First of all, I'd like to thank the following people:

Angel - Thank you for giving your suggestions, I'm definitely going to keep that in mind. And about the Matt/Sora thing, you'll learn more about their relationship in the next couple of chapters. But there's nothing to worry about coz this is definitely a MIMATO fic.

KoumiLoccness - Thanks all the same...

AngelicEyes - Thanks for pointing out my mistakes. I really appreciate it!

Anyways, on with the story...

Chapter Three

She was real. No doubt about it. Ghosts didn't wear perfume and this one was wearing something that made him think of Pink roses. He stood up, putting his can of beer on the counter & settled his fists lightly on his hips.

"I'm here," he said in an amused tone, "because this is my home."

Her eyes, if that was possible, widened even further. "Since when?" she demanded.

"Since I bought it."

"You've bought it? Bought Laurel House? But you can't have! What happened to…?"

"The previous owner, Mr. Max Tachikawa?" he shrugged. "He'd been ill for a long time & he passed away a couple of months ago"

She made an odd sound, like the croak of a parched frog. Intrigued by her reaction, he kept talking & watched her with fast-growing curiosity.

"Shortly before that, he'd put the house for sale…it's quite lovely & it has the greatest view, so I bought it. The old guy had had a stroke several years back & he just couldn't keep up with his expenses so in the end, he was forced to sell..."

If she looked pale before, she looks paler now.

He walked over to her. "You need to sit down." He reached out a hand to take her arm in support, but she tried to twist away then his fingertips accidentally brushed her breasts before he cupped her elbow.

She wrenched herself free & stumbled back. "Don't touch me!" she glared at him. "Don't you dare touch me!"

Stunned by her reaction, he stepped back, his palms up. "Whoa! Hold on, lady. You've got the wrong idea. I'm not looking to ravish you."

Her eyes had become icy cold, but her cheeks were fiery red. "If you were, Yamato Ishida, it wouldn't be the first time."

Jolted more by the bitterness of her tone than the fact that she knew his name, he gaped at her. Have they met somewhere before? He tried to see beyond the pale skin & the pale clothes & the long hair, to the person vibrating with such antagonism behind them.

And finally, just as he was about to give up, he recognized her.

"Good Lord." He felt his heart tremble. "It's Mimi." Emotion threatened to close his throat. "After all this time, I can't believe you've come back."

She had regained her composure. And she fixed him with a gaze so stony & cold it tore him apart. "Yes, it's me, Matt. I'm back and I'm here to stay. As to Laurel House being your home…"

At last he'd found his voice again. "You're welcome to stay here for as long as you want"

Her laugh was harsh. "Oh, I plan to. You see, Matt, this is rightfully my home, despite what my father & his lawyer may have led you to believe"

He was hardly listening to her. He could scarcely believe she'd come back after all these years. Eight years. Eight years during which he'd never managed to shake off the raking guilt & aching regrets…

"…so tomorrow," she was saying, "I'll go see my father's lawyer & I'll sort everything out."

With an effort, he focused on what she was saying. "Mr. Izumi's retired," he said.

"Who took over his practice?"

"I did. So whatever you decide to do, I'll be involved." Agitatedly, he raked a hand through his shower-damp hair. "Mimi, we have to talk. About…what happened eight years ago…"

"No." Her throat rippled convulsively.

"But Mimi-chan…"

"You have nothing to say to me that I would want to hear." She pointed out. "But I have two things to say to you and I want you to listen because I don't want to say them twice. The first thing is, don't call me 'Mimi-chan'. I'm no longer that innocent, naive teenager you knew. If you have to call me anything, call me Mimi, or Miss Tachikawa. I answer to both."

"And the second thing?" he asked.

Her lips tightened at the thought of what she's going to say next. "Don't ever," she said, "try to talk to me about the past."

No way. He wasn't about to go along with that. "But I want to… "

"You want to what? To say you're sorry?"

"I want you to know that afterward I tried to…"

"Afterward?" Her mocking tone made him wince. "Yamato, I have absolutely no interest in what happened afterward."

"But I…"

She stopped him by slashing a hand between them. "But what?" she asked fiercely. "Do you have anything to say that can change what happened in the past?"

She had broken his heart when she disappeared out of his life. But he knew that he must've broken her heart too. And while he deserved all the agony he'd suffered, she had not.

"No," he said warily. "No, I can't."

"Then please don't try." Her tone was crisp. "And please don't ever bring up the subject again. I've put the past behind me. And you," she said as she turned away & started toward the door, "would be wise to do the same."

He moved fast & got to the door before she did. Blocking her exit, he said, "Where are you going?"

"To bed."

"I'm not moving-out of this house. I paid good money for it & I have all the papers to prove it."

As soon as he'd spoken, he felt like a heel. Now that he was close to her, he realized she was even more fragile & vulnerable than she'd seemed. And here he was, confronting her like a school bully would challenge a weaker child. But Mimi Tachikawa was a fighter.

She looked up at him & in her beautiful honey-brown eyes he could have sworn he saw something spark in it.

"You're taller than me," she said standing as tall as her five-foot-nine can manage, "and as I recall, you used to be in this band until you quit so you can concentrate on more on your studies. And now, I guess you're pretty well known in this place. But you'd better start looking for another place to stay because I promise you, Yamato Ishida, I'm going to win back this house."

"Is that," he asked softly, "a declaration of war?"

"Oh, yes," she said in a tone that was equally soft…as soft as steel, he thought, wrapped in a velvet glove! ..."a declaration of war is exactly what it is!"


AN: Don't forget to review! Chapter 4 will soon be posted! lol