Chapter 4

It was Saturday night, 7 p.m., and Mimi was bored out of her mind. Her mom and dad had gone to some sort of a "Welcome back"-dinner party from her father's work, and Mimi was left alone with nothing to do. While slacking in front of the TV, she grunted and stated, "It's a reversed world, I tell you." She blinked some when she realised that she had been talking to herself.

Mimi, out of utter boredom, had done her homework, cleaned her room, mailed some people she knew in the big Apple, read some stupid cooking magazine of her mom's and had been flipping through channels for more then half an hour. She angrily grabbed the remote and turned of the TV.

"It's Saturday nigh, I'm 17 years old and I'm stuck at home. What is wrong with this picture?" She sighed as she realised she'd been talking to herself again, "I seriously need to get out. And I feel like having fun." She pondered for a moment and concluded with, "I feel weird, too," before hopping up from the couch and snatching the telephone, walking to her room.

Her fingers automatically dialled a number, Mimi not rethinking her action since she was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She smiled warmly as she heard a familiar, male voice mumble into the phone, "Yeah….Tai here." Mimi could easily picture the big-haired boy, his mouth stuffed with candy. She giggled softly before playfully saying, "Stuffing your face again, lover boy?" The other end of the line remained silent for a while, before Mimi heard a loud gulp as he swallowed down whatever he was eating. In stead of his cheerful answer, she heard a soft, "Hey Meems, what's up?"

Not hearing the usually happy tone in his voice, she questioned worriedly, "What's wrong Tai?" Getting another silence, the frown on her forehead deepened, "Well, if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. Could you give me your sister, please?" A soft grunt was heard from Tai before he softly said, "Mimi…I just…" She interrupted harshly, her bad mood just getting worse, "Tai, forget it. I'd like to talk to Kari now, please." "I'll pass her through," he timidly said.

Mimi fiddled with the line a bit, uncertain what to think about Tai's silence. Accompanied with his odd behaviour the day before, this really threw her off. She shook her head in confusion and concentrated on the sounds on the other line.

The creaking sound of a door opening, accompanied by Tai's voice yelling, "Kari! Phone!", made Mimi's mood lighten some. The image of their house, where she had only been once before, appeared in front of her minds eye, Tai slumping somewhere on a couch while Kari would be cheerfully humming some song, made her wondering thoughts go back into place. "Who is it? T.K.?" Mimi heard another door and Kari's excited voice coming closer. "No, he's coming over later, with Ken. It's Mimi." Tai's voice lowered as he spoke her name, and Mimi dully wondered what the hell was going on. A surprised, "For me?!" was the last thing that she heard, before the phone was picked up again.

"Hi, Mimi? Kari here." Mimi smiled softly, "Hi Kari-chan. Sorry that it's just me." A soft, "You heard?" came drifting through the phone. Mimi chuckled, "Yeah, I heard. But it's nothing to be ashamed of, Kari. I mean, T.K.'s a great guy! But don't you think it's time to tell him? Then again, I shouldn't give anyone any love advice." She sighed deeply, her thoughts suddenly aimed on the big haired loudmouth. She blinked in confusion, thinking, "Aren't I supposed to be thinking about Matt now….?"

She shook her head some, focusing on Kari's talking, "…so many guys, and I just don't want them. You know?" Mimi wasn't sure about what her friend and been talking about, but she had a good hunch, "I know. Trust me, I really –really- now. Hey listen, I feel like dancing or something, do you know if there's a party tonight?" The girl on the other side hesitated, "No…but…, could you hang on for a moment?" She heard the phone get laid down even before she had the chance to reply, "Okay…."

In the meantime, the girl on the other side of the line was just opening the door to another room. Her older brother, sitting at the kitchen table, looked up, "Something wrong?" Kari shrugged gently and questioned, "Hey bro, do you think mom would mind if I asked Mimi over too? With Miyako, I mean. Mimi-chan sounds really weird, like something's on her mind. She's been acting strange since yesterday, don't you think?" Tai shook his head, "I don't think she'd mind, especially not since Mimi's acting so weird, as you say it." Probably my fault anyway, he silently added in his mind. His little sister smiled warmly in thanks and started walking back to the living room. Tai stood up with a sigh, checking to see if there were enough snacks and drinks for their extra guest.

Mimi was singing boredly, remembering this song she'd heard on the radio to other day.

"Under a lover's sky,
gonna be with you,
And no one's gonna be around.
If you think that you'll move on,
Well just wait until,
'til the sun goes down.
Underneath the starlight, starlight
There's a magical feeling so right
It'll steal your heart tonight"

Her voice faltered, thinking about the first time she felt her heart being stolen, coming to the conclusion that this was a long time ago. She annoyingly tapped on the table with her fingernails, still humming as her mind was kept rather busy, thinking about the blond young man who she once cared so deeply about.

