Act II.
"Mimi-chan, you were really great!" Mrs. Tachikawa complimented her daughter in the limo. But she continued in a more scornful tone, "but that dress – too plain."
Mimi closed her eyes, sweat dropping. "Sorry okaa-san, I'll wear something prettier next time."
"But maybe you shouldn't have said Yamato's real name on TV." The butler said sensibly as he stopped at a red light.
She frowned, almost glowering in rage. "I'm not scared of him." She turned her head away to stare out the window, watching the evening fall into night.
Tee hee, that's my girl!" Mrs. Tachikawa giggled at Mimi's daring attitude.
Seta sighed, "I can't help but worry about you, Mimi-chan."
The twelve year old gulped in surprise, a tinge of blush crawling across her cheeks. "Oh, Seta-san! I love you!" She threw her arms around his neck, beaming widely.
"Ack! That's dangerous!" He cried out as the car swerved drastically.
"Ha ha! I love danger!" Mrs. Tachikawa squealed, whooping as the car nearly tipped over.
"-cough- Mrs. Tachikawa, you shouldn't really encourage risks in situations like these…"
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The next morning, the bell rung, indicating the class had begun. A crowd of students had gathered in front of room 6E, waiting for a certain brunette to arrive.
"Good morning!" Mimi sung out happily, skipping towards her classmates, her shoulder bag bouncing up and down as she did so.
"Mimi!" the cluster of girls cried in horror. "You've got to get out of here! Ishida-kun heard what you said about him on TV last night…now he's after you!"
Tachikawa waved her hand in dismissal, smiling unworriedly. "What-ever…"
"Mimi-chan! This is serious!"
A stampede of boys arrived on the scene, their eyes narrowing with resentment as they stared Mimi down.
'Ishida's minions',' Mimi thought, her forehead creased with discomfort. 'I should have known.'
"Yo! We saw you dissing Yamato-san on TV, Tachikawa." One said, a boy with spiky brown hair and plastic goggles fastened across his forehead. Say hello to Motimaya Daisuke, quite the gorilla.
"Yeah, you better say sorry to him." Added another boy with a peculiar rice bowl haircut, Hida Iori, a weird little psychic with tricks in his pocket.
She pulled a face, sticking her tongue out boldly. "You monkeys wish! I'll never say sorry to that jerk!"
Daisuke shook his fist in anger. "Why you!" he pointed in Mimi's direction, ordering the boys: "Get her!"
"KYAAAA!" a high pitched scream emitted from her mouth as a flock of juvenile boys jumped atop of her. "I-tai! I-tai! Stop it, you losers!"
Once every kid took a punch, they withdrew from the huddled figure on the ground, her uniform torn and scratched up. A pair of menacing eyes glared at them as she watched them back away.
"Hope you've learned a little lesson, Tachikawa." a cool voice said across the playground, causing the brunette to glance over.
Yamato stood there, arms crossed with a smug look tugging across his face.
"Grr…what's your problem, Ishida!" Mimi yelled out loud, her insides shaking in humiliation – she never intended to get beat up by a bunch of monkeys.
He tossed her a dark look. "You're my problem." He walked over brashly and pushed her against the wall with great force. "Stay outta my business."
The other boys nodded in agreement and trailed behind their leader out of the playground and into the school, cheering and giving each other high fives. "You were so awesome back there, Yamato-san!" Mimi heard one of them say.
"Of course," Came his cocky reply – their voices gradually faded away as they left the girls alone to tend Mimi's injuries.
Takenouchi Sora, the conserved redhead of 6E strode over with a first aid kit, her crimson eyes shining in concern. "Ne, Mimi-chan, are you okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks Sora-chan."
For the rest of the period, the girls helped clean up Mimi's wounds as she sat silently in shame and frustration, wondering how to deal with her worst enemy.
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That afternoon, the school field was deserted, excluding two boys and a soccer ball being kicked around aimlessly.
"Ya-ma-to…don't you think you're being a bit too harsh on Tachikawa-san?" A boy with chocolate-colored bushy hair stammered, watching his childhood friend kick the soccer ball into the goal.
"Nope."
Yagami Taichi sighed, shaking his head miserably. "C'mon, Ishida-kun – this battle between you and her has gone on too long."
"I dunno…"
"Anyway, how are you and your otou-san?"
"Um, still not talking."
"You should try! I don't think your dad hates you at all,"
"Nah, whatever. No big deal."
"Okay then…let's get back to class.
"Yeah, alright."
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"Yagami-kun, may I talk to you for a second?" a bandaged up girl near the gate motioned for the bushy headed boy to come nearer.
It was three o' clock in the afternoon, school has been let out. A swarm of eager students scrambled out of the premises, cheering and flocking with groups of friends.
The tanned boy scratched his head shyly, reddening. "Uh, sure Tachikawa-san." He paced a couple feet over.
She smiled, showing white teeth. "Aw, you don't have to be so formal. You can call me Mimi-chan, just like the others!"
He nodded, blushing pinker than ever. "Ah, o-okay!" he smiled a bit, and then continued. "So what's up?"
She leaned forward, looking around tensely before whispering in his ear. "Ano, do you happen to know where Ishida lives?" she inquired curiously.
"Eh? Yamato-kun?"
"Uh huh." He almost swore he saw a slight coloring appear on her cheeks, but it could have been his imagination.
"Um, I'll lead you there if you want. I don't know the exact address." He offered politely, watching a new smile spread across his classmate's face.
"Arigato, Yagami-kun! You're the best," she happily expressed her gratitude and they both began to walk together, side by side under the afternoon sun.
After a few minutes of conversing about their class's current condition, which is quite poor – they reached a homely house with many trees.
"This is his place," Taichi said.
"Cool," Mimi couldn't help but comment, grinning. Her smile faltered as she noticed two figures in the yard, arguing noisily.
"It's your entire fault, Yamato! If you hadn't been such a nuisance, okaa-san would be alive, and life would be so much easier!" a little boy with anguished eyes burst into tears and stormed back into the house.
The girl watched Yamato's features sink into grief, a side she never saw him express before.
"That's Takeru, Yamato-kun's younger sibling. Their mother died in a car crash while driving Yamato to the train station about six years ago." Taichi spoke sadly. "From then on, their family's relationship deteriorated. Ishida-san, their father, works long hours now to support the family, and Yamato hardly talks to him. Takeru is lonely, and never really experienced the love from a mother, so he blames Yamato a lot when stuff goes wrong."
"Oh," she managed to whisper. "I see…"
The bushy haired boy presented her a sad smile. "Well, we've seen enough. Let's go home, shall we?" he turned around, and headed back, followed by an overwhelmed and emotional Mimi, who couldn't stop the tears flying down her face.