope you liked this chapter ^_^ I'm sorry it wasn't that interesting…but hey…she got where she needed to be for this to continue, no? ;)