She closed her eyes in agony, trying to sort out her feelings towards him and towards her best friend for the umpthieth time that day, yet failing as usual. She sighed loudly, just when Kari picked the phone back up. "Something wrong, Mimi-chan?"

Mimi blinked a little, shaking her head furiously before realising that her friend obviously couldn't see that. "No, there's nothing wrong. There's just so much going on lately, you know." The younger girl on the other side of the line snorted indignantly, "No kidding. You know what? Why don't you come over? Miyako's coming, and you could stay the night too if you want." Mimi whooped and hurriedly accepted the offer. "Yes! I'll be at your house in an hour." She heard Kari laugh and say, "See you then."

Mimi happily dialled the number of her dad's cell phone, asking if she could stay the night at the Kamiya residence. It didn't take long to get her parents to agree, and Mimi cheerfully ran around the house, getting her things ready.

Standing in front of her closet, Mimi stood for a dilemma. She'd pulled out skirt after skirt, top after top, and still all her clothes seemed so…plain. Mimi laughed softly at her own behaviour, "Of for crying out loud, what am I doing? It's just Tai's place, there's no need for me to look good…" But even while she was repeating this in her mind, her closet slowly became empty while her floor was covered in clothes.

Mimi sighed in desperation, wondering what on earth she was looking for. She kept on questioning herself while rummaging through the small pile that had remained in her closet. All Mimi's normal clothes wore thrown out; from the sexy skirts and short tops till the stylish dresses, pants, vests and blouses. The only decent pair of clothing in the closet was a black, baggy pants, a light green tank-top and a pink vest.

To her own surprise, she found this to be absolutely perfect. Getting dressed in about 5 minutes, which was a record, she threw another shirt and some underwear in her bag. Not much later a silk pyjama joined the shirt together with her toilet bag. She checked everything again, nodding happily as she practically waltzed into the bathroom.

When Mimi Tachikawa locked the door to their apartment, anyone who knew her would've declared her to have gone out of her mind. Bouncing over to Kari's house, Mimi hummed a cheerful tune, the few bangs that where left out the ponytail bouncing along. She'd never realized that her hair could be this soft without all that stuff poured on it.

Even though she was still a bit confused about the whole Tai-Matt-Sora situation, her mood had soured to cloud nine and she felt like having fun. Not having been alone with two of her closest friends, Mimi was really looking forward to this little get-together. Of course, the fact that Tai was there would be a huge plus. She grinned at herself, stopping in her tracks about 5 feet in front of the door to Tai and Kari's apartment building. She spread her arms, looked up at the stars and yelled out, "Life is good!"

A couple of floors up, a brown-haired teenager looked down in surprise when he heard her shout.

He'd gone out of the apartment to take in the night air and relax, for some reason it made him nervous to know that a certain, pink-haired girl would come over in a while. He'd hoped to catch her before she ran in to one of the other people they'd invited. He wasn't sure of the reason why, though.

Resting his arms on the balustrade, he was staring up at the stars, wondering what on earth had gotten in to him a few days ago. He'd almost told her…almost told her that his feelings were changing. And not only towards her.

He'd sighed and rested his head in his palms, thinking about her again. He couldn't explain it, whenever she was with him, everything seemed so amazing. Even the slightest thing was a miracle. She made life so beautiful and good. Before, he had the urge to wonder what was so good about life. There had to be more to it then he saw. But then she emerged from the clouds of New York and turned his life upside down.

He felt braver, more sure and most of all, determined to protect her against everything. Yet it seemed that he only made her confused, not even mentioning his own confusion. Sometimes he'd wish she'd never come back, then he would've spent his days pining away for Sora. But noooooo, she had to come along and make him see that Sora, even though she was a wonderful girl, was the right girl for Matt and that she was the right girl for him. He grumbled softly, "Dammit Mimi!"

At the same time, a pink-haired teen spread her arms as if she was about to fly and shouted loudly, "Life is good!" After staring for a while, the brunette hurried back in side, his heart pounding in his throat. 'Oh crap…she's here…Breathe, man, breathe…' That last thought becoming his mantra, he walked over to his sister's room and knocked on the door, "Kari? Mimi's here." With a small smile, the girl opened the door and giggled at her brother's red face, "I noticed. Could you let her in, I'm still busy." With a slight hesitation, he nodded and headed for the door, only one thought in his head.

'Breathe…breathe…breathe…'

To be continued...